Free cruise offer for our son

[Torquer]

Our older son, in his mid-20s just received an offer from HAL for a free cruise.  He has been on many HAL cruises with us, but not all, so he is only 3-star.  But he has always traveled as the 3rd/4th guest.  We always get a suite for our family that my wife and I pay for, so he has never personally paid HAL a dime.  There are about 20 free cruises available for him to choose from in an inside cabin, including some longer cruises of 14+ days, and they are all in the next couple months.

 

Does anyone know what the criteria is for this and why he got this offer?  BTW, our younger son, who has even slightly less HAL cruises, did not get the offer.  Frankly, my wife and I, who have paid HAL a couple $100K for cruises over the years, are a little irked that we never got an offer like this for a free cruise.  Unfortunately, our son doesn't have enough vacation from his job to be able to take advantage of the offer.

[DaveOKC]

3 minutes ago, Torquer said:

Our older son, in his mid-20s just received an offer from HAL for a free cruise.  He has been on many HAL cruises with us, but not all, so he is only 3-star.  But he has always traveled as the 3rd/4th guest.  We always get a suite for our family that my wife and I pay for, so he has never personally paid HAL a dime.  There are about 20 free cruises available for him to choose from in an inside cabin, including some longer cruises of 14+ days, and they are all in the next couple months.

 

Does anyone know what the criteria is for this and why he got this offer?  BTW, our younger son, who has even slightly less HAL cruises, did not get the offer.  Frankly, my wife and I, who have paid HAL a couple $100K for cruises over the years, are a little irked that we never got an offer like this for a free cruise.  Unfortunately, our son doesn't have enough vacation from his job to be able to take advantage of the offer.

Likely he gambled in the casino.

 

[Nickelpenny]

Just now, DaveOKC said:

Likely he gambled in the casino.

 

Not necessarily.  I have put exactly $20 in the casino on my very first cruise in Jan 2022; none since.  I have received around 8 emails for "free" insides and have taken advantage of 4 cruises offered (2 I have done and have 2 more coming up).  A couple of those emails were when I was only a 1 star.  I also don't spend a lot in extras.  I think the last email I received was about 3 months ago.  So they were not casino offers.  Why did I get them?  Who knows!

[KAKcruiser]

I wonder if it has anything to do with Spa purchases.  Or shore excursions?  

[Torquer]

7 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

Likely he gambled in the casino.

 

I know my son (really)!   I am sure he never gambled in the casino.

[Nickelpenny]

Just now, KAKcruiser said:

I wonder if it has anything to do with Spa purchases.  Or shore excursions?  

For me, I did do the spa on my very first cruise (never again; I think it is way overrated), occasionally have paid for an excursion but usually only do them if I have the HIA package.  Hmmm.

[Torquer]

1 minute ago, KAKcruiser said:

I wonder if it has anything to do with Spa purchases.  Or shore excursions?  

He has never been to the spa on any cruise.  Our sons were on a couple shore excursions without us, but of course it was billed to my credit card.  As I said, he has never paid for anything on HAL with his own money or credit card.

[bennybear]

Sorry, this seems funny to me as we had a similar experience.  Took our adult son on exactly one cruise as a third also and he got double cruise credits for the suite we were upgraded to while we didn’t.   The one thing HAL is consistent in, is their inconsistency. 

[SilvertoGold]

Marketing ploy!  One and Two stars are often the ones offered these free cruises. Get them coming back to HAL with an offer like this!   I don't remember seeing many 4 and 5 stars saying they get these offers and those who do seem to get them as "casino" offers. 

 

A good ploy on HAL's part: this mid-20s son is ready to start cruising by himself and/or with friends (all the better "with friends" from HAL's profit margin point of view). Grab him and get him back on HAL: when his parents aren't paying that means a whole new source of revenue for HAL (which isn't a mere third or fouth person rate). 

 

It must be HAL's point of view that if this infuriates longtime HAL cruisers (5 stars and  Platinum), who would love one of these offers as an "extra "reward" for their loyalty, so be it.

[fox02554]

28 minutes ago, SilvertoGold said:

 

 

A good ploy on HAL's part: this mid-20s son is ready to start cruising by himself and/or with friends (all the better "with friends" from HAL's profit margin point of view).

exactly ! our grandson just got an AMAZING offer from NCL , he was the 3rd in our 2 bedroom haven , unfortunately for him Grandma's name was on everything , even the E-mail account Hahaha , he just graduatated from Highschool and the boy's got no vacation time available 

[SusieKIslandGirl]

@SilvertoGold

I think you nailed it. A good way to encourage loyalty and continued cruising in the future.

