Buy 1, gift 1

[0bnxshs]

We bit and bought a cruise in December 2021 as a BD present for our DD.  Just paid the taxes and port charges for the "free" inside cabin.

[jimdee3636]

It's unclear to me whether the BOGO promotion creates a separate booking for the "giftee," or whether everything has to be done in the name of the "giftor." For example, if my wife and I give our unmarried adult daughter an inside cabin on a cruise we're taking, could she then book shore excursions, spa treatments, etc. under her own name or does it have to be under our names and booking number? And could she deal directly with HAL for air arrangements, transfers, pre-cruise hotels, and such, or would we have to do all of that for her? As they say, the devil is in the details.

[SeeSun&Sea]

On 12/17/2020 at 1:58 PM, bstel said:

For the Verandah Spa rooms, what spa services are included (ie not an upcharge)?  also am I correct to assume that paid spa services would be at a discount? 

Shel Silverstein (a poet) wrote about this situation:

"Do you want to visit the wonderful far off land of Oz where the wizard lives and scarecrows can dance and the road is made of yellow bricks and everything is emerald green?

"Well you CAN’T because there is no land of Oz and there is no Tin Woodsman and there IS NO SANTA CLAUS!

“Maybe someday you can go to Detroit.”

[StLouisCruisers]

50 minutes ago, jimdee3636 said:

It's unclear to me whether the BOGO promotion creates a separate booking for the "giftee," or whether everything has to be done in the name of the "giftor." For example, if my wife and I give our unmarried adult daughter an inside cabin on a cruise we're taking, could she then book shore excursions, spa treatments, etc. under her own name or does it have to be under our names and booking number? And could she deal directly with HAL for air arrangements, transfers, pre-cruise hotels, and such, or would we have to do all of that for her? As they say, the devil is in the details.

 

I'm not sure how HAL will handle this but I have some experience with Princess with this kind of scenario.  We booked cabins for our family members to celebrate our anniversary with us.  There were 4 other cabins, in their names, but paid for by us.  Everyone could purchase flights, and shore excursions on their own (which they did).  It was a great cruise, by the way!!

[VermeulT]

On 12/15/2020 at 3:41 PM, 0bnxshs said:

Huh... wonder what the catch is?

 

On 12/16/2020 at 3:37 PM, YXU AC*SE said:

'View and Verandah' promotional amenities do not apply to travelers in the interior stateroom, and taxes, fees, port expenses and gratuities are additional for each person.

 

 

There is your catch..  The extra people will spend. .. and there are probably enough people that think - I didn't pay for the cabin so I can do spa, drink buckets, etc and my net vacation costs are only X.

Plus you can upgrade to outside/veranda so they will get some $ for those that do that.

 

Edited December 19, 2020 by VermeulT

[wahwah1]

2 hours ago, jimdee3636 said:

It's unclear to me whether the BOGO promotion creates a separate booking for the "giftee," or whether everything has to be done in the name of the "giftor." For example, if my wife and I give our unmarried adult daughter an inside cabin on a cruise we're taking, could she then book shore excursions, spa treatments, etc. under her own name or does it have to be under our names and booking number? And could she deal directly with HAL for air arrangements, transfers, pre-cruise hotels, and such, or would we have to do all of that for her? As they say, the devil is in the details.

I just booked this.  The free room has a separate booking number. We have a party of 3 also and I’m the adult daughter.  You need to pay the tax in full for the inside room.  The verandah/suite room must pay the view and verandah option (e.g. drink package, free tips, 1 specialty dinning).  The free room has no perks.  This offer is combinable with the pay $750 installment and receive $250 obc in the verandah room.  If you decided to pay $750 upfront, it follows the cancellation policy on your booking (e.g. refundable before final payment).  If you have FCC to use, you can only choose the installment option (e.g. no prepaid in full to get an additional 10% off nor EZ pay).
 

I believe she could make separate arrangement.  I believe you have the option to link spending accounts also once you are onboard.

