Sometimes it pays to know a 2 Star Mariner !

[adrift@sea]

We're 3 star Mariners. Yesterday, I looked up our January cruise without putting in our information, and the price for the Labor Day sale is $150 less for each of us than I paid. I've emailed our TA and we'll see if she can get the price adjusted. I don't know how they can't honor the price since it's right there on the website in black and white!

 

This is not right: To charge existing customers more than new ones? Should be the other way around! :eek:

 

You should not have any problem in obtaining this reduced price if it was listed on HAL's site for the general public. What you could do is go into your HAL account and put a hold on this--it does not matter if you already have a reservation as this is just a 24 hr. HOLD. I have done this many times so that by the time I am able to reach my TA, I have secured the price. I have seen prices change a few times in a 24 hr. period. You will be issued a new booking # and this will enable your TA to locate the pricing you are requesting. If you have a specific cabin that you feel you must have, check with the TA before they take any action. They may be able to just change the rate, it depends on your TA.

 

The rates that I have found with the greatest variation are the ones that you are only able to view after you enter your Mariner #. We have seen several different rates (with a substantial difference) offered on a specific sailing based on your Mariner status, with the best rates offered to 1 Star Mariners or even people with no past HAL sailings.

[Typhoon1]

Mariner status does have its benefits.

[Hawaiidan]

You do all this to save a few dollars???? :eek:

 

That is truly over the top IMHO!! :rolleyes:

 

Well for the price of postage stamp or a friends address, We use Monticito/Santa Barbara or Marin County, friends. ( places where the income level is, well most adequate..) Ant it gets me far more milage than stars and anchors for the" Mystic Knights of the Sea" program as I call it.

 

Is it over the top to get $800 to 1200 savings ? If you saw $600 in the gutter would you stop to pick it up? ..or is it chump change in Roseville .

 

Holland for sure knows where money lives and will make efforts to entice those with it.....;) Sort of a fun monopoly game.... but with real money.

[sail7seas]

Happy you have found a way to save money on your cruises.

Thanks for sharing your method with us.

 

[Himself]

Just had an experience I thought I'd share with you all. My Sis, who is a 2 Star Mariner, called me yesterday and said that she received an announcement for a HAL Labor Day sale and told me the price.

When I went into the website and put my information in, the cruise was 25% more! :eek: I am a 4 Star Mariner.

I called my wonderful TA and she confirms that if my Sis and I book a cabin together that we are both entitled to the substantially lower fare. That was a no brainer, we booked it right there and then.

I am a bit shocked at this, but guess this is the way HAL chooses to run it's business.

 

Moral to this story: The best customers don't always get the best deals. :rolleyes:

 

That is a surprise!

[LSEA]

Thank you for sharing this information. It is good to know that you were able to take advantage of the lower fare by booking a cabin with your sister.

 

I thought about it, the idea of offering incentives for new(ish) customers to keep coming back. I see my cable company do it, my cell phone provider do it...

 

I guess I can only be concerned with what I am charged. I feel I am getting a fair deal with HAL, what other people pay, depending on their "loyalty" is what it is.

[CtheW0rld]

Thank you for sharing this information. It is good to know that you were able to take advantage of the lower fare by booking a cabin with your sister.

 

I thought about it, the idea of offering incentives for new(ish) customers to keep coming back. I see my cable company do it, my cell phone provider do it...

 

I guess I can only be concerned with what I am charged. I feel I am getting a fair deal with HAL, what other people pay, depending on their "loyalty" is what it is.

 

whenever my cable or cell company try to raise the rates, i call them and tell them i will switch providers if they do. amazing how fast they back down on the increase.

[LSEA]

whenever my cable or cell company try to raise the rates, i call them and tell them i will switch providers if they do. amazing how fast they back down on the increase.

 

That is great. Unfortunately we have tried the same approach without success. Wait, I take that back, it did happen once recently with our cable company. Our bill wasn't adjusted but they did offer us an additional dvr at no additional cost. With 2 dvr's that are constantly full, I gladly took them up on that offer. We watch way too much sports programming!

[goodearth]

HawaiiDan: I have a question....... Your name and passport information cannot change like an address can. So you are saying that they don't track names and passports but only track addresses?

[innlady1]

You should not have any problem in obtaining this reduced price if it was listed on HAL's site for the general public. What you could do is go into your HAL account and put a hold on this--it does not matter if you already have a reservation as this is just a 24 hr. HOLD. I have done this many times so that by the time I am able to reach my TA, I have secured the price. I have seen prices change a few times in a 24 hr. period. You will be issued a new booking # and this will enable your TA to locate the pricing you are requesting. If you have a specific cabin that you feel you must have, check with the TA before they take any action. They may be able to just change the rate, it depends on your TA.

 

The rates that I have found with the greatest variation are the ones that you are only able to view after you enter your Mariner #. We have seen several different rates (with a substantial difference) offered on a specific sailing based on your Mariner status, with the best rates offered to 1 Star Mariners or even people with no past HAL sailings.

