“Have It All”

[montythecat]

Is it better (ie cheaper) to buy the “Have It All” package

when booking the cruise or on board on the first day ?
We have previously paid for it at the time of the initial 

booking but the recent significant increase in price is 

causing us to have second thoughts. Will the price

come down between now and our departure in

December ?   I know it is all guesswork but any advice

would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Mary229]

It rarely is available to buy onboard.  You must buy it before you go.  Recently the only special has been the early booking package which also includes gratuities   That was if you bought a cruise as soon as they listed it. I am not sure that special is available  anymore 

Edited February 3 by Mary229

[kazu]

31 minutes ago, montythecat said:

Is it better (ie cheaper) to buy the “Have It All” package

when booking the cruise or on board on the first day ?
We have previously paid for it at the time of the initial 

booking but the recent significant increase in price is 

causing us to have second thoughts. Will the price

come down between now and our departure in

December ?   I know it is all guesswork but any advice

would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

 

Have it All booked pre-cruise is cheaper than on board.  The price on board is $10 more per day IIRC for HIA.  Best bet if you want it is to book it when you book your cruise or, if the math warrants, add it separately.

 

One thing to keep in mind is that the HIA booked pre-cruise is charged in your currency and usually HAL’s exchange rate is better than what I can get at the bank.  HIA purchased on board will be charged in U.S. $

[kazu]

2 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

It rarely is available to buy onboard.  You must buy it before you go.

 

It’s been available to buy on board on the cruises I was on in 2022 and 2023. My memory can be short but IIRC it had to be purchased within the first 3 days of the cruise .

 

 

2 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

 

 Recently the only special has been the early booking package which also includes gratuities   That was if you bought a cruise as soon as they listed it. I am not sure that special available anymore 

 

The Early Booking bonus is still in play - at least, so far.

[Mary229]

It was not available for purchase on my January cruise   Regardless it will not be discounted 

Edited February 3 by Mary229

[0106]

It was available to purchase onboard the current Oosterdam cruise.  There were many signs offering HIA when we boarded.  Six days into the cruise, I no longer see the signs.

[POA1]

Perhaps they decide on a ship by ship basis. They were selling it on the Nieuw Statendam in December. The cost was, as Kazu stated, $10/day higher than prepaid.

[Real NHDOC]

Advantage to buying onboard is you can use OBC to pay for it. Disadvantage is it costs $10 more pp per day. If you want to buy it onboard just visit guest services on the first or second day. After that they won’t sell it. 

[Haljo1935]

Our last several cruises, and as recently as Oct-Dec on NS and Dec on K'dam, we've had a flyer in our cabin to purchase HIA at $10pppd above the pre-cruise price. So, yes should be available, but no discount. 

Very short 2-3 days to do it then the offer gets pulled.

The most recent had a daily price of $65 due to the recent increase; this was from the cruise before.

[YourWorldWithBill]

One question you had that no one has said anything about is whether the price for the HIA might come down. Pretty unlikely, and pretty rare for something like that to happen!

[Haljo1935]

1 minute ago, YourWorldWithBill said:

One question you had that no one has said anything about is whether the price for the HIA might come down. Pretty unlikely, and pretty rare for something like that to happen!

No way for any of us to know what HAL will do w/pricing, or at least those of us that do not have inside connections, but in its current version, it is not lower onboard.

[cbr663]

41 minutes ago, YourWorldWithBill said:

One question you had that no one has said anything about is whether the price for the HIA might come down. Pretty unlikely, and pretty rare for something like that to happen!

 

The HIA pricing is tied to the prices of the Beverage Packages.  Not surprising at all that HIA is $10 pp/pd more onboard as that is the cost of the beverage packages also.  HIA pricing will most likely decrease when the beverage packages decrease.  That will most likely happen when passengers stop buying them and HAL needs to discount them in order to sell them.

[VMax1700]

@montythecat the current UK price of £65 per day is a bit of a rip off.  Even the more expensive onboard version priced in dollars is better value.

With a departure next December, I would be holding tight and wait for a special offer or watch for reports on this forum as to whether the HIA is available onboard or not.   You can still pre purchase up to about a week before departure.

[cbr663]

1 hour ago, VMax1700 said:

@montythecat the current UK price of £65 per day is a bit of a rip off.  Even the more expensive onboard version priced in dollars is better value.

With a departure next December, I would be holding tight and wait for a special offer or watch for reports on this forum as to whether the HIA is available onboard or not.   You can still pre purchase up to about a week before departure.

 

The current CDN pricing is a bit of a rip off also.

 

I just checked and for '24 cruises the HIA with 1 Speciality Dining, $100 Shore Excursion, Signature Beverage Package, Surf Wifi and $200 OBC is about $80 pp/pd.

 

The Early Booking Bonus for cruises in '25 the HIA with 1 Speciality Dining, $100 Shore Excursion, Elite Beverage Package, Premium Wi-Fi and Pre-Paid Crew Appreciation is about $90 pp/pd.

