No Mariner discounts prior to boarding, does this make sense???

[localady]

Just had a less than stellar conversation with HAL's ship services. I set up a Pinnacle dinner for the first night of our cruise and during the transaction, I inquired about my 3 Star (to be 4 Star this cruise) discount, and I was very curtly told that the Mariner discount is only available while onboard.....okay then.

It doesn't make any sense to me, maybe someone here could shed some light upon HAL's reasoning.

[CaveDiving]

Just had a less than stellar conversation with HAL's ship services. I set up a Pinnacle dinner for the first night of our cruise and during the transaction, I inquired about my 3 Star (to be 4 Star this cruise) discount, and I was very curtly told that the Mariner discount is only available while onboard.....okay then.

It doesn't make any sense to me, maybe someone here could shed some light upon HAL's reasoning.

 

Hi Localady,

 

I believe the information you received is incorrect.

 

In my experience, you will receive credit for the amount of your Mariner’s discount, on your ship’s account after you board the ship.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

Scott & Karen

[sapper1]

Just had a less than stellar conversation with HAL's ship services. I set up a Pinnacle dinner for the first night of our cruise and during the transaction, I inquired about my 3 Star (to be 4 Star this cruise) discount, and I was very curtly told that the Mariner discount is only available while onboard.....okay then.

 

It doesn't make any sense to me, maybe someone here could shed some light upon HAL's reasoning.

From reading other's experiences on this subject, I have learned that your discount will be credited to your onboard account when you actually eat your meal. You just tell the Maitre d' that you are entitled to it and you will receive it.

I also read, I think, that one poster had heard that HAL is planning on making changes to their website that will allow the discount to be applied at the point of sale.

[taxmantoo]

I also read, I think, that one poster had heard that HAL is planning on making changes to their website that will allow the discount to be applied at the point of sale.

 

Also read that on here not too long ago. It is coming.

[Mary Ellen]

We've received our discount after dining at the PG without having to ask anyone. We just received the credit back to our shipboard account to cover the difference from the price we pre-paid on-line. YMMV

[Krazy Kruizers]

On our Ryndam cruises in October the dinners that we had pre-booked were not discounted when I asked for a pre-liminary statement. I mentioned that in the past we had gotten credit once we had actually eaten at the Pinnacle. We were given the 50% credit -- but they weren't too happy about doing it.

On our recent Nieuw Amsterdam cruises -- no deal!! Anything that we had pre-booked for the Tamarind or the Pinnacle -- no discount!!

This is really crap!!

If we don't pre-book we know that there will be some nights that are completely sold out before you get on the ship. This happened to us back in 2008 (before the new program began) -- somehow we had forgotten to make reservations for the second week of our cruise. When we tried to make them once on the ship -- the Pinnacle was already completely sold out for every night of the cruise.

I am not a happy camper about this new deal!!

So -- having this perk is really valueless!!

[boards]

We were on the Noordam in Nov. and had prebooked the Pinnacle. We are now 3-star, but we did not receive the discount before or after. It was my mistake in going to the front desk to enquire about it. I have since e-mailed Hal and was told they would look into the matter and get back to me and they have not. It is not worth time and effort to bother now, but I also will not prebook in the future again. We purchased goods on the ship and did receive our discount. I might add that is was an excellent dinner.

[localady]

On a longer cruise, it isn't that much of a big deal, its easy to book everything when onboard. But on a 7 day cruise, there are more limited opportunities.

It does diminish the value of the "perk" and I do hope that they find a way to make it the perk it was presented as being.

 

P.S. I shouldn't have to ask for my perk, HAL knows how many days I have.

[cruz chic]

On our Ryndam cruises in October the dinners that we had pre-booked were not discounted when I asked for a pre-liminary statement. I mentioned that in the past we had gotten credit once we had actually eaten at the Pinnacle. We were given the 50% credit -- but they weren't too happy about doing it.

 

On our recent Nieuw Amsterdam cruises -- no deal!! Anything that we had pre-booked for the Tamarind or the Pinnacle -- no discount!!

 

This is really crap!!

 

If we don't pre-book we know that there will be some nights that are completely sold out before you get on the ship. This happened to us back in 2008 (before the new program began) -- somehow we had forgotten to make reservations for the second week of our cruise. When we tried to make them once on the ship -- the Pinnacle was already completely sold out for every night of the cruise.

 

I am not a happy camper about this new deal!!

 

So -- having this perk is really valueless!!

That is total crap! I've never booked online because I just don't want to deal with the possible hassle. Now I'm a 4 star :D it's means even more. I'll take my chances with booking on board. I've never had a problem yet.....but I'm sure I will now that I've said that.

[pms4104]

Just had a less than stellar conversation with HAL's ship services. I set up a Pinnacle dinner for the first night of our cruise and during the transaction, I inquired about my 3 Star (to be 4 Star this cruise) discount, and I was very curtly told that the Mariner discount is only available while onboard.....okay then.

 

It doesn't make any sense to me, maybe someone here could shed some light upon HAL's reasoning.

Just taking a stab in the dark ... maybe it's about the revenue stream. If discount-eligible Mariners book prior to embarkation and reserve a good bit of the available PG seatings, the PG generates X amount of $$$ ... but if those same Mariners try to book onboard and find the PG sold out because full-paying people booked prior to boarding, PG fills up and generates more $$$ for HAL.

 

If indeed HAL has changed the PG discount to mean only for PG booked while onboard, they need to change all their printed materials and the website to make that clear.

 

Yep, total crap ... either you get the discount or you don't, and HAL shouldn't be playing these silly games and hacking off their passengers.

[RuthC]

If indeed HAL has changed the PG discount to mean only for PG booked while onboard, they need to change all their printed materials and the website to make that clear.

