FREE CRUISE

[BermudaBound2014]

I received a $100 cruise offer from Hal about this time last year. I haven’t sailed Hal on 15 years and I don’t believe I ever stepped foot in the casino my last trip on the zuiderdam. I have only received that one offer from Hal. 

[Hobby3333]

1 hour ago, Haljo1935 said:

You have to be - you live in TX!!

Northeast Texas.  Where God started when the earth was created.

[Haljo1935]

8 minutes ago, Hobby3333 said:

Northeast Texas.  Where God started when the earth was created.

Arlington - where God blessed men w/intelligence to create Jerry's World - a place few can afford to go. 

[AncientWanderer]

I didn’t read through this thread, but @Florida_gal_50, you mentioned it in the other thread about HIA in Neptunes, so I’ll share my one bit of anecdotal info.

 

On our last cruise, we met a couple who were sailing at no charge (or just port fees, whatever,) and not for the first time.  The wife told me that she spends a lot onboard.  She specifically mentioned art at the art auctions and fine jewelry.

Edited June 15, 2023 by AncientWanderer

[erdufylla]

The marketer in me wonders if perhaps they’re also potentially tracking how much time one spends on the website, browsing different itineraries without booking anything. (You don’t even have to be logged in when you’re browsing for them to know it’s you, as long as you’ve logged in on that browser before and allow cookies.) Offers might go out to people they think want to cruise but haven’t booked anything recently, and if they can get them onboard, especially on itineraries that aren’t selling as well, they can hope to capture some onboard spending. 

[flatcircle]

We also received & booked the email offer.  Very surprised since we had two cruises booked (Oct  & Dec).  The offer included the date that we booked for December (over the Christmas/NY holidays) on our ship (NS).  So our TA cancelled our original B2B & then booked the offer.  We upgraded at time of booking to a balcony.  Even though we lost some OBC awarded with our original booking, the cost was so much lower that it was worth it.  As mentioned previously, we did have to pay in full at time of booking.  I was surprised to see the holiday dates included in the offer -- ships typically sell out & base prices are higher.  Typically, we aren't big spenders on the ship & never go into the casino.  

[msmonaj]

2 hours ago, erdufylla said:

The marketer in me wonders if perhaps they’re also potentially tracking how much time one spends on the website, browsing different itineraries without booking anything. (You don’t even have to be logged in when you’re browsing for them to know it’s you, as long as you’ve logged in on that browser before and allow cookies.) Offers might go out to people they think want to cruise but haven’t booked anything recently, and if they can get them onboard, especially on itineraries that aren’t selling as well, they can hope to capture some onboard spending. 

 

[msmonaj]

I was just about to bring this up! I’ve been shopping several cruise lines lately, spending time on the websites looking at deck plans, amenities, etc. shortly after I received the free inside stateroom offer- upgraded to veranda. Didn’t get the LOW prices I read about here, but it departs in 30ish days so I am still happy with the big discount. 

[Haljo1935]

7 hours ago, flatcircle said:

We also received & booked the email offer.  Very surprised since we had two cruises booked (Oct  & Dec).  The offer included the date that we booked for December (over the Christmas/NY holidays) on our ship (NS).  So our TA cancelled our original B2B & then booked the offer.  We upgraded at time of booking to a balcony.  Even though we lost some OBC awarded with our original booking, the cost was so much lower that it was worth it.  As mentioned previously, we did have to pay in full at time of booking.  I was surprised to see the holiday dates included in the offer -- ships typically sell out & base prices are higher.  Typically, we aren't big spenders on the ship & never go into the casino.  

Like @flatcircle the current offer I received (the ONLY one I've gotten this year) included one I already have booked. I called in to compare prices and it was much lower, but required payment in full at time of booking.

So, being booked doesn't seem to prevent one from getting an offer and seeing one you're paying "real" money for essentially being given away stings. Reading about offers on "your" cruise is one thing, having one sent directly to you is quite another. I really do want HAL to be health and if offering huge discounts on certain sailings helps them achieve that, I'm ok with (well, actually I'm not, but I can get there), but they should update the algorithms to remove current bookings before sending them out.

