What’s the latest booking aboard deal for a future cruise?

[A Sixth?]

New to HAL but have a lot of cruising under my belt and know there are benefits to booking abroad. What’s the deal these days?

Edited June 6 by A Sixth?

[POA1]

It depends on the length of the cruise you book and the stateroom category. Longer cruises in higher categories, such as suites will net the most OBC. The deposit will be lower as well.

[C 2 C]

I have never tried to book abroad

14 hours ago, A Sixth? said:

New to HAL but have a lot of cruising under my belt and know there are benefits to booking abroad. What’s the deal these days?

I've never tried booking abroad.  You may find a few cougars on your travels however.🤣

[C 2 C]

The best deals on HAL are getting OBC for:

Stock ownership

Military Discount

Teacher discount

AARP membership

 

I recently looked at a long cruise and all those do not qualify.

I don't know if booking onboard will get more than a $100 or if they cancel other OBC

 

[A Sixth?]

13 hours ago, C 2 C said:

I have never tried to book abroad

I've never tried booking abroad.  You may find a few cougars on your travels however.🤣

😱Darn auto correct 🤣

[rodndonna]

16 hours ago, C 2 C said:

The best deals on HAL are getting OBC for:

Stock ownership

Military Discount

Teacher discount

AARP membership

 

I recently looked at a long cruise and all those do not qualify.

I don't know if booking onboard will get more than a $100 or if they cancel other OBC

 

 

They don't cancel the other OBC.

 

Just another note - we don't book "abroad" or on board - haha - but we do purchase the Future Cruise Certificates (FCD) which gets you the reduced discount and some OBC for a future booking, but you can wait and use it later.

 

Not sure if things have changed recently, but in our experience we would purchase FCD's and then if there is something we are interested in, there is a another small additional OBC (maybe $50) after you return home as a sort of come back offer. We would rather not sit with the consultant during our cruise and prefer to look at things and book after we get home so that works best for us,

[pirate cruiser]

We booked a 12 day cruise while we were on Oosterdam last Sept.-we got the aft verandah we wanted plus the upgraded HIA, AARP and teacher OBC-all for just a $100 refundable deposit so I think it's worth the time to at least check what's available while onboard.

[POA1]

If you are booking a longer cruise, the onboard OBC is higher than the FCD + Welcome Home OBC. The future cruise consultant on our Rotterdam trip in April had the numbers and I think I jotted them down somewhere. You get all the AARP, Military, First Responder and Educator OBC that you have pre qualified for. (Make sure you pre quality in advance of booking either way.)

[rodndonna]

50 minutes ago, pirate cruiser said:

We booked a 12 day cruise while we were on Oosterdam last Sept.-we got the aft verandah we wanted plus the upgraded HIA, AARP and teacher OBC-all for just a $100 refundable deposit so I think it's worth the time to at least check what's available while onboard.

 

Just to clarify though - you can purchase FCD (Future Cruise Deposit) on board for later use which gives you that same refundable $100 deposit option for a future booking.

As well - the OBC offered was the same on our bookings (whether we booked on board or just took FCD with OBC for use later) but I recall someone posting here there was a change (at least on their cruise) where the OBC associated with the FCD was a little less than the OBC if booked on board. I do wonder though if that difference is just the "come back and sail" additional OBC offer you get on return. 

[C 2 C]

My indecision to buy a FCD on our recent cruise was caused by currency uncertainty.  I could not decide on buying in US$ or CAD$.

We sometimes use a US agency and have to calculate the loss in exchange rates.

Sometimes the cruise company has a more advantageous rate in one currency or the other.

Celebrity seldom gives CDN fares in a simple swap price when looking at official bank rates. 

[tigervixxxen]

Does the AARP OBC have to be done at the time of booking or can it be added later? It would be worth it to join for the $100 credit if it works that way. 

[iflyrc5]

On 6/6/2024 at 1:53 PM, C 2 C said:

The best deals on HAL are getting OBC for:

Stock ownership

Military Discount

Teacher discount

AARP membership

 

I recently looked at a long cruise and all those do not qualify.

I don't know if booking onboard will get more than a $100 or if they cancel other OBC

 

Why did these OBC not qualify.  We booked a 45 day for the fall of 2025 when on board earlier this year and got the Teacher and AARP OBC - Waiting for closer to the cruise to get the Stock OBC

[sunnysask]

We usually buy  FCD and decide later, however this time we actually ended booking two while onboard, (it wasnt hard to figure out where we wanted to go) the benefits were worth it.   We also, learned that HAL will no longer offer cancel for any reason insurance on cruises booked in CAD so we booked in USD.

[nw gardener]

From last week on the Koningsdam.  Booked an 18 day round trip to Hawaii in 2026, pick out the cabin we wanted,  and only tying up 200 refundable FCC. A good deal for us.

[A Sixth?]

Thanks for the replies, I’m going to book a cruise I’m planning while onboard the Volendam June/July