Lower fare vs higher OBC

[DaveOKC]

This morning I noticed that my Dec cruise had a fare drop, so I checked into it with my PCC.  I was able to save $800 in fares but had to give up about $800 in OBC and free specialty meals.  To me this was a good deal, as I hate the way HAL does not allow you to use OBC to book excursions ahead of time with OBC (in fact I had to deal with this just yesterdau on another cruise where I had to go ahead and buy my excursion with cash or risk missing out on it).

 

I am sure that most people would do the same, so keep an eye out on your fares on a regular basis.  If enough people switch over as I did, perhaps HAL will get the message (but I doubt it)!

[FlorenceItaly]

This would be my choice too as it helps lower insurance costs in some instances.

[drowelf]

For us its always a calculation that needs to net out to less money overall. Once we gave up a ton of perks (800pp Air Credit, OBC, Beverage, etc.) but still ended up with over $1000pp total decrease for the cruise. 

 

Anytime there is even a hint of a sale going on, an email gets dispatched to my TA to check it out. If it results in a overall all decrease, in the total cost of the cruise. I'm all over it. 

[Krazy Kruizers]

I would have taken the lower fare as well.  I hate having to wait until we are on the ship to use shipboard credit.

[canadianbear]

We prefer the OBC mainly because of our Canadian dollar being low.  We pay our fare in Canadian but with our US OBC we can use it for most other stuff.  We don’t mind waiting to book excursions until we get on board as we do a lot of private ones or just know ahead which ones we want on HAL and book right away on board.  If not available we either go on a wait list or pick something else.  

[knittinggirl]

We've been known to take the lower fare rather than the perks, when given the choice.

[RocketMan275]

5 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

This morning I noticed that my Dec cruise had a fare drop, so I checked into it with my PCC.  I was able to save $800 in fares but had to give up about $800 in OBC and free specialty meals.  To me this was a good deal, as I hate the way HAL does not allow you to use OBC to book excursions ahead of time with OBC (in fact I had to deal with this just yesterdau on another cruise where I had to go ahead and buy my excursion with cash or risk missing out on it).

 

I am sure that most people would do the same, so keep an eye out on your fares on a regular basis.  If enough people switch over as I did, perhaps HAL will get the message (but I doubt it)!

One of the reasons I like my TA is she doesn't care.  She will give  you 8-10% of the advertised fare as a discount or as OBC.  Your choice.  Personally, I prefer the discount.  I usually ask for the fare without perks too.  Let's me choose to pay for what I want.

[VermeulT]

$100-200 in OBC is fine because it covers the hotel service charge and then you don't need to lay that out at the end of the cruise... but $800+, I'd rather the lower fare also. 

I went ahead and booked with the Explore 4 a week or so ago.  I got $675 in OBC and booked the few days that I also got free gratuities... between future cruise credits, this booking bonus and my stock credits - I should have over $1000 to spend on board.  I'm not saying I won't use it.  But especially with not being able to use it to book excursions - I'd just rather have the lower fare.

[pcur]

I just booked a few days ago with this kind of pricing structure: paid $600 more for the cruise, and got $600 in obc.  It worked great for us, because:

- we use obc for gratuities and happy hour on board the ship

- we got a higher obc from our big box travel agent because we paid a higher price for the cruise

- we got a better cabin with the deal, as the higher price was for an unobstructed ocean view

- we got a free Pinnacle Grill dinner for two

- we got a $25 beverage card per person

[Caribbean Chris]

2 hours ago, pcur said:

I just booked a few days ago with this kind of pricing structure: paid $600 more for the cruise, and got $600 in obc.  It worked great for us, because:

- we use obc for gratuities and happy hour on board the ship

- we got a higher obc from our big box travel agent because we paid a higher price for the cruise

- we got a better cabin with the deal, as the higher price was for an unobstructed ocean view

- we got a free Pinnacle Grill dinner for two

- we got a $25 beverage card per person

 

Sounds like a winner! Everybody really has to do their math for lower fare vs more stuff included. (And it helps to use a travel agency that shows the net fare right up front as a choice, which makes it easy to compare.)

 

For example, we often skip deals including a beverage package because I know the average dollar amount we spend per day for drinks & wine on board. It’s easy to multiply by the number of days and know what our bar tab will be without a package. Almost always cheaper bottom line to go with the lower fare.

 

But as in your example, pcur, we also changed an upcoming 18-day cruise booking to pay more because the offer included free gratuities. Bottom line came out much better.