Any guesses on the next promotion

[KAKcruiser]

The most recent 72 hour sale (which was extended an additional 5 days) just ended.  It offered $200 on shore excursions.  Anyone know when the next one will be and for what?  My favorite was the Crew Appreciation.

[Florida_gal_50]

Crew appreciation would be great.  I’m thinking it will be another “sale” that really doesn’t offer anything that won’t cost me a ton more.

[canadianbear]

We hopped on the HIA for our 50 day sailing when it included the crew incentive.  For us Canadians it was beneficial for us more than the wifi.  

[Florida_gal_50]

12 minutes ago, canadianbear said:

We hopped on the HIA for our 50 day sailing when it included the crew incentive.  For us Canadians it was beneficial for us more than the wifi.  

That would be wonderful to have for that long of a cruise.  

[canadianbear]

30 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

That would be wonderful to have for that long of a cruise.  

We lucked out as it was the promo I think last February?  But yes, that really helps a LOT! 

[Caribbean Chris]

8 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Crew appreciation would be great.  I’m thinking it will be another “sale” that really doesn’t offer anything that won’t cost me a ton more.

Not always the case. For a recent promo, I checked and our Christmas cruise fare had actually gone down a little. Called the TA and HAL approved refaring to the lower rate & adding the pre-paid gratuities gratuities to Have it All, great for a 16-day cruise. No need to cancel & rebook. Had a new statement in writing quickly, reflecting both changes.. 

[Florida_gal_50]

2 hours ago, Caribbean Chris said:

Not always the case. For a recent promo, I checked and our Christmas cruise fare had actually gone down a little. Called the TA and HAL approved refaring to the lower rate & adding the pre-paid gratuities gratuities to Have it All, great for a 16-day cruise. No need to cancel & rebook. Had a new statement in writing quickly, reflecting both changes.. 

If you book really far ahead it’s pretty much guaranteed your fare will go down unless you are doing a voyage of the Vikings or a one off cruise.  I tend to book 6 or 8 months before with a Mariners pricing.  The price goes down but usually after final so it doesn’t help.  It’s rare when I get any perks.  I’m not buying the have it all because the only one that wins is hal because I drink very little.  You shouldn’t have a problem refaring unless you’ve bought a non refundable fare or are past final or your category is sold out.

Edited May 8, 2022 by Florida_gal_50

[deliver42]

For me, the crew incentive would be a positive. In my case, they can eliminate the WiFi. My phone stays in the safe.

[Florida_gal_50]

1 minute ago, deliver42 said:

For me, the crew incentive would be a positive. In my case, they can eliminate the WiFi. My phone stays in the safe.

I’d rather them eliminate the shore excursions.  They always go way longer then they say and I find that very annoying. 

[albingirl]

I, too, can do without the shore excursion thing.  One recent shore excursion we had was in Nassau for a little ferry to a private beach.  Well, we waited in the sun for an hour for the little ferry to show up.  We refused to stand in the sun anymore and left to go back to the ship.  A complete waste of time. Along with the long bus rides sometimes, I can do without.

[DaveOKC]

Agree - remove the shore excursion money and replace with paid crew incentives.  Less hassle to be sure.

 

[rodndonna]

I think this comes up every couple of months. I really can't imagine there would be anyone, even people who do HAL shore excursions, eat specialty dining or use HAL internet that would still not just prefer the gratuities as the perk as it is essentially  as close to "cash"  as you can get and frankly a god chunk of it. That being said however, I can totally understand from a business perspective why they generally offer shore excursions, wifi, dining and such.

[PACD_JG]

18 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

That being said however, I can totally understand from a business perspective why they generally offer shore excursions, wifi, dining and such.

As a first-time cruiser, I'll tell you how savvy it is to offer these promos.  We're going with two teen daughters - wife wanted Pinnacle Grill, and wanted kids to go with.  Since we booked one cabin, and only guest one and two get the perks...ka-ching.  Shore excursions: wife wanted to go whale watching (only guests one and two get $100 credit), and wanted kids to go with...ka-ching.  Having said that, my booking did come with paid gratuities...for guest one and two....ka-ching.  And we got free White Pass Rail Excursions...for guest one and two and you guessed, wife wants kids to go too...ka-ching.

Edited May 8, 2022 by PACD_JG

[rodndonna]

1 minute ago, PACD_JG said:

As a first-time cruiser, I'll tell you how savvy it is to offer these promos.  We're going with two teen daughters - wife wanted Pinnacle Grill, and wanted kids to go with.  Since we booked one cabin, and only guest one and two get the perks...ka-ching.  Shore excursions: wife wanted to go whale watching, and wanted kids to go with...ka-ching.  Having said that, my booking did come with paid gratuities...for guest one and two....ka-ching.  And we got free White Pass Rail Excursions...for guest one and two and you guessed, wife wants kids to go too...ka-ching.

 

Haha..indeed.

