HAL not giving anything away w/ Explore 4

[michmike2]

Just got off the phone w/ an online TA we have used a number of times in the past, to get pricing on an Alaska cruise/tour. For starters, their pricing was $385 per person less than our local AAA office. That is after adjusting for the fact that the AAA folks were including the Explore 4 option in their quote.

 

But the online folks told me that the Explore 4 pricing was significantly higher than a booking made w/o it. Turns out the difference was $320 per person. Still reduced deposit ($400 for the 2 of us, NOT per person). As for the Pinnacle dinner, neither of us have been over impressed w/ the Pinnacle in the past and as for the $50 a day in beverages per person, we might have 3 drinks ea per day, so no real value there. I guess if you're a big drinker there is some value there or if you need the reduced rates for 3 or 4th person in your room, but in our case, I'll take the $640 (for the 2 of us), pay for my own drinks and come out ahead.

 

As always, your mileage may vary, but proof again that there is no such thing as a free lunch.

[SilvertoGold]

You are right. If you drink a lot, every day of your cruise, it can be a decent deal. Every cruise is different, though, with regards to the pricing of this promo.

 

It pays to get out the calculator and figure the numbers out, both with and without, as you have done!

[kazu]

Just got off the phone w/ an online TA we have used a number of times in the past, to get pricing on an Alaska cruise/tour. For starters, their pricing was $385 per person less than our local AAA office. That is after adjusting for the fact that the AAA folks were including the Explore 4 option in their quote.

 

But the online folks told me that the Explore 4 pricing was significantly higher than a booking made w/o it. Turns out the difference was $320 per person. Still reduced deposit ($400 for the 2 of us, NOT per person). As for the Pinnacle dinner, neither of us have been over impressed w/ the Pinnacle in the past and as for the $50 a day in beverages per person, we might have 3 drinks ea per day, so no real value there. I guess if you're a big drinker there is some value there or if you need the reduced rates for 3 or 4th person in your room, but in our case, I'll take the $640 (for the 2 of us), pay for my own drinks and come out ahead.

 

As always, your mileage may vary, but proof again that there is no such thing as a free lunch.

 

Of course there is no such thing as a free lunch ;)

 

Only three drinks per day? You don't get bottled water? specialty coffees (not necessarily with alcohol), pop, etc.

 

3 drinks per day (alcoholic) for two people is now $43.50 per day if the new drink prices are accurate plus gratuity.

 

I think a few sodas, bottles of water, etc. would eat up the rest.

 

don't get me wrong, our savings not taking the Explore4 have been far much more than that (longer cruises probably) so we haven't used it but, depending upon one's circumstances and preferences, it's not necessarily a bad thing at all.

[Cruising-along]

There has been a lot of discussion about this recently. It seems to depend on the cruise. Some people have reported NO increase in cost and they get the Explore 4. Others, like us, would have had to pay $550/pp to get it. We opted not to get it for those cruises.

 

On the other hand, we're looking at an Alaska cruise for next year, and to include Explore 4 it's only $30/pp more. Every case is different. :)

[POA1]

Our sailing didn't go up when E4 was added. Nieuw Amsterdam, R/T Vancouver 4/30/16.

[KruzPrincess]

As mentioned, there have already been discussions about this. The cruise I was shopping was just under $5000 for a solo cabin before Explore 4. The price of my cruise went up to $6400 the first day of Explore 4. People on CC here advised me to get the price without Explore 4. I was getting on a HAL ship that week, so I waited until I was onboard. The cruise consultant told me that the price would go down $400 if I removed Explore 4. It would still be $1000 more than pre-offer. Then, the solo cabins sold out, so moot point. I'm still shopping the cruise, but it's clear this isn't a great deal for me. Others may have other experiences. For me, I don't drink alcohol, coffee, or soda. I do drink bottled water, but that is much cheaper bought on it's own.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We decided not to go with the Explore4 program and saved about $1000 total. We don't drink that much. Plus we like to have a bottle of wine sometimes at dinner and the Explore4 program doesn't include bottles of wine.

[DeeniEncinitas]

As stated a lot of discussion yesterday in regards to this topic.

There is no free lunch as one of our CC cruisers have said. Got to do your home work to see if it will work for you.

Our next cruise we booked on the Nieuw this past March for The Eurodam in Oct. 2016.

