Identifying "suites" earning double Mariner Society credit

[DaveOKC]

1 hour ago, Tampa Girl said:

 

I thought that if you were "up sold" into a suite, you would get the points?  No?  I realize that merely being upgraded would not suffice.

No, the upsells do not qualify you.  Unless of course you upsold yourself and paid the going rate for the suite.

 

[*Miss G*]

23 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

No, the upsells do not qualify you.  Unless of course you upsold yourself and paid the going rate for the suite.

 

 

But good luck trying to get them to honor that.  I did that exact thing last summer and we’re still at an impasse.  In fact, they even gave me less credits than I was supposed to get.  I let it go until my nerves can handle a phone call because emails didn’t work. 

Edited April 21, 2019 by *Miss G*

[boards]

2 hours ago, catl331 said:

Only if you pay a "published fare". That is, if the price for the original booking plus the differential equals the going suite price: the published fare. Most upsells only pay just a part of that difference.

 

• Suite Bonus Earn double Cruise Day credits when you pay a published fare for a spacious suite or penthouse on your next cruise. For example, a guest who pays published fare for suite accommodations for a 10-day cruise earns 20 Cruise Day credits.

That is what I found out after we had upgraded.   We had hoped we would get the bonus points.  We are 4 star now, so we get about all the extra perks we will expect to realize.

[knittinggirl]

On some of the smaller ships (Rotterdam, Veendam, etc) you need to book at least a Vista Suite to get any type of private balcony.

 

Coming from Royal Caribbean's Junior Suites, the Signature Suite is the closest equivalent.  

 

We've never EVER gotten an upgrade, but were offered a few upsales from Vista to Neptune on Voyage of the Vikings.  Unfortunately, their offer was still too high for our budget.

 

I'd suggest doing a search for your preferred itinerary.  They check out the Inside stateroom price compared to other cruises w/ that itinerary & date.  Any type of suite should start at 3 to 4 times the cost of the Inside.

[Tampa Girl]

3 hours ago, catl331 said:

Only if you pay a "published fare". That is, if the price for the original booking plus the differential equals the going suite price: the published fare. Most upsells only pay just a part of that difference.

 

• Suite Bonus Earn double Cruise Day credits when you pay a published fare for a spacious suite or penthouse on your next cruise. For example, a guest who pays published fare for suite accommodations for a 10-day cruise earns 20 Cruise Day credits.

Got it!  Thanks.

 

[RandoCalrissian]

On 4/19/2019 at 5:19 PM, GSP-parents said:

For instance, how would you search for the lowest priced vista suites in a 6 to 13 night round trip cruise during the first six months of 2020 from a U.S. port?

 

 

 

 

These are the cheapest per-day suites (Vista, Signature, Neptune), including port fees, for the first half of 2020.  They start around $200 per day, double occupancy.

 

04/15/2020    Maasdam    San Diego     12    Vista
04/03/2020    Maasdam    San Diego     12    Vista
04/18/2020    Oosterdam    San Diego     7    Signature
03/07/2020    Oosterdam    San Diego     7    Signature
03/14/2020    Oosterdam    San Diego     7    Signature
01/11/2020    Oosterdam    San Diego     7    Signature
01/04/2020    Oosterdam    San Diego     7    Signature
02/29/2020    Oosterdam    San Diego     7    Signature
01/12/2020    Nieuw Statendam    Fort Lauderdale     7    Vista
01/05/2020    Nieuw Statendam    Fort Lauderdale     7    Vista
01/26/2020    Nieuw Statendam    Fort Lauderdale     7    Vista

 

The NS ones in January are also available as 14 day collectors for about the same price.

 

[LetsGoToo]

On 4/21/2019 at 11:24 AM, *Miss G* said:

 

But good luck trying to get them to honor that.  I did that exact thing last summer and we’re still at an impasse.  In fact, they even gave me less credits than I was supposed to get.  I let it go until my nerves can handle a phone call because emails didn’t work. 

Wondering how this resolved for you. 
 

I originally booked an ocean view. I later called and paid the price on the website to move to a Signature Suite. After that, I used an upgrade order to a Neptune Suite. 
 

HAL is telling me that because I didn’t originally book a suite, I don’t get the bonus points. I realize that’s not what the website says. 
 

Any suggestions to get the bonus points?

[*Miss G*]

1 minute ago, LetsGoToo said:

Wondering how this resolved for you. 
 

I originally booked an ocean view. I later called and paid the price on the website to move to a Signature Suite. After that, I used an upgrade order to a Neptune Suite. 
 

HAL is telling me that because I didn’t originally book a suite, I don’t get the bonus points. I realize that’s not what the website says. 
 

Any suggestions to get the bonus points?

 

I had screenshots of everything (including a screenshot of the advertised price I paid when I upgraded) and got nowhere via email.  (Three back-and-forths.)  In fact, the price dropped even further for the suite after I’d paid so I also had a screenshot of that.  In addition, I took a screenshot of their own policy as further proof.

