Free Cruise Offer - Has anybody received this?

[Tapi]

Hi. I received this email from HAL today offering a free inside stateroom on select sailings. Has anybody received it and taken advantage of it? Is it legit? 
 

 

[cwd79]

Yes, I received this earlier today. I got a casino offer email last Friday with similar offers for free interior room and casino play... But when I called on the casino offers, they wanted everything paid once you book and with everything going on I didn't want money tied up in that. 

[The-Inside-Cabin]

I live is San Diego. Will probably jump on those RT out of here. Will book at last second however.


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[charlnel]

I received the Casino offer and talked to someone today. I was looking at one for April 2021 and was told I could pay a deposit now and the balance in January.

[victory2020]

Too small for me to read - is there a booking code or can you just call & get that rate? 

[YXU AC*SE]

 

46 minutes ago, victory2020 said:

Too small for me to read - is there a booking code or can you just call & get that rate? 

 

No   the offer is targeted only.    Set out below are the terms and conditions.    Scott. 

Terms & Conditions:

 

*Fares and offers are based on Promo UYC. ID number must be presented at time of booking to receive these fares, which are available to the recipient(s) of this mailing only. Featured fares are per person based on double occupancy. Fares are in Canadian dollars. All savings amounts are included in the fares shown. Taxes, Fees & Port Expenses are additional and range from $130.00 to $591.50. Subject to availability. Additional savings applies to cruise fare only, is based on trade and stateroom category on a space-available basis at time of booking and do not apply to voyages longer than 20 days. Grand voyages and segments are excluded. Offer has limited space regardless of cabin availability. Discounts and offer may change without notice. Savings discounts are combinable with the lowest fare for which the qualified guest is eligible at time of booking and applies to first two guests in a stateroom only. Named guest must be first passenger booked in the stateroom to qualify for the offer. Third and Fourth guest fares are not eligible. Offer is available to select Guests who are 21 years of age or older and receive this offer. Offers are not transferable, apply to new bookings only and are not combinable with select offers including, but not limited to, complimentary beverage packages, Interline, Casino offers, Travel Agent or Friends and Family rates, and Shareholder benefits. Ships’ Registry: The Netherlands.

 

Offers must be booked between 5/7/20 and 6/5/20. Offer is valid on sailings listed here. Not valid on previously booked cruises; new bookings only. Offer is subject to availability. Offer may be redeemed only by the guest names in the offer. The guest’s name and Mariner ID must match the information contained in the offer communications. 

 

Complimentary stateroom offer applies to cruise fare only. Guests are responsible for all other cruise-related and travel expenses including but not limited to Taxes, Fees & Port Expenses, onboard purchases, shore excursions, travel to/from the port and hotel accommodations. If the category offered is sold out or not available on selected sailing, then the offer can be applied to the next available lower category. Holland America Line’s standard cancellation fees will apply to cancellations and no-shows for any reason and will be assessed based on the prevailing cruise fare at the time of booking. Guests are required to provide valid credit card information at time of booking. A charge will be made as a deposit equivalent to USD$200 per guest at time of booking in the event of a cancellation or no-show (applies to first two guests in a stateroom only). The deposit will be refunded as an Onboard Credit once on board. Prevailing cruise fare for 3rd/4th guests will apply. The cruise related and other travel expenses noted above shall apply to your complimentary guest.

 

 

 

 

[msmayor]

I received the offer the other day, and posted about it.

 

While it 'is' a free stateroom, when you book you must pay $200pp which is returned to you as OBC when you sail.  

 

We routinely received casino offers with free staterooms but this is the first time they require $200 up front, returned later.  My guess is this is to help improve cash flow and provide the refunds to those whose sailings now have been cancelled.

 

Husband and I are considering one of the cruises for next spring - the pricing on the Neptune suite is wonderful and nice casino perks as well.

[victory2020]

9 minutes ago, YXU AC*SE said:

 

 

No   the offer is targeted only.    Set out below are the terms and conditions.    Scott. 

