Gift Card promo is back!!

[rodndonna]

I regretted not buying more last time when we used them to pay off our cruise - woohoo...

 

10% - nothing to sneeze at!!!

 

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/giftcard.html?camp=CME:20210416_HEP2120MP2_USCAD&rmid=20210416_HEP2120MP2_USCAD&rrid=16496602762&lid=primarycta&XID=HEOV160420215712

 

 

[Daniel A]

Three questions please.  Is there a maximum limit to how much each person or stateroom can apply to a single booking?  Is there a limit to how many cards you can purchase?  Does the sailing have to take place before December 31, 2022, or can they be used in 2022 to pay for a 2023 cruise?

 

TIA

[rodndonna]

6 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

Three questions please.  Is there a maximum limit to how much each person or stateroom can apply to a single booking?  Is there a limit to how many cards you can purchase?  Does the sailing have to take place before December 31, 2022, or can they be used in 2022 to pay for a 2023 cruise?

 

TIA

 

T&C here

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/legal-privacy/gift-card-terms-and-conditions.html

 

in short - no  limit to how many or how many you use on a cruise. The 'bonus' cards (the 10% extra) do have expiry on them - not sure if it is you have to 'sail' by end of 2022 or apply them before 2022 end. 

 

 

[Daniel A]

11 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

T&C here

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/legal-privacy/gift-card-terms-and-conditions.html

 

in short - no  limit to how many or how many you use on a cruise. The 'bonus' cards (the 10% extra) do have expiry on them - not sure if it is you have to 'sail' by end of 2022 or apply them before 2022 end. 

I just got off the phone with their gift cards rep.  The bonus cards can be applied to a cruise that sails in 2023, but they will need to be applied to the cruise before Dec 31, 2022.  I was cautioned that you can only buy up to $10,000 worth of cards per day.  But you can go back the next day and buy up to $10,000 again and again until April 27, 2021.

[rodndonna]

9 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

I just got off the phone with their gift cards rep.  The bonus cards can be applied to a cruise that sails in 2023, but they will need to be applied to the cruise before Dec 31, 2022.  I was cautioned that you can only buy up to $10,000 worth of cards per day.  But you can go back the next day and buy up to $10,000 again and again until April 27, 2021.

 

Thanks for getting that expiry clarified. We paid our first cruise with cards but since booked another for May 2022 that we will purchase for.

 

I don't think I have to worry about multiple days at $10,000 a day limit though (-;

 

We will make sure to get enough to cover the cruise and flights this time. 

 

Edited April 16, 2021 by rodndonna

[sfaaa]

10% gift card is a good deal. I passed on this last time because of the uncertainties surrounding COVID, cruising industry and HA financial health. I think the worst is now over. Will seriously looking at buying a few thousand dollars worth of gc.

[mcrcruiser]

imo buying gift cards is like buying CCL stock tight now  .There is no way of telling how successful cruising will be or not be  this year .There is a  financial risk  to be seen  .My question is why is HAL doing this when cruise prices are rising ?

[sfaaa]

Just now, sfaaa said:

10% gift card is a good deal. I passed on this last time because of the uncertainties surrounding COVID, cruise industry and HA financial health. I think the worst is now over. Will seriously looking at buying a few thousand dollars worth of gc.

 

[sfaaa]

1 minute ago, sfaaa said:

.................

 

[Florida_gal_50]

7 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

 

Thanks for getting that expiry clarified. We paid our first cruise with cards but since booked another for May 2022 that we will purchase for.

 

I don't think I have to worry about multiple days at $10,000 a day limit though (-;

 

We will make sure to get enough to cover the cruise and flights this time. 

 

I wish I had $10,000 burning a hole in my pocket ;).  I don't think I'd be giving it to Hal if I did.

[Daniel A]

4 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

imo buying gift cards is like buying CCL stock tight now  .There is no way of telling how successful cruising will be or not be  this year .There is a  financial risk  to be seen  .My question is why is HAL doing this when cruise prices are rising ?

