Holland America to Introduce a New Promotion Called Explore4

[cruz chic]

Still dealing with my stupid knee. I'm ready to cut it off at this point. I wasn't prepared for what a pain it was going to be. Some days I doubt it will be better but deep down I know it will. Thanks for the good wishes. I appreciate it.

 

Lorene, I wish to express to you my very best wishes for a speedy recovery! :)

 

Thank you

[Himself]

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.

 

I suspect Compitition or slow sales have caused HAL to go this route. Just trying to "fill the boat."

Edited July 28, 2013 by Himself

[Laminator]

Proven right, Laminator! C'mon over to the Cynic's Corner with me. Although I must warn you: it's getting crowded over here.

 

This one was actually pretty easy to see coming.

[InTheWASide]

 

 

 

Looks like HAL is trying to keep up with Celebrity ;)

 

It definitely does. But you know as well as I do that Celebrity's offer is still MUCH better and has a lot less "if you do this THEN you get this, you won't get that UNLESS you book or do this..." They need to just make offers that don't nitpick and force them to hide behind asterisks and micro print.

 

A good effort though given the management that decides these things

[InTheWASide]

This makes sense - it is better for HAL to give away "value" than lowering prices. Its an old marketing approach - give away something the customer places a high value on but that does not cost much to provide.

 

DaveOKC

 

or just don't cut costs onboard and with staffing that force you to lower your prices to match what you're now capable of offering in the first place ;)

[carri cruiser]

Yes, if you book with your TA your cruise could still be eligible.

 

BOY, WOULDN'T THAT OPEN A 'CAN OF WORMS' IF YOU HAD TO BOOK WITH HAL, AND CUT OUT A TA???:eek:

[carri cruiser]

Thanks for the information!

If I may be so bold ,what is a "welcome back credit"? I know about OBC and shareholder credit but have never heard of the other. Also, do you know if there is a " welcome to 4 star status " credit????

We have never gotten a Welcome back credit!!!

we just got back from a cruise and never got anything that said we could get anything for booking another cruise ..... can you use it even if you booked a FCC while cruising???

[Chris Holland]

We have booked a December 2013 cruise about 2 weeks ago. We have made a downpayment, but final payment is only in October. Does anyone know if we could still apply for this promotion?

[kazu]

We have never gotten a Welcome back credit!!!

we just got back from a cruise and never got anything that said we could get anything for booking another cruise ..... can you use it even if you booked a FCC while cruising???

 

I have used it with a future cruise deposit. the email usually comes around three weeks after returning from your cruise. You can just use the code and they will usually add it I believe.

[Lady Arwen]

We have booked a December 2013 cruise about 2 weeks ago. We have made a downpayment, but final payment is only in October. Does anyone know if we could still apply for this promotion?

 

Yes, probably you can. We have an existing booking for 2014 and we had the offer applied with no problem. Call HAL, and if your sailing qualifies, then they can do it for you right there and then.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[OVgirl]

We have never gotten a Welcome back credit!!!

we just got back from a cruise and never got anything that said we could get anything for booking another cruise ..... can you use it even if you booked a FCC while cruising???

 

A few years back we booked a cruise, also without the welcome back OBC. We hadn't received any email and were not aware that this was available.

 

After reading about it here, I called HAL and asked if we could have the ZPM/ZPN promo applied. They just checked that we had booked within the allowed time frame and added it to the booking.

 

Should be easy to do, just give them a call.

[Infi]

yes - absolutely - my TA took care of it and my cruise was already booked:D

 

Thanks, kazu! Will have to contact my TA tomorrow then.

[boards]

We have never gotten a Welcome back credit!!!

we just got back from a cruise and never got anything that said we could get anything for booking another cruise ..... can you use it even if you booked a FCC while cruising???

 

We got a welcome back OBC letter, but did not get to use it. We did however a months' later got another OBC letter and we have used it along with our FCD OBC, plus a promotional OBC to book a cruise in Dec. 2013. So we have a nice OBC for our future cruise. Thank you Hal. It is much appreciated. This will be our 18th HAL cruise. Getting closer to our goal of 200 days.

