More evidence HAL likes new passengers better!

I recently attempted to sign up my son for an online HAL acct. Anyway, I messed up and instead of finding his Mariner number (he's probably one star) they have him as a new person with no mariner history. Whatever. He's in college and won't be cruising for a while, so I figured I'll correct when I need to.

Anyway, I click on the email he received and logged in as him (the person with no cruises) and check the price for Volendam Vista Suite Sept 4 and it has a " special price" of $1323.94 CAD. I check the Amsterdam Aug 30 and the Vista Suite also has a "special price" of $1323.94. I logged out and then back in as myself (2 star) and both prices are now $1527.64!

Funny, I don't remember seeing higher prices listed as a perk for 2 star mariners:rolleyes:

Not sure yet which of these Ill book, but I intend to call in and hold them to the cheaper price.

And HAL can't see why some of we older, long time cruisers aren't cruising as much as we used to on them.

Hope they honor that lower price.

Let us know what happens.

In a conversation I had with a HAL officer, I was told that HAL makes more money off of first time cruisers than it does veterans, so this situation is not surprising.

First timers purchase alot more of the onboard high markup items (think about all those photos you bought on your first cruise, taking HAL excursions, not bringing your own wine and pop onboard, etc).

DaveOKC

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Funny, I don't remember seeing higher prices listed as a perk for 2 star mariners:rolleyes:

 

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It is right there from one star to five star: "Special offers on select sailings":rolleyes:

Look at it another way. The cost of acquiring new customers is high.

Perhaps HAL view reducing pricing for new customers is a good way to attract new customers-especially if they typically spend more on board. $200 or so to attract a customer may be considered a bargain-I don't really know.

And HAL's existing customers are the most loyal...it seems that nothing can move them to try other cruise lines.

I would think that HAL customers could, if they wished, sign up for a cruise as a new customer thus declining the Mariner benefits.

If the reduction in price is $200. per person, then those Mariners simply have to put a price on their benefits. I know what I would do given the choice of paying $400. (or even $200) less per couple or 'enjoying' the Mariner benefits.

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I would think that HAL customers could, if they wished, sign up for a cruise as a new customer thus declining the Mariner benefits.

 

If the reduction in price is $200. per person, then those Mariners simply have to put a price on their benefits. I know what I would do given the choice of paying $400. (or even $200) less per couple or 'enjoying' the Mariner benefits.

I will not sail on HAL if they refuse to give me a discount they would give to a first time HAL cruiser. Waiver of air deviation fees is the only Mariner benefit of any value that we have received and there is no longer a fee for air deviation. We did go to the embarkation lunches, but skipped Mariner brunches and "collectible" tiles. (I do not consider a lapel pin or medallion priceless.)

Most of the first time HAL cruisers we know or have met on board have always been offered upgrades or atleast very reasonable upsells. Something we have never been offered, guess they figure they got us now.

The 'rubber always hits the road' when bottom line price is involved. The airlines found this out the hard way but it took them a while.

Given the choice between Mariner rewards or a lower price it would be interesting to see at what price savings the fulcrum would tip toward taking the lower price vs. taking Mariner benefits.

This is really the true test of the value of a rewards program-any rewards program. It is where price, ego, status, perceived value, and everything else meet.

It is always less of an issue for business travellers on expense accounts. But for we leisure travellers, the decision is a little different.

The 'rubber always hits the road' when bottom line price is involved. The airlines found this out the hard way but it took them a while.

 

Given the choice between Mariner rewards or a lower price it would be interesting to see at what price savings the fulcrum would tip toward taking the lower price vs. taking Mariner benefits.

 

This is really the true test of the value of a rewards program-any rewards program.

Boy, are you right!

As much as I understand that HAL's pricing is about marketing, pure and simple, I am not a happy 5 star in this respect.

Just when I think I begin to see a pattern in HAL pricing and upgrades/upsells, it tends to disappear.

I book mostly guarantees and, on my first nine cruises, I got some very nice assignments within the category, ocean view or veranda, that I had booked, but never an upgrade to a higher category and the rare upsell offers were not tempting. But then, on my tenth cruise, I got a very substantial and welcome upgrade.

