Suite Amenities Package

[ekerr19]

I saw this "advertised" on our December Westerdam cruise and thought "what the...?????"

 

While we really enjoy the Deluxe Verandah Suite, I am disappointed HAL has taken another step closer to lessening the overall experience by making it available to all cabins.

 

There will be no advantage to booking a Deluxe Verandah Suite at HAL's current price levels (which are rarely discounted!) when we can get just about any other cabin a great deal cheaper and have the same perks.

 

I also have to say this; HAL has a hard enough time getting those persons entitled to priority embarkation and disembarkation squared away now - I can't imagine what it's going to be like when they start with optional "packages" - and two different packages, no less. I can see it now - "But, I bought a prepaid package allowing my whole group priority!!!!!!!" as a red vest tries to explain that only applies per person, or to a certain "type" of package etc. etc.

 

What a headache. I definitely feel it coming on, big time. :mad:

[ekerr19]

duplicate....

[ekerr19]

Wow, a triple post... I'm on a roll today!

[kryos]

While we really enjoy the Deluxe Verandah Suite, I am disappointed HAL has taken another step closer to lessening the overall experience by making it available to all cabins.

I can only guess that those who purchase the package will have different color key cards ... if everyone in your group doesn't purchase it, then they won't have the magic color cards and won't get the bennies ... and that could be a problem if you have a family group trying to get priority tendering and only some of them are able to get on the tender, while others are sent back to the lounge to wait in line for tickets.

 

As for dilluting the value of the Deluxe Suite ... I would hope that HAL will cap the amount of these packages they sell to only that quantity they can comfortably service. If they sell 300 "ammenity packages" for non-deluxe suite holders, then I hope they've determined they can deliver those ammenties to 300 people without impacting those in the deluxe verandah suite. Also, note that ALL ammenties of the deluxe veranda suite are not being provided in these ammenity packages. For example, no one can purchase an add-on package that will give them access to the Neptune Lounge and the concierge. Only those in qualifying suites get that. I am sure the reason for this is that HAL knows they cannot accommodate additional passengers in that lounge, and thus they don't offer it. Let's hope they are using the same "good sense" with the other ammenities ... only offering them to the number of people who can be comfortably accommodated.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[rwilli01]

Barb would you mind letting me know how to find out what the suite perks are.

We are in a SA in november and just courious what we will recieve as perks. thank you, kay

[hammybee]

As for dilluting the value of the Deluxe Suite ... I would hope that HAL will cap the amount of these packages they sell to only that quantity they can comfortably service. If they sell 300 "ammenity packages" for non-deluxe suite holders, then I hope they've determined they can deliver those ammenties to 300 people without impacting those in the deluxe verandah suite. Blue skies ...--rita

 

The only package available to non Deluxe Suites is the Suite Amenities Package. One needs to be booked in a SS, SY or SZ to be eligible. There are about 150-160 such cabins on a VISTA Class ship.

 

The cost will preclude many from booking.

 

The best kept secret of marketing these package will preclude most from booking, at any price. :D

[hammybee]

Barb would you mind letting me know how to find out what the suite perks are.

We are in a SA in november and just courious what we will recieve as perks. thank you, kay

 

See posts # 2 and 4 or this link, way over to the right hand side:

 

https://www.hollandamerica.com/pdfs/onboard/Gift_Order_Polar.pdf

[kryos]

As you say, most airlines allow the passenger the ability to obtain more by paying more, for known and or premium seat assignments, within coach class. This is, I think, just the begining.

I wholeheartedly agree with you. I see flying as becoming no more "elegant" than taking a city bus to your destination ... with the only exception being that you are guaranteed a seat on the plane ... no necessarily a good or a comfortable seat, but at least a seat. The city bus doesn't give you that guarantee.

 

And, in some respects, I don't blame the airlines at all for this. After all, they have payrolls to meet, fuel bills to pay, etc. With the flying public insisting on cheap fares, there is no way they can operate profitably without reducing, and eventually eliminating, all ammenties. I see the day when seats are even tighter ... in order to get more squeezed onto the plane. I see a day, and it's actually here already with some airlines, where baggage allowances will become very strict ... very limited ... in order to have the spare weight capacity to squeeze more paying passengers onto the plane. I see the day when if you are even moderately overweight you will be forced to purchase an extra seat, because the seats will be so tightly packed in that the airlines will be at risk for fights breaking out if someone's extra bulk is infringing on what little seat room their aisle-mate has. I see the day when you will have maybe one flight attendant per aisle ... maybe a total of two in a large coach cabin ... and there will be no such thing as beverage service onboard. You want a beverage, then purchase it in the airport before you get on the plane, because you won't get it there ... or at least you won't get it unless you purchase an overpriced meal.

