chisoxfan

Gee, after all those credits HAL probably owes you money

I recently added AARP to three HAL cruises (after booking) with some but minimal issues. If you have the OBC added to the cruise I would say there is zero chance anyone would go back to 'check' a current AARP status. The OBC does not show up as a seperate line item (AARP OBC) but is lumped into whatever OBC you had. Additionally, I am transferring two of my bookings to a T/A which makes things even more difficult to 'follow'. So as a guy who just learned about and added the AARP OBC in the past month (ie. minimal experience with it) I would be very confident that once you have credit applied to a cruise that will be all you need moving forward. To me akin to stockholder credit. Once you apply and are accepted nobody comes back 6 months later and asks for proof of stock ownership. I usually own the stock for five minutes when I apply.

Chase sent an e-mail advising new benefits. NEW Guide to Benefits Chase Sapphire Preferred®, Visa Signature®.pdfNEW Guide to Benefits Chase Sapphire Preferred®, Visa Signature®.pdfNEW Guide to Benefits Chase Sapphire Preferred®, Visa Signature®.pdfNEW Guide to Benefits Chase Sapphire Preferred®, Visa Signature®.pdf

I agree but the outcome is the same whether there are 3 5000 pax ships in port or 5 3000 pax ships. Frankly hard to remember any port visited in the past years (Europe/ Alsaka/ Caribbean) that was not 'port challenged'. Some days are better than others but even one mid sized ship in port can make a discernible difference in how one experiences a port.

We like having a newer ship that is also larger because it generally offers more things to do (not looking for roller coasters, wave pools, ice skating rinks, slides although I can see where this is attractive for families). Getting on a small 'luxury ship' just doesn't float our boat. Princess spacing per passenger: Cruise Ship Gross Tonnage Double Capacity Space/Pass Ratio Caribbean Princess 112,894 3,142 35.93 Crown Princess 113,561 3,080 36.87 Emerald Princess 113,561 3,080 37.87 Ruby Princess 113,561 3,080 36.87 Enchanted Princess 141,000 3,660 38.52 Discovery Princess 141,000 3,660 38.52 Sky Princess 143,700 3,660 39.26 Royal Princess 141,000 3,560 39.61 Regal Princess 142,229 3,560 39.95 Majestic Princess 143,700 3,560 40.37 Sun Princess 175,000 4,300 40.81 Grand Princess 107,517 2,600 41.35 Island Princess 92,822 2,200 42.19 Diamond Princess 115,875 2,670 43.4 Sapphire Princess 115,875 2,670 43.4 Coral Princess 91,627 2,000 45 Space is failrly similar old to new even with Sun where those with suites will have a lot of dedicated areas, ie. more space. I've been on many of the above ships and none stick in mind as having 'more or less space'. It partialy depends on where you hang out on the ship. The reason the cruise lines are gravitating to bigger ships is that they generally are more efficient. The new ships also have a honeymoon factor where higher cabin prices are generated. The overcrowding of ports isn't an issue until local governments make it an issue like Venice. But the cruiselines are quick to find new substitute ports. The size of new ships also acts as a restriction to many ports. As some have noted, ports in Caribbean are not important to many as they have been to most. It is a warm weather getaway where the ship is the destination. Holland has three 'new' ships (Pinnacle Class) which are under 100,000 tons.

It's a crummy business. This was the lesson I learned from Mr. Buffet and my early entrees into airline stocks. Crazy current debt loads, a declining state of the consumer, inflation impact on food, labor, fuel, and sensitivities to world conflicts. CCL has done a pretty good job paying off some debt but there is a very long way to go and shareholder value was diluted along the way. Current bookings are super strong (we just did some HAL 2026 cruises and I was surprised how busy they were) but with the deposits refundable nothing really insures travel that far out. I cannot believe that there is a ton of pricing power left for the mainstram cruise lines. As a speculative short term play for somebody 'in the know' fine but as a long term investment meh.... JMHO as you asked

As I said, Preferred JUST changed their terms (I believe they may be effective in Oct. as they are changing their insurance underwriter): This benefit provides reimbursement for covered travel expenses if a Trip is cancelled or interrupted due to a covered reason. Coverage is limited to the lesser of the following: • $10,000 per Covered Traveler • $20,000 per Trip for all Covered Travelers and $40,000 per twelve (12) month period per Account • the actual amount charged to the Covered Card Before the terms changed they said you only had to charge part of the trip as you show in your summary. No longer have Reserve so cannot speak to any changes in their coverage. Had a Reserve for years (and even got the original 100k point sign up) and thought it a great card. In retirement not really as valuable for me.

