"Have It All" Promo question

[olya1972]

The "Have It All" promotion is currently 50 % off from regular price. It appears this sale will last till September 30th, 2022. For those who have experience with dealing with how HAL usually runs it's promos, is it likely not to be renewed post that date? (For example, NCL and Royal, the companies I am more familiar with, make "sale" claims every month but then continue extending same promotions.) I am watching a December 2022 Caribbean  cruise and trying to wait for better price (ship shows a lot of cabins availability), but I would really want "Have it All" promo at current rate. For that particular sailing without sale "Have it All" is a $1000 per person. Sale makes is $500 per person plus it includes crew appreciation. Thank You to all who can reply.

[Mary229]

They do often extend a promotion but it seems more often that they change it a bit and offer a new version.  

[olya1972]

Thank You, Mary. I have another question. When going through a fake booking process on HAL website I see two options. One is they will assign a cabin and second option is to chose your own cabin. Does their assigned cabin mean the same as GTY cabin on other cruise lines? I don't see any GTY options on this sailing (Rotterdam out of Fort Lauderdale, December 11, 2022?). I am thinking to book the cheapest balcony GTY and see if they will assign to higher category room. (Does HAL do that or they always assign within the category booked?)

[Hlitner]

19 minutes ago, olya1972 said:

Thank You, Mary. I have another question. When going through a fake booking process on HAL website I see two options. One is they will assign a cabin and second option is to chose your own cabin. Does their assigned cabin mean the same as GTY cabin on other cruise lines? I don't see any GTY options on this sailing (Rotterdam out of Fort Lauderdale, December 11, 2022?). I am thinking to book the cheapest balcony GTY and see if they will assign to higher category room. (Does HAL do that or they always assign within the category booked?)

Our experience with guarantees is that HAL will normally assign a cabin in the category booked, or a higher category within the same type cabin.  So booking a balcony guarantee will likely get you a balcony cabin although there is a good chance it will be in a higher category than the lowest balcony category (which only impacts location).  In recent years HAL has become very proactive with their "Upsell" efforts.  Where, many years ago, folks had a decent chance of a nice upgrade, these days the cruise line markets empty cabins through upsell offers.  This makes it much less likely that, for example, somebody booking a balcony guarantee will get a free upgrade to a suite.

 

I tell the story of a long Prinsendam cruise where we had a Signature Suite guarantee!  We hoped for an upgrade to one of the larger suites (like a Neptune).  A few weeks before the cruise HAL sent us an offer to upgrade to the largest suite on the ship.  The extra cost of the upsell was more than we had paid for our Signature Suite....and we declined.  A couple of weeks later they sent us another offer (with the price slightly reduced) which we also declined.  We assume they sent out these upsell offers to many folks.  The cost of that upsell was over $10,000 per person (extra).  When we got on the cruise we noticed that the large suite was vacant (it was down the corridor from the Crows Nest).  During our 2 month cruise, HAL used that suite to house some of the guest entertainers :).  Was a darn shame.   

 

Hank

[olya1972]

Thank you, Hank. 

[crystalspin]

11 hours ago, olya1972 said:

I am watching a December 2022 Caribbean  cruise and trying to wait for better price (ship shows a lot of cabins availability), but I would really want "Have it All" promo at current rate.

The HIA deposit is refundable which means it is re-fare-able. If the price goes down, you can refare for the same cabin you are in -- as long as others of that class of cabin remain open.

 

However, if at the end of September, they FOR INSTANCE choose to no longer include crew appreciation gratuities, but also lower the price -- If you are booked, you would be able to determine if the lower price was worth more to you than the gratuities (or whatever else might be not included in the new promotion).

 

Does that make any sense?

 

My recommendation is to book the cabin you want, with the promotion you like, at a price you can afford. Then watch and do dummy-bookings quite often. But watch those inclusions that may be dropped!

 

The holiday season is high demand and you may not see a better price with all factors taken into consideration. 

