POA1

On 6/7/2024 at 8:59 AM, Ray4Fun said:

I wonder will my travel insurance cover the Rebooked Flights? How about the extra meals due to not being on the ship? That night at a hotel you didn't consider? That adds up quick and will negate the cruise line's extra benefits. I'm understand mistakes for sure. In this day and age I do wonder how the IT team cannot consider the number of cabins sold v the number of cabins on-board. Just sayin. Happy Friday all.

Have you actually been denied boarding? Or know of someone who has?

Otherwise, you're doing a straw man attack. (My friend was denied boarding because a comet might crash into Earth.)

Your OBC shows on the HAL booking confirmation. It does not, however, give you a breakdown of the sources.

Some TAs do not send out HAL booking confirmations, preferring to use their own form.

Your TA or PCC should be able to tell you the sources and amounts of your OBC though.

Tu add to this... If you are in a cabin you really like and there is an upgrade available - and you decline the upgrade, you don't get OBC.  You only get the OBC if there is no upgrade available.

When I was young and stupid (mid-April of last year) I booked a category A, midship Vista Suite on the Nieuw Statendam. It was in a great location. We added Club Orange. A category AS aft Vista Suite was available. I declined the upgrade because we wanted the midship location.

Because I declined the upgrade, no OBC for me. The smart thing, which I did when I was older and wiser (late 2023) would have been to book the lowest category of Vista Suite, BC, and then upgrade to the midship category A. (Upon receiving wisdom, I booked a VH guarantee on the Rotterdam. We upgraded it to a category V.)

We did, however, get both the regular 150th Anniversary tote bag and the fabulous Club Orange tote bag. (If you need help toting, we're the go-to couple.)

Don't let them try to fook you. Priority embarkation, room upgrades, and that extra entrée choice are not the real reason for choosing Club Orange. It's the sweet, sweet tote bag.*

*The Club Orange tote bad has a zipper top and mesh side pockets for plastic water bottles (which you cannot buy or bring onbosrd.) Poohby Joe not included in Club Orange amenities.

You can also get HAL gift cards at grocery stores such as Kroger's. and their affiliated chains. I believe that they can give you a pretty good gas discount there.

Anothr tip. Join your roll call on CruiseCritic. There's always someone really OCD who will post when specialty dining comes online.

Usually around 5 months before the cruise.

1 hour ago, mcrcruiser said:

Where on HAL's web site can I place my preferences?  

TIA

Call your PCC or TA. Or, if you book on the website, call the general HAL reservations number.

5 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

@Woofbite, did anyone get refused boarding? That is the question here. And refused at the pier?

No. They did not.

Years ago, friends of ours booked a verandah on the Volendam for Alaska. (Those rooms are now Vista Suites.) We had a Neptune down the hall. There verandahs were oversold. Our friends rec'd an offer to move to an Ocean View with a full refund and OBC equal to the port taxes. Basically, a free cruise. They were happy, and if they wanted balcony time, they just came over to "our house."

I've read reports of denied boarding for not having proper travel ID, but that's not really HAL's fault.

If you are booking a longer cruise, the onboard OBC is higher than the FCD + Welcome Home OBC. The future cruise consultant on our Rotterdam trip in April had the numbers and I think I jotted them down somewhere. You get all the AARP, Military, First Responder and Educator OBC that you have pre qualified for. (Make sure you pre quality in advance of booking either way.)

As far as I know, the Club Orange waitlist is a notation on your booking and not a list per se. If you trust your TA or PCC to check regularly, probably once a week, then I'd wait and see. Otherwise, I'd call myself each week.

What is your ship and sailing date? If it's a Pinnacle class ship, it'll be tough. Most people cancel before final payment, so 90 days out would be the sweet spot.

If you added CO for the upgrade, maybe you'll get a regular paid upgrade offer. If, on the other hand, you're after the sweet, sweet Club Orange tote bag, I hope there's an opening for you.

