3 Day Sale

[CJcruzer]

our fall 2020 cruise did not apply, but I did a quick check on our spring 2019 Asia cruise,

 

The cruise now is a little over $600 pp more!  I already have prepaid gratuities and two $25 beverage cards, which is worth more than the OBC I would get with this 3 day sale.

 

Guess I booked that cruise at the right time!!  

[DaveOKC]

I looked at my Sept and Dec upcoming cruises and it seems (from the website) that the Sept will not apply, but the Dec will.  Will call my PCC today for the extra $300 in OBC.

[ger_77]

When I went online and did a dummy booking, nothing showed up, so I called our TA.  She checked into it for me and voila!  We just doubled our OBC, and our fare went down $200 pp. Bonus!

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

[Marylebone37]

Thank you VERY much, Taba, for posting this.  Got an additional $600 OBC to Australia in January 2020.

[BaltimoreCruise]

Thank you for the original post.  I was able to take advantage of a reduced fare and additional HAL OBC for a Caribbean cruise in February, 2020. 

 

BaltimoreCruise

[ddaley822]

Hello! I booked yesterday on a holiday sailing and definitely clicked the radio button for the 3-day sale! It said I would get the OBC and a Beverage card/dining package for having booked a suite. Once booked however, I see no indication of any of these things in the cruise planner. 

Will the OBC be exclusively available for use once on board? RCCL let me use it for pre-cruise purchases which was handy! Thought I read a lot of fine print before clicking 'complete' but clearly not enough. Thanks for any help!

[Ken the cruiser]

5 minutes ago, ddaley822 said:

Hello! I booked yesterday on a holiday sailing and definitely clicked the radio button for the 3-day sale! It said I would get the OBC and a Beverage card/dining package for having booked a suite. Once booked however, I see no indication of any of these things in the cruise planner. 

Will the OBC be exclusively available for use once on board? RCCL let me use it for pre-cruise purchases which was handy! Thought I read a lot of fine print before clicking 'complete' but clearly not enough. Thanks for any help!

You may want to check your Cruise Confirmation to make sure the added perks and OBC are listed there as from our experience any HAL OBC usually doesn’t show up in the cruise planner. 

 

As as far as using HAL OBC to prebook excursions, they do not offer that option unlike many other cruise lines. 

[ddaley822]

14 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

You may want to check your Cruise Confirmation to make sure the added perks and OBC are listed there as from our experience any HAL OBC usually doesn’t show up in the cruise planner. 

 

As as far as using HAL OBC to prebook excursions, they do not offer that option unlike many other cruise lines. 

Thanks so much for your reply! I had gotten the confirmation email but missed the PDF attachment in the far far bottom left of the email. It lists everything on there so I will stop worrying! 

 

Now I am wondering if I would need to book those dining experiences once on board as well since they're not in the cruise planner..

[Ken the cruiser]

17 minutes ago, ddaley822 said:

Thanks so much for your reply! I had gotten the confirmation email but missed the PDF attachment in the far far bottom left of the email. It lists everything on there so I will stop worrying! 

 

Now I am wondering if I would need to book those dining experiences once on board as well since they're not in the cruise planner..

I believe you have to book them onboard since there is no means available online to reserve them using your free specialty dining perk in lieu of prepaying for them with a credit card.

Edited June 26, 2019 by Ken the cruiser

[ddaley822]

1 minute ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I believe you have to book them onboard since there is no means available online to reserve them using your free specialty dining perk in lieu of prepaying for it with a credit card.

Thanks, Ken! Sounds like I've got a first activity all lined up for embarkation day. haha

[Shmoo here]

23 minutes ago, ddaley822 said:

Now I am wondering if I would need to book those dining experiences once on board as well since they're not in the cruise planner..

Usually, when a dinner is included in the perks, when you board the ship, you'll receive a card in your room stating what day/what time your reservation is.

 

You don't book it yourself.  

 

That said, if the date/time isn't one you want, you can go to the location and change it.

 

 

[DaveOKC]

The OBC can ONLY be used once onboard, even for excursions (I sure wish HAL would change this!!!).

 

 

[Ken the cruiser]

8 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

The OBC can ONLY be used once onboard, even for excursions (I sure wish HAL would change this!!!).

 

 

What we usually do if we have a bunch of nonrefundable OBC and don’t need to use it to pay for gratuities, is to go to the Shore Excursions desk and cancel then immediately rebook enough of our prepaid HAL excursions to convert our excess nonrefundable OBC to refundable. The only caveat is that you have to convert excursions that have not been sold out yet, as you may become waitlisted on those. 

Edited June 26, 2019 by Ken the cruiser

[Hawaiidan]

Does it bother  anyone  how HAL prices fluctuate all over the place... up down  sideways, hundreds  and hundreds  of dollars.    Looking at it it looks like they can do this because of  serious over pricing that allows them to  have  such rubber -rates .   Seems like a crap shoot at to what you get...    

 

Looking at other lines that have solid reliable stable prices  why does HAL   look like a flea market sale.. ???   .

[teltrainer]

Thanks so much for the OP for sharing this sale!  We gained $300 on our November 2019 cruise.

[510picker]

Thanks for the tip! Contacted my PCC and doubled our OBC! Thank you!

