Have it all promotion

[wingman2014]

Have it all promotion , is this a new promotion? Does anyone have experience / thoughts on this package .

Thanks !

 Tim

[john2003]

Well it replaced a prior promo by the same name that included gratuities but not shore excursions. They claimed their customers didn't want gratuities to be included. This strains credulity somewhat.

I am sure it will appeal to some especially if they can get value from the drink package. We haven't taken a HAL excursion in years so this lowers our interest. We would still do so if we thought there was risk getting back to the ship in time!

[KirkNC]

Nothing on there has value to us.  We prefer the cheaper price excluding the promotion.

Edited June 7, 2021 by KirkNC

[BRWolf]

We are giving it a try for an 11 day Caribbean cruise in March 2023.  One of us plans to drink sunrise mimosas, followed by High noon mimosas, followed by afternoon mimosas, followed by sunset mimosas.  So, there may be some value to the beverage package.  We'll take advantage of the excursions.  Wi-fi is  nice to have.  We've never done specialty dining, so we'll take advantage of that.

[bobpell]

We booked the back to back Nov. 20 and found out through our TA that we don't have anything!!

Bob

[VMax1700]

37 minutes ago, BRWolf said:

We are giving it a try for an 11 day Caribbean cruise in March 2023.  One of us plans to drink sunrise mimosas, followed by High noon mimosas, followed by afternoon mimosas, followed by sunset mimosas.  So, there may be some value to the beverage package.  We'll take advantage of the excursions.  Wi-fi is  nice to have.  We've never done specialty dining, so we'll take advantage of that.

You forgot Moonrise mimosas and Moonset mimosas.  If moon rise and set occurs during daylight hours then you need to replace it with a Midnight mimosa. 😁

[Roz]

A lot of my cruises are solos, so promotions like this have no value for me.  I'm already paying a premium to sail.

[rsldonk]

I booked for next year with it. The beverage package also included like smoothies and non alcoholic stuff for the kids, which makes it nice. We are going at the tail end of the school year so the wifi package will be nice to have 

[KirkNC]

I will say that I am appreciative that it is optional.  For those who see value, they can pony up.  For those who don’t, they can save their money.

[Daniel A]

14 hours ago, john2003 said:

Well it replaced a prior promo by the same name that included gratuities but not shore excursions. They claimed their customers didn't want gratuities to be included. This strains credulity somewhat.

There are many people who refuse to book ship's excursions and prefer to either do one of the independents or explore on their own.  Everybody has to pay the gratuities (or opt out) so, by removing the free gratuities from the package and replacing it with ships shore excursion discounts, they are getting the gratuities from everybody and replacing it with up to a $100 discount on 1 excursion per week (roughly).  This way, they are getting  passengers who normally wouldn't take a ships excursion to take one while they are still paying the full amount for gratuities.  It looks like this is a better deal for those who would have taken one excursion on less than a 7, 14 or 21 day cruise ($100 off 1,2, or 3 excursions) as the break point is that it equals out to be the same amount saved if you're paying gratuities for a 7, 14, or 21 day sailing.  If you're sailing on a 8+, 15+ or 22+ day cruise then the free gratuities would have worked out better than the excursion discount.

[igraf]

15 hours ago, wingman2014 said:

Have it all promotion , is this a new promotion? Does anyone have experience / thoughts on this package .

Thanks !

 Tim

 

The devil is in the details, as the saying goes.  Does one retain full choice?  For example, I would not want to have specialty dining on formal night as that wastes the best MDR meal.

 

I suspect that the pricing of "Have it all" is geared to those that would use the extras heavily.  We only drink alcohol sparingly, so a beverage package is of little use to us.  Likewise, my idea of vacation is to get away from the internet and email for while so I would not be using wifi very much.  For passengers like us, "a la carte" is likely a better choice.

 

igraf

 

 

 

[Daniel A]

1 hour ago, igraf said:

I suspect that the pricing of "Have it all" is geared to those that would use the extras heavily.  We only drink alcohol sparingly, so a beverage package is of little use to us.  Likewise, my idea of vacation is to get away from the internet and email for while so I would not be using wifi very much.  For passengers like us, "a la carte" is likely a better choice.

