CruiseUtah

While I haven't yet tested it, according to a phone conversation I had yesterday with an agent at ICE (the operator of HAL Privileges), they

claim that they book hotels as a travel agency and earn travel agency commissions.

If this is the case, then hotel frequent guest amenities (upgrades, breakfasts, etc) as well as point earning would still apply.

Example -- Marriott lets its Marriott Rewards guests earn points and get level-based amenities when booking direct or through a travel agency. They do

not allow these benefits/points if you book through a company such as

expedia, travelocity, hotels.com, etc.

Again, I haven't tested it, but based on my 25+ years in the travel industry, I believe what ICE is saying is true in terms of hotel bookings.

ICE also operates a program for USAA, which I am also a member. The

USAA program has no fees to join. It appears that they offer the same "surplus" timeshare inventory at a relatively low cost, but you pay with $$ and not HAL privileges points.

Right now we are leaning towards cancelling our HAL privileges membership.

We sailed on the Westerdam over Christmas and attended the presentation on the Holland America Privileges program. We followed up with a one-on-one meeting with one of their consultants. After reviewing the options, we decided to sign-up for the $4,995 Privileges program (top level). We have 10 tens to review the documents and cancel. We are now on day 5 and have been doing a lot of research and question asking.

While $4,995 sounds like a lot of money, we do get $3,750 in future cruise credits on HAL and Princess, and they can be used with any fare type (including Flash fares) and can be booked through any travel agency. The credits are placed on a debit card, so in essence it just becomes a form of payment type.

The $3,750 never expires provided you stay in the program. After the first year, you have to pay $99 annually.

I consider ourselves "in the hole" by $1,245 currently. We received two certificates -- each good for a 7 night resort stay. One has to be used in Mexico, the other all over the world. In checking the online availability, it appears the inventory they have is unused timeshare inventory, although there were a few hotels showing up. They claim the value of each certificate is "up to" $3,500. Certs expire after 18 months. I did find a

few places with availability that might be appealing to us, but we are still evaluating. The timeshares appear to be through RCI and do not appear to include upscale timeshares such as Marriott, Four Seasons, etc. The jury is still out on this benefit.

We were told we become VIP status with Holland America. Was told this is different than our Mariner status. I'm still trying to find out what "VIP status" really means with HAL. I've read it can mean different things at different times. I tried calling HAL executive offices today to get more information about the Privileges program, but the HAL operator didn't have any information on who at HAL manages the program. I then sent an email to Carnival Corp (HAL's parent) and am waiting an answer.

If you travel a lot and stay in hotels, this might be a good way to earn cruise credits. The online hotel pricing they have shows how many cruise credits you earn with a hotel booking. Seems to be between 10% and 30%.

They claim they will price match hotel rates.

Tomorrow I'm going to call International Cruise and Excursion Gallery (ICE)

in Arizona and attempt to speak to someone in management about the program.

Our family tends to use a lot of hotels, so this may be a good way to earn cruise credits. But I also want to speak with someone in management at HAL about the program and the VIP benefits.

The ultimate decision on whether we cancel or stay in the program will probably depend on what we determine the value of the two resort certs, and whether we can use them for a good resort at a desirable time of year.

By the way, we received two selfie sticks as our "present". The people onboard were friendly and professional and there was no hard sell.

I will provide updates as I learn more.