"Onboard" purchases and Mariner Society

[Arrowinc]

I apologize in advance if this question has been asked and answered in the past, but didn't see anything on point when doing a search.  We have 19 points to go before attaining 4-star status, and are booked for a Caribbean cruise in February, 2020 using one of the non-refundable deposit promotions.  As to the "onboard" purchase bonus points: (a) are they awarded for a pre-purchase of the signature beverage package based upon the total price; (b) if we do not purchase that package but instead purchase individual beverages on board, are points awarded based upon the total of those purchases; (c) do points apply to the "flight-ease" program and/or HAL-booked pre- and post-cruise hotels; (d) do points result from our pre-rental retreat cabana?  Thanks much.

[catl331]

No to (c), yes to the other three.

[Daisyloo]

19 minutes ago, Arrowinc said:

I apologize in advance if this question has been asked and answered in the past, but didn't see anything on point when doing a search.  We have 19 points to go before attaining 4-star status, and are booked for a Caribbean cruise in February, 2020 using one of the non-refundable deposit promotions.  As to the "onboard" purchase bonus points: (a) are they awarded for a pre-purchase of the signature beverage package based upon the total price; (b) if we do not purchase that package but instead purchase individual beverages on board, are points awarded based upon the total of those purchases; (c) do points apply to the "flight-ease" program and/or HAL-booked pre- and post-cruise hotels; (d) do points result from our pre-rental retreat cabana?  Thanks much.

 

I'm pretty sure any on board spending counts towards your bonus points. (not a FCD purchase).  Things purchased prior to the cruise count too, like the beverage package, excursions, dinner in the specialty restaurants, wine packages etc.

I pretty sure flights, hotels etc don't count, as the bonus points are for "on board" spending.  I would think the cabana rental would count. 

In our experience, Hal is very generous with their awarding of points.  

[rafinmd]

I think the one other thing that doesn’t count is casino spending.

 

Roy

[Arrowinc]

The website excludes casino spending, which isn't a problem for us.  The rest of the answers make sense, and I appreciate the quick responses.

[RocketMan275]

52 minutes ago, Arrowinc said:

The website excludes casino spending, which isn't a problem for us.  The rest of the answers make sense, and I appreciate the quick responses.

Just to emphasize, HAL is generous with on-board spending credits.  I believe we were about 30 or 40 points below the 3* requirements but HAL promoted us.  I did ask the concierge if we should go buy some more stuff and she said that it would be 'taken care of, not to worry'.  

I'm surprised HAL didn't bump you up with only 19 credits to go.  That's only a couple of glasses of wine or a couple of t-shirts.

 

If I were in your position, I would call the Mariner society and see if they could not arrange for 4*s prior to your next cruise.

[GrammieK]

Really?  I thought each point was a day on board (2 each day for a suite) or equal to $300 on board spending?  Maybe I'm misunderstanding?

[mrmoviezombie]

One thing to note, those pre-cruise spending amounts don't count until after the cruise. They don't credit mariner points as you spend. They are only tallied up at the end of a cruise.

[sevenseasnomad]

17 minutes ago, GrammieK said:

Really?  I thought each point was a day on board (2 each day for a suite) or equal to $300 on board spending?  Maybe I'm misunderstanding?

You are correct, although as others have said HAL is generous.  In the past if I spent $280 (or another amount close to $300) onboard, HAL bumps it to $300, giving me an additional day.  ALL points are calculated after the cruise.  I have noticed that my points don't show up until I've fully paid the subsequent credit card charges related to the cruise.  I do have the HAL credit card, so I don't know if this fact figures into the award system or not.  

[catl331]

1 hour ago, RocketMan275 said:

I'm surprised HAL didn't bump you up with only 19 credits to go.  That's only a couple of glasses of wine or a couple of t-shirts.

It's not 1 credit per dollar spent, it's 1 credit for each $300 spent. To get 19 credits you would have to spend $5,700 and be on a cruise that's 19 days or longer.   HAL did not "bump us up" when we needed only 3 credits to make 4*, and did not until after we had completed our next cruise.

 

Edited July 28, 2019 by catl331

[GrammieK]

2 hours ago, sevenseasnomad said:

You are correct, although as others have said HAL is generous.  In the past if I spent $280 (or another amount close to $300) onboard, HAL bumps it to $300, giving me an additional day.  ALL points are calculated after the cruise.  I have noticed that my points don't show up until I've fully paid the subsequent credit card charges related to the cruise.  I do have the HAL credit card, so I don't know if this fact figures into the award system or not.  

 

2 hours ago, catl331 said:

It's not 1 credit per dollar spent, it's 1 credit for each $300 spent. To get 19 credits you would have to spend $5,700 and be on a cruise that's 19 days or longer.   HAL did not "bump us up" when we needed only 3 credits to make 4*, and did not until after we had completed our next cruise.

 

 

Thanks for info. I was pretty sure that was the rule. 

 

Happy sailing!

[RocketMan275]

4 hours ago, catl331 said:

It's not 1 credit per dollar spent, it's 1 credit for each $300 spent. To get 19 credits you would have to spend $5,700 and be on a cruise that's 19 days or longer.   HAL did not "bump us up" when we needed only 3 credits to make 4*, and did not until after we had completed our next cruise.

