Explore 4 perks

[chrismch]

On our next cruise we have a 'Signature Beverage Package' which states there is a daily limit of of 15 beverages. I know it has a max price for drinks under $7, but is there only specific places on the ship where it can be used? Is it in the room when we board or do you get it at check in?

 

We also have a complimentary Pinnacle Grill reservation, but we've been told reservations and dining times will be assigned by the ship. Has anyone been able to change the time? We always like dining there the first night.

Edited May 3, 2014 by chrismch

[kjw869]

On our next cruise we have a 'Signature Beverage Package' which states there is a daily limit of of 15 beverages. I know it has a max price for drinks under $7, but is there only specific places on the ship where it can be used? Is it in the room when we board or do you get it at check in?

 

We also have a complimentary Pinnacle Grill reservation, but we've been told reservations and dining times will be assigned by the ship. Has anyone been able to change the time? We always like dining there the first night.

 

We had no problem to have our PG dinners switched to a different day. See the PG Manager a soon as possible to request a different day if you aren't happy with their date and time they assigned.

[POA1]

On our next cruise we have a 'Signature Beverage Package' which states there is a daily limit of of 15 beverages. I know it has a max price for drinks under $7, but is there only specific places on the ship where it can be used? Is it in the room when we board or do you get it at check in?

 

The Signature Beverage Package cards will be in your stateroom. They're good at all the bars, lounges, and dining venues.

 

We put together a little information on it in the following thread. Scroll down to post #351 in the thread for a summary with links to most anything you want to know. If you have additional questions, just post at the end of the thread and someone will answer.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1999316

 

 

Wines and corkage and bars, Oh my! (Signature Beverage Pkg, Beverage Cards & Corkage)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Signature Beverage Card -- be certain that you get it activated before you use it.

Several people here have reported that they were able to get change the date and time of the Pinnacle Grill dinner.

[POA1]

If you want to change the Pinnacle reservation, proceed to the Pinnacle Grill immediately, or at least as soon as you can. With so many people getting a free Pinnacle dinner as part of the Explore 4, there will be limited slots available for movement. We dropped off our carry ons in our room and headed straight there after boarding. We were in a Neptune Suite and were among the first to board. We were also among the first to reach the Pinnacle. Even so, our first choice of times wasn't available.

 

We could have made the change with the Neptune concierge, but experience has shown us that the Pinnacle Grill is the most efficient place to make the changes.

 

Enjoy your trip!

Edited May 3, 2014 by POA1

[Krazy Kruizers]

Plus those of us that are 4 star Mariners also get 2 free Pinnacle dinners.

I have found that it is better to go directly to the Pinnacle to make the extra reservations as the line on embarkation day to see the concierges can be quite long.

[Vict0riann]

Plus those of us that are 4 star Mariners also get 2 free Pinnacle dinners.

I have found that it is better to go directly to the Pinnacle to make the extra reservations as the line on embarkation day to see the concierges can be quite long.

 

KK, I don't see complimentary Pinnacle dinners as perks for 4-star mariners - are you sure you don't mean 5-star? (We just had our Pinnacle dinners at half-price, which is pretty good!) Here's what is on my list:

 

Complimentary laundry and pressing services*

Priority disembarkation*

Priority tender*

Priority check-in*

A 50% discount on specialty restaurant surcharges, wine packages*, beverages in the Explorations Café* and all mini-bar purchases*

A complimentary wine tasting session

Welcome Back Embarkation Lunch in the dining room (from 12:00pm to 1:30pm) as well as a complimentary Mariner Champagne Brunch

A collectible gift presented to you on board

A 15% discount on Holland America Line logo clothing sold in onboard shops (may exclude already discounted merchandise)

A 15% discount on merchandise from http://www.shophollandamerica.com

Discounts on select spa treatments from the Greenhouse Spa & Salon

Early notification of shore excursions available for prebooking**

A complimentary photo of the ship

A special recognition lapel pin

A complimentary one-year subscription to Travel + Leisure or Food & Wine magazine (one per household)

A free subscription to the print or digital** version of Mariner magazine

An annual cruise planner

Advance notice of new itineraries**

Offers to special sailings hosted by a representative of the Mariner Society

Special offers on select sailings

Waiver of air deviation fees*

Complimentary cruise fare on 3rd/4th guest in your stateroom on select sailings

[cooled_pinky]

How and where do you activate the signature beverage card?

[POA1]

How and where do you activate the signature beverage card?

 

It's ready to go when you get it, but it's activated on first use.