 

But we've asked for these things with our demand for lower airfares. And, thankfully, the lower airfares have made it possible for more people to travel ... people who otherwise wouldn't have been able to afford it. So, maybe it's a good thing. And for those of us who really can't deal with the crowded conditions in coach, I guess we could always spring for that higher priced business or first class ticket.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[twinkletoes4445]

It's a good idea, only as long as HAL can deliver on what is promised. Let someone with one of these packages not get their preferred dining arrangements, or get hung up waiting to get on a tender, and this "suite enhancement package" will quickly backfire in HAL's face.

 

Hopefully, if it sells briskly, HAL will quickly restrict the cabin classes that can qualify for it.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

 

This could very well backfire on them, but time will tell.

 

We're in an SA and I was curious how this is going to work for the debarkation. I was told that the Deluxe (P-SA-SB-SC) will still have priority when it comes to leaving the ship (on the final day). Not sure how this is going to work, but it sounded like they will call the P through SC to disembark first, then those that purchased the suite package next.

 

I told her I hope that's how this works.

 

Part of the reason we book an SA is because of the perks, and if they start offering them to all the other categories of cabins, then why should we bother paying extra? Sure, we love the NL and the size of our cabin, but they better be careful what they are doing or this could be a problem.

 

It would be like the airline offering first-class perks without you having to pay the first-class ticket price.

 

As for the debarkation at the ports where you tender, it sounds like those that purchased the suite package will be able to exit the ship the same way as those that are in an P-SC. This could create problem if they sell a lot of these passes...or maybe there won't be an issue. I guess time will tell.

 

The reason we sail HAL is because of these perks. If they are eliminated or open to tons of cabins, which could essentially more than double the amount of people who are using these services, then we'll certainly look at other lines for our cruises. But I don't know how many people will shell out the money for these extras.

 

And it is entirely possible that we will notice no difference in service or availability of the perks.

[Jade13]

The only package available to non Deluxe Suites is the Suite Amenities Package. One needs to be booked in a SS, SY or SZ to be eligible. There are about 150-160 such cabins on a VISTA Class ship.

 

The cost will preclude many from booking.

 

The best kept secret of marketing these package will preclude most from booking, at any price. :D

 

What I don't understand is that someone posted they were in a VA and booked this package. Was it was just an errror?

[Jade13]

double post.

[Jade13]

The reason we sail HAL is because of these perks. If they are eliminated or open to tons of cabins, which could essentially more than double the amount of people who are using these services, then we'll certainly look at other lines for our cruises. But I don't know how many people will shell out the money for these extras.

 

And it is entirely possible that we will notice no difference in service or availability of the perks.

 

Which perks? Besides the NL, I don't think HAL offers that many more amenties than those in other cabins, especially compared to other lines. Everyone gets the Elemis bath products.

 

Also, just because everyone in Suites has priority tender, doesn't mean those passengers want to get off the ship first at 7:00am in the morning. The same for disembarkation. The great thing about HAL is that everyone can wait in their stateroom until called. If I remember, we were just asked to check off which time we wanted to leave.

[ekerr19]

Argh! The site is unbearable slow today!

 

Anyway, I was trying to quote part of Rita's post on the prior page and couldn't...

 

Here's my beef:

 

As other premium lines offer more (and believe me - we look) HAL appears more and more like "mainstream", which frankly, isn't necessarily what I'm looking for when it comes to paying the cost for the SA and PS categories on HAL.

 

For example, I am looking at an Oceania brochure - a 16 day Panama cruise we'd love to take is $9K pp for the Owner's Suite (the big daddy of them all) and comes with perks HAL hasn't even thought of yet. A Dell laptop provided for my convenience? Love it. Packing and Unpacking upon request? Oh yeah - my least favorite part of the cruise is the packing and unpacking! Priority this and priority that - plus a butler. :)

 

All on a smaller ship (which we prefer), about 700 people. The other line we've looked at lately is Azamara - also great deals to be had - we were quoted a RT South America (Rio) cruise for less than $10K (for the TWO of us, including air) on a 12 day sailing in a suite comparable to an SS on HAL, but with more perks.

 

As HAL continues to dilute, other lines will pick up the "diluted", including people like us. :)

[twinkletoes4445]

Which perks? Besides the NL, I don't think HAL offers that many more amenties than those in other cabins, especially compared to other lines. Everyone gets the Elemis bath products.