[Moriah]

I went on three free stateroom cruises on HAL between November 2022 and May 2023.  All three offers gave me a long list of cruises to choose from and apparently I could have taken more than one from each list.  It was great while it lasted, but since March (the offer I took them up on for a cruise in May) I haven't received any more of those offers.  I am a 4 star mariner, play in the casino very frugally, and sometimes play bingo.  Not a big spender in any other way.  All the offers were from the casino, which I thought was strange, but was happy to take them up on it! What I wanted to say here is, for as long as I've been cruising (many, many years) and reading posts on CC, there has been speculation about why/how/when these offers arrive.  NOBODY as far as I can tell, has been able to crack this question.  There are many, many theories as to who gets the offers, when, and why.  None of them end up holding water as there is always someone saying, "No, it's not just for mariners with high status, no, it's not just for high rollers, no it's not just for big spenders," and on and on and on.  I've long since stopped trying to figure it out.  If an offer comes and I want to take it, I do.  There just seems to be NO way to predict or figure out who gets them. 

On the last free cruise I brought a friend along and she made sure to play in the casino to "get her name on the list."  I just smiled and said "whatever." Because, not to beat a dead horse, there just is NO way to figure this out. 🙂

Edited June 15, 2023 by Moriah

[rodndonna]

Related question - We have cruised 3 HAL free cabin offers, and on our last one (just last week) and for the first time we received a "Come back and play" offer delivered to our room before the end of the cruise. Unfortunately, it must be used within 30 days and good for cruises within the year, so pretty much no chance we can use it for us. Just wondering how common these are?

 

Details: Ours was for $150 Freeplay,  so no nothing huge but would have been a nice perk. We rolled just over 600 points in slots over a week as that is my typical goalpost to attempt to keep me on some magical list based on nothing .....😗

[Haljo1935]

44 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

Related question - We have cruised 3 HAL free cabin offers, and on our last one (just last week) and for the first time we received a "Come back and play" offer delivered to our room before the end of the cruise. Unfortunately, it must be used within 30 days and good for cruises within the year, so pretty much no chance we can use it for us. Just wondering how common these are?

 

Details: Ours was for $150 Freeplay,  so no nothing huge but would have been a nice perk. We rolled just over 600 points in slots over a week as that is my typical goalpost to attempt to keep me on some magical list based on nothing .....😗

Congrats on receiving the offer. I personally have no experience with the "come back and play" offers other than seeing them in mailboxes during a cruise as I've never received one. The casino offers I used to get were casino rate cruises that did not include casino $$.

[Florida_gal_50]

6 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

Like @flatcircle the current offer I received (the ONLY one I've gotten this year) included one I already have booked. I called in to compare prices and it was much lower, but required payment in full at time of booking.

So, being booked doesn't seem to prevent one from getting an offer and seeing one you're paying "real" money for essentially being given away stings. Reading about offers on "your" cruise is one thing, having one sent directly to you is quite another. I really do want HAL to be health and if offering huge discounts on certain sailings helps them achieve that, I'm ok with (well, actually I'm not, but I can get there), but they should update the algorithms to remove current bookings before sending them out.

How does giving huge discounts for cabins help them stay "healthy" when they could have sold that cabin?  There is no way someone that got a $10,000 cruise for nothing is going to spend well over $10K.  There is no way to rationalize that although I know some will try.

[Florida_gal_50]

5 hours ago, Moriah said:

I went on three free stateroom cruises on HAL between November 2022 and May 2023.  All three offers gave me a long list of cruises to choose from and apparently I could have taken more than one from each list.  It was great while it lasted, but since March (the offer I took them up on for a cruise in May) I haven't received any more of those offers.  I am a 4 star mariner, play in the casino very frugally, and sometimes play bingo.  Not a big spender in any other way.  All the offers were from the casino, which I thought was strange, but was happy to take them up on it! What I wanted to say here is, for as long as I've been cruising (many, many years) and reading posts on CC, there has been speculation about why/how/when these offers arrive.  NOBODY as far as I can tell, has been able to crack this question.  There are many, many theories as to who gets the offers, when, and why.  None of them end up holding water as there is always someone saying, "No, it's not just for mariners with high status, no, it's not just for high rollers, no it's not just for big spenders," and on and on and on.  I've long since stopped trying to figure it out.  If an offer comes and I want to take it, I do.  There just seems to be NO way to predict or figure out who gets them. 