Terms & Conditions:

 

*Fares and offers are based on Promo UYC. ID number must be presented at time of booking to receive these fares, which are available to the recipient(s) of this mailing only. Featured fares are per person based on double occupancy. Fares are in Canadian dollars. All savings amounts are included in the fares shown. Taxes, Fees & Port Expenses are additional and range from $130.00 to $591.50. Subject to availability. Additional savings applies to cruise fare only, is based on trade and stateroom category on a space-available basis at time of booking and do not apply to voyages longer than 20 days. Grand voyages and segments are excluded. Offer has limited space regardless of cabin availability. Discounts and offer may change without notice. Savings discounts are combinable with the lowest fare for which the qualified guest is eligible at time of booking and applies to first two guests in a stateroom only. Named guest must be first passenger booked in the stateroom to qualify for the offer. Third and Fourth guest fares are not eligible. Offer is available to select Guests who are 21 years of age or older and receive this offer. Offers are not transferable, apply to new bookings only and are not combinable with select offers including, but not limited to, complimentary beverage packages, Interline, Casino offers, Travel Agent or Friends and Family rates, and Shareholder benefits. Ships’ Registry: The Netherlands.

 

Offers must be booked between 5/7/20 and 6/5/20. Offer is valid on sailings listed here. Not valid on previously booked cruises; new bookings only. Offer is subject to availability. Offer may be redeemed only by the guest names in the offer. The guest’s name and Mariner ID must match the information contained in the offer communications. 

 

Complimentary stateroom offer applies to cruise fare only. Guests are responsible for all other cruise-related and travel expenses including but not limited to Taxes, Fees & Port Expenses, onboard purchases, shore excursions, travel to/from the port and hotel accommodations. If the category offered is sold out or not available on selected sailing, then the offer can be applied to the next available lower category. Holland America Line’s standard cancellation fees will apply to cancellations and no-shows for any reason and will be assessed based on the prevailing cruise fare at the time of booking. Guests are required to provide valid credit card information at time of booking. A charge will be made as a deposit equivalent to USD$200 per guest at time of booking in the event of a cancellation or no-show (applies to first two guests in a stateroom only). The deposit will be refunded as an Onboard Credit once on board. Prevailing cruise fare for 3rd/4th guests will apply. The cruise related and other travel expenses noted above shall apply to your complimentary guest.

 

 

 

 

Thank you

[jbecker6469]

Note in the conditions:  You cannot use the Shareholder Benefit of OBC with this Casino Offer.  The rates are awesome, and they are for a guarantee stateroom.  You can use a FCD to book  and get the OBC that goes with it.  Very tempting.

 

This is the first time I have received a Casino offer that included 250.00 free play and free drinks while playing.  

Edited May 8, 2020 by jbecker6469
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[taba]

17 hours ago, Tapi said:

Hi. I received this email from HAL today offering a free inside stateroom on select sailings. Has anybody received it and taken advantage of it? Is it legit? 
 

 

 

 

I received this offer last week. I looked it over, considered it,and then decided you can't pay me to be on a cruise until there is a vaccine. My next cruise won't be until late 2021 or sometime in 2022. I may book one for late next year so that I can start planning.

 

Stay well everyone,

 

Taba

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Some good deals 

[mollygirl]

I received this offer and all I can say is be careful, very careful.  My offer was for a free inside with $100 free play and drinks in the casino.  I called and booked an 11-night out of Ft Laud for March 2021.  The offer said  upgrades available.  Ocean view from $99 and Veranda from $199.  I obviously didn’t pay attention to the word ‘from’ and asked to be upgraded to a veranda thinking it would be an extra $199 per person, and the agent I booked with had the same understanding during our conversation.  Well, they made up the booking and included an upcharge of $599 per person for the veranda!  Plus we had to pay $200 each for the deposit to be returned as OBC on the sailing, plus taxes and port fees.  The total had to be paid at the time of booking.  I failed to have the veranda upcharge clarified and told the agent to go ahead with the charge (big mistake!).  After seeing the numbers on the booking confirmation, my husband said no way are we paying that much for a veranda upcharge, so I tried to cancel the booking to find we would not get back $238 of our money as that amount was not refundable.  Since we didn’t want to lose that amt, we switched to a 7-night with an upcharge of $399 per person for the veranda, which I feel is still too much.  But my husband wanted to be able to have fresh air in the cabin with all this virus stuff going on.   So for a 7-night Cruise, we ended up having to pay $1746.  Would you consider that a free cruise?  Sorry for the length of this but I wanted to explain everything.  Lesson learned for me!

 

 

[GRACECRUISE]

We got this offer in January and booked our 11 day March Caribbean cruise with it.  We did upgrade to a nice Veranda.  It cost 3 of us $1800 total.  It would of been a great cruise.   Of course, it was cancelled. 

 

 

I hope we get another offer.  

[Sir PMP]

Yep, they need cash...

[The-Inside-Cabin]

I heard from my TA that many people who normally book inside cabins, are now refusing to consider inside cabins because they don't want to get quarantined in an inside cabin. 

 

I don't think that there were be much (any cruising going on) until the risk of quarantines is over.

