Military OBC Benefit

[Trapper44]

On 4/28/2023 at 8:32 AM, PaperSniper4 said:

For our October 2023 cruise, I can see an OBC of $100 but I cannot tell if that is a military OBC or a CCL stockholder OBC. Anyone know what the ID means at the link above?

 

 

When I called HAL and inquired about the OBC that was showing on my paperwork, I was told that the "Shareholder" OBC did not appear until you were onboard. That is my experience since.

[PaperSniper4]

12 hours ago, Trapper44 said:

When I called HAL and inquired about the OBC that was showing on my paperwork, I was told that the "Shareholder" OBC did not appear until you were onboard. That is my experience since.

Thank you. So the OBC I can see for our Oct 2023 cruise must me military. At least that's all I can figure out!😎

 

 Doug

[luvn2cruzzz]

I filled out the military benefit form for my DH for an upcoming cruise and then scheduled a second cruise  and it did not appear on that invoice.  Tried to fill out the military information online again but no luck.  Called and was told it had  been automatically added to the second cruise but it had not appeared when I looked. She sent another invoice and it appeared there.  Lovely woman who knew what this was all about!

[coldinerie]

We booked the cruise prior to me knowing about the military OBC. I applied for the program, was accepted and received the email stating so, but after the booking.  The credit did not appear, so thanks to CC I called HAL. I was told, to send a copy of the approval via email to submit_@hollandamerica.com.  I did just that and within 3 hours my credit was on my account. 

[PaperSniper4]

1 hour ago, coldinerie said:

We booked the cruise prior to me knowing about the military OBC. I applied for the program, was accepted and received the email stating so, but after the booking.  The credit did not appear, so thanks to CC I called HAL. I was told, to send a copy of the approval via email to submit_@hollandamerica.com.  I did just that and within 3 hours my credit was on my account. 

Same for me, word for word, except I sent my request for my military appreciation to 'world_cruise_reservations@hollandamerica.com', and it took all of 3 days for approval. The agent at that email address also kindly told me the total OBC I'd have once on board, and broke it down as to military, shareholder, TA offer, etc. That was much appreciated as I have not been able to find that information at hollandamerica.com.

 

Doug

[Guest debbiejohncruise]

On 4/28/2023 at 12:05 PM, electro said:

It is for Canadian military as well.

 

We have cruised many times with HAL and never received a military appreciation OBC.

[PaperSniper4]

12 hours ago, debbiejohncruise said:

We have cruised many times with HAL and never received a military appreciation OBC.

So have we, but I am US Navy. However, I think the HAL military appreciation is rather new, and one must apply for the discount using SheerID.com, the link on HAL's web page. Once that is complete your military appreciation credit (refundable, at least with other CCL cruise lines) will show under Future Cruise Credits on your HAL account page. We booked a HAL cruise about 3 months ago and I applied for the military OBC about a month ago. Once "approved" by SheerID/HAL, I sent an email to world_cruise_reservations@hollandamerica.com asking if my military FCC could be applied to the bruise I had booked a few months prior. They sent a positive reply in just a couple of days.

 

 Doug

 USN retired

[NavyCruiser]

Carnival has my DD-214 on file since I've faxed it in many many years ago, & has always applied OBC to all of our previous Carnival, Princess, & HAL cruises.  So just completed this new SheerID, so HAL has applied it successfully to our upcoming August cruise & hopefully P&O will too...

[NavyCruiser]

Once the SheerID is in my profile, when I search for future HAL cruises, it says:

Military Appreciation

Onboard Credit of US$100 per stateroom has been applied

[PaperSniper4]

6 hours ago, NavyCruiser said:

Carnival has my DD-214 on file since I've faxed it in many many years ago, & has always applied OBC to all of our previous Carnival, Princess, & HAL cruises.  So just completed this new SheerID, so HAL has applied it successfully to our upcoming August cruise & hopefully P&O will too...

Same for me with the DD-214, except I've never gotten a military OBC with HAL until I read about that here on CC and submitted the form for SheerID. Maybe that's something new, and we might have to start doing that for other CCL lines? I recently did a Princess cruise in March 2023 and got the military OBC without requesting it. Who knows!😎

 

When were you on the USS Pintado? I think I worked ASW with her in the mid-1970s. Name sounds familiar anyway. I was P3 Navy.

 

Doug

[NavyCruiser]

Spent a week onboard the USS Pintado (SSN-672) as a Midshipman, summer of 1985.  Longest week of my life...!

[PaperSniper4]

6 hours ago, NavyCruiser said:

Spent a week onboard the USS Pintado (SSN-672) as a Midshipman, summer of 1985.  Longest week of my life...!

I spend one week on the USS Jallao, an old diesel boat. I was TAD on her as a
"sub-rider", coordinating an ASW exercise with my P3 squadron. Port and starboard watches in the conning tower. I was beat! My "rack" was beside a Mark-14 torpedo. I was an 02 at the time, but that was the only spare place. What an experience! I watch "Run Silent, Run Deep" and "Das Boot" every chance I get.😎

 

Okay, we better drop this off topic discussion before someone yells at us......

 

 Doug

[badtwin]

1 hour ago, PaperSniper4 said:

.....

 

Okay, we better drop this off topic discussion before someone yells at us......

