What was your recent experience on an upsell offer with HAL?

[DaveOKC]

19 minutes ago, storkington said:

We phoned the Upsell Desk and took their offer for a Signature Suite on our upcoming cruise. I assume we won't be receiving an email upsell offer say for a Neptune? When I called they were all sold out, so just wondered if that would ever happen?

It could happen - not unusual for people to cancel at the last minute.

[Florida_gal_50]

1 minute ago, FlorenceItaly said:

This is true.  There is no comparison between Celebrity suite benefits and HAL suite benefits.  It is ridiculous that one must pay for alcohol in the HAL suite lounge.  The Neptune suites are large and lovely, but beyond this there is not a whole lot to be said in comparison to other cruise lines.  Zach is the cruiser you are referring to with the review and I have a feeling his HAL days are over.

I have to same feeling and I don’t blame him one bit.  He’s been on a few of my cruises and I’ve really enjoyed our conversations so I hope that won’t be the case.  If celebrity had better cancel for any reason insurance (I’m not interested in conventional insurance and I have travel medical through my employer) I’d definitely give them another try even though it wouldn’t be in a suite.

[FlorenceItaly]

6 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I have to same feeling and I don’t blame him one bit.  He’s been on a few of my cruises and I’ve really enjoyed our conversations so I hope that won’t be the case.  If celebrity had better cancel for any reason insurance (I’m not interested in conventional insurance and I have travel medical through my employer) I’d definitely give them another try even though it wouldn’t be in a suite.

I like Celebrity.  We have 18 cruises with them(only 1 suite).  On HAL we are 22 points away from 4 star.  We cruise on other lines too.  I understand your preference with HAL's CFAR insurance.  It is a plus for us too.

[Florida_gal_50]

21 minutes ago, FlorenceItaly said:

I like Celebrity.  We have 18 cruises with them(only 1 suite).  On HAL we are 22 points away from 4 star.  We cruise on other lines too.  I understand your preference with HAL's CFAR insurance.  It is a plus for us too.

I should have mentioned for Canadians is sucks (celebrity).  I think it’s 50 percent.  Princess gives you an fcc unless it’s a covered reason.  Hal you get cash with the platinum.  It really is the best of the bunch.

[Iamthesea]

6 hours ago, FlorenceItaly said:

I like Celebrity.  We have 18 cruises with them(only 1 suite).  On HAL we are 22 points away from 4 star.  We cruise on other lines too.  I understand your preference with HAL's CFAR insurance.  It is a plus for us too.

We have 20 cruises with Celebrity (a few SS suites), many more cruises with various cruiselines.   Our upcoming HAL cruise will make 6 for us.  Only a 2*

 

We became disenchanted with Celebrity after the EDGE class ships started coming out.   Should we sail with them again, it will be on their smaller ships, only.  We did have wonderful perks with Celebrity!

 

 

[Tampa Girl]

On 3/1/2023 at 2:12 PM, FlaMariner said:

 

If you call on your own, I strongly suggest you:

 

1) have credit card ready

2) have deck plan ready

3) be ready to make a decision now (others are waiting on the line and no dilly dallying)

4) understand that if you do not take the offer because you want to talk it over with the spouse and then you call back in 10 minutes the offer may not be available and you should not be mad at HAL.

 

 

 

Excellent advice.  Thank you.

[FlaMariner]

On 2/28/2023 at 11:20 AM, FlaMariner said:

Reporting an upsell offer......

 

• sailing 3/24 Oosterdam South America 17 night
• booked VF balcony
• got email upsell offer yesterday (2/27 at t-minus 26 days), from big internet TA (yahoo, I've got them to send them now)
• move from VF balcony to Signature Suite SS to SZ for $749pp.  No Neptune offer.

 

Not interested. 

 

 

 

Continuing the upsell drama......

 

• sailing 3/24 Oosterdam South America 17 night
• booked VF balcony
• got 2nd email offer today (3/6 at t-minus 18 days), from big internet TA (Yahoo...they continue to send me the upsell emails!)
• move from VF balcony to Signature Suite SS to SZ for $499. No Neptune offer.

 

I said....YES if we can get an SY on Starboard side....BOOM.  Done!  

 

I'm not going to tell Her Majesty...let her be surprised when she opens the cabin door.

[Cruisin Kay D]

WHAT is the special phone number to use to call about possible upsells & upgrades?

 

[tuolumne couple]

11 hours ago, Cruisin Kay D said:

WHAT is the special phone number to use to call about possible upsells & upgrades?

 

The number we have is 888-628-8107

[Hllb]

Can you look into upsells prior to final payment, or are they only available after final payment?

[*Miss G*]

6 minutes ago, Hllb said:

Can you look into upsells prior to final payment, or are they only available after final payment?

 

With a TA this is harder to do but, if I notice a price drop, I call my PCC to either reprice my fare or negotiate an upgrade.  They usually will put you on hold to speak with a pricing specialist and then come back to you with the offer.

 

Edited March 8, 2023 by *Miss G*
Punctuation

[mawvkysc]

How do they handle it If you upgrade from a non suite to a suite and had included gratuities with your original promo? Charge you the difference or still inclide gratuities but at the suite price?

