Free interior stateroom offer?

[2LoveBikes]

I called the telephone number on the form and was told that the offer extends only to active Ocean Players Club (casino) members. 

[Dutchman48]

22 hours ago, 2LoveBikes said:

I called the telephone number on the form and was told that the offer extends only to active Ocean Players Club (casino) members. 

Would suspect that was due to you trying to take advantage of an offer sent out under a Mariner # other than yours.

My wife and I have received and taken advantage of this offer multiple times and have never gambled on any of our cruises.

Don't know how they determine who gets the offer, but gambling is not the only issue. It is tied to your Mariner # since sometimes my wife will receive the offer and other times I will.

 

[2LoveBikes]

The HAL agent also said that those who spend money in the jewelry shops (separate from casino) are also considered but it is on an invitation basis only.

[kelliebiz]

Thanks everyone for all of your input. I called the agent who was listed on the email offer and he answered all of my questions. Ultimately I did not book but boy I really wish it would have worked with my calendar. We already have a trip in Feb/Mar and another first week of May and I decided I didn’t want to add another one in between. I am really hoping they’ll send me a similar offer later in the year and I will be ready to jump on it. I do realize I may not get another offer like this but oh well. So here’s what the HAL agent told me. 
 

I was looking at a 14 day Panama Canal cruise. With this deal you would pay $560 in port fees, taxes, etc. for the inside cabin, plus a $200 booking fee that you get back in OBC. There were no available balconies to upgrade, but there were obstructed ocean view rooms and the biggest giant fanciest suite. I’m not sure exactly the name of the suite because I wasn’t interested in that. And that would have been it! You could add HIA for $50 a day, which would be additional $700 and I would have taken it. So the total would be $1160 for the 14 days, such a steal! Wish my calendar had space to do it.  Next time I’ll be ready to grab it. 
 

The inside cabin would have been down low on deck one, but for the price I would have done it. We’ve sailed in all different categories of cabins and the inside wasn’t bad in my opinion. Thanks again

[Iamthesea]

You could add HIA for $50 a day, which would be additional $700 

 

Is the $50 a person per day the regular price or the 60% off price that is being advertised for Early Booking Bonus?

[hmorrow]

On 1/12/2023 at 5:27 PM, kelliebiz said:

Thanks! what does that mean exactly, that it is a casino offer? I’ve seen that mentioned before, but don’t know what a casino offer is?

We got it once(casino offer) and we rarely gamble, but did book.  Upgraded to a balcony. I think they were trying to fill the ship- it was when cruising first started up again. Great value!

[PACD_JG]

15 hours ago, 2LoveBikes said:

The HAL agent also said that those who spend money in the jewelry shops (separate from casino) are also considered but it is on an invitation basis only.

Just to clear my good name, I've never spent a penny in one of their jewelry stores either (ship or land).  😋

[HALcruiser2001]

On 1/13/2023 at 2:44 PM, PACD_JG said:

I get these offers all the time, and I've never spent a penny in a HAL casino.

How often/much do you sail HAL?

[PACD_JG]

23 minutes ago, bdd123 said:

How often/much do you sail HAL?

I've sailed twice - on my signature block.  I do have one booked for this July.  And I paid for my adult son to join us in July.  I received my first offer 09/15/22, so 3 months after my first HAL cruise.  I have received 5 more offers since then (just downloaded all the pdfs), and they are all different.

[HALcruiser2001]

8 minutes ago, PACD_JG said:

I've sailed twice - on my signature block.  I do have one booked for this July.  And I paid for my adult son to join us in July.  I received my first offer 09/15/22, so 3 months after my first HAL cruise.  I have received 5 more offers since then (just downloaded all the pdfs), and they are all different.

Thank you.  I wonder if I could figure out a a way to trigger these.  I did 2 cruises 20+ years ago with HAL.  I wonder if I could talk to the future cruise desk and drop some hints that I want some of these offers. They must be associated with your account in some way.

[gdy0354]

If you don't use up the $200 OBC deposit it will be refunded within a few days from end of cruise.

[yarnsinger]

On 1/12/2023 at 2:38 PM, FlorenceItaly said:

The offer is legitimate.  It is a casino offer.  If you are interested, do not hesitate.  It is capacity controlled.

I've never been in a casino other than to walk through to somewhere else. When I got one of these offers recently, I asked the HAL rep why, and he told me that he didn't know for sure but thought it had to do with money spent onboard. I tend to use the spa services for hair, nails, and massage when I'm onboard. Maybe that's it? 

 

FWIW, I didn't upgrade the inside room to another type of room, but I did sign up for Club Orange and chose one of the best inside rooms on the ship. 

[DanaK757]

I received this offer in my email on 1/26/2023 and I had just booked our 7 day cruise to the Caribbean on 1/24/23 for one of the cruises listed.  I called the agent to see if I could take advantage of this offer and maybe get a credit for the difference in what I paid and what the deal offers.  She called me back and stated she spoke with her manager and since I just bought it 2 days ago and not 24 hours ago and I didn't buy the Holland America cruise insurance, there was nothing I could do.  If I cancel and rebook, I will lose money.  I asked if I could give this "deal" to a family or friends and was told no.