On the last free cruise I brought a friend along and she made sure to play in the casino to "get her name on the list."  I just smiled and said "whatever." Because, not to beat a dead horse, there just is NO way to figure this out. 🙂

Sure there is.  All high star mariners, people that spend their last 10 paycheques in the casino and people that spend all their money in the jewelry store are the only ones that get them ;).  I don't believe this but according to some of the posts I've read this is the way you get them. No one else.

[Moriah]

3 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Sure there is.  All high star mariners, people that spend their last 10 paycheques in the casino and people that spend all their money in the jewelry store are the only ones that get them ;).  I don't believe this but according to some of the posts I've read this is the way you get them. No one else.

 

This was exactly my point. What you have said is simply NOT TRUE!  Lots of people who are NOT high star mariners, do NOT play in the casino, and do NOT buy jewelry also get these offers.  So I repeat, there have been theories like you have listed abounding for years, and none of them pan out.

 

Edited June 15, 2023 by Moriah

[erdufylla]

It seems silly and pointless to me to waste emotional energy worrying about what other people get as a surprise freebie. Since we’re not taking port fees and taxes into consideration in the cost of a fare, I can’t imagine the base cost for operating a 14-day cruise on two similarly sized ships varies so much that one has a $5k/pp fare and another has a $699/pp fare. That pricing is, I suspect, largely due to supply and demand, and the company as a whole knows how low it can offer some fares (see: Alaska, Caribbean) and that more adventurous/seasoned/serious/whatever customers will be willing to pay more for more unique itineraries, so everything evens out in the wash. 
 

So that $5k/pp fare might actually only cost the company $500. If it sits empty, that’s what they lose on the room. But they also lose out on the potential for two people spending money on the drinks package, photos, excursions, casino, restaurant upgrades, etc. If they think they can get back more than their base cost of the room in other add-ons, it’s in their best interest to do so.

 

If anything, it’s the low cost of itineraries in high-demand places like Alaska that are being offset by higher fares elsewhere, I would imagine.

 

It’s also worth noting that by giving away rooms, they can drum up both a positive, excited word of mouth (“hey, did you know you might be in the running for a free room if you keep cruising with HAL??”) and some bit of good will and potential loyalty to people who receive the fares, who might be more inclined to book again later, for not a whole lot, if any, real cost.

Edited June 15, 2023 by erdufylla

[Florida_gal_50]

26 minutes ago, Moriah said:

 

This was exactly my point. What you have said is simply NOT TRUE!  Lots of people who are NOT high star mariners, do NOT play in the casino, and do NOT buy jewelry also get these offers.  So I repeat, there have been theories like you have listed abounding for years, and none of them pan out.

 

Yes that’s what the wink was about.  People just keep repeating the same untruths over and over.  

[Florida_gal_50]

17 minutes ago, erdufylla said:

It seems silly and pointless to me to waste emotional energy worrying about what other people get as a surprise freebie. Since we’re not taking port fees and taxes into consideration in the cost of a fare, I can’t imagine the base cost for operating a 14-day cruise on two similarly sized ships varies so much that one has a $5k/pp fare and another has a $699/pp fare. That pricing is, I suspect, largely due to supply and demand, and the company as a whole knows how low it can offer some fares (see: Alaska, Caribbean) and that more adventurous/seasoned/serious/whatever customers will be willing to pay more for more unique itineraries, so everything evens out in the wash. 
 

So that $5k/pp fare might actually only cost the company $500. If it sits empty, that’s what they lose on the room. But they also lose out on the potential for two people spending money on the drinks package, photos, excursions, casino, restaurant upgrades, etc. If they think they can get back more than their base cost of the room in other add-ons, it’s in their best interest to do so.

 

If anything, it’s the low cost of itineraries in high-demand places like Alaska that are being offset by higher fares elsewhere, I would imagine.

 

It’s also worth noting that by giving away rooms, they can drum up both a positive, excited word of mouth (“hey, did you know you might be in the running for a free room if you keep cruising with HAL??”) and some bit of good will and potential loyalty to people who receive the fares, who might be more inclined to book again later, for not a whole lot, if any, real cost.

