Is Have it All Package worth it for light drinkers of alcohol

[lissie]

6 minutes ago, Kate45 said:

This is for my fellow Canadians. So from what I've been told by my TA, if you prepay gratuities it is in Cdn $$. Is the HIA also in Cdn $$? And does it include the 18% gratuities? My TA didn't know the answer to that. We are on a port intensive cruise from montrea to Boston with most of the days in canadian ports. Wondering if the HIA pkg is even worth it as we can just go ashore, get a drink or two and pay in cdn $$. Thoughts?

I'm not Canadian - I'm a NZer - and our booking is in A$ (gof figure) - my understanding is that the HIA included  the 18% gratuities and was in A$ - as is the cruise fare and the pre-paid gratuities. We didn't bother with the HIA as 21 ports out of 25 days we'll  won't be drinking that much on ship.

 

The exchange rate may well be in your favour - I plan on pre-paying the gratuities as paying it in A$ is a quite a bit cheaper than paying the US$ equivalent thanks to the exchange rate HAL is using - worth checking for C$. Unfortunately, none of the other pre-pay options are in A$ - just the gratuities and HIA - very odd. 

[oakridger]

Yes, the HIA Signature or Elite Beverage Packages do include the 18% beverage gratuities.

 

~Nancy

[RD64]

48 minutes ago, Kate45 said:

This is for my fellow Canadians. So from what I've been told by my TA, if you prepay gratuities it is in Cdn $$. Is the HIA also in Cdn $$? And does it include the 18% gratuities? My TA didn't know the answer to that. We are on a port intensive cruise from montrea to Boston with most of the days in canadian ports. Wondering if the HIA pkg is even worth it as we can just go ashore, get a drink or two and pay in cdn $$. Thoughts?

@Kate45 - 1. Yes the cost of gratuities was included. 2. The pre-cruise price was paid in Canadian dollars - $65 CANADIAN per day (paid this amount at the end of February).   In my opinion for Canadians this is a win / win! As another Ontario poster posted - a glass of wine + gratuity + exchange of close to 40% now is too much mental math while on vacation. 

[dog]

Water- 16 oz or litre bottles-

are these included in HIA?

[VermeulT]

On 3/28/2023 at 2:12 PM, badtwin said:

It is very helpful to actually sit down with paper and pencil and do the math.  My DH and I calculate how many wine packages we will buy and guess how many drinks a day and we don't get close to HIA price. So for us it doesn't pencil out.

 

BUT if you want and value the other parts of HIA, it can easily make sense as has been pointed out.- If you want the internet package and if you would otherwise use ship's tours and specialty dining, then when those costs are added in HIA makes sense.

 

There is also the "emotional" aspect of HIA.  I have to say I really enjoyed our Viking cruise with wine and beer included at meals.  I never questioned another glass if I wanted it.  On HAL or other cruises, I tend to hold back due to my incredibly cheap nature.  Maybe that's a good thing but as others have noted, it is nice to have the freedom to order another drink and not worry about the bill at the end of the cruise.

   

 I TOTALLY agree about the "emotional" aspect... I also am *frugal* and would torture myself over spending another few $. 

 

But like everyone has said - you have to do the math...  I look at the per person cost for the package - depending on what's included in that package ... excursions, dining, gratuities (sometimes), wifi for me is a nice to have but could live without so I take something off but certainly not what HAL values it to be... and then divide that total by the number of days.  If it's $25-30 per person per day for the drinks - then I think it's worth it.

[VermeulT]

6 hours ago, dog said:

Water- 16 oz or litre bottles-

are these included in HIA?

water is included.  on my last cruise we had cans.  I believe HAL is trying to do all cans to help with recycling efforts on board (only needing one type vs aluminum and glass...)

[secondtime]

7 hours ago, dog said:

Water- 16 oz or litre bottles-

are these included in HIA?

Small cans only - flip top not screw top

[highscar]

The drinks seam to be a big part of this package.   Personally I like the freedom to make myself a beverage or two to enjoy on my balcony possibly casually dressed,without going to a bar to bring one at a time.

[Sea42]

7 minutes ago, highscar said:

The drinks seam to be a big part of this package.   Personally I like the freedom to make myself a beverage or two to enjoy on my balcony possibly casually dressed,without going to a bar to bring one at a time.

We have HIA on our booking but we will also purchase a wine package (we have a boatload of OBC)

for a drink or two on the balcony. I'm sure my husband at some point will pick up a bucket of beer to stash in the mini fridge.

[VermeulT]

15 hours ago, Sea42 said:

We have HIA on our booking but we will also purchase a wine package (we have a boatload of OBC)

for a drink or two on the balcony. I'm sure my husband at some point will pick up a bucket of beer to stash in the mini fridge.

 

15 hours ago, highscar said:

The drinks seam to be a big part of this package.   Personally I like the freedom to make myself a beverage or two to enjoy on my balcony possibly casually dressed,without going to a bar to bring one at a time.

 

We stashed... got cans of Truly (told the bartender not to open) and kept them in ice in our room.

[golfnut64]

How did you pre pay your gratuities?  I phoned HAL and they said I had to do it online which is i  US funds which makes it quite a bit more.

[Lido deck main]

55 minutes ago, golfnut64 said:

How did you pre pay your gratuities?  I phoned HAL and they said I had to do it online which is i  US funds which makes it quite a bit more.

Yes it is more because the price you see is the Canadian equivalent.  If you calculate it out, which I did the other day it is approx 27% exchange rate, much better then the posted rate. I prepay gratuities for that reason.

[golfnut64]

Can you pay in cash when you get onboard?

 

[Lido deck main]

2 hours ago, golfnut64 said:

Can you pay in cash when you get onboard?

 

Yes

[golfnut64]

Thanks!  Do you know if you can take wine onboard to have in your room?

[Lido deck main]

1 minute ago, golfnut64 said:

Thanks!  Do you know if you can take wine onboard to have in your room?

Sure can, must pay a $20.00 charge per bottle corkage even if drinking in your room. 

[golfnut64]

That doesn’t seem right when its in your room.  Other cruise lines only charge if you open in the restaurants.

[luv2travel06]

On 4/12/2023 at 4:39 PM, VermeulT said:

 But like everyone has said - you have to do the math...  I look at the per person cost for the package - depending on what's included in that package ... excursions, dining, gratuities (sometimes), wifi for me is a nice to have but could live without so I take something off but certainly not what HAL values it to be... and then divide that total by the number of days.  If it's $25-30 per person per day for the drinks - then I think it's worth it.

For the first time in 36 cruises on various lines, we purchased the beverage/HAI package for our 14 day Baltic cruise. HAI was discounted 50%, so when we did the math, it made sense. With all gratuities, wifi, dining, excursion credits included, it was a decent value for us. Normally, we never eat at the surcharge dining venues. On cruises leaving from the U.S., we would normally carry on the allowable wine (for DW) and soda allowances. Normally we would only buy alcoholic drinks at happy hour prices. Now we don't have to worry about any of that and we can have our favorite coffee beverages with no additional charge and DW can have wine with dinner if she likes. But now we have over $500 OBC including shareholder benefit we have to figure out how to spend.