Seems like fare was raised in time for Explore 4

I called my PVP yesterday to inquire about having Explore 4 added to my booking and it appears that the price of the cabin was increased coincident with the introduction of this offer. We'd have to have our cabin repriced ($800 increase) in order to be eligible. Since we don't drink much it isn't worth it to us.

I called my PVP yesterday to inquire about having Explore 4 added to my booking and it appears that the price of the cabin was increased coincident with the introduction of this offer. We'd have to have our cabin repriced ($800 increase) in order to be eligible. Since we don't drink much it isn't worth it to us.

This is the new "standard" practice. Sometimes you do get lucky and the price is the same or a bit higher, but most people are reporting significant increases.

When HAL first started the Explore4 we got it added for no extra expense, but no longer.

I called my PVP yesterday to inquire about having Explore 4 added to my booking and it appears that the price of the cabin was increased coincident with the introduction of this offer. We'd have to have our cabin repriced ($800 increase) in order to be eligible. Since we don't drink much it isn't worth it to us.

Ours went up $2150.00 pp. I had checked online then called to confirm. The rep I was talking to actually checked my booking herself because she was surprised at the huge jump. I guess we got a good rate for booking early (in May for a March 2019 cruise) so while disappointed that we couldn't take advantage of Explore 4 we're happy with the fare we booked.

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... while disappointed that we couldn't take advantage of Explore 4 we're happy with the fare we booked.

Our fare would go up $300 pp. Since Explore4 also includes $100pp OBC, I figure the drink cards would cost us $200, or $15/day. I'm sure we would use that much because we always have two cocktails while working our crossword puzzles and get many big bottles of water during a trip. It's kind of break-even proposition, but...

For the cruise that I have on hold the fare went up $1,400 and no Explore 4 sale for it either. The hold that I have on it is good until the fourth. My TA spoke to me and she did not the the terms of the non refundable deposit. So, I will hold off a while.

I called my PVP yesterday to inquire about having Explore 4 added to my booking and it appears that the price of the cabin was increased coincident with the introduction of this offer. We'd have to have our cabin repriced ($800 increase) in order to be eligible. Since we don't drink much it isn't worth it to us.

I have to do some serious number crunching. Our price went down nicely on one segment but we lose a really good promo.

But, if I may ask, what the heck is a PVP?

As my TA is fond of saying, that stuff has to be paid for somehow. We've been lucky with Ex4 pricing a few times, but lately it's been significantly cheaper to book without it.

I guess some people (not readers of Cruise Critic!) are fooled and think they are getting a deal. It must work (sufficiently) or HAL wouldn't keep doing it.

But, if I may ask, what the heck is a PVP?

Our last cruise we had the Explore4 option. Price went down roughly $1000 and I called to re-book. Was told we'd lose EXP4 and I said 'please do'. To quote others, there is no free lunch, err, drinks.

LVSue, careful, it appears that $200 OBC is only for suites.

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I had a 7-night Nieuw Amsterdam cruise booked for December with Explore 4, which HAL subsequently canceled. The only offered alternative that worked for me was a November Eurodam, and it took HAL a while to figure out how to add the bev pkg and pinnacle dinner complimentary since explore 4 was not running at that time. But, they did it - so I had the same category stateroom, at the same price, with the explore 4 items....as a solo.

This past week the fare dropped significantly (about 33%), AND to my surprise my TA had a group on board so I lost HAL's $25 obc for booking onboard but gained $50 from my TA, so my net savings is nearly $400. Since I have a cabana booked (free champagne, bottled water daily) there's no way I can drink an additional $400 during the week....most likely my bar tab will be in the $100-150 range, so it was a no-brainer to drop the "free" stuff. I also got a slightly higher category (within OV) and closer to where I wanted to be.

Count me among the many who say there's no such thing as "free" - we pay dearly for those "free" perks, lol!

Sue/WDW1972

I called my PVP yesterday to inquire about having Explore 4 added to my booking and it appears that the price of the cabin was increased coincident with the introduction of this offer. We'd have to have our cabin repriced ($800 increase) in order to be eligible. Since we don't drink much it isn't worth it to us.

