Do you think I did enough for HAL?

[League3056]

Hi all! Just finished my first cruise with Holland America and spent some time in their casino, hoping to do enough to get some casino offers in the future. Obviously, I'd love free cabin offers (even just interiors), but I also hear that they commonly give a 30% discount off the going rate, so even though that's not as nice as the free cabins, I'm hoping I at least did enough for that!

 

I ended the cruise with 1658 points. Small potatoes for many of you, I know, but I've heard of people that literally only put $20 in the machines each day and they're getting all kinds of good offers. Midway through, the casino host sent chocolate-covered strawberries to our cabin, and then at the end of the cruise, I had a bounceback offer of $150 in free play if I come back and play more. 

 

Complicating things is that I already have one more HAL cruise booked for this Nov, so there was no reason for them to give me a better bounceback offer, like for a free interior, since they already know I'm coming back again anyway. 

 

I know no one can predict exactly how or who the casinos gods choose to favor, but I'm hoping that since I got the strawberries and a small bounceback, that maybe I'm on their radar now? Can anyone who's had a similar play history with HAL let me know what you think my odds are like of getting attractive offers from them moving forward? How long does it take after a cruise before I'd start seeing emails/flyers coming in, if they were going to?

[Dobby36]

I think you did enough to get some offers.  There are more than just two categories of free vs. 30%off. For instance I recently got a flyer with a bunch of cruises from $100-800, which is lower than 39%off, but not free obviously.  I’ll link my post with pics of offers below,  but can answer other specific questions if you have them.  But I suspect you’ll get offers in the coming months over email.  I seem to, regardless of future existing bookings that are casino-offers or otherwise. 
 

 

 

 

[League3056]

Thanks Dobby36! I looked at your link earlier and saw some attractive cruises, but the prices weren't in your pic so I didn't know what kind of pricing those cruises would have, or if they were free. Sounds like you're saying they all varied, and cost between $100-800/ea (per person, double occupancy, I'm assuming). That's not bad at all! I will happily take heavy discounts like that! Thank you!

[Dobby36]

Sorry, yes they were cut off! The lowest we’re $100/pp, mostly for Alaska and Caribbean 7-days. The highest was maybe $800 for the two-week-plus options.  And yes, all are no-frills inside cabins, but it notes they can be upgraded.  I suspect you’ll see some offers in the coming months.  

[AV8rix]

I'm a long-time HAL cruiser, just blackjack.  To be honest, haven't paid rack rate for a stateroom in over 10 years.  Many, many free interiors (can be upgraded to better category relatively cheaply) and when not actually free, generally 30% off rack rate.  Have a nice 30%-off coming up soon with $750 in free play.

[ometauru]

I probably got 3000-5000 points (honestly don't quite remember) on a 7-day Alaskan cruise in late May/early June playing mostly slots and a little blackjack. Got chocolate-covered strawberries, a drink card, a spa offer, and a meal at Pinnacle. Got a bounceback offer of $750 free play. Have only received 30% off (casino-rate) emails from Holland. So no luck on my end, but hopefully it's better for you. 

[ometauru]

On 8/21/2023 at 6:32 AM, ometauru said:

I probably got 3000-5000 points (honestly don't quite remember) on a 7-day Alaskan cruise in late May/early June playing mostly slots and a little blackjack. Got chocolate-covered strawberries, a drink card, a spa offer, and a meal at Pinnacle. Got a bounceback offer of $750 free play. Have only received 30% off (casino-rate) emails from Holland. So no luck on my end, but hopefully it's better for you. 

To add to this, I just got an offer via email. Itineraries aren't great but the offer was Ocean View room + $350 free play. 

[League3056]

19 hours ago, ometauru said:

To add to this, I just got an offer via email. Itineraries aren't great but the offer was Ocean View room + $350 free play. 

Thank goodness! If you didn't get any offers from having 3-5k points, I didn't stand a chance! Glad you finally got one. I'd take that deal in a heartbeat! I'd be overjoyed with a comp interior and nothing else.