Free Signature Beverage Package

[Avril]

We booked our New Years cruise on the Eurodam during a sale that includes a free Signature Beverage Package if you book an oceanview or higher (we booked a balcony). :D The HAL agent we booked with confirmed that it was part of the sale and on our reservation. However, it's not listed anywhere on our confirmation (not sure about our boarding docs, haven't done or online check in yet) so I'm a bit worried. My question is, how does HAL know we're supposed to get the cards and how do we go about getting them when we get to the ship? Also, will each of us in the cabin get a card or because it's a free card promotion, will it be 1 card per cabin (there are 2 of us in the cabin)? I hope these questions makes sense.

 

Thanks!! :D

Edited August 31, 2014 by Avril

[PathfinderEss]

When you print out the cruise doc's, on one of the many pages there should be the package deal for your cruise. If this is an 'Explore 4' promotion you should get one card each for the beverage part of the promotion. You should find them on your bed when you arrive. Take them to one of the bar's to get them activated.

When printing out your doc's, I usually only print out the first page and then find which other page that mentions your package and print it out. Usually there is no problem with Hal knowing what you get but just in case it doesn't hurt to have a copy of it.

[Alberta Quilter]

Check your confirmation again. It may be on a subsequent page. At least, that's what some have reported here.

 

You'll both get a card.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Whenever we are due anything special, our TA makes certain that it is included with our confirmation papers.

[Bob7]

We booked our New Years cruise on the Eurodam during a sale that includes a free Signature Beverage Package if you book an oceanview or higher (we booked a balcony). :D The HAL agent we booked with confirmed that it was part of the sale and on our reservation. However, it's not listed anywhere on our confirmation (not sure about our boarding docs, haven't done or online check in yet) so I'm a bit worried. My question is, how does HAL know we're supposed to get the cards and how do we go about getting them when we get to the ship? Also, will each of us in the cabin get a card or because it's a free card promotion, will it be 1 card per cabin (there are 2 of us in the cabin)? I hope these questions makes sense.

 

Thanks!! :D

Hey fellow Canuck, we're thinking of doing this cruise too, wondered if you booked directly with HAL or a TA to get the bev package?

-Bob

[Avril]

When you print out the cruise doc's, on one of the many pages there should be the package deal for your cruise. If this is an 'Explore 4' promotion you should get one card each for the beverage part of the promotion. You should find them on your bed when you arrive. Take them to one of the bar's to get them activated.

When printing out your doc's, I usually only print out the first page and then find which other page that mentions your package and print it out. Usually there is no problem with Hal knowing what you get but just in case it doesn't hurt to have a copy of it.

 

Thanks so much!! :D I'll defiantly check our docs once I get our online check in finished. I always print out the entire doc (every page) just to be sure I don't miss anything. It's better to have too much paperwork than not enough (IMO). What so we do if they're not on our beds when we get there? Go to any of the bars onboard, show our paperwork to prove we're supposed to have them, and ask for them?

 

What's Explore 4? Not sure if that's what we have or not. Mom got an email advertising the sale and it said something like "Book an Oceanview cabin or higher and receive a free Signature Beverage Package". Something like that anyway.

 

I'm really excited to try out the package, I've never had anything like it on a cruise before!! :D

 

Hey fellow Canuck, we're thinking of doing this cruise too, wondered if you booked directly with HAL or a TA to get the bev package?

-Bob

 

Hey Bob!! Where in Canada are you from? We live in Burlington, Ontario. We got an email from HAL advertising the sale (and the promotion for the free package). We booked directly through HAL. I hope to see you onboard, it's gonna be a blast!! :D

[Alberta Quilter]

Explore4 is a promotion that HAL is offering right now. It includes the SBP, allows for reduced deposits, reduced fares for 3rd and 4th pax in same cabin and a free Pinnacle Grill dinner (for the first two in the cabin). That is likely what you and your mother received.