Over the course of a long life, I have found that getting as much as I paid for was all I could expect, so I didn't long for upgrades or tempting upsells, but it's nice to know that, at least sometimes, they favor their repeat passengers.

I've kind of given up trying to figure out pricing structures for cruises. In general, my Mariner price has always been the lowest... lower than the prices I see when gathering information without signing in.

I've also seen a good price... call a few friends to see if they want to take advantage of the discount, and by the time we call HAL, the price has gone up again.

Last time I saw what I considered a great price, I just called and booked it ASAP. HAL allowed me to add up to 4 cabins for non-Mariners at the same rate.

But who knows what pricing algorithm they are using? If a large group calls to book 50 cabins... it affects availability and prices go back up. The computers can change prices from one day... or one hour to the next.

I don't think they do it to frustrate us. Supply and demand.

So wrong that they do that... one could even argue if it's very ethical, and yet at the bottom of the HAL website you always see this:

Really makes you wonder...

My first HAL cruise I got nothing; even when I asked if there were any up sell opportunities (something I learnt from these boards) I was told that there was nothing.

I later learnt that people in the cabin next to me were offered a fantastic up sell opportunity without evening asking; perhaps there is a lottery with regards to up sells that we don't know about.

As a newbie I find the Mariner rewards system not very rewarding and as such there is no real motivation to become a regular; for the same amount of points with the MSC Club I would get 8% discount up and above any other discount on all cabin types year round; at my current status I get 20%.

Reward plans are not really a large enough incentive to sway us to any cruise line-or away from any cruise line. For us it is strictly ship, itinerary, and price.

But one thing is for sure, next HAL cruise we consider we will definitely check the on line booking as a previous customer and as a new customer.

Lowest price will win,,,,and based on the comments so far I suspect our next cruise will be as newbies in order to get the best price.

My first HAL cruise I got nothing; even when I asked if there were any up sell opportunities (something I learnt from these boards) I was told that there was nothing.

 

I later learnt that people in the cabin next to me were offered a fantastic up sell opportunity without evening asking; perhaps there is a lottery with regards to up sells that we don't know about.

 

As a newbie I find the Mariner rewards system not very rewarding and as such there is no real motivation to become a regular; for the same amount of points with the MSC Club I would get 8% discount up and above any other discount on all cabin types year round; at my current status I get 20%.

That is fine and good if you want to sail MSC.

For those of us who want to sail HAL........ :)

That is fine and good if you want to sail MSC.

For those of us who want to sail HAL........ :)

 

 

 

But that is my point - they need to revise their rewards program to continue to attract repeat customers, like me for example.

I do, as an average, 2 extended cruises per year (30 plus days annually) spending on average $270 per night for a cabin and then budget a further $200 per day for on board spend. I have tried HAL, and albeit my experience was let down by the MDR and the algae in the swimming pools, I felt it was a decent enough product to return.

The problem from my experiences when shopping for a cruise is that I tend to always go back to MSC because of the discount and their generous single supplement (50% even for Yacht Club Suites); 20% can be a saving for me of $1620 per year, which translates to better cabins and longer cruises.

Now, if HAL had a more enticing rewards program perhaps they could benefit more from the $14,000 I spend annually....

No, they don't 'need to'.

They have the largest repeat passenger rate in the cruise industry. It is only in very recent years they offered any Mariner benefits at all other than a cocktail party and Medallions awarded. Despite offering nothing of monetary value to Mariners but for a small discount, they still had highest percentage of repeaters.

Times have changed and consumers are now more demanding of benefits and HAL has added what some of us consider to be decent rewards. Look at the list a Five Star Mariner gets...... we think some of the features useful to us. Four Star Benefits good while lower number of stars offers lower return, as one would expect.

With 14 HAL cruises we have never had an upgrade and were only offered one upsell that was not a bargain.

