Longstraw

Actually, I would call the Mariner Society at least a few weeks before the next cruise. I was 3* with a 28 day total days cruise pending (2 14 days b2b) and called to request that they move me up at the end of the first 14 day leg as I was only 2 days short; they bumped me up to 4* immediately. The gal who did so told me that they had a policy that if you were just a few days short (I think it was no more than 3), they would go ahead and move you to the next status level. Now this was years ago pre-Covid but it never hurts to ask. Good luck!

How did you know there was a Seafood Boil? That's something I would definitely do but don't ever recall seeing any mention of it.

Durn! I loved the pop-ups on the smaller ships. 

While they do not typically award the higher status early, even if you do not reach the desired point level before the long cruise, it is worth calling the Mariner society if you are just a few days short. I was two days short of 4* several years ago, called and was told their policy was to go ahead and give the higher status for the next cruise if you were within x days...think it was 3...of getting to that next level. 

And fwiw, we have gotten the suite bonus after upgrading to a Neptune through a casino offer where we paid far less than the published fare.

I, too, have sailed on several of the casino offers. My offers have been clearly tied to the casino, hence, I am using that terminology. They are really great for solos if you don't mind staying in whatever category is offered since they typically don't require paying the single supplement and port taxes and fees for a second occupant. It is often possible to put together longer cruises with them as well.

When it wasn't clear how long Covid would prevent cruising, they were offering more sailings than usual; however, many of these were cancelled due to the ongoing bans. For the last couple of years, I managed to book two 40-60 day b2b sailings in Europe for less than $800 total each as a solo passenger albeit in inside cabins. 

Sadly, they were both cancelled...the first due to continued sailing bans, the second when Holland rented out the Volendam to the Netherlands for housing Ukrainian refugees.  In the second case, they offered replacement cruises but I was unable to make the timing of the replacements work for me. I did accrue an astonishing amount of fcc which I am finally using up on a Mediterranean sailing this fall.

Caveats:

1. Cancellations as noted above although I think both the above situations were pretty unusual and would not expect this to be an issue from this point forward.

2. You are only guaranteed a cabin in whatever category was offered, cannot select your own room, and you will not know the cabin assignment until relatively close to sailing. This can be a non-starter for some folks because of noise or movement sensitivity. While you can upgrade to a higher category relatively inexpensively, you then are on the hook for the costs of a second occupant. *I do not know if or how the room upgrade that comes with purchasing Club Orange works with the casino offers. Perhaps others have experience with that.*

3. You cannot add HAL's insurance after paying in full and payment in full is required immediately so either add it at the outset or get it from an outside source within fourteen days of booking. Normally, I would not bother with insurance if I was taking one of these offers for a shorter duration as the insurance can cost almost as much as the port fees and taxes but as I get older and have more medical issues, I am more cautious in calculating the costs vs. benefits.

I have always received credit for both days and spending on "free" casino cruises but as Kazu suggested, the definitive answer can only come from the Mariner Society. What was pre-Covid policy may not be post-Covid policy any more.

On 9/24/2021 at 10:18 AM, westcoastsue said:

I have another question. I only need 2 points to go to level 3 and my husband needs 6. In November we will be sailing on the Konigsdam in a Neptune Suite. Will the new levels kick in during the cruise or will we have to wait until the next time we sail?

 

According to the written policy on the website, you have to wait. HOWEVER, while I don't know if they still do this, if you are that close, try calling the Mariner Society to request they upgrade you before the trip. A few years ago, my husband & I had a back to back booked. I was going to hit 4* during the first segment and wanted to request that we receive the additional benefits  during the second one. The woman I talked to said their policy was that if you were within three days of reaching the next level, they would upgrade immediately. We had free laundry throughout the cruise and our discount on wine packages increased. And you will both get the perks of the cabin occupant with the highest level even if only one of you is upgraded.

You also might try calling the Mariner Society if you're that close. Several years ago I was in the same situation and was doing back to back 12 day cruises for a total of 24 days onboard. I was asking to be upgraded at the end of the first segment and the person I talked to upgraded me immediately for the whole 24 days. I think she said at the time that they will do it if you're only 3 days short. Don't know if they're still doing it but it's worth asking.

Oddly, enough while I haven't heard from or cruised Carnival for at least eight years  (haven't been back since we discovered HAL) .....since COVID hit, I've been receiving free inside cabin offers from them at least once a week by email and sometimes two or three times a week.