[Avril]

Explore4 is a promotion that HAL is offering right now. It includes the SBP, allows for reduced deposits, reduced fares for 3rd and 4th pax in same cabin and a free Pinnacle Grill dinner (for the first two in the cabin). That is likely what you and your mother received.

 

Huh, not sure. The promotional email only mentioned the free SBP. I didn't see, read, or hear anything about a Pinnacle Grill dinner free or otherwise. That sure would be nice though!! :D

[Alberta Quilter]

Huh, not sure. The promotional email only mentioned the free SBP. I didn't see, read, or hear anything about a Pinnacle Grill dinner free or otherwise. That sure would be nice though!! :D

 

Easy way to find out would be to call up your cruise on the HAL website. (You don't need to be logged in to do this.) When you click on Details, it should take you to the page with the itinerary on it. On the top left hand corner of that page, next to the itinerary information, if there is a series of flashing icons (Explore4, Suite offers, free beverage package), it is the Explore4 promotion that you would receive. Then you would get the PG dinner.

 

I've only seen the free SBP offered as the Explore4 or the Above & Beyond promotions, never on its own. Of course, I could be wrong about that.

 

Hopefully, you get the free PG dinner, too. We enjoyed ours very much!

[Bob7]

(snip)

 

Hey Bob!! Where in Canada are you from? We live in Burlington, Ontario. We got an email from HAL advertising the sale (and the promotion for the free package). We booked directly through HAL. I hope to see you onboard, it's gonna be a blast!! :D

Hey Avril,

We’re just down the hwy in St. Thomas near London, I’m waving at you from our deck. We got the same mailing from HAL, man they mail a lot, every few weeks. Ours did not mention the bev package, probably scared we’d drink them dry, but did have the HAL Canadian funds promo for the Eurodam Dec. 28 for a VF verandah for $1325CAN, also on their web site if you signed in with a Canuck location. So I called and the HAL rep hadn’t heard the bev pkg was offered, and said we missed Explore 4 by a week, has to be 2015, but when he looked into the deal he found the free sig bev pkg. Fastest booking we ever made. The rep said the VF verandahs in the offer are the ones on deck 4 that have a solid steel railing/wall that you can’t see through, not the VF’s on deck 8 that are some kind of see-through glass. Which cabin category did you go for?

Had a bev pkgs on another cruise, Celeb I think, with no 5 minute minimum delay between drink orders, and no daily limit, and we were able to pass the card around to our friends to order drinks, even together in the same bar with the same waiters. Our stateroom acct at the end showed the drinks with no charge, gawd there were hundreds … Celeb hasn’t sent us any offers since then :-(

Have you seen the other posts about the bev pkg re: dinner wine? There is no wine on the wine list cheap enough to qualify (under $7). Someone found out that to get dinner wine you have to ask for the house wine, which has a few reds and whites, the winery is Santa Carolina from Chile, and posters found some pretty good ratings, upper 80’s.

We fly out of Detroit, way cheaper than Toronto, where do you fly from?

-Bob

Edited September 3, 2014 by Bob7
typo

[Avril]

Hey Avril,

We’re just down the hwy in St. Thomas near London, I’m waving at you from our deck. We got the same mailing from HAL, man they mail a lot, every few weeks. Ours did not mention the bev package, probably scared we’d drink them dry, but did have the HAL Canadian funds promo for the Eurodam Dec. 28 for a VF verandah for $1325CAN, also on their web site if you signed in with a Canuck location. So I called and the HAL rep hadn’t heard the bev pkg was offered, and said we missed Explore 4 by a week, has to be 2015, but when he looked into the deal he found the free sig bev pkg. Fastest booking we ever made. The rep said the VF verandahs in the offer are the ones on deck 4 that have a solid steel railing/wall that you can’t see through, not the VF’s on deck 8 that are some kind of see-through glass. Which cabin category did you go for?