 

Also, just because everyone in Suites has priority tender, doesn't mean those passengers want to get off the ship first at 7:00am in the morning. The same for disembarkation. The great thing about HAL is that everyone can wait in their stateroom until called. If I remember, we were just asked to check off which time we wanted to leave.

 

The perks that we enjoyed the most were the NL and the boarding process and the priority tendering pass. For us, that's why we booked. What other line has something along the line as the Neptune Lounge?

 

The bath products don't matter diddly to us, they were nice, but not something that I care about. :)

 

I don't know what "everyone" wants to do, but I do know that we want to get off the ship early. If they sell too many of these packages, it could cause a problem...or not.

 

When we left the ship, we couldn't get off until our color was called. I suppose if you have circumstances that might require you getting off the ship early (like and early flight) you might make arrangements to do this. We ended up waiting with some friends of ours because they had a different color ticket than ours and they couldn't get off when our color was called.

 

Never have we been asked what time we want off a ship...we were assigned color coded tags and were called off by those.

[twinkletoes4445]

Argh! The site is unbearable slow today!

 

It sure is!

 

 

As other premium lines offer more (and believe me - we look) HAL appears more and more like "mainstream", which frankly, isn't necessarily what I'm looking for when it comes to paying the cost for the SA and PS categories on HAL.

 

For example, I am looking at an Oceania brochure - a 16 day Panama cruise we'd love to take is $9K pp for the Owner's Suite (the big daddy of them all) and comes with perks HAL hasn't even thought of yet. A Dell laptop provided for my convenience? Love it. Packing and Unpacking upon request? Oh yeah - my least favorite part of the cruise is the packing and unpacking! Priority this and priority that - plus a butler. :)

 

All on a smaller ship (which we prefer), about 700 people. The other line we've looked at lately is Azamara - also great deals to be had - we were quoted a RT South America (Rio) cruise for less than $10K (for the TWO of us, including air) on a 12 day sailing in a suite comparable to an SS on HAL, but with more perks.

 

As HAL continues to dilute, other lines will pick up the "diluted", including people like us. :)

 

My hubby will not get on a small ship, and that's that. No discussing it with him, so this would be out for us, at least at this point in time. That's interesting about the perks on those lines.

 

I do think you're right...as HAL continues to dilute, they will lose many of their passengers to other lines. And we may even try something different...but this won't happen anytime soon for us, or at least I don't think it will. If we get to the ship and the lines are long...because they've sold tons of the "packages" then hubby may change his mind about the smaller ships.

[sreed41]

Just went to the HAL website and looked at the gift order form. Unless I'm reading it incorrectly, it specifies that the amenities package is for those in suites only. So, if that's true, then those of us booked in anything less than a suite (we're in a VA on the Westerdam in March) are not eligible for this package. Good news for suite passengers; too bad news for the rest of us.

[ekerr19]

twinkletoes4445-

 

We really like the smaller ships! Have you tried them? Doesn't feel so much like your "mass market" when you're on a smaller ship... for me, anyway.

 

DH and I were just discussing a brochure from our TA today showing a 2nd person fare free on Oceania (next year on my b-day!)... a 15-day cruise around the cape for $ 7K... it's very tempting, especially with 2nd person free.

 

Prices are comparable to HAL.

[twinkletoes4445]

twinkletoes4445-

 

We really like the smaller ships! Have you tried them? Doesn't feel so much like your "mass market" when you're on a smaller ship... for me, anyway.

 

DH and I were just discussing a brochure from our TA today showing a 2nd person fare free on Oceania (next year on my b-day!)... a 15-day cruise around the cape for $ 7K... it's very tempting, especially with 2nd person free.

 

Prices are comparable to HAL.

 

I'd do a smaller ship in a nansecond. I guess I shouldn't say he'd "never" do a smaller ship, because he might. I never thought he'd agree to a 10-day cruise, and when I asked him, he said "sure." I didn't even have to beg! It's not that he doesn't like to vacation, but we have a business and it's hard to get away from it for long periods of time. However, we have one son now in the business, and probably another will join him in the future...so there's hope for me that some day soon I'll get a two week cruise!

 

7K for two for a 15-day cruise sounds like a heck of a deal. It's certainly worth checking out. I think the HAL prices are pretty good. When we go to Grand Cayman for a week...between the condo rental, car rental, and food, it's a lot more expensive than being in an SA for a week.

 

Thanks for the information. I'll have to check it out for future cruises. :)