5 Star perks?

[DaveOKC]

13 hours ago, kazu said:

 

OP asked the above.

 

They wanted to share their 5* free dinners.  To the best of my knowledge that is not possible.  They may be able to share their 4/5* 50% off If they prebook, otherwise, I doubt that works.  But they are looking at using their FREE PG dinners to their advantage.

I understand the no free dinners.  We have booked a party of 4 while onboard and received 50% off all 4 meals (but I had to pay for it on my cabin to get it).  Not sure how this would work if you book the meals online prior to sailing.

[kazu]

3 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

I understand the no free dinners.  We have booked a party of 4 while onboard and received 50% off all 4 meals (but I had to pay for it on my cabin to get it).  Not sure how this would work if you book the meals online prior to sailing.

I’ve booked on line and pre-paid for the dinners for our table.  The loyalty discounts are applied to my on board account as a credit.

[DaveOKC]

10 minutes ago, kazu said:

I’ve booked on line and pre-paid for the dinners for our table.  The loyalty discounts are applied to my on board account as a credit.

Good to hear that it works that way as well.

 

My original comment however was that it has been reported here on CC that sometimes the ship will restrict the 50% discount just to the passengers who are 4 or 5 Star.  Merely a "heads up" for people planning on doing this.

[Cruising-along]

4 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

My original comment however was that it has been reported here on CC that sometimes the ship will restrict the 50% discount just to the passengers who are 4 or 5 Star.

It was reported and discussed, I remember too.  It worked for us last June when we sailed with friends who are 1-star, but I'm not holding my breath it will work the next time we sail together.  😞  

[sail7seas]

3 hours ago, Cruising-along said:

It was reported and discussed, I remember too.  It worked for us last June when we sailed with friends who are 1-star, but I'm not holding my breath it will work the next time we sail together.  😞  

 

3 hours ago, Cruising-along said:

It was reported and discussed, I remember too.  It worked for us last June when we sailed with friends who are 1-star, but I'm not holding my breath it will work the next time we sail together.  😞  

 

 

when ever I made dinner reservations in advance for PInnacle dinners and we were Hosting   others who were not  five star, .  Of course,  I entered my charged c aard for all  the dinners.   When we actually dined,  they credited the  discount dinners for DH and myself and also for  our two guests.  They did not know their names or cabin num bers   Wt made the reservation in our name for four or six  persons.    For all they knew in Pinnacle, it was the first  cruise our guests were .  It  was not but they   had no  'obvious'  ' way  to  know their Mariners' status unless some one came to  tell them the guests' names, cabin numbers.  When we arrived for our dinner,  my  DH made it clear these persons  s were to b our guests and all  checks for dinner drinks etc,  were to be given to him.  We were credited the full amount we had paid on line when I made the booking

 

When you make reservations you only  tell the number of persons  in your party.  You do not have to provide  the names of your guests.

 

 

 

 

 

[Cruising-along]

53 minutes ago, sail7seas said:

 

 

 

when ever I made dinner reservations in advance for PInnacle dinners and we were Hosting   others who were not  five star, .  Of course,  I entered my charged c aard for all  the dinners.   When we actually dined,  they credited the  discount dinners for DH and myself and also for  our two guests.  They did not know their names or cabin num bers   Wt made the reservation in our name for four or six  persons.    For all they knew in Pinnacle, it was the first  cruise our guests were .  It  was not but they   had no  'obvious'  ' way  to  know their Mariners' status unless some one came to  tell them the guests' names, cabin numbers.  When we arrived for our dinner,  my  DH made it clear these persons  s were to b our guests and all  checks for dinner drinks etc,  were to be given to him.  We were credited the full amount we had paid on line when I made the booking

 

When you make reservations you only  tell the number of persons  in your party.  You do not have to provide  the names of your guests.

 

Yes, we've always done the same. 

But recently (I wish I could find that thread) someone reported here that we no longer are able to do that. 

And actually when we hosted our friends in June, the Pinnacle did in fact ask for their names and cabin number (we made sure they wouldn't be billed though).  Hopefully someone will come along who has recent experience.

 

 

 

 

[RuthC]

3 hours ago, sail7seas said:

 

 

 

when ever I made dinner reservations in advance for PInnacle dinners and we were Hosting   others who were not  five star, .  Of course,  I entered my charged c aard for all  the dinners.   When we actually dined,  they credited the  discount dinners for DH and myself and also for  our two guests.  They did not know their names or cabin num bers   Wt made the reservation in our name for four or six  persons.    For all they knew in Pinnacle, it was the first  cruise our guests were .  It  was not but they   had no  'obvious'  ' way  to  know their Mariners' status unless some one came to  tell them the guests' names, cabin numbers.  When we arrived for our dinner,  my  DH made it clear these persons  s were to b our guests and all  checks for dinner drinks etc,  were to be given to him.  We were credited the full amount we had paid on line when I made the booking

 

When you make reservations you only  tell the number of persons  in your party.  You do not have to provide  the names of your guests.