Had a bev pkgs on another cruise, Celeb I think, with no 5 minute minimum delay between drink orders, and no daily limit, and we were able to pass the card around to our friends to order drinks, even together in the same bar with the same waiters. Our stateroom acct at the end showed the drinks with no charge, gawd there were hundreds … Celeb hasn’t sent us any offers since then :-(

Have you seen the other posts about the bev pkg re: dinner wine? There is no wine on the wine list cheap enough to qualify (under $7). Someone found out that to get dinner wine you have to ask for the house wine, which has a few reds and whites, the winery is Santa Carolina from Chile, and posters found some pretty good ratings, upper 80’s.

We fly out of Detroit, way cheaper than Toronto, where do you fly from?

-Bob

 

Hey Bob!! Awesome, that not too far from us. I'm waving back at you from our patio!! :D We got the offer in an email, it mentioned the SBP at the top of each cruise they were offering. Said something like "Book an Oceanview or higher and receive a free Signature Beverage Package". Haha, going by what happened on your Celebrity cruise, they might have good reason to worry you'd drink them dry!! I've never had a package like this on a cruise before so I'm real excited to try it!! :D Not sure I can drink 15 a day though, that's an awful lot. We have a Balcony Guarantee so I'm not sure what category we're in. The offer just said oceanview or higher though so I don't think category matters. There are only 6 VFs on Deck 4 (3 on each side of the ship). I can't believe they're only offering 6 packages. There are 8 VFs on Deck 8 (oddly enough). That's still only 14 packages if you put all VFs together. You might want to call back and ask if you can switch categories and still get the package. Right under those cabins is the main showroom, might be kinda noisy.

 

I wish I had been on that Celebrity cruise with you, sounds like a blast. I'm trying to find a list of all the drinks that qualify (wine included) but haven't been able to find one yet. I'll let you know when I do.

 

What are you going to do in our ports, decided on anything yet?

 

We fly out of Buffalo, way cheaper than Toronto and we really like the airport there. :D We usually fly either Southwest or JetBlue.

[Fouremco]

When we booked our upcoming Alaska cruise under the Summer on Sale promo, the PDF accompanying the confirmation email had the details on the beverage packages. They aren't reflected on the website or in our e-docs.

[Vict0riann]

I never get mailings from HAL. :confused:

[Fouremco]

I never get mailings from HAL. :confused:

I booked directly for this one. TAs have provided various confirmations in the past, but never a copy of anything directly from the cruise line.

[Alberta Quilter]

I never get mailings from HAL. :confused:

 

I think it depends on if you have a cruise booked. I never got mailings or emails until after my Alaska cruise when I had nothing booked. Once I booked my upcoming cruise, the mailings stopped within a week or so.

[drgrinch]

Hal will apply this promotion retroactively to cruises already booked. I called HAL about our Bermuda booking made in August for next June and the agent was happy to apply the promotion. Also, for this promotion, HAL considers a category B stateroom to be a suite so the suite OBC part of the promotion applies as well. All in all, a pleasant surprise!

[BarbRN]

I don't care about this beverage thing. I like a glass of wine with dinner but not that many drinks a day and few are under $7. I asked if I could pay the difference and get a decent glass of wine. The answer was NO!

 

I'd rather have ships credit to use as I wish.:(

[Krazy Kruizers]

I never get mailings from HAL. :confused:

 

 

Neither do we -- either regular or e-mail.

There was a time when we had nothing booked and still nothing was sent to us to entice us to come back.

[BarbRN]

Neither do we -- either regular or e-mail.

 

There was a time when we had nothing booked and still nothing was sent to us to entice us to come back.

Check spam?

