Random Questions

[AFNavigator]

2 hours ago, cwd79 said:

I had inquired about upgrading the HIA signature beverage package to Elite when I called yesterday and was told it cannot be done over the phone and must be done when you're on the ship. I'm not sure if that is accurate but guess we will find out next week once we board what the cost difference is to upgrade to the Elite. 

If the upgrade does have to be done on the ship, that matches what I read here before.  The SBP advance purchase price is discounted $10/day.  The Elite package price is $5 above the non-discounted SBP price.  As a result, onboard upgrade purchase works out to a $15/day upgrade price per person.

[VacationCharlene]

"We were given two beverage cards to use and of course won't really need them now that we'd be upgrading to the Have It All package, if we don't use those can those be converted to OBC or used on another cruise? 

 

Another option to think about is IF you have the HIA drink package and your cruise rep. gifted you two beverage cards....Think about offering to sell them to someone who does not have the drink package.  We purchased, at a reduced price, gift cards for beverages that helped us alot and the person who had them gifted was happy with the extra money...WIN WIN for all 🙂  Another option.  Just spread the info around at happy hour and someone will jump on it.

[kacurl]

Op, we too are deck 5 midship on the NS in January. Please come back and let us know how cabin was!!!!

[RRFan]

On 8/29/2022 at 7:45 AM, cwd79 said:

*I have several cruises on courtesy hold for next year and 2024. The hold will expire in four days. I wasn't sure if it's a benefit to book those cruises on board or does it not matter? I know we can get the "Welcome Back" OBC after our cruise but wasn't sure if you get any perks if you book on board? Currently the three cruises on hold will include the "Have It All" and "Mariner Early Booking Bonus" perks. But not sure when those perks go away... Debating if I put the deposit down now before our cruise in a week or wait till we are on the cruise to book. Thoughts?

We have always kept Future Cruise Deposits booked because we typically book last minute and the OBC is just free money for the trouble of putting the deposits down while on board.  We have had 10 deposits each (but we typically book at least one b2b and often more at a time).  You don't have to book the cruises until you're ready.  Since you're about to be on a ship, you might just wait until you're on board and book it.  Being 2024, your odds of the same cabin being available in 10 days is good (unless of course there is only one particular suite or something you want).  You can put deposits down on board and book then if you want too.  If you change your mind before 2024, just cancel and the cruise deposits go back to your account.  I haven't checked lately, but it used to be that you had 2 years to book using the deposits or they were automatically returned to you, 

[cwd79]

20 minutes ago, RRFan said:

We have always kept Future Cruise Deposits booked because we typically book last minute and the OBC is just free money for the trouble of putting the deposits down while on board.  We have had 10 deposits each (but we typically book at least one b2b and often more at a time).  You don't have to book the cruises until you're ready.  Since you're about to be on a ship, you might just wait until you're on board and book it.  Being 2024, your odds of the same cabin being available in 10 days is good (unless of course there is only one particular suite or something you want).  You can put deposits down on board and book then if you want too.  If you change your mind before 2024, just cancel and the cruise deposits go back to your account.  I haven't checked lately, but it used to be that you had 2 years to book using the deposits or they were automatically returned to you, 

Thanks for this info, can you or anyone explain the process? So you meet with the Future Cruise Person on the ship and how much is the deposit that you put down? Is there a max deposits you can have? The OBC you get depends on the length of the cruise and room type? Is the OBC better than what you get for the Welcome Back email promo? I think that is around 25 OBC per person for an interior on a 7 day...

[RRFan]

17 hours ago, cwd79 said:

Thanks for this info, can you or anyone explain the process? So you meet with the Future Cruise Person on the ship and how much is the deposit that you put down? Is there a max deposits you can have? The OBC you get depends on the length of the cruise and room type? Is the OBC better than what you get for the Welcome Back email promo? I think that is around 25 OBC per person for an interior on a 7 day...

There will be a future cruise consultant onboard with desk hours posted.  Just go by any time.  There is no limit to how many deposits you want to have for future cruises.  We cruised a lot and as I said most often did more than one cruise at a time so we each needed one for each cruise we booked. All future cruise deposits used to be $100 pp per future cruise.  It has changed  now for longer cruises (we haven't been on a ship since 2/20 but are going to be on one in Oct and plan to put down more since this trip used our last deposit).  If you book a cruise later from home with a TA or directly with HAL, just tell them you want to use one (or more) of your future cruise deposits.  That will suffice as your initial deposit (instead of 20% or whatever would normally be due).  They will apply the deposit amount and apply however much OBC goes with the length and type of cabin you book.  They will deduct that from the total cruise cost and you just pay the balance by the due date.  You can log into your account online with HAL any time and see how many FCDs you have and how much OBC will be available.  Very easy.  I believe this is still current info:

Edited September 1, 2022 by RRFan

[maysdot]

I am sailing on the Nieuw Statendam out of Quebec City and have just heard that HAL charges $20 US per bottle of wine no matter where you drink it.  My understanding was that every person is allowed 1 750 ml bottle for consuming in your room without fee.  Do they apply this fee????

[Cruise Suzy]

2 hours ago, maysdot said:

I am sailing on the Nieuw Statendam out of Quebec City and have just heard that HAL charges $20 US per bottle of wine no matter where you drink it.  My understanding was that every person is allowed 1 750 ml bottle for consuming in your room without fee. 

 

The policy changed over a year ago. The corkage fee now applies to all bottles carried onboard. It still cannot be in your checked luggage.