 

 

 

 

 

Your experience doing it that way was a number of years ago. Since then, things have changed and HAL has tightened up the Pinnacle discount procedures. It is no longer correct information. 

[idiebabe]

On our Nieuw Statendam TA in Oct/Nov they didn’t apply the 50% Discount when we paid for my Daughter who had her own Room and didn’t recognize her 25% Discount so we were charged full price for her.  When we inquired about her receiving her Discount Guest Services explained that our Room showed two people designated to it so the Discount would only be applied to two people.  The System couldn’t give her the 3 Star discount because we paid with our Account.  It was explained to us, that if she  was staying in our Room, she would receive our 50% Discount.  This was for Tamarind.  Since we wanted to treat her to the Specialty Restaurants we had them charge her Account (to get her Discount) and we put cash on her Account to cover the Pinnacle dinners and Sel de Mer.

 

This was our experience on NS so not sure if all the Ships are doing the same.  Our recent Amsterdam Cruise with friends we all paid separately since they also get the 50% Discounts.  

 

 

 

 

[DaveOKC]

As usual, procedures vary from ship to ship on HAL.  Also, things change constantly, so its best to ask onboard to be certain.

[sail7seas]

20 hours ago, RuthC said:

Your experience doing it that way was a number of years ago. Since then, things have changed and HAL has tightened up the Pinnacle discount procedures. It is no longer correct information. 

 

Ruth:

 

 

 

RUTH,

 

 

 

Sorry to correct you BUT  I was onVeendam  (2?)years ago.  I dined in PInnacle with a friend and I was given the five  star discount for the bill though my friend was not five star.l     we  each   had our own Neptune  Suites) ..I do no t   share cabins  ....   I had my   usual Neptune suite  while   hers was  nearby.    this is  CORRECT anD quite   current Enough information

 

 

 

 

Edited January 7, 2020 by sail7seas

[RuthC]

2 hours ago, sail7seas said:

Sorry to correct you BUT  I was onVeendam  (2?)years ago.  I dined in PInnacle with a friend and I was given the five  star discount for the bill though my friend was not five star.l     we  each   had our own Neptune  Suites) ..I do no t   share cabins  ....   I had my   usual Neptune suite  while   hers was  nearby.    this is  CORRECT anD quite   current Enough information

 

While two years is a lot more recent than the many years referenced in your prior post, it is still not very current, especially when you consider contradictory reports to yours from cruises much more recent than even that. (see post #58)

[T8NCruise]

We are 4* (almost 5) and cruise with 5* friends.  We dine together at the PG and with each reservation, especially in the past few years, we have been asked cabin numbers for all of us.  Of course, that may be just for sending the reminder, but in any case, we all received the relevant discount due to us.  Alternatively, when one couple received the 2 free PG dinners, they opted for one and took us as guests, and there was no objection to that.

[sail7seas]

3 hours ago, RuthC said:

 

While two years is a lot more recent than the many years referenced in your prior post, it is still not very current, especially when you consider contradictory reports to yours from cruises much more recent than even that. (see post #58)

 

[sail7seas]

 

 

RUth,

 

would   tales from my May, 2019 cruises  be acceptable and   suitable for  you? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 8, 2020 by sail7seas

[sail7seas]

🙂  ????

 

 

 

 

 

[Vict0riann]

We were told on Koningsdam in November that the change was made in August of 2019.  When we tried to “treat” sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t, so some restaurants had got the word and some hadn’t.  

[Cruising-along]

8 minutes ago, Vict0riann said:

We were told on Koningsdam in November that the change was made in August of 2019.  When we tried to “treat” sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t, so some restaurants had got the word and some hadn’t.  

That makes sense.  The last time we treated our friends was in June of 2019.  And even then they asked for our guests' cabin number....we felt like something was changing. 

[sail7seas]

Seems   HAL's usual inconsistency from cruise  to cruise and ship to ship is showing itself, once  again.

 

 

[DaveOKC]

7 hours ago, sail7seas said:

Seems   HAL's usual inconsistency from cruise  to cruise and ship to ship is showing itself, once  again.

 

 

YEP, same thing I find over and over again.

