How can this HAL cruise be so inexpensive????

[jkgourmet]

We cruised with HAL several times - very happily - but not in about ten years.

 

We are currently considering a repositioning cruise for spring or fall, 2014, and I came across a 14 night March 21, 2014 departure on the Noordam, Ft. Lauderdale to Barcelona for $699 inside, $799 oceanview for past guests, balcony $999. (from a very large online TA that we've successfully used several times before).

 

And an April 6, 2014 departure on the Nieuw Amsterdam, 14 nights, inside $699, Oceanview $899, Balcony $1099.

 

And 15 nights, April 8, 2014 departure on the Ryndam $699 inside, Ocean View $799, balcony much higher.

 

And 23 nights, March 30, 2014 departure on the Eurodam, $1399 inside, $1699 Ocean view. (with a very interesting itinerary that includes Spain and Greece.)

 

All of these also have at least $150+ OBC.

 

Those prices strike me as in the 'too good to be true' category. And we ALWAYS have sailed with an inside guarantee! So I gotta ask: What's the catch?

Edited December 4, 2013 by jkgourmet

[chrispb]

It's only a good price if that includes your airfare home. You can pay as much or more for a one-way flight.

[taxmantoo]

We cruised with HAL several times - very happily - but not in about ten years.

 

We are currently considering a repositioning cruise for spring or fall, 2014, and I came across a 14 night March 21, 2014 departure on the Noordam, Ft. Lauderdale to Barcelona for $699 inside, $799 oceanview for past guests, balcony $999. (from a very large online TA that we've successfully used several times before).

 

And an April 6, 2014 departure on the Nieuw Amsterdam, 14 nights, inside $699, Oceanview $899, Balcony $1099.

 

Those prices strike me as in the 'too good to be true' category. So I gotta ask: What's the catch?

 

No catch. It's a transatlantic cruise and the same price (in CAD dollars) on the HAL website.

Actually, oceanview and balcony are about $100 cheaper.

Edited December 4, 2013 by taxmantoo

[OlsSalt]

Fewer ports on TAs might allow cost savings too.

[SilvertoGold]

This is quite standard. The Collectors cruises can cost even less on a per diem basis sometimes. Air fare is the problem, but overall these Transatlantics can be very good deals

[Jalex63]

I believe it is because due to lack of ports which means mostly sea days, it is an attempt to get passengers in order to fill the ships. Takes about the same amount of fuel and all the crew to get the ships repositioned and as it is they often sail half empty. Great deal if you like sea days, but you do need to factor in the cost of return air fare which can be quite high.

[whogo]

Lots of cruise ships reposition between the US and Europe. There does not seem to be much demand for the cruises. The cruise lines lower the price to bring in the bargain hunters.

[OlsSalt]

After getting inundated with brochures from Oceania touting their transatlantic fares which looked appealing and we were almost ready to sign up, we looked to see what HAL was offering at the same time and were dazzled to see something twice as long because it meandered around Mediterranean ports before doing its TA run, and almost half the price.

 

Hello Maasdam TA. What a great cruise. Since cruises for us typically require two legs of a long distance flights, we though only having one international flight to the embarkation port was part of the bargain, and then a shorter domestic flight once we got back to the US. Biggest surprise was how quickly those seven sea days past, and how rich the programs were on that cruise.

[iancal]

No surprise.

 

We have paid $100. per night for balcony cabins on our last three Oct. Med cruises and considerably less than that on our Nov.12 TA. TA's are always less expensive as they do not appeal to as many people (our TA will be our last-don't like so many sea days).

 

It is supply and demand. There are lots of very good prices out there if you are a little flexible with your dates and ship. We found Christmas Caribbean cruise to be a bargain this year and there were several very good dates/ships to pick from.

[jkgourmet]

This is quite standard. The Collectors cruises can cost even less on a per diem basis sometimes. Air fare is the problem, but overall these Transatlantics can be very good deals

 

What are Collectors Cruises?

[Wakepatrol]

One passenger is no longer sailing transatlantics because of the new wine policy.

 

bummer huh,he can't pay $49.99 per night and bring his own wine.:eek:

[HokiePoq]

Lots of cruise ships reposition between the US and Europe. There does not seem to be much demand for the cruises. The cruise lines lower the price to bring in the bargain hunters.

 

Been on three and only one was nearly full. Bargain rates as the other poster said, they have to move the ship anyway to another market.