Edited December 19, 2020 by wahwah1

[jimdee3636]

18 minutes ago, wahwah1 said:

I just booked this.  The free room has a separate booking number. We have a party of 3 also and I’m the adult daughter.  You need to pay the tax in full for the inside room.  The verandah/suite room must pay the view and verandah option (e.g. drink package, free tips, 1 specialty dinning).  The free room has no perks.  This offer is combinable with the pay $750 installment and receive $250 obc in the verandah room.  If you decided to pay $750 upfront, it follows the cancellation policy on your booking (e.g. refundable before final payment).  If you have FCC to use, you can only choose the installment option (e.g. no prepaid in full to get an additional 10% off nor EZ pay).
 

I believe she could make separate arrangement.  I believe you have the option to link spending accounts also once you are onboard.

wahwah1:

Thanks for this very helpful information. have a great cruise!

Jim

[leerathje]

Trying to calculate what the price would be if my dad would want to take us on a cruise 😁  If you upgrade to a verandah, is the upgrade difference between the Best Price on the inside, or the View and the Verandah price on the inside?

 

L.

 

[0bnxshs]

4 hours ago, wahwah1 said:

I just booked this.  The free room has a separate booking number. We have a party of 3 also and I’m the adult daughter.  You need to pay the tax in full for the inside room.  The verandah/suite room must pay the view and verandah option (e.g. drink package, free tips, 1 specialty dinning).  The free room has no perks.  This offer is combinable with the pay $750 installment and receive $250 obc in the verandah room.  If you decided to pay $750 upfront, it follows the cancellation policy on your booking (e.g. refundable before final payment).  If you have FCC to use, you can only choose the installment option (e.g. no prepaid in full to get an additional 10% off nor EZ pay).
 

I believe she could make separate arrangement.  I believe you have the option to link spending accounts also once you are onboard.

Just to add to this excellent explanation, we "gifted" our DD for her BD with an inside and added her bestie and her bestie's 3 year old son to the inside.  We did have to pay the freight on the child, which was what we considered minimal.  As mentioned, the booking is completely separate and has no added perks, but they can be added.  We were asked if we wanted to link our payment method to their booking but we declined for now; this can be added at any time and our bookings are otherwise linked (for meals, etc.)  They can book excursions and all services on their own through HAL on their own accounts.  We also did the $750 installment and received $250 in OBC along with a $50 p/p OBC in our verandah cabin.  Seemed pretty straight and easy to me.  You have 3 days to add people to the "free" inside cabin.

[0bnxshs]

39 minutes ago, leerathje said:

Trying to calculate what the price would be if my dad would want to take us on a cruise 😁  If you upgrade to a verandah, is the upgrade difference between the Best Price on the inside, or the View and the Verandah price on the inside?

 

L.

 

Your dad has to choose the "View and Verandah" price to get the free inside cabin.  Still have to pay taxes and port fees and there are no perks for the inside cabin.

[leerathje]

44 minutes ago, 0bnxshs said:

Your dad has to choose the "View and Verandah" price to get the free inside cabin.  Still have to pay taxes and port fees and there are no perks for the inside cabin.

Got that...my dad is paying for all of us, but we would like to upgrade from the inside to the verandah, and trying to calculate the upgrade price....

[KAKcruiser]

I know that they use the advantage fare rate for the free cabin.  So, I think it is the difference between the lowest category inside cabin and whatever category of verandah you choose.

[0bnxshs]

13 hours ago, leerathje said:

Got that...my dad is paying for all of us, but we would like to upgrade from the inside to the verandah, and trying to calculate the upgrade price....

I see now... I would assume that since the "free" inside comes with none of the perks that it would be from the "Best Price" and not the "View and Verandah" price quote.  But you could quickly call HAL and ask to be sure as I'm just guessing.... 🙃  If you do, let us know what they say.

[KAKcruiser]

The Best Price is a nonrefundable fare.  The Advantage Fare, which is how they price the free cabin, is not shown on HAL's website.  It is usually priced between the Best Price and View & Verandah rate.

