Calling HAL upsell department to request one.

[DaveOKC]

Three times over the past 12 months I have called HAL's "upsell" department to inquire about potential upsell from a Signature (or Vista) to a Neptune suite.  All three times were about 2-3 weeks prior to sailing.  My conclusion - its a waste of time!

 

On the to Signature to Neptune sailings I was told that the only thing they could do was to allow me to pay the full difference between the two categories.  On both of these, within 48 hours I got email offers for some great upsells, but of which I took.  On the other the upsell offer came out a week after my call and the price was very high, so I passed.

 

This question comes up ever now and again, so I thought I might just post this.

[canadianbear]

You’ve been very lucky in the past getting/taking upsells.   

 

We usually just book Neptune’s however one Alaska cruise we did a Signature suite.  We ignored one upsell email to a Neptune (although it was very reasonable we just wanted others to get the opportunity).  Well, a week later it was almost a giveaway upsell so jumped on it.  Figured if others passed before, their loss.

 

It might depend on if there are a lot of unsold cabins.  Who knows!   Thanks for your info.  

[DaveOKC]

2 minutes ago, canadianbear said:

You’ve been very lucky in the past getting/taking upsells.   

 

We usually just book Neptune’s however one Alaska cruise we did a Signature suite.  We ignored one upsell email to a Neptune (although it was very reasonable we just wanted others to get the opportunity).  Well, a week later it was almost a giveaway upsell so jumped on it.  Figured if others passed before, their loss.

 

It might depend on if there are a lot of unsold cabins.  Who knows!   Thanks for your info.  

In your case the upsell offer had already been sent out by the upsell department.  In my example (and what many people ask about) is contacting the upsell department before they send out the mass email upsell offer.  Thus the different experiences I think.

 

Very nice of you to give others the chance!  

[*Miss G*]

I called my PCC when I saw prices drop and asked how much to upgrade to a Neptune.  He put me on hold to speak with a pricing specialist then came back and offered me a really great price.  I took it.

[Traveltheworld55]

Last year we had a once in a lifetime experience.  I had booked a CA cabin on a 48 day cruise about a year in advance.   Before final payment I noticed prices had dropped and a B class cabin was an additional $600 pp more than the CA cabin.  Given  the length of the cruise I called our TA and upgraded to the B class.  About 2 weeks prior to the cruise I noticed the prices had dropped again and on a "you don't hit a home run unless you swing for the fences" whim I called the TA and asked for a refund on the difference between current pricing and what I paid.  The TA called HA and amazingly came back with an offer for a $800 credit for a future cruise or an upgrade to a Neptune Suite with no additional charge.  We grabbed the Neptune and really enjoyed it on such a long cruise.  I think this was a confluence of a long cruise that wasn't fully booked and blind luck with the timing of my call, but it was our experience with an unexpected upgrade.  To my observation, all of the Neptune suites seemed occupied, and I never asked if others had the same upgrade or had booked the Neptune, I thought it best to keep our good fortune to ourselves if others had paid full price.

[idiebabe]

We booked an Alaska Cruise on Amsterdam about six weeks before Sailing.  We booked the lowest Window Guarantee (normally do Balconies or above) because the price was great.  Cruise price dropped but Vista Suites were still up there in price (although did drop a little).  Called about an Upsell to VS Gty and was told $3000.  We passed.  Called back several days later (about 2 weeks before Sailing) and told $750.  We grabbed it and ended up being assigned the VS in a great location.  Our Friends who booked same Category as us decided to wait a few more days hoping for a better price and was out of luck.

 

Timing is everything!

[Wehwalt]

On 11/23/2019 at 12:41 PM, Traveltheworld55 said:

Last year we had a once in a lifetime experience.  I had booked a CA cabin on a 48 day cruise about a year in advance.   Before final payment I noticed prices had dropped and a B class cabin was an additional $600 pp more than the CA cabin.  Given  the length of the cruise I called our TA and upgraded to the B class.  About 2 weeks prior to the cruise I noticed the prices had dropped again and on a "you don't hit a home run unless you swing for the fences" whim I called the TA and asked for a refund on the difference between current pricing and what I paid.  The TA called HA and amazingly came back with an offer for a $800 credit for a future cruise or an upgrade to a Neptune Suite with no additional charge.  We grabbed the Neptune and really enjoyed it on such a long cruise.  I think this was a confluence of a long cruise that wasn't fully booked and blind luck with the timing of my call, but it was our experience with an unexpected upgrade.  To my observation, all of the Neptune suites seemed occupied, and I never asked if others had the same upgrade or had booked the Neptune, I thought it best to keep our good fortune to ourselves if others had paid full price.

I had a similar experience re the Volendam's current Amazon cruise. I was made a similar offer when they remaindered it right after final payment and I complained through my TA. But it was a tremendous battle to get the upgrade as HAL said it was only the "chance" for one. I did get it when I showed up at the pier, but it seemed a needlessly difficult way to go about things. I'm sitting on the balcony right now and enjoying the privileges, but next time I would take the future cruise credit. 

Edited November 25, 2019 by Wehwalt

[USN59-79]

A couple of months ago we booked a fairly inexpensive 14 day cruise.  A few weeks later the price dropped $350.  I called my TA to see if I could get a credit or something, but the answer was no, past final payment time.  This morning I noticed that there was only a $300. difference from what I paid per person for a balcony compared to the least expensive suite.  I called the TA and asked if I could upgrade for $300 p/p.  He checked and said no problem, just give me the credit card number for the additional $600.  We leave home in two weeks.