I agree with you and laud your good taste in choosing HAL and MSC YC (we're doing a Sun NStatendam, Seascape YC sandwhich in Jan 25. The change in Sun Pricing did disappoint because we initially thought it may compete in fare with MSC YC and looks like it is now going after X Retreat although hard to say where things will end up. Still, very excited also about upcoming trip but the apparent confusion and changes at roll out do cause one to wonder 'what's next'.

The new Chase guidelines for Preffered now only offer coverage for the amount charged(used to be the entire trip).....not sure if the same holds true for Reserve but suspect it might. One insurance that remains extremely cheap is evacuation which I have seen still offered for 20 bucks for a one week Carib cruises. As a sidebar I was thinking of getting a Chase IHG card which offers trip insurance but after four calls to Chase nobody can tell you what the terms of that insurance are. The 'all important' term I am concerned about is whether you have to charge everything to the card to get insurance. 'After you get the card you will receive the terms' ....hard to be an informed consumer these days.

Cunard has had a 'class system' forever. Additionally Carnival has all kinds of 'rides' on their ships (even a roller coaster). Seems like general incompetence that division Princess cannot even execute what was has been done before. However, I am sure heads will roll at Princess over this (not). It ultimately becomes the passenger's problem when they book a cruise to enjoy promised features that never materialize.

For me the math still slightly favors using 'free' travel cancellation insurance from CC although I certainly laud your efforts and having just joined AARP was not aware of the gift cards. For a one week HAL the lowest comprehensive plan was 280. So if I bought 3000k of gift cards I would 'save' 240. I need to add 20 bucks for evac so the net diff is around 20 bucks. One might argue that the comprehensive insurance offers some additional coverage and also the comparison may swing to cards once the price of cruise increases so I will look into this further for future cruises.

Looks like it could be an industry first retention cell for pool chair hogs.

Good info. Assuming one should first do the link/verification on HAL site and then follow up with a call? For a transfered booking thinking it is best for the agent to follow up with HAL? Good tip on the combining with shareholder benefit...ie. wouldn't hurt to put AARP in my wife's name (I am sure she will be excited when I inform her of her membership).

Thanks for comments. Always hate the you should do it this way but sometimes it will work that way. Kind of like what I found with AMEX offers.

Hello. I know AARP offers an OBC with HAL and also understand that it can be combined with CCL stockholder OBC. We have three HAL cruises booked (one week, 15 days, 14 days) and am asking if it is a simple matter to add AARP to our bookings? Not an AARP member yet so wanted some feedback before possibly joining. We booked balcony cabins using CO and otherwise have no 'special' pricing. Thanks in advance.

While it is a moot question since Chase has changed its policy I don't see how under the old program paying for your cancelled hotel would have been Chase' responsibility. I believe the concept was if you paid for part of any travel segment with a chase card you would be covered not that Chase would step in and reimburse for any part of a trip when the Chase card was not used ie. if I booked a Europe trip and charged flight to Chase and booked 20 non refundable nights on my Hyatt card it is not reasonable or expected that Chase would have to reimburse me for those. The fact that they seemed to handle the segments using their card certainly is reassuring.

Hard to speak directly to insurance payoffs and customer satisfaction as they obviously can vary between insurance company and individual trip circumstance. I personally have just rebelled at the cost of comprehensive cruise insurance . The coverage we have had through CC's on past cruises is great and 'free'. Our concern was always med evacuation and this is necessary and relatively cheap (we booked a one week cruise last year with 500k evac at 17 bucks and quotes for upcoming week cruises (without extensive research are around 65 a week). I am reminded at the purpose for insurance...to protect against a financial setback that would be debilitating. I would hate to lose 5-15k on a cruise cancel but it would not impact us. Any taxes and port fees would also be refunded in a cancellation. While perhaps getting more restrictive I still think the CC coverage of Chase is a tremendous benefit and I am confident, if needed, will suffice.JMHO

I looked at my older benefit brochure and I agree that the new policy terms now restrict any losses to the amount charged. I am pretty certain under the old plan you could charge a 99 dollar deposit and be covered for the entire trip. This always struck me as extremely liberal and hard to believe that Chase was so 'generous' with the coverage. It must have been an interesting challenge if you made a 'related' charge on a cruise such as cabin upgrade, drink package, grats, etc. I think these would offer coverage on the full trip under old terms. While not as attractive, the new policy offers clear guidelines and also allows you to be covered even if you paid for some of the trip with another card.