[Krazy Kruizers]

KK, I don't see complimentary Pinnacle dinners as perks for 4-star mariners - are you sure you don't mean 5-star? (We just had our Pinnacle dinners at half-price, which is pretty good!) Here's what is on my list:

 

Complimentary laundry and pressing services*

Priority disembarkation*

Priority tender*

Priority check-in*

A 50% discount on specialty restaurant surcharges, wine packages*, beverages in the Explorations Café* and all mini-bar purchases*

A complimentary wine tasting session

Welcome Back Embarkation Lunch in the dining room (from 12:00pm to 1:30pm) as well as a complimentary Mariner Champagne Brunch

A collectible gift presented to you on board

A 15% discount on Holland America Line logo clothing sold in onboard shops (may exclude already discounted merchandise)

A 15% discount on merchandise from www.shophollandamerica.com

Discounts on select spa treatments from the Greenhouse Spa & Salon

Early notification of shore excursions available for prebooking**

A complimentary photo of the ship

A special recognition lapel pin

A complimentary one-year subscription to Travel + Leisure or Food & Wine magazine (one per household)

A free subscription to the print or digital** version of Mariner magazine

An annual cruise planner

Advance notice of new itineraries**

Offers to special sailings hosted by a representative of the Mariner Society

Special offers on select sailings

Waiver of air deviation fees*

Complimentary cruise fare on 3rd/4th guest in your stateroom on select sailings

 

 

Opps -- my mistake

5 Star Mariners get 2 free Pinnacle Dinners.

[Krazy Kruizers]

How and where do you activate the signature beverage card?

 

It's ready to go when you get it, but it's activated on first use.

 

Just remind the person that takes the card that it has to be activated.

They will ask for ID card as well to make certain that the right person is using the card and is having it activated. That is the only time you have to hand over your ID card to get use the Cards.

[POA1]

Just remind the person that takes the card that it has to be activated.

They will ask for ID card as well to make certain that the right person is using the card and is having it activated. That is the only time you have to hand over your ID card to get use the Cards.

 

When you activate the Signature Beverage Package card, they *should* put a little SBP sticker on your room key / ship ID card. This helps to alert a server in case you accidentally hand in your room key instead of the SBP card when you are getting a drink. (It can happen in a dark venue. It has nothing to do with closing in on the 15 drink limit. ;) )

 

DW and I didn't get the stickers for some reason, but DSIL & DBIL did.

Edited May 3, 2014 by POA1

[chrismch]

Can we use the card for cappuccinos, San Pellegrinos and sodas?

 

Does HAL charge for carafes of hot cocoa in the room? We'd like to enjoy it on our balcony in Alaska. .

[POA1]

Can we use the card for cappuccinos, San Pellegrinos and sodas?

 

Does HAL charge for carafes of hot cocoa in the room? We'd like to enjoy it on our balcony in Alaska. .

 

Yes to everything in your first question. You have to go to a bar, the Explorations Cafe (coffee) or dining venue to use your card. It doesn't cover mini bar or room service charges. If you want sodas for the room, ask for them unopened.

 

No, to the cocoa. Just make sure you let them know you want a carafe.

[frankc98376]

If you want to change the Pinnacle reservation, proceed to the Pinnacle Grill immediately, or at least as soon as you can. With so many people getting a free Pinnacle dinner as part of the Explore 4, there will be limited slots available for movement. We dropped off our carry ons in our room and headed straight there after boarding. We were in a Neptune Suite and were among the first to board. We were also among the first to reach the Pinnacle. Even so, our first choice of times wasn't available.

 

We could have made the change with the Neptune concierge, but experience has shown us that the Pinnacle Grill is the most efficient place to make the changes.

 

Enjoy your trip!

 

We have already booked and paid for 8 out of 11 nights in the PG. We plan on heading straight down there when we board to make sure the booking make it to the ship.

 

I've heard some have been told that the ship didn't get the reservations and they would "try to squeeze them in". I'm afraid that if we hear that we will just cancel all and have them "squeeze" $464 back onto our shipboard account.

 

We had a very unpleasant situation last year on board involving our wedding. Hoping no "surprises" this time.

Edited May 4, 2014 by frankc98376

[POA1]

We have already booked and paid for 8 out of 11 nights in the PG. We plan on heading straight down there when we board to make sure the booking make it to the ship.

 

I've heard some have been told that the ship didn't get the reservations and they would "try to squeeze them in". I'm afraid that if we hear that we will just cancel all and have them "squeeze" $464 back onto our shipboard account.

 

We had a very unpleasant situation last year on board involving our wedding. Hoping no "surprises" this time.

 

If you prepaid for the Pinnacle, you probably already chose your dates & times. (I'm assuming that you did, because you can reserve specific dates and times online. If I'm making an incorrect assumption, then you may want to call.) We booked the Pinnacle & the Le Circque dinner ahead of time and they were in the computer already. We had a free Explore 4 PG reservation and one from American Express Platinum. Those were the ones we had to shuffle around. The ones we booked online were fine. We also had to get the PG to take our reservation for two and my wife's brother's reservation for two - and combine them into a four top.

