fatcat04 Posted July 20, 2018 #101 Share Posted July 20, 2018 Perhaps for cruises that aren't selling well. I think what you're saying is they added the promo and the price didn't increase. I would be interested in asking for the non-promo price in these instances. You might find there is a price reduction. Bingo. TANSTAAFL. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare POA1 Posted July 20, 2018 #102 Share Posted July 20, 2018 Perhaps for cruises that aren't selling well. I think what you're saying is they added the promo and the price didn't increase. I would be interested in asking for the non-promo price in these instances. You might find there is a price reduction. I don't know. It was in the past (2014 - 2016) so I don't really care that much. This may sound harsh, but if someone offers to buy me a drink, I never ask what the cash equivalent is. ;) I either accept the drink or decline (with grace and thanks, natch.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RocketMan275 Posted July 20, 2018 #103 Share Posted July 20, 2018 I don't know. It was in the past (2014 - 2016) so I don't really care that much. This may sound harsh, but if someone offers to buy me a drink, I never ask what the cash equivalent is. ;) I either accept the drink or decline (with grace and thanks, natch.) The cruise line isn't 'buying you a drink'. You paid for it in the fare where it was 'included'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RocketMan275 Posted July 20, 2018 #104 Share Posted July 20, 2018 Not always true.....Both times I've had it applied it worked in my favor. First time the cruise price stayed exactly the same. Second time there was very little change in price for the additions. So sometimes, the additions are free. Did you ask what the price would be without the promo? I've done that and received a significant price reduction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatcat04 Posted July 20, 2018 #105 Share Posted July 20, 2018 If I booked a cabin at $899pp and then HAL comes along and says "Hey, we will add a complimentary beverage package and a couple dinners and you don't have to pay one extra dime" it would seem free. But if I simply asked "If I wished to keep my original cabin without the extras, what would the price be then? " the price for the non -promo fare is going to be lower. So that difference means you are paying for the promo BUT you may actually get a better value with the package deal as opposed to buying the component parts a la carte. :cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare POA1 Posted July 20, 2018 #106 Share Posted July 20, 2018 The cruise line isn't 'buying you a drink'. You paid for it in the fare where it was 'included'.Agree to disagree. I always bring my own tissues, the awesome Kleenex 3 Ply Soft and Strong. I wouldn't think that they owed me for not using their tissues. I also don't think I'm overcharged when I blow my nose in the pillowy softness that I paid for. But now that you mention it, I would like a refund for all the kale and quinoa on the ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alberta Quilter Posted July 20, 2018 #107 Share Posted July 20, 2018 Agree to disagree. I always bring my own tissues, the awesome Kleenex 3 Ply Soft and Strong. I wouldn't think that they owed me for not using their tissues. I also don't think I'm overcharged when I blow my nose in the pillowy softness that I paid for. But now that you mention it, I would like a refund for all the kale and quinoa on the ship. Don't forget about the prunes! Or did you eat those? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RocketMan275 Posted July 20, 2018 #108 Share Posted July 20, 2018 If I booked a cabin at $899pp and then HAL comes along and says "Hey, we will add a complimentary beverage package and a couple dinners and you don't have to pay one extra dime" it would seem free. But if I simply asked "If I wished to keep my original cabin without the extras, what would the price be then? " the price for the non -promo fare is going to be lower. So that difference means you are paying for the promo BUT you may actually get a better value with the package deal as opposed to buying the component parts a la carte. :cool: Perhaps, but I've kept records of our cruises without drink packages and those records indicate that the package deals do not make sense for us. We would rather spend the money we save by declining the promo on corkage fees on some wines we find better than those on board. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatcat04 Posted July 20, 2018 #109 Share Posted July 20, 2018 I am just happy HAL is giving us more options as the years go by. We will probably bring on some wine as always but also buy the Elite package. :) But I will monitor the X4 price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare POA1 Posted July 20, 2018 #110 Share Posted July 20, 2018 Don't forget about the prunes! Or did you eat those?Fiber is life. (In all honesty, we are not a prune people.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KroozNut Posted July 20, 2018 #111 Share Posted July 20, 2018 FrankC, if that Coastal is a short cruise, the drink package and/or the Promo might not be available because of the short length of the cruise (not the fare). I am wondering if the short cruises shorter than 6-7 days do not offer these packages. We have X4 for our upcoming 7-day cruise to Mexico. