Holland America to Introduce a New Promotion Called Explore4

[cruz chic]

I think the entertainment level is going to go up on HAL cruises when more of the passengers start using the 'unlimited' (Okay, 15 drinks) drink cards.

 

Yeah, they'll to too drunk to tell the difference:D.

[sail7seas]

Oh sure, now you change:D. Now I could drink 15 water a day. It goes down like...water:D;):p.

 

 

Water, indeed. LOL..... :D

 

[TiogaCruiser]

Yeah, they'll to too drunk to tell the difference:D.

 

I took it to mean more entertainment for the non-drinkers

[OVgirl]

I took it to mean more entertainment for the non-drinkers

 

You got it.

[kazu]

Not to be boring and bring this thread back on topic but...

 

I checked with my TA and yes, my cruise is on the list and yes......I am eligible.but apparently my price goes up big time for my cruise (more than what this is worth to me at least). I see others have got - have you found the same thing?

 

In any case - I had hoped this was to keep them from having to do flash deals and last minute deals, but if they are charging more - hmmmm I'm not sure.

 

So, no savings on our cruise with this:rolleyes::(

[kansasquaker]

My husband and I booked the June 8th 2014 Oosterdam out of Vancouver on Monday night. We called directly (I don't know if HAL monitors these boards, but Johnny was fantastic and really a huge help) and made a complicated reservation for 8 people in five cabins. I was surprised to get an email yesterday (Wednesday) saying that we'd been updated to this Explore4 promotion. We hadn't heard about it but it seems that they applied it to our booking on their own. It looks like the fares we have now are kind of high, so we'll see what happens if we try to take advantage of a price drop later.

Edited July 26, 2013 by kansasquaker

[Tinknock50]

....... It looks like the fares we have now are kind of high, so we'll see what happens if we try to take advantage of a price drop later.

 

Yeah I was wondering about that too. I didn't book for the following year until at least after the current Alaska season was past and I got much better rates. I wonder too if these perks will pass when I get the lower rates later.

[LVSue]

Oh sure, now you change:D. Now I could drink 15 water a day. It goes down like...water:D;):p.

 

OTOH, 7x7 = 49, so maybe there'd be enough to get a buzz on! Or a really good night's sleep.

[Hlitner]

Just had a thought. We cruise HA quite a lot (4 Star Mariners) and are seniors who tend to stay up until midnight or later. When I picture a HA ship with many folks having unlimited drink packages it has me thinking that the ship will be dead by 6pm instead of the usual 10 pm. Many HA passengers do not drink much....but if its free they will come! And it will not be pretty :)

 

Hank

[Laminator]

Just had a thought. We cruise HA quite a lot (4 Star Mariners) and are seniors who tend to stay up until midnight or later. When I picture a HA ship with many folks having unlimited drink packages it has me thinking that the ship will be dead by 6pm instead of the usual 10 pm. Many HA passengers do not drink much....but if its free they will come! And it will not be pretty :)

 

Hank

 

I am not sure this offer is geared toward HAL's normal demographic. Marketing wise this makes sense toward a younger demographic. I am talking the 25 year old market but definitely the 30 to 40 year old segment.

[sail7seas]

I am not sure this offer is geared toward HAL's normal demographic. Marketing wise this makes sense toward a younger demographic. I am talking the 25 year old market but definitely the 30 to 40 year old segment.

 

 

Do I understand this to mean you think they should not make this offer to people of an age...... how old it too old to be offered it? Fifty, Fifty-five? Anyone more than that age should be closed out of it but younger folks should be offered extra benefits? :confused:

 

What part did I misunderstand?

The part I really don't understand is Why.

 

[Mar56]

Do I understand this to mean you think they should not make this offer to people of an age...... how old it too old to be offered it? Fifty, Fifty-five? Anyone more than that age should be closed out of it but younger folks should be offered extra benefits? :confused:

 

What part did I misunderstand?

The part I really don't understand is Why.

 

 

I think Laminator is saying the target market for the unlimited drink package is a younger demographic than HALs normal. Not that it isnt available

to all ages.

Edited July 26, 2013 by Mar56

[cruz chic]

Just had a thought. We cruise HA quite a lot (4 Star Mariners) and are seniors who tend to stay up until midnight or later. When I picture a HA ship with many folks having unlimited drink packages it has me thinking that the ship will be dead by 6pm instead of the usual 10 pm. Many HA passengers do not drink much....but if its free they will come! And it will not be pretty :)

 

Hank

 

Maybe stick with Celebrity then. I just don't understand this at all:rolleyes:.

[sail7seas]

I think Laminator is saying the target market for the unlimited drink package is a younger demographic than HALs normal. Not that it isnt available

to all ages.

 

 

Yes, seems so.

Why does he Assume folks over 30 don't drink? :confused:

Why should the younger demographic be offered amenities those judged 'too old' for them should not be?

 

Huh?

When we turned sixty, we did not stop enjoying a cocktail or two or a glass of wine,,,,,, or two. :D

 

I have to be missing something here.

