HAL cruise price drop after booking, can you get the lower price?

[TorontoTL]

Hi I’m new to HAL cruises having done many cruises mostly with Princess enjoying the perks.  However, next spring there is a Noordam cruise in Japan that looks great that we are considering, it would be a nice way to try HAL for the first time.  We don’t usually book cruises so far in advance so have a few questions before we book.  

 

One question is that if we put a deposit down on a cabin and the price drops between now and final payment, does HAL honor the lower price?  I ask because on Princess, if I call the travel agent they will honor the new lower price so long as I call to ask about it.  We’ve never been denied the lower cost.  Does HAL also do this?

 

The Noordam is an older ship, is it true that she is going into a fairly extensive dry dock this year?

 

I noticed that the cabin diagrams for insides show a very square cabin that has a small L shaped sofa, is that really the layout of a majority of the inside cabins?  There is also the option for a larger inside cabin, does it also have that same layout with the L shaped sofa and square overall shape?

 

I’m sure I’ll have other questions for your fine HAL folks when I finally book.  Thank you in advance.

 

Benny

[crystalspin]

2 minutes ago, TorontoTL said:

if I call the travel agent they will honor the new lower price so long as I call to ask about it.  We’ve never been denied the lower cost.  Does HAL also do this?

If you have a refundable deposit, yes. This means the HIA (Have-It-All) price, OR the Advantage fare which you do not see on line, but have to call (or have your travel agent call) to find out and book. Advantage deposit is refundable, with no "perks".

[Mary229]

Make sure you select the refundable deposit.  There are two published fares, the base rate and the with Have It all.  Most often HIA comes with refundable deposits.  There is a third non published fare call Advantage fare.  It is slightly higher than the base fare but it is refundable.  One gotcha that occurs sometimes.  If you pay for the cruise in full that could be considered final payment and penalties begin even if it is before the overall cruise final payment date.

 

if your TA is familiar with Princess they probably know Holland very well too

[crystalspin]

4 minutes ago, TorontoTL said:

I noticed that the cabin diagrams for insides show a very square cabin that has a small L shaped sofa, is that really the layout of a majority of the inside cabins?  

No, the website is deceptive. Only the J and K category on the Main Deck have that layout. Most are laid out like an oceanview with a fake "window" (a curtain) at the head of the bed(s). Some insides are very small indeed, like this (I category I think) one on sister ship Westerdam:

https://halfacts.com/7104-westerdam/

 

[crystalspin]

12 minutes ago, TorontoTL said:

The Noordam is an older ship, is it true that she is going into a fairly extensive dry dock this year?

She drydocked (is that a verb?) in Feb 2022 so I don't think this year at all.

[TorontoTL]

14 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

No, the website is deceptive. Only the J and K category on the Main Deck have that layout. Most are laid out like an oceanview with a fake "window" (a curtain) at the head of the bed(s). Some insides are very small indeed, like this (I category I think) one on sister ship Westerdam:

https://halfacts.com/7104-westerdam/

 

It did seem to be too good to be true, that is super helpful thank you very much 🙏🙏🙏🙏.

[SeaMatesNYC]

One variable to note is that if you had benefits attached to the booking from HAL, these will not always transfer to the new refared booking. One example I was faced with recently was a Welcome Back booking OBC bonus, which was for a new booking made by a certain date after return from a HAL cruise. Reservations would not carry this to a refared booking made after the original “book by” date on the Welcome Back offer. Perhaps I could have escalated and gotten a different result, but the refare savings were not really that great.

[crystalspin]

25 minutes ago, SeaMatesNYC said:

One variable to note is that if you had benefits attached to the booking from HAL, these will not always transfer to the new refared booking.

@TorontoTL SeaMates is correct, Mary and I should have mentioned that you will essentially be re-booking (without risk of losing your cabin), and any original promo will be replaced by the current one if any. Always do the math! 

[Mary229]

16 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

@TorontoTL SeaMates is correct, Mary and I should have mentioned that you will essentially be re-booking (without risk of losing your cabin), and any original promo will be replaced by the current one if any. Always do the math! 

All fares are a total of perks and base rates plus taxes and fees.  If you change a good agent will give a bullet point chart of what you gain and what you lose. 

[crystalspin]

1 minute ago, Mary229 said:

All fares are a total of perks and base rates plus taxes and fees.  If you change a good agent will give a bullet point chart of what you gain and what you lose. 

My PCC does the same, on the phone or in e-mail. I usually have worked it all out, but sometimes she can see details I can't -- like one time I wanted to upgrade from Verandah to Vista Suite and (because it was an upgrade not a lower category) she was able to give me a previous lower fare! 

[Mary229]

Here is the dry dock schedule. Usually ships are dry docked every 2 years but that doesn’t mean they will be completely refurbished.  HAL is pretty f

good about continuous maintenance 

 

 

[crystalspin]

1 hour ago, crystalspin said:

She drydocked (is that a verb?) in Feb 2022 so I don't think this year at all.

I stand corrected, 

PLANNED DRY DOCKS

Noordam 24 November 2024 – 08 December 2024

 

Understand that drydocks are for scheduled maintenance like hull-scraping etc; interior refurbs are almost incidental although planned just as well to happen like clockwork. 

[TorontoTL]

Thank you everyone for your responses, they are very helpful.  This Japan cruise on HAL is looking better each day, better than what similar cruise Princess currently has.  This will likely be our first HAL cruise.

[JeffElizabeth]

We used to use a PCC but found outside travel agents were much better at passing on savings if the cruise price decreased. 

[crystalspin]

Third-party travel agents lose commission $$ if your fare decreases, PCCs do not. Just saying.

 

I mentioned above my PCC getting me a lower fare when I upgraded to a Vista Suite; I did not mention that it was Launch Fare, months after launch, when the price had gone up significantly. And she did it without me asking -- I was expecting to pay the full and current fare.

 

Edited April 24 by crystalspin

[JeffElizabeth]

Not our experience.  PCC's have never lowered our cruise prices, my travel agent has. Maybe my travel agent wants to impress.  

[scooter6139]

2 hours ago, JeffElizabeth said:

Not our experience.  PCC's have never lowered our cruise prices, my travel agent has. Maybe my travel agent wants to impress.  

That's too bad; you likely have a bad PCC, then.  Ours saved us $1k off our Neptune suite to Alaska this year when she was just checking on our AARP and Teacher OBC and saw we qualified for some Casino discount (odd as we never gamble).  Any discount I'll readily take.