Explore 4 not a bargain?

Not sure about this, maybe others will chime in, but maybe it all has to do with what you are paying for your cruise and what category. If you paid top dollar when you booked your OV room, then they might throw in the E4 for free. If you got bargain pricing, then you may have to pay extra for the E4.

 

That is just my take on it, I may be completely off base.

 

You could price your cruise on the gnome website by making a dummy booking and see what the price is with and without the E4 and see if that makes sense according to what you paid.

 

I think also that some of the cruises may not be selling as well and they are adding the E4 as an incentive to book while other cruises are selling well and you have to pay extra for E4. Just my 2 cents.

I started checking the price back in May for an OV (F) and the price has not changed since the Explore4 program went into effect. It may very well be that balcony and suite prices increased with the program but I did not track those.

This will be my first cruise! Decided to go big with the Neptune Suite. With the Explore 4 package. I was told it included up to 15 beverages water to alcoholic beverages that cost up to $7. What are the prices for mixed drinks like Bacardi Limon and coke or a martini. I am not a beer drinker so I want to know if I will end up spending more $$$for my drinks.

This will be my first cruise! Decided to go big with the Neptune Suite. With the Explore 4 package. I was told it included up to 15 beverages water to alcoholic beverages that cost up to $7. What are the prices for mixed drinks like Bacardi Limon and coke or a martini. I am not a beer drinker so I want to know if I will end up spending more $$$for my drinks.

The Bacardi & Coke should be around $6 or so. The cost of the martini will depend on what liquor you use.

This will be my first cruise! Decided to go big with the Neptune Suite. With the Explore 4 package. I was told it included up to 15 beverages water to alcoholic beverages that cost up to $7. What are the prices for mixed drinks like Bacardi Limon and coke or a martini. I am not a beer drinker so I want to know if I will end up spending more $$$for my drinks.

You can get premium labels for the $7.00, including Johnny Walker Black. The only thing we could not get was good brandy.

We could get most of what we wanted. Including galeano after dinner. Biggest problem was only the house wines are included. Most other wines by the glass are over the threshold. I hAd apple-martinis most nights with no problem.

I agree. The Signature Beverage Package is a great deal, especially if it's included in your cabin price. Most cocktails and beers are available for $7 or under. The people who enjoy wines, especially reds, are the ones getting the shaft with SBP. Only very mediocre house wines are included at $7. That's probably why, in the new Explore-4, starting on July 20, the wine allowance has been bumped up to $8. I was told by Ship's Services that there have been many complaints about the number of decent wines available with the SBP. I have heard reports that some ships will allow you to charge $7 for a better wine to your SBP, and they hit your cabin account for the difference. HAL says that is not allowed, but some posters say it happens. Because the Explore-4 promotion is an ongoing perk, you would think that cruises that booked before July 20, that included Explore-4 and the SBP would be grandfathered up to the $8 wine allowance. It would be the decent thing for HAL to do.

Thank you everone for your input, I feel much better knowing I will be able to have decent cocktails with the Explore 4 package. I was considering looking at Princess cruise to Alaska also. The have a free beverage package also and theirs includes beverages up to $10. Just wondering which line would be more fun for a young 50ish couple. Princess looks larger and may have more to offer. What do you think?

I booked a June 2016 direct with HAL today and it has this package. I was told it is $50 per person per day in credit towards any drinks.

I booked a June 2016 direct with HAL today and it has this package. I was told it is $50 per person per day in credit towards any drinks.

You got incorrect information. Just look at the Signature Beverage Package description on the HAL site. It's up to 15 beverages per day, subject to the plan limits.

Most cruisers would be very surprised about ALL the variety of mid-to-top shelf liquor brands and diverse cocktails available on Explore 4. Feel free to ask the servers - you might be very surprised! HAL also has pages of incredible "HAL cocktails" on their $6.95 menu of cocktails (martinis, cosmos, manhattans, mai tai's, margaritas, many great "call" liquors, after dinner drinks, etc). In a nice USA bar, you would pay double digits for them and they all are ok to order with Explore 4. If you enjoy "getting outside of the box" one of the most wonderful things about Explore 4 is you can enjoy the adventure of trying something new. If you love it, how fun! If not, then you didn't feel the pain in your pocketbook!

I monitored the rates for my desired cruise (we would like to do a TA in spring) for nearly a half year.

We are open for any cruiseline and flexible in date.

The offer of HAL Oosterdam was really good - and now they added the Explorer 4 - so it was more than good. And I am really not a "drinker" - most time I stay with soda or water. I doubt, if I am able to drink 10 beverages at one day of the trip.

But - it is valid for coffee and espresso (that is a big big plus!) and for water bottles (1 liter) too.

