I love Holland America. They did it again!

[dawcruiser]

I just book an 11 day cruise Eastern cruise.  I paid $630 for both of us.  It is a gaurantee inside room.  Plus we get $200 on board credit!. I got an email giving me this offer.  Funny thing is I am going on the same ship 23/10/23 and it was also a free cabin.  All I needed to pay was port fees.  I love Holland! Much better cruise line than NCL.

[Haljo1935]

Congrats @dawcruiser

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Nice job. 

[ski ww]

Sounds like you got a good deal, enjoy your cruise.

[Despegue]

Nothing like that at all, ever, for non US passengers.

[VMax1700]

1 minute ago, Despegue said:

Nothing like that at all, ever, for non US passengers.

You are reading my mind!

 

[puppycanducruise]

Good for you.  Enjoy.

I wish I'd get offers like that.

[Riversedge]

Wish those offers went out to others.  I’ve never gotten one and kind of resent paying full price when others go almost free. 

[cbr663]

1 hour ago, Riversedge said:

Wish those offers went out to others.  I’ve never gotten one and kind of resent paying full price when others go almost free. 

 

I frequent other social media sites and see members of those sites also posting of all the free cruises they have been offered from HAL.  I realize that HAL is doing this as it is having difficulty selling its ships.  Like you, I also resent paying the advertised price for a cruise.  With HAL actively promoting to others that its cruises are worth so little, I believe them.  HAL has been giving away cruises for months now and just this morning I commented to my DW that I feel like a fool for paying for a HAL cruise.  I've cancelled our future cruises and have 1 on the books for next month and have no plans on booking any other.  I am not willing to pay for something that HAL is so willing to practically give away.  Just my opinion - HAL should look at changing its dynamic pricing model so that it doesn't have to give away so many freebies.

[waiting2retire]

I was so excited when I got the email with those offers for the first time ever last week. Believe me, I would have loved to take advantage, but the airfare on relatively short notice (under 3months) and around holiday periods, would have been over $1,000. Kinda negates the deeply discounted cruise for those of us not near a port 😞

 

Hopefully there will be a next time that will work better for me. 

[YourWorldWithBill]

1 hour ago, waiting2retire said:

I was so excited when I got the email with those offers for the first time ever last week. Believe me, I would have loved to take advantage, but the airfare on relatively short notice (under 3months) and around holiday periods, would have been over $1,000. Kinda negates the deeply discounted cruise for those of us not near a port 😞

 

Hopefully there will be a next time that will work better for me. 

Same with us: The airfare has also stopped us from taking advantage of offers for a couple of cruises we really liked. Takes the fun away. I've started checking Google air, which I recently discovered is the best source for finding the best fares. And the booking goes directly to whatever airline is chosen, so there's no intermediary. 

 

There's a site called Jack's Flight Club; from that I got an email a few weeks ago that SAS was having an amazing sale that lasted only three days, but it was to the locations of a cruise I had just booked. Maybe worth checking out; that's how I found out about Google air.

[crystalspin]

2 hours ago, cbr663 said:

...I've cancelled our future cruises and have 1 on the books for next month and have no plans on booking any other.  I am not willing to pay for something that HAL is so willing to practically give away.

JMO, in your desire to punish HAL, you are punishing yourselves. Were your cancellations for Inside Guarantees in potentially the worse/noisiest locations? I probably wouldn't pay for them either!

[breakiron]

I received these offers awhile back.  I booked a 22 night South America/

Antarctica cruise for just paying the taxes, $510.  Awesome deal considering a cruise of this type costs thousands!  I did have to pay airfare and hotel costs, etc. but I probably wouldn't have chosen this particular cruise if I wouldn't have received this amazing discount!

[cbr663]

2 hours ago, crystalspin said:

JMO, in your desire to punish HAL, you are punishing yourselves. Were your cancellations for Inside Guarantees in potentially the worse/noisiest locations? I probably wouldn't pay for them either!

 

Nope, not punishing myself at all.  Have redirected the funds to land based travel and other cruise lines.  We have other options and we are exercising them.

