Have it all with 2 teens?

[Nikita4]

We are looking forward to an Alaska cruise tour in Sommer 2025.

We have to teens (15 and 17 next year) and have a offer for a Neptune suite with HIA.
HIA is only for Person 1,2 but noch for the teens, right?

There is also no drink package for the kids?
And have the teen to pay the gratuities? I am a litte confused about our TA that don't have a lot of experience with the cruise tours and HAL.

[REOVA]

If you book HIA it's required for both passengers 1 & 2. If you have a special or reduced fare (or free for 3rd, 4th passenger) you can purchase a beverage package for the kids. They still pay for taxes and port fees. Your TA should call HAL and get the answers to clarify what the kids charges will be. 

[Nikita4]

Thank you Reova, and the gratuities for the Kids?

[FOPMan]

You should expect to pay gratuities for every person in your cabin. You should also expect to pay the stated rate for excursions at the advertised rate at the time of reservations, unless the individuals have HIA and the excursion expense falls in line with the HiA program.

 

 

[pschweig]

We are also traveling this summer with 2 teens (15 and 18) under the HIA promo for guests 1 and 2. From what I researched on the HAL site, we were required to purchase a beverage package for guests 3 and 4 since guests 1 and 2 had one with the HIA promo. More knowledgeable people on this site will be able to confirm this for you. 
 

Please research what you feel you will spend. I ended up purchasing the HIA promo for guests 3 and 4. I  found there was little difference in cost after I added the cost of 2 meals in specialty restaurants, $200 shore excursion credit and the cost of a beverage package. The HIA promo also gives our 2 teens an Internet package. I also prepaid the daily gratuities for guests 3 and 4 so remember you can do so. 

[terrydtx]

 Last June we were on the Equinox with our 13 year old granddaughter in a Sky Suite. She got all of the HIA Retreat amenities, except the drinks package for her was the non alcohol one so she could have all the mock drinks, sodas and bottled water she wanted. Her gratuities were also included as the cruise was before they took that away from retreat bookings.

[POA1]

Look at the booking confirmation PDF. It will tell you which passengers have the beverage package and any other HIA perks. If it just says 1,2 then passengers 3 & 4 do not have HIA.

 

You can have it manually added if the math makes sense for you. Odds are that the kids will use the shore excursion credit and there's almost a 100% chance they want Wi-Fi. HIA would make sense if they drink soda, smoothies, bottled/canned water, or milkshakes. The breakeven is 6-7 non alcoholic beverages per day.

[Nikita4]

Thank you! 
Only guest 1 and 2 have the HIA Promo, so the kids have to pay gratuities und drinks. 
HIA for the kids, how is the price?
And the not will use Wi-fi on the ship, they can stay some hours oder days without internet. They can use their data package on the land-days.
 

1 hour ago, FOPMan said:

You should expect to pay gratuities for every person in your cabin. You should also expect to pay the stated rate for excursions at the advertised rate at the time of reservations, unless the individuals have HIA and the excursion expense falls in line with the HiA program.

 

 

Guest 1 and 2 have HIA, the kids not. So my question was about the kids an the gratuities for them. 
Its our first HAL-Family cruise, normally we cruise with other lines.

Edited March 24 by Nikita4

[FOPMan]

HiA may or may not include gratuities. It is a little confusing. A better way of viewing is that HIA itself doesn't include hotel gratuities (it does include gratuities for beverages included in the HiA package).

 

Sometimes, HAL offers sale priced that includes both HIA and hotel gratuities at the same time, basically temporarily modifying the HIA package to include hotel gratuities. When that sale ends, HIA reverts to its "basic" mode.

[bimar]

We are also travelling with a teen in our stateroom and have added HIA for him. He will get everything we have in the package except the internet. That is only for person 1 and 2 in the room. 

 

[FOPMan]

Internet coverage in Alaskan ports may be good, but not necessarily great, and depending on what excursions you go on, nonexistent.

[HermmyGranger]

I traveled with my teen son last summer and after doing the math, it really made sense to go ahead and add the HIA for him as well. He used all the benefits (specialty dining and excursions) and used his non-alcoholic beverage package a lot. You just have to do the math and figure out what works out best. Honestly, if it comes out close, it's more convenient to not have all the individual charges on the statement.

[Petronillus]

2 hours ago, HermmyGranger said:

Honestly, if it comes out close, it's more convenient to not have all the individual charges on the statement.

DW & I drink enough to at least break even on the beverage package. For me the main thing is feeling carefree. Not for nothing was my Dad born and raised in Scotland.

[Nikita4]

9 hours ago, Petronillus said:

DW & I drink enough to at least break even on the beverage package. For me the main thing is feeling carefree. Not for nothing was my Dad born and raised in Scotland.

I am asking about the package for our teens not for us.

 

I cruise with different lines and often we don't take drink or internet packages. Its also nice to have some days without internet and at home we don't drink a lot of alcohol.

