Cyber Monday Sale - What will it be?

[boards]

4 hours ago, Hflors said:

I didn't ck on pricing, but my TA just had it added to current reservation.  No canceling and re-booking needed.  See if your big box TA can do that.....

How can the be if it says for new bookings only?  Something is not right about that if they added it to an already booked cruise.

 

[JudithLynne]

4 hours ago, Hflors said:

I didn't ck on pricing, but my TA just had it added to current reservation.  No canceling and re-booking needed.  See if your big box TA can do that.....

Success.....both prepaid gratuities and bvg cards were added to our HAL cruises in 2019 and 2020.

[wyobean]

Ok, got off a very long call with our TA. They had to confirm our change with HAL...lines were very tied up Friday. In the end....our 7 night Alaska cruise was originally $3482(includes insurance )with the beverage package, one dinner for 2 at the pinnacle grill, $190 OBC from TA and $150 OBC from HAL. Now it is $2902(includes insurance) with prepaid gratuities($203), $50($25 ea) beverage card, $140 OBC from TA and $100 OBC from HAL. So, about $633 less out of pocket for us. We really don’t care about the beverage package or the PG so win, win for us. Definitely worth the call.

[Hflors]

3 hours ago, boards said:

How can the be if it says for new bookings only?  Something is not right about that if they added it to an already booked cruise.

 

Well the alternative would have been to cancel the original booking refund the deposit.  Book the new cabin and charge my cc again then move me from the new cabin that my TA had put on hold already and move me into my original cabin with the new booking.  This way HAL just needed to add the perks to the original booking and call it a day!  I am sure by doing this it saved a lot of time and shuffling.

[FlorenceItaly]

3 hours ago, JudithLynne said:

Success.....both prepaid gratuities and bvg cards were added to our HAL cruises in 2019 and 2020.

Congrats!  Had any of the cruises increased in price?  And if so, did you book direct or outside travel agency?  I am having problems with HAL's PCC department doing this since my cabin price has increased.  I plan to see about transferring to a local agency.  I appreciate your response as I am going to talk to HAL again tomorrow.

 

 

 

[Kruzer Zuker]

Hopefully the sale lasts through Monday because my TA doesn’t work on weekends. 

[madera1]

I phoned our big box travel agency and they were able to call Holland America and get the cyber promotion added to our existing Dec11-18 2019 Cuba cruise on the Veendam,  very happy.

[Alberta Quilter]

2 hours ago, Kruzer Zuker said:

Hopefully the sale lasts through Monday because my TA doesn’t work on weekends. 

 

If you look at the Terms & Conditions on the HAL website, it says the offer ends on November 27/18.  You should be fine.

[boards]

3 hours ago, Hflors said:

Well the alternative would have been to cancel the original booking refund the deposit.  Book the new cabin and charge my cc again then move me from the new cabin that my TA had put on hold already and move me into my original cabin with the new booking.  This way HAL just needed to add the perks to the original booking and call it a day!  I am sure by doing this it saved a lot of time and shuffling.

I have no problem with what was done for you, I hope that when I ask our PCC on Monday to add the "Cyber Sale" to the cruise we booked on board the Koningsdam this month, that it will happen.   We got an nice OBC credit and it would be nice to have the perks of the new sale added.   Thank you.

[westcoastcruiser]

It was a long phone call - about an hour - but called our big box TA...who had to call HAL.. but got the prepaid gratuities and beverage card added to our two cruises for next year .  Ours was a case where there was a tiny rise in price which we had to incur.  But the math was in our favor so well worth the time.

[JudithLynne]

15 hours ago, FlorenceItaly said:

Congrats!  Had any of the cruises increased in price?  And if so, did you book direct or outside travel agency?  I am having problems with HAL's PCC department doing this since my cabin price has increased.  I plan to see about transferring to a local agency.  I appreciate your response as I am going to talk to HAL again tomorrow.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yes....the two week Alaska cruise (June 2019) increased by $710, the other cruise in 2020 did not.  I did NOT have to repurchase either booking at the current price.  We had to give up some Bonus OBC for the Cyber perks, but between the two cruises we have booked we are $528 ahead, a nice deal for us.

I would never book with a cruise line directly, other than to purchase FlightEase. We book through a big box warehouse travel dept.  We have always had wonderful service. 

These two cruises will be number 43 and 44, so we are experienced cruisers.

Hope this helps, good luck.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 26, 2018 by JudithLynne

[Cruising-along]

We just saved over $2000 by adding the Cyber Sale to 3 of our bookings.  No change in price and didn't lose any OBC.  Happy camper (cruiser!!)

[Marigold252]

It was a long call to our big box TA for me, too, yesterday, but worth it.  Discount on our rate plus free gratuities and the two beverage cards. Since it's a 24 day cruise the free gratuities alone was worth the call. Our HAL OBC stayed the same, but our TA OBC dropped a little due to the lower fare.

[boards]

49 minutes ago, Cruising-along said:

We just saved over $2000 by adding the Cyber Sale to 3 of our bookings.  No change in price and didn't lose any OBC.  Happy camper (cruiser!!)

We booked a cruise on board our last cruise this month for next Oct. 2019.  We got OBC's for booking while on board.  Do you think it might be possible to get the Cyber Sale promotion?   Does this compare to what you did?

[I like vacation]

5 minutes ago, boards said:

We booked a cruise on board our last cruise this month for next Oct. 2019.  We got OBC's for booking while on board.  Do you think it might be possible to get the Cyber Sale promotion?   Does this compare to what you did?

