Explore 4 package

Perhaps for cruises that aren't selling well.

 

I think what you're saying is they added the promo and the price didn't increase. I would be interested in asking for the non-promo price in these instances. You might find there is a price reduction.

Bingo. TANSTAAFL. :D

Perhaps for cruises that aren't selling well.

 

I think what you're saying is they added the promo and the price didn't increase. I would be interested in asking for the non-promo price in these instances. You might find there is a price reduction.

This may sound harsh, but if someone offers to buy me a drink, I never ask what the cash equivalent is. ;) I either accept the drink or decline (with grace and thanks, natch.)

I don't know. It was in the past (2014 - 2016) so I don't really care that much.

 

This may sound harsh, but if someone offers to buy me a drink, I never ask what the cash equivalent is. ;) I either accept the drink or decline (with grace and thanks, natch.)

The cruise line isn't 'buying you a drink'. You paid for it in the fare where it was 'included'.

Not always true.....Both times I've had it applied it worked in my favor. First time the cruise price stayed exactly the same. Second time there was very little change in price for the additions.

 

So sometimes, the additions are free.

Did you ask what the price would be without the promo? I've done that and received a significant price reduction.

If I booked a cabin at $899pp and then HAL comes along and says "Hey, we will add a complimentary beverage package and a couple dinners and you don't have to pay one extra dime" it would seem free. But if I simply asked "If I wished to keep my original cabin without the extras, what would the price be then? " the price for the non -promo fare is going to be lower. So that difference means you are paying for the promo BUT you may actually get a better value with the package deal as opposed to buying the component parts a la carte. :cool:

The cruise line isn't 'buying you a drink'. You paid for it in the fare where it was 'included'.

I always bring my own tissues, the awesome Kleenex 3 Ply Soft and Strong. I wouldn't think that they owed me for not using their tissues. I also don't think I'm overcharged when I blow my nose in the pillowy softness that I paid for.

But now that you mention it, I would like a refund for all the kale and quinoa on the ship.

Agree to disagree.

 

I always bring my own tissues, the awesome Kleenex 3 Ply Soft and Strong. I wouldn't think that they owed me for not using their tissues. I also don't think I'm overcharged when I blow my nose in the pillowy softness that I paid for.

 

But now that you mention it, I would like a refund for all the kale and quinoa on the ship.

Don't forget about the prunes! Or did you eat those?

If I booked a cabin at $899pp and then HAL comes along and says "Hey, we will add a complimentary beverage package and a couple dinners and you don't have to pay one extra dime" it would seem free. But if I simply asked "If I wished to keep my original cabin without the extras, what would the price be then? " the price for the non -promo fare is going to be lower. So that difference means you are paying for the promo BUT you may actually get a better value with the package deal as opposed to buying the component parts a la carte. :cool:

Perhaps, but I've kept records of our cruises without drink packages and those records indicate that the package deals do not make sense for us. We would rather spend the money we save by declining the promo on corkage fees on some wines we find better than those on board.

I am just happy HAL is giving us more options as the years go by. We will probably bring on some wine as always but also buy the Elite package. :) But I will monitor the X4 price.

Don't forget about the prunes! Or did you eat those?

FrankC, if that Coastal is a short cruise, the drink package and/or the Promo might not be available because of the short length of the cruise (not the fare). I am wondering if the short cruises shorter than 6-7 days do not offer these packages.

We have X4 for our upcoming 7-day cruise to Mexico.

We booked a cruise with Explore4 and when it ended, the price went down 550.00PP. We rebooked, happily.

But no X4 on the rebook, right?

Maybe they mean "drinks included". When you're spending $4 kilodollars on a cruise, nothing is really "free" :-)

The expression, "There's no such thing as a free lunch" is applicable to any promotional offerings.

What is the Explore 4 promo package? I am new to this, can someone please explease this to me, Thanks so much.

What is the Explore 4 promo package? I am new to this, can someone please explease this to me, Thanks so much.

It is a sale promotion. Here is a thread that explains all the details

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2657352

I would love to know the results from that, if that's okay.

I did email our PCC and she said our fares would go up $1100 each (26 days) and that the Explore4 promo was worth $1300 each. So we won't bother, we don't drink that much, and our 5-star perks mean we get wine half price, anyway.

The promo might not be 'free'...

But we did decide to go with the Promo. It was 1/2 the cost of adding these perks.

We should def. com out ahead!

Again, one just has to get out the calculator and do the math.

I did email our PCC and she said our fares would go up $1100 each (26 days) and that the Explore4 promo was worth $1300 each. So we won't bother, we don't drink that much, and our 5-star perks mean we get wine half price, anyway.

Ann, if you booked in Canadian dollars and the price is Cdn $ don't forget the $1300 value is in USD ;). I said no originally too and then when I got out the calculator and took into consideration the additional OBC, I decided it was not a bad idea to take it - at least, for the time being. ;)

And just fyi... I checked as soon as the promo dropped and the price increase was $440 pp for 7 days but checked again end of last week and the increase was actually at that time only $380. Still didn't bite but they are headed in the right direction ;p

Not a bad idea to periodically check back in especially if your cruise is several months off. (y)

I did email our PCC and she said our fares would go up $1100 each (26 days) and that the Explore4 promo was worth $1300 each. So we won't bother, we don't drink that much, and our 5-star perks mean we get wine half price, anyway.

Thanks for getting back to me. :)

I did email our PCC and she said our fares would go up $1100 each (26 days) and that the Explore4 promo was worth $1300 each. So we won't bother, we don't drink that much, and our 5-star perks mean we get wine half price, anyway.

Ann, if you booked in Canadian dollars and the price is Cdn $ don't forget the $1300 value is in USD ;). I said no originally too and then when I got out the calculator and took into consideration the additional OBC, I decided it was not a bad idea to take it - at least, for the time being. ;)

Good point Kazu, That $1100CAD is equivalent to about $31US/day on your onboard account. So if you expect to spend $31 per person per day, the increase fare for Explore4 is to your advantage.

We previously booked with the Ready Set Sail w/ pp grats. When Explore 4 came out I checked the fare increase (which was relatively small at about $325pp for our 14 day sailing), compared that to the loss of ppg grats (worth $189pp) and what we might spend over 14 days on wine packages/individual drinks, paying our grats out of pocket, etc. In the end losing the pp grats and gaining the Signature Bev package made the most financial sense for us personally so we switched to explore4. I asked about keeping the grats from Ready Set Sail and was told that they could not be combined .... was worth a shot though :cool::cool:

Re-faring to take advantage of the Explore 4 package would mean an additional $1000 CAD for our booking and the loss of paid gratuities for our 14-day cruise. On the other hand, Big Box would increase our OBC from $665 to $710 USD, and we'd get the dinner at PG and the beverage package. As we don't drink a great deal, our initial thought was to stay with the existing fare, get the Quench package, buy the occasional drink or glass of wine, and get a bottle for the cabin. By time I'd made all the currency conversions so that we were comparing apples to apples, it worked out to be just a few dollars (CAD) cheaper to re-fare.