 

 

The problem lies with their booking system.  Although I had initially booked a balcony before changing my mind and purchasing a suite instead, POLAR (their booking system) retains your initial booking as the one you had.  Therefore, the Mariner Society (which awards the points) sees that and goes from there.

 

Eventually I called the Mariner Society directly.  The person I was speaking with tried to convince me I was wrong and that their calculations were correct.  The moment I mentioned that I had paid an advertised fare for the suite, she awarded the points.  Good luck!

 

[LetsGoToo]

27 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

 

I had screenshots of everything (including a screenshot of the advertised price I paid when I upgraded) and got nowhere via email.  (Three back-and-forths.)  In fact, the price dropped even further for the suite after I’d paid so I also had a screenshot of that.  In addition, I took a screenshot of their own policy as further proof.

 

 

The problem lies with their booking system.  Although I had initially booked a balcony before changing my mind and purchasing a suite instead, POLAR (their booking system) retains your initial booking as the one you had.  Therefore, the Mariner Society (which awards the points) sees that and goes from there.

 

Eventually I called the Mariner Society directly.  The person I was speaking with tried to convince me I was wrong and that their calculations were correct.  The moment I mentioned that I had paid an advertised fare for the suite, she awarded the points.  Good luck!

 

Thank you! I tried telling the person I spoke with that, too, and she kept insisting that I had to originally book a suite for the bonus points. 
 

I’ll call again in a couple days and see if the next person will award the points. Thank you again!

[*Miss G*]

3 minutes ago, LetsGoToo said:

Thank you! I tried telling the person I spoke with that, too, and she kept insisting that I had to originally book a suite for the bonus points. 
 

I’ll call again in a couple days and see if the next person will award the points. Thank you again!

 

Good luck and let us know how it works out!  The failed email attempts at correcting the account had 3 different people telling me no.  Judging by their responses, they were offshore workers as they didn’t have a good command of the English language.  The person I spoke with when I called was very nice and English was definitely their first language.  I mention that because it was easier to get my point across with the English speaker.  It would be nice if their booking system could record the transaction accurately so they could just see what happened instead of us having to fight for it.

[FlaMariner]

On 4/19/2019 at 5:19 PM, GSP-parents said:

how would you search for the lowest priced vista suites in a 6 to 13 night round trip cruise during the first six months of 2020 from a U.S. port?

 

the very big online TA we use makes this easy......

 

You can search by lowest suite price and then sort by daily pp cost......I wish I could tell you who but then I would be sent back to cruises critic jail.  I don't look good in an orange unless I'm at the Orange party.

 

 

[LetsGoToo]

On 3/6/2023 at 12:45 PM, LetsGoToo said:

Thank you! I tried telling the person I spoke with that, too, and she kept insisting that I had to originally book a suite for the bonus points. 
 

I’ll call again in a couple days and see if the next person will award the points. Thank you again!

 

So to follow up, I finally called again today and got no push back. The additional points for the suite were added to my account before I got off the phone. Thanks again for your help on this!

[AKJonesy]

On 4/19/2019 at 1:10 PM, catl331 said:

The higher in the alphabet, the higher the price. On the oldest 7 ships, that's A highest down to BC lowest. On the two newest 2 ships it's AS down to BC.

@GSP-parents grab the pdf for any HAL ship and you will see these suite staterooms.  Just google Holland America (ship name) stateroom pdf.  On the Pinnacle class ships (Rotterdam, Nieuw Statendam, Koningsdam) as mentioned it's AS down to BC.  On the older ships it's A down to BC.  That might help.  

[Bgwest]

New here. Very useful information.

Thank you

[Ksqrd]

If you are in a suite and get double points, do you also get the spending bonus on top of the double suite points?

 

[FlaMariner]

16 minutes ago, Ksqrd said:

If you are in a suite and get double points, do you also get the spending bonus on top of the double suite points?

 

 

Yes....

 

From the HAL website.....

 

As a member, you’ll earn Cruise Day credits for every day you cruise and for each purchase you make onboard. Earn bonus credits when you pay a published fare for a suite or penthouse and for each $300 in eligible onboard purchases.

[Blackduck59]

As discussed earlier, to get the suite bonus you have to have booked and paid the price for the suite. Apparently upgrades don't count. Now an interesting quirk of the HIA package is that they credit what would be the full list price if you drank all 15 drinks at $11.00, as well as the retail price of all the other things in the package so your daily spending is pretty much covered by HIA. We went on an 11 day cruise in as vista suite (Zaandam) with HIA and we each came away with 33 mariner points. I really didn't understand how that happened at the time, I just took the points and that was that. It has since been explained.

[FlaMariner]

2 hours ago, FlaMariner said:

Earn bonus credits when you pay a published fare for a suite

 

This above from the HAL website is the disclosure that you do not get "bonus" points for suites purchased as an upgrade as an upgrade is not a "published fare".