No cruises I’m taking are going with empty cabins.  Last November mine were over capacity.  It’s the same old same old stories brought up over and over to explain Hal’s behaviour that don’t hold water. 

[AllTheSun]

I’m guessing the HAL computer isn’t actually programmed to identify any aspect of the traveler.  I think offers go out because they need to show X number more cabins booked for whatever reason. The recipients are randomly pulled from HAL mailing lists in a matter designed by HAL IT. Because HAL IT is in charge of that the randomization is absolute crap and half the same people keep getting offers over and over.

[Banditswife]

Hal is still sending these out, I just got another one.  This one did not include any Alaska sailings, but mostly Caribbean.  There was even a 25 day New England & Iceland offered on the Zaandam for next month.  My TA checked & that 1 was already sold out.  

I think they put these out hoping people will find the one they want sold out & then book something else.  I only had my TA check on 2 different cruises listed-the sold out 25 day & a holiday Caribbean on Zaandam.  Luckily the holiday was still available $700 for 2ppl, non refundable & has to be paid at time of booking, we added the insurance, bringing the cost to just under $900- not bad for a 16 day cruise.

[Haljo1935]

6 minutes ago, Banditswife said:

Hal is still sending these out, I just got another one.  This one did not include any Alaska sailings, but mostly Caribbean.  There was even a 25 day New England & Iceland offered on the Zaandam for next month.  My TA checked & that 1 was already sold out.  

I think they put these out hoping people will find the one they want sold out & then book something else.  I only had my TA check on 2 different cruises listed-the sold out 25 day & a holiday Caribbean on Zaandam.  Luckily the holiday was still available $700 for 2ppl, non refundable & has to be paid at time of booking, we added the insurance, bringing the cost to just under $900- not bad for a 16 day cruise.

Congrats! That does sound like a pretty good deal.

 

I say book what you want when you get these offers and don't fret if you don't receive them - life's too short to stress over something you can't control.

[Florida_gal_50]

1 hour ago, AllTheSun said:

I’m guessing the HAL computer isn’t actually programmed to identify any aspect of the traveler.  I think offers go out because they need to show X number more cabins booked for whatever reason. The recipients are randomly pulled from HAL mailing lists in a matter designed by HAL IT. Because HAL IT is in charge of that the randomization is absolute crap and half the same people keep getting offers over and over.

Ding ding.  This sounds like reality to me.  More plausible than anything else I’ve heard.  What hal should be saying is this is a confidential price.  If you post on cruise critic or any social media you will instantly be charged full price.  There would probably be about 50 percent less threads.

[Native Floridian 26]

32 minutes ago, Banditswife said:

Hal is still sending these out, I just got another one.  This one did not include any Alaska sailings, but mostly Caribbean.  There was even a 25 day New England & Iceland offered on the Zaandam for next month.  My TA checked & that 1 was already sold out.  

I think they put these out hoping people will find the one they want sold out & then book something else.  I only had my TA check on 2 different cruises listed-the sold out 25 day & a holiday Caribbean on Zaandam.  Luckily the holiday was still available $700 for 2ppl, non refundable & has to be paid at time of booking, we added the insurance, bringing the cost to just under $900- not bad for a 16 day cruise.

Trying to see who they send these to.  Do you typically spend a lot onboard?

[Hobby3333]

I have received two free cruise offers in separate emails.   I booked a Caribbean cruise on the Rotterdam in December and will probably book an Alaska cruise at the end of September.   I have been on one HAL cruise and never been in the casino.   I am not sure why I received the emails but glad I did.  Would do a longer cruise but my wife still works. Guess I could leave her at home and take a longer cruise.   Just saying

[sunviking90]

For those who receive these offers and are booking, are you actually travelling in the inside stateroom or upgrading? My sister received one and is bringing me along on one of them but upgraded our stateroom. Another friend I know received one and is looking at one of the Europe cruises and also is going to upgrade to a veranda for a total cost of $2000 cad. I checked my “restricted fare” showing in my own account on that cruise and did a mock booking for a veranda and it would cost me $2700. Not that much difference really. If most are actually upgrading then I’d say it is worth it for HAL to send these out. It also covers HAL’s port costs which I think aside from the head tax, are the same regardless of how many are on the ship. Crew still have to be paid, etc.

Edited June 15, 2023 by sunviking90