Our friends who took a cruise at the same time that we did, went from an inside cabin to a verandah. I could not believe it - but it seemed that first time cruisers get better deals - like the couple who only paid 5000 pp for the same cruise that we paid 12,000 pp for, and they were just down the corridor from us. Seems unfair to the loyal HAL cruisers.

I would think that HAL customers could, if they wished, sign up for a cruise as a new customer thus declining the Mariner benefits.

 

Reward plans are not really a large enough incentive to sway us to any cruise line-or away from any cruise line. For us it is strictly ship, itinerary, and price.

 

But one thing is for sure, next HAL cruise we consider we will definitely check the on line booking as a previous customer and as a new customer.

 

Lowest price will win,,,,and based on the comments so far I suspect our next cruise will be as newbies in order to get the best price.

So you plan on booking another line then? Or how do you become a newbie again when you have to supply ID?

I will ask our TA NOT to check the box that asks if I am a former customer. This may do it...who knows. I would hope that if we do not check this, the computer will not search the Mariner data base for our personal details and will price us as a new customer. It might work, if only because we have changed our address since our last HAL cruise.

We do something similar when we are booking on a UK site that requires a UK address.

It is worth a try in order to get a lower fare. If not, we will do what we usually do. Narrow down to two cruises, two different cruise lines, and pick the one that ticks more of our boxes-including price net of OBC's.

 

 

I would think that HAL customers could, if they wished, sign up for a cruise as a new customer thus declining the Mariner benefits.

 

If the reduction in price is $200. per person, then those Mariners simply have to put a price on their benefits. I know what I would do given the choice of paying $400. (or even $200) less per couple or 'enjoying' the Mariner benefits.

If the pricing was lower for new cruisers versus Mariners, I would book the cruise without adding my Mariner number and once final payment has been made have my TA or HAL direct add my Mariner number to the booking.

It would take some major cojones for HAL to attempt to charge me more after the cruise had been paid in full.

That is exactly what we plan to do.

Princess appears to do the opposite. We recently booked a SA cruise and we each got a $100 or $200. discount because we were returning customers. We had not booked on Princess for a few years and were surprised. Not certain if it was a specific promotion or a regular practice. I only noticed when our TA broke down the fare for us. We only pay attention to the bottom line price, net of OBC's, so we did not see this until the invoice arrived.

If the pricing was lower for new cruisers versus Mariners, I would book the cruise without adding my Mariner number and once final payment has been made have my TA or HAL direct add my Mariner number to the booking.

 

It would take some major cojones for HAL to attempt to charge me more after the cruise had been paid in full.

I wonder if anyone has done this.

But that is my point - they need to revise their rewards program to continue to attract repeat customers, like me for example.

 

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They don't need to attract repeat customers as they have the largest in the industry.

 

They do, however, need to attract new customers. There are a bunch of people on the Celebrity and other boards who say the want to try HAL but won't because of the poor mariner program.

 

Of course the other problem is that if a program is easy to attain (It does not take long to reach Elite on Celebrity) they look for ways to revise the program and rumor is that Celebrity will be switching to days cruised, but it is not known if they will be taking benefits away.

I will ask our TA NOT to check the box that asks if I am a former customer. This may do it...who knows. I would hope that if we do not check this, the computer will not search the Mariner data base for our personal details and will price us as a new customer. It might work, if only because we have changed our address since our last HAL cruise.

 

We do something similar when we are booking on a UK site that requires a UK address.

 

It is worth a try in order to get a lower fare. If not, we will do what we usually do. Narrow down to two cruises, two different cruise lines, and pick the one that ticks more of our boxes-including price net of OBC's.

As I shake my head, it just plain does not work that way :rolleyes: This will NOT get you the lower price. First off ALL cruise Lines have a Data Base that if you ever registered with slightly different name and different email address this is where the NEW cruisers data and lower prices are coming from. When you book a cruise you MUST use your REAL / LEGAL name unless you are a great con artist with a different passport under this fake name :D The system will not allow them the lower pricing of those under these "other" solicited names. Even if you do not check past passenger their data base will NOT give you the lower price, it MUST match the previous name that was offering the lower price.