[leerathje]

1 hour ago, KAKcruiser said:

The Best Price is a nonrefundable fare.  The Advantage Fare, which is how they price the free cabin, is not shown on HAL's website.  It is usually priced between the Best Price and View & Verandah rate.

Ding ding ding!  You are the winner!  It is the Advantage Fare.  Thanks!

[bstel]

so if you book this deal, do you book both rooms at the same time, or do you have to book the View and Verandah first and then book the "free" cabin, so you have separate booking numbers?  also do you have to put names on the free room as time of booking or can you add them later?

[leerathje]

6 hours ago, 0bnxshs said:

I see now... I would assume that since the "free" inside comes with none of the perks that it would be from the "Best Price" and not the "View and Verandah" price quote.  But you could quickly call HAL and ask to be sure as I'm just guessing.... 🙃  If you do, let us know what they say.

 

So, I did call....it is the Advantage Fare, which is not available on the website. So, for the cruise I'm planning, $5282 for the View and Verandah, and $2409 for the upgrade from the inside to a verandah.  I'm all in for that!!  Looks like we're going on a cruise in December!

 

L.

 

[leerathje]

3 minutes ago, bstel said:

so if you book this deal, do you book both rooms at the same time, or do you have to book the View and Verandah first and then book the "free" cabin, so you have separate booking numbers?  also do you have to put names on the free room as time of booking or can you add them later?

 

You book the View and Verandah as the initial booking, then you have 3 days to book the "free" cabin. 2 separate booking numbers, and the person who is booking the upgrade gives the booking number for the View and Veranda, and deals with their booking separately...and yes, you would have to give both names on the "free" booking.

 

L.

 

[bstel]

52 minutes ago, leerathje said:

 

You book the View and Verandah as the initial booking, then you have 3 days to book the "free" cabin. 2 separate booking numbers, and the person who is booking the upgrade gives the booking number for the View and Veranda, and deals with their booking separately...and yes, you would have to give both names on the "free" booking.

 

L.

 

ok so I would book the View and Verandah, and get my booking number.  Then have our friends call, within 3 days, and they give the person on the phone my booking number and then they book what they want with the "free" room discount

[cruisequeen4ever]

Wow, that’s an interesting promo! It doesn’t seem like it would help most people but for those who are traveling with others, it could be a very good deal!

[leerathje]

2 hours ago, bstel said:

ok so I would book the View and Verandah, and get my booking number.  Then have our friends call, within 3 days, and they give the person on the phone my booking number and then they book what they want with the "free" room discount

 

Yes, it's that easy.

 

L.

 

[leerathje]

56 minutes ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

Wow, that’s an interesting promo! It doesn’t seem like it would help most people but for those who are traveling with others, it could be a very good deal!

 

As long as you are OK with cruising in 2021.  Not valid for any 2022 cruises.  We are going to do the 11 day Southern Caribbean during the 1st week of December.

 

L.

 

[sfaaa]

1 hour ago, leerathje said:

 

As long as you are OK with cruising in 2021.  

 

 

 

And that my friend is the catch.

[leerathje]

3 hours ago, sfaaa said:

And that my friend is the catch.

 

That IS the catch. We were also looking at Alaska, but that cruise we looked at was September, and not sure if I could get the vaccine (or both vaccines as the Moderna and Pfizer currently are approved)  in time, as I am young(er), healthy, no underlying conditions and don't work in a high risk job. I'm sure by December I will, and so feel confident enough to book one....

 

L.

 

[0bnxshs]

17 hours ago, leerathje said:

 

So, I did call....it is the Advantage Fare, which is not available on the website. So, for the cruise I'm planning, $5282 for the View and Verandah, and $2409 for the upgrade from the inside to a verandah.  I'm all in for that!!  Looks like we're going on a cruise in December!

 

L.

 

Glad it worked out for you!  Calling is always the best thing even though you can get conflicting info from the horse's mouth too. 😁