[Bob7]

Hey Bob!! Awesome, that not too far from us. I'm waving back at you from our patio!! :D We got the offer in an email, it mentioned the SBP at the top of each cruise they were offering. Said something like "Book an Oceanview or higher and receive a free Signature Beverage Package". Haha, going by what happened on your Celebrity cruise, they might have good reason to worry you'd drink them dry!! I've never had a package like this on a cruise before so I'm real excited to try it!! :D Not sure I can drink 15 a day though, that's an awful lot. We have a Balcony Guarantee so I'm not sure what category we're in. The offer just said oceanview or higher though so I don't think category matters. There are only 6 VFs on Deck 4 (3 on each side of the ship). I can't believe they're only offering 6 packages. There are 8 VFs on Deck 8 (oddly enough). That's still only 14 packages if you put all VFs together. You might want to call back and ask if you can switch categories and still get the package. Right under those cabins is the main showroom, might be kinda noisy.

 

I wish I had been on that Celebrity cruise with you, sounds like a blast. I'm trying to find a list of all the drinks that qualify (wine included) but haven't been able to find one yet. I'll let you know when I do.

 

What are you going to do in our ports, decided on anything yet?

 

We fly out of Buffalo, way cheaper than Toronto and we really like the airport there. :D We usually fly either Southwest or JetBlue.

Yup 15 a day is plenty for us too. About the deck plan, some sites have a different deck plan than on HAL, like CruiseCritic is different, maybe things were changed after the refurb. So on deck 4 HAL shows 25 VF's (4005-4042), and on deck 8, 8 at the front the 18 at the stern. The lowest verandah is VH, only 4 of those on deck 4, smaller verandahs b/c the hull of the ship curves in. So I suppose they could give you a VH but what are the chances when there are only 4, and they could want to use those for price enticement promos and then upsell to callers. Yup I'll call before final payment and whine and moan and see if they'll move us to deck 8. Might even work best after final payment when cancellations have opened up some cabins.

 

I did see a drink menu posted here somewhere, lots of mixed drinks under $7 if you don't need premium brands.

 

We picked this itinerary b/c we haven't been to Gr. Turk, but it looks like the standard sea and sand island, mostly water activities. And altho we've embarked in San Juan we've never docked there and might try the El Junque rain forest, we like hiking, the waiters give you double desserts for doing that. St. Thomas is pretty big, lots of options there.

 

Good old Southwest, the last airline w/o baggage charges. Spirit even charges for carryon, and it's more than for checked bags. They're as bad as EasyJet out of the UK ... a purse or laptop counts as your carryon :-( So I leave my purse at home :-) Detroit is Delta's home so they usually have good prices and choices of flight times, around $500 return to Florida in peak season. Still have to get a hotel at FLL for the night before the cruise.

-B.

[OVgirl]

When we booked our upcoming Alaska cruise under the Summer on Sale promo, the PDF accompanying the confirmation email had the details on the beverage packages. They aren't reflected on the website or in our e-docs.

 

We have booked our next cruise directly with HAL. All the email confirmations look the same in the body of the text. It's only the attached PDF that shows the different details.

We keep copies of each one and double check when new ones come in.

[fuzzywuzzy]

I never get mailings from HAL. :confused:

 

 

We always get mailings from HAL and emails! That's how we know what cruise deals there are out there.

[Avril]

Yup 15 a day is plenty for us too. About the deck plan, some sites have a different deck plan than on HAL, like CruiseCritic is different, maybe things were changed after the refurb. So on deck 4 HAL shows 25 VF's (4005-4042), and on deck 8, 8 at the front the 18 at the stern. The lowest verandah is VH, only 4 of those on deck 4, smaller verandahs b/c the hull of the ship curves in. So I suppose they could give you a VH but what are the chances when there are only 4, and they could want to use those for price enticement promos and then upsell to callers. Yup I'll call before final payment and whine and moan and see if they'll move us to deck 8. Might even work best after final payment when cancellations have opened up some cabins.

 

I did see a drink menu posted here somewhere, lots of mixed drinks under $7 if you don't need premium brands.

