Bidding

[Iamthesea]

On 10/11/2022 at 8:15 PM, Florida_gal_50 said:

 I took an upsell from a balcony to a vista and that was a big waste of money.  That one was unsolicited.  I met a few others that did the same.  Disappointment all around.

Please explain why?  Also, what was the cost to upsell.  We have a VA, but we were considering upgrading to a Vista if the price went down.

 

As kazu mentioned, we also book through a TA at a big agency.  We work only through her.  I have asked her to send us any offers from HAL.  Now, whether I check my email in a timely matter is another story. 😄  I'll take FlaMariner's advise and call HAL if nothing comes around before our cruise.  I once did that with Celebrity when a number was given out here on CC.  The rep that answered said that I was not to call them about upgrades, but since she had me on the phone, offered an upsell from our standard balcony stateroom to a SS (SkySuite) for $800.00 total.  That was for a New England/Canada sailing and it was either 11-14  nights.  I jumped on it without even asking my DH. 

 

FlaMariner - I never thought of logging into my HAL account before checking on pricing.   The price that we paid for our VA is currently the same price on HAL as through my TA's site.  Going to try that now and see if it is less with my Mariner number.

 

Someone was asking why bother booking through a TA?  We received $700 OBC doing so.  This did not include the $300 OBC from HAL.

 

UPDATE:  The price was the same and no extra credit offered.  I am only a 2* so perhaps that's why.

Edited October 26, 2022 by Iamthesea

[rgoldstein86]

2 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

Someone was asking why bother booking through a TA?  We received $700 OBC doing so.  This did not include the $300 OBC from HAL.

Drinks on you!

[vswan]

We were on the Westerdam to Alaska on a free interior in August - casino. The best offer we received was to any balcony cabin for $299pp. I called to check if the rear-facing balconies were included - yes - so took the offer and picked the cabin. This was about 2 weeks out.

[Florida_gal_50]

2 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

Please explain why?  Also, what was the cost to upsell.  We have a VA, but we were considering upgrading to a Vista if the price went down.

 

As kazu mentioned, we also book through a TA at a big agency.  We work only through her.  I have asked her to send us any offers from HAL.  Now, whether I check my email in a timely matter is another story. 😄  I'll take FlaMariner's advise and call HAL if nothing comes around before our cruise.  I once did that with Celebrity when a number was given out here on CC.  The rep that answered said that I was not to call them about upgrades, but since she had me on the phone, offered an upsell from our standard balcony stateroom to a SS (SkySuite) for $800.00 total.  That was for a New England/Canada sailing and it was either 11-14  nights.  I jumped on it without even asking my DH. 

 

FlaMariner - I never thought of logging into my HAL account before checking on pricing.   The price that we paid for our VA is currently the same price on HAL as through my TA's site.  Going to try that now and see if it is less with my Mariner number.

 

Someone was asking why bother booking through a TA?  We received $700 OBC doing so.  This did not include the $300 OBC from HAL.

 

UPDATE:  The price was the same and no extra credit offered.  I am only a 2* so perhaps that's why.

The price was something like $350 cdn. I can't remember. The room is marginally bigger.  I had a bigger balcony in my balcony room.   Doesn't matter how many stars you have.  You'll probably actually get a better price.

[Iamthesea]

I did not get a better price after sign-in as a Mariner.

 

I would upgrade to Vista is the price was only $475 U.S.D.  Right now, the difference in the VA and the Vista is $1700 pp!

[Florida_gal_50]

31 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

I did not get a better price after sign-in as a Mariner.

 

I would upgrade to Vista is the price was only $475 U.S.D.  Right now, the difference in the VA and the Vista is $1700 pp!

Wow, that is ridiculous.  If you just bought it the rate it is now you would get double Mariners points.  Through and upsell you wouldn’t.   I wouldn’t pay either of those amounts for it.  If you do end up taking it I think you’ll be shocked at how small it is.

[Iamthesea]

I have a good idea of how small it is.  Just a tad larger than the Veranda balcony.  Reminds me of the old Princes mini-suites.  If it gave anything else special...like a larger bathroom, we could justify another $500 pp, but not what they are asking!