One day $1. Deposit Promo Disappointing.

[retird]

The promo covers over 600 cruises.  In anticipation of the promo , I had looked at a few cruises some days ago and made note of the prices at that time.  Fast forward to tonight and the promo is on their website.   I checked all of the cruises I had earlier researched and all of them under the $1. Deposit have doubled or more in price for the same category cabin.   

[colin v]

While disappointing, I’m glad there aren’t a shipload of cruises on hold for the steep price of $1. 

[rodndonna]

I've only had my eye on one cruise for next year- and it seemed to be the same price as I recalled it being. Just checked on Cruiseplum and indeed - it is unchanged.

 

May just pull the trigger 😊

[atexsix]

13 hours ago, retird said:

The promo covers over 600 cruises.  In anticipation of the promo , I had looked at a few cruises some days ago and made note of the prices at that time.  Fast forward to tonight and the promo is on their website.   I checked all of the cruises I had earlier researched and all of them under the $1. Deposit have doubled or more in price for the same category cabin.   

That figures, I don't usually go for these promotions but since it came up as a Cruise Critic ad I clicked it out of curiosity, not expecting to see any Alaska sailings.  I'm assuming the timing of the offer is because northern hemisphere autumn is the slowest time of the year for bookings?  I'm just trying to figure out the marketing behind it, what's in it for HAL? 

[retird]

42 minutes ago, atexsix said:

That figures, I don't usually go for these promotions but since it came up as a Cruise Critic ad I clicked it out of curiosity, not expecting to see any Alaska sailings.  I'm assuming the timing of the offer is because northern hemisphere autumn is the slowest time of the year for bookings?  I'm just trying to figure out the marketing behind it, what's in it for HAL? 

Im not sure of advantage to Hal.  Unfortunately it causes cabins to be booked by people who will probably never go on the cruise thus reducing the  cabins available for serious guests to select.

 

the cabins for the most part are overpriced for the promo.  So when the promo is over and the cabins in the future are reduced to reasonable price, you would have to cancel the $1 booking to get the new price.  At least that is how it worked for me two years ago.  

[FlaMariner]

So our first time at participating in this one buck deposit.....

 

• We'd been eyeing a 50 night cruise in March 2026 but worried that the daughter might throw a wrinkle in our plans with a possible wedding
• Surprised this cruise was included in the buck promo but it was and we booked today
• The fare was the same price we had been tracking...so no hyped up price because of promo
• We are booked....all for an investment of $2. 
• Couple of interesting "strings/disclosures"....$198 is due in June 2025 and is "un-refundable".  Remaining balance due October 2025 (4 months before departure)
• We use a TA (big, internet one) and was glad to know they participate in all HAL promos...this one included!

 

This works out great for us......We think we will be "in the know" as far as conflicts by mid year next year, I can also be attentive to price drops and we can also easily "change our mind". 

 

I owe a big thanks to learning about this promo the day before on cruise critic.

[Birdhunter67]

2 hours ago, FlaMariner said:

So our first time at participating in this one buck deposit.....

 

• We'd been eyeing a 50 night cruise in March 2026 but worried that the daughter might throw a wrinkle in our plans with a possible wedding
• Surprised this cruise was included in the buck promo but it was and we booked today
• The fare was the same price we had been tracking...so no hyped up price because of promo
• We are booked....all for an investment of $2. 
• Couple of interesting "strings/disclosures"....$198 is due in June 2025 and is "un-refundable".  Remaining balance due October 2025 (4 months before departure)
• We use a TA (big, internet one) and was glad to know they participate in all HAL promos...this one included!

 

This works out great for us......We think we will be "in the know" as far as conflicts by mid year next year, I can also be attentive to price drops and we can also easily "change our mind". 

 

I owe a big thanks to learning about this promo the day before on cruise critic.

The balance due in October 2025 is the same for us and we booked the same cruise this past April. 

[catspaw1]

We just booked today on the $1 promo- 14 day cruise may 2026 to AK. My TA didn't tell me when payment is due. I'll watch for price reductions on cruise plum. Does HAL have any spreadsheets like the Celebrity forum had that tells you info on your cabin choice? Would like to know how the noise is on deck 1 Niew Amsterdam if anyone knows.

[fungirl28]

We just booked a 15 day Cultural Crossing from the Netherlands in October 2026. This will be a first cruise on HAL but the price was less than a 7 day Med Cruise I took on RCCL. It gave me a March 2026 date for an additional deposit and a final payment date in August 2026.

[FlaMariner]

16 minutes ago, fungirl28 said:

We just booked a 15 day Cultural Crossing from the Netherlands in October 2026. This will be a first cruise on HAL but the price was less than a 7 day Med Cruise I took on RCCL. It gave me a March 2026 date for an additional deposit and a final payment date in August 2026.

 

Welcome to Holland America Line.....

 

Yes, trans Atlantic crossings are a great deal....we've done many and love the price and the ports and the sea days.

[catspaw1]

Yeah my TA just emailed that an additional deposit will be due 8 months before the cruise

[catspaw1]

Sorry I didn't finish my response.  Another 200 for both due 8 months before cruise. There was zero balcony & suites & only a handful of OV left. So we chose aft cabin level E with the all inclusive. I'll register with cruiseplum to see if prices decrease. We were in AK with HAl 30 years ago! Have been on Celebrity but we wanted a longer cruise & returning to Glacier bay was a must.

[Oceansaway17]

4 hours ago, FlaMariner said:

So our first time at participating in this one buck deposit.....

