richwmn

I had never considered transferring a reservation before this thread. I would like to understand it more.

 

First I understand that this might get you more OBC from another TA. You must do so before final payment is made as well.

 

When you do this do you book online with HAL or use a PCC or other?

Do they lose any commission when you transfer the reservation?

Am I missing anything?

 

Kevin

I have been told several times by my PCC that she doesn't lose anything by transferring the cruise to a Travel Agent

I'm now deeper into my first cup and I agree that fining your friends or the ship makes no sense to me. For one they'd have to go through Immigration and Customs like any other disembarking passenger so it's not like they or their luggage wouldn't be subject to screening. In fact I'm not sure how Immigration and Customs would know or care if they were simply swapping luggage. I certainly have never had an agent ask me if I was getting back on the ship even when I was at the switch over point of a back-to-back.

In order to get off the ship with luggage you would need a customs form containing your name and at least address. Most likely the ship has to submit a list of disembarking passengers, and passengers on a b2b would not be included - therefore a difference that might have to be accounted for, maybe incurring a fine to the ship for filing incorrect documents.

Any idea why? Faxes were around when typewriters were the office mainstay, but most businesses now use email attachments.

I think it was about a year ago, maybe longer, Carnival Corp made the statement that they believed there were security problems sending financial info via email and stopped the practice of emailing statements for Stock Credit. Prior to that it was allowed.

Rich

Congratulations on reaching 4*! I'm sure you will enjoy all the accompanying perks.

I will board our next cruise with 199 days, so I guess technically will be 4* just by stepping on board.

Sorry, but because of the rules of the Star Mariner Program, you won't be a 4* until the cruise following your next cruise.

BTW - Love Ottawa, will be visiting in May!!

Great news - thanks for posting! Best investment I ever made was 100 shares of CCL stock given the nice dividends, on board credits and price appreciation.

Terrific!!..

 

Like Dave, It's the best individual stock investment I've ever made too.. Only wish I had bought more than 100 shares..

 

Thanks Rich for the good news..

It has been a very good investment for me as well. Between dividends and OBC I have recovered around 2/3 of what I paid for the stock, and I bought at a high point in '08.

Carnival Corporation CUK, +0.66% said Thursday that it is increasing its dividend by 17% to $0.35 a share.

read the full story here

Congratulations,

Solo really is the hard way! The only two cruises where I was not solo were before the spending bonus so I didn't get any help.

I am about to go on my second 4* cruise - sure is nice.

I am thinking of getting the Barclay Arrival CC in order to use the rewards for my Alaska cruise in 2017. The credit card website says that travel charges from travel agents and cruise lines are eligible for cash back redemption which I hope to have a good amount by next April to redeem.

 

I got the idea from BlizzardBoy to book directly with HAL and then transfer to his big box TA that gives a 6-8% OBC. So now I was thinking I could use the new credit card to earn and use for cashback but I wanted to confirm that the charge on the credit card would show from a Travel Agent and not just the name of the Big Box / Bulk Store it is a part of.

 

I guess if it doesn't show as a TA on the credit card statement, Would I be able to pay it in full directly with HAL and still be able to switch the reservation to the Big Box TA before final payment date for their OBC?

 

It is possible I am other thinking this.

Once you have the cruise totally paid for, it can't be transferred. however, you can pay the majority of the cruise leaving $100-200 or maybe a little more, then transfer.

A deposit is required at the time of booking and final payment is due no later than 75 days prior to departure although some cruises have different final payment date requirements. Please consult the Holland America Line brochure for the final payment date applicable to your cruise.

http://www.hollandamerica.com/vsp/Main.action

I'm confused now. I called HAL and they said that you can NOT get any money back from your OBC if you received the OBC from your travel agent and didn't spend it all on the cruise. He said you have to spend it on the cruise or loose it. Is he wrong?

Any OBC you get directly from HAL as part of a promotion or as a stockholder is non refundable. Some of the promotion credit may look like it came from a Travel Agent, but could be part of something like a group booking which would not be refundable.

If a Travel Agent, or anyone else for that matter, purchases OBC for you, that is refundable at the end of the cruise. If you try to get it earlier, other than the casino trick, you may be charged a small transaction fee.

We've had leftover OBC on 2 of our HAL cruises and both times the amount was refunded to our credit card on file. Final bill showed a credit and that amount was what we received back.

 

I think this may change given the official policy but just sharing my experience.