 

Off the top I was thinking more to the fact that $100 on a shore excursion costs HAL less than the  $100 since it is a profit centre. You are correct though, for many people (us included) it also encourages more spending. For us, if we get money towards a HAL excursion, we book a relatively expensive one which surpasses what the $ offered, but is something we otherwise would not have booked (e.g. a $250 excursion with $100 credit will not be palatable to us). When we get free dining, it seems to just be 'plus one more' for us. For a seven day cruise with 1 dinner free, we book and pay for a second. If we get 2 free, we buy a third. Wifi is the only true free 'perk' other than grats or OBC, if we don't get it for free, we aren't buying it.

[Florida_gal_50]

50 minutes ago, PACD_JG said:

As a first-time cruiser, I'll tell you how savvy it is to offer these promos.  We're going with two teen daughters - wife wanted Pinnacle Grill, and wanted kids to go with.  Since we booked one cabin, and only guest one and two get the perks...ka-ching.  Shore excursions: wife wanted to go whale watching (only guests one and two get $100 credit), and wanted kids to go with...ka-ching.  Having said that, my booking did come with paid gratuities...for guest one and two....ka-ching.  And we got free White Pass Rail Excursions...for guest one and two and you guessed, wife wants kids to go too...ka-ching.

Did you pay full price for your kids?  If so why not get two rooms and then each person would get the perks.  There has to be some good savings on staying in one room otherwise why do it?  I know you have to have an adult in each room but that could be done fairly easily.

[Florida_gal_50]

44 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

 

Haha..indeed.

 

Off the top I was thinking more to the fact that $100 on a shore excursion costs HAL less than the  $100 since it is a profit centre. You are correct though, for many people (us included) it also encourages more spending. For us, if we get money towards a HAL excursion, we book a relatively expensive one which surpasses what the $ offered, but is something we otherwise would not have booked (e.g. a $250 excursion with $100 credit will not be palatable to us). When we get free dining, it seems to just be 'plus one more' for us. For a seven day cruise with 1 dinner free, we book and pay for a second. If we get 2 free, we buy a third. Wifi is the only true free 'perk' other than grats or OBC, if we don't get it for free, we aren't buying it.

Hal said guests preferred the shore excursion credit.  I don’t know who they asked.  Maybe babies that haven’t started talking yet 😛.

[rodndonna]

15 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Hal said guests preferred the shore excursion credit.  I don’t know who they asked.  Maybe babies that haven’t started talking yet 😛.

 

They didn't ask me (that I remember) but  of the non-cash-like perks( paid grats  or OBC) I would rank them in order of preference -

1) excursions,

2) wifi,

3) dining.

 

I expect providing excursion credit may generate the most additional spending and hence would be HAL's favourite as well - 😉

 

 

[Florida_gal_50]

17 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

 

They didn't ask me (that I remember) but  of the non-cash-like perks( paid grats  or OBC) I would rank them in order of preference -

1) excursions,

2) wifi,

3) dining.

 

I expect providing excursion credit may generate the most additional spending and hence would be HAL's favourite as well - 😉

 

 

Gratuities are my favourite.  It’s lovely not having that come on your bill everyday.  Wifi likely comes next, dining then drinks.  Hal never asks me either 😛.  I agree, the shorex would bring the best returns to them and may prevent some from doing independent shorex.

[PACD_JG]

1 hour ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Did you pay full price for your kids?  If so why not get two rooms and then each person would get the perks.  There has to be some good savings on staying in one room otherwise why do it?  I know you have to have an adult in each room but that could be done fairly easily.

$75 per child.  I did actually have a balcony and an inside room on the Sapphire Princess (and then Royal Princess) because it was close to the same cost as a mini-suite.  Anyway, tight quarters on the Koningsdam, so hoping the extra large balcony (4154) will help.

[KAKcruiser]

There is a new 72 hour sale today which includes crew appreciation but it doesn't seem to include Caribbean sailing.

[NCTribeFan]

I just added HIA to my upcoming Alaska B2B (6/1) on Friday.  Of course, NOW it includes crew appreciation.

 

I sent an email to my PCC to ask if he can get that added.  Because, well, you know, I now have to scramble to get Covid tested before I fly home and pay for that out-of-pocket.  Seems a fair trade-off.

 

We'll see what he says.

[Florida_gal_50]

8 hours ago, KAKcruiser said:

There is a new 72 hour sale today which includes crew appreciation but it doesn't seem to include Caribbean sailing.

It looked to me like it was Alaska but I just saw it on Facebook.

 

Edited to say it does look like other cruises are included looking at the hal site

Edited May 10, 2022 by Florida_gal_50

[DaveOKC]

Just checked my reservation and it still says the same thing for $50 (nothing about Crew Appreciation):

Upgrade your base cruise fare to our Have It All premium package and receive our best amenities -
Shore Excursions, Drink Package, Specialty Dining, and Wi-Fi -
for only $50 per person, per day.

[Seasick Sailor]

Onky good through November cruises, so I will stick with my original HIA and Crew App.

[strickerj]

1 hour ago, DaveOKC said:

Just checked my reservation and it still says the same thing for $50 (nothing about Crew Appreciation):

Upgrade your base cruise fare to our Have It All premium package and receive our best amenities -
Shore Excursions, Drink Package, Specialty Dining, and Wi-Fi -
for only $50 per person, per day.

Wow, that's double what I paid on mine ($350 extra for a 7-day Alaska cruise total, not per person).

Edited May 10, 2022 by strickerj