CruiseDuckDuo

1 hour ago, farjar said:

Has anyone be successful getting their special OBC for military, first responders, shareholders, or

AARP with these last minute deals?

Nope.  Wasn't eligible for any of those on my last standby sailing, which meant that sailing standby actually cost more than just booking normally.  Lesson learned.  

I got that information while talking to an upgrades agent while trying to get an upgrade from an inside cabin.  It's a new thing probably not published on their website yet.  

That said, I just don't see the value in their standby product anymore.  In my case, standby ended up costing a few bucks more than the standard inside cabin rate, I didn't get to choose my cabin,  (high deck, as far forward as you can possibly get) I lost out of the free gratuities promo they ran, by the time I got confirmation it was too late to prebook anything, so full price for internet, etc., and I lost at least $150 in military/AARP OBC.  (I'm waiting to see if stockholders goes through, but I'm not holding my breath)  All that and the anxiety of not knowing is just not worth the hassle.  

Regardless, Holland agents were EXTREMELY rude while dealing with this, were dismissive, and one intentionally hung up on me.  In two days Holland went from my line of choice, to my last choice and eliminated from all future cruise consideration.  It may have just been bad luck, but like always, YMMV.  🫤

UPDATE:  There are now  two tiers for the standby program.  

$49 per night is for INSIDE CABINS

$79 per night is for Verandah staterooms

If you signed up at the $49 rate you're only considered for inside (and maybe oceanview?) cabins.  If verandahs are available on that sailing they *might* be available for upgrade by paying the per night difference.

So tired of the HAL guessing games and changing terms.  It's time to find a new primary line.  

29 minutes ago, Horizon chaser 1957 said:

Can anyone who’s actually successfully sailed on standby tell me if your Mariners benefits apply? 

Mariner status benefits (ie 5 star free laundry etc DO apply). Unfortunately,OBC benefits do not.  I’ve heard that the stockholder benefit now works, but when we sailed standby in January we were denied stockholders, military, first responder and AARP. 

Our prayers go out to the injured person.  Hopefully the rest of your voyage will be smooth sailing.  Enjoy Victoria and we'll see you guys on Saturday in Vancouver.  

San Diego departures are repositioning to Vancouver and Seattle for the Alaska cruise season.  I think one of the Ft Lauderdale departures is Eurodam enroute to San Diego/Seattle, and the other departures are enroute to Europe.

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en/us/cruise-deals/standby-program 

On 4/8/2024 at 4:47 PM, cruisn71 said:

Photos from the eclipse.

Start of the totality

 

 

The eclipse with Venus to the right.

 

Beautiful pictures!  I'm envious!  We flew from Seattle to Nashville, then drove north to Evansville, IN in search of clear(er) skies.  Just had a couple of old phones for pics, but we were blessed, at least, with some pretty views too.  

Enjoy!  We wanted to do that cruise too, but we didn't have the time to take off from work that long without it impacting our Koningsdam cruise on the 27th, or our Eurodam cruise on May 11th.  For the eclipse we're just going to fly to Nashville, and adjust our viewing location to somewhere between Cleveland, OH and Texarkana, TX based on weather forecasts.  

On our standby cruise, we did get a Vista Suite (Category A) which was the cabin of a couple that cancelled last minute. (package/lanyards for their group were still in the cabin when we got aboard)

That said, the standby program is for a INSIDE CABIN, (category N) however if you get lucky and fill in for a last minute cancellation, it seems you get the category of that person/couple.  (my guess)

We successfully sailed standby earlier this month on Nieuw Statendam, however we didn't receive confirmation until 8pm Friday (1/5) night for a 3pm Sunday (1/7) departure. 

Also be aware that on the standby program, you're INELIGIBLE for ANY onboard credit offers.  We were denied stockholders, military, first responder and AARP OBC.  In my opinion, the uncertainty, the extreme last minute rush, the loss of onboard credits, and the lack of information from Holland just makes this a NO GO for us in the future.