HAL overcharging Australian passengers

[baytraller]

I have been receiving Cruise Critic price drop emails

 

But for some time felt that these price reductions were not always applied in Australia

 

If you are an Australian you are not allowed to book with a TA in the US

 

You have to book with HAL Australia or with a TA who deals with HAL Australia

 

In February we booked a cruise on the Prinsendam, 28 days starting 21st September 2014.

 

The price in Australian dollars for Category D was $5989 per/person

 

We later cancelled that cruise because the second part visited Ukraine

 

We booked the 28 days starting the 7th September and ending 5th of October cruise on the Prinsendam

 

We monitor the Roll Call for the 21st September as this forms part of our new cruise

 

7 days ago US passengers posted that their cruise fare for Category D had been reduced by $500 per/person

 

The new fare including port costs is $4987 USA dollars per/person

 

The current fare on the HAL Australian web site is still $5989 per/person

 

$4987 US dollars at today's exchange rate is $5344 Australan dollars per/person

 

This is a total of $1290 above what the fare should be in Australian dollars

 

Have sent an email about this issue several days ago to HAL but have not received a reply

 

How many price reductions are not being passed on Australian passengers is unclear

 

Passengers who book in other countries may have the same issue

 

If HAL Australia does not keep prices in line with the US, then we should be allowed to book via a US TA

 

We regard the current policy as disgraceful and are considering cancelling our HAL cruise

[Theodorable]

I thought that all Australian purchased cruises included the gratuities and that is why the price is more!

[Bescotti]

Sometimes HAL Australia has better prices than offered to US passengers - it all depends on the cruise.

 

I paid less last year for a 24 night Med cruise than US passengers and I received 3 price drops and ended up being upgraded to a balcony. I have now booked a 37 night Med/TA later this year. I am paying the single supplement and in a D ocean view the Aussie fare is $1,600 cheaper ($7,270 compared to $8,600 + taxes in the US when converted to AUD rates). When you look at the SY fare then I am paying just over $3,000 less as a solo passenger.

 

I've found that sometimes I've paid a lot more than North Americans but for the cruises I'm choosing now I have no complaints. I just think of it as 'swings and roundabouts'.

 

Maybe if you are that unhappy it might be worth looking at other options around the same time.

 

And no, HAL Australia does not include the daily hotel charge tips in our fares. We are charged onboard the same as other passengers.

[baytraller]

Just phoned HAL Australia, they say that gratuities are not included

[Vict0riann]

In February we took a 28-day cruise in Asia with my Australian SIL and her hubby. Last year (before final payment, I think it was) we noticed a significant price drop, which our TA got for us - when we told SIL, she went to her Australian TA, and they got an even better price reduction than we did. So sometimes, sales do make it to Australia.

[wander]

It is similar to the fact that sometimes folks in a certain part of the US can get a better price than the rest of the country. Maybe it does not seem fair - but who can benefit does vary widely.

[Seaspray8]

Baytraller - agree with you absolutely. We were considering a Baltic cruise in June this year but discovered the US price was 62% cheaper than that offered to Australians. As a point of principle we wont book with a company who discriminates against any particular sector and who also stipulate where passengers are permitted to book.

HAL seems to have only recently joined this Carnival "policy" - what a shame!

As the internet further entrenches one world- one pricing, some cruise companies need to join the rest of us in the 21st century.

[Stratheden]

Could have something to do with Cost of Living in Australia being 32.48% higher than USA.

[DeeBee76]

I thought gratuities were included, if not it will cost us another $US672 a day which will probably be around $AU1000. That is a huge add on.

Any Aussie who have cruised before? Did you have to pay on top of the fare?

Edited April 19, 2014 by DeeBee76

[Seaspray8]

Normally gratuities are not included in the cruise fare - however some Australian TAs add it to the initial invoice and request prepayment, and some cruise lines occasionally include them as a sale perk.

Check your invoice and it should clearly detail whether gratuities have been included or paid. If not you should expect to find it on your account at the end of the cruise.

Australian TAs have recently won an industry decision to allow passengers leaving from Australian ports to decline automatic gratuities - although in effect most cruise lines will not add auto gratuities if the request is made at the beginning of the cruise.

Personally I prefer the automatic gratuity system and just budget accordingly -previously one had always to have cash handy which was a pain.

[BumperII]

I thought gratuities were included, if not it will cost us another $US672 a day which will probably be around $AU1000. That is a huge add on.

Any Aussie who have cruised before? Did you have to pay on top of the fare?

 

You might want to check those numbers. Gratuities are renamed hotel service charge and are usually $11.50 to $12.00 per day per person.

 

The fair market value of anything is that number where you have a willing buyer and a willing seller. That number is constantly changing. Right now we have two cruises booked. One price went down by $3000, and the other increased by $4000.

 

For us at least, the price of a cruise has nothing to do with how much one will enjoy the experience. Our all time best cruise experience was booked at a bargain basement price offered three weeks before the cruise for an inside cabin.

[DeeBee76]

Oops sorry the figures are for the cruise not per day. Gosh if they were per day I would need another job lol

 

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[Bescotti]

I thought gratuities were included, if not it will cost us another $US672 a day which will probably be around $AU1000. That is a huge add on.

Any Aussie who have cruised before? Did you have to pay on top of the fare?

