FREE CRUISE

[Haljo1935]

24 minutes ago, sunviking90 said:

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.

Taxes and port fees have to be paid regardless, so that is a wash to both the passengers and HAL.

When we got the offers last year, the cost to upgrade from free inside was minimal - most times we paid $25 - $75pp to move from inside to balcony (VB not obstructed). This year I have only received 1 offer; the cost to upgrade was $299 for Ocean view and $499 for balcony, so substantially more than last year, but still a good deal. 

[Hobby3333]

I booked the inside and going to wait and see If I can upgrade to a balcony closer to cruise date.  If not, I can’t go to Dallas and spend 3 days for the price of a 7 day cruise.  So, it’s all good.

[VermeulT]

7 hours ago, erdufylla said:

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.

 

And it looks good for the stockholders to show ships that much closer to capacity.

[POA1]

We've never rec'd the free cabin offer. A lot of you haven't either. So, I assume it's safe to rule out "being awesome" aa a determining factor in getting the offer. 😉

[AncientWanderer]

4 hours ago, POA1 said:

We've never rec'd the free cabin offer. A lot of you haven't either. So, I assume it's safe to rule out "being awesome" aa a determining factor in getting the offer. 😉

 

Right?  Dang our cruises are expensive.  Still waiting for our awesomeness to be acknowledged.  🤷‍♀️

[Banditswife]

22 hours 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 .....😗

We have gotten these on our last few cruises.  Last 1 was weird because my offer was for $400 & hubby's was for $150.  I don't think I spent much more than he did.  I won a bit & played on the winnings all week.  So maybe I spent more time in the casino with my card in the machine.

[rodndonna]

1 minute ago, Banditswife said:

We have gotten these on our last few cruises.  Last 1 was weird because my offer was for $400 & hubby's was for $150.  I don't think I spent much more than he did.  I won a bit & played on the winnings all week.  So maybe I spent more time in the casino with my card in the machine.

 

I think you probably did "spend" more from a Casino play perspective (slot points), if you were up and then played through those winnings.

 

For example, on our last cruise we were given $100 free play and added $100 to it, so a start with $200. Over the week we were up and down through that $200 to get to 600 slot points and $0 cash. If we had really bad luck and just lost all that initial $200 without winning, we would have only got to 200 points.

 

On our previous cruise  when we reached the same 600 points (my target based on nothing) we were up by $350 .. so a negative "spend" to us on that one, but the play time and points at the Casino were the same as our last cruise 😃

 

Someone can correct me on that f I am wrong on that analysis as i've never just lost everything without winning (yet) thankfully.

[Banditswife]

14 hours ago, Native Floridian 26 said:

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

no, We do play in the casino, not a bunch.  We booked HIA for both segments of a B2B last year- on that one our final bill was under $100.  But due to HIA costing$1400, I am guessing they got their money thru the cost of that.  Our most recent B2B we didn't have HIA & still had a very low final bill, we did pay for 4 people in a specialty restaurant, but other than minor casino spending we didn't spend much.

[Native Floridian 26]

4 minutes ago, Banditswife said:

no, We do play in the casino, not a bunch.  We booked HIA for both segments of a B2B last year- on that one our final bill was under $100.  But due to HIA costing$1400, I am guessing they got their money thru the cost of that.  Our most recent B2B we didn't have HIA & still had a very low final bill, we did pay for 4 people in a specialty restaurant, but other than minor casino spending we didn't spend much.

Thanks.  We usually manage to have so much OBC that our final bill is very small, always less than $100.  I don't supposed there is any hope for us if they base it on spending.  Would love to get a Free Cruise email.

[Banditswife]

6 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

 

I think you probably did "spend" more from a Casino play perspective (slot points), if you were up and then played through those winnings.

 

For example, on our last cruise we were given $100 free play and added $100 to it, so a start with $200. Over the week we were up and down through that $200 to get to 600 slot points and $0 cash. If we had really bad luck and just lost all that initial $200 without winning, we would have only got to 200 points.

 

On our previous cruise  when we reached the same 600 points (my target based on nothing) we were up by $350 .. so a negative "spend" to us on that one, but the play time and points at the Casino were the same as our last cruise 😃

 

Someone can correct me on that f I am wrong on that analysis as i've never just lost everything without winning (yet) thankfully.

Yes, because I won a bit while playing on their $, I spent more time in casino than hubby did.  I think the free drinks come in at 1500 points, so that is our typical point total.