I, too, have used the casino offers for several years. The best one I ever got had a 30 day sailing with a free inside cabin among  other offerings with upgrades to the next levels running about 99$ per level. A Neptune suite was something like 499. Sadly, both my husband and I were both still working at the time and couldn't coordinate to use any of them. I have never seen one quite that good since but they are far and away better deals than I have seen elsewhere.

In fact, I have the eleven day wayfarer to the Caribbean booked for January on one of these offers (and paid for an upgrade to verandah) but see little prospect of that one going forward. One of the other nice things about these offers is that I don't have to pay a solo supplement if I use them by myself as long as I take the inside cabin. Once you start upgrading, you do have to pay the additional upgrade fees for both your own and the second spot but even then, they are still amazing deals.

Actually, I received my 4 star benefits when I was still two/three days shy after calling the Mariner Society and inquiring about this issue when booked on a cruise with two segments (only one booking number though. I wasn't expecting them on the first segment but had heard somewhere that if you called the MS, they could set it up so that the benefits were in effect on the second. Much to my surprise, they said their policy allowed me to get them on both given that I was so close. I don't remember the exact number of days short you could be but I think it was three. Worth calling and asking for sure. But comped dinners are no doubt a different matter.

I and a friend were on a Canada-New England cruise on the Veendam this past October and were quite disappointed in the service. It wasn't exactly horrible but it was way below the quality of service we've experienced on other HA ships. It was odd....at virtually every breakfast or dinner one person at the table was apparently invisible to dining staff. The poor soul who was invisible generally couldn't get anyone to take their order or get refills for water, tea, etc. We complained gently twice and the following day had great service but then the next night someone was again invisible. 

I also noticed the day we boarded in Montreal after going down to the main lobby for ship's services, that the very elaborate, huge floral arrangement in the lobby was mostly dead...not slightly wilted....dead. While that did not impact my enjoyment of the cruise in the slightest, it was characteristic of the way things seemed just slightly off throughout the cruise. There were a couple of other minor issues that I don't even recall.   Again, it was far from awful but it was so far less than what we'd experienced on other HA cruises as to be very noticeable to us. 

Agree 100% with the responses. I had a letter...no coupon... for substantial casino cash if booked within 30 days. I booked; my pcc noted the amount of the offer and the fact that I had booked within 30 days to the notes on my bookings. Unfortunately the time between the offer and the sailing was about ten months and I apparently put it somewhere "safe" so that I wouldn't lose it. A couple of weeks before sailing, I tore the house apart looking for it with no luck. I emailed the Ocean Players club who were totally unhelpful....they said they couldn't tell how much the offer was for so were unable to send me a replacement letter. A very helpful pcc sent me a screen print of her notes which I sent to the Ocean Players club but received no response. I took a copy of it onboard and the casino did give me some cash...less than a third of the original offer. The pcc made the suggestion which I am following from here on out to not only keep the letter/coupon but to take a picture of it with my cell phone. I think the onboard casino might have honored the original offer had I had that but without it I was really out of luck.

Thanks for the information!

Congratulations on reaching five stars! For CanadianBear, if you are within three days of the next category, you can call (I believe it was the Mariners Society) before your cruise and ask if they will upgrade you. I did this last year because I was only one day from 4* and we were taking two back to back segments. I only asked for the second segment but the very nice lady I talked to upgraded me immediately saying that policy allowed it as long as the distance from the next level was three days or less.

Forgive my ignorance, but what are the ZPN & ZPM credits?

The problem I have run into twice is that I had already booked another cruise outside the window in the letter so it didn't apply and there was no way I was going to book another just to use the offer. The first time I simply tossed the letter. The second time, I contacted http://www.oceanplayersclub.com/ and asked if they would honor it. While they didn't give me full value for what the letter offered, they did give me a smaller amount of casino cash. This last time, the letter was a little different. We had just put down a cruise deposit while on board and the letter didn't offer us a specific amount but said to contact the players club to make sure we got the best possible discount. We had already gotten the casino discount but they did give us each a small amount of casino cash and told us to take a copy of the e-mail with us and present it to the cashier when we sailed next year.

For the last two years we have taken the fourteen day trip in May and June. There was amazing weather both times. Between the two cruises I would guess we had a total of three cloudy/drizzling days and two of the three were at sea days.