Extra fee to select your own cabin?

[Boatdrill]

3 hours ago, RD64 said:

Ridiculous or not - it is what it is. If you do not like it, you have the option to find another cruise line which allows you to book as you wish.

Or you can book through a travel agent. HAL's online reservation system doesn't charge a fee for selecting rooms. Rooms which are in the same category (cat .VA for example) all cost the same.  

[Mary229]

It is a business not a charity.  Its purpose is to make money.  Businesses change their plans often to seek avenues of revenue. 
 

I actually like a menu of fees.  It gives me the option to choose what I am willing to afford or dismiss.  It actually forms a greater pie allowing more people to participate and design their own experiences.  

[Mary229]

5 hours ago, Boatdrill said:

Or you can book through a travel agent. HAL's online reservation system doesn't charge a fee for selecting rooms. Rooms which are in the same category (cat .VA for example) all cost the same.  

No, that depends on the cruise.  Most of the cruises I sail on do have this tiered system.  It doesn’t bother me. 

[mwj]

On 7/12/2023 at 8:15 PM, Mary229 said:

I have never noticed a large differential between guarantees and select.  The few times I was forced to take a guarantee I was able to switch cabins once assigned.   It is not a chance I prefer to take.

The differential has increased substantially in the last few months. This is a 'hidden' way for HAL to raise their prices, as they can still advertise the base rate unchanged.

[Mary229]

36 minutes ago, mwj said:

The differential has increased substantially in the last few months. This is a 'hidden' way for HAL to raise their prices, as they can still advertise the base rate unchanged.

30 day cruise in ocean view, I don’t think that is substantial 

 

 

[mwj]

2 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

30 day cruise in ocean view, I don’t think that is substantial 

 

 

 

really ???

[Mary229]

7 minutes ago, mwj said:

 

really ???

How many days? In my example   90/30 =  $3. day.  In most cases I would receive $3 of value from selecting my own room. Edited for math issue plus to note that is about 2% difference in price.   

Edited July 14, 2023 by Mary229

[mwj]

9 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

How many days? In my example   90/30 =  $3. day.  In most cases I would receive $3 of value from selecting my own room. Edited for math issue plus to note that is about 2% difference in price.   

You found an isolated instance were the differential is small. My point is the differential is increasing. In your case a few months ago there would have been no differential.

 

[Mary229]

9 minutes ago, mwj said:

You found an isolated instance were the differential is small. My point is the differential is increasing. In your case a few months ago there would have been no differential.

 

No, I did not go seeking.  I booked that last week with an FCD.  You still haven’t given any details on the cruises you are selecting.  Length and stateroom would be instructive.  I have been cruising a lot since 2022 and have not noticed a big difference.  I study all options when booking. The three fare levels, with and without guarantee, with HIA, without HIA.  
 

What they charge is their business, what I select, as a consumer,  is ultimately mine.  

Edited July 14, 2023 by Mary229

[ExArkie]

The one we booked, 2025 transpacific on Noordam in a Signature Suite, there was no price difference for selecting one’s cabin.

 

[DaveOKC]

1 hour ago, mwj said:

The differential has increased substantially in the last few months. This is a 'hidden' way for HAL to raise their prices, as they can still advertise the base rate unchanged.

HAL started on this a few years back when they added new categories, which IMO were just to have a lower price point for advertising.  A good example - on the Volendam and Zaandam previously ALL the Neptunes were the same (S) category.  Then HAL changed only 2 cabins on each ship to SB and the others to SA.  Granted that these two cabins are a tiny bit further to the Lounge, but IMO they are well located as they are in the same location as the Penthouse (except for Port side vs Starboard) and they are below the spa services area which makes for less noise from deck 8 vs many of the SA cabins that are below the pool area.  

The only reason IMO that this was done was to give the marketing department a way to advertise lower prices for Neptunes and when you wanted to pick a cabin they could upcharge you.

[Mary229]

14 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

HAL started on this a few years back when they added new categories, which IMO were just to have a lower price point for advertising.  A good example - on the Volendam and Zaandam previously ALL the Neptunes were the same (S) category.  Then HAL changed only 2 cabins on each ship to SB and the others to SA.  Granted that these two cabins are a tiny bit further to the Lounge, but IMO they are well located as they are in the same location as the Penthouse (except for Port side vs Starboard) and they are below the spa services area which makes for less noise from deck 8 vs many of the SA cabins that are below the pool area.  

The only reason IMO that this was done was to give the marketing department a way to advertise lower prices for Neptunes and when you wanted to pick a cabin they could upcharge you.

So…..  you choose to pay up for square footage, others choose to pay up for premium real estate .  I don’t see an issue with this model.    They also market with the cost of an inside cabin, right?

Edited July 14, 2023 by Mary229

[3rdGenCunarder]

53 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

HAL started on this a few years back when they added new categories, which IMO were just to have a lower price point for advertising.  A good example - on the Volendam and Zaandam previously ALL the Neptunes were the same (S) category.  Then HAL changed only 2 cabins on each ship to SB and the others to SA.  Granted that these two cabins are a tiny bit further to the Lounge, but IMO they are well located as they are in the same location as the Penthouse (except for Port side vs Starboard) and they are below the spa services area which makes for less noise from deck 8 vs many of the SA cabins that are below the pool area.  