 

The head waiter, not the PG manager was at the computer when we stopped by. He told us that they load the online reservations first and then start filling in the freebies. On our sailing, there were over 900 Explore 4 reservations. On the previous sailing, there were more than 1,200. These were 10 day and 11 day voyages, but that's still a lot of people in the Pinnacle compared to a normal sailing. To be honest, the strain showed. The food was fine, but the pace of service was glacial. (Would have been a better word for an Alaska itinerary. Maybe I should have used "island time" since we were in the Caribbean.)

 

Anyway... I think you'll be fine as long as you selected your reservation slots when you booked. If you do cancel a reservation, they'll credit your account. We canceled Le Cirque when we still weren't seated long after our reservation time. We were afraid of a repeat of the slow service our first night. That, and there were some really vocal, angry people in line with us, fighting with the Maitre d. Slow service, we can stand. P!ssy people just ruin the evening.

Edited May 4, 2014 by POA1

[Krazy Kruizers]

Can we use the card for cappuccinos, San Pellegrinos and sodas?

 

Does HAL charge for carafes of hot cocoa in the room? We'd like to enjoy it on our balcony in Alaska. .

 

The cocoa that you get in the Lido and for room service comes in packets -- it is the instant stuff. No charge for it.

[Krazy Kruizers]

When you activate the Signature Beverage Package card, they *should* put a little SBP sticker on your room key / ship ID card. This helps to alert a server in case you accidentally hand in your room key instead of the SBP card when you are getting a drink. (It can happen in a dark venue. It has nothing to do with closing in on the 15 drink limit. ;) )

 

DW and I didn't get the stickers for some reason, but DSIL & DBIL did.

 

 

We just get the regular Beverage Cards -- and had a real mess with the prepaid ones on our last cruise -- for the first time since this new program started.

[frankc98376]

If you prepaid for the Pinnacle, you probably already chose your dates & times. (I'm assuming that you did, because you can reserve specific dates and times online. If I'm making an incorrect assumption, then you may want to call.) We booked the Pinnacle & the Le Circque dinner ahead of time and they were in the computer already. We had a free Explore 4 PG reservation and one from American Express Platinum. Those were the ones we had to shuffle around. The ones we booked online were fine. We also had to get the PG to take our reservation for two and my wife's brother's reservation for two - and combine them into a four top.

 

The head waiter, not the PG manager was at the computer when we stopped by. He told us that they load the online reservations first and then start filling in the freebies. On our sailing, there were over 900 Explore 4 reservations. On the previous sailing, there were more than 1,200. These were 10 day and 11 day voyages, but that's still a lot of people in the Pinnacle compared to a normal sailing. To be honest, the strain showed. The food was fine, but the pace of service was glacial. (Would have been a better word for an Alaska itinerary. Maybe I should have used "island time" since we were in the Caribbean.)

 

Anyway... I think you'll be fine as long as you selected your reservation slots when you booked. If you do cancel a reservation, they'll credit your account. We canceled Le Cirque when we still weren't seated long after our reservation time. We were afraid of a repeat of the slow service our first night. That, and there were some really vocal, angry people in line with us, fighting with the Maitre d. Slow service, we can stand. P!ssy people just ruin the evening.

 

I agree fully about people throwing fits- makes me nuts.

 

I've seen posts where people have warned that they boarded and their pre-reservations hadn't made to the ship. This is what we dealt with last year with our wedding on board- basically appeared that they had no clue we were coming until we arrived at the pier. We went on with our honeymoon and had a great cruise. We dealt with the issues around the wedding when we got home.

 

If we aren't happy with Pinnacle we will just ask the Concierge to refund the nights and will enjoy Canaletto and MDR- no problem.

After our trip we'd let our PCC know that someone dropped the ball.

 

My "hissy fits" tend to be reserved for offshore call centers that are obviously pretending to listen and care. :D

[POA1]

I agree fully about people throwing fits- makes me nuts.

 

I've seen posts where people have warned that they boarded and their pre-reservations hadn't made to the ship. This is what we dealt with last year with our wedding on board- basically appeared that they had no clue we were coming until we arrived at the pier.

 

Your advance reservations should be in the HAL computer and you should be able to reconfirm them. We print copies of everything and put it in a folder. That way, if something gets messed up, we're playing offense. :)

 

You're smart to book in advance while Explore 4 is in effect.

[ZSandy25]

Just wanted to jump in on this as we were recently on the Veendam, disembarking on April 14. We did have the explore 4 pkg. and the free PG dinner. We had also pre booked a PG and LeCirque dinner.