 

 

Edited October 25, 2023 by cbr663

[Blackduck59]

I think we would find that all cruise lines make small window opportunities to some people on every cruise. It's nice for those who can take advantage of them, good on them. Am I going to cancel my long planned (third time lucky, twice cancelled) down under adventure because some random stranger got a guarantee cabin in steerage dirt cheap? Not so much. We chose the itinerary, were able to get an enhanced group of perks and picked our cabin. We felt the price was fair and booked it onboard our last cruise with a $100.00 (CDN) deposit each.

[Banditswife]

We have booked a few of these & yes the airfare is usually more than the cruise fare- we live in Kansas, difficult to drive to any port for us.  And yes, they are always for a guarantee cabin, usually inside, occasionally OV.  We figure we are not in the cabin very much & don't mind the less attractive location we end up in.  If we like the itinerary, can mange the airfare & time away- why not?

[Blackduck59]

I'm not sure we would ever be able to or want to take advantage of these offers. We are a little particular about our cabin type and location. Of course the biggest hurdle would be having to fly to almost any port to embark. We could only get to Vancouver and Seattle without flying so that limits the itineraries. I think our cruising days are numbered because flying is getting less and less enjoyable.

As I said earlier for those who get these offers and can take advantage of them good on you.

[ski ww]

If you get a cheap cruise & have to pay regular air fare you're still saving money. When we first started cruising we always did an inside cabin, we did 30 & 40 day trans Pacific cruises in an inside, this allowed us to do more cruises. I guess we're spoiled now we only do balcony or Ocean view.

[Banditswife]

I agree that even if I pay a big amount for air, I am still saving $.  We usually spend $ in the casino & elsewhere on the ship.  Selling these "free" is a way for the cruise lines to make $ on cabins that are less likely to be sold.  And remember they are not totally free- we pay port fees, taxes, crew appreciation, buy drinks, specialty restaurants, & spend a bit in the shops.

[Riversedge]

7 minutes ago, Banditswife said:

And remember they are not totally free- we pay port fees, taxes, crew appreciation, buy drinks, specialty restaurants, & spend a bit in the shops.

But so do I….on top of my expensive cabin. 

[Banditswife]

Just now, Riversedge said:

But so do I….on top of my expensive cabin. 

I am sorry you are not getting these offers, I have no idea of why I get them & you do not.  The question is, would you be willing to take whatever cabin THEY choose for you & not know until about 10 days ahead of your cruise what cabin you ended up with?  I have had some decent cabins & some not so great cabins, but I am willing to accept whatever I get.

[dawcruiser]

On 10/25/2023 at 3:22 PM, Blackduck59 said:

I think we would find that all cruise lines make small window opportunities to some people on every cruise. It's nice for those who can take advantage of them, good on them. Am I going to cancel my long planned (third time lucky, twice cancelled) down under adventure because some random stranger got a guarantee cabin in steerage dirt cheap? Not so much. We chose the itinerary, were able to get an enhanced group of perks and picked our cabin. We felt the price was fair and booked it onboard our last cruise with a $100.00 (CDN) deposit each.

Not bragging but we did  get $200 onboard credit.  So cruise only cost me $430.

[kazu]

2 hours ago, dawcruiser said:

Not bragging but we did  get $200 onboard credit.  So cruise only cost me $430.

 

That pretty much sounds like a casino offer to me.

 

Assuming I am correct, for those thinking HAL is “giving away” the cabins, they are not.  The casino is picking up the tab for the difference.  

[YourWorldWithBill]

12 hours ago, kazu said:

 

That pretty much sounds like a casino offer to me.

 

Assuming I am correct, for those thinking HAL is “giving away” the cabins, they are not.  The casino is picking up the tab for the difference.  

That's a good point that many may not be aware of: the casino is operated by a US casino through an arrangement with Carnival Cruise Line. It is a separate operation.

[dawcruiser]

12 hours ago, kazu said:

 

That pretty much sounds like a casino offer to me.

 

Assuming I am correct, for those thinking HAL is “giving away” the cabins, they are not.  The casino is picking up the tab for the difference.  

It might be a casino cruise but3 in over 40 cruises I haven't spent overv $500 in any cr

 

12 hours ago, kazu said:

 

That pretty much sounds like a casino offer to me.

 

Assuming I am correct, for those thinking HAL is “giving away” the cabins, they are not.  The casino is picking up the tab for the difference.  

Might be but I don't every lose more thm $20 in any casino.