 

Our wonderful TA was able to get us the lower rate today! The only downside is that I lost our Table for 2 Early Seating as she had to cancel our previous booking to rebook at the better rate. Since the cruise is just shy of six months away, I hope to get off the waitlist.

In this economy, I'm happy to have saved $300.

[TiogaCruiser]

HawaiiDan: I have a question....... Your name and passport information cannot change like an address can. So you are saying that they don't track names and passports but only track addresses?

 

I was just going to ask the same thing: how do you manage the unique identifiers of real name and passport number?

[pms4104]

Perhaps Seattle has determned that once people reach 3- and 4-star levels, they would never dream of looking elsewhere for their cruising holiday. Guaranteed customers for life?

 

Well, and perhaps Seattle also figures that the Mariner benefits for 3- and 4-star members offset the reduced fares offered to new cruisers. Many of the Mariner benefits are not unlike the useless (worth $450?) coupon books ... you have to buy something to get something. Those discount benefits are useless if you did not intend to dine in the Pinnacle or Tamarind or (now it seems) Canaletto, or to buy a wine package or spa treatment or stuff from the mini bar or logo goods in the onboard shops.

 

At best, Seattle is afflicted with a myopic vision problem.

[HamburgAvonLady]

Well, this is our first cruise with HAL even though I have 1 star Mariner status (through my Costa and Princess cruises, I assume). We booked our cruise last July, 2011 in the Superior suite catagory --- haven't gained any "perks' or lower pricing whether I enter my Mariner #'s or not --- cruise is 30 days out --- others have received OBC's, cabin upgrades and upsell offers to the same catagory we have paying $ 3000 LESS per person ---- so unless something happens in the next few weeks --- I will definately "shop around" for our next trip !!! (By the way, I check prices daily !).

[English_in_Spain]

KK, you fairky recently mentioned potentially trying another line. Have you thought more about that or chosen one yet? Just curious, we are eyeing Azamara ourselves (tried Celebrity but it sent our cup of tea, RCCL in general is just not for us).

 

 

I don't know if you are aware but Azamara, like Celebrity, is part of RCCL ;)

 

[Bippie]

Mariner status does have its benefits.

 

Apparently HAL has found a way to sometimes have you pay for the benfits of your status. Mariner benefits seem less like true benefits if you find you're paying more for your cruise.

[JimBev]

I was aware of “geographic” pricing, of course – used to get much better prices through European travel agents until they put a stop to that. I wasn’t aware of this particular little gambit, however. I was so annoyed by it that I emailed the URL for this thread – with my comments. I suggest that others do the same. It’s not as though HAL’s Mariner program is much to write home about in the first instance (I’m three star – big whoop!); to find out that it’s just being used as a mechanism to abuse, rather than reward, customer loyalty greatly undermines my faith in the company. I will be a much more prudent shopper in the future. Perhaps it’s time to check out lines that Carnival DOESN’T own!

[mamaofami]

Our wonderful TA was able to get us the lower rate today!

 

In this economy, I'm happy to have saved $300.

 

That's great for you, Sheila.Glad you could save $300.

[Hawaiidan]

I was just going to ask the same thing: how do you manage the unique identifiers of real name and passport number?

 

To be truthful, I dont know, except that it has worked.

 

We dont give passport# till after the payment. So far it has worked, I don't think they are that detail oriented. The important thing being getting the price tier to begin with. The bottom line is I try to distance myself from their club game as much as possible..

[Hawaiidan]

I was aware of “geographic” pricing, of course – used to get much better prices through European travel agents until they put a stop to that. I wasn’t aware of this particular little gambit, however. I was so annoyed by it that I emailed the URL for this thread – with my comments. I suggest that others do the same. It’s not as though HAL’s Mariner program is much to write home about in the first instance (I’m three star – big whoop!); to find out that it’s just being used as a mechanism to abuse, rather than reward, customer loyalty greatly undermines my faith in the company. I will be a much more prudent shopper in the future. Perhaps it’s time to check out lines that Carnival DOESN’T own!

 

I use Holland America for only special cruises that take in off the map stuff.

Dont get me wrong they have a good middle of the road product half way between economy and luxury...

When I want the latter, I go to Oceaina , which has no program, captains dinner or kids program. They have a simple reward system of sorts, returning customers get 5% off. the cruise fare. That seems to be way more than Holland does, and since I take 30 day + cruises we are talking well over $1000

Loyality in airlines pays off BIG TIME, Loyality in cruise lines is marginal at best..

[nana51]

I have been getting offers for third and fourth person free or reduced. When I go to book it though there is no free or reduced price. I would love to be able to do all my booking online but I have to use my TA. It is annoying.

[hammybee]

 

Our cable company does the same thing, always offering much better rates to new customers than what they charge the rest of us who have been using their services for a long time.

 

Banks and credit card companies do it too, offering great deals to new customers for which their existing customers are not eligible.