[oakridger]

You will need to pay the daily gratuities for each teen.

 

 

~Nancy

[oakridger]

Have It All Premium Cruise Package | Holland America Line

 

[POA1]

13 hours ago, bimar said:

We are also travelling with a teen in our stateroom and have added HIA for him. He will get everything we have in the package except the internet. That is only for person 1 and 2 in the room. 

 

If you add HIA for passengers 3 or 3&4, they get Wi-Fi. HIA always includes internet access. What differs is whether or not it includes gratuities, aka crew appreciation. HIA+, which is the early booking bonus version, does include crew appreciation. HIA+ is is normally the version when you are booking well over a year in advance.

[bimar]

Well thats not the case with us.

 

7-Day Premium Wifi Hia Promo 1,2

Elite Beverage Pkg Hia Promo 1,2,3

Shore Excursion Discount HIA1 1,2,3

1 Night Spec Dining HIA Promo2 1,2,3

Pre-Pd Crew Appreciation Promohiaeb 1,2,3

 

We have booked this before with 3 persons in a room. Same thing.

 

It is also on the HAL website (i translated it from Dutch)

 

WiFi surfing package: Surf your favorite sites including email, sports, news and general browsing. All internet use on board is subject to standard Holland America Line policies which may restrict browsing of some sites due to network security and bandwidth usage. High bandwidth applications may be blocked and offerings may change with or without notice. The plan can be activated on any device, but only one device can be actively connected at a time. Upgrades are available on board for a single day, for the remaining duration of the trip or to add more devices. The offer is only valid for 1st/2nd guests in a cabin.

[vicd1969]

HIA if booked more than a year in advance usually includes gratuities, as others have mentioned. If your kids don't get HIA, they would be paying about about $120 each for a 7-day Alaska sailing ($17*7). Kids don't need a separate internet package. You can log off your internet on your device and they can share the connection then with you. Drinks - if they have to drink a lot of smoothies and sodas each day then HIA may make sense. Otherwise, assume about $20-$25 / day for 3-4 beverages other than ice tea/lemonade/water. So another $175. Specialty dining - assuming they join you that's about another $55 if you dine at Pinnacle Grill. Or you can send them to the lido for dinner that night and make the specialty dinner your "date" night.  Assume they'll join you for whatever excursion you take with the credit. So that's $100. Which brings to about $450 for the cost without HIA. 

[Nikita4]

Thank you!
Yes we are booking for Alaska in summer 2025, so its the early booking promo.
And we will go only with a soda-drink-package for the teens. The speciality dining is our adults only evening... and they will have a suite evening with the tv or so.
In a neptune suite they will deliver food to the suite I think, like Cunard in the grills oder MSC in the Yacht Club?

[vicd1969]

41 minutes ago, Nikita4 said:

Thank you!
Yes we are booking for Alaska in summer 2025, so its the early booking promo.
And we will go only with a soda-drink-package for the teens. The speciality dining is our adults only evening... and they will have a suite evening with the tv or so.
In a neptune suite they will deliver food to the suite I think, like Cunard in the grills oder MSC in the Yacht Club?

Yes, I believe so with some caveats. The MDR dinner room service is free for all cabins. However, it varies from ship to ship on when you can call in your order - I think between 5 PM and 630 PM on most ships. And can only be delivered during MDR hours. The Navigator app would have that night's dinner menu to help you out. Also, extra-charge drinks like sodas and even milk ordered through room service ARE NOT included in your beverage cards/drinks package. So ordering a coke with the room service meal would cost you the $5 or so. Since your kids are teens, they can just go up to the lido, where most of the MDR options are available as well, and can bring their food down to the room. Unless they're really directionally-challenged and would get lost coming back to the cabin without you. The Neptune suite lounge also has beverages available. Others can give you a better idea of Neptune suite lounge offerings for  beverages.

[TMJplus1]

On 3/24/2024 at 4:16 AM, Nikita4 said:

We are looking forward to an Alaska cruise tour in Sommer 2025.

We have to teens (15 and 17 next year) and have a offer for a Neptune suite with HIA.
HIA is only for Person 1,2 but noch for the teens, right?

There is also no drink package for the kids?
And have the teen to pay the gratuities? I am a litte confused about our TA that don't have a lot of experience with the cruise tours and HAL.

 

When I cruised in 2018 with my then teen daughter, I purchased a beverage package for myself but was not required to purchase one for her because she was not of legal drinking age. (I did get her the soda package, but it wasn't required.)

[POA1]

4 minutes ago, TMJplus1 said:

 

When I cruised in 2018 with my then teen daughter, I purchased a beverage package for myself but was not required to purchase one for her because she was not of legal drinking age. (I did get her the soda package, but it wasn't required.)

The age break point on the beverage package purchase requirement is 18. Eighteen through twenty year olds have to buy a beverage package if they are traveling with an adult who does. You can have the requirement waived for 17 and under. This is for US and Canadian bookings. I'm not sure how HAL Europe handles it.