Holland america standby program - no single supplement?

[latebuyer]

As a canadian i received notice of the standby program for the first time. Someone told me solos don’t have to pay double on the standby program. Is that correct?

[whee-sailing]

That's only correct for a single occupancy room. I imagine the odds of getting one of those on standby are pretty slim though. For a regular room you'll still pay double.

 

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

[wdw1972]

On 4/21/2024 at 8:04 PM, whee-sailing said:

That's only correct for a single occupancy room. I imagine the odds of getting one of those on standby are pretty slim though. For a regular room you'll still pay double.

 

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

Wrong - solo passengers using the standby program have no single supplement, and they can be placed in any stateroom on the ship.  Ships that don't have the single/solo staterooms found on the 3 pinnacle class ships also participate in the standby program and can be booked by solo travelers for $49/night plus port fees/taxes.

 

Sue/WDW1972

[whee-sailing]

12 minutes ago, wdw1972 said:

Wrong - solo passengers using the standby program have no single supplement, and they can be placed in any stateroom on the ship.  Ships that don't have the single/solo staterooms found on the 3 pinnacle class ships also participate in the standby program and can be booked by solo travelers for $49/night plus port fees/taxes.

 

That's fantastic. HAL should update their web site then because that's not what it says.

[wdw1972]

18 minutes ago, whee-sailing said:

 

That's fantastic. HAL should update their web site then because that's not what it says.

HAL's language/narrative is notoriously bad/confusing. I swear they have some Dutch elementary school child writing all their stuff, then sending it through some translator app to get it into English - it often doesn't make any sense at all, and results in numerous clarifications that also aren't clear 😉

 

Sue/WDW1972

[sambamama]

However, the odds of going on a cruise as a standby are pretty slim. And you get notified fairly late. So unless you live locally and don't work, it doesn't make sense as air fare prices are most likely high or could be unavailable. 

[dahirsh]

They are now offering a verandah option.  Copied from HAL 

Guests may select to be added to the Inside/Ocean View Standby List for $49 per person per day, or the Verandah Standby List for $79 per person per day. If a guest is on the Verandah Standby List and no Verandahs are available, they will be offered an Inside or Ocean View stateroom, if available, for the reduced cost of $49 per person per day. The guest may choose to not take this alternate option for a full refund. If offered a stateroom in their original Standby List category, the fare becomes non-refundable.

I do wonder how you are supposed to handle a cruise that requires visas such as the 42 night cruise currently on the list. 

[MoxeyTravels]

Ouuu this is new!

 

I spoke to them directly and recorded (I post travel tiktoks so always record for my own records to make sure I didn't mishear so I'm 100% confident) and it USED to be $99 last year for solos instead of $49.

[alanstarr]

Looks like HAL doubled the prices for standby. Inside/Oceanview are now 99/day, Veranda is 129/day. 

[dahirsh]

13 minutes ago, alanstarr said:

Looks like HAL doubled the prices for standby. Inside/Oceanview are now 99/day, Veranda is 129/day. 

well that's no longer a wonderful deal.  Or is this related to the new thing about all taxes and fees need to be included in the price quote?

 

Edited July 2 by dahirsh

[alanstarr]

Just now, dahirsh said:

well that's no longer a wonderful deal

 

Yeah. Although in fairness, after posting this, I read over in the HAL forum that its likely because of the new CA pricing laws, and so it now includes port fees/taxes. 

[logan25]

Holland America, as a business, can do whatever they want.  But, honestly, if the theory is true, how many and which cruises cost $50 government fees per day per passenger??  Alaska maybe.

Edited July 10 by logan25

[dahirsh]

3 minutes ago, logan25 said:

Holland America, as a business, can do whatever they want.  But, honestly, if the theory is true, how many and which cruises cost $50 per day per passenger??  Alaska maybe.

not sure I understand what you are asking.  Right now all of the offerings are Alaska or Canada/New England.  But I've seen plenty of Caribbean cruises on the list

[alanstarr]

HA just a whole bunch of cruises to their standby list, mostly from San Diego and Ft. Lauderdale. Some are as long as 56 days! 

[airlink diva]

On 5/16/2024 at 7:14 AM, sambamama said:

However, the odds of going on a cruise as a standby are pretty slim. And you get notified fairly late. So unless you live locally and don't work, it doesn't make sense as air fare prices are most likely high or could be unavailable. 

I could take advantage of such when working for an airline and we could easy swap with other co workers to take extra time off.  I miss those days

[rj59]

I just did standby to Alaska last week, $693 for a solo oceanview, after being denied twice earlier this summer. The previous $49/nt didn't include taxes, so when I did it in Mexico it came out to around $450 with taxes, whereas now it would be $693 flat rate. It comes out to a better deal on a short coastal cruises or in Alaska, places with high port fees, but on a long Panama Canal or a 50-day one I've seen, it's a significant price increase, because they're in effect adding on another $50/day to cover port fees, meaning more profit for them. It's definitely high stress, because they notify 1-2 days before the cruise, sometimes through email, sometimes with a call, sometimes not at all, and your reservation simply disappears. A few times for Alaska they asked me the day before the cruise if I wanted to wait at the pier in case of a no-show, but that's a bit too much stress and hassle. For Mexico, I simply book a flight from Sea-SD with miles or a refundable fare later on the day before the cruise, and if I don't get picked, I simply cancel the flight and hotel. Apart from the price increase, they also don't give any sort of OBC, so I don't get the $200 I'd normally get through shareholder/military OBC. It used to be a great deal for solos, but now I have to compare it with other deals, particularly on Princess, where I get $200 OBC, and in May I went on Zaandam for around $900 with taxes and $200 obc, so about the same price as standby. If you don't get selected, your payment is refunded within a week or so, but you have to pay for the cruise upfront, with no option to cancel until 2 days before the cruise if you're not given a spot. 

[dahirsh]

11 hours ago, rj59 said:

I just did standby to Alaska last week, $693 for a solo oceanview, after being denied twice earlier this summer. The previous $49/nt didn't include taxes, so when I did it in Mexico it came out to around $450 with taxes, whereas now it would be $693 flat rate. It comes out to a better deal on a short coastal cruises or in Alaska, places with high port fees, but on a long Panama Canal or a 50-day one I've seen, it's a significant price increase, because they're in effect adding on another $50/day to cover port fees, meaning more profit for them. It's definitely high stress, because they notify 1-2 days before the cruise, sometimes through email, sometimes with a call, sometimes not at all, and your reservation simply disappears. A few times for Alaska they asked me the day before the cruise if I wanted to wait at the pier in case of a no-show, but that's a bit too much stress and hassle. For Mexico, I simply book a flight from Sea-SD with miles or a refundable fare later on the day before the cruise, and if I don't get picked, I simply cancel the flight and hotel. Apart from the price increase, they also don't give any sort of OBC, so I don't get the $200 I'd normally get through shareholder/military OBC. It used to be a great deal for solos, but now I have to compare it with other deals, particularly on Princess, where I get $200 OBC, and in May I went on Zaandam for around $900 with taxes and $200 obc, so about the same price as standby. If you don't get selected, your payment is refunded within a week or so, but you have to pay for the cruise upfront, with no option to cancel until 2 days before the cruise if you're not given a spot. 

for clarity, you said sometimes they don't notify you at all.  I assume that's only if you are not getting a spot?  No chance you never hear from them and then they keep your money because you didn't show up?

Also, your experience is two days notice, not more?