Holland America Line Launches Onboard Credit Offer for AARP Members

[ghstudio]

We have found that the AARP offer is applicable to a) cruises booked before the offer was announced; b) with casino fares; c) applies to multiple cruises in the same year.

 

You mileage may vary.....It seems to be automatically  applied for b and c......for a, I had to call multiple times  and the call that worked was to my TA asking if had been applied....perhaps it was the way I phrased it that made the difference.  Instead of "does it apply", I asked if it "had been applied".  

 

As with most other things cruising....if you don't like the answer you get...call back in a couple of days.  If you do like the answer you get, call back in a couple of days, just to check if you the answer is good information or a guess.  And get everything in writing....a verbal answer is the same as asking your gas station attendant for their opinion.

Edited January 22 by ghstudio

[Haljo1935]

3 hours ago, Ellesor826 said:

Thank you -- I did call and the person was not helpful, but "notated" my account (le sigh).
I may call in a couple of days - sometimes it is a matter getting the right person.
I read and re-read HALs AARP OBC page, and I see nothing about it being applicable to only 1 cruise/calendar year.
I also reached out to our TA (on vacay this week) to reach out to her HAL contact.
I'd hate to lose $100 or $200 OBC bc of a page "glitch" - and HAL pages definitely glitch.

Oh!
And, CCL has an APP for applying for Shareholder OBC credit now.  ."Stock Perks".

No, AARP OBC is not limited to 1 cruise per year. We got it last year for 4 of our cruises; the 5th one was not eligible due to the rate. And yes it is combinable - all those cruises also had Military OBC. We got SOBC on the 4, but also not the 5th one again during to the rate.

Absolutely call back.

[Ellesor826]

1 hour ago, ghstudio said:

We have found that the AARP offer is applicable to a) cruises booked before the offer was announced; b) with casino fares; c) applies to multiple cruises in the same year.

 

You mileage may vary.....It seems to be automatically  applied for b and c......for a, I had to call multiple times  and the call that worked was to my TA asking if had been applied....perhaps it was the way I phrased it that made the difference.  Instead of "does it apply", I asked if it "had been applied".  

 

As with most other things cruising....if you don't like the answer you get...call back in a couple of days.  If you do like the answer you get, call back in a couple of days, just to check if you the answer is good information or a guess.  And get everything in writing....a verbal answer is the same as asking your gas station attendant for their opinion.

Thank you so much.  
I am on it!

Emailed resolutions.  

[Ellesor826]

5 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

And yes it is combinable - all those cruises also had Military OBC

Interesting. I wonder if it’s bc it’s military.  

I was told our first responders or educators could not be combined w AARP.  

Another contact with HAL is in order once I get this one resolved.  
Thank you 

[Ready2go11]

I booked a new cruise for 2025 while on board the NS two weeks ago. The onboard future cruise consultant said the AARP was attached, but it did not show up as a credit on my confirmation. When in the next port, I called HAL’s customer service line and the rep told me it was only good for one cruise per year. I said I respectfully disagree with you since I’ve already received it for more than one cruise booked for 2024.

 

I asked her to go talk to a supervisor. She put me on hold and then came back and said I was right it did apply to more than one in a year, and it was added to my confirmation. 
 

 

[Ellesor826]

26 minutes ago, Ready2go11 said:

supervisor. She put me on hold and then came back and said I was right it did apply to more than one in a year,

This is exactly what happened today AND the supervisor said 1/year.  
My TA is away but gave me the resolutions email. TA said it’s more than 1/year as well. 
I sent email requesting the obc be applied. 

Thank you for sharing your experience with me. It’s helpful. 
 

[crystalspin]

1 hour ago, Ellesor826 said:

This is exactly what happened today AND the supervisor said 1/year.  
My TA is away but gave me the resolutions email. TA said it’s more than 1/year as well. 
I sent email requesting the obc be applied. 

The supervisor was wrong. I remembered the secret code phrase: it has to be "MANUALLY APPLIED". If the supervisor is wet behind the ears, ask for a Pricing Specialist.

[crystalspin]

6 hours ago, kluv2cruz said:

Is the AARP OBC always $200 or doesn’t it vary by length of cruise?

Almost forgot to come back to your question! Here is the outlay:

 

[kluv2cruz]

32 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

Almost forgot to come back to your question! Here is the outlay:

 

FANTASTIC! Thanks.

 

Here’s my complicated story! I followed helpful instructions in this thread and submitted 2 separate emails to reservations_submit@hollandamerica.com with proof of my AARP in 1st email and educator proof in the 2nd email.

 

I received confirmation email #1 within a few days, subject line “teacher status” saying I’d been awarded $100 OBC for each of my bookings for “teacher appreciation benefit”.