 

Just some background on me- I have been on only one HAL cruise back in 2012.  I did play in the casino on that cruise, but I did not buy any jewelry.  I had been recently looking online for a few days to book a 7-day Caribbean cruise and signed in under my Mariner ID.  I think me looking and exploring cruises under my Mariner ID might have triggered the email- but I can't say for sure. 🙂

[DanaK757]

1 hour ago, gdy0354 said:

If you don't use up the $200 OBC deposit it will be refunded within a few days from end of cruise.

To my understand, all OBC has to be used onboard during the cruise.  I think this is where they get you!  The room is "free" but you pay $200 p/p plus taxes and fees and then get the $200 p/p back in OBC to use on the ship!  So really, you are still paying $300+ for the "free" interior room.

[SeaCapt]

9 minutes ago, DanaK757 said:

To my understand, all OBC has to be used onboard during the cruise.  I think this is where they get you!  The room is "free" but you pay $200 p/p plus taxes and fees and then get the $200 p/p back in OBC to use on the ship!  So really, you are still paying $300+ for the "free" interior room.

Well, kinda sorta. You can use your OBC to pay the daily crew appreciation, which uses more than half of it. If you're on a 12-day or longer cruise, that would use it up.

[DaveOKC]

On a recent cruise we did not use up all of our $200 (we had free crew appreciation) and after we returned home we noticed that the unused portion was credited to our cc.

 

 

[trixiee]

4 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

On a recent cruise we did not use up all of our $200 (we had free crew appreciation) and after we returned home we noticed that the unused portion was credited to our cc.

 

 

same.

[wilson44]

We just booked  21 day Panama Canal cruise with this offer.  Paid taxes & port charges of $620 pp  for inside room. In addition paid additional $ 200 pp but will get it back as OBC which we will use to pay gratuities. We have sailed a total of 3 times prior with Hal.  Never used casino or purchased anything onboard. 

[PACD_JG]

Since this topic is back on the charts, I received another one of these offers two days ago.  The surprising takeaway - giving away "free" inside staterooms on Pinnacle class ships during Spring Break - business can't be that great.

[DaveOKC]

3 minutes ago, wilson44 said:

We just booked  21 day Panama Canal cruise with this offer.  Paid taxes & port charges of $620 pp  for inside room. In addition paid additional $ 200 pp but will get it back as OBC which we will use to pay gratuities. We have sailed a total of 3 times prior with Hal.  Never used casino or purchased anything onboard. 

Why did you have to pay the additional $200 upfront?

 

[FlorenceItaly]

Just now, DaveOKC said:

Why did you have to pay the additional $200 upfront?

 

This is typically what my casino offers are.  $200 pp plus port charges and taxes.  And, receive the $200pp back in OBC.  Although for the April 9 PC it shows $99pp for an inside.  Unfortunately, the dates don't work for us so can not book.  I am no longer receiving the emails but they are showing up in my account.

[wilson44]

7 minutes ago, wilson44 said:

We just booked  21 day Panama Canal cruise with this offer.  Paid taxes & port charges of $620 pp  for inside room. In addition paid additional $ 200 pp but will get it back as OBC which we will use to pay gratuities. We have sailed a total of 3 times prior with Hal.  Never used casino or purchased anything onboard. 

I stand corrected. Wife just remined me we purchased jewelry while onboard the Rotterdam last year.  So maybe that was the trigger.

[DaveOKC]

8 minutes ago, FlorenceItaly said:

This is typically what my casino offers are.  $200 pp plus port charges and taxes.  And, receive the $200pp back in OBC.  Although for the April 9 PC it shows $99pp for an inside.  Unfortunately, the dates don't work for us so can not book.  I am no longer receiving the emails but they are showing up in my account.

Interesting.  A week ago I saw a very nice price on a Neptune on the HAL website while logged into our account. Thought it was odd since the Inside price was $349 inside of the normal $200 (for a casino offer).  We had not received any email from HAL casino offer, so I called our PCC.

 

After looking into it, she said it fact it was a casino offer, but she could not find our offer code to book it.  So, I was going to book it online myself, but she said to let her try to get it resolved instead with the casino department.  When she called them, they did not have a record on it either, so she could not book it right then.  It took her two days to resolve, but in the end she got it and the casino added $50 in free play plus free casino drinks (sort of our standard offer).  We did not have to pay the extra $200 in OBC (as discussed above), which was quite unusual.  The $200 is also not showing up in the perks section of our booking confirmation (darn, not that lucky).

 

My take on this is that HAL is in the process of adjusting their casino offers and has not fully worked it out, so casino players should closely monitor sailings on their account for unusual pricing.

 

[mr. godfredo]

Yup, we did 14 nights in Europe (14 night Voyage of the Midnight Sun) this past summer on this type of deal. If you want to go...jump on it as it is capacity controlled!

[Real NHDOC]

I suspect that these offers are being made to people who haven't cruised much or in a while to try and lure them back.  In many cases it seems it has nothing to do with the casino - only people here are calling them casino offers.  I can tell you we've not received anything like that but have been regular and recent cruisers so they have no incentive to give us anything for free.  Maybe we have to switch to another cruise line for a while to be appreciated by HAL?