If any of your OBC was purchased or gifted by someone like a Travel Agent it is fully refundable. OBC given by HAL is listed as non refundable.

If you don't use all of your stockholder credit on a cruise, do you get a cash refund of the unused amount? And if you credited your account ahead of the cruise?

 

Glenn:cool:

I usually have a combination of HAL(stockholder, promotion) and purchased OBC. I usually go to the front desk after about 10pm and have never had any problem with getting a cash refund. On the last cruise, I did have a supervisor come over and check the screen to make sure I had spent all the HAL OBC, not a problem as most of it was covered with the service charge.

I searched, but couldn't find it. I thought I read somewhere that in certain circumstances, depending on when/where you asked for delivery of the prepaid indulgences, you would be taxed? Can anyone help? I don't wanna pay tax if I can avoid it. ;)

If your cruise starts in Fort Lauderdale (or several other places) and you order things like a bottle of liquor to be in your cabin at embarcation, you will be charged Florida sales tax. If you ask for delivery "at sea" no tax will be charged but chances are it will still be in your cabin when you arrive.

Depending on who the insurance is with and what coverages were selected, your Travel Agent may be right.

HAL used to require that you purchase non refundable insurance at the time of original booking if you wanted cancel for any reason insurance, as do many other policies. HAL now only requires that purchase prior to final payment.

As to being able to transfer the insurance, again that would depend on the insurer. Back when HAL did require purchase at booking they allowed me to move the insurance to a new cruise I booked at the same time I cancelled one.

Is that on Port side looking aft??

Since Capt Albert said the silver bubble hides the stairs up to the Sky deck, it has to be the starboard side looking forward. The coffee counter must be behind the partition on the left.

For the sake of shipboard accuracy - port and starboard are always relative to facing forward.

Ten days out is about when assignments are made, so you are not yet in the realm of getting closer to the cruise.

My best upgrade came at the pier - from an outside to a balcony.

A frequent question on this board is "Where can I find my purchased OBC?"

I am not one who usually looks at the itinerary that is part of the online reservation. This is where HAL puts excursions and dinners purchased.

For various reasons, I looked at it for my upcoming cruise and was surprised and pleased to find that my purchased OBC is listed on the first day of the cruise to be delivered to the stateroom.

This cruise was transferred to a Travel Agent, so that should not matter.

Renewal application mailed on 2/22/16. New passport received today, 3/11/16.

 

Bob

Congratulations! Hope you have many days of cruising ahead!.

Also, check you signature. You are missing a bracket at the beginning of your image tag. It should start [img

In addition to what Dave said, bandwidth and latency will vary base on where you are. Any answer you might get would only be valid for the location and time the test was done.

Also remember that the extender is going to require a power plug - something in limited quantity - in order to work.

the extenders don't make a bad signal better, they only make whatever signal is available usable over a larger area.

In order for the extender to help, it must have a good signal to work with.

I don't think this has changed, but something to be careful about. If you book an actual cruise with the Future Cruise Consultant, it will be assigned to whatever agency or PCC the cruise you are on is booked with. You can request that be changed, or left with HAL, but you must request it.

Future Cruise Deposits are not associated with an agency or PCC until you actually use them.

For my last 3 cruises I have enjoyed Barry from Boston in the Piano Bar. Prior to that none of the entertainers in the Piano Bar caught my attention.

On the next cruise I am told the Piano Bar entertainer will be Jeff the Piano Man. Hope he is as good.

DH and I will be on this cruise, we are embarking in Boston. Boston, our favorite port - in part because it is within driving distance ;) and also because Boston is a pretty awesome New England city. I've been looking (lurking?) at the roll call for the Atlantic Coast cruise that was started here on CC but have hesitated to officially join as we will be getting on a few days after your meet and greet and all. But we sure look forward to joining everyone in Boston. We are less than 60 days out now, so it's a month and some weeks. So excited to try a new itinerary, here's hoping for good weather for us all. Cheers!

 

Lorie

Please check in on the Roll Call. There are two other CC members that will be boarding in Boston and I am looking at making the "official" M&G after that. We will still have a gathering after Fort Lauderdale, but with three sea days there will be plenty of time for that.

Rich

For quite a few years the Maasdam used to go from Ft Lauderdale to Montreal -- we did that and loved it.

 

Now Maasdam will be heading to Alaska this year.

Carolyn, her DH, and I did the relocation on the Maasdam 4 years ago and had such a good time we are repeating it this year on the Veendam. Hope it is just as good - it should be.

Rich