[Heidi13]

3 hours ago, Torquer said:

Our older son, in his mid-20s just received an offer from HAL for a free cruise.  He has been on many HAL cruises with us, but not all, so he is only 3-star.  But he has always traveled as the 3rd/4th guest.  We always get a suite for our family that my wife and I pay for, so he has never personally paid HAL a dime.  There are about 20 free cruises available for him to choose from in an inside cabin, including some longer cruises of 14+ days, and they are all in the next couple months.

 

Does anyone know what the criteria is for this and why he got this offer?  BTW, our younger son, who has even slightly less HAL cruises, did not get the offer.  Frankly, my wife and I, who have paid HAL a couple $100K for cruises over the years, are a little irked that we never got an offer like this for a free cruise.  Unfortunately, our son doesn't have enough vacation from his job to be able to take advantage of the offer.

 

Most likely nothing more than a marketing initiative. Having cruised with parents, as a child, and now in his 20's he is a potential future long term pax with HAL. HAL is providing a free cruise to hopefully sow the seed.

[rodndonna]

29 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

Most likely nothing more than a marketing initiative. Having cruised with parents, as a child, and now in his 20's he is a potential future long term pax with HAL. HAL is providing a free cruise to hopefully sow the seed.

 

I agree. Sowing seeds for the next generation of cruisers and hopefully additional marketing power from social media where that generation are more likely to be active.

 

 

[Haljo1935]

@Torquer there are a couple different type of casino offers,, one of which does not require any previous contributions to the casino to receive. I have been blessed to receive and book those multiple times and I have never left a penny in a HAL (or any CCL) casino.

I feel very strongly that if he looks at the terms or simply calls HAL and gives the rate code from the offer, he'll find it is indeed a casino offer. Has nothing to do w/any visits he may have made (or didn't make) to casino, spa... it's just whatever algorithm HAL marketing uses for that type of casino offer matched w/his profile.

And congrats to him - he'll likely get another. 

[ski ww]

Our daughter has done exactly two cruises with HAL in the last year, doesn't do the casino and has had more offers for free cruises then she knows what to do with.  

[retird]

5 hours ago, Torquer said:

Our older son, in his mid-20s just received an offer from HAL for a free cruise.  He has been on many HAL cruises with us, but not all, so he is only 3-star.  But he has always traveled as the 3rd/4th guest.  We always get a suite for our family that my wife and I pay for, so he has never personally paid HAL a dime.  There are about 20 free cruises available for him to choose from in an inside cabin, including some longer cruises of 14+ days, and they are all in the next couple months.

 

Does anyone know what the criteria is for this and why he got this offer?  BTW, our younger son, who has even slightly less HAL cruises, did not get the offer.  Frankly, my wife and I, who have paid HAL a couple $100K for cruises over the years, are a little irked that we never got an offer like this for a free cruise.  Unfortunately, our son doesn't have enough vacation from his job to be able to take advantage of the offer.

You could always call HAL at the number in the email offer and they will verify the source of the offer.  You can voice your displeasure with them.  They may offer you something , or they may stop sending your son offers so you won’t be irked.   Wont know until you try.
 

[RuthC]

6 hours ago, Torquer said:

Does anyone know what the criteria is for this and why he got this offer? 

Karma? He helped a little old lady cross the street, so the Universe is rewarding him with an opportunity to join a lot of elderly on a free cruise? 

[REOVA]

Our daughter (3 star) who cruised with us (5 star) many times when she was younger gets many cruise deals to an email I control. We get zilch offers, so I just don't tell her about them. 🙂 Besides she has to work and has a young child so probably wouldn't go anyway. 🙄 

 

It's is a marketing ploy with added fees (taxes/port) or upsell to higher category. Smart on HALs part. 

[Andi Land]

My husband and I are 4 star and we don’t gamble and we receive these offers. He received them for a year and I received nothing and we’ve only cruised together. I called HAL and my marketing preferences were set to do not disturb. I had them change it and now I get offers too. 
 

My 2 cents is that we get offers because we spend money onboard; drink packages, spa, Club Orange upgrade, shore excursions . So, I’ve always thought we get the offer because of our past spending habits.