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Malt Shop Memories Cruise


joyce&bob

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I was on the Malt Shop Memories Cruise website and they announced they will be having the Malt Shop Memory cruise (theme cruise) on Holland/Eurodam on October 27-November 3, 2012. They are not releasing and pricing until September 2011.

 

Does anyone know if you HAVE TO book with Malt Shop Memories to be able to participate in the activities???? Especially the evening shows with the 50's entertaineers.

 

I have a goup of people interested - and some of them have already checked with T/A to get pricing.... I checked the prices on Malt Shop website for the 2011 cruise and the cost seems much higher then you can get through a T/S but....they say something like - this includes tickets to one special 50's show an evening. Which tends to make me believe those will be closed shows only available to that gourp.

 

Does anyone know how this works?????

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I was on the Malt Shop Memories Cruise website and they announced they will be having the Malt Shop Memory cruise (theme cruise) on Holland/Eurodam on October 27-November 3, 2012. They are not releasing and pricing until September 2011.

 

Does anyone know if you HAVE TO book with Malt Shop Memories to be able to participate in the activities???? Especially the evening shows with the 50's entertaineers.

 

I have a goup of people interested - and some of them have already checked with T/A to get pricing.... I checked the prices on Malt Shop website for the 2011 cruise and the cost seems much higher then you can get through a T/S but....they say something like - this includes tickets to one special 50's show an evening. Which tends to make me believe those will be closed shows only available to that gourp.

 

Does anyone know how this works?????

 

The group pricing on those sort of cruises are usually higher because of all those things that are included. The entertainers have to be paid and all the special shows and activities have to be paid for. The group pays for them and, in my cruising experience, I have never heard/seen them allowing people who did not book as part of the group to participate. Doubtful they would let you have for free what other people have paid for. IMO

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I have been on several cruises where there were special groups -- and they had their own functions/parties/activities. Only the members of that group could participate.

Thus the prices are higher when you book through them.

So - you have to make a decision -- if you want to participate -- then you have to book through them and pay the higher prices.

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They have chartered the whole ship....will this make a difference?

 

 

If they have a full ship charter, you can only book as part of the group. You wouldn't be able to book that cruise as a 'regular cruiser' and not part of the group.

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I sent an e-mail on the Malt Shop Memories website & and got a response back giving me Date/Ship but telling me they will start publishing rates & availability to previouse Malt Shop cruisers on 9/1/11 and will open it up to the public on 9/15/2011.

 

Then I e-mailed again asking if you could book through a T/A and received an answer from Entertainment Cruise Prod. who saids "as we are a full ship charter you can book with us or T/A will book through Timeless Destinations" they game me a phone number.

 

Went back on the web with the date & ship & was able to get a price for this exact cruise. - Then talked to my T/A & she said she books directly with the cruise line & can not go through Timeless Destinations.....now I'm confused.....

 

Today I will see if I can book directly through Holland...

 

I know I should probably wait till 9/15 but my group is really excited about this and don't want to miss out - but also want a good price.

 

Any suggestions!

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It's possible that HAL hasn't officially listed that sailing as a charter yet. They have been known to continue selling space as a regular cruise until the charter is 100 percent guaranteed. Then they cancel everybody who has booked the cruise in the regular way.

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It's possible that HAL hasn't officially listed that sailing as a charter yet. They have been known to continue selling space as a regular cruise until the charter is 100 percent guaranteed. Then they cancel everybody who has booked the cruise in the regular way.

 

This what I was afraid of - thanks.

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I sent an e-mail on the Malt Shop Memories website & and got a response back giving me Date/Ship but telling me they will start publishing rates & availability to previouse Malt Shop cruisers on 9/1/11 and will open it up to the public on 9/15/2011.

 

Then I e-mailed again asking if you could book through a T/A and received an answer from Entertainment Cruise Prod. who saids "as we are a full ship charter you can book with us or T/A will book through Timeless Destinations" they game me a phone number.

 

Went back on the web with the date & ship & was able to get a price for this exact cruise. - Then talked to my T/A & she said she books directly with the cruise line & can not go through Timeless Destinations.....now I'm confused.....

 

Today I will see if I can book directly through Holland...

 

I know I should probably wait till 9/15 but my group is really excited about this and don't want to miss out - but also want a good price.

 

Any suggestions!

 

If it is a full charter you will not be able to book directly with HAL. All but one of my cruises have been charters and I have the option of booking it with the charter company of through any TA. (We use a TA).

 

The charter company handles all the bookings upfront and then passes the information on to HAL closer to sailing. We often book our charters a year in advance and for example don't get a HAL booking number till about 6-8 weeks before sailing.