[taxmantoo]

39 minutes ago, Hawaiidan said:

Does it bother  anyone  how HAL prices fluctuate all over the place... up down  sideways, hundreds  and hundreds  of dollars.    Looking at it it looks like they can do this because of  serious over pricing that allows them to  have  such rubber -rates .   Seems like a crap shoot at to what you get...    

 

Looking at other lines that have solid reliable stable prices  why does HAL   look like a flea market sale.. ???   .

No different than airlines, hotels, all-inclusive resorts, or any other consumer products for that matter.

If you do not like to see prices fluctuate, book at a price you are comfortable with and never look at it again.  When the time comes, enjoy your vacation knowing you got what you paid for and move on.  

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, Hawaiidan said:

Does it bother  anyone  how HAL prices fluctuate all over the place... up down  sideways, hundreds  and hundreds  of dollars.    Looking at it it looks like they can do this because of  serious over pricing that allows them to  have  such rubber -rates .   Seems like a crap shoot at to what you get...    

 

Looking at other lines that have solid reliable stable prices  why does HAL   look like a flea market sale.. ???   .

We see the same on Celebrity and Princess. We usually book when a cruise first comes out so we get the cabin we want. Then for the next 18 months or so, we do fake bookings weekly to see if anything has changed (eg, if the price goes up/down, new added promotions, etc). Then if it makes economical sense, we refare our booking. Funny thing was it took us 5 HAL cruises before we figured this game out and started collecting promotional perks. It took us another 5 cruises and the help from a person we met on CC before we realized the value of a TA when it comes to collecting even more perks. Now that we have over 35 cruises under our belt over these past 7 years and we’re still learning.

Edited June 26, 2019 by Ken the cruiser

[Vineyard View]

18 hours ago, DeeniEncinitas said:

That also happened with us in our cruise!

Denise😊

PS we left it the same

We did the same Denise. Answer is always no unless you ask though! 

[SumoCitrus]

Just booked my first Neptune Suite! So excited!!!  😁

[Shmoo here]

I have a question.  When this situation comes up (a sale/promotion better than what you already have), do you have to pay the new cost for the cruise to apply it?  Assuming that the cost is higher than when you made the original reservation.

 

Or is it just a "add new perks to already existing reservation", keeping whatever, if any, perks you already have, and getting more at no additional cost?

[CJcruzer]

20 minutes ago, Shmoo here said:

I have a question.  When this situation comes up (a sale/promotion better than what you already have), do you have to pay the new cost for the cruise to apply it?  Assuming that the cost is higher than when you made the original reservation.

 

Or is it just a "add new perks to already existing reservation", keeping whatever, if any, perks you already have, and getting more at no additional cost?

 

whatever the price of the new promo is, that will be what your reservation will be re-fared.  Some people have it added, but that may be because their price is the same as the promo price, so in essence get extra benefits.   If you originally booked at a lower cruise price, then evaluate if the new benefits will offset any price increases.

 

That being said, I think the pricing also reflects what categories have more or less availability,  and also, itinerary,  so perhaps that accounts for some having it added with no change in price, some have found their cruise dropped in price even with the new promo, others have found price increases. 

 

 

 

 

[Ryten]

We booked a Lanai for a November cruise a couple of months ago. I saw this promotion and were able to upgrade to a Signature Suite (difference in cost $371) but received the $300 OBC, $50 drink card and the two dinners. By my accounts I was able to upgrade and am at least $10 better off than not upgrading. (We're 4 star and obviously assuming we would have spent the same amount regardless). I had my PCC shaking his head over the phone.

[taxmantoo]

1 hour ago, Ryten said:

We booked a Lanai for a November cruise a couple of months ago. I saw this promotion and were able to upgrade to a Signature Suite (difference in cost $371) but received the $300 OBC, $50 drink card and the two dinners. By my accounts I was able to upgrade and am at least $10 better off than not upgrading. (We're 4 star and obviously assuming we would have spent the same amount regardless). I had my PCC shaking his head over the phone.

???

There are no ships that have BOTH Lanai staterooms AND Signature Suites.  You must have upgraded to a Vista Suite.

 

This thread is about the 3-day sale which ends today.  The upgrade you are referring to (OBC, drink card, Pinnacle dinners) was part of the "Oceans of Extras" promotion a few weeks ago. 

 

We actually got the Oceans of Extras promotion added to our cruise in November back then and then yesterday got the 3-day sale promotion added as well without refaring. We were already paying less than both promotions so they just added the benefits.

 

Just setting the record straight so as not to confuse anyone 😉

[zelker]

14 minutes ago, taxmantoo said:

???

There are no ships that have BOTH Lanai staterooms AND Signature Suites.  You must have upgraded to a Vista Suite.

 

This thread is about the 3-day sale which ends today.  The upgrade you are referring to (OBC, drink card, Pinnacle dinners) was part of the "Oceans of Extras" promotion a few weeks ago. 

 

We actually got the Oceans of Extras promotion added to our cruise in November back then and then yesterday got the 3-day sale promotion added as well without refaring. We were already paying less than both promotions so they just added the benefits.

 

Just setting the record straight so as not to confuse anyone 😉

 

Actually if you book a suite (as Ryten did) during the 3 Day Sale, you DO get a beverage card and the Dining Package in addition to the higher OBC.