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17 hours ago, leerathje said:

 

So, I did call....it is the Advantage Fare, which is not available on the website. So, for the cruise I'm planning, $5282 for the View and Verandah, and $2409 for the upgrade from the inside to a verandah.  I'm all in for that!!  Looks like we're going on a cruise in December!

 

L.

 

Glad it worked out for you!  Calling is always the best thing even though you can get conflicting info from the horse's mouth too. 😁

13 hours ago, leerathje said:

Got that...my dad is paying for all of us, but we would like to upgrade from the inside to the verandah, and trying to calculate the upgrade price....

I see now... I would assume that since the "free" inside comes with none of the perks that it would be from the "Best Price" and not the "View and Verandah" price quote.  But you could quickly call HAL and ask to be sure as I'm just guessing.... 🙃  If you do, let us know what they say.

39 minutes ago, leerathje said:

Trying to calculate what the price would be if my dad would want to take us on a cruise 😁  If you upgrade to a verandah, is the upgrade difference between the Best Price on the inside, or the View and the Verandah price on the inside?

 

L.

 

Your dad has to choose the "View and Verandah" price to get the free inside cabin.  Still have to pay taxes and port fees and there are no perks for the inside cabin.

4 hours ago, wahwah1 said:

I just booked this.  The free room has a separate booking number. We have a party of 3 also and I’m the adult daughter.  You need to pay the tax in full for the inside room.  The verandah/suite room must pay the view and verandah option (e.g. drink package, free tips, 1 specialty dinning).  The free room has no perks.  This offer is combinable with the pay $750 installment and receive $250 obc in the verandah room.  If you decided to pay $750 upfront, it follows the cancellation policy on your booking (e.g. refundable before final payment).  If you have FCC to use, you can only choose the installment option (e.g. no prepaid in full to get an additional 10% off nor EZ pay).
 

I believe she could make separate arrangement.  I believe you have the option to link spending accounts also once you are onboard.

Just to add to this excellent explanation, we "gifted" our DD for her BD with an inside and added her bestie and her bestie's 3 year old son to the inside.  We did have to pay the freight on the child, which was what we considered minimal.  As mentioned, the booking is completely separate and has no added perks, but they can be added.  We were asked if we wanted to link our payment method to their booking but we declined for now; this can be added at any time and our bookings are otherwise linked (for meals, etc.)  They can book excursions and all services on their own through HAL on their own accounts.  We also did the $750 installment and received $250 in OBC along with a $50 p/p OBC in our verandah cabin.  Seemed pretty straight and easy to me.  You have 3 days to add people to the "free" inside cabin.

We bit and bought a cruise in December 2021 as a BD present for our DD.  Just paid the taxes and port charges for the "free" inside cabin.

Huh... wonder what the catch is?

10 hours ago, boze9999 said:

The FCD's we have always purchased provide for the following OBC benefits (basically HAL is now cutting them all in half!):

 3-10 days $50

11-21 days $100

21-50 days $150

51+ days $200

Beware and advocate for getting the benefits for those FCD's you purchased. 

10 hours ago, boze9999 said:

Back in 2014 (obviously, these would have been used or expired/refunded by now), the OBC for FCDs was different still, so this is not so shocking.  Just be aware of whatever conditions applied when you bought them and make sure they match.

See: 2014 FCD Program PDF.

Happy Thanksgiving, Rich!  Thanks for all the efforts you make with this.

Like that quote, Rich!  (a.k.a. The School of Hard Knocks)

As always, thanks Rich!

Thanks for the info!

Great looking supervisor you have there.... 🐱

Nice Alan!

Thanks for the info!

Throughout my childhood, I lived in military housing at various AF and Army bases/posts.  I do remember wearing poppies and the minute of silence at 11 am observed on base/post.  It was a solemn day then.  Same thing when I served 9 years in the AF.

The VA hospital just a stones throw from where I live will stop all incoming and outgoing traffic and observe a minute of silence at 11 am, just a few minutes from now.  I'm leaving now to participate in their observance and do my volunteering.

Again, thank you to all vets.  BTW, the Dept. of the Interior announced yesterday that all vets are now able to visit all US National Parks for free for their lifetime.  A thoughtful gift.

To all our men and women in uniform, American, Canadian, British, Australian and New Zealanders, who served, are serving and will serve in the future, God Bless You and Thank You.  Your sacrifice is the bedrock our countries were built upon and now stand upon.

10 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

The Red Poppy!  Thanks for posting this!  Don't recall the organization that sold them at this time of year; bought them every year.  I don't recall seeing them in recent years.  A symbol such as that Red Poppy is one of the things that our societies on both sides of the Pond is missing.  It helps us to "remember" and, maybe for those who wonder "what is the Poppy all about" encourages them to Google for the sake of learning and gaining an appreciation for history.  

 

The American Legion and Auxiliary used to give poppies away in exchange for donations, as once did the VFW.  Sadly, they are hard to find here in the states any longer but a few areas still do.  I know our Canadian and British friends still observe Remembrance Day with poppies playing a larger roll than is found here.

Thanks, Rich!

2 hours ago, KirkNC said:

It can be undone via the ballot box just as it was added that way.

That's what I said.

1 hour ago, KirkNC said:

I agree that some may boycott.  It will be interesting to see if this change is permanent.

As it amends the city's charter, it's as permanent as any such change.  Will be interesting to see how the lawsuit progresses.  What I wonder is when does it go into effect as the doesn't appear to say.

I got the same message regarding my January 2021 sailing on NS.

Thanks for the find. 🙂

41 minutes ago, NCTribeFan said:

just because one line does something doesn't mean every line under the corporate umbrella is going to follow suit.  They're still separate entities.

I understand what you're saying here and I agree in principle.  I will only say that, in the case mentioned here with Princess and HAL, these 2 lines, Seabourn and P&O Australia were placed in an administrative "group" called "Holland America Group" specifically for the purpose of combining some shore side administrative operations and achieving a synergy or "economy of scale" effect.  It would seem logical to expect the sort of administrative activity like adding shareholder benefits to OBC on cruises on these 4 lines could easily be done and be the sort of thing this synergy is meant to provide.

So, I guess I do expect to see something along this line happen.  Maybe not with Carnival Cruise Line, but they are not part of the Holland America Group.  That said, I'm not holding my breath either.  🙃

33 minutes ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

Maybe the have plains to merge that job for  Princess/Holland 

Would certainly be nice if they did since that is supposed to be part of the reason for their being placed under the "Holland America Group" umbrella.  Seems a fairly simple thing to do.

10 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Usually fax machines are part of scanners and printers. It's been that way for us for at least 25 years.

No need for a fax machine; simply use one of the free fax services found on the internet.  Works easily and no paper or equipment (beyond the device you use to access CC) required.

I do remember the days when HAL did accept emailed requests for the shareholder benefit.  Wish they would again.