Explore 4 is Back

[Crazy For Cats]

8 hours ago, Andi Land said:

A side note, we did the Historic Coast cruise a few years back and loved it! It was a favorite. 

We did it a few years back on the Veendam.  It was great!  Meet some really nice people who we have cruises with a few more times.  The big plus is we live outside of Boston so it’s a stress free vacation, no flying.

[dfish]

And now, the banner is gone completely.  I'm glad I didn't wait on this and acted quickly.

 

 

[aa7yy]

Both of my 2020 cruise's have it. 1) for +$800 other for no increase. Guess I'll have to call about that one.

 

[Andi Land]

5 hours ago, Crazy For Cats said:

We did it a few years back on the Veendam.  It was great!  Meet some really nice people who we have cruises with a few more times.  The big plus is we live outside of Boston so it’s a stress free vacation, no flying.

If it was the 2014 cruise in the Veendam that’s the one I was on too. 😊 I’d love to go again and have been eying that itinerary. 

[Andi Land]

3 hours ago, dfish said:

And now, the banner is gone completely.  I'm glad I didn't wait on this and acted quickly.

 

 

I just booked a trip for 2020. The banner was gone but I stil got the perks. So, for now the promo is still available. 

[aa7yy]

3 hours ago, aa7yy said:

Both of my 2020 cruise's have it. 1) for +$800 other for no increase. Guess I'll have to call about that one.

 

Update, just made the call added SBP and Pinnacle to both for no charge. (And OBC) . While I was at it I added the 14 day cruise between the first two. Now I have to go look for a job.

[Georgie562]

Some TA's are advertising the perks. One TA has this:

Offer is valid only for new individual bookings on select 2020 and 2021 sailings made between 3/7/19 and 5/1/19. Signature Beverage Package has a daily limit of 15 beverages, which includes all beverages priced at $9 or lower. Package excludes purchases made in Signature Shops, Mini Bar and In-Room Dining, or beverages on Half Moon Cay. Pinnacle Grill dinner: Guests receive one dinner per person. Offer excludes Specialty Dining Events in the Pinnacle Grill such as Le Cirque, De Librije, Master Chef’s Table, and Sommelier Dinner. Free or reduced fares for 3rd/4th guests are based on sharing a stateroom with 1st and 2nd guests, and valid on select sailings. Suite offer: Onboard Spending Money is $100 per guest ($200 per suite), is non-refundable, non-transferable, not for cash value, expires at the end of that cruise, and may not be used in the casino. Offers are capacity controlled, and may be modified or withdrawn without prior notice. Other restrictions may apply.

 

Leads me to believe this promo will run until 5/1/19.

 

[colbe]

34 minutes ago, aa7yy said:

Update, just made the call added SBP and Pinnacle to both for no charge. (And OBC) . While I was at it I added the 14 day cruise between the first two. Now I have to go look for a job.

Love your attitude to life!! 😀

[dfish]

4 hours ago, Andi Land said:

I just booked a trip for 2020. The banner was gone but I stil got the perks. So, for now the promo is still available. 

That's good to know.

[SeaWatch12]

My agent contacted HAL this morning and was able to add the SPB and PG dinner with no change to the cruise fare.

Made me happy!!!

Before the sailing, I'll have to look into if I can upgrade to the Elite Beverage Package and just pay the difference between the packages.

 

 

[Overhead Fred]

Just checked the HAL site. The perks (SBP, Pinnacle dinner, suite OBC) are showing up again but they now have an "Early Booking Bonus" banner in place of the previous "Explore4" banner. I did not see anything stating how long it would last.

[AJSkarbo]

Is there a way to get this promotion after already being booked on a cruise? My TA said it was only for new bookings and didn't say anything about being able to "re-book" like some people have mentioned. Should I press her more on it? Not sure if it makes a difference but it is for an Alaska cruise in May 2020.

[Alberta Quilter]

43 minutes ago, AJSkarbo said:

Is there a way to get this promotion after already being booked on a cruise? My TA said it was only for new bookings and didn't say anything about being able to "re-book" like some people have mentioned. Should I press her more on it? Not sure if it makes a difference but it is for an Alaska cruise in May 2020.

 

Try asking to have your cruise "re-fared" with the new promotion.  I also got it added to a cruise I booked in the last couple of weeks.  If the fare is higher, you'll have to decide whether the higher price is worth it.  My fare did not change so it was a no brainer to have it added.  Good luck!

[colbe]

1 hour ago, AJSkarbo said:

Is there a way to get this promotion after already being booked on a cruise? My TA said it was only for new bookings and didn't say anything about being able to "re-book" like some people have mentioned. Should I press her more on it? Not sure if it makes a difference but it is for an Alaska cruise in May 2020.

I asked for my cruise to be 're-fared'.

[dfish]

1 hour ago, AJSkarbo said:

Is there a way to get this promotion after already being booked on a cruise? My TA said it was only for new bookings and didn't say anything about being able to "re-book" like some people have mentioned. Should I press her more on it? Not sure if it makes a difference but it is for an Alaska cruise in May 2020.

I simply asked to have it added to a cruise I booked last December.  No problem.  

 

Well, there was a slight problem.  The Welcome Back OBC dropped off, but that was restored easily.  