[Btimmer]

Be very careful in booking the HIA package.  For our upcoming 51 day Australia cruise, the HIA promotion DOES NOT include the crew appreciation which makes it not a very good deal.

[NorthWestPassage]

9 hours ago, Btimmer said:

Be very careful in booking the HIA package.  For our upcoming 51 day Australia cruise, the HIA promotion DOES NOT include the crew appreciation which makes it not a very good deal.

I am not sure that is the case for that 51 day Westerdam sailing. I will be on it and the Navigator app (in the HIA link) clearly states that “service charge” is fully covered,  in at least 2 places.

 

 

[VMax1700]

3 minutes ago, NorthWestPassage said:

I am not sure that is the case for that 51 day Westerdam sailing. I will be on it and the Navigator app (in the HIA link) clearly states that “service charge” is fully covered,  in at least 2 places.

 

 

I think that "service charge" relates to the 18% service charge on drinks, but not to the daily "Crew Appreciation". 

[NorthWestPassage]

Good point. I was distracted by the big ticket drink component of the HIA package.   Crew Appreciation tips are not included on any HAL deal unless it explicitly states otherwise. I wish that my HIA deal had an attractively prices deal that includes it.

[cruisemom42]

Can I interject with a different "HIA" question?

 

Do you still need to sign for your drinks on HAL when you have the HIA package?  I love how on Celebrity you are not constantly having to sign whenever you order a beverage (and having to keep up with all the little slips of paper....)

 

I just re-fared an upcoming HAL cruise and got them to toss in the HIA (does not include tips). 

[Btimmer]

37 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

Can I interject with a different "HIA" question?

 

Do you still need to sign for your drinks on HAL when you have the HIA package?  I love how on Celebrity you are not constantly having to sign whenever you order a beverage (and having to keep up with all the little slips of paper....)

 

I just re-fared an upcoming HAL cruise and got them to toss in the HIA (does not include tips). 

We haven't been asked to sign when we've had HIA. 

[crystalspin]

38 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

Do you still need to sign for your drinks on HAL when you have the HIA package?  I love how on Celebrity you are not constantly having to sign whenever you order a beverage (and having to keep up with all the little slips of paper....)

Pre-COVID, with SBP, you handed over your card, but it came back without a paper slip. I would assume the SBP within HIA would be the same. 

[VMax1700]

46 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

Do you still need to sign for your drinks on HAL when you have the HIA package?

3 cruises in the last 12 months, all with HIA and didn't have to sign.  Nor did we receive any paper slip.  However there is a current thread which mentions the Westerdam presenting paper slips for signature recently.  So, as is to be expected with HAL, the answer is yes or no!

[RuthC]

4 hours ago, Btimmer said:

We haven't been asked to sign when we've had HIA. 

I didn't have HIA nor the Signature Beverage Package on my recent cruise, and I didn't have to sign for my drinks, either. I didn't get a slip confirming my purchase, which I miss getting. I like to keep them to proof out my bill at the end of the cruise. Now I have to keep up with it almost daily. 

[travellady]

7 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

I think that "service charge" relates to the 18% service charge on drinks, but not to the daily "Crew Appreciation". 

Exactly.  Its not the crew tips and were on 40 days.  Did the comparison based on what we normally drink and the price of the have it all package, even when offered a 50% discount still 500.00 above our expected cost.  If crew tips were included id be right on it!

Edited September 17, 2022 by travellady

[robotpony]

6 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

Do you still need to sign for your drinks on HAL when you have the HIA package?  I love how on Celebrity you are not constantly having to sign whenever you order a beverage (and having to keep up with all the little slips of paper....)

 

Oddly, we were asked to sign once on our last cruise. It was also the only time they gave us our receipts. I assume this was a newer server or something.

[Chickadee910]

When we were saying Panama Canal  Feb. 2022 I had a beverage card and was given a receipt every time I got a drink with it. On our transatlantic in October 2021 also.