When does HAL typically start offering upsells?

[AtlantaCruiser72]

What is the typical timeframe prior to departure in which HAL typically will send out upsell offers (if available)?

[kentuckycruiser]

I got one about 3-4 weeks before the cruise. We leave next week. I called five minutes after getting the email. 

Edited May 18, 2019 by kentuckycruiser

[*Miss G*]

The ones I have received ranged between 4-10 days out.

[DaveOKC]

In March we got one exactly 4 weeks prior to our sailing date - but there were alot of cabins unsold at that time and I think they wanted to get a jump on the problem (thus the $99 upgrade to a Neptune).  If just a few cabins they need to fill, more like 2-3 weeks out.

 

 

[kentuckycruiser]

Ours was $329 per person for a balcony to a NS. I took it. It was only for 1st and 2nd passengers, 3 and 4 no charge. I think with four of us it was a good deal, and we got a super low rate on the balcony to begin with.

[AtlantaCruiser72]

I'm booked in a Category I interior on the 7/29 Amsterdam sailing and there are still quite a few unsold cabins, so am hoping for a reasonably priced upsell offer to an oceanview :)

[taxmantoo]

12 minutes ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

I'm booked in a Category I interior on the 7/29 Amsterdam sailing and there are still quite a few unsold cabins, so am hoping for a reasonably priced upsell offer to an oceanview 🙂

Still too early to say that these cabins you see on the HAL website as being available are in fact "unsold".  They still at this time have not started assigning guarantees and leave all cabins as showing unsold to give preference to people who might book now at full price.  Could be that they are all sold or even oversold in which case your chances of getting an upsell offer are NIL.

[AtlantaCruiser72]

I have been able to access a  pretty reliable source to see all the unallocated rooms and there are still 343 out of 690 cabins unallocated as of today.  Even if 20% of the ships total inventory is sold as guarantees (which is probably high) that would mean there are about 200 +/- rooms unsold, which is a lot for being 72 days out from sailing on a smaller ship.  They started offering Flash Fares right at 75 days ..... time will tell :)

[kazu]

1 hour ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

I have been able to access a  pretty reliable source to see all the unallocated rooms and there are still 343 out of 690 cabins unallocated as of today.  

 

I am guessing this is a source not available to the rest of us that you can’t share? 😉 

 

But if is one you can, it would be very helpful.  Or any tips.  Thanks 😄 

 

[AtlantaCruiser72]

17 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

I am guessing this is a source not available to the rest of us that you can’t share? 😉 

 

But if is one you can, it would be very helpful.  Or any tips.  Thanks 😄 

 

 

It's their travel agent booking system, so unfortunately cannot share 😞

 

Sadly my agency (big online conglomerate) does not ever forward us upsell notices (which I don't understand) so I have no idea when/if one is available w/o randomly calling HAL to inquire.  Just want to get everyones best guess as to when I should start checking since this time it's not business - it's personal - hehehe

[kazu]

27 minutes ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

 

It's their travel agent booking system, so unfortunately cannot share 😞

 

Sadly my agency (big online conglomerate) does not ever forward us upsell notices (which I don't understand) so I have no idea when/if one is available w/o randomly calling HAL to inquire.  Just want to get everyones best guess as to when I should start checking since this time it's not business - it's personal - hehehe

 

Thanks - I thought so.

 

Amazing you don’t even see the upsell offers. 😞 

 

 

as to upsell offers - I’ve had them as far as 3 weeks out and 10 days - 2 weeks out.

 

I’ve also created my own once 😉 

[AtlantaCruiser72]

16 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

Thanks - I thought so.

 

Amazing you don’t even see the upsell offers. 😞 

 

 

as to upsell offers - I’ve had them as far as 3 weeks out and 10 days - 2 weeks out.

 

I’ve also created my own once 😉 

 

Thanks for your insight!

 

All of our emails go to the main agency inbox and very few get forwarded to us as agents.  I call that email address "The Black Hole of Calcutta" since stuff goes in but almost nothing ever comes back out!

Edited May 18, 2019 by AtlantaCruiser72

[DaveOKC]

54 minutes ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

 

It's their travel agent booking system, so unfortunately cannot share 😞

 

Sadly my agency (big online conglomerate) does not ever forward us upsell notices (which I don't understand) so I have no idea when/if one is available w/o randomly calling HAL to inquire.  Just want to get everyones best guess as to when I should start checking since this time it's not business - it's personal - hehehe

 

This confirms what I suspected with large agencies - they do not forward on upsells (at least not in a timely manner) yo consumers.  If you are just guessing as to when HAL will have them available, you are in a serious disadvantage to those who get the direct emails, as the best offers go quickly (sometimes in minutes).  A year ago I got an upsell offer to a Neptune and jumped on it within 5 minutes and secured the only cabin that was being offered (a friend of mine waited 15 minutes to call them and it was too late!).  

 

I know that it is a trade off - the large agencies will beat HAL on price (when you consider their special "perks", but then you likely will not get upsells in a timely manner.  So, pick you poison as they say..

