New HAL offer for existing reservations

[RMLincoln]

"I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a Hamburger today!"  

Wisdom we learned from Popeye's character, Wimpy, way back when, still applies today.  

 

And yes, the NCL news today is disheartening, but CCL may make it, they got out front early with selling junk bonds to raise cash.  If enough people believe and put up cash CCL will have a chance.  Otherwise it will be a very long reorganization of the cruise lines, probably too long for us.  Right now we are grateful to be healthy and safe.  The pandemic reminds me that there are no guarantees in life, ever.  Enjoy the joys of today.  m--  

[fatcat04]

PCC told us both our booked cruises qualify. We have so much FCC coming that I don't know if it is even possible to do it for the New Years cruise (plus, they don't even know if the promo can be applied to the cash balance of a cruise partially paid for with an FCC anyway, they are asking for clarification on that presently) but the March 2021 cruise, probably is worth it to us.  We will decide this month.

[Turtles06]

We just got another email from HAL today with this “special offer” for our Jan. 2021 cruise, except that now the offer is good through June.  (The first email had a deadline at the end of May.)

 

I wonder how much cash HAL is raising this way?  (We aren’t putting any more money into a cruise that early in 2021.) 

[kangforpres]

We got a 2nd email for this offer too, he have a 7 day Mexico Rivera on 02/27/21. Sure hope that vaccine is ready by then.

[Infi]

We got this offer yesterday for our Holiday 2020 cruise on the Amsterdam. We booked this cruise while onboard our last cruise and transferred to our TA immediately, only have an FCC down now. 

 

Looks like they are rolling these offers out in phases, perhaps based on likelihood of sailing. I could see them starting off with cruises that are further out first and then working their way backwards to established Holiday 2020 and late Fall bookings. Wonder how many will bite - it's clear HAL/Carnival corp desperately needs the cash and to inspire consumer confidence in the brand. 

Edited May 16, 2020 by Infi

[drowelf]

Both the DW and I got this offer too. Not sure which of the 3 cruises we have booked for 2021 it applied to, but we are not about to give HAL any additional $$ at this time. 

[thyme2go]

Out of curiousity.........are people that are seeking refunds getting these offers?   We have not had any offers.   In other words I'm wondering if people who are not inline for a refund are the one's getting the "good" offers??     

[Roz]

On ‎5‎/‎15‎/‎2020 at 2:58 PM, Turtles06 said:

We just got another email from HAL today with this “special offer” for our Jan. 2021 cruise, except that now the offer is good through June.  (The first email had a deadline at the end of May.)

 

I wonder how much cash HAL is raising this way?  (We aren’t putting any more money into a cruise that early in 2021.) 

 

I have a Jan. 27, 2021 cruise booked but haven't received any offers yet.  I'm with you on not putting more money into an early 2021 cruise.  I booked my sister and I with a $50 deposit and bought an insurance policy for both of us.  That's as far as I'm will to go at this juncture.

[mollygirl]

I got the offer as well.  I only owe $240 since it was a casino offer and my share of the Cruise price was low.  We paid an additional $399 each to upgrade to a balcony for a cruise in late  March 2021 on the  Eurodam.  So if I take option 3, we will get 10% off plus $250 OBC added.  That brings our OBC to $650.  The offer says OBC cannot be used for gratuities.  It was always included in the past.  Not too happy about that!

[tallyho8]

On 5/17/2020 at 11:10 AM, mollygirl said:

I got the offer as well.  I only owe $240 since it was a casino offer and my share of the Cruise price was low.  We paid an additional $399 each to upgrade to a balcony for a cruise in late  March 2021 on the  Eurodam.  So if I take option 3, we will get 10% off plus $250 OBC added.  That brings our OBC to $650.  The offer says OBC cannot be used for gratuities.  It was always included in the past.  Not too happy about that!

Sorry, but anyone who booked with any kind of casino offer is not eligible for this offer. I was going to take this offer until I read the fine print that says since I booked with a casino offer I am not eligible. 

 

Carnival corporation has some huge financial assets so I am not worried about them going bankrupt.

[boze9999]

15 minutes ago, tallyho8 said:

Sorry, but anyone who booked with any kind of casino offer is not eligible for this offer. I was going to take this offer until I read the fine print that says since I booked with a casino offer I am not eligible. 

 

Carnival corporation has some huge financial assets so I am not worried about them going bankrupt.

I beg to differ. Sometimes the "fine print" is confusing. I can share that all of my cruises have the casino discount and we were able to take advantage of this promo on all our cruises. Even if HAL cancels, we have some tremendous bonuses and discounts! just call your TA and take advantage - if you wish - it's yours to decide!

[tallyho8]

12 minutes ago, boze9999 said:

I beg to differ. Sometimes the "fine print" is confusing. I can share that all of my cruises have the casino discount and we were able to take advantage of this promo on all our cruises. Even if HAL cancels, we have some tremendous bonuses and discounts! just call your TA and take advantage - if you wish - it's yours to decide!

I did call my TA and this promo was rejected by Hal because I booked with a casino discount. You try it. If you are successful give me the name of your TA so I can book it too. If you can't, I told you so.

