Holland America to Introduce a New Promotion Called Explore4

[whogo]

Check back on July 29th, I probably was a bit premature in posting :o This is not Officially Lauching till July 29th. Just wanted to give everyone a heads up ;)

Hi Lisa - interesting stuff, but my TA tells me this was given out to TAs on the 23rd and is not supposed to go public until the 29th. Oops:(

I received the explore4 catalog yesterday. The word is out.

 

Paraphrasing some of the small print: [Offer] available to recipients of this mailing only, ID number required at booking. 2013 December holiday sailings and select 2014 sailings. Can not combine with shipboard credit offers. Reduced deposit available for new bookings only. Offers are capacity controlled and may be withdrawn at any time. Limits on beverages consumed and no sharing. More.

[Hlitner]

Very interesting promotion. We much complement HA in trying to copy a similar, very successful, promotion offered by Celebrity for quite a while. But we should note that Celebrity seems to attract a slightly younger cruiser then HA and those folks do enjoy drinking and staying awake past 10pm. If HA couples this type of promotion with some evening entertainment, brings back some decent bands (the HAL Cats try hard but that is not always enough) and perhaps even does a late night comedy show they might attract some new and younger customers.

 

Hank

[lovetocruise2020]

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

 

Finally something that comes close. But no Caribbean!!!??? That does not help us lol. Such a shame...

 

Just saw last (2) True Blood last night. Boy am I glad I waited to watch them both! Wowzer. thought of you, I was omg what does LAFFN think? LOL!

Edited July 25, 2013 by surfergirle

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Finally something that comes close. But no Caribbean!!!??? That does not help us lol. Such a shame...

 

Just saw last (2) True Blood last night. Boy am I glad I waited to watch them both! Wowzer. thought of you, I was omg what does LAFFN think? LOL!

I cannot believe you waited to watch the two together, I can barely wait till Sunday night :D There is so much happening right now. But I cheered at the begining of this past Sundays with what Pam and Eric did. And was rather shocked with what Bill did :eek:

[pms4104]

To my understanding Mariner status will not matter this will be for everyone but it will be on selected sailings. Ao the itinerary and Rate Code will determine if they qualify.

 

If one is able to get this promotion added to an existing 2014 sailing at current pricing, is it likely that one can still take advantage of any price drops that may occur before sailing?

 

Based on LAFFNGAS' comment, I would think that price drops likely would be a different rate code, one that doesn't qualify for the Explore4 promo. My guess is that if one books under this promo and notices a price drop, they will have to choose between keeping the Explore4 promo or getting the lower price. Further up in this thread, she seemed to indicate that it may not apply to significantly reduced rates, more to slightly discounted fares ... if I interpreted it correctly.

[pms4104]

It'll be interesting to learn how this offering works in practice, particularly for the free meals in the Pinnacle and Canaletto. Mariners at 3- and 4-star already get deep discounts in these venues, and 5-star get two free dinners per person. Further, some T/A's gift these dinners to clients. Should make for fully booked nights in both areas, and many passengers disappointed because they are unable to get reservations.

 

With this promo, oceanview and above get free Pinnacle ... how many passengers is that? Is HAL planning to enlarge the Pinnacle to accommodate people being offered discounted and free meals there, as well as those paying full boat for the dining experience?

[luv2cruisenz]

Just got the email about this from our TA, but it said it was a limited offer and ends 15 October? They gave me the list of valid cruises in a PDF if you want it.

[bachcruise]

You got my attention..thank you for sharing this. I'm very interested to see which cruises qualify and how it will impact the fares.

[lovetocruise2020]

I cannot believe you waited to watch the two together, I can barely wait till Sunday night :D There is so much happening right now. But I cheered at the begining of this past Sundays with what Pam and Eric did. And was rather shocked with what Bill did :eek:

 

RIGHT! And Poor Poor Jessica! OMG. She will never get over the faries.

I am so shocked.

[leonidas]

Thank you for sharing.

 

I wonder which sailings apply for this offer....

[luv2cruisenz]

Hi, here is the list of cruises I got emailed that are valid for this offer.

Explore4_Master_List_USD_072413.pdf

[leonidas]

Hi, here is the list of cruises I got emailed that are valid for this offer.

 

Thank you for the list. Our 21 day collectors cruise is on that list. Does that mean I can call Ship Services and ask for it after July 29th??

 

Please advice,

Thanks,

Gina

Edited July 25, 2013 by leonidas

[kazu]

Hi, here is the list of cruises I got emailed that are valid for this offer.

 

Thanks Fiona :):)

[Mar56]

I received the explore4 catalog yesterday. The word is out.

 

Paraphrasing some of the small print: [Offer] available to recipients of this mailing only, ID number required at booking. 2013 December holiday sailings and select 2014 sailings. Can not combine with shipboard credit offers. Reduced deposit available for new bookings only. Offers are capacity controlled and may be withdrawn at any time. Limits on beverages consumed and no sharing. More.

 

So, the small print says "available to recipients of this mailing only". My cruise is on the list posted above but I didnt get the mailing so does that mean I wouldn't qualify?

[sail7seas]

So, the small print says "available to recipients of this mailing only". My cruise is on the list posted above but I didnt get the mailing so does that mean I wouldn't qualify?

 

 

Maybe? Probably?

I certainly would ask and try to be persuasive.