So far the price "which I ck daily" to see if it has dropped has not, nor do I think it will for awhile, and the Explorer4 came up on July 20th which our cruise had the promo added. Our price of our suite has not changed so I called my PCC and it was added with no fare increase.

We choose to keep the Expolrer and know if our price drops from now till 90 days before final payment we will keep promo and forfeit the price drop and losing the Explorer. For us it works for the bennies of the water, and good coffee

At the explores cafe and our Happy Hour. For us we could no way drink 15 drinks of alcohol a day. And since this will be our 5th Med cruise this will work for us.

Happy sailings!

PS sorry for the long responds.

Denise:)

[DaveOKC]

It seems like the Explore4 deal was better last year than this (as HAL increased the prices more than before).

 

Plus, my DW does not drink much, so it is hard to make the numbers work. Further, she is convinced that when we get the Explore4 package (we have done this twice), we both end up gaining more weight on the cruise than we normally do! So, no Explore4 for us.

[lstrong]

Confused about explore 4. Some say it's $50 maximum per day, others says 15 drinks per day. Is it 15 drinks up to a maximum of $50 per day? Thanks for any clarification

[pmcubed]

 

Our northern european cruise next summer also did NOT go up in price when explore 4 was added. That actually made the difference on which cruise we chose. Although I don't drink a lot, it still will save money and I may have more fancy coffees now that they will be included. We also have never eaten in the Pinnacle - so we are looking forward to that.

[frankc98376]

Confused about explore 4. Some say it's $50 maximum per day, others says 15 drinks per day. Is it 15 drinks up to a maximum of $50 per day? Thanks for any clarification

 

It's 15 beverages per day. People get confused because HAL says " $50 value ". That is the cost to purchase the Signature Beverage Package separately.

[momatibm]

For my cruise the price increase was, luckily, after I booked, but before Explore 4 was added. I received plenty of OBC (even before shareholder benefit). And while my DH and I do like our 'drinkies' -- even with coffee wouldn't find Explore 4 to our advantage -- mostly because the wine packages aren't included.

 

I will use the obc -- wine packages, wine tastings, special dinners and an excursion or two.

Edited August 20, 2015 by momatibm

[3rdGenCunarder]

It seems like the Explore4 deal was better last year than this (as HAL increased the prices more than before).

 

Plus, my DW does not drink much, so it is hard to make the numbers work. Further, she is convinced that when we get the Explore4 package (we have done this twice), we both end up gaining more weight on the cruise than we normally do! So, no Explore4 for us.

 

We booked our cruise for this past winter when the Explore4 was going on. The price of the cruise did not go down after the promotion ended, so I think we did OK. We were in a suite, so the OBC for suites was good. We don't drink nearly enough for the beverage package to be worth much to us. I wish they would have let us "trade" a bunch of drinks for a bottle of wine. We went to Pinnacle, declined Canelletto.

 

I didn't know you could ask for pricing without Ex4 until I read it here. When I was booking a cruise for this coming winter, my TA had a group the week I wanted. No Ex4, but we saved about $1000 compared to booking with the Ex 4. And we got to choose our cabin, we didn't have to take a guarantee.

[TheEmerson]

My 12 day June D5L Land Cruise was cheaper ($100/pp) to rebook with Explore4

[gbetty]

We booked a TA with Holland America last month. First time with that cruise line after hearing lots of good things about them. We booked a 21 day TA for $1949 (interior) which is definitely comparable with other cruises which don't include the drink package or the dinner in a specialty restaurant. We usually don't have a drink until we're getting ready for dinner but, now we'll probably have a Bloody Mary with lunch. Most of the cruises which offered free drink packages didn't include folks who book an interior room. We always book interior rooms on TAs so this was a bonus for us. The low down payment was a bonus for us also as we have 3 cruises booked with final payments coming due. Anyway, this cruise was a good deal for us and we're looking forward to our first experience with Holland America.

[CGYCruisingFamily]

We had Explore4 added after the fact for our upcoming cruise. We dont drink a lot but will take advantage of the sodas and cafe with the package and are looking forward to the Pinnacle dinner. While our fares went up slightly, where we saved in the long run was for the 3rd and 4th passengers. Our kids fares dropped by more than 50% and in total, we are saving about $1000 and getting Explore4. This will be our first time using it.

[sail7seas]

Of course there is no such thing as a free lunch ;)

 

Only three drinks per day? You don't get bottled water? specialty coffees (not necessarily with alcohol), pop, etc.