 

I received confirmation email #2 quite quickly after, subject line “member status”, and a different reference line, BUT, same wording as email #1, $100 OBC for each of my bookings for “teacher appreciation benefit”.

 

I don’t think there’s any way I can see my OBC but my TA was able to tell me I have $100 OBC more than I had before, for each of my bookings.

 

So, I’m thinking they applied the teacher appreciation benefit twice, and the 2nd time it didn’t do anything. Some of my cruises are long enough they should have received $200 AARP, which further supports my theory they tried to apply the teacher OBC twice and the AARP not at all.

 

I’ve re-emailed that same address and explained my theory but now haven’t heard back in a week. What phone # have folks used? 
 

Thanks for sharing all this wisdom & experience!
 

 

[Ready2go11]

One more (happy) story of inconsistency to share…

 

On my recent cruise I travelled with my sister and her husband. She had contacted the customer service email months ago to ask for the AARP credit on this already booked cruise and was told sorry it only applies to new bookings. I did the same and it was applied to all my existing bookings. 
 

However, when she got on board, her OBC reflected they did give it to her (her on-ship OBC was $100 higher than her most recent confirmation email from HAL and there was no other reason for the extra OBC; she had already received her stock OBC). 

not sure why, but she was obviously very pleased 

[Ellesor826]

32 minutes ago, Ready2go11 said:

One more (happy) story of inconsistency to share…

Once I have my current AARP OBC issue resolved for our future booking; I am going to address the AARP OBC or two bookings we have for 2024.  28N and 14N. 
First Responders was applied to 28N and Educators was applied to 14N.  $100 each. 
 

I am still not clear on whether AAPR can or cannot be combined with First Responders/Educators. 
 

Consistency would be nice though…..

[kb4683]

18 hours ago, ghstudio said:

We have found that the AARP offer is applicable to a) cruises booked before the offer was announced; b) with casino fares; c) applies to multiple cruises in the same year.

 

You mileage may vary.....It seems to be automatically  applied for b and c......for a, I had to call multiple times  and the call that worked was to my TA asking if had been applied....perhaps it was the way I phrased it that made the difference.  Instead of "does it apply", I asked if it "had been applied".  

 

As with most other things cruising....if you don't like the answer you get...call back in a couple of days.  If you do like the answer you get, call back in a couple of days, just to check if you the answer is good information or a guess.  And get everything in writing....a verbal answer is the same as asking your gas station attendant for their opinion.

My mileage did vary 🙁…just e-mailed reservations_submit@hollandamerica.com to ask why AARP OBC for 2 upcoming cruises was not applied since I was verified by SheerID on 8/16/2023, and has been applied automatically to other bookings.  Following is their response:

 

Dear Mr. and Mrs.  XXXXXX,

Thank you for your recent correspondence with Holland America Line regarding your bookings, XXXXXX and XXXXXX, onboard the ms Eurodam departing on 3/6/2024 and 3/16/2024. 

Your above reservations were booked under special promotional casino rates. We apologize, these rates are not combinable with the AARP appreciation credits and cannot be applied to the above bookings. These credits will remain on your mariner profile for future use on an applicable sailing.

Thank you for contacting Holland America Line. Please feel free to contact us if we may be of additional assistance or visit us online. We look forward to welcoming you onboard in the near future!

Kind Regards,

XXXXXXX
Holland America Line
U.S. and Canada: 877-724-5425
International: 206-286-3900
Mon-Fri  7am-6pm PST
Sat-Sun 7am-4pm PST
Savor The Journey

 

[ghstudio]

3 hours ago, kb4683 said:

 

 

often (usually) a phone call works better....just call and innocently tell the agent you want to check if it's been applied correctly......then wait while she contacts whoever she contacts and see what happens.  In this case, you don't want to use email.   Note: don't say "others have received the benefit" if you are rejected....just thank the agent and hang up....try again tomorrow.

Edited January 23 by ghstudio

[Ellesor826]

1 hour ago, ghstudio said:

often (usually) a phone call works better....just call and innocently tell the agent you want to check if it's been applied correctly......then wait while she contacts whoever she contacts and see what happens.  In this case, you don't want to use email.   Note: don't say "others have received the benefit" if you are rejected....just thank the agent and hang up....try again tomorrow.

 

5 hours ago, kb4683 said:

My mileage did vary 🙁…just e-mailed reservations_submit@hollandamerica.com to ask why AARP OBC for 2 upcoming cruises was not applied since I was verified by SheerID on 8/16/2023, and has been applied automatically to other bookings.  Following is their response:

 

Dear Mr. and Mrs.  XXXXXX,

Thank you for your recent correspondence with Holland America Line regarding your bookings, XXXXXX and XXXXXX, onboard the ms Eurodam departing on 3/6/2024 and 3/16/2024. 

