"COMPLIMENTARY 7 DAY CRUISE" OR NOT

[BENCRUISER]

This commentary was written by my wife, Neola, who received the free cruise offer.

On Tuesday, 16 July I received a casino offer from Holland America. C two hours after the mail was delivered, I called Holland America to redeem my free Cruise. On this call, I was told all casino cruises were sold out -None were available. I was shocked. How can this happen.  This was not a real offer because it was not possible for me to use this offer.  Thinking this could be a mistake, I decided to call again .  This Time I got a more understanding agent who went over the entire list for casino cruises and found one for November 23 in the $299 category.  I only wanted the $199 category.  And this cruise was too close to the Oceania cruise we would be coming off of on November 3.    The total would be approximately $938  which was $200 dollars more than I was willing to spend.  I did not mind paying $199 more each for an obstructed view; but $299 each made it really not a free cruise. I thanked her and asked her to report this unfair practice by the Casino management to her boss. I slept on this and decided to call and talk to some one at Holland America.  After 5 calls and endless recordings I finally got a person.  I told her my experience with trying to get a casino cruise  and she transferred me to customer service.  After listening to music and recordings  I finally got to tell my experience to a real person.  She was very nice.  I asked for a letter informing me that someone in authority would hear about the casino management’s practice of mailing offers that cannot be used.  

Edited July 20, 2019 by BENCRUISER

[Djptcp]

I receive the free cruise offers from the casino several times a year and have for a number of years. Free for Inside, but we always book a Neptune Suite at the drastically reduced prices. I don't always respond as soon as I receive the offer in the mail and have never had a problem booking the cruise I want. You would think the offers would be mailed out the same day so everyone would have an equal chance at booking. I guess the free Insides and nominal cost Over views would sell out quickly. Usually, there is a name and number of a HAL vacation planner on the offer sheet and I always call her, not the HAL 800 number. Don't know if that makes a difference or not.

[CruiserBruce]

So you had umpteen restrictions, and are now complaining they didn't offer you a free cruise that met your tight scheduling? You didn't see any comments in the fine print that "this fare only available on select cruises" or something similar?

[Taters]

You need to jump right on  the casino offers.  When I've received them only by mail, they are usually sold out.  I live in Alaska and in my case, that may have been because mail takes longer to get here.

 

I have been able to take advantage of them when they've been emailed to me, though. 

[kangforpres]

Yea, I got the same offer but couldn't make it work schedule wise. A few years back we did get a Neptune for $599pp for a 7 day Alaska RT which was suite! Like others have said you need to jump on the offers right away. There must be really tight capacity control on these offers considering Club 21 is actually a sub-contractor for HAL and HAL is owned itself by the Giant CCL.

 

As the gambler's always say....."better luck next time"

 

-Paul

[DaveOKC]

to OP:

 

You should ask about the Casino RATE for the cruise you are looking at.  This can be from 0-30% off of the current fare.  With this rate, you can book basically any cruise (some cruises do not offer the rate, but IMO most do) and any cabin (thus you get to select your cabin vs only having a guarantee).  Further, you get all booking perks that are currently being offered to everyone else (including stockholder credit which you cannot use with the casino OFFERS).

 

All in all, IMO, it is almost as good as the casino offers if you are a highly rated player (which you must be as you currently are getting the casino offers)..

Edited July 21, 2019 by DaveOKC

[Wineojim]

Have you ever gotten a casino offer