Sail Standby for $49 a day- new program

[Mary229]

Interesting.   I notice the cruise following our South Pacific is on the list so I may sign up as I need a Mexican art shopping trip. Thank you

[RedneckBob]

Since we live in Florida the Ft Lauderdale sailings would be great. We use to book last minute all the time; cabin nor location did not matter as long as we were cruising on a HAL ship! But now that are more mature, I do not think this will work for us. 😀

 

Just a few observations. Last minute confirmation may cause issues booking shore excursions and speciality restaurants on cruises less than ten days. If you do get a booking number for standby you may be able to book excursions and wait for a refund if standby doesn’t work. 

[Puchi boy]

48 minutes ago, Roz said:

Easy to do with Southwest.

Yes, it is very easy. You can cancel your flight 10 minutes before departure and get a credit for a future flight, or if paying with points, they will credit back the full amount to your mileage account.

[ken4556]

While this is great program to allow for a inexpensive cruise, it worries me that it just another death nail into the business plan of HAL.

 

At some point, you have to sell cruises at a profit at a price people are will to pay for the experience.  Spirit Airlines lost money in the typically the most profitable quarter in the industry.  Delta and United made over a billion dollars each.  I know so many people, including myself, who refuse to fly Spirit because the have an awful product.  It seems from all the promotions that hit my mailbox and e-mail inbox, HAL's only enticement is price. 

 

I am not saying that HAL has an awful product.  But when HAL cruise are much cheaper than your competitors, who by the way and growing with additional ships, while HAL shed ships and has no newbuilds on order; that signals warning signs to me.

 

Carnival Corp made around a billion dollars last quarter and so did Royal Caribbean group.  But Royal Caribbean did it on 60% of the revenues that Carnival Corp did. 

 

The last three cruises, and the one next month, were all on Celebrity.  For each cruise, we priced HAL too.  Each time, HAL was cheaper by a good amount.  We choose to pay the extra to go on Celebrity due to better itinerary and, to us, a better experience in the ships and entrainment.

 

I know this group loves HAL and I want them to survive and thrive. But the market appeal of HAL must extend beyond the HAL lovers on this board.

Edited November 23, 2023 by ken4556

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 hour ago, RedneckBob said:

Since we live in Florida the Ft Lauderdale sailings would be great. We use to book last minute all the time; cabin nor location did not matter as long as we were cruising on a HAL ship! But now that are more mature, I do not think this will work for us. 😀

 

Just a few observations. Last minute confirmation may cause issues booking shore excursions and speciality restaurants on cruises less than ten days. If you do get a booking number for standby you may be able to book excursions and wait for a refund if standby doesn’t work. 

 

I doubt they will let people book excursions or specialty restaurants until they clear the waitlist. HAL says people are notified "approximately 7 days" before sailing, but how much leeway is there in "approximately?"

[BermudaBound2014]

4 hours ago, kochleffel said:

I would do this if I lived closer to a port. Or, I suppose I could book flights, cancel them if necessary, and carry the flight credit over to try again.

 

 

I have done exactly that with every single Med/Europe trip I've taken. I purchase airfare 321 days ahead of time with points. I'd make sure there were several cruises to choose from within my flight times. If the price didn't drop enough after final payment (it always did), we would have been fine turning it into a land vacation. Flexibility is the key to making offers like these work.

 

On a side note, there are some very nice itineraries being offered on this deal. More evidence to support my theory that it's that plain BS most ships are selling out across the fleet. Booking a cruise and then actually sailing on it are entirely different. I don't doubt that bookings are up, but programs like this lead me to believe physical sailings aren't..

[KAKcruiser]

There are sometimes cruises available last minute at very low prices.  If an inside cabin is $499 for a 10 day cruise, that would be the same price as the standby.  And, you could pick your cabin and be guaranteed to sail.  

[BermudaBound2014]

Just now, KAKcruiser said:

There are sometimes cruises available last minute at very low prices.  If an inside cabin is $499 for a 10 day cruise, that would be the same price as the standby.  And, you could pick your cabin and be guaranteed to sail.  

 

Yes, exactly my thoughts. At this point I don't see why anyone would ever book an interior before final payment unless you were monitoring inventory and felt a good chance it would sell out. WIth or without the standby, last minute interiors sell in this price range often.