 

• We'd been eyeing a 50 night cruise in March 2026 but worried that the daughter might throw a wrinkle in our plans with a possible wedding
• Surprised this cruise was included in the buck promo but it was and we booked today
• The fare was the same price we had been tracking...so no hyped up price because of promo
• We are booked....all for an investment of $2. 
• Couple of interesting "strings/disclosures"....$198 is due in June 2025 and is "un-refundable".  Remaining balance due October 2025 (4 months before departure)
• We use a TA (big, internet one) and was glad to know they participate in all HAL promos...this one included!

 

This works out great for us......We think we will be "in the know" as far as conflicts by mid year next year, I can also be attentive to price drops and we can also easily "change our mind". 

 

I owe a big thanks to learning about this promo the day before on cruise critic.

Aw but find out if you are allowed to later add on vacation protection.

Hal plays games with this. 

[ghstudio]

4 minutes ago, catspaw1 said:

Sorry I didn't finish my response.  Another 200 for both due 8 months before cruise. There was zero balcony & suites & only a handful of OV left. So we chose aft cabin level E with the all inclusive. I'll register with cruiseplum to see if prices decrease. We were in AK with HAl 30 years ago! Have been on Celebrity but we wanted a longer cruise & returning to Glacier bay was a must.

 

Keep checking cabins....there will be quite a bit of fallout when the next payment is due.  Glacier bay now will be VERY different than  your first visit.  Unfortunately, for whatever reason (global warming?), the glaciers are receding at a fast pace.  If you want glaciers, Greenland and the Beagle Channel are still good choices.. 

[FlaMariner]

20 minutes ago, Oceansaway17 said:

Aw but find out if you are allowed to later add on vacation protection.

Hal plays games with this. 

 

never, ever buy that.....so we are good.

[catspaw1]

Yes the glaciers were receding even 30 years ago but it's definitely due to global warming. That's one reason we want to go now before they are all gone. I've heard exit glacier has receded far away now. It's so sad. AK was truly out last frontier but fast going away. We are going to an AK fishing/ bear lodge next summer. Wanted to add on a cruise but this one for 14 nights was only 1900 more than the 7 day cruise.  Plus it's in May with no kids which we prefer. Hope we will like HAL again!

[Iamthesea]

Have any of you also booked the HIA with this deal?   We are thinking of booking something for 2026 (we already have one for 2025 on another line.  Can I assume that booking HIA this far out will get us the top packages?

[ukpylot]

I lost count of how many Alaska itineraries I had to click on to find one that had any available verandahs but ended up snagging one for next May, just a 7 day though. I need to check out cruiseplum

[Iamthesea]

I found the answer to my question. 😉    The problem is that I cannot find any cruise, other than an Asia itinerary that we have not been to.  Looking for a 9/10 to 14 night cruise.  We would love to do something in Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, but keep putting it off because the long flights.

 

Perhaps we too should look at 7 night cruises.  We can extend and do some land stays along with it.  We usually do that with 10-14 night cruises, but limit the whole trip to 3 weeks.  We cannot stand to be away from home any longer than that.

[oakridger]

4 hours ago, catspaw1 said:

We just booked today on the $1 promo- 14 day cruise may 2026 to AK. My TA didn't tell me when payment is due. I'll watch for price reductions on cruise plum. Does HAL have any spreadsheets like the Celebrity forum had that tells you info on your cabin choice? Would like to know how the noise is on deck 1 Niew Amsterdam if anyone knows.

 

Halfacts.com has all kinds of info on each ship including pictures and comments regarding locations.  Check it out!

 

Signature Class | HAL Cruiser Information (halfacts.com)

 

~Nancy

 

 

[catspaw1]

Thanks Oakridger for the info. I certainly will. I'll also keep checking the price & cabin availability. 

[Lady Arwen]

We booked Rotterdam TA for October 2025 with this promo.  We’ve been eyeing this sailing for sometime and yesterday we decided to pull the trigger.  In Canada, our normal deposit would be about $900.00 for. 15 night cruise.  Unless something extreme happens, we’ll be going.

 

We just returned from a Princess Canada New England sailing and decided that after 20 yeas of Princess we were not going back.  So, HAL is our first choice and we love the Pinnacle class ships.  This promo just gave us the final push we needed.

[leafsnation]

Missed the $1 deposit yesterday!

Looking at Oct 2026 Canal FLL to Vancouver.

Sent TA an email today for a quote who knows maybe TA can swing the buck deposit. Really pay now pay later dont matter. Always book early to get HIA with grats included. Grats are huge especially on long cruises 

Bob

[AKJonesy]

14 hours ago, catspaw1 said:

Yes the glaciers were receding even 30 years ago but it's definitely due to global warming. That's one reason we want to go now before they are all gone. I've heard exit glacier has receded far away now. It's so sad. AK was truly out last frontier but fast going away.

5% of Alaska is covered with glaciers.  I don't think you have to worry about rushing to see them before they are gone.  Most of our glaciers are receding and we do have advancing glaciers.  Depending on where you sail, there are many glaciers to see.  Exit Glacier is very accessible on land and has retreated in the last 100 years.  There is a very good trail to the face of Exit Glacier and it is beautiful to see from the road as well.  If you have the ability, I suggest doing the hike at Exit Glacier which will take about 5 hours, but you get up to the ice field which feeds the glacier and it's amazing.  You can walk to the face of the glacier on a nice path from the Visitor's building.  

[catspaw1]

I think we did the hike up to Exit glacier 30 years ago but I don't remember it being a 5 hour hike. How tough is the hike? Miles? Uphill a lot? Walking on ice. I can walk about 5 miles day but recently in great smokey park we did an almost 7 mile hike & that wiped me out. We both go regularly to the gym. We are fairly active