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

It is interesting.

But I do see problems. Especially with the Pinnacle Grill.

As 5 star Mariners we are entitled to 2 free Pinnacle dinners each. And HAL now is going to start a new program giving away more free Pinnacle dinners.

So with some people pre-booking the Pinnacle -- and 5 star Mariners and this new program entitled to free dinners -- and the Pinnacle limiting the number of people that can eat there -- it will be hard to get our free dinner reservations.

On our last cruise we also noticed that the staff had been cut back in the Pinnacle.

[kazu]

It is interesting.

But I do see problems. Especially with the Pinnacle Grill.

As 5 star Mariners we are entitled to 2 free Pinnacle dinners each. And HAL now is going to start a new program giving away more free Pinnacle dinners.

So with some people pre-booking the Pinnacle -- and 5 star Mariners and this new program entitled to free dinners -- and the Pinnacle limiting the number of people that can eat there -- it will be hard to get our free dinner reservations.

On our last cruise we also noticed that the staff had been cut back in the Pinnacle.

 

Here's my suggestion Yonnie - I have had 'free' pinnacle grill dinners before or gotten them as gifts when I got on board.

 

I still book on line so I have the dates I want. When I go to the PG I tell them I have a gift - give them the gift card (they don't even need it - they usually know) and they credit me back with obc for the price of the PG dinner:D

 

I know it means you are pre-paying, but it has worked well for me:D

 

I would think as a 5* you could do this too!

Edited July 25, 2013 by kazu

[Krazy Kruizers]

Jacqui

I have thought of that -- but we get so much shipboard credit -- that getting another $150 -- doubt if we could use it up. And on the last morning -- it gets hectic for us to leave the ship -- especially since I now have to report to a certain lounge at a certain time.

With HAL giving away so many free dinners between 2 programs -- I can see that prices for cabins will be increased to cover all these freebees.

[Randyk47]

I kind of hesitate to say this and be the piece of poo on the incoming tide of the ocean of joy but I don't see this program as much, at least not for us. The only HAL cruises we're watching are potentially Prinsendam cruises so the reduced deposit might, or might not, apply but that's about it. :(

[sail7seas]

It is interesting.

 

But I do see problems. Especially with the Pinnacle Grill.

 

As 5 star Mariners we are entitled to 2 free Pinnacle dinners each. And HAL now is going to start a new program giving away more free Pinnacle dinners.

 

So with some people pre-booking the Pinnacle -- and 5 star Mariners and this new program entitled to free dinners -- and the Pinnacle limiting the number of people that can eat there -- it will be hard to get our free dinner reservations.

 

On our last cruise we also noticed that the staff had been cut back in the Pinnacle.

 

Of course, they won't be able to accomodate all the free and discount Pinnacle dinners they now are promising. They will be saying 'so sorry' quite a lot I suspect. If they give all these free meals, there will be very few people paying for dinner in Pinnacle. Only so many tables and so many people they can serve so lots of those free offers will go unused due to lack of availability.

 

They have promised discounts to three and four star Mariners and free dinners to five star Mariners and now they have this new free offer.

 

 

 

Here's my suggestion Yonnie - I have had 'free' pinnacle grill dinners before or gotten them as gifts when I got on board.

 

I still book on line so I have the dates I want. When I go to the PG I tell them I have a gift - give them the gift card (they don't even need it - they usually know) and they credit me back with obc for the price of the PG dinner:D

 

I know it means you are pre-paying, but it has worked well for me:D

 

I would think as a 5* you could do this too!

 

 

We have done that and never had to say anything. Pinnacle Manager always commented at some point they knew we had a gift and it had been applied for our dinner.

 

[whogo]

Explore4 is capacity controlled. None of us knows how many or how few cruisers will qualify for this promotion. None of us knows how this will affect Pinnacle Grill dining. Personally, this promotion is worth less than $50 to me. I assume I would find an on board credit worth promotion more than Explore4. My Explore4 pricing on a seven day cruise:

 

$25 alcohol

$23 specialty restaurant dinner

$00 Free 3rd/4th guest

$00 reduced deposit

$48 Total

[RuthC]

Hi, here is the list of cruises I got emailed that are valid for this offer.

Thank you for the list. Happily, I found that all of my '14 cruises are listed!

I'm more than a little surprised, as I usually get the short end of the stick on things like this. :D

[sail7seas]

Thank you for the list. Happily, I found that all of my '14 cruises are listed!

I'm more than a little surprised, as I usually get the short end of the stick on things like this. :D

 

 

That is good news for you, Ruth. Along with your Five Star Pinnacle free dinners, you'll have another.

 

Enjoy! :)

 

[RuthC]

That is good news for you, Ruth. Along with your Five Star Pinnacle free dinners, you'll have another.

 

Enjoy! :)

 

That will be nice on the two longer cruises. But one of the cruises is only a week, and three Pinnacle dinners in one week is at least one too many for me. I can only eat so much before it is no fun anymore.

I like to keep Pinnacle to about once per week, which leaves it in the "special" category. On my recent 1-week Maasdam cruise I left one of the free Pinnacle dinners unused.

[HokiePoq]

Check back on July 29th, I probably was a bit premature in posting :o This is not Officially Lauching till July 29th. Just wanted to give everyone a heads up ;)

 

Thanks. Hadn't heard about this or ever seen it before for HAL.