 

[YourWorldWithBill]

3 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

@montythecat the current UK price of £65 per day is a bit of a rip off.  Even the more expensive onboard version priced in dollars is better value.

With a departure next December, I would be holding tight and wait for a special offer or watch for reports on this forum as to whether the HIA is available onboard or not.   You can still pre purchase up to about a week before departure.

The worst thing done to those of you in the UK is the non-refundable deposit. We're lucky that they usually can't get away with that here.

[VMax1700]

34 minutes ago, YourWorldWithBill said:

The worst thing done to those of you in the UK

Not just UK, but basically all of Europe.  Also price adjustments are non existant.

[YourWorldWithBill]

3 hours ago, VMax1700 said:

Not just UK, but basically all of Europe.  Also price adjustments are non existant.

Just a bad deal.

[montythecat]

Thank you very much to all of you for your contributions,

they are much appreciated. “She who must be obeyed”

at home got the casting vote so we have paid up. I was

tempted to go with the VMax1700 last minute approach

but at least we know exactly how much we are in for. It

does seem a lot which means we will certainly make the

most of the drinks component of the package.

[Haljo1935]

15 minutes ago, montythecat said:

Thank you very much to all of you for your contributions,

they are much appreciated. “She who must be obeyed”

at home got the casting vote so we have paid up. I was

tempted to go with the VMax1700 last minute approach

but at least we know exactly how much we are in for. It

does seem a lot which means we will certainly make the

most of the drinks component of the package.

Safe travels - enjoy your cruise!

[kazu]

16 hours ago, cbr663 said:

 

The current CDN pricing is a bit of a rip off also.

 

I just checked and for '24 cruises the HIA with 1 Speciality Dining, $100 Shore Excursion, Signature Beverage Package, Surf Wifi and $200 OBC is about $80 pp/pd.

 

The Early Booking Bonus for cruises in '25 the HIA with 1 Speciality Dining, $100 Shore Excursion, Elite Beverage Package, Premium Wi-Fi and Pre-Paid Crew Appreciation is about $90 pp/pd.

 

 

 

The Canadian pricing is all over the map.  For example, if I buy HIA separately for my 13 day cruise the exchange rate is a very nice 1.325%.  For my upcoming 25 day cruise, with the EBB - it’s higher.  I played with a bit of math and thought they were adding in for the extra shore excursions but if you are being charged the same per day, it appears not.  In my case, it’s still worth it with the crew appreciation included.

 

But, the differential makes me wonder if the HIA price will be going up again.  On a regular cruise where crew appreciation is not included, I would be tempted to book the advantage fare and buy HIA separately if I wanted it.

[CNSJ]

When doing the math on whether to buy HIA or HIA w/Early Booking Bonus, keep in mind that HIA with EBB usually includes a better "Premium" WIFI package and a better "Elite" Drinks package, and as stated the included gratuties.

 

My last few cruises I have started to notice some drink prices creeping up.  Elite solves that issue.

[cbr663]

3 hours ago, kazu said:

 

 

The Canadian pricing is all over the map.  For example, if I buy HIA separately for my 13 day cruise the exchange rate is a very nice 1.325%.  For my upcoming 25 day cruise, with the EBB - it’s higher.  I played with a bit of math and thought they were adding in for the extra shore excursions but if you are being charged the same per day, it appears not.  In my case, it’s still worth it with the crew appreciation included.

 

But, the differential makes me wonder if the HIA price will be going up again.  On a regular cruise where crew appreciation is not included, I would be tempted to book the advantage fare and buy HIA separately if I wanted it.

 

I've found CDN pricing all over the map in the past also.  Cruise companies are reporting to shareholders that per passenger spend is way up right now due passengers widely accepting package deals like HIA.  I think there is even more room for price increases as it seems more and more people are willing to pay a bundled price to not have to think about their spending while onboard.

[Real NHDOC]

3 hours ago, CNSJ said:

When doing the math on whether to buy HIA or HIA w/Early Booking Bonus, keep in mind that HIA with EBB usually includes a better "Premium" WIFI package and a better "Elite" Drinks package, and as stated the included gratuties.

 

My last few cruises I have started to notice some drink prices creeping up.  Elite solves that issue.

Yes, but keep in mind that you can still get the pricier drinks with the signature package and just pay the amount over $11 and the elite package only covers drinks up to $15. Most drinks are only $1 more than $11 now. 

[RuthC]

5 hours ago, CNSJ said:

keep in mind that HIA with EBB usually includes a better "Premium" WIFI package

The 'Premium' WiFi is only 'better' if you need streaming, as that is the only thing it adds to the 'Surf' plan. 

[crystalspin]

Note that the "streaming" included with Premium is for things like Skype and Tiktok and hopefully Zoom, not Netflix/PrimeVideo/Hulu. Those will need the new higher plan!