[DaveOKC]

46 minutes ago, Banditswife said:

We have gotten these on our last few cruises.  Last 1 was weird because my offer was for $400 & hubby's was for $150.  I don't think I spent much more than he did.  I won a bit & played on the winnings all week.  So maybe I spent more time in the casino with my card in the machine.

I think that the offers you get are based on the "play" you give the casino not what you won or lost.  Thats how most land based casinos operate.

[Haljo1935]

1 hour ago, Native Floridian 26 said:

Thanks.  We usually manage to have so much OBC that our final bill is very small, always less than $100.  I don't supposed there is any hope for us if they base it on spending.  Would love to get a Free Cruise email.

And I would love to have so much OBC I couldn't find a way to spend it all, lol.

And free cruise email would also be nice. 🤔

[BermudaBound2014]

19 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

How does giving huge discounts for cabins help them stay "healthy" when they could have sold that cabin?  

 

They did sell the cabin. To the casino company at deeply discounted rates.

 

If they could have sold the cabin to Johnny Public, they would have. 

[Haljo1935]

Slightly off topic, but related.

1) Can you add Club Orange to a free cruise or only to regular fares?

2) If adding Club Orange, since only pay it for 1st 2 passengers in the cabin, can you add another person later? Meaning, can I pick a cabin (#9999, for ex)  that holds 3 people, add CO but book cabin #9999 with just 2 people, then later add a 3rd person? Or do all 3 have to be on the booking when CO is added?

My very not-helpful PCC will never do CO for me, so I'm finally jumping in on my own without her and know this group has the answers to help me make the right moves at the right time and not screw things up, so thank you!

I got 1 free cruise offer this year which I have booked and am looking to add CO - I don't want to mess it up.

[BermudaBound2014]

13 hours ago, VermeulT said:

 

And it looks good for the stockholders to show ships that much closer to capacity.

 

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner! 

[highscar]

I take advantage of casino offers which I get often. Maybe because I forgot to cash out on the last two cruises. I guess I donated $5-10.    

[MarinersBaseballFan]

3 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

Slightly off topic, but related.

1) Can you add Club Orange to a free cruise or only to regular fares?

When I mentioned deck preference to our PCC, she said our "free" Guarantee Interior will be "assigned"  and entering a preference is not possible. Then she said we could add Club Orange, and that CO was still available (2+ months out at that time) which would allow us to choose our interior stateroom. We declined CO, but did add Platinum Protection at time of booking. We're sailing July 8, 7-day Inside Passage on Koningsdam. 3 days ago received our cabin assignment Interior deck 4 over MDR. Happy with location.

 

We're new to cruising. Never gambled on our 2 HAL cruises. Cruise 1: May 2022 we paid $4k for 7 day AK verandah including HIA. Spent our extra $150 obc in the shops. Next we did 16 day Hawaii October 2022 with private fare verandah at about $6k including Platinum Protection but did not purchase HIA. Also did not buy any HAL Hawaii excursions.

Edited June 16, 2023 by MarinersBaseballFan

[breakiron]

After I booked my free inside cabin I was able to book HIA package online for $50/night.  Since I am a solo cruiser and have my own cabin I only had to pay port taxes and fees for I person, not double.

[Banditswife]

1 hour ago, breakiron said:

After I booked my free inside cabin I was able to book HIA package online for $50/night.  Since I am a solo cruiser and have my own cabin I only had to pay port taxes and fees for I person, not double.

really, I thought these were based on double occupancy... maybe next offer I get, I will leave hubby at home with our cats.  It is good to know they are allowing solo cruisers.  That is an indication that they truly are having trouble selling cabins.

[DaveOKC]

During the "restart after Covid"  we were getting free verandah cabins.  Then late last year it declined to free Insides and now it is deeply discounted Insides (around 75% off).  We do not take the Insided, but rather upgrade to at least a Verandah, but often to a Neptune due to the nice pricing.

 

We tend to book with these deals, but not always, since sometimes the normal fare minus the regular casino discount (10-20% off) is almost as good a deal and we get to pick our cabin.  I know this sounds strange, but you have to consider that with the deeply discounted casino deal you often are not able to use other promotions (special sales offers, stockholder credit, etc.).  Another thing - my strategy varies by ship, due to the unique cabin distribution.  For example, on our upcoming Volendam cruise I was happy to book a guarantee Neptune since IMO all of them are about the same location wise.  On other ships there are some Neptunes that I avoid, so I generally book a Signature (and then hope for an upsell where I can select my cabin). With the ships now often sailing near capacity, booking a guarantee is a bit less attractive IMO as HAL does the upsell process before assigning guarantees, so the better located cabins are often gone by then.

