Just booked with Anniversary sale promo

[DaveOKC]

I just booked an 11 day cruise (suite category) using the Anniversary day promotion and I thought I would share some details.

 

First, a 10 day cruise would have gotten us only $400 in OBC compared to the $800 we got, so this paid for the extra day.

 

Second, prices seem to have increased on most cruises "recently". But, you still can find a few that did not, if you know what the "normal" HAL price is for your cabin.

 

Third, my booking agent tells me that the $800 I get for the promotion is "supposed" to be for shore excursions, but he is confident that it will just be placed in your account and thus you can use it for anything onboard. Since I cannot guarantee this, ask your TA for yourself about this. I will say that I saw my reservation printout and it shows all of my OBCs lumped together in one amount (stockholder, future cruise deposit credit, etc.). I will likely use the bulk of the $800 for shore excursions anyway, so no biggie for me either way.

[summer slope]

I'm trying to talk DH into a New England cruise in August using this. He is resisting! LOL

[CruisinChris]

My agent has told me the same thing regarding the onboard credit.

[qsuzi]

I just booked an 11 day cruise (suite category) using the Anniversary day promotion and I thought I would share some details.

 

First, a 10 day cruise would have gotten us only $400 in OBC compared to the $800 we got, so this paid for the extra day.

 

Second, prices seem to have increased on most cruises "recently". But, you still can find a few that did not, if you know what the "normal" HAL price is for your cabin.

 

Third, my booking agent tells me that the $800 I get for the promotion is "supposed" to be for shore excursions, but he is confident that it will just be placed in your account and thus you can use it for anything onboard. Since I cannot guarantee this, ask your TA for yourself about this. I will say that I saw my reservation printout and it shows all of my OBCs lumped together in one amount (stockholder, future cruise deposit credit, etc.). I will likely use the bulk of the $800 for shore excursions anyway, so no biggie for me either way.

 

Congrats! If I knew it was a SURE OBC vs just for excursions I would be really tempted. BTW, I checked out some of your linked pix. Your wife is an excellent photographer.

[PathfinderEss]

Congratulations DaveOKC on booking a new cruise with some nice bennies.

[qsuzi]

HAL also just confirmed to me that while the OBC is meant to be used for excursions it is not solely limited to excursions!

Edited April 3, 2015 by qsuzi

[DaveOKC]

Congratulations DaveOKC on booking a new cruise with some nice bennies.

 

Thanks. I was not trying to "brag", but rather just to point out some of the important details of the new Anniversary promotion that others may have missed.

[jaspersmycat]

My HAL PCC told me that it was just normal OBC and could be used however I want.

[DaveOKC]

I just checked a large travel website for my cruise. Interestingly, they showed two prices on my suite cabin - $3099 without the Anniversary sale and $3299 with it. The $200 pp higher price is sure worth the $500 in pp benefits we receive with the Anniversary sale.

[LindaSSF]

I called HAL yesterday afternoon to look into this sale while my DH was out - potentially a surprise for him. Yes - an additional $200 over what we had currently booked.

 

I asked the HAL agent how the additional $800 for us would work since we've already booked nearly all our excursions. She thought OBC, but couldn't promise that since the sale was pretty specific about credit for excursions.

 

I booked the sale anyway. Lo and behold, it appeared lumped in with the rest of our OBC. We can always find SOME excursions to put it against, perhaps even canceling & rebooking some if they aren't wait listed, but it is a steal if it straight OBC.

 

 

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[summer slope]

I sent my TA an email and asked the same question. Will it show up as OBC? We've already booked and paid for excursions but I'm willing to pay $200 more for the suite and get $1000 in extras.

[Jinty684]

I've got a cruise booked and there should be some OBC with it....where do I look to see if it's there?

 

Thanks for the head's up on this promotion - I'll get my TA to check for me on the one that's already booked - it seems to be eligible and the price has not gone up so it might be worth it.....the only issue is that I got the signature beverage package with my original booking and I'm not sure that we'll give that up for the $400 and I'm pretty sure they won't give me both! :D But, it's worth asking.....

[DaveOKC]

I've got a cruise booked and there should be some OBC with it....where do I look to see if it's there?

 

Thanks for the head's up on this promotion - I'll get my TA to check for me on the one that's already booked - it seems to be eligible and the price has not gone up so it might be worth it.....the only issue is that I got the signature beverage package with my original booking and I'm not sure that we'll give that up for the $400 and I'm pretty sure they won't give me both! :D But, it's worth asking.....

 

If you booked through a TA you cannot see it online - only the TA can. We booked through HAL, so it shows up for us. It was combined with our other OBC (like shareholder, etc) into one nice sum, so I do not see how that can hold you to just shore excursions (my PCC said they will not hold you to it as well).