[AJSkarbo]

1 hour ago, Alberta Quilter said:

 

Try asking to have your cruise "re-fared" with the new promotion.  I also got it added to a cruise I booked in the last couple of weeks.  If the fare is higher, you'll have to decide whether the higher price is worth it.  My fare did not change so it was a no brainer to have it added.  Good luck!

Thank you! I will call her tomorrow and give it a shot.

[aa7yy]

13 hours ago, AJSkarbo said:

Is there a way to get this promotion after already being booked on a cruise? My TA said it was only for new bookings and didn't say anything about being able to "re-book" like some people have mentioned. Should I press her more on it? Not sure if it makes a difference but it is for an Alaska cruise in May 2020.

Well it does say for New Bookings but the HAL agent said it was a "no brainer".

[Alberta Quilter]

Anyone who has booked a cruise with a refundable deposit (and has not past final payment) can cancel and rebook with the new promotion.  It makes sense just to add the promotion (re-fare) rather than go through all the work of canceling and rebooking.

[sandyss]

Are the Explore 4 fares refundable?  We do like to be able to re-fare if a lower overall price becomes available.  Thanks.

[colbe]

1 hour ago, sandyss said:

Are the Explore 4 fares refundable?  We do like to be able to re-fare if a lower overall price becomes available.  Thanks.

Yes. But if you re-fare again at a later date for a lower price you will lose the Explore 4.

[AJSkarbo]

Thank you everyone for the help. Since it is a group trip the group "leader" talked to the TA about re-faring and she was able to get the package for everyone in the group! We are so excited!

[Nang]

After some effort and toing and froing with my travel agent I finally managed to get this SBP/Pinaccle dinner perk under the Early Booking Bonus which apparently is available until 1 May. The saga unfolded as below ....

 

Early in the week having read this thread I asked our TA to rebook or refare to get this Explore 4 perk for our Aug 2020 Copenhagen - New York cruise we booked last year. I had done a dummy booking on the HAL website and it appeared all should be good but when the TA went to do it the fare increased by $600pp and we would lose our $200 per person OBC. When I learnt this I told him not to rebook and went to the HAL website to check for myself on Friday. There was no Explore 4 or other perk and the cruise price had not changed. This seemed strange but I just shrugged and moved on.

 

Then this morning I get an email from an online booking agent about HALs Early Booking Bonus for 2020/21 cruises. I get on the website and do a dummy booking and with no increase in price I can get the SBP/Pinaccle dinner. Back to the TA and he is able rebook the same cabin for same price with the perks and he notices our $200pp OBC has been replaced with $125pp OBC  which is a welcome surprise as we expected to lose the $200 OBC completely (it was a perk that came from originally booking this cruise when we were on the Koningsdam last year). He also notices we get an Onboard Value Booklet and there is mention of "Michael Gardner" on the booking.

 

Can anybody provide some information on the Value Booklet and Michael Gardner reference? TIA

[grayjay]

Does anybody have any information if this promo is valid in European countries, too? I fear that again that as so often the European customers are kept out of this attractive promotion . I couldn't find anything on the website ( this is nothing new...) and the HAL agency claims not to know... Quite often prices on the website are not honored whenever you ask for a special promo code but rise to more than the promotion is worth if bought. This happened twice to us in the lasts months and is the reason why right now we haven't booked any new cruises with HAL which is something totally new to us!

So it might be interesting to know the conditions under which is sold in the US and elsewhere. Thank you. And congratulations to all those who were able to get the perks added!!

[Nang]

2 hours ago, grayjay said:

Does anybody have any information if this promo is valid in European countries, too? I fear that again that as so often the European customers are kept out of this attractive promotion . I couldn't find anything on the website ( this is nothing new...) and the HAL agency claims not to know... Quite often prices on the website are not honored whenever you ask for a special promo code but rise to more than the promotion is worth if bought. This happened twice to us in the lasts months and is the reason why right now we haven't booked any new cruises with HAL which is something totally new to us!

So it might be interesting to know the conditions under which is sold in the US and elsewhere. Thank you. And congratulations to all those who were able to get the perks added!!

All I can tell you is that this promo became an option on the HAL website for Australian bookings on Saturday (it was not there on Friday). The promo code I saw on one of the pages  where it listed the conditions was NX/UU which was really on no use to me as there was nowhere to enter a code in the booking process. Perhaps TAs can make use of these codes. The promotion is available to Aussies until 1 May and  expect this also applies elsewhere. Have a look over the next few days on the HAL website.

 

I hear you regarding access to good deals, the cost of most cruises and perks that go with them seem to heavily favour our American friends. I say good luck to them, while I am feeling very envious. 

[Iamthesea]

8 hours ago, Nang said:

 

Can anybody provide some information on the Value Booklet and Michael Gardner reference? TIA

 According to this article, Michael Gardner is a Future Cruise Consultant.    

https://www.hollandamerica.com/blog/topics/arts-entertainment/nieuw-amsterdam-gets-award-for-worlds-largest-cruise-sale-map/

Ah, the Value Booklet.  I am not sure what is in it because I just realized after reading your post that we never received the booklet that we were suppose to receive from HAL.  We booked through a TA and she said that HAL would provide the booklet onboard.  Perhaps we should have gone to the FCC desk for the booklet.  

Edited March 9, 2019 by Iamthesea