We've met people who used them to go to Europe for the summer. Cheaper than airfare in many cases and more things can be carried with you for an extended stay.

Enjoy the bargains!

[OlsSalt]

What are Collectors Cruises?

 

Collectors Cruises are packages of several cruise segments, often two week segments combined into a longer cruise which then is given a new name for the whole package. There are benefits, special events, and I gather reduced rates somewhat for buying the longer package.

 

Sometimes they only sell the combined longer Collectors package first and then only later start selling off the shorter segments as stand alones by themselves.

 

This happened when we saw the Rotterdam was spending two weeks in Indonesia last year. But we had to start in London or Rotterdam to get those two weeks in Indonesia at the end, so it was sold as a 50/51 Day Cruise. Later segments of the cruise were sold separately, including the two weeks in Indonesia from Singapore as a stand alone which was all we originally wanted.

 

However, I am glad we bought the whole package when we did because that was one fabulous cruise for those who could get away for the full 50/51 days. Plus they knew they had a ready market for many of the cabin for the longer trip because many Dutch have strong connections to both Indonesia as well as liking to able to start and end in their own home country, if they bought the entire 90 day plus back to back.

[COMBOY]

We cruised with HAL several times - very happily - but not in about ten years.

 

We are currently considering a repositioning cruise for spring or fall, 2014, and I came across a 14 night March 21, 2014 departure on the Noordam, Ft. Lauderdale to Barcelona for $699 inside, $799 oceanview for past guests, balcony $999. (from a very large online TA that we've successfully used several times before).

 

And an April 6, 2014 departure on the Nieuw Amsterdam, 14 nights, inside $699, Oceanview $899, Balcony $1099.

 

And 15 nights, April 8, 2014 departure on the Ryndam $699 inside, Ocean View $799, balcony much higher.

 

And 23 nights, March 30, 2014 departure on the Eurodam, $1399 inside, $1699 Ocean view. (with a very interesting itinerary that includes Spain and Greece.)

 

All of these also have at least $150+ OBC.

 

Those prices strike me as in the 'too good to be true' category. And we ALWAYS have sailed with an inside guarantee! So I gotta ask: What's the catch?

 

No catch, but you have to factor in 2 one-way or multi-segment airfares to/from your hometown. So, a cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Barcelona you are going to have to fly from your hometown to Ft Lauderdale and then from Barcelona back to home home town. These airfares can very pricey and can more then off set any saving from the cruise. But if you are creative or do some research you can find some good airfares. Many times HAL will offer OW airfares plus a segment add-on from your home town plus pre/post hotel stays. You have to look at the over cost (cruise&airfare) to see if it worth it. These repositioning cruises (as they are known) are great if you like lots of sea day and a more leisurely cruise with few ports. These type of cruises can be a good deal. All HAL is try to do is get the ship from one cruise market to the other and deeply discounting it to draw demand since they types of cruises are limited to 2 per years. Caribbean to Europe in springs back to Caribbean in fall. I'm sure they make up for some of it by increased board spending in the casino, spa and bar plus the crew get their tips. I really don't think these cruises sell out so it all about supply and demand when it come to pricing.

[TracieABD]

Cruise lines also have an algorithm for on-board passenger spending. Passengers my tend to spend more when there is a sea day.

 

Another savings is the excessive port charges are not necessary on TAs, as they are not typically port intensive cruises.

 

I do love a good sea day, too! Someday, when I am retired, I am going on a TA!:)

[sapper1]

Lots of cruise ships reposition between the US and Europe. There does not seem to be much demand for the cruises. The cruise lines lower the price to bring in the bargain hunters.

 

We have done three of these cruises and bargain hunting wasn't even a consideration. We both hate the long transatlantic flights and this was a way to cruise in Europe and only fly one way.

[ScriptOhio]

No catch, but you have to factor in 2 one-way or multi-segment airfares to/from your hometown. So, a cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Barcelona you are going to have to fly from your hometown to Ft Lauderdale and then from Barcelona back to home home town. These airfares can very pricey and can more then off set any saving from the cruise. But if you are creative or do some research you can find some good airfares.