I am waiting for my TA to call me back.  I booked a 2020 cruise while on the Zuiderdam three weeks ago.  The free gratuities is a better offer than the OBC I initially received.  Additionally, the big box TA website is offering $900 OBC.  I may have to re book the cruise and place a larger deposit but that is OK.

[JudithLynne]

9 minutes ago, I like vacation said:

I am waiting for my TA to call me back.  I booked a 2020 cruise while on the Zuiderdam three weeks ago.  The free gratuities is a better offer than the OBC I initially received.  Additionally, the big box TA website is offering $900 OBC.  I may have to re book the cruise and place a larger deposit but that is OK.

That sounds like a lot of OBC, be sure to check that you are not booking with a non refundable deposit.

[Cruising-along]

24 minutes ago, boards said:

We booked a cruise on board our last cruise this month for next Oct. 2019.  We got OBC's for booking while on board.  Do you think it might be possible to get the Cyber Sale promotion?   Does this compare to what you did?

Hi Borden,

We got future cruise deposits on board our last cruise but did the actual bookings with our PCC. We got the welcome back obc which amounts to the same obc you get when you book on board. 

I see no reason why you wouldn’t get the same deal. See if your cruise is eligible. One of ours isn’t. 

[Kruzer Zuker]

My TA just called me back telling me I would have to reprice and it wouldn’t be worth it.  A little disappointing but I will live.  

[I like vacation]

52 minutes ago, JudithLynne said:

That sounds like a lot of OBC, be sure to check that you are not booking with a non refundable deposit.

Just got off the phone with the TA.  I will have to re book to get the $900 OBC, free gratuities ($513) and $50 beverage card.  Deposit is fully refundable up to final payment, 90 days prior.  Much better than the $300 OBC from booking on board.  Any idea how long it takes for HAL to refund or will they make it a future cruise deposit?

[Alberta Quilter]

38 minutes ago, I like vacation said:

Just got off the phone with the TA.  I will have to re book to get the $900 OBC, free gratuities ($513) and $50 beverage card.  Deposit is fully refundable up to final payment, 90 days prior.  Much better than the $300 OBC from booking on board.  Any idea how long it takes for HAL to refund or will they make it a future cruise deposit?

Can you not transfer your current booking to the TA?  Then no refunds would be necessary.

[I like vacation]

2 minutes ago, Alberta Quilter said:

Can you not transfer your current booking to the TA?  Then no refunds would be necessary.

The big box TA won't be able to do the transfer before the cyber sale ends. TA needed 72 hours.

[Alberta Quilter]

I transferred my booking from HAL to the big box store by calling HAL myself.  I had to call the World Cruise reservation line; I guess they're the department that handles the transfers.  I had to provide the TA's phone number and it was done within five minutes.  I then had to call the big box TA to get it all linked to my membership number.  I don't understand why they're telling you 72 hours...  I just did this on Friday morning.  I didn't call the TA until Saturday to complete the process but that was due to timing on my end.

[I like vacation]

6 minutes ago, Alberta Quilter said:

I transferred my booking from HAL to the big box store by calling HAL myself.  I had to call the World Cruise reservation line; I guess they're the department that handles the transfers.  I had to provide the TA's phone number and it was done within five minutes.  I then had to call the big box TA to get it all linked to my membership number.  I don't understand why they're telling you 72 hours...  I just did this on Friday morning.  I didn't call the TA until Saturday to complete the process but that was due to timing on my end.

I think they are backed up right now.  I called the same big box TA on Friday and was able to re fare my Oct 2019 cruise at a much lower rate then when initially booked with the big box TA in July.  When I called today, they were able to have the cyber promo applied as well to the Oct 2019 cruise.  Saved over $900 from two phone calls.  If I have to create a new booking for the Aug 2020 cruise that's ok.

[boards]

2 hours ago, Cruising-along said:

Hi Borden,

We got future cruise deposits on board our last cruise but did the actual bookings with our PCC. We got the welcome back obc which amounts to the same obc you get when you book on board. 

I see no reason why you wouldn’t get the same deal. See if your cruise is eligible. One of ours isn’t. 

 

17 minutes ago, I like vacation said:

I think they are backed up right now.  I called the same big box TA on Friday and was able to re fare my Oct 2019 cruise at a much lower rate then when initially booked with the big box TA in July.  When I called today, they were able to have the cyber promo applied as well to the Oct 2019 cruise.  Saved over $900 from two phone calls.  If I have to create a new booking for the Aug 2020 cruise that's ok.

Thank you.  We have not as yet received our welcome back obc from Hal yet, I was wondering if they were still sending them.   The cost of the cruise is still the same on the website, so I am guessing we will not save any money there, but the extras free gratuities and the beverage card would be a nice savings.   We are doing the S. Pacific crossing to Australia again for the third time if all goes well.

[Overhead Fred]

Our PCC was able to add the Cyber Sale perks to our 18 day Transatlantic (2019) and 44 day Voyage of the Americas (2020) cruises with no difficulty. All it took was a couple of emails back and forth. There were no price changes to deal with for us. 

 

We originally booked the cruises through our PCC using Future Cruise Credits and the bookings are fully refundable. Using FCCs on land seems to be essentially the same as booking a cruise while onboard. So I think boards should be able to get the Cyber Sale perks as well.