Booking Flight, Hotel and Transfers Through HAL

[doone]

Wondering everyone’s experiences with booking air, hotel and transfers to Vancouver through HAL for Alaska cruise?

 

Thanks,

[Mary229]

I haven’t done it in Vancouver but did so in Argentina and as part of the tour package in Anchorage.  In Argentina it was useful after a long overnight flight.  I also booked two or three pre cruise tours as part of that package and since I was the only one I had private cars and private guides for the duration. As such it was a super value.  The hotel was excellent 

 

in Anchorage I would have done better selecting my own hotel and providing my own transportation, cost and ease.  Plus the hotel is so so and there are better hotels nearby (check the Hampton)
 

i have sailed from and stayed in Vancouver a few times and have had excellent and cheap Uber drivers.  We are booked for the Pan  on the next cruise.   By booking it ourselves we save hundreds of dollars.  The hotel offers  luggage handling down to the pier as part of their amenities. 

Edited June 3, 2023 by Mary229

[Mary229]

One more experience - in Montreal last summer I had not used the HAL transfer.  I stopped by their desk anyway to chat and they offered to call a cab for me.  

[POA1]

Very good experience. We chose the Fairmont Vancouver. IMHO it's a nicer hotel. It's directly across the street from Canada Place. The other option was the Pan Pacific which is attached to Canada Place. Canada Place is where you'll meet the ship. The bell staff at the Fairmont offered to roll our bags across the street for us, but we took them ourselves. Both hotels are in a great location, but you may want to take a cab to a restaurant for dinner.

[Gsel]

Agree about the Fairmont. Great service, they also take your luggage across the street to the porters. 

[POA1]

If the ship to YVR transfers work the same way as they did a few years ago, they are super worthwhile. We flew from/to Portland, ME via Logan (talk about a short flight) and it made leaving Canada a lot easier. When you are flying in from the East coast, you may land in Vancouver at around the same time as red eyes coming from Asia. It can get a little backed up at customs/immigration.

[cbr663]

I have previously lived in Vancouver and sailed Alaska on HAL in May.  Vancouver downtown is a very walkable city.  A taxi from the airport to downtown is $38 flat rate.  Depending on where you stay downtown it's less from downtown to the airport as you simply pay the fare rate.  We left from the Sheraton Wall Centre and it was $32 to the airport.

 

There is a lot of hotel choices in downtown Vancouver.  There are several literally at Canada Place and many, many more blocks away.  It really depends on your personal circumstances.  Prior to the cruise we stayed at the boutique hotel The L'Hermitage and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  We paid significantly less for a 1 bed suite than you would pay for a basic room at the Pan Pacific.  We had previously stayed at the Pan Pacific when we cruised in 2014 and we felt it was simply okay and this time wanted to try something different.  It was a 10 minute walk to the port from L'Hermitage and as we had previously lived and worked in downtown Vancouver it obviously wasn't an issue for us.  

[doone]

This is all great information, but I am trying to figure out if we should book air, hotel and transfers through HAL vs. doing it on our own, any thoughts?

[just_cruising_along]

Hi. It depends on how you like to travel. Are you more price conscience or more convenience conscience? I have used HAL's air, hotel, and transfers, and I have used just air, just transfer, or just hotel, depending on whether I am looking for price or looking for convenience.

 

Many times for me, it is about price of the airfare. Can I get a better price with HAL rather than doing it myself. Because I sometimes fly in and out of a different city (open jaw), HAL can get me a better price than I can. And I can still select our seats and class with HAL.

 

If you have never been to Vancouver, and would like someone to handle all the arrangements, booking with HAL is a good option. Do you want a rep to greet you at the airport and help you transfer to the hotel? The one thing about HAL transfer is you may have to wait until they fill the bus(es) before you can leave, so the process can take a while. In some cases, HAL transfer includes a ride to the ship. In Vancouver, if you stay at some of the hotels mentioned above, you are already at the terminal. I was very happy with HAL transportation when the HAL hotel was in Amsterdam, but the cruise left from Ijmuiden. (About a 40 minute trip).

 

Whatever you decide, have a great cruise.

 

 

[CruiserBruce]

We only book transfers or hotels through HAL if the travel is complicated by late arrivals or language issues. We haven't booked airfare through HAL ever, in 15 cruises with them. 99.9% of the time we can do it cheaper on our own.

 

The best (and almost only) example of booking through HAL was a cruise out of Lima, Peru. We booked our own flights...arriving at 11pm. HAL had a greeter and cab waiting, and we were taken to a Marriott. Nothing fantastic about the hotel...standard, nothing bad either. Next day we met about 30 others that HAL had put in that hotel for the over hour ride to the ship.

