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Holland America to Introduce a New Promotion Called Explore4

LAFFNVEGAS

By LAFFNVEGAS,
in Holland America Line

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VioletHorse

VioletHorse

Posted
Posted
I think this offer signals the end of bringing unlimited wine and possibly even soft drinks on board.

 

We're going to take away your unlimited wine but we're giving you this.

 

According to the Explore4 catalog, the promotion is valid only on certain sailings and must be booked by August 31, 2013. From what I can see, the applicable cruises are no bargains price-wise. I'd bet that this is a way to test the waters regarding a new type of promotion which in the long run is much cheaper than offering OBC or reduced fares.

 

The unlimited wine and soft drinks policy is a separate issue, but I have a feeling that it's going to be changed no matter what promotion is in effect.

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OVgirl

OVgirl

Posted
Posted (edited)
So let me get this straight:

 

If you sail anywhere other than the Caribbean or Mexico (or the land portion of Alaska cruisetours) you get a Signature Beverage Package that's worth $100/day per cabin for what I assume is the duration of the cruise (which could be at least a $700 value), but for the aforementioned exceptions all you get is one beverage card worth a maximum of $100 for the entire cruise?

 

Such a huge difference in value! Have bookings been so soft for the other itineraries where they're offering the Signature Beverage Package that they're trying to entice new ones with a much better offer than the Caribbean, Mexico and Alaska land itineraries?

 

I wonder if you have booked a Collectors Cruise in the Caribbean, will you get the promo (ie$50 bev. card pp) for each of the 10/11 day segments? Maybe I should give them a call.

 

Just gave HAL a call and the Explore4 pricing is higher than what we paid when we booked in March, so no value for us. Too bad.

Edited by OVgirl
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Krazy Kruizers

Krazy Kruizers

Posted
Posted
Maybe I misunderstood the plan (European or Caribbean - notice there isn't Canada/NE ;) ), but the beverage card has a limit. DH's drink wouldn't even be included. We hardly drink soda. The card wouldn't be useful for us given the conditions set forth.

 

 

If you open that link provided on the first page -- there are quite a few Canada/New England cruises offered.

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sail7seas

sail7seas

Posted
Posted
Hi,

 

Canada/New England including Maasdam & Veendam 2014 are included on the enclosure that someone attached. I didn't see Asia.

 

Also, I thought it was up to $100.00 per cabin (or $50.00 per person) per day. That would cover something.

 

 

Didn't they put a $7 limit on the price of the drink you can order?

 

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LVSue

LVSue

Posted
Posted

Actually, my TA notified me yesterday that she had booked this for us, so 8 posted it on our roll call, but didn't think of the main section. Duh!

 

The beverage card part is hard to figure: $50/pp/day sounds great, but drinks are limited to $7 and only 15/ day? Anyone know where we can find a wine by glass menu or drink menu? It seems to me my favorite cocktail is $6.50 or so.

 

Coffee and water would be nice.

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Jade13

Jade13

Posted
Posted (edited)
Actually, my TA notified me yesterday that she had booked this for us, so 8 posted it on our roll call, but didn't think of the main section. Duh!

 

The beverage card part is hard to figure: $50/pp/day sounds great, but drinks are limited to $7 and only 15/ day? Anyone know where we can find a wine by glass menu or drink menu? It seems to me my favorite cocktail is $6.50 or so.

 

Coffee and water would be nice.

 

Someone needs to post the drink menu so people can see what is available. Celebrity also has a limit but they do sell an upgraded package (and allowed those with their promo to pay the differance for the upgraded package), and those with the "Premium Package" can pay the differance on drinks but those with the "Standard Package" can not pay the differance on the higher end drinks such as all the fancy martini drinks that are $12.00.

 

So, it is hard to know yet what HAL is planning. My guess is it would at least cover the standard red wine, white wine, and sparking wine.

Edited by Jade13
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cruz chic

cruz chic

Posted
Posted
Actually, my TA notified me yesterday that she had booked this for us, so 8 posted it on our roll call, but didn't think of the main section. Duh!

