Explore 4 questions

[rothbury]

I know some of this has been discussed so I'll make this short. I assume we can make our Pinnacle reservations or "change" our Pinnacle reservations once we board. Is that correct? I've also read posts where they say the drink limit on the beverage card is $7 per transaction. I guess that means you can't buy a bucket of beer even though it is cheaper than buying them one at a time. Kind of sounds a little weird to me. I guess they just want you to use the card up quicker. Having said that, I assume I can still do the 2 for 1 happy hour beer prices they usually run in the Crow's Nest around 4 or 5. Anybody had experience with the Explore 4, yet?

[flamingogal]

We had the Explore 4 drink card on our recent (Feb 2) Eurodam cruise. The card will be in your stateroom when you arrive. You can use it for any beverage on the ship, wine, Exporations Cafe drinks, soda and beer buckets. The per drink amount does not apply. The card is worth $50. Use until spent. Your receipt will show a balance after each purchase.

 

As to the Pinnacle Grill. Not quite what I had expected. We did not have any card in our stateroom when we arrived. We went to the front desk to inquire and were told when our reservation was (last sea day @5:30). We went to the Pinnacle to try to change to a better time/day and were told "we have 800 persons to accommodate" and the only times available are 5:30 or 9 - 9:30 . What I got from this was that the Explore 4 promotion put a lot of Pinnacle Grill dinners on the reservation schedule and the "prime time" reservations (6:00 to 8:30) were for paying customers, not Explore 4 giveaways. We changed our reservation to lunch and all was good.

 

Another thought, on a 7 day cruise, there are only 5 available nights for Pinnacle Grill reservations; the other 2 night are reserved for La Cirque and De Librije. That doesn't leave many available slots for regular dining times.

 

Jeanne

[boards]

So Explore4 promotion must be working okay since there has not been many complaints voiced here. The $50 drink card is for the Caribbean cruises. The other Explore4 promotion was for other cruises.

Edited February 11, 2014 by boards

[pbnjrockette]

The Explore4 card DID have a limit for $7 drinks only. This was for the Statendam in January.

[Katie333]

The Explore4 card DID have a limit for $7 drinks only. This was for the Statendam in January.

 

Did you have the $50 total card, or the drink allowance (15 per day)?

 

Would love to hear from others who had the 'unlimited' package vs. the beverage card. PG experience is about what I would expect given the volume of passengers, though disappointing some folks had to find out their dining time themselves - seems the least they can do is tell you when it is.

Edited February 11, 2014 by Katie333

[sue1898]

From the HAL web site: Depending on the cruise selected, guests receive either a free Signature Beverage Package or a beverage card. The beverage package, which is excluded on Caribbean and Mexico sailings, is valued at $100 per stateroom ($50 per person), per day and includes wine, beer, spirits, cocktails, sodas and coffee. The beverage card is applied to Caribbean and Mexico sailings and is valued at $100 per stateroom ($50 per person) and applies to alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. The beverage offer is only applicable on the cruise portions of Alaska Land+Sea Journeys.

[GmaPajama]

We had no trouble at all in changing our Explore 4 Pinnacle dinner to a more convenient time for us. We simply found the desk set up in the Explorer's Lounge at embarkation, and it took all of 30 seconds. No questions asked.

[KCGranny]

Does Explore4 include bottled water?

Edited February 11, 2014 by KCGranny

[POA1]

Does Explore4 include bottled water?

 

Yes. On the Signature Beverage Package, it is included. On the version where you get a Beverage Card, the cost is deducted from your card total. They give you a slip with the remaining balance for the card.

[HollDoll]

I'm confused. If we have the Explore4 package, do we have a Beverage Card or Signature Beverage Package, or just how do we find out what we have? We're not on a Caribbean or Mexico cruise...a TA in the fall. Thanks.

[kazu]

I'm confused. If we have the Explore4 package, do we have a Beverage Card or Signature Beverage Package, or just how do we find out what we have? We're not on a Caribbean or Mexico cruise...a TA in the fall. Thanks.

 

You would have gotten a confirmation from HAL (or from your TA) confirming the Explore4. In that confirmation there is a description of what you are receiving. I would think you are getting the Beverage package but it would be wise to check your Explore4 confirmation;)

[frankc98376]

WE got a separate email confirming the Explore 4. The subject line was:

 

"Open Immediately: Important Notification for Booking #XXXXXX"

 

This email explained the benefits of the package

Edited February 11, 2014 by frankc98376

[boards]

We got the same notification as above.

[POA1]

Our notice went to our travel agent, who in turn forwarded it to us.

 

Thanks to this thread, we've now printed it out.

[budisal]

We were told we could not use the drink card for the specialty coffees in the Explorations Cafe. We did get soda and wine however and enjoyed it thoroughly. Thanks flamingogal for the info about the pinnacle dinners. I think you're right about preferential treatment for the paying customers. Probably the same reason they don't allow you to put the specialty coffees on the card too.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[carri cruiser]

I know some of this has been discussed so I'll make this short. I assume we can make our Pinnacle reservations or "change" our Pinnacle reservations once we board. Is that correct? I've also read posts where they say the drink limit on the beverage card is $7 per transaction. I guess that means you can't buy a bucket of beer even though it is cheaper than buying them one at a time. Kind of sounds a little weird to me. I guess they just want you to use the card up quicker. Having said that, I assume I can still do the 2 for 1 happy hour beer prices they usually run in the Crow's Nest around 4 or 5. Anybody had experience with the Explore 4, yet?

 

We used our card for the happy hour, only stipulation was the 2 drinks had to be the same, my sister and I each had the same drink for only one dollar more than original,... I used my beverage card every night for cuppachino after dinner. Went to the Explorer's café for latte and twice they could not use the computer for the card, so had to pay from my room tab!! We were on Noordam Jan 6th....Southern Caribbean!

 

also had a card in our room upon embarkation that said we needed to call the Pinnacle to make a reservation for our party of 6 for the explore 4!!