 

We picked this itinerary b/c we haven't been to Gr. Turk, but it looks like the standard sea and sand island, mostly water activities. And altho we've embarked in San Juan we've never docked there and might try the El Junque rain forest, we like hiking, the waiters give you double desserts for doing that. St. Thomas is pretty big, lots of options there.

 

Good old Southwest, the last airline w/o baggage charges. Spirit even charges for carryon, and it's more than for checked bags. They're as bad as EasyJet out of the UK ... a purse or laptop counts as your carryon :-( So I leave my purse at home :-) Detroit is Delta's home so they usually have good prices and choices of flight times, around $500 return to Florida in peak season. Still have to get a hotel at FLL for the night before the cruise.

-B.

 

15 is definatly plenty, lol. Maybe one day I'll try and reach that many, time for us to cost HAL money instead of them costing us money, haha. :D I was looking at the deck plans on HAL's site, somehow completely missed the rest of the VF's on Deck 4, duh. :o I would have thought there'd be more cancellations before final payment than after. Don't you lose all your money if you can cancel after? It's worth a try to get some kind of upgrade later, for sure. Let me know if it works for you, I'm really not crazy about the steel balconies. But then again, I'm just happy to be on the ship!! :D

 

Oh ya, I'm sure there are a lot of options!! They wouldn't sell a package you can barely use (at least, I don't think they would). I'd just like to see what kinds of different drinks they have, just curious. If you could find the list, that'd be awesome!! In the meantime, I'll keep looking.

 

You'll love Grand Turk!! :D I was there last year on the Carnival Breeze and it's super awesome. The cruise centre is really nice and the huge pool with swim up bar at Margaritaville is a great place to relax and cool off. Just down the beach is Jack's Shack which has really good Caribbean style food and drinks. You can also hang out on the beach there. If you're into the Space Program at all, you can go and see the spot where Astronaut John Glenn splashed down into the ocean when he returned to Earth after his mission. I think there's a little museum there as well.

 

Half Moon Cay is a great place, love it!! We were there on our 1st cruise on the Eurodam and can't wait to go back. The sand is some of the softest I've ever felt.

 

Where can you go hiking in San Juan? I'll do anything for an extra desert, lol. :D

 

Been to St. Thomas many times, not sure what we'll do there. Already been over to St. John's as well. I do love the Skyride to Paradise Point so maybe we'll do that again.

 

Ah yes, no baggage fees is one of the reasons we love Southwest. I hope they never change that. We also like the people who work for Southwest, so friendly and (most of the time) super funny. WOW, purses and/or laptops can count as carryon? And some airlines charge for them? Remind me never to go with them, eekk!! :( I've been with Delta before, they're pretty good. It would take us a lot longer though to drive to Detroit than it does to drive to Buffalo. It's only about an hour and a half for us to get to Buffalo and the airport there is great!!

[Fouremco]

We have booked our next cruise directly with HAL. All the email confirmations look the same in the body of the text. It's only the attached PDF that shows the different details.

We keep copies of each one and double check when new ones come in.

Next Sunday's Alaska cruise is the first we've booked directly and I've rather enjoyed the feeling of being in direct control. We benefited from a g-r-e-a-t upsell from a guarantee inside to a VA Verandah for peanuts, something I'm sure we would have missed using our TA.

 

The attached PDF gets sent directly to my Dropbox as soon as I've checked the details.

[Oceanwench]

I just got an email from HAL promoting it's "all-inclusive" holiday sailings offering:

 

Verandah or Suite accommodations*

 

Airfare from select gateways*

 

Signature Beverage Package*

 

Transfers to and from the airport*

 

$25 per person Onboard Credit

($50 per stateroom)*

 

Plus, add a 3rd/4th guest from $999 including airfare and transfers.*

 

These are on Thanksgiving and December holiday cruises in the Caribbean.

Interesting that HAL is using the term "all inclusive."

I was musing about that concept here a month or two ago ... Most thought HAL would NEVER consider anything like that.