We'd be perfectly happy in the MDR, but we're a late fixed seating people. Just one man's opinion, but I think fixed seating beats dinner in CO - the extra entrée choices notwithstanding.

Ask your TA or PCC to add the market you want to your preferences. HAL marketing pulls lists and sends announcements to those people. So, if you want to go to South America, have that added to your profile. You'll get emails as soon as the new sailings for that market open up.

The Mariner Society people don't deal with that normally. Your profile preferences are a sales thing.

It depends on the length of the cruise you book and the stateroom category. Longer cruises in higher categories, such as suites will net the most OBC. The deposit will be lower as well.

11 hours ago, DShier1a said:

I got a snarky voicemail from the cruise consultant then a second voicemail saying she had booked it in US dollars ( I am in Canada) I emailed the cancelation email from the website but they say I have to go through the consultant.

If it's booked in the wrong currency, you should be able to cancel it with anyone who answers the phone. That's an error on the PCC's part. It can't be changed from USD to CAD after the fact. If you booked a refundable deposit, like the Have It All or Advantage fares, the booking can be canceled easily. If you booked a non-refundable fare or if you put cruise protection on the booking, you will need someone to remove the penalties. That would require a resolution specialist or supervisor to make those adjustments.

Once you are clear of that, just go to the TA of your choice and book.

The cost per day drops the longer you're buying service for. That $34.99 would be for a single day.

Service charge on beverages is 18%. The various beverage packages cover the service charge for included beverages.

Yes. They started coming in email a few weeks before sailing.

12 hours ago, cccole said:

 Is the chart from POA's recent post?

No, I only posted deck plans.  You can see relative sizes of rooms and balconies, but not the actual square footage. Someone put some serious work in on the chart. Respect!

Call Holland America or your TA and ask them to look at the breezily named Guest Logistics Transfer Summary for Vancouver. It's their reference for all the turnaround ports (where ships embark and disembark.). It will list where pickup points are and what hours they're staffed.

You're profile says you're from Wisconsin. If you are flying in from the USA, you might have to clear customs, so allow time for that.

It looks like room service is likely to be your only option that late.

https://www.panpacific.com/en/hotels-and-resorts/pp-vancouver.html

We were on the Nieuw Statendam in December and the Rotterdam last month - both Caribbean itineraries. There was a DJ at the end of each night in the BB King Lounge. There was ballroom dancing late each afternoon. There was also dance instruction most days.

I took all the HAL Deckplans and created a consolidated PDF with every ship in it.  Use it to find the hidden traps if you are booking a guarantee.  Definitely look at the Spa Rooms or the Accessible staterooms in your guarantee category.

While we probably wouldn't book a Guarantee category, people who do are guaranteed that category or better.  It makes a lot of sense if you're happy with all the guarantee rooms. Many people are happy to (1) be on the ship in a minimum category, with a chance of upgrade, and (2) save some money.

8 hours ago, Roz said:

Yes you can.  You can't use gift cards for transfers and gratuities.  Also, you can't split payments.  For example, gift cards and a credit card. 

We were able to split the payment between gift cards and a credit card. And by "we," I mean a HAL phone rep & me. The website would not play nice with split payments. The website wanted to charge everything to my credit card.

On 5/26/2024 at 11:23 PM, crystalspin said:

I think they throw darts at the target and say "Hey let's try this" with no reason or rationale

I think it's lucky astrology allocation dice.

Aak about your military OBC. It does not expire, per sec. They just load it to your Mariner account for a certain period. (Two years, I think.) Once you get to the end of the 2 year period, they update the expiration date. You don't have to reapply.

Empty Mini Fridge is a special services item. I have it added whenever we have a beverage package. The room stewards usually take care of it. If they miss it, I'll ask again or put a post-it note on cabinet that contains the fridgelet. Our December Nieuw Statendam guys had it done when we arrived. Our Rotterdam stewards this year needed a post it reminder. (We said thank you in both cases.)

We usually get a retreat cabana and wind up with a decent supply of bottled water. The empty fridge gives us somewhere to store it.