 

Thanks for the correction.  I had  senior moment of confusion on points vs dollars.  I had been monitoring our points and onboard spending since I really did want to make 3* on that cruise.  IIRC we were at around $200 short of on board spending to get the spending points to meet the requirement but HAL did bump us up.

[TAD2005]

Any pre-cruise purchases, shore excursions, beverage packages, specialty dining, etc, do not count until the cruise is completed.   If they credited the purchases before the cruise, and you cancelled the purchase or the whole cruise, they would have to reverse the credited days.

One interesting point about onboard spending and the $300 per day credit.   We always sail with the SBP, either purchased or as a promotion.   We have completed 25, 26, 28 and 29 day cruises with the SBP, in a regular veranda cabin, NOT a suite.  We have always received an equal number of day spending credits to match the number of days on the ship.  On our last 28 day cruise in March, we received 28 days for the sailing plus 28 days of spending credits.   The SBP cost us $1447 P/P, purchased online, before the cruise.  Our remaining onboard spending was around $1200 because we had prepaid HSC.   So, per person, our total onboard spending, including the prepaid HSC equaled around $3000.   That should have allowed us to get 10 spending day credits for each of us and both DW and I got 28.   28 days X $300 would mean we would have to spend $8400 for the cabin.   There's no way we did that.   There was a post by a CC member on You Tube about the SBP and he says that if you have the SBP, HAL will credit you with the equivalent spending of 15 drinks at the maximum drink price of $9 (as of last March, now it's $11) plus the 15% per day SC, even if you didn't consume 15 drinks.   A $9 drink plus 15% equals $10.35.  Multiply that by 15 drinks and you get $155.25, then by 28 days and you get $4347 per person.   For 2 people in a cabin, you have exceeded the $300 per day (X 28 days) spending credit you are allowed, and they simply credit you with spending credits that equal the number of days of the cruise.  This has happened for the past 5 cruises.   So, the SBP has an unknown side benefit of Mariner points.   And you do NOT have to consume 15 alcoholic drinks per day to make this happen.  Some days, we were off the ship for 24 hours,  (overnight in an overwater bungalow in Bora Bora that we booked on our own), so we had NO ship drinks for that day.  

Edited July 28, 2019 by TAD2005

[crystalspin]

That's an interesting explanation for something I have observed myself, @TAD2005. Hope it keeps on keeping on so that our next 28-day cruise puts us over the 44 points we need to get to 4*.

[Arrowinc]

Thanks very much for all the advice.  It sounds as if we wouldn't be "promoted" until after the cruise, regardless of the number of points involved.  We typically purchase the SBP.  Although probably not cost effective in our case, I like trying new drinks and not fretting about the invoice at the end of the cruise.  We are also renting a retreat cabana, which might help.  Anyway, this is a nice problem to have, and I enjoyed reading everyone's very helpful comments.

[wwcruisers]

First time HAL booking here. As a refugee from RCCL (X and RC before that) the concept of getting loyalty points for purchases is totally foreign to me. So, if you spend $300 onboard, and you start out with $300 of OBC (from your TA) -- does HAL still give you credit for the $300 spent -- or do they subtract-out your OBC, and only credit you with the difference?

 

And, I know that we won't actually get Mariners' credit, until after our first completed cruise. But, if that first cruise is seven nights in a Neptune Suite -- will that start us out at 14 points (plus credit for any onboard purchases)?

 

Here again, please forgive me if these sound like dumb questions -- but, this is the first time in over 8 years that we've tried a new cruise line. I clearly have A LOT to learn about HAL! So, thanks for your patience, everyone!😇

[rafinmd]

2 minutes ago, wwcruisers said:

First time HAL booking here. As a refugee from RCCL (X and RC before that) the concept of getting loyalty points for purchases is totally foreign to me. So, if you spend $300 onboard, and you start out with $300 of OBC (from your TA) -- does HAL still give you credit for the $300 spent -- or do they subtract-out your OBC, and only credit you with the difference?

 

And, I know that we won't actually get Mariners' credit, until after our first completed cruise. But, if that first cruise is seven nights in a Neptune Suite -- will that start us out at 14 points (plus credit for any onboard purchases)?

 

Here again, please forgive me if these sound like dumb questions -- but, this is the first time in over 8 years that we've tried a new cruise line. I clearly have A LOT to learn about HAL! So, thanks for your patience, everyone!😇

I think you are mostly correct.  All your spending counts, be it actually on board or from purchases in advance, and it does not matter if the spending comes from your credit card at the end of the cruise, on board credit, or a gift somebody buys for you.  You will get 14 points for 7 nights in a Neptune Suite.  You will have 0 credits until HAL does a calculation when all the accounting for your cruise has been done, and then the points will be awarded in a lump sum.  One other think, suppose you spend $400 and DH (or DW) spends $400.  HAL will take the total spending for the 2 of you ($800) and round it up to give EACH of you 3 bonus days or 17 points total.

 

One thing you will miss on HAL.  If you buy things in advance on your cruise planner, you cannot use onboard credit to pay for those items it will  be credit card up front. 

 

Have a great cruise.

 

Roy