SZ Cabin Oosterdam and Vista class ships

[freanesi]

Looking in my HAL Cruise holiday book/brochure at the Vista class ships I can only find two SZcabins - SZ8092 & 8097.

HAL is offering specials for 14 day cruise Sydney to Sydney (Fiji Islands). The cost of a guarantee SZ cabin is less than the price for a chosen VA cabin. Am I missing something? Only having completed one cruise and not having sailed with HAL before (first HAL cruise not until August 2015 for which I have already selected my cabin) I am unfamiliar with guarantee cabins, up sells, upgrades etc. If there are only two SZ cabins on board, is there something wrong with the cabins, or is this a marketing policy to entice people to buy a Signature Suite? Any help appreciated and thank you in advance. :)

[MaxThrusters]

Here's my experience booking a Signature Suite for next May.

 

We booked an SY Guarantee, and it came with Explore 4 and National Cruise Week promotions, so the OBC/Signature Beverage Package included made the price only a bit more than a Verandah at the time.

 

Since then, the price has gone down, but there are no promotions now. It's more than 90 days out, so we should be able to save the difference right? Nope! The lower price is for the previously unadvertised SZ category now, not the SY, so we would lose the benefits of those promotions.

 

There's only two SZ cabins, so anyone booking them now would almost certainly be upgraded to SY or higher.

 

So: book it if the price is right for you.

[RedmondCruiser]

Looking in my HAL Cruise holiday book/brochure at the Vista class ships I can only find two SZcabins - SZ8092 & 8097.

HAL is offering specials for 14 day cruise Sydney to Sydney (Fiji Islands). The cost of a guarantee SZ cabin is less than the price for a chosen VA cabin. Am I missing something? Only having completed one cruise and not having sailed with HAL before (first HAL cruise not until August 2015 for which I have already selected my cabin) I am unfamiliar with guarantee cabins, up sells, upgrades etc. If there are only two SZ cabins on board, is there something wrong with the cabins, or is this a marketing policy to entice people to buy a Signature Suite? Any help appreciated and thank you in advance. :)

 

The SZ guarantee basically amounts to a suite guarantee. 99% of the time you will end up with an SS or SY cabin. In the past we have been allotted a Neptune Suite (except today they go more on upsells for the Neptune Suites). Confused about pricing ? Don't think your alone. Cruise line pricing looks more like airline seat pricing - its much more complicated and sophisticated than in the past. Go for an SZ guarantee - it is one of last bargains left.

[DaveOKC]

HAL uses the SZ category primarily for "price point" advertising purposes - that is why there are only a few of them. You will notice that most of the time you can only book an SZ as a "guarantee". This allows HAL to advertise a lower "suite" price, while charging a bit more to people who want to select their cabin. Smart IMO.

 

As already mentioned, most of the time you will get an SY or SS cabin when you book an SZ guarantee. However, all of the SY and SS cabins are not necessarily as well located as these SZs. A friend of mine booked an SZ and she got a SY, but it was a handicap cabin in the bow of the ship - not a good deal in her opinion. She would have gladly exchanged it for any of the SZ cabins, but that option was not open to her - she was not happy with this situation.

 

So, before you book an SZ guarantee, be sure you would be happy with an SY or SS cabins on your ship (it varies by ship) or else the money you save may not be worth it.

 

DaveOKC

[George C]

We booked the SZ guarantee twice , was upgrade to a SS once which we loved other time we took a upsell to a SA which is great, I would be happy to do the SZ guarantee again.

[freanesi]

Thank you for your comments. It is a lot clearer to me now. I like the midship location and would not be happy either at the bow or aft of the ship. I guess I just have to decide. :)