Ready Set Sail not combinable with Private Sale??

[thinfool]

The private sale looked good, but when you accounted for the lost promotion it was pretty much a "wash".

 

Fair to say that most 'sales' are really smoke and mirrors by the marketing department.

 

As evidenced by the numbers in this thread, there is a base cost for a cruise, if you want perks that are "included", you have to pay the difference.

 

For some reason I get Private Sale notices 1-2 times a week. I am only 2 star. Should I complain? :cool:

[joepeka]

We were able to add the Cruise Month $200 pp OBC last October to the cruise we booked in May 2016 with the Explore4 promotion.Our PCC was surprised that it worked.

 

We did as well in October 2015 and were likewise surprised at the ability to combine (a home run would have been to also combine the Amex CPP - but that wasn't going to fly). Hopefully that same Xplore4 and CLIA combo will come up again this Fall. :)

Edited June 1, 2017 by joepeka

[erewhon]

I do not know for sure why I get them, but they come every 1-2 months. It may be due to how you are registered with HAL (like telling them where you are interested in traveling).

 

Thanks for your reply.

[DaveOKC]

So are you saying the only way to get Mariner pricing is by phone? They always say online I'm eligible for Mariner pricing when I try to book, but the only prices I see online are the same as non-Mariners, so calling would make sense, but not as convenient...

 

Yesterday my Mariner pricing showed up, but just looked like a normal price, so the only way to tell would be to try booking with and without using your number..

[PSR]

Yesterday my Mariner pricing showed up, but just looked like a normal price, so the only way to tell would be to try booking with and without using your number..

 

Thanks for responding...I've tried that, too, but did not see any price differences. I'll admit I didn't try ALL cabin choices; maybe the discount is only for the lower price cabins. Wish they would show all the Mariner prices if you sign in as one, after all, if someone was not a Mariner, how would they see those prices??

 

Penny

[DaveOKC]

Thanks for responding...I've tried that, too, but did not see any price differences. I'll admit I didn't try ALL cabin choices; maybe the discount is only for the lower price cabins. Wish they would show all the Mariner prices if you sign in as one, after all, if someone was not a Mariner, how would they see those prices??

 

Penny

 

I saw that the Mariner price for my cruise including all cabin categories. I think that the Mariner price is not available to all Mariners - it may depend on where you live, etc.

[PSR]

I saw that the Mariner price for my cruise including all cabin categories. I think that the Mariner price is not available to all Mariners - it may depend on where you live, etc.

 

Oh...that's disappointing. I have seen some online cruise sites that ask for your state "in case there are specials", so you're probably on the right track.

[sevenseasnomad]

I do not know for sure why I get them, but they come every 1-2 months. It may be due to how you are registered with HAL (like telling them where you are interested in traveling).

 

Our son, a 2-star Mariner, was getting private sale promotions. As 4-stars, DH & I weren't getting anything, so I called to ask why we weren't included in the promotions. We were told that we could book the promotion price anytime we wanted. But if we don't know a promotion is available, how do we know to book? After that phone call, we started receiving the promotions.

 

When I recently called our PCC to book under the Ready, Set, Sail, she quoted me much better fares that weren't being published. She gave me the choice of booking under the Ready, Set, Sail or under the quoted fare. Since the quoted fare was really low for Christmas week no less, we took advantage of that and forgot the perks of Ready, Set, Sail. No way could those perks come close to the price advantage we received.

 

In our experience, we've never been able to combine two promotions.

[Ken the cruiser]

We just made 4 star and got our first Private Sale email ever. We of course had to check on our Alaska cruise that sails in July. We have a VS booked and when I did a fake booking with my Mariner number my heart started rushing as the price dropped $2,000 per person for our 14 day cruise! Only one catch. Our final payment due date has already passed. When we contacted our HAL PCC he told us we couldn't rebook with the Private Sale, but was able to get us a $500 pp future cruise credit posted to a future HAL cruise we have booked. We didn't think we could get the Alaska booking reduced, but it sure felt good to have the $1,000 credited to our future cruise bill.

 

Of course, we had to then go check to see if the Private Sale was as good on our Antarctica cruise. However, since you can only get the PS discount on the current Ready Set Sail promo, it was a better deal on this cruise not to take the Private Sale discount. But, hey, we're happy!

[dee2673]

We are only 2 stars and regularly receive the private sale mailings. I had to rebook a cruise that was cancelled due to redirection to Cuba. When I called the big box store based in Seattle, I was given 3 prices! One without Ready Set Sale. One with Ready set sale and the third was for a nonrefundable deposit. The non refundable deposit price was about 1200.00 lower than the ready set sail price and about 700.00 below the price without ready set sail. We took the non refundable deposit price as the deposit was only 200.00 since we originally booked this cruise onboard. HAL gave us 600.00 OBC for rebookng and the TA gave us 705. As I understand it , this non refundable thing is new but I like it!

Edited June 4, 2017 by dee2673
spelling

[kazu]

Thanks for responding...I've tried that, too, but did not see any price differences. I'll admit I didn't try ALL cabin choices; maybe the discount is only for the lower price cabins. Wish they would show all the Mariner prices if you sign in as one, after all, if someone was not a Mariner, how would they see those prices??

 

Penny

 

price differences/discounts don't show on all cruises I don't think. It seems (in my experience) they show more on the 14 and + day cruises. Might be just my experience though. The price discount is lesser for lower cabins but does apply to all cabins from what I have seen in the cases where it applies.

 

We are only 2 stars and regularly receive the private sale mailings. I had to rebook a cruise that was cancelled due to redirection to Cuba. When I called the big box store based in Seattle, I was given 3 prices! One without Ready Set Sale. One with Ready set sale and the third was for a nonrefundable deposit. The non refundable deposit price was about 1200.00 lower than the ready set sail price and about 700.00 below the price without ready set sail. We took the non refundable deposit price as the deposit was only 200.00 since we originally booked this cruise onboard. HAL gave us 600.00 OBC for rebookng and the TA gave us 705. As I understand it , this non refundable thing is new but I like it!

 

I was offered the non refundable too. I asked the pricing without the promo but it was non refundable only.

 

there was a price difference, but with out cruise having a long ways to go and a promo attached, there could (I did say could) be a drop in price and I didn't want to be stuck with a non refundable fair which wouldn't give me the flexibility that the regular fare does.

 

If I were close to cruising, I may be tempted but further out, I am just not comfortable with the scenario of kissing my deposit good bye / chance of a better price and / or being forced to buy cancellation insurance (and paying for it) so early out.

[dee2673]

I hear ya, Kazu. If our deposit was more than 200., I likely would not have done it. This is to celebrate our 45th anniversary so barring any unforseen circumstances, like brain surgery or something,we are absolutely going

[NanaJPB]

Glad to see we weren't the only ones who tried to get this combination ... and failed.

 

 

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[DaveOKC]

Glad to see we weren't the only ones who tried to get this combination ... and failed.

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Glad to hear HAL was not just picking on me!

 

I try to track pricing for cruises doing the route I am interested in, so that when a new price comes up I know whether or not it is a "deal". Having a flexible schedule helps of course.

 

This latest fare deal (Private Sale) had some good prices, some just OK and a few a bit high (IMO). With the Ready Set Sail promotion I would have booked, but instead (without it) I will just wait for a better deal, as my dates were in the "just OK" category".