[Shmoo here]

I'm curious as to what they're considering "driving distance".  With 7 days notice, you can pretty much drive anywhere.

[KAKcruiser]

They must just be using this terminology to emphasize that it is last minute.  I don't think they care where you are coming from.

[RedneckBob]

1 hour ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

I doubt they will let people book excursions or specialty restaurants until they clear the waitlist. HAL says people are notified "approximately 7 days" before sailing, but how much leeway is there in "approximately?"

You might be surprised; more cash flow. I will call and find out.

[oaktreerb]

Heads in beds.  HAL wants to sail full ships.  An empty stateroom is costly to the bottom line.  Two weeks prior to my last cruise (Pacific Coast) there seemed to be a lot of empty cabins.  By the time we sailed the ship was close to capacity.  I think this is a good marketing plan.  

 

People who are free to sail at any time will enjoy taking advantage of this promo.  They will still pay gratuities (I hope), port fees, and spend for onboard items.  The cruise will probably cost more than they expect.  People who have purchased inside staterooms will be upgraded (upsold) to make room for the standbys.

 

I hope everyone on standby has their passport ready to go!  Those who have only birth certificates can really slow down the immigration process for everyone.

 

 

[Mary229]

2 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

Yes, exactly my thoughts. At this point I don't see why anyone would ever book an interior before final payment unless you were monitoring inventory and felt a good chance it would sell out. WIth or without the standby, last minute interiors sell in this price range often.

It seems to me you can wait and watch and put yourself on the list at day 8 if you don’t see a price drop. Another tool in the bargain hunting toolbox .

[3rdGenCunarder]

2 hours ago, Mary229 said:

It seems to me you can wait and watch and put yourself on the list at day 8 if you don’t see a price drop. Another tool in the bargain hunting toolbox .

 

But by day 8 (you mean 8 days before sailing, yes?), there could be a lot of people in line ahead of you. 

[OlsSalt]

Just a thought: Since these booking require cash up front, it could be just a ploy to end the current quarter on the positive cash side. Even if they know there will be refunds later.  

 

A marketing gimmick perhaps.  Much like Oceania would send endless brochures at every appealing rates, until you call them and so sorry, those cabins have already been booked. Perhaps you would like Cabin ++ instead now that we captured your interest.  Bait and switch - not unheard of in the cruise industry. 

 

So it may not be a statement about HAH actual occupancy, but an end of the quarter accounting ruse. These things happen. Governments do this all  the time shifting revenues and expense to various fiscal years, in order to "balance" the end of the year books. 

[zgscl]

8 hours ago, oaktreerb said:

Heads in beds.  HAL wants to sail full ships.  An empty stateroom is costly to the bottom line.  Two weeks prior to my last cruise (Pacific Coast) there seemed to be a lot of empty cabins.  By the time we sailed the ship was close to capacity.  I think this is a good marketing plan.  

 

People who are free to sail at any time will enjoy taking advantage of this promo.  They will still pay gratuities (I hope), port fees, and spend for onboard items.  The cruise will probably cost more than they expect.  People who have purchased inside staterooms will be upgraded (upsold) to make room for the standbys.

 

I hope everyone on standby has their passport ready to go!  Those who have only birth certificates can really slow down the immigration process for everyone.

 

 

100% agree with this. Brands like HAL rely on onboard sales to make a profit and I’m sure they are banking on these people spending onboard. An empty cabin spends $0 so even if they give it away they are ahead as the incremental costs to them are minimal for those extra people. 
 

If they can ultimately use this to offset no shows and last minute cancellations it’s a win. Plus since you pay when you sign up it’s a cash flow boost. The big question in my mind is how long will the refund take if they do not clear you. 

[dockman]

On 11/23/2023 at 10:04 AM, BermudaBound2014 said:

Saw this posted in the financial times. Looks like a new program to me- if this is old news my apologies.
 

 The link has a list of cruises you can select from to sail for $49 a day. 
 

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en/us/cruise-deals/standby-program

 

 

 

The link won't open for me and when i google it gives me the same link which also still does not open.  Where/how can you find the list of cruises being offered?  Is this an old promotion that is no longer offered perhaps?

[BermudaBound2014]

1 hour ago, dockman said:

The link won't open for me and when i google it gives me the same link which also still does not open.  Where/how can you find the list of cruises being offered?  Is this an old promotion that is no longer offered perhaps?