[nonni2]

22 hours ago, Wehwalt said:

I had a similar experience re the Volendam's current Amazon cruise. I was made a similar offer when they remaindered it right after final payment and I complained through my TA. But it was a tremendous battle to get the upgrade as HAL said it was only the "chance" for one. I did get it when I showed up at the pier, but it seemed a needlessly difficult way to go about things. I'm sitting on the balcony right now and enjoying the privileges, but next time I would take the future cruise credit. 

My understanding is that, after final payment date, you’ll never get a price adjustment, but may get some degree of upgrade. A friend called about an adjustment, was denied, but was moved from a standard balcony to a Signature Suite, as was the couple traveling with them.

[DaveOKC]

7 hours ago, USN59-79 said:

A couple of months ago we booked a fairly inexpensive 14 day cruise.  A few weeks later the price dropped $350.  I called my TA to see if I could get a credit or something, but the answer was no, past final payment time.  This morning I noticed that there was only a $300. difference from what I paid per person for a balcony compared to the least expensive suite.  I called the TA and asked if I could upgrade for $300 p/p.  He checked and said no problem, just give me the credit card number for the additional $600.  We leave home in two weeks.

I think that this is standard practice for HAL (being able to make up the difference between what you paid and current rate fo the superior category), as I have been offered it several times when calling about an upsell.  This just happened to me last week - I had my PCC call HAL about an upsell, but was told that they would be unlikely on my cruise as it was selling well.  They wanted $800 pp to upgrade from Signature to Neptune, so I passed.  Less than 48 hours later I get an email from HAL offering the upsell for $300 pp for an even better cabin, which I immediately took.

 

My take away is that you can often "upsell" yourself with HAL, but if you want a really good upsell offer you have to wait for HAL to contact you OR you have to wait until HAL has sent out the upsell offers via their mass mailing (and you did not get one nor did your TA).

[*Miss G*]

@DaveOKC, do you think your initial request was turned down because you weren’t dealing directly with a PCC?  Do you trust that your TA actually spoke with a HAL pricing specialist?

[DaveOKC]

45 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

@DaveOKC, do you think your initial request was turned down because you weren’t dealing directly with a PCC?  Do you trust that your TA actually spoke with a HAL pricing specialist?

I did go through my PCC and I am confident that she talked directly to the upsell department both times as she had some specific information.

 

[freedom50]

We travel on the Koningsdam December 15th. This will be our 5th cruise with HAL and in the past  had always received upsell offers a few weeks before cruising. However as of this week Dec. 8th we had no emails regarding any upsells. So we decided to call Holland America general assistance number and was given another number to phone to inquire about a paid updgrade. Well that customer rep for HAL was extremely rude and unhelpful.She basically stated that if we had not recieved one by now there was not one. We asked if the ship was full. She declined to answer.She was no help at all and very dismissive to our inquiries. We then decided to call our personal cruise consultant with Holland America. We should have done this in the first place!.  Very happy with the outcome. For 10 dollars each we were upgraded from a interior inside cabin to a VF balcony. Currently its a guarantee so hopefully in the next couple of days we will get a cabin assignment. 

[BatchawanaBabe]

We just returned from our first HAL cruise on the Konigsdam.  We had booked with the travel agency starting with Vacations.  On our roll call, we found that others were getting upsell offers.  We tried to reach our travel agent in the last minute late afternoon on Friday but he wasn't working that day.  After escalating a complaint, their rep called us with a HAL agent on the other line. It turned out that HAL had sent upset offers several times already. The offer was an additional $118/person for a Vista Suite over our midship balcony.  Unfortunately we had to make a decision within half an hour because the upsell department was closing for the weekend, but neither of these people could explain what the difference was between the two categories other than getting an additional 20 square feet.  Hubby had already printed our cruise docs and we were leaving on Sunday, so we stayed in our balcony cabin.

 

On the Meet and Greet, we found that this happened to others using this agency.  None of their agents received the upset offers and one of them even went to their IT department asking why.  In the future I'm booking directly with the cruise lines.  I don't want to miss out on any offers.

[DaveOKC]

On 12/12/2019 at 10:44 PM, BatchawanaBabe said:

We just returned from our first HAL cruise on the Konigsdam.  We had booked with the travel agency starting with Vacations.  On our roll call, we found that others were getting upsell offers.  We tried to reach our travel agent in the last minute late afternoon on Friday but he wasn't working that day.  After escalating a complaint, their rep called us with a HAL agent on the other line. It turned out that HAL had sent upset offers several times already. The offer was an additional $118/person for a Vista Suite over our midship balcony.  Unfortunately we had to make a decision within half an hour because the upsell department was closing for the weekend, but neither of these people could explain what the difference was between the two categories other than getting an additional 20 square feet.  Hubby had already printed our cruise docs and we were leaving on Sunday, so we stayed in our balcony cabin.

 

On the Meet and Greet, we found that this happened to others using this agency.  None of their agents received the upset offers and one of them even went to their IT department asking why.  In the future I'm booking directly with the cruise lines.  I don't want to miss out on any offers.

I have heard this complaint from others who book through some of the LARGE on-line agencies and big retailers, so I stay with my HAL PCC as I really "work" the upsell offers and love getting them sent directly to me.  This way I can react quickly and get the best available location (just did this 3 weeks ago and got a Neptune right by the Neptune Lounge).

 

I can understand why these large companies do not want to bother with passing on the upsells, as it takes alot of time for their telephone agents to handle (back and forth to get it handled) with little reward for them, but they should tell people upfront that they do not handle upsells.