Who is booking a HAL cruise today only with a $1 deposit?

[PattiPB]

They got me on this one! Spring Break 2024!

LOVED our first HAL to Alaska this past summer. 

[Oceansaway17]

4 hours ago, HappyInVan said:

 

Not a surprise. I looked at the prices for the Asian and Australasia cruises. Looked kinda high without HIA and $1 deposit. The marketing people are just trying to stampede us.

 

I hesitated on booking a $1-deposit Panama cruise. The cheap deposit is nice. But, why pay hundreds more for drinks that I don't consume?

yup I agree they give you something that sounds good, but you must buy more in the end.

Princess did not do this 2 months ago when they had their $1 sale

[dlca1]

I'm not familiar with the HAL deposit (refundable/non-refundable) + cancel/change rules.

 

As several noted, the HAL $1 deposit deals (this one and the previous $1 promotion 3 months ago) require you to pick the have-it-all package. (at least for the sailing I'm interested in). 

 

I'm not interested in the have-it-all package. We don't really drink alcohol or soda.  I wanted to confirm that the following is allowable?

 

1) book room with the $1 deposit/have-it-all rate to reserve my preferred cabins

2) when our plans firm up, change the reservation (prior to first payment being due) to whatever advantage fares/promotions are available at that time. I understand the OBC would not carry over and the deposit would go up.

 

I'm trying to book 5-7 rooms. It is nice not to have to worry about losing the deposit while we figure if the plans are going to work out.

[Destiny0315]

I would imagine you could just refare the bookings or cancel them with a PCC and have them immediately reenter the new bookings for the same rooms at the new rate and pay the new down payment expected at that time.

[atexsix]

1 hour ago, dlca1 said:

I'm not familiar with the HAL deposit (refundable/non-refundable) + cancel/change rules.

 

As several noted, the HAL $1 deposit deals (this one and the previous $1 promotion 3 months ago) require you to pick the have-it-all package. (at least for the sailing I'm interested in). 

 

I'm not interested in the have-it-all package. We don't really drink alcohol or soda.  I wanted to confirm that the following is allowable?

 

1) book room with the $1 deposit/have-it-all rate to reserve my preferred cabins

2) when our plans firm up, change the reservation (prior to first payment being due) to whatever advantage fares/promotions are available at that time. I understand the OBC would not carry over and the deposit would go up.

 

I'm trying to book 5-7 rooms. It is nice not to have to worry about losing the deposit while we figure if the plans are going to work out.

Is that what happened?  The $1 deposit was there one minute, gone the next, I assumed there was a cutoff time and I missed it.  We don't use enough of the HIA items to make it worth it.  

[HappyInVan]

1 hour ago, dlca1 said:

1) book room with the $1 deposit/have-it-all rate to reserve my preferred cabins

2) when our plans firm up, change the reservation (prior to first payment being due) to whatever advantage fares/promotions are available at that time. I understand the OBC would not carry over and the deposit would go up.

 

 

In that case, why bother to book the $1-deposit fares. You don't intend to pay for and use the HIA package. Might as well use a Future Cruise Credit (multiples of a $100) as a cheap deposit on a non-HIA fare.

 

They can be purchased onboard a ship, and serve in lieu of the standard deposit. Some of the experienced people can explain it in more detail. Check with HAL's call center to confirm how they can be used.

 

In any case, its best to price the voyages you're interested in. Sometimes, the base fare is high enough that HAL offers a very reasonably priced HIA. Sometimes, the base price is too low, and HAL plays tricks to suck in the customers.

 

In my case, I just booked a $1-deposit for a Baja cruise on the Volendam. Avoided the crazy price for a lanai stateroom (just an Ocean View with a big window/door). Instead, found a very reasonable Baja price for an OV stateroom. I'm willing to pay C$100 night for HIA. After the 'freebies', my breakeven for beverages would be a premium coffee and 2 diet cokes a day!

 

HAL is pretty desperate to fill its ships. So, I'm willing to help by spending a few extra bucks; without impairing my health.

 

[dlca1]

2 hours ago, HappyInVan said:

In that case, why bother to book the $1-deposit fares. You don't intend to pay for and use the HIA package. Might as well use a Future Cruise Credit (multiples of a $100) as a cheap deposit on a non-HIA fare.

 

They can be purchased onboard a ship, and serve in lieu of the standard deposit. Some of the experienced people can explain it in more detail. Check with HAL's call center to confirm how they can be used.

In my case, we are trying to plan a surprise cruise to Alaska for our parents and siblings. We are paying for everybody.  The $1 deposit allowed us to pick a date and book a bunch of contiguous balconies with minimal commitment/not knowing everybody’s availability.

I’m intrigued with the future cruise credit suggestion and am going to look into that. Would it assume we already have FCC? This will be our first HAL cruise. 

[Mike B Landlubber]

Since January 1, I had already booked two cruises with regular deposits….*sigh*

 

of course, one of them is after April of 24 anyway!  🙂

[HappyInVan]

26 minutes ago, dlca1 said:

I’m intrigued with the future cruise credit suggestion and am going to look into that. Would it assume we already have FCC? This will be our first HAL cruise. 