 

As others have stated we printed off a hard copy of our pre-paid reservation and also our cruise contract with our OBC and amenities we were entitled to.

 

As soon as we boarded we walked to the PG to review our reservations, all was in place and we were informed about our free PG dinner which would have been that night at 5:30. As we are late diners I politely asked if the date and time could be changed stating we were not locked into a date but time was more important. We were given a change in date and time with no hassle. All our credits as mariners were in place on our account.

 

Next your Beverage Card, it will be waiting in your cabin. I only had one problem with mine on day 2 when the card would not read but a quick trip to the front desk to have it reset put me in motion again.:)

 

I really enjoyed the card and it worked out great for us, there is a 5 min. wait time to order another drink. I enjoyed a special lemonade drink in the afternoon and wanted an extra shot of Vodka, so I ordered my drink first and had it prepared, then I ordered my DH is girly Mai Tia:) and then asked for another shot to be put into my drink, it all worked out just right!

 

The only time we paid for anything was during the transit of the canal. They had a beverage trolley on deck and DH got a cold beer, they were not able to process his card.

 

Almost forgot, I am a big water drinker and there will be two big bottles of water in your cabin. When I got my special coffee in the morning I also got a big bottle of water to replace what I drank so as not to be charged.

 

We really enjoyed our cruise, I know the ship was going in for her R & R after our cruise, it would be fun to have boarded again to pick out the changes. Yes, there were a few "tired" areas but it didn't deter from the great time we had.

 

I will also point out an area that I noticed right away and not to stir up a hornets nest it is about smoking....:eek:

 

We had a lanai cabin and there had been talk about smoking on the starboard etc. The first thing I noticed was there were no ash trays on the rails anywhere, as we entered and left from our cabin I didn't notice the sign on every door leading to the deck that stated the lower prom was NOT a smoking deck and pointed out where one could go indulge.

 

Enjoy your cruise!!! I sure enjoyed opening our final statement and saw our balance:):)

[brazilgirl]

I don't want to stir up any hornets nest or seem like I am trying to " work the system" , becuase that is certainly not the case. Just an honest question.

We are not drinkers. I very , very rarely have a cocktail , or maybe a coffee drink. We have a group of 4 , two of whom will have the Explore4 Beverage Card on our upcoming Alaska cruise. I am wondering if I can use my beverage card to order soft drinks for my children at dinner with my card. There is no way I will come close to the allotted amount on our cruise and it woukd be nice to be able to order their soft drinks.

 

Thank you.

 

Kim

[Krazy Kruizers]

I don't want to stir up any hornets nest or seem like I am trying to " work the system" , becuase that is certainly not the case. Just an honest question.

We are not drinkers. I very , very rarely have a cocktail , or maybe a coffee drink. We have a group of 4 , two of whom will have the Explore4 Beverage Card on our upcoming Alaska cruise. I am wondering if I can use my beverage card to order soft drinks for my children at dinner with my card. There is no way I will come close to the allotted amount on our cruise and it woukd be nice to be able to order their soft drinks.

 

Thank you.

 

Kim

 

 

You can use the ordinary Beverage Card (no discount on it) to order any kind of drink, sodas, bottled water, coffees, bottles of wine, etc.

There is a soda card:

$50.00 Soda Card cost $25.00

The ships have now changed from giving you a can to just about 6 ounces of fountain soda.

Your soda card is charged $1.50 + 15% gratuity ($0.23) for a total of $1.73 for each “glass” of soda.

 

Without a soda card, you can buy a “can” of soda for $1.95 + 15% gratuity ($0.30) for a total of $2.25 per can.

[POA1]

I don't want to stir up any hornets nest or seem like I am trying to " work the system" , becuase that is certainly not the case. Just an honest question.

We are not drinkers. I very , very rarely have a cocktail , or maybe a coffee drink. We have a group of 4 , two of whom will have the Explore4 Beverage Card on our upcoming Alaska cruise. I am wondering if I can use my beverage card to order soft drinks for my children at dinner with my card. There is no way I will come close to the allotted amount on our cruise and it woukd be nice to be able to order their soft drinks.

 

Thank you.

 

Kim

 

Why not order yourself a soda and share it with your children? (Yes, this will open something up. More of a bee's bonnet than a hornet's nest though. :) )

[brazilgirl]

I will order myself a soda and share it with my kids then. I will have a $50 a day beverage card to use , of which I will , in my estimate , use max $20 dollars. My 2 kids will be staying in the Neptune Suite with me . It would be far more useful if they offered a fixed amount per stateroom as a perk to be used as the occupants see fit. And far healthier than consuming $50 of any beverages by one person a day .....

 

Oh well , I don't want to stir any pots. Lol! Will order a can and several glasses of ice at dinner and will still probably be under the $50. [emoji12][emoji12]