[boards]

This question may have already been asked and answered, how will you know which select cruises this program is eligible for?

[kazu]

This question may have already been asked and answered, how will you know which select cruises this program is eligible for?

 

There's a listing that was posted (pdf attachment) that is on the second page of this thread I believe.

 

Try this link http://boards.cruisecritic.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=280182&d=1374738291 (just to save you looking - I had it in my downloads still)

[boards]

Thank you, the cruises we are looking at for 2014 are listed.

[cle1]

yes - absolutely - my TA took care of it and my cruise was already booked:D

Hi Jacqui...It's Carol from the Prinsendam cruise. Did you have to cancel the cruise you had booked and re-book? And if so did you have to pay the new rate? Our TA said we would need to do both of these before we could get the Explorer4. Thanks for any help you can give us....Carol

 

PS...Who is your travel agent? My email is erricksons@comcast.net

Edited July 28, 2013 by c 2 c

[northernphoenix]

If this promo is only available until Oct 15th, I should be able to purchase our FCC's on our Oct2/13 Canada/New England cruise, and fwd the info to our TA in order to book our AK cruisetour for Aug/14. The land portion of this is included in the list provided. Can anyone see any reason that this would be a problem ??

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[whogo]

If this promo is only available until Oct 15th, I should be able to purchase our FCC's on our Oct2/13 Canada/New England cruise, and fwd the info to our TA in order to book our AK cruisetour for Aug/14. The land portion of this is included in the list provided. Can anyone see any reason that this would be a problem ??

"Offers are capacity controlled, and may be modified or withdrawn at any time."

[kazu]

Hi Jacqui...It's Carol from the Prinsendam cruise. Did you have to cancel the cruise you had booked and re-book? And if so did you have to pay the new rate? Our TA said we would need to do both of these before we could get the Explorer4. Thanks for any help you can give us....Carol

 

[/email]

 

Hi Carol - no I did not rebook. They wanted to charge me a higher rate - and my TA followed through. I turned it down as it was more than the package is worth and our itinerary is quite port intensive. Unknown to me, my TA pushed on with it (bless her heart) i don't think they have their ducks in a row yet and it might take some follow up.

 

Sorry, not allowed to discuss TA's.

Edited July 28, 2013 by kazu

[Watson's aunt]

Hi

 

My last two Alaska cruises i never got a welcome back

 

 

mary

[Chris Holland]

Yes, probably you can. We have an existing booking for 2014 and we had the offer applied with no problem. Call HAL, and if your sailing qualifies, then they can do it for you right there and then.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

I am really looking forward to it, thank you for your reply!!

[tooalto]

Originally Posted by Lady Arwen View Post

Yes, probably you can. We have an existing booking for 2014 and we had the offer applied with no problem. Call HAL, and if your sailing qualifies, then they can do it for you right there and then.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

 

Sorry, I don't know how to post as a "quote" but are you booked directly with HAL or do you use an agent? HAL will usually not talk to you if you booked with a TA.

[CJcruzer]

Hi

 

My last two Alaska cruises i never got a welcome back

 

 

mary

 

Mary, perhaps call the Mariner Society 1-800-547-9139 and mention this to them. Perhaps they would be willing to offer something for your next sailing, and extend the OBC also....... they may throw in a bottle of wine/Pinnacle Grill dinner as compensation for the previous oversight. Also check they have your email address properly spelled.

 

Never hurts to try.

Edited July 28, 2013 by CJcruzer

[kazu]

Originally Posted by Lady Arwen View Post

Yes, probably you can. We have an existing booking for 2014 and we had the offer applied with no problem. Call HAL, and if your sailing qualifies, then they can do it for you right there and then.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

 

Sorry, I don't know how to post as a "quote" but are you booked directly with HAL or do you use an agent? HAL will usually not talk to you if you booked with a TA.

 

Sue - just hit the quote button on the right hand side underneath - and then just reply below the quote:D Whether you booked with HAL or TA the same rules apply and if your cruise is on the list, you should be able to get it (might take some pushing by your TA or you if you booked with HAl)