 

Edited July 26, 2013 by sail7seas

[peaches from georgia]

I didn't read any comments to mean that the drink package shouldn't be offered to all age groups. Offered to all, but that it is especially targeted at appealing to a younger demographic who on most cruise lines are the majority of the late night party group. HAL is just trying to bring in new customers by making offerings and packages of amenities that appeal to various groups in various ways. I don't see any exclusion of any potential pax, just looking for a way to appeal to those who may not have looked at HAL before.

[cruz chic]

It's more the comments that HAL older pax can't handle their liqour that are offensive. I'm a lightweight when it comes to drinking and I know for a fact I've never made a fool of myself when I've had a bit much. Maybe because I'm 52:rolleyes:.

[TiogaCruiser]

Sounds like Spring Break cruises may never be the same.... and possibly others too.

 

Lets face it. How many people view "all you can eat" buffets as a challenge?

You paid for it, it's up to you to get value by how much you consume. Whatever the age.

[AlbertaCruisers]

I have to say that I got the 123 Go sale from Celebrity for this past April (and the coming Nov and Jan cruises) and since the drink package was free, I never felt like I needed to get my money's worth (it was free!). If I had paid for the package, maybe it would have been different? but since it was free, I just really enjoyed not worrying about it and having a drink when I wanted and if I didn't like something I ordered, I didn't finish it, etc. Really, since the Celebrity drink package includes bottle water, I ended up drinking way more bottled water then I normally would have! The free drink package with the 123 Go sale was the best deal ever (for us at least based on the price we had already paid for the cruise and when we booked anyway. For others on our cruise who had booked earlier than us, it didn't make sense for them to switch to it as they would have paid way more for their room).

 

I am a bit confused though, does HAL have a drink package already? It seems I have read the drink price limit is $7 and there may be a limit of 15 drinks a day. We had a package that sounds like that on Carnival, and I really didn't enjoy it (and it didn't include bottled water). There was also confusion of whether or not pop was included in your 15 drinking, if it is the 15 is easy to hit and would be a waste (I didn't drink and pop because no one could tell me that for sure). On Carnival I don't know that I ever hit the 15 drinks, but I was constantly worried about buying a $5 or less drink and wasting one of my 15 drinks! :rolleyes:

[Hlitner]

When Celebrity does their 1 2 3 Go promotion it is on what they call their Five Star pricing and is not valid on Senior or Resident Rates, my guess this will be available on what HAL calls their Advantage Fares. Unless they do it on what they call their Signature Fares but those are basically Rack Rates and Celebrity does give it on the tiny bit lower rates.

 

Celebrity pricing on that 1-2-3 promotion is just as confusing as all their other pricing. For example, while we were not able to get a Senior rate...we were able to snag a 1-2-3 deal with pre-paid gratuities + a nice OBC. However, they did later deny us an additional OBC for stockholder credit. One of these days we will figure out how to get a free cruise or perhaps have a cruise line pay us to take a cruise :). By carefully shopping around it can sometimes be amazing at the deals you might find. Our best deal (ever) was a 12 night RCI repositioning cruise where we snagged a nice balcony cabin for a total cost (including taxes fees etc) for $43 per person/day. Since we also got a few hours a day of free booze in their Concierge Lounge (and DW and I do drink) we figure they actually paid us to take that cruise :)

 

As to the HA deal that takes some thought. For example, we will often take advantage of the normal HA Happy Hour deals where the 2nd drink is only $1. So 2 cocktails cost us $7..99 (+ 15 %) and there is a limit to how much one can drink. Even if we use 2 different Happy Hours we would have spent less then $20 on 4 cocktails. We generally buy a wine package at dinner since we get the package for 50% off. DW and I drink half a bottle of wine at every dinner which (with the package discount) probably costs us about $10 (total) per day. So doing the math our entire day's booze would come to less then $50 a day. So, if HA were giving away their drink package for free (or less then $25 per person/day it would be a good deal for us. But if HA is increasing the price of their cruises, and then tossing in free drinks as a way to make us forget their big price increase....it might not be such a good deal. Guess we shall have to wait and see how the pricing of these future cruises (with the promotion) work out in the end. We do not put much stock in HAs original cruise pricing since we often will see multiple price decreases on previous booked cruises.

 

Hank

Edited July 26, 2013 by Hlitner

[Laminator]

Do I understand this to mean you think they should not make this offer to people of an age...... how old it too old to be offered it? Fifty, Fifty-five? Anyone more than that age should be closed out of it but younger folks should be offered extra benefits? :confused:

 

What part did I misunderstand?

The part I really don't understand is Why.

 

 

Of course it should be offered to everyone. The point I was trying to make is that I believe HAL is trying to market to a younger demographic.

 

The same with their offerings for one star mariners. My email address is tied to 4 different pax. They receive an email offer once a week from HAL with better offers than I can get being a 4 Star. Once every 6 months I receive an email from my PCC. And this has been going on for quite sometime.