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KroozNut Posted July 20, 2018 #112 Share Posted July 20, 2018 We booked a cruise with Explore4 and when it ended, the price went down 550.00PP. We rebooked, happily. But no X4 on the rebook, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Telejoke Posted July 20, 2018 #113 Share Posted July 20, 2018 Maybe they mean "drinks included". When you're spending $4 kilodollars on a cruise, nothing is really "free" :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old mike Posted July 21, 2018 #114 Share Posted July 21, 2018 The expression, "There's no such thing as a free lunch" is applicable to any promotional offerings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liamur14 Posted July 21, 2018 #115 Share Posted July 21, 2018 What is the Explore 4 promo package? I am new to this, can someone please explease this to me, Thanks so much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatcat04 Posted July 21, 2018 #116 Share Posted July 21, 2018 What is the Explore 4 promo package? I am new to this, can someone please explease this to me, Thanks so much. It is a sale promotion. Here is a thread that explains all the details https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2657352 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Vict0riann Posted July 23, 2018 #117 Share Posted July 23, 2018 I would love to know the results from that, if that's okay. I did email our PCC and she said our fares would go up $1100 each (26 days) and that the Explore4 promo was worth $1300 each. So we won't bother, we don't drink that much, and our 5-star perks mean we get wine half price, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wishing on a star Posted July 23, 2018 #118 Share Posted July 23, 2018 The promo might not be 'free'... But we did decide to go with the Promo. It was 1/2 the cost of adding these perks. We should def. com out ahead! Again, one just has to get out the calculator and do the math. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted July 23, 2018 #119 Share Posted July 23, 2018 I did email our PCC and she said our fares would go up $1100 each (26 days) and that the Explore4 promo was worth $1300 each. So we won't bother, we don't drink that much, and our 5-star perks mean we get wine half price, anyway. Ann, if you booked in Canadian dollars and the price is Cdn $ don't forget the $1300 value is in USD ;). I said no originally too and then when I got out the calculator and took into consideration the additional OBC, I decided it was not a bad idea to take it - at least, for the time being. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatcat04 Posted July 23, 2018 #120 Share Posted July 23, 2018 And just fyi... I checked as soon as the promo dropped and the price increase was $440 pp for 7 days but checked again end of last week and the increase was actually at that time only $380. Still didn't bite but they are headed in the right direction ;p Not a bad idea to periodically check back in especially if your cruise is several months off. (y) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare *Miss G* Posted July 23, 2018 #121 Share Posted July 23, 2018 I did email our PCC and she said our fares would go up $1100 each (26 days) and that the Explore4 promo was worth $1300 each. So we won't bother, we don't drink that much, and our 5-star perks mean we get wine half price, anyway. Thanks for getting back to me. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OVgirl Posted July 23, 2018 #122 Share Posted July 23, 2018 I did email our PCC and she said our fares would go up $1100 each (26 days) and that the Explore4 promo was worth $1300 each. So we won't bother, we don't drink that much, and our 5-star perks mean we get wine half price, anyway. Ann, if you booked in Canadian dollars and the price is Cdn $ don't forget the $1300 value is in USD ;). I said no originally too and then when I got out the calculator and took into consideration the additional OBC, I decided it was not a bad idea to take it - at least, for the time being. ;) Good point Kazu, That $1100CAD is equivalent to about $31US/day on your onboard account. So if you expect to spend $31 per person per day, the increase fare for Explore4 is to your advantage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtlantaCruiser72 Posted July 23, 2018 #123 Share Posted July 23, 2018 We previously booked with the Ready Set Sail w/ pp grats. When Explore 4 came out I checked the fare increase (which was relatively small at about $325pp for our 14 day sailing), compared that to the loss of ppg grats (worth $189pp) and what we might spend over 14 days on wine packages/individual drinks, paying our grats out of pocket, etc. In the end losing the pp grats and gaining the Signature Bev package made the most financial sense for us personally so we switched to explore4. I asked about keeping the grats from Ready Set Sail and was told that they could not be combined .... was worth a shot though :cool::cool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fouremco Posted July 23, 2018 #124 Share Posted July 23, 2018 Re-faring to take advantage of the Explore 4 package would mean an additional $1000 CAD for our booking and the loss of paid gratuities for our 14-day cruise. On the other hand, Big Box would increase our OBC from $665 to $710 USD, and we'd get the dinner at PG and the beverage package. As we don't drink a great deal, our initial thought was to stay with the existing fare, get the Quench package, buy the occasional drink or glass of wine, and get a bottle for the cabin. By time I'd made all the currency conversions so that we were comparing apples to apples, it worked out to be just a few dollars (CAD) cheaper to re-fare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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