HAL Beverage Package

[Bogie Man]

Thinking of booking a HAL Panama Canal cruise in 2017.

 

On occasion Celebrity Cruises will offer a complimentary beverage package (wine by the glass, spirits, beer, specialty coffee's etc...) included in their package at no additional charge. Has HAL every had an offer / sale that included a free beverage package?? If so, how often will they do this?

 

Thanks

[dakrewser]

Yes, they have. But many feel that HAL's package (as well as most cruise line packages) are "included" rather than "free", as the price of the cruise will rise or fall accordingly.

 

AS to when it might show up - it's no set schedule, could come anytime.

[albingirl]

He's right. Could pop up but it's generally in the fall. The cruise price does fluctuate tremendously due to the package. There's no free lunch on HAL. They should take a page from Norwegian. They don't play games with their promotions and drop the price after final payment, and when you call to complain, they make you give up the beverage package if you want the lower price. The price dropped for us by $2,500. :eek:

[KirkNC]

How does the comparable cruise on HAL price versus X? I suspect HAL will be lower now.

[joepeka]

We received the complimentary SBP promo on our 2017 cruise - we booked it last Fall which is consistent with what albingirl mentions. Subsequently (not long after that promo - Explore4 - expired), the price of our cabin went down by several hundred dollars per person but obviously that lower price did not include the comp'd SBP. We could have re-booked to get the price reduction but would have lost some significant OBC in addition to the SBP so we kept our original booking. So yes, even when they do offer the free drink package, the cruise-only price will rise accordingly.

[Tom O.]

Having a lower price that doesn't include a drink package is better for most people. Very few people can put down enough drinks to make the drink package worthwhile. Unless you can consume about 15 drinks per day, you are better off with a lower price.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Last fall we looked into a cruise and had our TA check prices with the Explore4 program -- with the Explore4 program the cost of the cruise was $4000 higher.

We definitely could not drink that much alcohol.

[Hows the Serenity]

Agree wholeheartedly, we had already booked our cruise when the explore 4 offer came in, checked with our TA and they got back to us offering explore 4 for an extra $4,200.............we decided we couldnt drink that much, nor would we want to.

 

 

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[TheEmerson]

From my data points, I have been lucky. On my current cruise, I booked before the Explore4 promo, then rebooked with the Explore4. That rebook was indeed cheaper than my original booking, and included the SBP. Now this same cruise is now selling for higher than my original booking without the E4 promo. I have done this three times now. Each time I have played my cards right, but was pure luck in the timing and what HAL is offering.

[albingirl]

I agree with everyone who says that's an awful lot of liquor to consume.....However, on a 48 day Europeon transatlantic, I didn't want any bar bill on my final statement. Whether we had a glass of wine, or two, per day, it adds up on such a long trip. It's a positive thing to walk off the ship with fewer debits to my name.

[bonvoyagebites]

Another really nice option is to preorder and have bottles delivered to your room, and make your own drinks. We did this on our 3-day pacific coastal last year, and it was quite a good deal. The bottles were not too far away from street price, so it worked out well.

 

Just a thought...

:)

[Tom O.]

I agree with everyone who says that's an awful lot of liquor to consume.....However, on a 48 day Europeon transatlantic, I didn't want any bar bill on my final statement. Whether we had a glass of wine, or two, per day, it adds up on such a long trip. It's a positive thing to walk off the ship with fewer debits to my name.

 

Since the Signature Beverage Package costs around $51 per person, per day, for a 48 day cruise it would cost around $2,448 per person. If you only drink 3 drinks per day, your bar bill would be about $1152 per person for a 48 day cruise. This means you lose $1296 per person with the package.

You may walk off the ship with fewer debits, but you would have had some bigger debits than were necessary before you sailed.

As an alternative, you can pre-pay buying drinks by buying several $100 beverage cards and save yourself more than $1000 per person.

[Bogie Man]

How does the comparable cruise on HAL price versus X? I suspect HAL will be lower now.

 

The HAL price is comparable with X. But if you add the their upgrade package with X for $800.00 more pp you get unlimited internet, premium beverage package, prepaid gratuities and 150 OBC pp, the X offer would seem a better deal. We just happen to like it that the HAL cruise ends up in our home port of Vancouver, as opposed to the X which ends up in San Diego.

 

We certainly don't drink a lot, but do enjoy wine with our meals and a cocktail or two. Ending the cruise without a surprise bar bill makes it enticing.

[joepeka]

Having a lower price that doesn't include a drink package is better for most people. Very few people can put down enough drinks to make the drink package worthwhile. Unless you can consume about 15 drinks per day, you are better off with a lower price.

 

I did the math several ways and for us, with the loss of the OBC and a realistic estimate on our drinking during a 10 day cruise, the re-pricing to a lower fare did not make sense. If it had just been just the SBP we were losing, it would have made sense and probably would make sense for a lot of people.

[Tom O.]

I did the math several ways and for us, with the loss of the OBC and a realistic estimate on our drinking during a 10 day cruise, the re-pricing to a lower fare did not make sense. If it had just been just the SBP we were losing, it would have made sense and probably would make sense for a lot of people.

 

Yes, in your case, there is another factor - OBC. I look at OBC as a sort of a rebate, like you sometimes get on cars. Whereas getting a beverage package is like the car dealer throwing in leather seats for free. It makes it more complicated to compare prices.

You could ask if they would let you keep the OBC, if you rebooked. But if not, then I would keep the beverage package too.

[obriendan]

We got the SBP when we first book our 29 day Zuiderdam cruise. Since then the price dropped $1000. If we rebooked we would lose the SBP and $300 OBC. So the SBP is costing us $350 pp. We decided not to rebook because the SBP will well be worth $350 pp. For this cruise the SBP can be purchased separately for $1499!!

 

So the conclusion from this is that whether or not to keep the SBP should be calculated on a cruise to cruise basis.

 

Dan

[SeaBands]

and with all our drinks covered incl. corkage and our OBCs, our final bill was for $200 and we made some shop purchases and a casino charge. We like that program.

[SilvertoGold]

We got the SBP when we first book our 29 day Zuiderdam cruise. Since then the price dropped $1000. If we rebooked we would lose the SBP and $300 OBC. So the SBP is costing us $350 pp. We decided not to rebook because the SBP will well be worth $350 pp. For this cruise the SBP can be purchased separately for $1499!!

 

So the conclusion from this is that whether or not to keep the SBP should be calculated on a cruise to cruise basis.

 

Dan

 

Price dropped $1000 -- is that per person?

[joepeka]

Yes, in your case, there is another factor - OBC. I look at OBC as a sort of a rebate, like you sometimes get on cars. Whereas getting a beverage package is like the car dealer throwing in leather seats for free. It makes it more complicated to compare prices.

You could ask if they would let you keep the OBC, if you rebooked. But if not, then I would keep the beverage package too.

Our TA asked HAL just that and was told all the promos (OBC, SBP, comp'd dinners) would go away if we re-booked. Dang it!

Edited March 1, 2016 by joepeka

[obriendan]

Price dropped $1000 -- is that per person?

 

No that was total for both of us.

 

Dan

[sallycruiser06]

Was just checking out beverage cards for our upcoming PanamaCanal cruise.

We did not book during the Explore 4 time. For 19 days they want $963.00 EACH for their 15 drink a day/ under $ 8.00 a drink package. Are you kidding?? Not even a consideration in our cruise expense planning!