Your above reservations were booked under special promotional casino rates. We apologize, these rates are not combinable with the AARP appreciation credits and cannot be applied to the above bookings. These credits will remain on your mariner profile for future use on an applicable sailing.

Thank you for contacting Holland America Line. Please feel free to contact us if we may be of additional assistance or visit us online. We look forward to welcoming you onboard in the near future!

Kind Regards,

XXXXXXX
Holland America Line
U.S. and Canada: 877-724-5425
International: 206-286-3900
Mon-Fri  7am-6pm PST
Sat-Sun 7am-4pm PST
Savor The Journey

 

PROBLEM SOLVED 

thank you one and all

R

[OceanFishingFan]

On 8/29/2023 at 11:02 AM, oh2crz said:

I hope Holland America extends this credit to AMAC members, which is an alternative to AARP with comparable benefits. (Association of Mature American Citizens) 

I'm curious how they handled the AMAC membership, if at all. I have an AMAC membership and was going to look to see if that work.

[Roger-VW]

On 8/15/2023 at 3:46 AM, Haljo1935 said:

I just did 2 new bookings online. During that process, there was an acknowledgment that AARP credit had been applied to the booking. However, it did not show on the invoice. I'm sure a call or email will fix it, but since they got the system to recognize the AARP membership they need to get it to automatically add the OBC w/o requiring any follow-up. So close...

Agree!  Once HAL Mariner Profile reflects the Verified AARP Number all new HAL Booking should receive the AARP OBC automatically.  This would save a lot of HAL Customer Service Hours.  Maybe Gus Antorcha needs to get the message.

[OceanFishingFan]

On 3/8/2024 at 12:52 PM, OceanFishingFan said:

I'm curious how they handled the AMAC membership, if at all. I have an AMAC membership and was going to look to see if that work.

They told me that they don't have an arrangement with AMAC. Hadn't even heard of it.

[turbulentwaters]

Thanks To everyone who has contributed to this thread so far!  I have just signed up for the AARP special for my wife and myself.  We recently booked a cruise with HAL.  This is the reply we got right away:

 

Congratulations!   We have verified your eligibility on this special offer you requested.

Redeem Offer   Please allow 3 business days before making a new reservation to receive your AARP member onboard credit offer. Offer is not valid for existing bookings made prior to the validation process. ------------- So it does look pretty clear that the existing bookings will not get the credit.  Maybe this is a recent change from what many people got on earlier postings.  Hopefully it will work for next time!

[doobieb]

Just went through the same confusing struggle to get in writing the educator and AARP credit applied. Our PCC was going to take care of it right now……

Another call to ships services showed no, but let me work on it.

She did and I asked for a statement in writing to show the credit.

I am amazed that it is impossible to see your account status without calling someone at HAL.

[Sea42]

3 hours ago, doobieb said:

I am amazed that it is impossible to see your account status without calling someone at HAL.

My TA sends me verification via email. I never call HAL.

[Roger-VW]

New HAL Mainstage ((Singers & Dancers) coming in 2024, but not scheduled to bebute on Westerdam until after June.

[Roger-VW]

2 minutes ago, Roger-VW said:

New HAL Mainstage (Singers & Dancers) coming in 2024, but not scheduled to bebute on Westerdam until after June.

[doobieb]

4 hours ago, Sea42 said:

My TA sends me verification via email. I never call HAL.

Should we be using a TA?

[CruiseMob]

I had to call to get them to apply it even though it was verified months ago and displayed online while booking. I wish it would automatically apply so as not to waste so much time on the phone mostly on hold. 🙁 I also wish they would just reply to emails to answer questions or fix easy things. I emailed 3 different addresses over a week and not one responded. I had to call and waste 40 minutes, 30 of which was on hold. It's so frustrating and inefficient. 

 

I'd use a TA if I could find reliable one, but unfortunately I haven't been fortunate enough to find one that offers onboard credits or discounts or anything and their prices are higher and have non-refundable deposits. 

[oakridger]

2 hours ago, CruiseMob said:

I'd use a TA if I could find reliable one, but unfortunately I haven't been fortunate enough to find one that offers onboard credits or discounts or anything and their prices are higher and have non-refundable deposits. 

 

That's crazy and just not acceptable!  No TA that I have ever used has had higher prices and non-refundable deposits!! They always give me at least a bit of OBC, wine, flowers, etc.  Are you in the USA?

 

My TA does the work and makes the calls to the cruise lines for me, that's what they get paid a commission for!

 

Good luck in finding a good TA and save yourselves a lot of stress!!

 

~Nancy