 

Very true.....Back in April 2010 I did a transAtlantic/Baltic cruise on the Star Princess and actually had 3 separate one way tickets, i.e. Delta: CMH to FLL, Iceland Air: CPH to BOS, and American: BOS to CMH. Yes you do have to be creative and do your research. It so happened that when I booked Iceland Air was having a "big sale". The bad news could have been the Icelandic volcano that was closing airports in Europe during the cruise; luckily for me after the Baltic portion the Copenhagen airport had just opened back up a couple days earlier. I even changed planes in Reykjavik with no problems.

 

[mamamzee]

We went on a TA from Barcelona to FLL about 18 months ago. Loved the long trip and the sea days. This was on Celebrity. We booked the one way airfare through them and paid $500 each. If we had booked directly through the airlines it would have been over $2000 each.

 

Do your homework. I think you may be surprised.

[fuzzywuzzy]

We went on a TA from Barcelona to FLL about 18 months ago. Loved the long trip and the sea days. This was on Celebrity. We booked the one way airfare through them and paid $500 each. If we had booked directly through the airlines it would have been over $2000 each.

 

Do your homework. I think you may be surprised.

 

We booked one way direct from Toronto to Rome and paid $320.00 each!! Including tax.

[MermaidWatcher]

There simply are more and more ships every year that have to be repositioned from US ports to Baltic and Mediterranean ports. With a good many open sea days, and the hesitancy of many to want that much time at sea, they simply have to do whatever it takes to entice customers. When being lured by the price, don't forget that you have to pay airfare back home.

[Aussiepair]

My wife and I did a collectors cruise on the Niew Amsterdam that concluded with a TA. The first two weeks cruising the Mediterranean were wonderful but the second two weeks that included the TA was very ordinary. The standard of passengers on the second leg was well below the first leg. This normally would not have worried me because I am a working class guy and pretty rough around the edges but some of the things I saw on that cruise would make your hair stand up. I asked one of the ships officers why this was so and he said it was because of the basement prices they were selling the TA for.

 

If you enjoy the cruising part of a cruise then the TA's are a bargain, just don't go near the Buffet, but if like us you go for the destinations then save your money.

[cruisetrail]

We cruised with HAL several times - very happily - but not in about ten years.

 

We are currently considering a repositioning cruise for spring or fall, 2014, and I came across a 14 night March 21, 2014 departure on the Noordam, Ft. Lauderdale to Barcelona for $699 inside, $799 oceanview for past guests, balcony $999. (from a very large online TA that we've successfully used several times before).

 

And an April 6, 2014 departure on the Nieuw Amsterdam, 14 nights, inside $699, Oceanview $899, Balcony $1099.

 

And 15 nights, April 8, 2014 departure on the Ryndam $699 inside, Ocean View $799, balcony much higher.

 

And 23 nights, March 30, 2014 departure on the Eurodam, $1399 inside, $1699 Ocean view. (with a very interesting itinerary that includes Spain and Greece.)

 

All of these also have at least $150+ OBC.

 

Those prices strike me as in the 'too good to be true' category. And we ALWAYS have sailed with an inside guarantee! So I gotta ask: What's the catch?

 

No catch.

I wish I had a vacation that long.

Don't forget to switch to the Nieuw Amsterdam instead of the Noordam.

Edited December 5, 2013 by cruisetrail

[SilvertoGold]

Suggest Condor, a Lufthansa company, for air from and to Europe. Our one-way fare Amsterdam to Vancouver was $530 pp and that was less than half the going rate on any other airline.

 

An excellent flight, lost of food (free), even on the flight from Amsterdam to Frankfurt. Nice planes, much better than we have had in the past, paying a lot more.

[iancal]

We have had some good experiences from consolidators. Essentially the same class of one way ticket ticket that the cruise lines often sell.

 

One way, Toronto-Rome last year was about $550. on BA. We have also done one way Air Transats.

 

If you live near an Icelandair city you can get good one way fares (with a stopover in Iceland if you so desire).

 

Like the OP, my son just purchased some one ways from Calgary-Frankfurt on Condor (a Lufthansa company). I believe that they also serve a number of US cities.

[Thebes]

No catch.

I wish I had a vacation that long.

Don't forget to switch to the Nieuw Amsterdam instead of the Noordam.

 

Agree with cruisetrail. I think it only makes sense to choose a nice resort type ship like Edam and NA with cabanas so you can enjoy those sea days in the cabana. ..... Wait a minute , it might be too cold and windy. Forget it. I retract. Maybe the amenities of a newer ship. Since you'll have so many sea days , so you better have a great ship. This itinerary is ship focused rather than itinerary focused.