Brand new offer. I just tested and the link opens just fine for me. It opens for others in this thread too. There are lots of cruises listed until April 2024. Maybe try to reboot. Good luck! 

[BermudaBound2014]

@OlsSalt agree. There are multiple ways to manipulate the market.  CCL has been showing inflated occupancy thru casino offers too. Endless really. 

[Mary229]

9 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

But by day 8 (you mean 8 days before sailing, yes?), there could be a lot of people in line ahead of you. 

So then I don’t go😅.  They are relying on people with a gambling/auction bent, I am one who can take it or leave it 

Edited November 24, 2023 by Mary229

[Mary229]

52 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

@OlsSalt agree. There are multiple ways to manipulate the market.  CCL has been showing inflated occupancy thru casino offers too. Endless really. 

This may be in partial response to those that grumble about others getting casino rates.  I would next like to see a transparent upsell auction process 

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 hour ago, Mary229 said:

This may be in partial response to those that grumble about others getting casino rates.  I would next like to see a transparent upsell auction process 

 

I would like to see that, too, but I doubt it will happen. Cunard has a bid for upgrade process. There's a thread about it on the Cunard board. Not many people have been successful from what I can see. The process is run by an outside company, so you can't call Cunard to find out where you are in the bidding--it isn't like ebay where you get an email saying "you have been outbid." So zero transparency. 

 

Cunard doesn't take your money when you bid, but you have to give them a credit card number. If your bid is accepted, they charge your card and give you the new cabin. You can't go back or request a cabin change. Like the HAL standby offer, you get what they give you. 

 

I received a bid offer for my recent Queen Victoria cruise. I had a balcony cabin and was invited to bid on Club and Princess Grill (but not Queens Grill). There was a minimum bid for each level. I bid only on Princess Grill, about halfway between the minimum and the going rate on the website. I checked the website from time to time. When I bid, there were only a few PG cabins available, and there was at least one available until about 2 weeks out. I didn't get an upgrade, but I was fine with my balcony.

[Real NHDOC]

While on the face of it this does seem like an enticing offer, it's really not that great.  For example, if you book any of those cruises during black Friday or one of their other sales and get free tips you will probably be able to get a guarantee inside for not much more than the $49 a day, and sometimes less. 

 

For example, we booked the 16 day Zaandam holiday cruise last week and got a reserved J inside (highest category) for $60.50PP/Day including tips, so net of $44.50PP/Day.  They are offering the same cruise on the standby list with no choice of cabin and no free tips for $49PP/Day. 

 

HAL won't ever give you any cabin that they could sell to someone else so chances are you will get the cabins that are least attractive.  By the time they get to 7 or so days out they have assigned all of the guarantees and sold upgrades to the people who have booked cabins and given away all of the casino offers they could give so what's left? 

 

With this program HAL lands up being able to sell cabins which would otherwise be empty or resell cabins that people canceled (and bought insurance for, paying at least 20% to cancel) so they will be assured of full ship and not lose money because they already collected 20%.  It's more of a win for them than it is for us.  You're better off just following some of the TA's "last minute bargain" offers and just booking a reserved spot (which you can do right up to the day before a sailing) and you'll probably get the same deal without all of the unknowns of this offer.  Anyone thinking they will get a Neptune suite or even an oceanview for $49 is probably dreaming.

[BermudaBound2014]

5 hours ago, Mary229 said:

This may be in partial response to those that grumble about others getting casino rates.  I would next like to see a transparent upsell auction process 

 

I've had great luck with the upgrade bidding process on NCL but I"m not sure how transparent it is?  It sounds similar to the process described by @3rdGenCunarder.  On NCL you get a little dial to tell you how strong your bid is. There is a minimum but it's usually low ($35-$50 pp). I monitor inventory and adjust my bid accordingly. Lots of inventory and my bid is the bare minimum they allow. I've been successful every time I've bid. I believe NCL also has dynamic bidding where you are told if you are the leader or if you are outbid. I believe those are just for the haven but I have no personal experience with dynamic bidding.

 

What type of transparency are you looking for?

 

Edited November 24, 2023 by BermudaBound2014

[Sea Hag]

I like this. It's creative thinking to finish filling up ships. Having said that, I'll also say that I won't be doing it. My DH can't stand inside cabins and/or noisy cabins, so I have to do a smart selection when booking.