Does HAL honor price drops?

[michele2travel]

I booked two different cruises while on board the Eurodam in October. Both received the Explore4 promotion. On one of the cruises to Northern Europe, the price has dropped over $500 per person. I am told by my TA that if I were to re-book at the lower price, I would not receive any explore 4 benefits. I don't understand the "re-book" scenario. I am not re-booking anything, I just want the price drop. I have not made final payment yet.

 

Can anyone share their experience or tell me how this all works. I was told when booking that I would receive any price drops until final payment is made. Was I misled?

 

Thanks, Michele

[cruz chic]

That's the problem with the explore 4. Posters were afraid of losing it with price drops. You will likely need to make a decision now.

[Babr]

Re-booking is how you get the price drop. While it is invisible to you, the paperwork is considered to be rebooked at the new price; hence, the Explore 4 is dropped because you are no longer booked under the original terms.

[kazu]

HAL honours the price drops. Just the 'goodies' that were there may not be :)

 

Now, you just need to figure out if the Explore4 is worth it for you or not.

 

If it is not worth the price difference - go for it. If it is - then you have a tough decision to make ;)

[sherilyn70]

I booked two different cruises while on board the Eurodam in October. Both received the Explore4 promotion. On one of the cruises to Northern Europe, the price has dropped over $500 per person. I am told by my TA that if I were to re-book at the lower price, I would not receive any explore 4 benefits. I don't understand the "re-book" scenario. I am not re-booking anything, I just want the price drop. I have not made final payment yet.

 

Price drops are exactly that and come with whatever the current offer is. You would probably get the above and beyond deal instead with the new price, so take into consideration the new benefits and weigh them with the old. For $500/person I personally would do it.

[mollyanne]

Price drops are exactly that and come with whatever the current offer is. You would probably get the above and beyond deal instead with the new price, so take into consideration the new benefits and weigh them with the old. For $500/person I personally would do it.

 

Totally agree - could not drink $1000 for two of us!!

[RuthC]

You either want to keep the current price, with Explore 4, or you want to be "re-fared" to the current (lower) price without Explore 4.

 

The key word is "re-fared". If you rebook, you lose any reservations, shore excursions, etc. you have already made. If you "re-fare" you keep everything in place, and don't have to book things again.

[Typhoon1]

Take your pick. A lower price or Explore 4, Only you can decide.

[Hlitner]

Look at my post under the topic "HAL's latest promo" which is nearby. If the OP is happy to whine about price drops, but refuse to do anything about it,,,,then so be it. Otherwise, just call your TA and ask them to "reprice" your cruise. And if you are one of those folks who booked directly with HAL......well good luck! Decent TAs will advocate for their clients. HAL employees work for HAL!

 

Hank

[lizzies_mom]

We've worked directly with HAL and they have generally given us the lower price with no questions asked. Actually, they told DH the price had dropped when he called to make an additional payment.

 

Despite all the talk on our last cruise about Explore 4 and the drinks you will get, if you are in the Caribbean, you only get $50 pp per seven day cruise. Reservations for the other benefit, the Pinnacle (or Canaletto) dinner, are made by HAL.

[swom]

You either want to keep the current price, with Explore 4, or you want to be "re-fared" to the current (lower) price without Explore 4.

 

The key word is "re-fared". If you rebook, you lose any reservations, shore excursions, etc. you have already made. If you "re-fare" you keep everything in place, and don't have to book things again.

 

I got a price reduction and lost the Explore 4 but gained a lot of money on our cruise, but I had booked a massage for my husband before we got the price reduction. Is his massage still in tact or did I lose it when I rebooked at a lower price?

Thanks!

[regnig]

swom-- did your booking number change? If not it ought to be still there. Have you used HAL's site to check or called 1-800-541-1576 Ship Services as I bet they can also check for you.

[swom]

swom-- did your booking number change? If not it ought to be still there. Have you used HAL's site to check or called 1-800-541-1576 Ship Services as I bet they can also check for you.

 

no it didn't and I did find the massage listed. Sorry, couldn't delete the post.

[sherilyn70]

And if you are one of those folks who booked directly with HAL......well good luck! Decent TAs will advocate for their clients. HAL employees work for HAL!

I'm not sure why you say that. I'm booked through HAL and I called them about a month ago thinking I wanted to do the price drop. I discussed it with them and we got all the way to pulling the trigger and then stopped. They weren't having any issues with giving it to me at my request.

Edited December 28, 2013 by sherilyn70

[OVgirl]

We've worked directly with HAL and they have generally given us the lower price with no questions asked. Actually, they told DH the price had dropped when he called to make an additional payment.

 

Despite all the talk on our last cruise about Explore 4 and the drinks you will get, if you are in the Caribbean, you only get $50 pp per seven day cruise. Reservations for the other benefit, the Pinnacle (or Canaletto) dinner, are made by HAL.

 

On Caribbean cruises you just get one $50 beverage card per cruise regardless of the length (7 days or 21 days).

[regnig]

no it didn't and I did find the massage listed. Sorry, couldn't delete the post.

 

I'm just glad to hear all turned out well.

[swom]

I'm just glad to hear all turned out well.

 

Thank you so much! :)

[Tampa Girl]

You either want to keep the current price, with Explore 4, or you want to be "re-fared" to the current (lower) price without Explore 4.

 

The key word is "re-fared". If you rebook, you lose any reservations, shore excursions, etc. you have already made. If you "re-fare" you keep everything in place, and don't have to book things again.

 

 

Exactly. We re-fared twice for our last TA cruise from Barcelona. Just called our TA, and he sent over a revised invoice. It is not a re-booking, although we did lose our TA's $150 OBC on the last re-faring. Not a problem, since HAL was giving us $300 pp. OBC.

[Cruising-along]

We have always booked directly with HAL and have had no problems, ever, in getting price drops. Very easy. On some cruises we've had several price drops before final payment. One cruise ended up costing less than half the original price. I don't know why someone would think otherwise. :confused:

[lizzies_mom]

On Caribbean cruises you just get one $50 beverage card per cruise regardless of the length (7 days or 21 days).

 

Thanks, must have been a lazy day as I could have checked that, or that OP was on European cruise.

 

Regarding the drink promotions, our trivia teammates told us that at beginning of cruise they had other teammates who decided they needed to drop trivia because they needed more time to drink.

[lindaler]

We book direct through HAL and chose to give up our Explore 4 to save 2k when the price dropped. We have nothing but good to say with those we worked with. When the above and beyond promo started we called and they credited us with the obc as asked and it was easy. However, there is no auto reduction. When the price drops, if you don't ask it won't happen. We have known those who booked and never looked back and never understood how some people got such cheap fares. CC has saved us thousands by their suggestions on what and when to ask HAL for something.

 

Oh, if you drop Explore 4 be sure to get on the Above because if you don't you will have more deposit to pay. They will ask you to pay the full deposit while E4 gave you a 50% reduction. Above also does the 50%.