HAL pricing ( on average )

[twonga]

Hi all

 

I am about to book my first cruise with Hal, however just a simple question to the veteran Hal cruisers

 

Looking at the 11 day ancient mysteries for may 6th, right now the interior price is 1199usd and outside is 1299usd

 

From what I can see the price is quite low right now. Have you veteran Hal cruisers ever seen a 11 day cruise go lower than 1000usd?

 

Tempted to book right now but don't know whether to hold off any longer?

 

I know most people will say its hard to tell, but just wanted to know on average does it go lower than 1000usd normally?

 

Thanks in advance

[PathfinderEss]

Those are great prices, I don't think I would wait, you should book it now.

[colbe]

That is a really good price. Do you think that your budget could stretch to $1499? You could have a VH guarantee verandah for that. There are no VH available so you will probably end up with something even better. A verandah in the Med is wonderful.

[utahtea]

Hi all

 

I am about to book my first cruise with Hal, however just a simple question to the veteran Hal cruisers

 

Looking at the 11 day ancient mysteries for may 6th, right now the interior price is 1199usd and outside is 1299usd

 

From what I can see the price is quite low right now. Have you veteran Hal cruisers ever seen a 11 day cruise go lower than 1000usd?

 

Tempted to book right now but don't know whether to hold off any longer?

 

I know most people will say its hard to tell, but just wanted to know on average does it go lower than 1000usd normally?

 

Thanks in advance

 

I was worried about the price dropping too but HAL told us that if the price goes down after you book but before you have to make the final payment, HAL will give you a refund. It does work because we saved $900 on our guaranteed balcony on our upcoming 20 day cruise when the prices dropped. They said that the chances of the price dropping after final payment are slimmer but if they did, they would try and work with us to give us ship credit.

 

When you call to book ask the agent about a refund if the price drops.

 

Utahtea

[twonga]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

 

Just so I know now that Hal prices don't normally drop too much more!

 

I think an outside cabin will be ok for us, balcony is goig to be a bit out of the budget for us :(

 

Thanks:)

[Northshorecruisers]

Pricing is a supply and demand issue. They can go up or down before or after final payment.

 

The price you found looks very good. I think, if it were me, I'd book now because I really don't see it dropping.

 

Have a wonderful cruise!!

[sail7seas]

Which ship?

[Krazy Kruizers]

May 6 -- your final payment will be due soon.

I don't see that the price will drop.

I would book now.

Enjoy your Noordam cruise.

[sail7seas]

Thanks for naming the ship, KK.

[Krazy Kruizers]

You are welcome.

I checked it out on HAL's site.

[twonga]

damn! i ended up booking through a travel agent for the original prices :(

 

now the inside has dropped from 1199 > 899 and outside 1299> 1099 ( on the HAL website)

 

Although my travel agent prices have not changed, do you think if i email HAL they can do anything for me?

 

I guess there is not much i can do now, but its got to be worth a try right?

[Scrapnana]

Your TA should be able to get you the HAL advertised price. If you live in the U.S. you should be able to get the lowest prices until final payment time.

[Northshorecruisers]

Because you booked with a TA, you need to go through the TA and have them talk to HAL.

 

See what your TA will do for you and if you need to, cancel the booking and re-book with the better rates. I'm surprised the rates have dropped that low. Be sure you're comparing apples to apples (same catagory, be sure you're including port charges and taxes).

[twonga]

Even though I paid in full at the time of booking, it's surely past the final payment day now right? ( may 6th sailing?)

 

Is there anyway to find out if its past the final payment date?

 

Thanks :)

[Minoushka]

Call your TA get a 3way conversation. Set up listen in ..but donot wait you are cutting it clse

[vbmom87]

Even though I paid in full at the time of booking, it's surely past the final payment day now right? ( may 6th sailing?)

 

Is there anyway to find out if its past the final payment date?

 

Thanks :)

 

Your documents will give your final payment date. One note, it is not recommended you pay in full at time of booking UNLESS it is past final payment date when it is required.

 

Sometimes, after there is a price drop after final payment, HAL will:

 

1. offer some OBC

 

2. offer an upgrade

 

Your TA will have to make the contacts with HAL to see if there is anything they will do for you. Some posters have reported they have gotten OBC or an upgraded cabin when price drops occured after final payment. However, others have reported that nothing was done for them. It just does not seem like there is one consistent policy. Probably depends on a lot of other factors. It may take some persistence on the part of your TA, but it is surely worth a try.

[sunviking90]

For May 6 you've been past final payment for a week or so now. You can't cancel and rebook without penalty, but if you have purchased an inside, and the outside is selling for what you paid or less, they will move you into that category probably. They will tell you they can "upgrade" you;). If you have a really good TA she may be able to get you an OBC instead, which you can apply to your tips, so really more helpful.