 

3 drinks per day (alcoholic) for two people is now $43.50 per day if the new drink prices are accurate plus gratuity.

 

I think a few sodas, bottles of water, etc. would eat up the rest.

 

<snip>

.

 

 

I drink almost no soda and might have two cans a week when cruising. I almost never get bottled water as I think the ship's water fine and drink ice water from the pitcher at dinner/meals. I drink decaf coffee and would love to be able to get a black decaf iced coffee from any source on an HAL ship but it's an almost impossible challenge. So, no,, particularly in the Caribbean, I don't have specialty coffees very much as I'm not big on hot coffee in hot, humid weather.

 

[3rdGenCunarder]

I drink almost no soda and might have two cans a week when cruising. I almost never get bottled water as I think the ship's water fine and drink ice water from the pitcher at dinner/meals. I drink decaf coffee and would love to be able to get a black decaf iced coffee from any source on an HAL ship but it's an almost impossible challenge. So, no,, particularly in the Caribbean, I don't have specialty coffees very much as I'm not big on hot coffee in hot, humid weather.

 

 

I make my own iced coffee. I travel with an insulated coffee mug, and I fill a regular mug with coffee, add my sugar. Then I put a lot of ice in the coffee mug and dump the hot coffee in. It does weaken the coffee, but since I don't add milk/cream, it remains strong enough for me.

[sail7seas]

I make my own at home. Don't want to have to 'make' anything for myself when vacationing. Besides, as you say, just adding ice dilutes the coffee to so weak it is almost tasteless. Decent iced coffee should come from coffee that has been chilled or at the least room temperature. I drink it black with no sweetener of any sort so I really am seeking the taste of coffee.

 

NCL Dawn was able to provide it for me every meal when I requested it. That was a treat. :)

 

Edited August 21, 2015 by sail7seas

[Loreto]

The cruise I had been watching last spring did not include Explore 4 as it wasn't offered yet. I was pleased when the Package was added, and the price of the Vista suite I wanted didn't go up.

 

Once onboard the Statendam in July I booked the cruise right away. Because the cruise was divided in segments, there were limited staterooms for the full 21 day cruise. I am very happy with the suite credit plus on board booking credit. The FFC offered more shipboard credit if the cruise one wanted didn't have Explore 4. It was a better deal for me to take the suite credit offered with it.

 

Karen

[Boytjie]

Only three drinks per day? You don't get bottled water? specialty coffees (not necessarily with alcohol), pop, etc.

 

I don't buy bottled water and hardly ever drink soda - I can't recall ever buying a soda on a cruise ship. Not when there is beer... The Lido coffee on HAL is fine for me to quench my coffee thirst though I may have a good cup of coffee from the Explorations Cafe once in a while.

 

That said... we have never had the beverage package on HAL and never will as long as we are on a RSVP charter (they don't do "unlimited" beverage packages on our charters - and most charters, I believe). The closest we got to that was on MSC where they sold us books of vouchers that in effect would give you 15 drinks per day but you could share the vouchers with anyone. My partner and I bought one package between us and we still had a hard time using up all out vouchers! And we are not slouches around drinks. I have to add that we also bought a couple of bottles of wine in a wine package. We used many vouchers on specialty coffee - because their buffet and MDR coffee was really bad!

 

The way I see it any beverage package will work for some and not so much for others. If you get it as a perk for booking, great. You don't have to drink 15 drinks every day. ;)

[Bowie MeMe]

Just booked an 18 day cruise from Rotterdam to Boston for next summer and the price we got from our super TA was the same as we had from earlier in the summer. We have the Explore 4 package and I think it helped us decide to book right now and not wait a few months. Got a great cabin midship near the elevator and since an oceanview in extreme north TA (figured balcony not of much use because of weather being cool to cold and wind from sea days) this cruise turns out to be cheaper than some of our last exotic catalog cruises. We will enjoy the beverage package and the per day rate for 18 days would have been a chunk of change. Hubby likes his coke package on vacation.

[melissagrf]

As all these posts have pointed out, every situation is different. We are booked on the Westerdam in June 2016 to Alaska. We have a 3rd passenger in our stateroom. The Explore 4 raised the cost of the first 2 passengers, but lowered the cost of the 3rd passenger significantly. All in all, the "sale" ended up costing us an extra $250 total, but I know that we'd normally spend more than that on bevs. We'd never buy a "full price" Unlimited Bev package, though. We wouldn't get our $'s worth.