Just as others have posted, I haven't had a problem getting the discount when I actually ate at the Pinnacle. The meal was reserved in advance, at full price. After I dined, that night the reconciliation took place on the account, and the discount was applied.

Just as I was told it would be.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Sher, I have to admit this is kind of bad on HAL's part, I will be curious to what happens for your Oosterdam cruise, You can maybe get it figured out before we all go on the Nieuw Amsterdam :D I am thinking Tamarind the first night and Pinnacle the Last Night, what do you think?

[localady]

Sher, I have to admit this is kind of bad on HAL's part, I will be curious to what happens for your Oosterdam cruise, You can maybe get it figured out before we all go on the Nieuw Amsterdam :D I am thinking Tamarind the first night and Pinnacle the Last Night, what do you think?

 

Sounds perfect!! :D

[localady]

Just as others have posted, I haven't had a problem getting the discount when I actually ate at the Pinnacle. The meal was reserved in advance, at full price. After I dined, that night the reconciliation took place on the account, and the discount was applied.

Just as I was told it would be.

 

 

TY RuthC, I will wait and see how it plays out. It will be the least of our expenses as we are travelling with our now 22 and 18 yo sons, and I know our onboard tab will reflect that !! ;) :eek:

[Bill S]

For the first time, we did an advance reservation on-line, for the Pinnacle Grill. We set sail on the Oosterdam on the cruise immediately preceding Localady's. I will be interested to see how that works out. Thanks for the "heads up", Sher!

[m steve]

and received the discount as a credit after we ate there. Also had credits for other purchases while on board. Only 1 was missed and concierge corrected that.

[CJcruzer]

and just to add a different twist to the mix:

 

my daughter-in-law wants to purchase a Pinnacle Grill dinner for hubby and myself (it's a surprise for hubby and she needed my booking number, etc to call HAL direct)...My daughter-in-law is NOT on the sailing.

 

Since I am a 3-star, I called HAL to see how they accommodate the discount in the PG --- and basically I was told that if it is gifted, the FULL undiscounted amount is paid by the gift-giver (so far OK) BUT the discount is not then acknowledged after eating at the PG - since we are not the ones that paid for it!!! :eek: - no credit to our account for the difference in pricing.

 

So I told my daughter-in-law to just put an amount of equal worth on SHIPBOARD credit, and then I will book the Pinnacle Grill at the discounted rate --- seems a shame for her to pay $40 for something that would cost me $30...

 

So as I read it, if someone wants to gift you the Pinnacle Grill or a wine package, they will pay full price....but if they give me the shipboard credit, then I can purchase either one (PG dinner or wine package) at discounted pricing with my Mariner status!!!

 

You'd think HAL would realize that they should just give the gift-giver the same discount that the person sailing is entitled to!!!

 

Still scratching my head over this one...:confused:

[FrogLick]

We've cruised on most of the major cruise lines in the past over the years and have tried several of the optional (i.e., extra charge) dining experiences on a number of them. Since the HAL Neiu Amsterdam is a new ship with somewhat limited reviews at this point, are any of the options really worth it?

[Mary Ellen]

Since the HAL Neiu Amsterdam is a new ship with somewhat limited reviews at this point, are any of the options really worth it?

Based upon our experience on the inaugural cruises of the E'dam (sister ship of the Nieuw Amsterdam), the Tamarind Restaurant is absolutely worthwhile. Even though the staff was brand new, they were fabulous. We had 3-4 dinners there and one lunch (no charge for lunch in that restaurant).

[Juanita462]

We were given gift cards for 2 meals in the Pinnacle on our last cruise - but it was booked solid and we couldn't get in - the front office would not give us any credit for the dinners - when the same thing happened on another cruise ship we were given shipboard credit for the amount.

 

When I asked about this situation I was told that so many free PG dinners are given out that they can't begin to accomodate them all and many end up not being able to eat in the pinnacle.

 

when we went by the pinnacle girll we would often see tables not even set up when it was supposedly "full"

 

Strange

[CJcruzer]

On our Veendam South america cruise - we had 2 complimentary PG dinners given to us - I booked one for hubby's birthday, and booked another for later on in the cruise....A few days after our first dinner, we received a letter asking if we would like to give up the second booking (as they had many passengers who could not book as they were full) and we would receive the shipboard credit on account for that amount.....We opted to give in our second reservation so that others could eat at the PG --- another couple we made friends with had the same letter - so it seems HAL was trying to make sure that passengers who wanted to dine there had at LEAST one opportunity.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We were given gift cards for 2 meals in the Pinnacle on our last cruise - but it was booked solid and we couldn't get in - the front office would not give us any credit for the dinners - when the same thing happened on another cruise ship we were given shipboard credit for the amount.

 

When I asked about this situation I was told that so many free PG dinners are given out that they can't begin to accomodate them all and many end up not being able to eat in the pinnacle.

 

when we went by the pinnacle girll we would often see tables not even set up when it was supposedly "full"

 

Strange

 

This has been discussed for years about so many people seeing not all the tables used. And it was explained that they alot so many tables for each time slot -- that way they can prepare your meal without everything being a rush deal and getting done properly. There has never been a time when all the tables in the Pinnacle have been used at one time.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We've cruised on most of the major cruise lines in the past over the years and have tried several of the optional (i.e., extra charge) dining experiences on a number of them. Since the HAL Neiu Amsterdam is a new ship with somewhat limited reviews at this point, are any of the options really worth it?

 

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

We spent 2 weeks on the Nieuw Amsterdam -- Nov/Dec -- and loved the ship.

We ate quite a few times in the Tamarind -- food excellent -- service excellent -- well worth the $15 per person.