Destiny0315

Remember the biggest gamblers are the cruise lines as they are in effect the house depending upon us to feed their cash drawers.

I have received both types of offers this year myself from different cruise lines. Having a system set up already to send out the true casino offers it would make sense to utilize that system to send out the "free room" offers even to non-casino players, with expectations for them to spend much more than the $200 OBC on a 7/14/21/35-day cruise throughout the ship.

The free inside (or outside) stateroom offers though sent by the casino department are different than a discounted casino room rate offer (sometimes including free rooms, $$ to play with, drinks etc...) that may be received by someone who has or does frequent the casinos.

The terms, Special Fare, Restricted Fare, Flexible Fare, and Best Price Fare may also be used so yes there is a certain amount of ambiguity.

Private Fares are just that, and not available to the general public, while Casino or 'free' room fares are listed as a Promotion Fare. Both are listed as such on the website.

Maybe the CC companies think that with all this activity going on that the foreign call centers latest scam is trying to convince people to buy cruises for them rather than Walmart or Amazon gift cards.☺️

It does allow you to purchase gift cards between $25 to $2,000, but not to exceed more than $10,000 per day. Any amount from $250+ would receive the 10% bonus credit.

Getting back on topic about medical kit suggestions, I would think bug spray, a bug shield and some type of bug bite ointment would be good if you are doing any of the itineraries that head to northeast Canada, Greenland and Iceland. From what I have read on here they were particularly nasty there this year.

Notice all are extended sailings too, which is different than most of the usual "free room" offerings.

Thanks for posting that list for those who asked. I didn't myself because the last time somebody posted one like that, I believe it was taken down.

I agree! The real drama is over on the Carnival board because the Carnival website is not allowing logins atm. The speculation is that they are removing the rest of the Covid protocols like NCL did today and/or putting in their new internet price increases. But then again maybe they can't pay their own internet bill.☺️

Here is an interesting comparison of NCL vs CCL stocks that was just published today, with plenty of numbers to crunch inside it. For example, Carnival spent 28.9% less on food during the first 9 months of 2022 vs the first 9 months of 2019. Think less people and less bacon! https://seekingalpha.com/article/4544396-carnival-vs-norwegian-cruise-carnival-the-clear-winner

Well with the Noordam leaving for 69 days this Saturday from San Diego for a transpacific cruise and a circumnavigation of Australia let's hope the crew Covid numbers are under control.

Sorry if it wasn't clear for some in the topic line. I was talking about Carnival's potential need for restructuring of its products and not Holland America.

With all the talk on here about Carnival's current financial woes, where do you think HAL stands amongst the nine products that it owns? Who would be expendable in a keep or kill decision?

The current active (ends 10/15) "Free Interior Stateroom" offer code from HAL is HEP2244HOB. As a reminder per the fine print, it is good for 3 free staterooms on 3 separate cruises.

Once the email is received by you the offers WILL show up if your logged in online as a Promotional fare. Any itinerary that is part of the promotion will show $200 as the best fare for that cruise. Another thing to note is there is no single supplement added for solo cruisers like myself if you just stick with the inside room offer.

I have no solid evidence to back this up but my guess would be the more time you spend logged in the HAL website searching various sailings you may be interested in and even leaving some incomplete bookings, the more the computer analytics tells them that this person is actively searching for cruises and deals. Calling your PCC or TA and telling them specifically what you want to book doesn't leave the same trail that the computer website searches do.

Like everyone else I can't figure out the pattern or the rhyme or reason for who receives offers like this. I am 3 star working on 4 and have booked with a big box store, PCC's and direct in the past. I have never worn out the rug beneath a slot machine or a seat on a chair at a poker table in any casino on any cruise line I have cruised with. I do know what a great deal is and in my post was just reminding those who received it how it seemed like a winning bet.

There are two offers on this promotion that I would consider to be ULTIMATE OFFERS!! The 34-day Pacific crossing of the Noordam that leaves from San Diego a week from today and travels to Sydney, Australia with stops in Hawaii and Tahiti is $200(obc) for an inside with $397 taxes/fees. You can stay on the ship and add the 35-day Australia Circumnavigation cruise for $200(obc) for an inside with $717 taxes/fees, with debarkation in Sydney on December 17. There are no return sailings back to the USA or Canada until the spring so at that point you would have to either fly back home or swim!

It looks like the shore ex credit will be bumped up to $200 with this sale too.