Maybe what I make on CCL stock will pay for my HAL gift cards.  😉🤞

[Daniel A]

10 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

I don't think I have to worry about multiple days at $10,000 a day limit though (-;

 

1 minute ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I wish I had $10,000 burning a hole in my pocket ;).  I don't think I'd be giving it to Hal if I did.

Our bucket list cruise to Hawaii and French Polynesia on Star Princess this month got cancelled, but I was fortunately able to book a replacement on HAL for more days and less money than the Princess cruise.  It isn't a cheap cruise but this promotion helps make it more affordable and we will be able to book nice excursions with the extra cash we save.  Win-win, (or making lemonade out of what we got this year...)

[mcrcruiser]

Took this info from Yahoo Finance when I put in Carnival corp stock symbol CCL :

 

 

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• CUK

  +0.09%

Fri, April 16, 2021, 7:55 AM

 

 

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• CUK

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(Reuters) - Cruise industry executives met with health experts and White House staff earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Friday, following criticism of its guidelines on restarting voyages.

The discussion, which centered around how the pandemic-battered industry could get back into business, comes after the CDC said passengers and crew would need COVID-19 vaccine shots and more frequent testing, but did not give a timeline on when it will lift its ban on cruises.

Carnival Corp, the industry's largest player, had said the instructions were "unworkable" and threatened to shift home ports of its cruise ships to other parts of the world if the United States did not allow it to start sailing.

Industry leaders showed their frustration with the guidelines relating to vaccination requirements and sought to set up a working group with industry and CDC, the agency said in a statement about the meeting that took place on Monday.

The CDC said it wanted to restart sailing in a phased approach, but again did not provide a timeline.

The chief executives of Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Royal Caribbean Group attended the Monday meeting, CNBC reported.

The companies did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.

The state of Florida, where the three companies are based, had earlier this month filed a lawsuit against the CDC, demanding cruise ships be allowed to resume sailing.

"We welcome the CDC's expressed commitment to working with the cruise industry... to address the changes in the science, including the impact of vaccines, that will move us toward our shared goal of responsibly resuming operations this summer," the Cruise Lines International Association said in a statement.

(Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru and David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

 

[rodndonna]

2 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

 

Our bucket list cruise to Hawaii and French Polynesia on Star Princess this month got cancelled, but I was fortunately able to book a replacement on HAL for more days and less money than the Princess cruise.  It isn't a cheap cruise but this promotion helps make it more affordable and we will be able to book nice excursions with the extra cash we save.  Win-win, (or making lemonade out of what we got this year...)

We have 3 cruises in the next 12 months, 2 with HAL. The first we paid off to get 10% prepay discount, and used gift cards to doit with (so an additional 10% discount effectively). As you say  Win-win!!

 

The second cruise wasn't eligible for the prepay discount , so we just paid deposit and held off getting cards at that time to pay for the cruise. We'll get them now though! (-:

 

[mcrcruiser]

From the above it doesn't appear   that the CDC has changed any thing yet to allow cruises to restart this summer  from any USA ports , The cruise lines can restart at  foreign ports but & this is a big but  "How much more will it cost to fly into those foreign ports "?   And what restrictions will those ports place on the cruise line ? 

 

 If the airfares are too high & the accommodations for a pre cruise night are too expensive that surely will limit how many pax are willing to  pay ,to cruise   .This is reality  .imo the cruise enthusiasm  will cool quickly if costs of getting to & from the cruise are excessive along with cruise lines hiking prices 

Edited April 16, 2021 by mcrcruiser

[Daniel A]

4 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

The discussion, which centered around how the pandemic-battered industry could get back into business, comes after the CDC said passengers and crew would need COVID-19 vaccine shots and more frequent testing, but did not give a timeline on when it will lift its ban on cruises.

 

This wouldn't be the first time Yahoo! got something wrong and made it look like Gospel.  IIRC, CDC by law, cannot mandate a vaccine without FDA approval.  None of the Covid-19 vaccines are approved by the FDA, they are only authorized by the FDA under an EUA, not received final FDA approval.  Thus, the government cannot mandate Covid vaccinations.  That's why they are only encouraging people to take the vaccines.