 

 

[AtlantaCruiser72]

5 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

 

This confirms what I suspected with large agencies - they do not forward on upsells (at least not in a timely manner) yo consumers.  If you are just guessing as to when HAL will have them available, you are in a serious disadvantage to those who get the direct emails, as the best offers go quickly (sometimes in minutes).  A year ago I got an upsell offer to a Neptune and jumped on it within 5 minutes and secured the only cabin that was being offered (a friend of mine waited 15 minutes to call them and it was too late!).  

 

I know that it is a trade off - the large agencies will beat HAL on price (when you consider their special "perks", but then you likely will not get upsells in a timely manner.  So, pick you poison as they say..

 

 

 

This is part of why I suspect why my agency does not place a priority on this.  Even on the rare emails that get forwarded to me from the cruise lines I typically receive them 2-3 day after they were sent ....

[DaveOKC]

2 minutes ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

 

This is part of why I suspect why my agency does not place a priority on this.  Even on the rare emails that get forwarded to me from the cruise lines I typically receive them 2-3 day after they were sent ....

 

I figure that the large agencies just do not have the time to deal with this - they have to contact you, you have to respond to them (not always immediately), they have to contact HAL and this may have to be repeated more than once to seal an upsell, which the likely do not receive any (or minimal) compensation for.  And, as you implied, by the time this is all done the offers may have already been taken by someone like me, moving quickly and directly. thus a disappointed customer in the end.  I can see where it is not worth it to them.

[dundeene]

My TA forwards me all emails within minutes. I have grabbed a few in the past. 

My advice is that if you are interested in upsells, be active on your rollcall.  I often hear from someone else that they received an upsell offer from either their TA or PCC. Sometimes the offers go first to those in a VS to NS or to people with OV to Balcony etc. 

[1ANGELCAT]

I’m sailing June 1 on the Eurodam . Received an upsell offer Thursday for 89 pp from HH to best available ocean view or 199 pp for Verandah. I declined.

Cabin has now been assigned, no upgrade: HH that I paid for.

 

[bgirl781]

I'm sailing May 26th on Oosterdam, and had booked a guaranteed inside cabin. I got offered two upsells in the last couple of weeks, both for ocean view cabins - the first for $69pp, the second for $59pp. I declined both, and got assigned my inside room on May 17th. Then yesterday, I got another upsell offer - $59pp to upgrade to Verandah (or $49 for ocean view). I called within 10 minutes of receiving the email, and snagged the 2nd to last available Verandah room. 

[Belgian fry]

Got one last Friday and another today for our cruise on 8 June. Took the first one (upgrade to aft balcony), but not the second (upgrade to Pinnacle Suite)

[1ANGELCAT]

On 5/19/2019 at 7:51 AM, 1ANGELCAT said:

I’m sailing June 1 on the Eurodam . Received an upsell offer Thursday for 89 pp from HH to best available ocean view or 199 pp for Verandah. I declined.

Cabin has now been assigned, no upgrade: HH that I paid for.

 

Update: After the cabin was assigned, I saw the price had dropped on Verandah cat for less than the upsell offer. I was able to do a paid upgrade for $240 . Cabin now assigned, Cat V. I’m happy.

[zentraveler]

This is a really interesting thread. I booked through a large cruise on-line company and only by talking to my agent/consultant about something else did the upgrade issue come up and even then she only seemed to know part of the story. She happily called HAL and got more details. I would really like to have them sent to me directly but as someone pointed out, it seems that won't happen if you are using a TA. For those who have done both, is the price really that much better to use a TA? I have done it for convenience but often wonder if they really discount the price that much. 

 

If you check the roll call, would  you call Holland or the TA? And we are 5 weeks out of cruise on Nieuw Amsterdan to Alaska and there are certainly some things available, but are there likely to be more? We deliberately booked an inside room so we could get some sleep and also the veranda room up-sell was $700pp. But would love to see what might be available at the last minute.

[*Miss G*]

49 minutes ago, zentraveler said:

For those who have done both, is the price really that much better to use a TA? I have done it for convenience but often wonder if they really discount the price that much. 

 

I found that a TA, or multiple online cruise specialists, could not beat the prices and service I was getting by booking a private sale directly with a PCC.  Others claim differently. 

[Trapper44]

For us we have found that the price was the same from TA and on the HAL website. We have not booked a private sale. We use the TA for the OBC we are given. I specifically asked, this time, about upsales. I was told I needed to call the TA starting about 30 days prior to the cruise. This may end up being a hit or miss on an upsale.

[wyobean]

I get notified when the price of my cruise goes down. About a month ago(after final payment) the price for a veranda was less than our inside room. I called my big box TA and asked if there was anything they could do. I had already checked the HAL website and knew which room I wanted. She contacted HAL and they said I could have the veranda with no change on the package I had originally booked(prepaid gratuities and 2 $25 beverage cards) and no extra charge. My point is that depending on what you paid you might just call and ask like I did. 

[Boatdrill]

On 5/18/2019 at 4:31 PM, DaveOKC said:

 

I know that it is a trade off - the large agencies will beat HAL on price (when you consider their special "perks", but then you likely will not get upsells in a timely manner.  So, pick you poison as they say..

 

 

THIS ^^^^^^