 

The beverage card part is hard to figure: $50/pp/day sounds great, but drinks are limited to $7 and only 15/ day? Anyone know where we can find a wine by glass menu or drink menu? It seems to me my favorite cocktail is $6.50 or so.

 

Coffee and water would be nice.

 

Only 15 drinks a day:eek:. How much can a person drink:D.

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VioletHorse

VioletHorse

Posted
Posted (edited)
I would really like to know what Ship Board credits prevent anyone from being able to get special perks with Explorer4.

 

This doesn't answer your question directly, but I think it means that you cannot combine multiple promo codes. Earlier this week we received a mailing from HAL listed as "Fall Suite Steals". Book a suite and receive up to $500 shipboard credit per stateroom. The offer is not combinable with other shipboard credit offers, and is offered on selected sailings for new bookings only.

 

No double dipping allowed!

Edited by VioletHorse
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Krazy Kruizers

Krazy Kruizers

Posted
Posted
This doesn't answer your question directly, but I think it means that you cannot combine multiple promo codes. Earlier this week we received a mailing from HAL listed as "Fall Suite Steals". Book a suite and receive up to $500 shipboard credit per stateroom. The offer is not combinable with other shipboard credit offers, and is offered on selected sailings for new bookings only.

 

No double dipping allowed!

 

Thank you

We book cruises many months in advance of sailing -- thus no sales for us. And the categories we book never seem to go on sale.

I am wondering if AMEX Platinum shipboard credits and Carnival stock shipboard credits would exclude us from the Explorer4 deals.

I appreciate you answering me.

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Cruising-along

Cruising-along

Posted
Posted
Thank you

 

We book cruises many months in advance of sailing -- thus no sales for us. And the categories we book never seem to go on sale.

 

I am wondering if AMEX Platinum shipboard credits and Carnival stock shipboard credits would exclude us from the Explorer4 deals.

 

I appreciate you answering me.

 

I don't know about AMEX OBC, but this is snipped from the email I got today from our PCC:

(this is what we have)

 

It is combinable with the onboard credit you already had.

This means it’s combinable with:

· Carnival Shareholders Onboard Credit

· Welcome Home Onboard Credit

· Future Cruise Deposit Onboard Credit

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VioletHorse

VioletHorse

Posted
Posted
Thank you

 

We book cruises many months in advance of sailing -- thus no sales for us. And the categories we book never seem to go on sale.

 

I am wondering if AMEX Platinum shipboard credits and Carnival stock shipboard credits would exclude us from the Explorer4 deals.

 

I appreciate you answering me.

 

I'm guessing that the external OBC that you receive from AMEX and the shareholder credit are not considered to be shipboard credit per se, as you don't book those with a promo code. Now if you can find a new sailing with the Explore4 promotion, you should be able to get it.

 

When we book a cruise through our TA and there is OBC, I always ask if that OBC is from the cruise line or from the TA as we had a problem on Carnival with the OBC from the TA posting to our account on the interactive TV display. We found out that the TA OBC only posted to a printed version of our account and not the interactive version, and that was their procedure. The world of OBC is not quite as cut and dried as we'd like to think, and every cruise line has their own way of handling it.

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cruz chic

cruz chic

Posted
Posted
I don't know about AMEX OBC, but this is snipped from the email I got today from our PCC:

(this is what we have)

 

It is combinable with the onboard credit you already had.

This means it’s combinable with:

· Carnival Shareholders Onboard Credit

· Welcome Home Onboard Credit

· Future Cruise Deposit Onboard Credit

 

Thanks, good to know.

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Stormsam

Stormsam

Posted
Posted

We booked our 2014 Alaska cruise around a month ago through HAL and I called them to ask them about this today. They immediately rebooked us under this promo with the $100 per stateroom per day beverage credit and the free dinner in one of the specialty restaurants. We couldn't be happier. We were looking into purchasing the beverage package at $39.95 per day so this will cover that plus we can use it for coffee/sodas ect. Really happy with this. :)

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cruz chic

cruz chic

Posted
Posted
You dweebs! I was thinking coffee and water, and likewise questioned the limit of 15. After all, 15 x 7 is $105, far exceeding the $50 promo.

 

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

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