 

As for good prices: don't expect to pay more-or-less what that same cruise unchartered will cost. And if it is a popular charter that sells out easily, don't expect any discounts.; it is only when they get close to sailing and they haven't sold enough cabins that they may offer some incentives. The charter has to front the money for the full charter upfront and risk not recouping their costs and they bring one extra entertainment etc. that also costs more.

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A full charter can also alter the itinerary. They may opt to go to different ports than that ship usually visits.

 

 

That is correct. We have been on a RSVP Eurodam charter that tendered at St. John instead of docking in St. Thomas - that was great! RSVP is also doing a Med charter next July from Barcelona to Casablanca, Cadiz, Ibiza and Valencia. Not your usual HAL Med cruise; I am very tempted to book that one!

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You could go ahead and book this cruise through HAL. At some point in the future, when they change this to a charter and try to cancel your booking, you might be able to swing some sort of deal/compensation with the cruiseline or charter group.

 

Note: whenever I have checked pricing on full charters, it seems that they are asking almost double for the same category.

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You could go ahead and book this cruise through HAL. At some point in the future, when they change this to a charter and try to cancel your booking, you might be able to swing some sort of deal/compensation with the cruiseline or charter group.

 

Note: whenever I have checked pricing on full charters, it seems that they are asking almost double for the same category.

 

The charter group won't give previously HAL booked passengers a break: they pay for the whole ship empty and have no responsibility to those people. They would have to rebook with the charter company at their rates. HAL won;t try to cancel, the will cancel the booking and will make offers to rebook on another HAL cruise.

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The charter group won't give previously HAL booked passengers a break: they pay for the whole ship empty and have no responsibility to those people. They would have to rebook with the charter company at their rates. HAL won;t try to cancel, the will cancel the booking and will make offers to rebook on another HAL cruise.

 

I guess the best thing to do is wait for the charter to list prices and decide then. Thanks for all the helpful information.

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I was booked on the May 2010 Malt Shop Memories cruise on the Carnival Inspiratioin out of Tampa. I really wanted to go and paid the higher fare. My husband was just out of the hospital so I had to cancel. I had insurance and got my money back.

 

The travel agency made it very clear that there would be no refunds of any kind. Normal cancellation rules did not apply. They strongly recommended travel insurance since there would be no refunds. It was a full ship charter; you had to book throuigh the travel agency; fares were high; no refunds. Travel agency gets to make the rules.

 

You have to decide if it's worth it to you.

 

Judy

Little Rock

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I paid $1200 for an upper/lower bunk (1A) on Carnival. Of course, that included a single supplement of 175-200%. August, 2011 rate for 1A is $639 and that's a senior fare with single supplement.

 

Even with the high prices etc, I am sorry I missed it.

 

Judy

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I was booked on the May 2010 Malt Shop Memories cruise on the Carnival Inspiratioin out of Tampa. I really wanted to go and paid the higher fare. My husband was just out of the hospital so I had to cancel. I had insurance and got my money back.

 

The travel agency made it very clear that there would be no refunds of any kind. Normal cancellation rules did not apply. They strongly recommended travel insurance since there would be no refunds. It was a full ship charter; you had to book throuigh the travel agency; fares were high; no refunds. Travel agency gets to make the rules.

 

You have to decide if it's worth it to you.

 

Judy

Little Rock

 

Whoever charters the ship makes the rules. The charters we go on have a cancellation policy - depending how long before the cruise you cancel you get anything from 100% refund to 100% forfeit.

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When you say HIGH - how much higher then the normal rate?????

 

For our charter next February the charter fare is between 26% and 31% more than what HAL is listing today for the cruises before and after the charter. BTW our charter is also a custom itinerary.

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  • 1 year later...

This is right up my alley of what I'm wanting to know. In fact, someone through CC advised me of what to do, as I wanted to go through my TA, and not the Malt Shop Memories, etc.

 

I contacted my TA yesterday, and I believe she can book this for me.

 

NOW, this is my question. I would like to read a "lot" of member reviews on these cruises, especially in reference to the entertainers, if we can talk with them, or do they just perform for us, etc. I know it is a lot of money to put out, and I want to get my money's worth if I am going this direction.

 

Where can I find ONLY member reviews on this?

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This is right up my alley of what I'm wanting to know. In fact, someone through CC advised me of what to do, as I wanted to go through my TA, and not the Malt Shop Memories, etc.

 

I contacted my TA yesterday, and I believe she can book this for me.

 

NOW, this is my question. I would like to read a "lot" of member reviews on these cruises, especially in reference to the entertainers, if we can talk with them, or do they just perform for us, etc. I know it is a lot of money to put out, and I want to get my money's worth if I am going this direction.

 

Where can I find ONLY member reviews on this?

 

I hunted around here -- reviews -- and the site for Malt Shop Cruises and could not find anything.

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