Is The HIA Plan Worth The Cost

[crystalspin]

50 minutes ago, teeeej said:

Why does it matter if gratuities are specifically included vs them just offering OBC ? Can't the OBC be used towards the gratuities?

I think Bill just meant the total value. HAL's OBC can be applied to crew incentive, but the amount of OBC they tend to offer rarely touches the amount of your gratuities. Also OBC is not always a part of HIA. HIA with Early Booking Bonus is hard to beat, so much so that I tend to cut way back on dummy bookings for the purpose of seeking re-faring benefits!

[teeeej]

16 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

I think Bill just meant the total value. HAL's OBC can be applied to crew incentive, but the amount of OBC they tend to offer rarely touches the amount of your gratuities. Also OBC is not always a part of HIA. HIA with Early Booking Bonus is hard to beat, so much so that I tend to cut way back on dummy bookings for the purpose of seeking re-faring benefits!

That makes sense. I'll need to pay attention to the early booking deals next time around and see how much better they can be.

[crystalspin]

24 minutes ago, teeeej said:

That makes sense. I'll need to pay attention to the early booking deals next time around and see how much better they can be.

You can filter for HIA/EBB cruises on the (new?) website under "Deals " in the top blue banner!

[YourWorldWithBill]

2 hours ago, crystalspin said:

You can filter for HIA/EBB cruises on the (new?) website under "Deals " in the top blue banner!

Good to know.

Edited February 25 by YourWorldWithBill
deleted an erroneous comment!

[albingirl]

• The funny thing about the have it all package on NCL is that you don't get much in the way of credit toward excursions but.  You have unlimited drinks, and the drink package works on their private island.  No need to bring your wallet.  I saw people drinking painkillers at 8 in the morning.  Having a smashing good time.

[crystalspin]

On 1/12/2023 at 10:14 AM, crystalspin said:

Worth it for us. 

We LIKE the beverage package. Do we "get our money's worth?" Probably not. Do we drink 15 beverages and wish is was unlimited -- never! In fact our bar stewards were always bringing us cans of water as the evening closed because they could see we had drinks left over.

 

Last time I looked, HIA was cheaper than SPB, but even when it wasn't, SPB + internet (even just one premium package) was the same or more than HIA. Meaning the excursion credit and dinners were bonus!

[SeeSun&Sea]

The fullest possible value of HIA is applied to the Mariner Points "1 point for $300" offer. So, even a sober couple gets Mariner credit for 2x15x$11 drinks per day = $330. Double Mariner Points for any cruise with HIA ... for couples. Less for us poor solos (arrggg gggrrrr and phooey) and maximum 1 extra $300 point/day.

[Paulinda]

We've cruised 4 times so far on HA and will be doing another in the near future.  We've never had the HIA plan and always opted for a better cabin.  This next cruise we did purchase the HIA plan because we are rec.  $400 in excursions, 2 specialty dinners, WI-FI and 15 drinks/day each.  We are not big drinkers of alcohol but will probably have 1 or 2 per day with the package.  Also my wife like to drink pepsi/coke and I like a good cup of coffee now and then.  If my math is correct we are in the ball park of what the package cost so it made sense to us.    BTW does anybody know if they serve pepsi or coke?

[crystalspin]

6 minutes ago, Paulinda said:

BTW does anybody know if they serve pepsi or coke?

Coke products. TG

[57redbird]

For our 35 day cruise it made sense but for shorter cruises, it probably wont.  We likely won't do any ship excursions (been to all the ports), don't need wi-fi & we're happy with our cabin choice.  We purchased Club Orange because we had a great experience with it.

[Eric from San Diego]

On 1/11/2023 at 9:08 PM, billbunger said:

If you don't drink, surf the web get and send email, don’t do specialty restaurants or only occasionally go to them and don’t or rarely do shore excursions then HIA is not for you.  

By all means go with the lowest fare you can. I firmly believe that for the majority of cruisers who do want or are interested in those choices that the HIA offers can be a money saver but, you need to check out each offer as HAL continuously adds or subtracts from their HIA promotions. As I stated in another thread we did the math and it does work out much cheaper for our cruise of choice than the offered low price when you add the costs of the extras to that low price point. 
 

Below is a quote from a message I sent in the thread I mentioned. The cruise I’m referring to is the 27 day Vancouver to Fort Lauderdale October 1 - 28, 2023 sailing. 
 

 

We checked the lowest (best) fare and the HIA package was a far better value. We ran a mini budget and if we each had five drinks a day, alcoholic or nonalcoholic based on $11.00 each plus 18% gratuity the cost for just those beverages alone would be just over $3,500 00 for the cruise. That would bring the cost of the “cheap” fare up to the HIA price! That  drink package with the other perks that you would normally pay for, such as shore excursions, specialty dinning and crew gratuities made the HIA package a no brainer. 
 

I firmly believe that HAL is positioning fares so they can turn to an all inclusive model and do away with all of the “other fares”  and have one single price. This is an excellent opportunity for them to compete with land based all inclusives. I suspect within a relatively short time you will see just one price offered to customers and not just on Holland America. 

25 years ago Las Vegas would charge $30 for a room and $7.95 for the buffet.  The hotels made their profit on gambling.  But too many people were going to Vegas and not gambling.  So today rooms are $150 and the buffet is $39.95.  The people who do gamble accrue points on their mLife account and get free rooms and free buffet.  

[cccole]

My only comment about HIA is do not purchase if it is for the excursion credit.  Both of our HAL excursions were cancelled and we had plans for all other ports.  It was worth it to us for the other benefits, but if the excursion credit is the big deal I would suggest not to take HIA.  JMO. Cherie

[Blackduck59]

To the original question "Is the HIA plan worth the cost". Clearly that is not a single answer question. It really depends on the buyer. For many the answer yes, and for others, no. The thing is it is a question one must answer for yourself nobody on this forum can answer it for you.

[darjeff]

Did the math on our upcoming 2026 42-day cruise for a couple.  Early booking HIA includes $600 excursion credit, gratuities, elite drink package, premium wi-fi, and 3 dinners. Bottom line, adding all the costs of these benefits (excluding drinks) leaves you a deficit of $16 per person, per day. If you and your partner have more than one glass of wine, cocktails or coffee you will be ahead.