[FlaMariner]

14 minutes ago, mawvkysc said:

How do they handle it If you upgrade from a non suite to a suite and had included gratuities with your original promo? Charge you the difference or still inclide gratuities but at the suite price?

 

We had a paid upgrade from VF balcony to Signature Suite and our original booking included a "paid gratuities" promo.....(Westerdam 10/23).

 

We were charged the upgrade fee only. 

 

We were not charged more for the change in tips (included gratuities meant just that, included gratuities no matter the cabin).

 

Also, as an FYI, the Mariner points double bonus for a suite does not count if it is a paid upgrade from non-suite to a suite...The Mariner points are based on what you originally booked.

 

Enjoy the paid upgrade....

[mawvkysc]

@FlaMariner Thanks for the info. I haven’t been offered an upgrade yet. Still a few weeks away from calling myself to see. I’m just getting my thoughts in order!

[KroozNut]

On 3/24/2024 at 2:45 PM, mawvkysc said:

@FlaMariner Thanks for the info. I haven’t been offered an upgrade yet. Still a few weeks away from calling myself to see. I’m just getting my thoughts in order!

I would not expect any upgrade offer, which is why you should book your specific cabin and annotate 'no upgrade offers'.

 

[mrspeck]

I had booked a 7 day Caribbean cruise on Nieuw Amsterdam in a Signature Suite last November for an early March sailing.  I called in early January and was able to upgrade to a Neptune for very little.  As soon as I had this finalized I got an email upgrade offer for a pinnacle suite for $1195pp, I jumped on it right away…was shocked to receive an email offer that far out from sailing.   Cheapest stay in a pinnacle I’ve ever had.  We then added a third passenger and had a great time.

[mawvkysc]

39 minutes ago, KroozNut said:

I would not expect any upgrade offer, which is why you should book your specific cabin and annotate 'no upgrade offers'.

 

No worries. I’m very happy with the OV we booked. I will not feel bad if nothing comes of this. 

Edited March 26 by mawvkysc
Typo

[FlaMariner]

11 hours ago, KroozNut said:

I would not expect any upgrade offer, which is why you should book your specific cabin and annotate 'no upgrade offers'.

 

 

Or perhaps....

 

....book the cabin you would enjoy and in the rare event you get an upgrade offer at a great price, enjoy an even nicer cabin at a great price.....

 

We've been able to snag what we think are great deals on upgrades (rare, but happens) to signature suites that were not in the budget at booking.....but the "paid upgrade" price made it happen.

 

Enjoy the journey

[DaveOKC]

12 hours ago, KroozNut said:

I would not expect any upgrade offer, which is why you should book your specific cabin and annotate 'no upgrade offers'.

 

To clarify - we mark our reservations Do Not Upgrade, which means that HAL will not give us a free upgrade (since sometimes their idea of an upgrade does not line up with ours).  However, we STILL get Upsell offers, which means that HAL contacts us to see if we are willing to pay a bit more to move up a category or two.  This happens on most of our cruises by the way.

 

Another point, just a month ago HAL starting offering these paid upsells around 45 days prior to our sailing (it used to be 2-4 weeks), so watch your emails closely.

 

[mawvkysc]

Do travel agents benefit if we take an upsell? Just wondering why many don't forward the offers. 

[SDARCH]

 

57 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

Another point, just a month ago HAL starting offering these paid upsells around 45 days prior to our sailing (it used to be 2-4 weeks), so watch your emails closely.

 

Yesterday, 45 days out from our Voyage, got an email for an upsell from Unobstructed Verandah to Vista "Suite".  $450 p/p.  Hard no.

[FlaMariner]

2 hours ago, SDARCH said:

 

 

Yesterday, 45 days out from our Voyage, got an email for an upsell from Unobstructed Verandah to Vista "Suite".  $450 p/p.  Hard no.

 

I agree.  We'd decline that as well.

 

My reasoning is that is $20 bucks (total for two) a day for really not that much more space.......Perhaps they will come back around w/a lower number but even then, we were rather underwhelmed by a vista suite and not sure we would pay anything extra for it.

 

Now if it was that price and a signature suite, we'd be all over it.

 

Enjoy the cruise......

[FlaMariner]

2 hours ago, mawvkysc said:

Do travel agents benefit if we take an upsell? Just wondering why many don't forward the offers. 

 

So we use a big, online, internet TA and for years I would read on here all about this magical upsell offers that would be forwarded from their TA.....I then inquired with our big, online TA and I asked her to send the upsells my way.  She said she did get $$$ for upsells but the back and forth with the passenger and the cruise line (have to call, wait on hold, back and forth with decisions and they are gone sometimes while trying to complete the sale) was not worth it.  I told her I understood but would promise to be decisive and understanding.....and since then, she has sent them to us....but I also call HAL directly.

[SDARCH]

1 hour ago, FlaMariner said:

Now if it was that price and a signature suite, we'd be all over it.

 

Enjoy the cruise......

Same. We’d take that one for sure. 
 

thanks!  I really need a vacation. 

[kacurl]

On our January cruise we got email to upgrade from inside to balcony but when I called they said they were sold out. 2 weeks before sailing got another email same thing. I was able to get a verandah vc category and pick my own from a decent variety, 800 bucks. 11 day cruise well worth it