 

I've booked through both TAs and direct with HAL Australia and have never had the hotel service charge included or prepaid.

[senorjim]

I believe it is market pricing. I met an Australian couple on my last cruise who use a friends USA address and a USA travel agent.

Also at dinner one evening the pricing conversation got real interesting. There was a Canadian man travelling solo who paid a 40% single supplement and an American woman who was also travelling solo who paid a 100% single supplement.

 

 

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[Beejay4016]

I thought gratuities were included, if not it will cost us another $US672 a day which will probably be around $AU1000. That is a huge add on.

Any Aussie who have cruised before? Did you have to pay on top of the fare?

 

We did a cruise on the Volendam last year and had to pay gratuities. They were charged to our final account. I don't really have a problem with that. I think that the P&O Australia cruises have gratuities included or they are optional, but that is certainly not the case with overseas lines such as HAL. It's just one of those things you have to allow for in the cost of the trip, although on the Volendam there was the option of removing the gratuities totally so that people could simply choose not to pay them. I think that when you find a cruise where gratuities are "included", they are really factored into the fare anyway. Enjoy your cruise.

Edited April 19, 2014 by Beejay4016

[Hlitner]

We have a good Aussie friend (from Cairns) who does a lot of cruising on HAL. He often books his cruises using a Canadian address (that belongs to another friend) in order to get the North American promotions and pricing.

 

Hank

[GeriatricNurse]

We have a good Aussie friend (from Cairns) who does a lot of cruising on HAL. He often books his cruises using a Canadian address (that belongs to another friend) in order to get the North American promotions and pricing.

 

Hank

 

Is that being honest & is it legal? :confused:

[Hlitner]

Is that being honest & is it legal? :confused:

 

Knowing him as well as we do we are sure that he would say to you (while sipping a beer) that you are welcome to investigate that issue while he counts his savings (most of which he spends at the bar on the ship). This man spends as much as half the year on HAL so his savings are substantial. And I am sure the bar managers are very happy to see him aboard.

 

Hank:D

Edited April 19, 2014 by Hlitner

[woodyren]

I am an Aussie. The way I see it is that I am a customer of the cruise company and (should) have the right to purchase a product from any location I wish and for what I consider the best value available. The internet has made many more products and prices available to me. The fact that Hal and Princess (among others) have put limits on my ability to shop around has been a simple problem to overcome. I just take my business elsewhere and book with cruise lines that allow me to use a TA from anywhere in the world if I chose.

The added advantage I get from this is that there are more flexible cancellation and change policies along with (usually) additional perks provided by the USA TA I use. These often come from their volume sales by way of a reduced commission I believe. I don't need much service from them as I do all the research and price monitoring myself so they only need to answer a few emails, flick me a little extra incentive and pass on the booking. The downside is that there are not the protections built in that are covered by Aussie consumer laws but as I use my Amex card for payment it covers those things.

Edited April 19, 2014 by woodyren

[Aussiepair]

If you do some research on some of the larger US TA's you will see that some last minute offers from HAL for US citizens can be half the cost offered to Australians.

 

The fact that most times we have much larger airfares to get to the cruise ports is not taken into consideration unfortunately.

 

Not only do we get squeezed on the fares we also get no consideration when it comes to cabin allocation. On a recent Baltic cruise on the Rotterdam we were given a known problem cabin despite the fact that we had paid full fare and were 3 star mariners. Cruisers that paid less than half of our fare were given cabin upgrades.

 

I just did a quick search for a 7 day Alaskan cruise on a HAL ship. For an ocean view cabin there are numerous offers on a US site for $499 US. On a leading Australian site for the same cruise an ocean view cabin will cost us a minimum of $1210 US with most costing more.

[Baynanno1]

I totally agree with Baytraller's comments about price inequality.

 

We are booked on a 28 day cruise on Prinsendam, starting 10 August.

 

Current price in U.S.A. is US$5112 for the cabin category we have booked.

 

That equates to A$5478 on current exchange rates.

 

HAL Australia's price ... A$6438 ... A$960 per person more than U.S. price!

 

:confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

[markarmel]

Hello. We are on Nieuw Amsterdam in June. We booked this cruise directly through HAL and gratuities are definitely not included in the price they give you. I believe it is around $11.00 per day per passenger which will be added to your on board account.

[Baynanno1]

Thanks markarmel ... we know the US$12 per person per day gratuities are not included in the cruise price.

 

What we are comparing is like with like ... cost of the cruise in USA compared to cost of the cruise in Australia.

Edited April 21, 2014 by Baynanno1

[woodyren]

I have not cruised on HAL but I do not understand why Aussies would not just cruise with Celebrity, RCCL, NCL for USA or European destinations. (I think the local NZ and Pacific Is are close to the same price) Those companies do allow you to use overseas agents without having a U.S address. Surely they offer comparable standards and itineraries to HAL at a much better rate (compared to the Aussie price). I have heard that Princess may now be allowing this and if so they will be back on my list.

 

This would put the pressure back onto the cruise lines to either get rid of the policy OR offer the local TA's the same deal as the USA based ones.

Edited April 21, 2014 by woodyren

[Stratheden]

At the moment I have no particular wish to travel on any other cruise line other than HAL. I am in my comfort zone there. We have a Princess cruise on hold at the moment for Sept, 2015 but I am very close to cancelling it. I just can't get enthused about it.