 

OK, it is a problem. In any case, the $1 promo is ending.

 

Unfortunately, Future Cruise Deposits (not the same as Future Cruise Credit) can only be purchased while you are onboard. The FCD is used solely to establish a deposit at the time of booking, and comes with benefits. The FCC is usually used to make Final Payment.

 

https://www.princess.com/plan/fcc-onboard-cruise-credits/

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2033768-future-cruise-deposit/

 

 

You could drop into a cruise specialist (e.g. Expedia Cruise Ship Centre) and ask the specialist to walk you through the HAL process.

 

https://www.expediacruises.com/en-US/corporate/Location-Finder

 

Do you have time to take a quick HAL cruise to familiarize yourself with HAL's strengths and weaknesses? Purchase as many FCD as you need if HAL is suitable.

 

 

Edited January 19, 2023 by HappyInVan

[FlorenceItaly]

$1 deposit no longer being offered.  I checked my cruise pricing today.  No difference in pricing but deposit now $600.

[cruising sister]

Thanks for the heads up on the $1 deposit. I booked a 22 day Norway cruise. I had the same concerns with the HIA as I don’t drink alcohol. After adding up the things I would use it really was a deal. Happy sailing!

[going to see the world]

I did! First time on HAL - can't wait to try it 😄 

[MarkWiltonM]

I almost booked a cruise with the $1 deposit, on Rotterdam. But it was more expensive per night than Celebrity and about the same as we're getting now on some Oceania cruises (comparing veranda cabins, not suites), and, to be honest, the food and service we had in the main dining room on Rotterdam in April 2022 was so poor that I just decided I don't want to sail on HAL right now. I do love and miss HAL's buffet for breakfast and lunch (pastries and sandwiches especially), and we also utilized the buffet for dinner a lot after so many bad meals in the dining room. I haven't written HAL off completely for the future but right now the value and quality compared to other lines isn't working for us. 

[Oceansaway17]

21 hours ago, HappyInVan said:

 

 

HAL is pretty desperate to fill its ships. So, I'm willing to help by spending a few extra bucks; without impairing my health.

 

not so desperate that they would not allow me to make changes and I lost my $300 all because of initial booking and my not paying cruise insurance up front.  Would not let me add in later.

HAL can keep their dame $1 deposits.  Princess does it better IMHO and do not ask for any prepaid crap you do not want. 

[cbr663]

On 1/18/2023 at 6:39 PM, dlca1 said:

I'm not familiar with the HAL deposit (refundable/non-refundable) + cancel/change rules.

 

As several noted, the HAL $1 deposit deals (this one and the previous $1 promotion 3 months ago) require you to pick the have-it-all package. (at least for the sailing I'm interested in). 

 

I'm not interested in the have-it-all package. We don't really drink alcohol or soda.  I wanted to confirm that the following is allowable?

 

1) book room with the $1 deposit/have-it-all rate to reserve my preferred cabins

2) when our plans firm up, change the reservation (prior to first payment being due) to whatever advantage fares/promotions are available at that time. I understand the OBC would not carry over and the deposit would go up.

 

I'm trying to book 5-7 rooms. It is nice not to have to worry about losing the deposit while we figure if the plans are going to work out.

I will share my recent experience.

 

I had booked a cruise under an Advantage Fare and selected our desired cabin.  Paid the deposit and everything was good to go.

I saw that a big box store had an excellent deal on the same cruise with the HIA promo.  I called the big box store and asked if I can keep my booked cabin and avail of their HIA promo pricing (it was $2200 less than HAL's HIA pricing).  The big box store couldn't guarantee that I would receive the same cabin and suggested I call HAL.

I called HAL and they said they couldn't give me the same pricing as the big box store.  My only option was to cancel the original Advantage Fare and wait for my cabin to go back into inventory and then snap it up at the big box store price.

It took a couple of calls to actually get the original cruise cancelled and I was lucky in that as soon as the original cabin went back into the inventory I was able to select it again for the new big box store pricing.

From my experience I have learned that keeping your original cabins depends on what promotion you are trying to obtain when you make your changes.  

Of course with HAL, YMMV.  🙂

 

[JeannyJ]

My DH and I got our 25th anniversary cruise booked with this deal. We're going to Alaska on the Volendam in July and can't wait! We're new to cruising and are really excited 😀

[Native Floridian 26]

They must have changed the $1 deposit offer this time.  In August we booked our 14 night April Transatlantic with $1 deposit inside cabin Private Fare, no HIA.  The rates were very low in conjunction with the $1 deposit so it was a no-brainer.  We then moved the reservation to a TA and got further discount and OBC.  Once we got reasonable airfare through Flightease and a few other $ saving perks, we made final payment.   

 

Sorry it didn't work out for some this time.

Edited January 31, 2023 by Native Floridian 26

[FlaMariner]

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2023/01/record-january-bookings-for-holland-america-line/

 

This was posted on the "new to HAL forum"....so I am not taking credit for finding this article......but looking like HAL has done good w/bookings in January.  

 

Based on this thread topic...."who is booking with HAL today......" seems the answer is that it is lots of us.

 

Good news for HAL and all of us who enjoy sailing with HAL.