 

But, this is waayyy off topic here.  😕 

[rodndonna]

24 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

imo buying gift cards is like buying CCL stock tight now  .There is no way of telling how successful cruising will be or not be  this year .There is a  financial risk  to be seen  .My question is why is HAL doing this when cruise prices are rising ?

 

It's not really the same as buying stock in that I am just betting "it will survive" . If it does, I a have save 10% on my cruise.

 

If I wasn't optimistic about HAL;s survival, I wouldn't book with them at all. But as I think they will survive, I book and by booking with them using gift cards has actually lessened my risk exposure by 10%.

[Daniel A]

8 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

We have 3 cruises in the next 12 months, 2 with HAL. The first we paid off to get 10% prepay discount, and used gift cards to doit with (so an additional 10% discount effectively). As you say  Win-win!!

What is a prepay discount?  Wow!  that could end up being 20% off the cost of the cruise...

[rodndonna]

6 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

What is a prepay discount?  Wow!  that could end up being 20% off the cost of the cruise...

 

It was a promo that If you paid the cruise off, you got a 10% discount (and some OBC as well). There were different levels you could oay without paying it all off, but we went all in for max benefit. It was a fantastic deal but not valid on all sailings and our 2nd booking Norway Fjords was not eligible for it.

 

https://gohal.com/app/uploads/2020/07/Holland-America-Line-Pay-Early-Bonus-Flyer_US-CAD_7-23-20-002.pdf

 

That link is old but it is the same promo.

Edited April 16, 2021 by rodndonna

[mcrcruiser]

13 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

This wouldn't be the first time Yahoo! got something wrong and made it look like Gospel.  IIRC, CDC by law, cannot mandate a vaccine without FDA approval.  None of the Covid-19 vaccines are approved by the FDA, they are only authorized by the FDA under an EUA, not received final FDA approval.  Thus, the government cannot mandate Covid vaccinations.  That's why they are only encouraging people to take the vaccines.

 

But, this is waayyy off topic here.  😕 

At this moment  non of the cruise lines can't win any concessions from the government if  they argue what should or shouldn't happen .  The CDC & the courts weld a big stick  .additionally it take 3 months ,according to cruise line officials ,to get any cruise ship ready to take on passengers & sail  .This is mid April  .Thus based on their own   formula  it would be mid July earliest   before cruises might resume & based upon no USA ports then it would all be foreign ports   . I just don't like those odds when it comes to spending extra cash on any thing relating to cruises 

[Daniel A]

11 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

At this moment  non of the cruise lines can't win any concessions from the government if  they argue what should or shouldn't happen .  The CDC & the courts weld a big stick  .additionally it take 3 months ,according to cruise line officials ,to get any cruise ship ready to take on passengers & sail  .This is mid April  .Thus based on their own   formula  it would be mid July earliest   before cruises might resume & based upon no USA ports then it would all be foreign ports   . I just don't like those odds when it comes to spending extra cash on any thing relating to cruises 

If pre-purchasing cruise credits is outside you comfort level, then by all means you probably shouldn't do it.  It certainly doesn't mean you're wrong.  Each of us should do what we are comfortable with.

[mcrcruiser]

2 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

If pre-purchasing cruise credits is outside you comfort level, then by all means you probably shouldn't do it.  It certainly doesn't mean you're wrong.  Each of us should do what we are comfortable with.

Merely pointing out the downside risk of odds  vs any emotional needs  to show people the other side of this promo  by HAL or any other cruise line

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the info ..

[kangforpres]

the fine print says:

There is no limit on the number of gift cards a guest can purchase. Bonus gift cards are applied on gift card purchases of US$500 or US$1,000 increments only. Offer is applicable to orders placed from 4/16/2021 6:00AM PDT to 4/27/2021

 

So $10k = $11k and $100k = $110k !

 

-Paul

[john2003]

Unfortunately of limited value to Canadians if we booked in Canadian $$$.