 

[vswan]

Sent my PCC an email request for info about a specific 10 day cruise in Feb. 2021. The cost to upgrade to a balcony on that sailing was $599pp, not $199pp. Taxes and fees were $180pp. So basically the 10 day cruise was $780pp plus the $200PP deposit which switches to OBC. If the OBC can be used for the DSC this would be a really good deal. Have sailed inside, OV and balcony cabins, but right now am not comfortable without the "escape hatch" of the balcony. The $200PP deposit would be due now, the remainder not until November.

 

For us, this is tempting. We have FCC to use from NCL and would be able to jump on this the day after getting off of that - making one airfare trip. A savings and a lengthy escape from the cold weather in MN. Our major concern is if there may be delays from first cruise, quarentines, etc and we could miss boarding the second cruise all together....

[Alabaster Cruiser]

Is anyone still getting these offers?  I was hoping to be in the next round but still have not received one.  We do receive free cabin offers from Holland occasionally.

Edited May 16, 2020 by Alabaster Cruiser

[bz]

I received one last week.  When my TA checked it out (We were going for a suite) it was a very good deal.  The code was a casino code, which is interesting because I've never spent more than $40 per cruise in the casino.  With all the changes up top and big layoffs, all the uncertainty in what a cruise will be like in Jan/Feb, we decided to pass, maybe pick something up last minute in February.

[Hlitner]

I will just toss out a few thoughts.  Yes, there seem to be some amazing deals out there, especially when folks use the huge FCCs given out like candy.  There were 10s of thousands of folks cancelled...many of whom got big amounts of FCCs.  CCL is bleeding cash at nearly $1 Billion a month, which will be somewhat reduced once they get the crew members home (somehow) and can put more ships into a warm or cold lay-up situation with only maintenance crews aboard. 

 

So, given the bleeding of cash, all those terrific deals (where cruise lines cannot make money) how do you expect the cruise line to survive long enough to honor all these deals?  Just saying.

 

The best deals are not worth much if the company offering the deal is no longer in business.  Will CCL and its cruise companies survive?  I have no idea, but if they cannot make money on future cruises they will certainly fail.

 

Hank

[DaveOKC]

These casino Offers are nice, but two things to consider with them 1) no stockholder credit allowed and 2) you can only get a guarantee cabin (because of this, I would spend a bit more and step up to a balcony or suite).

 

If you get this offer, also look at what your cost would be by using the casino Discount (you should qualify for this).  You likely will pay more, but you get to select your cabin, thus avoiding being stuck in a poor location).

 

[leela8]

I have used these offers before. The 199.00 upgrade charge are for the obstructed balcony cabins with the lifeboats, which is better than an inside cabin so we took it and I got to pick which cabin I wanted.

[mollygirl]

5 hours ago, leela8 said:

I have used these offers before. The 199.00 upgrade charge are for the obstructed balcony cabins with the lifeboats, which is better than an inside cabin so we took it and I got to pick which cabin I wanted.

Not in this case.  The cheapest upcharge for any balcony was $599 per person with an 11-night Caribbean cruise.  Now the amt may be tied to your past gambling record, and I am not a big gambler.  We did switch to a 7-night and the upcharge for a balcony was $399 which we took.

[madera1]

My almost 99 year old mother got this offer. She will be not taking it. Thank goodness she got to Alaska last year.

[VTcruisenut]

So I received the free offer and decided to go out on a limb and book it for next March.  I talked to my HAL cruise contact and told him I needed to firm up my plans with a friend first. The offer required us to pay $200 per person for the Oceanview cabin at free with $250 casino play and drinks.  My consultant put a HOLD on the cabin for 24 hours he said and we were to call in on Friday to make the $200 payment.  I called several times on Friday to upgrade to a balcony and to pay and left him 4 messages.  Also left 2 messages on the general voice mail.  I got concerned we would lose the deal so I went on the website and entered my reservation code to make the payment online.  The payment wouldn't process!  Called my credit card company, it was not my card or their issue, but a HAL issue.  I got home from work and heard on the news 2000 employees of HAL were laid off.  Here it is Monday a.m. and no call back and I can't process the payment.  I'm not sure I want them holding my $$$ up either and at this point it doesn't look good for cruising even next March............sigh.  hopeful for another offer when this mess is over! 

[YXU AC*SE]

6 minutes ago, VTcruisenut said:

So I received the free offer ...

 

I rec'd the same offer (promo code UYC) -- I haven't bothered calling, my TA is furloughed.   Were you able to hold a specific cabin in the class w/ this promo?        Scott.