Guessing you have Bonvoy Premier... Although the legacy Marriott Bonvoy Premier Chase card is no longer available for new applicants, existing cardmembers can still enjoy its benefits that include travel cancellation insurance. In my research no Chase Marriott card including new 250 Bountiful offered cancellation insurance. I am speaking of current Marriott consumer cards (not business). The closed to new users Ritz also had it. My older Bonvoy card used to have it but no longer does while 95 dollar preferred Sapphire and Hyatt still retain it. IHG 99 dollar card also has it. Not questioning you at all but I know in my case I want to have insurance coverage and terms in writing if I am relying on it. Not offering this with any specific expertise and am frankly more than frustrated by how difficult it is to definitevely access the insurance protections. Would love to hear of currently available Chase Marriott mainstream card with travel cancellation since (as stated earlier) Chase insurance seems less restrictive than AMEX or Cap 1.

Also received my Chase Preferred benefits and pleased the program is essentially unchanged. They link to a summary guide which I download and is a great reference. After a bunch of research it appears that the Chase Hyatt card (which we have) and IHG card do have travel insurance where other Chase cards like Marriott do not. Am considering adding an IHG card with 5 night sign up bonus but am completely underwhelmed by available IHG props especially those that require under 60k points. Thinking of just charging everything to Preffered for our 2025 3 cruises and likely investigate a new card with insurance and sign up bonus for 26 cruises. Would have considered AMEX Plat or Venture X but they require complete payment to effect coverage. Glad to see this Insurance topic on boards as I had never previously noticed and it is a critical topic for all cruisers.

Thanks for posting on your findings.

Just got into this subject in depth. We previously had AMEX Plat and Chase Reserve (wife had Chase Preferred) and dumped the Plat and Reserve cards because of cost and retirement. We have 5 cruises booked and did want trip protection and thought of adding amex plat or Venture X which have cancellation insurance. Reading the fine insurance print of these cards you have to charge the entire trip to the respective card for insurance. Chase was always fantastic in that you used to only need to charge part of the trip. So since deposits are paid on other cards we likely would just use Preferred to pay balances. Had wanted to add a new Marriott Bonvoy but as far as I can tell no trip insurance. Long story but hoping Preferred maintains its trip protection. We can buy evac very cheaply but trip cancellation (with evac) is averaging 275+ bucks per a one week 5k cruise. Not worth getting a new Marriott card with 3 free nights if we have to pay for the trip cancellation for 600-700 addtl. As the poster indicated a total hassle getting fine print info on the card insurance plans.

I never bet on the sun not coming up in the morning but did post four or five real concerns that could impact the cruise industry. I also never said there was an economic 'disaster' awaiting CCL just that a normal recession or other issues could impact the company and add momentum for a streamlining. You dismiss any downturn (of course when the fed lowers interest rate in Sept. by 1/4 everything will be fine-if you want to research the state of the economy when the Fed cuts it may be eye opening-it's not good). Anyway, we both have opinions that are as valid as anyone's although seemingly quite divergent- both hoping for HAL to continue! ps. just struck by improbable thought. Cunard's newest Queen Anne (just sailing) was patterned after Konongsdam.......... Holland Pinnacle class to Cunard? I am sure our comments on CC will be forgotten tomorrow but it would be interesting to revisit in four years to see if either of us were on point. Happy cruising.

I do not have a pre-conceived view, my response is not emotional but was an opinion, and as stated previously I like HAL and hope it succeeds. I know you have your head full of the most recent 10k,q data but don't think that tells the story. One of my base cases is that the current favorable bookings and pricing power of mainstream cruise lines in general will be challenged by recession (these do happen despite the best efforts of the Fed to circumvent the natural business cycle) and that this could trigger CCL need to streamline. If you do a data dive the world consumer is in a world of hurt by most measures (savings rate, delinquent credit, declining employment, etc). As a 'layman' I have to believe that the massive new capital directed to Carnival and Princess are telling and not a random thing. The 4-5 year gestation period for a new ship pretty clearly shows where the poker chips are being placed. Don't mean to be strident but frankly don't think the data overides the marketing quandry that HAL and CCL have. Carnival middle class, Princess upper middle class (expanding their profitable suite upperscale offerings), Cunard and Seabourn upperclass (speaking of cruise market not necassarily class of people cruising). The European brands I don't know enough about to comment on except that a North American and European 'division' makes sense. So IMHO HAL may 'possibly' become GM's Oldsmobile, Chrysler's Plymouth, or Ford's Mercury when push comes to shove. I don't think analyzing the last quarter financials have a bearing on this 'possible' future macro prospect.

I think you would concur data supplied is deficient. Accurate expense and revenue per passenger/ day would make comparison compelling. That said, not challenging the immediate numbers you are throwing around but just offering my macro opinion that I could see HAL vunerable in next downturn when CCL may clean up their corporate line up. I still put some credibility in the way capital is deployed at CCL and Carnival, Princess, and Cunard seem to be the focus. My views and a five dollar bill may get you a glass of beer (not sure of the current price on HAL).