[VennDiagram]

3 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

YEP, same thing I find over and over again.

 

You are one of the posters I usually agree with Dave, but this time I have to disagree.

Reading back through this thread, there are enough reports that the way of charging for specialty dining has changed. It is no longer done the way it was 5 or 6 years ago, or even a year ago.

To me, it seems that there is a phased rollout of the new method which may give the appearance of inconsistency but it seems that consistency will soon be evident.

[DaveOKC]

3 hours ago, VennDiagram said:

 

You are one of the posters I usually agree with Dave, but this time I have to disagree.

Reading back through this thread, there are enough reports that the way of charging for specialty dining has changed. It is no longer done the way it was 5 or 6 years ago, or even a year ago.

To me, it seems that there is a phased rollout of the new method which may give the appearance of inconsistency but it seems that consistency will soon be evident.

Perhaps you are correct on this situation, but there are many other things that do vary by ship.

 

My point was earlier in the topic - Do Not assume the 50% discount will be applied to everyone at your table, as you might be surprised later.

[ArnoldDonald]

On 12/21/2019 at 3:23 PM, dockman said:

When I majored in Business many years ago one of the things we were taught was the value of retaining customers.

Do they no longer teach that most basic biz practice or do all the MBA's figure they are too smart to follow time tried traditions?

 

  Not just cruise customers but way too many companies seem to be willing to spend major ad bucks trying to get new customers but are reluctant to do much to retain the ones they have.  For Holland to throw 4 and 5 star customers a few bones that cost them very little like a free transfer or shuttle bus ride or a bottle wine or something is just good biz sense.

 

The good news is that the costs associated with repeat business are, generally, significantly lower. 70% of companies say it's cheaper to retain a customer than acquire one, while others have suggested that the cost of acquiring a new customer can be as much as seven times more expensive.

Dockman,

That concept of retaining customers still works today - on land. But the Cruise Industry is a completely different animal.

For a mass market cruise line like HAL, retaining a loyal customer is still less expensive than finding a new one - but that returning customer is a classic study in diminishing returns. 

Unlike a land-based company, HAL does not make a profit selling cruises. They only make profit selling things to people once they have boarded the ship.

HAL is especially famous in the industry for having a large number of very loyal passengers who spend less and less and less every time they take another cruise.

A few years ago HAL conducted an internal audit of what passengers spend onboard, based on the number of Stars they have earned. The results were so discouraging and embarrassing that the audit report was never released - even internally.

[kazu]

2 minutes ago, ArnoldDonald said:

HAL is especially famous in the industry for having a large number of very loyal passengers who spend less and less and less every time they take another cruise.

A few years ago HAL conducted an internal audit of what passengers spend

 

 

I keep hearing this over and over but my on board account is usually pretty dam hefty and my friends that I cruise this are too.  (One of the reasons I prepurchase OBC, beverage cards, etc.) I’ve eaten with lots of Mariners in specialty restaurants, seen them drinking in the bars and in the casinos.  

 

It might be generally true - I don’t know - but HAL should be careful because some people do spend money on board.  And it’s not small potatoes 😉 

2 minutes ago, ArnoldDonald said:

 

The results were so discouraging and embarrassing that the audit report was never released - even internally.

 

If the results were so embarrassing and never released, then how do you know them?

 

I think this is bogus or you are now going to have to state your source.

 

[Crazy For Cats]

20 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

I keep hearing this over and over but my on board account is usually pretty dam hefty and my friends that I cruise this are too.  (One of the reasons I prepurchase OBC, beverage cards, etc.) I’ve eaten with lots of Mariners in specialty restaurants, seen them drinking in the bars and in the casinos.  

 

It might be generally true - I don’t know - but HAL should be careful because some people do spend money on board.  And it’s not small potatoes 😉 

 

If the results were so embarrassing and never released, then how do you know them?

 

I think this is bogus or you are now going to have to state your source.

 

I have to agree with you.  We have had many cruises were we received the max spending points with room to spare.  

[1ANGELCAT]

31 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

I keep hearing this over and over but my on board account is usually pretty dam hefty and my friends that I cruise this are too.  (One of the reasons I prepurchase OBC, beverage cards, etc.) I’ve eaten with lots of Mariners in specialty restaurants, seen them drinking in the bars and in the casinos.  

 

It might be generally true - I don’t know - but HAL should be careful because some people do spend money on board.  And it’s not small potatoes 😉 

 

If the results were so embarrassing and never released, then how do you know them?

 

I think this is bogus or you are now going to have to state your source.

 

I wonder if his screen name is any indication?