The only reason IMO that this was done was to give the marketing department a way to advertise lower prices for Neptunes and when you wanted to pick a cabin they could upcharge you.

 

The handful of SCs on the Vistas do the same thing. Nothing wrong with them, just a different price.

[AKJonesy]

13 hours ago, RD64 said:

Ridiculous or not - it is what it is. If you do not like it, you have the option to find another cruise line which allows you to book as you wish.

I've only booked on HAL one time in my near 200 cruise days.  Even after all of the promotions, the well known discount cruise broker beats the HAL price all but once in my experience.  Plus, I get to see which rooms are available in a glance and choose my room.  I download all of the HAL stateroom pdfs so I know where those rooms are relative to the noise areas.  I'm not knocking booking with HAL, but I personally have not found the value in booking with them.  I'd rather spend that significant savings on specialty dining and shore excursions.  IMHO.

[DaveOKC]

31 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

The handful of SCs on the Vistas do the same thing. Nothing wrong with them, just a different price.

Agree.  I decent deal IMO,  I actually like these SC vs some of the SBs on deck 6.

[Mary229]

You do understand the alternative is they could have each cabin individually priced.  Technology can handle that 😉

 

as to increasing revenue by fee increases, something has to give, they need to make money.  As someone who mentored young women starting a business my first advice was “price yourself to stay in business, your business has no value to your customers if you bankrupt or fail due to lack of profits”

[Florida_gal_50]

5 hours ago, Mary229 said:

30 day cruise in ocean view, I don’t think that is substantial 

 

 

I've noticed WAY bigger differences than that just as the other poster mentioned.  If it was $10 no one would complain.

[scooter6139]

4 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

The handful of SCs on the Vistas do the same thing. Nothing wrong with them, just a different price.

Agreed, which is why we went with a Guaranteed SC to save even more.  Really wanted a SA but nearly $1k more was a bit rich.  Rolling the dice, but will likely end up with an SA anyway.

[Mary229]

1 minute ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I've noticed WAY bigger differences than that just as the other poster mentioned.  If it was $10 no one would complain.

I assume it is another aspect of dynamic pricing.  On mine it was a $3 a day difference in my cabin class.  Dynamic pricing would notice popular cabin types and cabin positions and adjust accordingly .   This is why I asked for concrete details as to the length of the itinerary and class of cabin.  If someone was terribly interested they could do the type of analysis @cruisemom42 did regards price per square foot.  You could simply sample in various categories, various deck and various sailings to determine the scheme.  That is exactly what the dynamic pricing routine does

[3rdGenCunarder]

3 hours ago, scooter6139 said:

Agreed, which is why we went with a Guaranteed SC to save even more.  Really wanted a SA but nearly $1k more was a bit rich.  Rolling the dice, but will likely end up with an SA anyway.

 

The secret (or not so secret, really) to a guarantee is to look at the potential "better" cabins to see if what HAL considers an upgrade is a bad cabin in your eyes. Once you get up to signature and neptune suites, it's a pretty safe bet you'll be okay with your cabin. 

[oaktreerb]

15 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

The secret (or not so secret, really) to a guarantee is to look at the potential "better" cabins to see if what HAL considers an upgrade is a bad cabin in your eyes. Once you get up to signature and neptune suites, it's a pretty safe bet you'll be okay with your cabin. 

unless you end up at the front of the ship with a very small balcony

[DaveOKC]

19 minutes ago, oaktreerb said:

unless you end up at the front of the ship with a very small balcony

So true!  Happened to us on last cruise.

 

[Boatdrill]

18 hours ago, Mary229 said:

No, that depends on the cruise.  Most of the cruises I sail on do have this tiered system.  It doesn’t bother me. 

I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean by "that depends on the cruise".  I assure you that HAL's travel agent booking portal doesn't charge a fee for specific room assignments, no matter what cruise it is. 

Edited July 15, 2023 by Boatdrill

[Mary229]

4 hours ago, Boatdrill said:

I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean by "that depends on the cruise".  I assure you that HAL's travel agent booking portal doesn't charge a fee for specific room assignments, no matter what cruise it is. 

The customer can pick guarantee.  I am offered the following choices: base fare, guarantee or select,  advantage fare, guarantee or select and finally the HIA promotional fare with the refundable deposit guarantee or select.  In most, but not all cases, HIA can be added and in some cases club orange can be added 

[mwj]

18 hours ago, scooter6139 said:

Agreed, which is why we went with a Guaranteed SC to save even more.  Really wanted a SA but nearly $1k more was a bit rich.  Rolling the dice, but will likely end up with an SA anyway.

We booked an SC Guarantee on the NA last year. Our only concern was being upgraded to an SQ (ugh!). In the end, we were upgraded to an SA (ty!).