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To add Explore 4 to my existing Nieuw Statendam booking cost me an additional $300 p.p.

Adding up all varieties of drinks and the Pinnacle dinner I will still come out ahead, but not by any huge margin though.

PVP??? We're 4 Stars yet I've never heard of PVP. Please enlighten!

 

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See post #10.

PVP Personal Vacation Planner. Employee of the cruiseline

PVP Personal Vacation Planner. Employee of the cruiseline

We've never used one but I thought HAL referred to them as PCC's (Personal Cruise Consultant)? :confused:

Everybody is listing the amount their cruise went up or down with or without Explore-4. Those amounts are totally meaningless to us CC readers without you providing a reference of the number of days of your cruise. The SBP is roughly $51.70 per day, including the 15% SC,purchased online, in advance. On a 7 day cruise, the SBP, plus a Pinnacle Grill dinner (normal Explore-4 perks) would cost you $396.90 per person if you purchased them. So, please, in future posts about how much you saved by adding or deleting Explore-4, also tell us the length of your cruise. It would really give us a reference as to how generous (or not) HAL is. But, always remember, There's no such thing as a free lunch.

I added Explore 4 to my 14 day Alaska cruise for 2018 and the price only increased $85pp over our initial fare. Had I booked under the "SNAP" non-refundable fare we could have saved $300pp roughly, but for us the Explore4 promo is the better value as we would each spend well more than the $300pp savings over the course of 2 weeks for drinks (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic)

We've never used one but I thought HAL referred to them as PCC's (Personal Cruise Consultant)? :confused:

You are correct.

We've never used one but I thought HAL referred to them as PCC's (Personal Cruise Consultant)? :confused:

You are probably correct , however some lines refer to them as PVP, so I was just stating what I felt the OP meant by PVP. For example when I was arranging for a cruise online with Holland America to Alaska this summer, I later received a phone call and a follow up email from a person advising me that she had been assigned as my personal vacation planner an advising me that I could contact her for anything concerning my cruise. Seems the titles are interchangeable, depending on which rep you might be talking to

Regarding the e-maiI that was sent to me advising the Explore 4 deal was back, it said it was "better than ever." The OBC for those in suites is $200 this year. Two years ago we received $300. I suppose "better than ever" is a matter of interpretation.

We booked our Sept cruise back in Oct last year when Explore4 was last offered. I think it was a much better deal then. We got the SBP, a Pinnacle Grill dinner, prepaid gratuities, $250 OBC and $200 "internet" credit for booking a suite but it's my understanding that HAL simply puts it in your account and you may spend it on anything. The 3rd/4th passenger offer was also included but we didn't use it. We could have passed on the Explore4 and paid roughly $800 less per person but we would have been giving about $815 per person in "perks" so for us it was an easy decision. I wasn't impressed with current Explore4, I don't consider the "reduced deposit" to be worth anything... the total fare is the same no matter what, so paying less now just means you pay more later.

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We booked our Sept cruise back in Oct last year when Explore4 was last offered. I think it was a much better deal then. We got the SBP, a Pinnacle Grill dinner, prepaid gratuities, $250 OBC and $200 "internet" credit for booking a suite but it's my understanding that HAL simply puts it in your account and you may spend it on anything. The 3rd/4th passenger offer was also included but we didn't use it. We could have passed on the Explore4 and paid roughly $800 less per person but we would have been giving about $815 per person in "perks" so for us it was an easy decision. I wasn't impressed with current Explore4, I don't consider the "reduced deposit" to be worth anything... the total fare is the same no matter what, so paying less now just means you pay more later.

 

I totally agree. We were quite happy with last year's offer of the Explore4 package, whereas the early booking advantages both for Prinsendam and/or Europe cruises for 2018 as well as the "new" Explore4 promotion far exceeded their value with inflated prices of all the cruises we have been considering: For one of the Prinsendam cruises we had booked in a Vista suite WITH Explore 4for this year we'd only get one of the lower-rated Oceanview cabins with lesser perks now. I mostly miss that we wouldn't get paid gratuities because for us that's a real value if it's an honest and real perk ( and not if you have to pay for it anyway in your upped cruise price) !