 

We are Hilton loyal (Lifetime Diamond) and coincidentally, there was a nice Hilton a block or two away. Not a problem, just a coincidence.

 

If you are comfortable traveling, I wouldn't book through HAL for a trip to Canada. 

[DaveOKC]

Travel to Vancouver is fairly easy with a little research on CC.  Stay downtown area if you want to explore the city a bit, but in the airport area if you just want transportation (far cheaper and easy access to the ship via Skytrain the next morning - or go back to airport via hotel shuttle to catch a fixed rate taxi ride).

[Mary229]

I agree with @CruiserBruce   I only use them when language and flight fatigue are going to be an issue or if I am booking a pre cruise tour which includes these amenities.  For North American cities I simply think there are better options. Even when using the hotel HAL uses I find it cheaper to book on my own.  
 

Even for those with mobility limitations you would do better to arrange transfers through Uber, Lyft or other service.   Uber and Lyft now have wheelchair service in some cities 

 

there are always exceptions and occasionally the transfer rate is a good deal especially for those traveling solo

Edited June 3, 2023 by Mary229

[LAFFNVEGAS]

2 hours ago, doone said:

This is all great information, but I am trying to figure out if we should book air, hotel and transfers through HAL vs. doing it on our own, any thoughts?

For less hassle I would book at least hotel and transfers from HAL. 

With the rising cost of hotels the cruiselines and HAL have been much closer matched in pricing in the past year and since HAL includes transfer picking you up and taking you to the hotel  then taking you to the ship it is defiitely better. I hesitate with booking HAL Air. It has had many problems over the past year partly due to the airlines but quite a bit a fault through HAL's sub contracted Air Department. You can book your own air and that way you have control over what is happening with it and if their is an air cancellation you and the airline can handle it Not middle man.

But with the above being said my next cruise on the Westerdam in September I bought Air from HAL since my non stop first Class Delta flight was a lot cheaper than I could get direct with Delta (or at least at the time) unfortunately now it's cheaper with Delta and my flight time changed 1 hour and 55 minutes later for return home. Delta will not change me to a better flight and HAL is a lot more expensive now. But I did book hotel through HAL which oddly was the same price I paid for the same hotel with them in 2021 and is the same price if I booked directly with hotel but included is transfers.

 

For my upcoming December cruise, not doing air with HAL booking direct with American (far cheaper for non stop first class) but definitely doing hotel with HAL price was slightly higher than if I booked myself but I am flying into Miami and they are providing transfers (probably pre paid taxi voucher) from Miami to the hotel in Ft Lauderdale, then will get us to the ship the next day. To me it is a win with less hassle.

 

[DaveOKC]

Another point on using transfers (from ship to airport after cruise) - I do this sometimes when I have excess OBC to use up and when I have alot of time before my flight (do not trust HAL to get me to the airport for an early flight.

 

ALSO - I agree with the comment on booking flights myself.  It seems that on every flight I have booked in the past 1-2 years there are some changes by the airline.  And sometimes these changes can result in some crazy connections (last week my connection in LAX was reduced from 75 to 37 minutes!  No way I would risk this, so I called the airline and they changed me to a better flight for me at no cost and without a hassle in a matter of minutes.  Try that with HAL's airprogram.

Edited June 3, 2023 by DaveOKC

[doone]

Perfect, great information, thank you so very much…..I am comfortable booking my own air and hotel….transfers may look at through HAL.

[Tampa Girl]

3 hours ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

For less hassle I would book at least hotel and transfers from HAL. 

With the rising cost of hotels the cruiselines and HAL have been much closer matched in pricing in the past year and since HAL includes transfer picking you up and taking you to the hotel  then taking you to the ship it is defiitely better.

 

 

 

 

Never having booked anything through HAL, I was unaware that one can book hotel separately.  Is this done through Flight Ease, through a TA, or through HAL directly?

[Haljo1935]

Never used HAL for hotels except for AK Land Cruise Tour package, so I can't provide anything on them other than to say they've look expensive when I've looked at them. As budget plays into my arrangements, I've skipped past them.

I've used air and done it on my own, whichever is lower. Recently using Flight Ease saved me $200 for exact same flights vs booking myself. Still selected my seats and got loyalty miles, so no-brainer.

Transfers I use in cities that I don’t know or port is quite a distance from the airport. Sometimes on the return I do an excursion w/transfer, sometimes transfer only; depends on flight time. We always travel back home same day - no hotel after cruise.