 

Since you already have the signature beverage, I am 98% certain you will have to give that up to get the new promotion (I had to give up my $400 Seas the Day deal). Depending on how many beverages you drink in a day, the $400 may not be as good a deal as you already have with the sbp. We used it a few months ago and felt that it was worth about $50-60 a day to us (my DW is not much of a drinker).

[DaveOKC]

I sent my TA an email and asked the same question. Will it show up as OBC? We've already booked and paid for excursions but I'm willing to pay $200 more for the suite and get $1000 in extras.

 

Is that $200 per person? Mine went up $200 per person (on two different cruises).

[LindaSSF]

Ours was $200 per person.

 

 

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[summer slope]

Per person

[Cruiser Andi]

I called. My category of room is already sold out for April 2016. So, it's not available to me.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

For those counting on this Shore Excursion being just extra ship board credit "BE Careful" I am being told NO, that these reservations will be flagged and Shore Excursions department will notify you on board about booking your excursion. YES in the past they have just lumped these together. And for right now on the reservation confirmation they have no way to separate. Personally I would not PLAN to just have it as regular Ship Board Credit. If in fact they do NOT get their act together and are not able to define the difference then that will be great but I am being told from a source that they have already worked this out. They have offered a similar promotion prior as well as Princess where in the disclosure in small print it stated that this shore excursion credit could be used for other On board expenses. This is NOT being stated on the Terms and Conditions this time.

[DaveOKC]

For those counting on this Shore Excursion being just extra ship board credit "BE Careful" I am being told NO, that these reservations will be flagged and Shore Excursions department will notify you on board about booking your excursion. YES in the past they have just lumped these together. And for right now on the reservation confirmation they have no way to separate. Personally I would not PLAN to just have it as regular Ship Board Credit. If in fact they do NOT get their act together and are not able to define the difference then that will be great but I am being told from a source that they have already worked this out. They have offered a similar promotion prior as well as Princess where in the disclosure in small print it stated that this shore excursion credit could be used for other On board expenses. This is NOT being stated on the Terms and Conditions this time.

 

Thanks for the "heads up" on this issue! Since a number of us have already been told by our HAL PCCs that you can use this Excursion OBC as normal OBC, there are going to be alot of very unhappy cruisers if what you say happens, happens. In my case, I have a fair amount of other OBC, so I likely use most of my $800 Excursion OBC for excursions anyway, but I sure would like to know the rules before be finalize our plans.

 

Everyone - LAFFNVEGAS is a VERY experienced and knowledgeable cruiser and we should all heed her warning.

Edited April 5, 2015 by DaveOKC

[ponstad]

We were told by our TA that that the shore excursion anniversary bonus could be used for "regular" ship board credit; she received that information from her HAL rep.

[Loreto]

For those counting on this Shore Excursion being just extra ship board credit "BE Careful" I am being told NO, that these reservations will be flagged and Shore Excursions department will notify you on board about booking your excursion. YES in the past they have just lumped these together. And for right now on the reservation confirmation they have no way to separate. Personally I would not PLAN to just have it as regular Ship Board Credit. If in fact they do NOT get their act together and are not able to define the difference then that will be great but I am being told from a source that they have already worked this out. They have offered a similar promotion prior as well as Princess where in the disclosure in small print it stated that this shore excursion credit could be used for other On board expenses. This is NOT being stated on the Terms and Conditions this time.

 

I agree with you, Lisa! I booked the 14 day Alaska (third time on this cruise!) July 27 sailing on Friday. My Ta asked HAL about the credit and was told it MUST be used for shore excursions and they can only be booked with this credit on board. I also asked about the dining credit, since we get a 50% Mariner discount. I was told the dining credit can't be used with the Mariner Discount. :( It must be used at the full price.

 

Karen

[summer slope]

I would think if the $800 showed up as SBC on your reservation there wouldn't be any arguing on board. JMHO IF I find out we can't use it for anything other than excursions I'll just cancel the ones we've already paid for and re-book onboard.

Edited April 5, 2015 by dixiefinn

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Like I stated they may not get their act together and it may just be ship board credit, then again it could be a ship to ship thing ;) But there are some differences in the Terms and conditions this time around. From what I was told this was going to be a boost for the On Board Shore Excursion Department and reservations would be flagged. I would just be prepared to think of it as Shore Excursion Credit. If not then that is great too :)

Edited April 5, 2015 by LAFFNVEGAS

[SilvertoGold]

Lisa

 

Thanks very much for adding your expert comments on this issue.

 

I dread seeing "it could be a ship to ship thing"! Inconsistency between brands is fine, but not between ships, and that is what HAL has long been (in)famous for.

Edited April 5, 2015 by SilvertoGold

[CowPrincess]

My PCC was pretty clear with me when I asked, that it is OBC to be used for shorex. No surprise that there are varying messages though. Laffnvegas, thanks for your info.