[boze9999]

24 minutes ago, tallyho8 said:

I did call my TA and this promo was rejected by Hal because I booked with a casino discount. You try it. If you are successful give me the name of your TA so I can book it too. If you can't, I told you so.

Perhaps you received a Club 21 Offer for a free or VERY HIGHLY discounted cruise and if that's the case you are probably correct. I receive flat Club 21 Casino discounts on all my sailings ( a percentage discount for each sailing) and any and all HAL promos always apply to all my casino discounted cruises, on top of any HAL "promos". 

[PigsCanFly]

We are also booked our Feb 2021 Eurodam cruise with a casino "adjustment".  We have not seen this offer.  Could be because of the casino contribution or that we already paid the balance at booking.  We can cancel for full refund until early November 2020.  Waiting and watching cruises restarting.

[mollygirl]

9 hours ago, tallyho8 said:

Sorry, but anyone who booked with any kind of casino offer is not eligible for this offer. I was going to take this offer until I read the fine print that says since I booked with a casino offer I am not eligible. 

 

Carnival corporation has some huge financial assets so I am not worried about them going bankrupt.

Mine was definitely a casino offer from Holland.  Received email a couple weeks ago for a free inside cabin on select cruises, along with free play and drinks in casino.  I booked a cruise for March 2021.  Then late last week I got  the email asking for more money on my casino booking. They will not offer this if cruise has been paid in full.  They are getting desperate for money to stay afloat!  

[tallyho8]

They are sending the email offer to practically everyone who has a cruise booked after 1-1-21 but not everyone who gets the email is eligible for the offer.

[fatcat04]

Checked with PCC and both our New Years cruise and March 2021 are eligible. The promo has been extended until June 30th and the only option available to those using an FCC in tandem with this promo on their booking is the $250/500/750 payment option that nets you the tiered OBC. The pay in full or ezpay options are not available for FCC bookings. 

[VacationCharlene]

We too have been interested in this option, to make a payment and receiving obc as well, as we still owe money for the Voyage of the Vikings in July 2021 and also for our newly booked May 3, 2021 14 day Alaska cruise.  I finally called HAL today and inquired about it.  Turns out it is for certain cruises that are between 6-20 days.  VOV is 35 days so does not apply and not eligible.  We did give them $750 towards our Alaska cruise and we in turn received $250 obc.  I ALSO inquired about our status on our cancelled March 21, 2020 Hawaii/Tahiti 28 day REFUND and it has been processed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It should show up any day now on our credit card.  Details later hopefully 😍 We filled out paperwork for 100% refund on March 17th with NO credit card dispute in the works.

[Dismomx5]

47 minutes ago, VacationCharlene said:

 . . . .We did give them $750 towards our Alaska cruise and we in turn received $250 obc.  I ALSO inquired about our status on our cancelled March 21, 2020 Hawaii/Tahiti 28 day REFUND and it has been processed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It should show up any day now on our credit card.  Details later hopefully 😍 We filled out paperwork for 100% refund on March 17th with NO credit card dispute in the works.

Congratulations on the refund! I cannot imagine the work involved to get tens of thousands of those out, all manually (from home??).

I've just added $750 to my Panama cruise next February. I am not confident that we will be cruising, however. I changed my stateroom to a Vista Suite from Ocean View. That was a big hit to the pocketbook, but, at this point it is Verandah for my peace of mind. I'm waiting for my refund from a small agency for a river cruise this August. I know that they are doing their best, and it will come. And I figure that that refund almost covers the hit for the Panama cruise.

[CM1984]

On 5/2/2020 at 8:25 AM, TN Fem said:

now this is interesting... could you buy the gift cards with the 20% bonus and pay off your cruise balance for the 10% discount? + $250 OBC? 

checked with my TA, and she said yes, I plan on paying by 6/30 for our December cruise. 

[Hlitner]

WOW!  Somehow I managed to miss this thread until this morning.  It causes me great concern as it would appear to be an indication that HAL is desperately in need of cash...despite CCL being able to raise over $6 Billion (by selling their soul).  If HAL is so desperate that would be a strong indication that bankruptcy is a real possibility.  And we have another concern.  Cash shortages can manifest themselves in many other ways.  Consider cut-backs across the board including quality/quantity of food, entertainment, staff, etc.  Desperate corporations often take desperate measures before finally throwing in the towel.

 

Hank

[iancal]

IMHO, cruisers with cancelled bookings would be FAR better to take the refund money and invest it in the market at this time. 

 

I believe that it is a safer and a more lucrative bet than sticking with a time limited, cruise line exclusive, on some future cruise where the itinerary is not solid, the on board environment is not defined, and indeed even the cruise itself or the cruise line may be in question.

 

Not my idea of cruise line loyalty, a good investment, or an overall attractive offer for the customer given the restrictions and limitations around it's use. 

 

IF this was a business situation and a vendor offered me this option I would be even more inclined to run for the hills, play it safe, and grab my cash refund as quickly as possible while the getting was good.

Edited June 2, 2020 by iancal