 

 Doug

 

I would hope on these boards that we would never think to complain but instead all be thanking you for your service

[PaperSniper4]

22 hours ago, badtwin said:

 

I would hope on these boards that we would never think to complain but instead all be thanking you for your service

Very kind....you must really be the "good twin".😎

[rj59]

Princess applies military benefits automatically, after you've applied, so no jumping through hoops. It's also refundable, so I usually use other OBC and get a check for my military benefit after the cruise. Carnival has military fares, but usually their VIFP deals are better. RC/Celebrity usually offer 5% off the cruise fare upfront. NCL now offers 10% off fares for military, once you verify through id.me, the same system you can use to get 10% off Apple products and to use the social security system online. So if HAL makes it a hassle or doesn't honor their promise to veterans, using fine print or deadlines as an excuse, there are other options. 

[PaperSniper4]

1 hour ago, rj59 said:

Princess applies military benefits automatically, after you've applied, so no jumping through hoops. It's also refundable, so I usually use other OBC and get a check for my military benefit after the cruise. Carnival has military fares, but usually their VIFP deals are better. RC/Celebrity usually offer 5% off the cruise fare upfront. NCL now offers 10% off fares for military, once you verify through id.me, the same system you can use to get 10% off Apple products and to use the social security system online. So if HAL makes it a hassle or doesn't honor their promise to veterans, using fine print or deadlines as an excuse, there are other options. 

True, there are always options.

 

By any chance do you know if the HAL military appreciation credit is refundable. I am assuming it is as it is with Princess, but you never know.......

 

 Doug

[Guest debbiejohncruise]

On 5/4/2023 at 7:52 AM, PaperSniper4 said:

So have we, but I am US Navy. However, I think the HAL military appreciation is rather new, and one must apply for the discount using SheerID.com, the link on HAL's web page. Once that is complete your military appreciation credit (refundable, at least with other CCL cruise lines) will show under Future Cruise Credits on your HAL account page. We booked a HAL cruise about 3 months ago and I applied for the military OBC about a month ago. Once "approved" by SheerID/HAL, I sent an email to world_cruise_reservations@hollandamerica.com asking if my military FCC could be applied to the bruise I had booked a few months prior. They sent a positive reply in just a couple of days.

 

 Doug

 USN retired

Thank you so much Doug! I will check with our TA and also will apply online with the i fo you gave us. Thank you for your service (2 Air Force Vets).

[Guest debbiejohncruise]

On 4/28/2023 at 10:00 AM, Tampa Girl said:

 

Would you please post a copy of  this "community Appreciation Offer?"  Where is this located?

It is a little harsh to accuse people of "browbeating some poor staff person" for a benefit which has been earned by that person and is being questioned by an arbitrary corporate rule.  The only purpose for such a rule appears to be to avoid having to give customers the $100 OBC.  So muh for "community appreciation.  There is no such requirement, for instance, for a Carnival OBC, which, perhaps, isn't classified as a "community Appreciation Offer.  

 

 

A lot of us have never heard that HAL offers this before. We are not browbeating anyone.

[PaperSniper4]

4 hours ago, debbiejohncruise said:

Thank you so much Doug! I will check with our TA and also will apply online with the i fo you gave us. Thank you for your service (2 Air Force Vets).

Glad to help. Thanks for YOUR service also! I wonder if you can get two of those military appreciation OBCs, but I expect not until you each book a different cabin.

 

 Doug

[PaperSniper4]

3 hours ago, debbiejohncruise said:

A lot of us have never heard that HAL offers this before. We are not browbeating anyone.

I don't know, but I think HAL's military appreciation OBC, which I for one also appreciate, is something new....and perhaps temporary. Since most ships are sailing full lately, it's really "nice" to have a cruise line extend that courtesy.

 

 Doug

[adoris]

On 5/3/2023 at 4:41 PM, debbiejohncruise said:

We have cruised many times with HAL and never received a military appreciation OBC.

Did you fill out the form to apply for the Military Appreciation?  You need to apply…it’s not automatic.

[Eaglecw]

It took me about 5 minutes to find and fill out the form when I booked our upcoming cruise back in February. SheerID already had all of my information on file. There was an expiration date on the form I got back, it think it was December 31st of this year. Here's a link to those of you who can't find it.

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/deals/military-appreciation-offer.html

So far I've gotten $1900 OBC in veteran appreciation from Carnival Corp. My TA didn't know anything about it.  

[rj59]

I realized that the $100 credit showing for my cruise is the military benefit, because shareholder credit never shows. It also said 'valid until 2/25', which means it will apply to future cruises automatically. You can confirm by practice booking a new cruise, since it says '$100 military credit will be applied'. So that's definitely a good thing, and more in line with how Princess handles it, and might be even better if they give a $100 for even a 4-night coastal cruise, whereas on Princess it's only $50 for under 7 nights.

[isosika]

I don't know what SheerID or IDme is.  I simply sent a copy of my DD-214 directly to HAL and received approval in minutes.

[beach spring]

FWIW, when we booked this cruise, the next day we applied for my husband's military credit, which was approved.  Within two weeks the OBC was showing on our invoice.  OTOH, I am a retired teacher, and HAL also offers OBC for that, but my TA was told only one "appreciation" could be applied to our booking.  Not sure how I feel about that.  Seems unfair.  We have been so busy lately, I have not even had time to think about calling and requesting again.  Do you think that would seem greedy?  Please give me your thoughts, as i just may call before we depart in a few days.  Ten Days!!!  But who's counting?