 

The list is endless, phone companies, alternative energy/utility companies, dentists, pharmacies, dog groomers, hair stylists.....

[MightyQuinn]

... When I want the latter, I go to Oceaina which has no program, captains dinner or kids program. They have a simple reward system of sorts, returning customers get 5% off. the cruise fare....

Oceania does indeed have a loyalty program. It's called Oceania Club and top prize is a FREE CRUISE - something to work towards!

 

OCEANIA CLUB LEVELS

 

Club Members qualify for Oceania Club Level status based on the number of cruise credits earned.

 

• Cruises up to 24 days will receive one cruise credit
  
• Cruises 25-34 days will receive two cruise credits
  
• Cruises 35-44 days will receive three cruise credits
  
• Cruises 45-54 days will receive four cruise credits
  
• Cruises 55 + will receive five cruise credits
  

 

Bronze Level (Cruise Credits 5-9)

 

• Bronze membership pins
  
• $200 shipboard credit
  

 

Silver Level (Cruise Credits 10-14)

 

• Silver membership pins
  
• $400 shipboard credit
  
• Complimentary pre-paid gratuities
  

 

Gold Level (Cruise Credits 15-19)

 

• Gold membership pins
  
• $500 shipboard credit
  
• Two complimentary Canyon Ranch spa treatments
  
• Complimentary pre-paid gratuities
  

 

Platinum (Cruise Credits 20-39)

 

• FREE CRUISE+ (certain restrictions apply)
  
• Platinum milestone pin
  
• $600 shipboard credit (not applicable on FREE cruise)
  
• Two complimentary Canyon Ranch spa treatments
  
• Two complimentary half-day shore excursions
  
• Complimentary pre-paid gratuities
  

 

Diamond (Cruise Credits 40-59)

 

• FREE CRUISE+ (certain restrictions apply)
  
• Diamond milestone pin
  
• $700 shipboard credit (not applicable on FREE cruise)
  
• Two complimentary Canyon Ranch spa treatments
  
• Two complimentary half-day shore excursions
  
• Two complimentary full-day shore excursions
  
• Complimentary pre-paid gratuities
  

[SilvertoGold]

Oceania does indeed have a loyalty program. It's called Oceania Club and top prize is a FREE CRUISE - something to work towards!

 

OCEANIA CLUB LEVELS

 

Club Members qualify for Oceania Club Level status based on the number of cruise credits earned.

 

• Cruises up to 24 days will receive one cruise credit
  
• Cruises 25-34 days will receive two cruise credits
  
• Cruises 35-44 days will receive three cruise credits
  
• Cruises 45-54 days will receive four cruise credits
  
• Cruises 55 + will receive five cruise credits
  

Bronze Level (Cruise Credits 5-9)

 

• Bronze membership pins
  
• $200 shipboard credit
  

Silver Level (Cruise Credits 10-14)

 

• Silver membership pins
  
• $400 shipboard credit
  
• Complimentary pre-paid gratuities
  

Gold Level (Cruise Credits 15-19)

 

• Gold membership pins
  
• $500 shipboard credit
  
• Two complimentary Canyon Ranch spa treatments
  
• Complimentary pre-paid gratuities
  

Platinum (Cruise Credits 20-39)

 

• FREE CRUISE+ (certain restrictions apply)
  
• Platinum milestone pin
  
• $600 shipboard credit (not applicable on FREE cruise)
  
• Two complimentary Canyon Ranch spa treatments
  
• Two complimentary half-day shore excursions
  
• Complimentary pre-paid gratuities
  

Diamond (Cruise Credits 40-59)

 

• FREE CRUISE+ (certain restrictions apply)
  
• Diamond milestone pin
  
• $700 shipboard credit (not applicable on FREE cruise)
  
• Two complimentary Canyon Ranch spa treatments
  
• Two complimentary half-day shore excursions
  
• Two complimentary full-day shore excursions
  
• Complimentary pre-paid gratuities
  

This is truly impressive! If HAL had this program (in your dreams), we would have qualified for Diamond some time ago! I guess we would have paid for it, though.

 

Thanks for posting this, MightyQuinn.

[kazu]

This is truly impressive! If HAL had this program (in your dreams), we would have qualified for Diamond some time ago! I guess we would have paid for it, though.

 

Thanks for posting this, MightyQuinn.

 

You think so? Have you calculated how many cruises you would have to do to get the free cruise:eek: Personally, I don't care for ship excursions so those have no value to me but that's just me:)

 

I far prefer a free laundry which I can use now (not necessarily raving about HAL's loyalty program) but - I'd rather have things I can use now than wonder if the time will come if I can have that free cruise:)

 

I've actually been Oceania's board (thanks to HawaiiDan) - no hot breakfast for room service unless you are in the high end suites:eek: all kinds of complaints on the boards that if HAL can do it why can't they?

 

So there are two sides to every story and you definitely need to do a lot of checking out

[Typhoon1]

Just like the airlines. If you look at all you have spent with any airline to earn a free trip. That trip isn't as free as it looks.