[Randyk47]

I'll have to say I went on our last cruise, which was an all inclusive, with a bit of interest about what would be the atmosphere on the ship with basically unlimited spirits and wine. Quite frankly I saw very little difference from our typical HAL cruises. Did we drink more.....maybe a little but some of that was driven by the fact you didn't have to pull out a cabin card every time you wanted something from a bottle of water to a soda to wine or a mixed drink and the very comfortable and immediate friendships we made with our fellow passengers. The one big difference I saw was the consumption of wine at dinner where wine was poured freely at our table and at least the ones around us. The passenger age demographic was like HAL though more heavily weighted in the late 40's to late 50's.

[DaveOKC]

Celebrity pricing on that 1-2-3 promotion is just as confusing as all their other pricing. For example, while we were not able to get a Senior rate...we were able to snag a 1-2-3 deal with pre-paid gratuities + a nice OBC. However, they did later deny us an additional OBC for stockholder credit. One of these days we will figure out how to get a free cruise or perhaps have a cruise line pay us to take a cruise :). By carefully shopping around it can sometimes be amazing at the deals you might find. Our best deal (ever) was a 12 night RCI repositioning cruise where we snagged a nice balcony cabin for a total cost (including taxes fees etc) for $43 per person/day. Since we also got a few hours a day of free booze in their Concierge Lounge (and DW and I do drink) we figure they actually paid us to take that cruise :)

 

As to the HA deal that takes some thought. For example, we will often take advantage of the normal HA Happy Hour deals where the 2nd drink is only $1. So 2 cocktails cost us $7..99 (+ 15 %) and there is a limit to how much one can drink. Even if we use 2 different Happy Hours we would have spent less then $20 on 4 cocktails. We generally buy a wine package at dinner since we get the package for 50% off. DW and I drink half a bottle of wine at every dinner which (with the package discount) probably costs us about $10 (total) per day. So doing the math our entire day's booze would come to less then $50 a day. So, if HA were giving away their drink package for free (or less then $25 per person/day it would be a good deal for us. But if HA is increasing the price of their cruises, and then tossing in free drinks as a way to make us forget their big price increase....it might not be such a good deal. Guess we shall have to wait and see how the pricing of these future cruises (with the promotion) work out in the end. We do not put much stock in HAs original cruise pricing since we often will see multiple price decreases on previous booked cruises.

 

Hank

 

Good analysis. Same here - I would like the beverage cards, but not if I have to pay alot more for the cruise. My wife is really not a drinker, so that only leaves me and I am not a heavy one.

 

Do not forget to figure in the free drinks you sometimes get on HAL - like the Captain's reception and a couple of cocktail parties if you are in a Neptune suite.

 

For my situation, it is not worth a big difference in cruise pricing.

[Laminator]

Yes, seems so.

Why does he Assume folks over 30 don't drink? :confused:

Why should the younger demographic be offered amenities those judged 'too old' for them should not be?

 

Huh?

When we turned sixty, we did not stop enjoying a cocktail or two or a glass of wine,,,,,, or two. :D

 

I have to be missing something here.

 

 

Everyone should be offered the same amenities. The point I am trying to make is I believe HAL is trying to accommodate a younger demographic. Actually the word accommodate is not the correct word to use as they do not have much of a younger demographic. They are trying to get that younger demographic on their ships. And when they do they will be offered great deals on future cruises as one star mariners. Look at the comments in this thread. Most of the responses revolve around 7 drinks a day is being quite a bit. One response states 10pm just became 6pm.

 

Do you really think that HAL does not know their market? Of course they do. They realize that a younger crowd drinks more. I remember back in the day....(barely)

 

Breakfast of Champions - 1 or 2 Bloody Mary's

Lunch - 1 drink

Afternoon at the pool 3 more drinks

Dinner - 1 or 2 more drinks

 

I have pretty much hit the 7 drink limit and the night is still young. Now I'll be paying for the next 3 or 4.

 

Mrs. Laminator has yet to hit the back in the day period but she gets her drinks free from the casino so there is no costs.

[Laminator]

I think Laminator is saying the target market for the unlimited drink package is a younger demographic than HALs normal. Not that it isnt available

to all ages.

 

Exactly!!!

[peaches from georgia]

I'll have to say I went on our last cruise, which was an all inclusive, with a bit of interest about what would be the atmosphere on the ship with basically unlimited spirits and wine. Quite frankly I saw very little difference from our typical HAL cruises. Did we drink more.....maybe a little but some of that was driven by the fact you didn't have to pull out a cabin card every time you wanted something from a bottle of water to a soda to wine or a mixed drink and the very comfortable and immediate friendships we made with our fellow passengers. The one big difference I saw was the consumption of wine at dinner where wine was poured freely at our table and at least the ones around us. The passenger age demographic was like HAL though more heavily weighted in the late 40's to late 50's.

Totally agree with all your observations re the atmosphere on an all inclusive, Randy. Never saw any pax even close to drunk or unsteady and the atmosphere was definitely friendlier which probably was because of the fewer pax on Seabourn which led to much more mixing of pax and conversations in the lounges than on HAL. It was fun just to be able to try a new drink if one wished without pulling out a card and paying for something I may not like, but the all inclusive alcohol does not lead to any problems we ever have seen.