Price Drop After Final Payment

[jenga123]

Hello All.

 

I just thought I share with you my experience today with Holland America's Price Drop

 

I booked my Alaska July 15 Volendam sailing back in Mid April of this year and made my final payment on May 30th. I booked an inside cabin for 806.95 CDN (cat L). The lowest inside price at the time was 786.45 CDN.

 

This week's Flash Special shows inside cabin's for 629.00 CDN for my sailing. That's a difference of 157.45 CDN.

 

Since I had booked directly with Holland America, I called them up today to see what they could do for me. The Agent first said nothing could be done since I was past final payment but said she will check with the supervisor. The answer came back that the flash special was for new bookings only and they could not offer the reduce rate. What they could do was give 1st and 2nd passenger a 73.50 CDN onboard credit.

 

Something is better then nothing and since I booked 3 rooms that worked out to an 441.00 onboard credit. She emailed me new confirmations to confirm this.

 

Moral of the story is it never hurts to ask.

 

And Thanks everybody for the tons of info on this board.

[LVSue]

I'm so glad for your OBC. I honestly think they could have done more, but as you point out, something is better than nothing. And the advantage to planning your trip ahead of time is worth something.

 

I love the Volendam, and I know you will, too! Have a great trip!

[travelntreats]

Hello All.

 

I just thought I share with you my experience today with Holland America's Price Drop

 

I booked my Alaska July 15 Volendam sailing back in Mid April of this year and made my final payment on May 30th. I booked an inside cabin for 806.95 CDN (cat L). The lowest inside price at the time was 786.45 CDN.

 

This week's Flash Special shows inside cabin's for 629.00 CDN for my sailing. That's a difference of 157.45 CDN.

 

Since I had booked directly with Holland America, I called them up today to see what they could do for me. The Agent first said nothing could be done since I was past final payment but said she will check with the supervisor. The answer came back that the flash special was for new bookings only and they could not offer the reduce rate. What they could do was give 1st and 2nd passenger a 73.50 CDN onboard credit.

 

Something is better then nothing and since I booked 3 rooms that worked out to an 441.00 onboard credit. She emailed me new confirmations to confirm this.

 

Moral of the story is it never hurts to ask.

 

And Thanks everybody for the tons of info on this board.

 

I'm so glad for your OBC. I honestly think they could have done more, but as you point out, something is better than nothing. And the advantage to planning your trip ahead of time is worth something.

 

I love the Volendam, and I know you will, too! Have a great trip!

The HAL rep did do way more than should have occured.... the promo the OP saw was "For New Bookings Only" and HAL pretty much gave them 1/2 of the difference in OBC they DID NOT HAVE TO DO !!! WHy would you think they should do more in this scenario ? The OP came out VERY GOOD and I commend HAL for doing this for them.

[dandro]

HAL didn't have to do anything. I think they were being very generous with their offer of on board credit. I hope the OP thanked them.

[kryos]

I'm so glad for your OBC. I honestly think they could have done more, but as you point out, something is better than nothing. And the advantage to planning your trip ahead of time is worth something.

 

I love the Volendam, and I know you will, too! Have a great trip!

I have rarely seen price cuts after final payment, but sometimes they will give guaranteed upgrades instead. In this case, I would imagine the ship is full and they can't give the upgrades, so they gave some OBC instead.

 

I honestly don't think the OP can do better than this ... not after final payment.

 

That's the biggest argument in these times of a tight economy for booking last minute. You definitely do get the better prices, though you have much less in the way of choice. You take the cabins that are left. But if price is your only concern, booking last minute is the only way to go.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[MiniMoustic]

Hello All.

 

I just thought I share with you my experience today with Holland America's Price Drop

 

I booked my Alaska July 15 Volendam sailing back in Mid April of this year and made my final payment on May 30th. I booked an inside cabin for 806.95 CDN (cat L). The lowest inside price at the time was 786.45 CDN.

 

This week's Flash Special shows inside cabin's for 629.00 CDN for my sailing. That's a difference of 157.45 CDN.

 

Since I had booked directly with Holland America, I called them up today to see what they could do for me. The Agent first said nothing could be done since I was past final payment but said she will check with the supervisor. The answer came back that the flash special was for new bookings only and they could not offer the reduce rate. What they could do was give 1st and 2nd passenger a 73.50 CDN onboard credit.

 

Something is better then nothing and since I booked 3 rooms that worked out to an 441.00 onboard credit. She emailed me new confirmations to confirm this.

 

Moral of the story is it never hurts to ask.

 

And Thanks everybody for the tons of info on this board.

 

How did you know that the price had lowered? :confused: It is what the "week's Flash Special " :)

[jenga123]

Just to clarify. When I made the final payment, I asked the agent " what if I find a price drop from now till sailing date". The agent's response was Hal will not refund the difference but will do upgrades or OBC.

 

The agent I talked to a few days ago truely did not know that HAL could do upgrades or OBC after final payment until she talked to the supervisor. She even thank me for enlightening her. She was extremely curtious and professional as was all my past dealings with HAL agents.

 

They did offer me 1 category upgrade but that was silly. An inside cabin is still an inside cabin.

 

I understand I don't hold any cards here. So I'm very grateful for the OBC that they did offered.

 

BTW. Cruise Critic email new's letter is where I got the "Flash Special" from. I'm not sure what it is but the price is only good for about a week. When I went to the HAL website to do a dummy booking, the special price was not reflected in the quote.

[dam1050]

I have always found that HAL customer reps have been very helpful when calling them the few times I've noticed price drops on bookings which I've already made final payments for. One may get an upgraded category, on-board credit, or be able to upgrade for a small charge to something far superior than what you originally had. It never hurts to inquire, and they are most helpful.

Of course, if you went through a travel agent, you cannot call direct in to HAL yourself.

 

It usually just takes a bit of patience while they speak with their supervisor regarding your particular booking.