Relating specifically to your question about Vancouver, we did the transfer w/tour on return a couple times so we could see the city w/o worrying about luggage. It was great!

Enjoy your cruise!

Edited June 3, 2023 by Haljo1935

[LAFFNVEGAS]

12 minutes ago, Tampa Girl said:

Never having booked anything through HAL, I was unaware that one can book hotel separately.  Is this done through Flight Ease, through a TA, or through HAL directly?

HAL offers Pre and post hotels for embarkation and Debarkation cities. You would book this with the cruise or add on later after booked. HAL always offers transfer with the hotel airport to hotel and hotel to ship or vice versa. Sometimes the hotel sounds high but when you compare total cost of what hotels charge you often are not too bad considering the transfers included. Breakfast is often included for the Europe hotels but not in Canada or US port hotels.

[CruiserBruce]

26 minutes ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

HAL offers Pre and post hotels for embarkation and Debarkation cities. You would book this with the cruise or add on later after booked. HAL always offers transfer with the hotel airport to hotel and hotel to ship or vice versa. Sometimes the hotel sounds high but when you compare total cost of what hotels charge you often are not too bad considering the transfers included. Breakfast is often included for the Europe hotels but not in Canada or US port hotels.

The hotel sounds high because HAL frequently charges per person for what is typically charged for two people. Hard to equate that additional money to the transfers.

 

MANY hotels in the US offer breakfast as included in room rate, although definitely not all. Far higher percentage offer breakfast in other countries.

[Mary229]

It pays to check all amenities and features.  On my last hotel with HAL in Argentina HAL included breakfast which I otherwise would have had to pay for and the transfers included a city tour - great value.  In Anchorage I stayed in their crummy Westmark with no breakfast and had to wait an hour for the transfer.  It still was a value as I booked very early and rates had inflated tremendously by 2022.  However I stayed at the Movenpick Amsterdam for much, much less than the HAL rate.  Just check. 
 

Same with airfares.  Check.  There is added value in that you can book early without paying.  

[Tampa Girl]

1 hour ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

HAL offers Pre and post hotels for embarkation and Debarkation cities. You would book this with the cruise or add on later after booked. HAL always offers transfer with the hotel airport to hotel and hotel to ship or vice versa. Sometimes the hotel sounds high but when you compare total cost of what hotels charge you often are not too bad considering the transfers included. Breakfast is often included for the Europe hotels but not in Canada or US port hotels.

 

Thank you.  We will try it for our Athens cruise in October.  Does anyone know what hotel HAL uses in that city?

[Haljo1935]

2 minutes ago, Tampa Girl said:

 

Thank you.  We will try it for our Athens cruise in October.  Does anyone know what hotel HAL uses in that city?

I do not.

Safe travels and enjoy your cruise!

[Mary229]

2 minutes ago, Tampa Girl said:

 

Thank you.  We will try it for our Athens cruise in October.  Does anyone know what hotel HAL uses in that city?

Go to the manage your cruise page, then flights and planning.  It will tell you.  

[Tampa Girl]

23 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

It pays to check all amenities and features.  On my last hotel with HAL in Argentina HAL included breakfast which I otherwise would have had to pay for and the transfers included a city tour - great value.  In Anchorage I stayed in their crummy Westmark with no breakfast and had to wait an hour for the transfer.  It still was a value as I booked very early and rates had inflated tremendously by 2022.  However I stayed at the Movenpick Amsterdam for much, much less than the HAL rate.  Just check. 
 

Same with airfares.  Check.  There is added value in that you can book early without paying.  

 

We will be flying to Amsterdam in August, but the ship leaves from Rotterdam.  Having never seen Amsterdam, we will be staying there for three days before taking a cab to Rotterdam.  Since the departure city is not Amsterdam, we are out of luck, I assume?  BTW, how did you like the Movenpick?  Was it convenient for bus, train, subway, canal tours, etc?

[Mary229]

6 minutes ago, Tampa Girl said:

 

We will be flying to Amsterdam in August, but the ship leaves from Rotterdam.  Having never seen Amsterdam, we will be staying there for three days before taking a cab to Rotterdam.  Since the departure city is not Amsterdam, we are out of luck, I assume?  BTW, how did you like the Movenpick?  Was it convenient for bus, train, subway, canal tours, etc?

I liked it.  It is close enough for a strong walker but at the end of a quiet street. This hotel has gotten good reviews  https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/amshitw-hilton-amsterdam/

 

I chose Movenpick as it is next door to the cruise terminal. 

 

Edited June 3, 2023 by Mary229