Explore 4

[Salsa49]

We booked a 12 day Mediterranean cruise departing September 2014 aboard the Nieuw Amsterdam. HAL was promoting the Explore 4 so we booked it prior to the expiration. We just found out that they immediately dropped the price by $300 per person once the Explore 4 expired. We complained to our TA and she contacted HAL. They told her that they could do nothing about it. We are interested to hear some seasoned cruisers opinions on this (we have only cruised once before, 20 years ago).

 

Thanks.

[silvercruiser]

There's been a lot of discussion about this and it led me to check price drops. I had Explore4 on two cruises, a 20-day and a 14-day and the price drops totalled about $1000. I said goodbye to Explore4 and took the discount, because there's no way, as a solo cruiser, that I could use up enough of the benefits. Being 4star makes so many things cheaper too.

[taxmantoo]

As your cruise is so far away, if you have not made full payment you should be able to cancel and rebook with the lower price BUT without the Explore4 promotion. For you to figure out if getting a reduction of $300 on the fare is worth giving up a whole lot more if you give up the Signature Beverage Package.

[Cruzin Terri]

I am on a 22 day Mediterranean cruise on the Noordam. Previously booked with the Explore 4 promotion. The price dropped $1800 pp. My TA called HAL and had the Explore 4 removed. In my opinion $3600 buys a lot of drinks and PG dinners, but we will never spend that much. This is a huge savings.

HAL was able to apply the price drop without canceling and rebooking.

Terri

[Krazy Kruizers]

At the end of June we booked a cruise. 3 weeks later the Explore4 began. I read the list of cruises that were included in the program -- ours was listed there.

Our TA called and we didn't qualify unless we wanted to pay an additional $1600 total for the cruise. In 3 weeks our cruise had gone up in price. There is no way we were going to pay that much extra just to get the Signature Drink Card. We could not drink $1600 in 20 days.

[madera1]

Our experience is different and perhaps it is because we are sailing on the Prinsendam. We booked the cruise shortly before the explore 4 program began. Once it was announced our TA contacted HAL and the explore 4 program for our 14 day cruise was added at no extra charge. I have watched the fares and our Signature Suite category has remained unchanged.

[JerseyJaguar]

My price dropped $400 pp once Explore4 ended so I called HAL and they gave me the price drop and cancelled the Explore4. I'm not a drinker so it made no sense to keep it. I didn't have to cancel and rebook.

[innlady1]

We booked a 12 day Mediterranean cruise departing September 2014 aboard the Nieuw Amsterdam. HAL was promoting the Explore 4 so we booked it prior to the expiration. We just found out that they immediately dropped the price by $300 per person once the Explore 4 expired. We complained to our TA and she contacted HAL. They told her that they could do nothing about it. We are interested to hear some seasoned cruisers opinions on this (we have only cruised once before, 20 years ago).

 

Thanks.

 

I booked a TA crossing next October and had the Explore4. When that ended, our price dropped as well. $1000 per person! So I gave up the Explore4 to get the reduced price. You should be able to do that as well.

[Hlitner]

We are reposting our experience during the past 2 weeks. During the Explore Promotion we booked a 38 day Oosterdam cruise in a normal balcony cabin. 3 days after we booked, the promotion ended and the price of our cabin dropped by $2460 (after adjusting for on board credits). Since we seldom spend $65 a day for drinks (the $2460 divided by 38 days) we quickly rebooked the cruise. From HALs point of view we originally had a great deal because they value the drink package at $100 (per couple). But given all the limitations on that drink package we suspect that very few cruisers will ever come close to spending $50 per person/day on drinks. In our case, since we are 4 Star Mariners, we always get our cappuccino at a 50% discount and also get 50% discounts on the Navigator and admiral wine packages. Bottom line is that the promotion just does not make much sense for us at that price.

 

But one cannot blame HAL for trying new marketing campaigns and drink packages are the new norm in cruising (Princess has yet to jump on the bandwagon). There is no such thing as a free lunch (in this case we should say free drink) so cruisers need to carefully review the details of each drink package and consider the cost compared to normal drink spending habits.

 

Hank

[PatsyAnne]

I don't see the price changes as something HAL is doing TO us. We booked a cruise for a price we considered reasonable, or we wouldn't have bought it. Explore 4 was announced and it would have cost us more to get it, so we didn't. Then the price dropped and we got the price drop AND Explore 4. Now the cost of the cruise is even nicer for us. Explore 4 ended, the price dropped again, and we can't get the price drop without losing the Explore 4, so we have a decision to make - is the price difference worth losing Explore 4. This is not a bad position to be in, except for the calculations determining what Explore 4 is worth to us. :eek: Either way, we're ahead of where we started.