And we are on a transatlantic - 13 days onboard, many see days - a lot of time onboard - a lot of time to consume anything!

So it is a very very good deal for us.

I am a Grey Goose girl. Will it be covered under Explore 4?

Most cruisers would be very surprised about ALL the variety of mid-to-top shelf liquor brands and diverse cocktails available on Explore 4. Feel free to ask the servers - you might be very surprised! HAL also has pages of incredible "HAL cocktails" on their $6.95 menu of cocktails (martinis, cosmos, manhattans, mai tai's, margaritas, many great "call" liquors, after dinner drinks, etc). In a nice USA bar, you would pay double digits for them and they all are ok to order with Explore 4. If you enjoy "getting outside of the box" one of the most wonderful things about Explore 4 is you can enjoy the adventure of trying something new. If you love it, how fun! If not, then you didn't feel the pain in your pocketbook!

so I read it that the drink had to be under $7 including service charge. Is that wrong?

so I read it that the drink had to be under $7 including service charge. Is that wrong?

Yes it is wrong. The drink must be $7 or less before the service charge is added.

I am a Grey Goose girl. Will it be covered under Explore 4?

If you drink Goose on the rocks, or with a simple mixer, like soda or tonic, then yes. For some reason, a Grey Goose martini is over the limit. I think it's the fault of the vermouth. Krazy Kruizers probably has more info, as Grey Goose is her and her husband's brand.

Of course...Explore 4 is not an option with the initial Koningsdam cruises:(

If you have the Signature Beverage Package through Explore-4, then you will not be charged the 15% service charge, it is absorbed by HAL as part of your SBP/Explore-4. Your maximum drink price is $7, and the service charge is NOT part of that $7. However, if you purchase the SBP (it was not included in your cruise price), then they will charge you 15% on top of whatever the package cost was.

The selection of well brands, call brands and even premium liquors are included in the $7 limit. Only VSOP and some other brands are excluded because their price exceeds $7. And yes, Grey Goose is included in the SBP. The selection of wines is the only shortcoming. A fair selection of whites, but the selection of reds is very limited.

If you drink Goose on the rocks, or with a simple mixer, like soda or tonic, then yes. For some reason, a Grey Goose martini is over the limit. I think it's the fault of the vermouth. Krazy Kruizers probably has more info, as Grey Goose is her and her husband's brand.

Thanks POA1. That works for me!!!

This will be my first cruise! Decided to go big with the Neptune Suite. With the Explore 4 package. I was told it included up to 15 beverages water to alcoholic beverages that cost up to $7. What are the prices for mixed drinks like Bacardi Limon and coke or a martini. I am not a beer drinker so I want to know if I will end up spending more $$$for my drinks.

rather than a martini and it will meet the $7 limit. Martinis are usually $9-10

We booked the Kdam for 21 days and they are charging $350 pp for X4. That to me is a bargain as it's about 2 drinks a day.

rather than a martini and it will meet the $7 limit. Martinis are usually $9-10

We booked the Kdam for 21 days and they are charging $350 pp for X4. That to me is a bargain as it's about 2 drinks a day.

Regular martinis that are listed on the Beverage Menus are $6.95, so included on the SBP. They are not $9-10.

We booked with the Explore4 package for our upcoming Alaskan cruise in. Neptune Suite. We were able to take advantage of a flash sale for an 1178.00 price reduction. As much as I loved the idea of the SBP, I like 1178.00 to use how I want better.

We booked with the Explore4 package for our upcoming Alaskan cruise in. Neptune Suite. We were able to take advantage of a flash sale for an 1178.00 price reduction. As much as I loved the idea of the SBP, I like 1178.00 to use how I want better.

You can buy a lot of drinks for $1178, if you choose to!

We booked with the Explore4 package for our upcoming Alaskan cruise in. Neptune Suite. We were able to take advantage of a flash sale for an 1178.00 price reduction. As much as I loved the idea of the SBP, I like 1178.00 to use how I want better.

That is an insane amount of money for the Explore4 package!

Glad you got the pricing reduction!

That's why it is free

Wee booked our Zuiderdam October 2015 TA cruise back in Sept 2014, when Explore-4 was included. After HAL dropped the Explore-4 promotion, the same cabin dropped $500. However, our cruise is 26 days. We did a rough total of our typical cruise day consumption of beverages, alcoholic or otherwise, and we came to $40 per day/per person, based on HAL's current prices. That's a value to us of $2080 for the duration of the cruise. Paying $500 per person for this value was way too much to pass up. Remember, bottled water, coffees, sodas, most drinks, and a limited selection of wines are included. Such a deal !!