 

Good Luck!

[gelo7]

I would pull the trigger now.

[SwissMyst]

I might suggest you get out of the mode of waiting for the "final drop" in your cruise price because like airlines seating, the range of what your fellow passengers paid will all over the place to sit on the same plane.

 

Plus if you do see a significant later drop in prices before the final payment is due, you can cancel and rebook at the lower price, considering any cancelation penalties that might apply.

 

What you don't want to do is later ruin your vacation finding out someone got an even better price than you did. Pricing like you are seeing right now depends on a few less desirable "loss leader" cabins that they can offer at the lowest price. So you just might get what you paid for for this low price- one of those cabins. (Smaller, shower, no tub, portholes, metal railing balcony, cramped room configuration near the bow near where anchor chains can get lowered early in the mornings, etc - there are only a few of these cabins and these are the ones that go for the lowest prices)

 

The better way is what you are also doing - pricing your per day costs for a vacation. Room, board, transportation and entertainment all for $100 a day sounds like the title of those thrifty travel books from the past "Europe on $5 a day" which naturally have morphed now into Europe on $100 a day.

 

If you can get all your vacation needs met with this $100 a day threshold, then I think you are well within the bounds of thrifty pricing. (Be sure to also factor the add-on costs, service fees, taxes, visas, personal extras etc)

 

So I would say you have probably a "deal" so grab it and then put it all behind you. I think you have gotten something as low as it can go when you hit the $100 or so a day range. Do you really want to cruise on the cheap? Then other lines can offer you lower prices .... and deliver a lot less.

 

BTW: In our younger years we actually did a few $5 a day trips in Europe. Stayed in convents, ate in soup kitchens and wandered around for free was the trick. But we were young and we were in Europe -- little did we know why people were lining outside the door getting their dollar meal in that atmospheric flop house.

 

We also saw how degraded the recommended "cheap" places soon got once they were discovered by the $5 a day crowd and were overrun by bargain seeker they knew they could throw slop to and get away with it.

 

Keep in mind HAL makes unsold cabins available for their staff/crews "friends and families", so once the price gets to their bottom threshold it then gets sold to the waiting list from this group.

[twonga]

Just to let everyone know the final outcome

 

The prices dropped again! So now the Guar VH verandah was lower than the price I paid for my guar outside

 

I called travel agent and they were useless, kept saying they can't do anything Even after they called Hal ( don't know if they even called)

 

I had nothing to lose so called Hal direct and to my suprise the agent pretty much said right away that they can upgrade me from guar outside to VH guar for no extra money

 

Even though I didn't really want a cabin right at the front of ship ( VH) I decided to take it, so I guess I am happier now!

[iancal]

It depends on so much.

 

For the last two years in a row we have booked 11 and 12 day E. Med cruises, balcony cabin, for $100. per person per day. One was in mid Sept, the other very early October. Both were booked about 100 days out. We watched pricing on Princess, Celebrity, and HAL but booked Celebrity because the pricing was so good. But it could jus as easily been HAL.

 

I think the big reason was that some TA's were actually advising clients not to visit Turkey or Greece. As a result, bookings were down.

 

It pays to shop.

[Minoushka]

This year prices have been much higher ..so disappointed I was so hoping to go vackto medbut it does not lookk good for this summer

Why are prices so high ??Not only on Hal but Princess andCelebrity too

Lat year I got 21days for under2000$ pp this yearit is double that ......too much

 

 

Or is it srill too early forjune July or August prices to tumble ???

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

Generally, I book direct with HAL and watch the price of the cabin I book. Before final payment, if I see it has gone down, I call HAL and the agent gives me the lower price. This has happened twice on one cruise, and once on another within the past year. I don't check after final payment. I figure it is what it is at that point.

[iancal]

We are also watching pricing, including air. Cannot comment on July or Aug cruises Med cruises as we avoid them. We could do a Baltic cruise at that time if the price was right........

 

Odd thing was for the last two cruises we got better air pricing 100 days or so out than we did four, six, or more months out.

 

We thought that this was fluke at first but we experienced the same thing last year as we did the year before. We recently did one way flights from Costa Rica to Florida and later from Florida to Calgary. Both flights were purchased about 21 days out and the fares were very attractive. We no longer know what the rules are for getting good air fares!

[jtl513]

Even though I didn't really want a cabin right at the front of ship ( VH) I decided to take it, so I guess I am happier now!

You may be assigned something higher. In all the time I have been a CC member I have only heard of two people who booked a VH gty and were actually assigned one. I believe that most of the time they are assigned as an upgrade to people who have booked Outside Gtys. The only time we booked a VH gty we were assigned a VA. Good luck! :)