 

For what its worth..........

 

  

[rodndonna]

16 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

 

 

We tend to book with these deals, but not always, since sometimes the normal fare minus the regular casino discount (10-20% off) is almost as good a deal and we get to pick our cabin.  I know this sounds strange, but you have to consider that with the deeply discounted casino deal you often are not able to use other promotions (special sales offers, stockholder credit, etc.).  Another thing - my strategy varies by ship, due to the unique cabin distribution.  For example,

 

 

 

  

 

That is our similar to our experience. When we upgrade the room and/or add HIA we can do as well or better booking in advance with the Casino discount (we have had as much as 30% off the cabin rate) We seem to do best when we can book in advance (just after release) with the upgraded early HIA along with extra OBC from Mariner early bonus and stockholder bonus which is not applicable for Casino "free" rooms.

 

The other factor for us is flights. Casino offers for us have been short notice cruises, so getting  pricing on flights always adds more money into the equation and can be quite significant in some cases.

 

 

 

 

[vswan]

I am not a big gambler. I generally budget $20 per day and then round up a couple of dollars. Usually I win some and will continue to play on those winnings. A number of years ago - pre covid - I received a mailer after returning from a cruise offering me a "free cruise." Must book right away, take within a certain period, etc. Not doable at that time in life.

 

Fast forward. When the cruise lines started out after covid, I began receiving multiple "free" cruise emails. I booked three of these - 11 day Panama, 7 day Alaska, 18 night Hawaii. Since ships are sailing fuller, most of my offers are now 30% off, but once or twice I've gotten the free inside cabin offers with very limited listing of choices and very short booking timelines.

 

For me, once I book the airfare, hotels, fees, etc., this is not a free cruise - but it is discounted and if the dates work for me I am happy to have the reduced rate. What I have found is that these offers have "made me" take trips I generally wouldn't have. I have also been able to upgrade room with offers closer to the cruise date.

[BermudaBound2014]

On 6/15/2023 at 10:30 PM, VermeulT said:

 

And it looks good for the stockholders to show ships that much closer to capacity.

 

Winner!! I believe being able to report higher occupancy is a significant factor driving free cruise offers. 

 

Edited June 17, 2023 by BermudaBound2014

[POA1]

On 6/16/2023 at 11:16 AM, Haljo1935 said:

Slightly off topic, but related.

1) Can you add Club Orange to a free cruise or only to regular fares?

2) If adding Club Orange, since only pay it for 1st 2 passengers in the cabin, can you add another person later? Meaning, can I pick a cabin (#9999, for ex)  that holds 3 people, add CO but book cabin #9999 with just 2 people, then later add a 3rd person? Or do all 3 have to be on the booking when CO is added?

My very not-helpful PCC will never do CO for me, so I'm finally jumping in on my own without her and know this group has the answers to help me make the right moves at the right time and not screw things up, so thank you!

I got 1 free cruise offer this year which I have booked and am looking to add CO - I don't want to mess it up.

 

Let me unpack this....

 

1) Your free cruise will have terms & conditions attached to the promo code. So... The answer is "maybe."

 

2) You'd need to book a cabin that holds three people, like you said. Club Orange is capacity controlled, so you could potentially be prevented from adding a 3rd person. If your free room is a Neptune Suite, you're fine. (I'll go out on a limb and guess that it's not.) 

 

If I were you, I'd have my cabin fully configured with all the people before I tried to add CO.

 

I hope that helps. If not, ask again because I'm not always the best at 'spiainin' things.

 

[Haljo1935]

1 hour ago, POA1 said:

 

Let me unpack this....

 

1) Your free cruise will have terms & conditions attached to the promo code. So... The answer is "maybe."

 

2) You'd need to book a cabin that holds three people, like you said. Club Orange is capacity controlled, so you could potentially be prevented from adding a 3rd person. If your free room is a Neptune Suite, you're fine. (I'll go out on a limb and guess that it's not.) 

 

If I were you, I'd have my cabin fully configured with all the people before I tried to add CO.

 

I hope that helps. If not, ask again because I'm not always the best at 'spiainin' things.

 

Thanks - you "splained" it just fine, lol. We are not sure yet if the 3rd person will be joining, so I wanted to structure it for the best possible outcome if they do join us.