We think that having the drink package is a benefit to us for two reasons.  On a longer cruise, a few mixed drinks a day can really add up over time, especially if you add the soft drinks and coffees consumed during the day into the equation.  The second reason for us at least is it provides a certain reassurance that we aren't going to be getting an enormous portfolio statement at the end of the cruise.  One doesn't need to drink alcoholic beverages heavily to get a benefit from a drink package included in a promotion.  We have never taken the beverage package as a stand alone a la carte option.  But again, YMMV.

Edited June 7, 2021 by Daniel A

[GypsySonnetGirl]

We saw where you can make dining reservations & shore excursions under this promo starting July 6, 2021. Hope it works out. Usually when you get the promos for the Pinnacle Grill, etc., they give you undesirable times and dates. We have two cruises booked under this promo and are anxious to see how it goes.

[kazu]

3 hours ago, Daniel A said:

It looks like this is a better deal for those who would have taken one excursion on less than a 7, 14 or 21 day cruise ($100 off 1,2, or 3 excursions) as the break point is that it equals out to be the same amount saved if you're paying gratuities for a 7, 14, or 21 day sailing.  If you're sailing on a 8+, 15+ or 22+ day cruise then the free gratuities would have worked out better than the excursion discount.

 

Your math is different than mine.  A 7 day cruise only gets one $100 off.

 

The Crew Incentive (former HSC) is $15 per day per person for a standard cabin and $17 per day per person in a suite (which can even be a verandah on the smaller ships and is called a Vista Suite but is basically a verandah cabin)

 

Even on a 7 day cruise - $15 x 7 = $105.  And if the person is in a suite, it balloons to $119.  When I do the math, the HSC is a better deal than the shore excursion discount each and every time.

[kazu]

3 hours ago, igraf said:

 

I suspect that the pricing of "Have it all" is geared to those that would use the extras heavily.  We only drink alcohol sparingly, so a beverage package is of little use to us

 

On this point we can agree to disagree.  You don’t have to drink a lot of alcohol to make use of the package if it’s included in the Have It All promotion and IF you do the math (I do).  And you don’t have to be a heavy drinker.

 

Things like coffees at the good spot, water, sodas, mocktails and the odd glass of wine/ whatever you choose to drink sparingly can add up in a day.

 

Unless the price drops substantially, we will keep the Have it All since it also includes the HSC and it’s all in U.S. $$

 

I simply take the difference in price between the package included and not and do the math on what we would use.   If it works out, I keep it.  If not, I drop it.  If the price goes down in any great way, we traditionally drop it but that doesn’t seem to be the trend right now 😉 

[Norseh2o]

We enjoy playing pre-dinner Bridge and having drink or two.  Once the staff learn what you drink, not having to keep a tab nor being surprised when drinks you never drink show up on your cabin's bill is definitely a value. We have booked  2 cruises ( 35 days and 74 days) with HAL and are thankful that both include drinks and "hotel" charges (gratuities).

[Vict0riann]

We like the SBP if there are a lot of sea days on our cruise, but if the cruise is port-intensive, we don't drink enough just in the evenings to make it worthwhile.  But all those m.m.m.mimosas are lovely if there is all day to indulge!

[Daniel A]

1 hour ago, kazu said:

 

Your math is different than mine.  A 7 day cruise only gets one $100 off.

 

The Crew Incentive (former HSC) is $15 per day per person for a standard cabin and $17 per day per person in a suite (which can even be a verandah on the smaller ships and is called a Vista Suite but is basically a verandah cabin)

 

Even on a 7 day cruise - $15 x 7 = $105.  And if the person is in a suite, it balloons to $119.  When I do the math, the HSC is a better deal than the shore excursion discount each and every time.

This is in the terms and conditions of the offer: "Shore excursion offer is based on cruise duration. For 6–9-day voyages, guests can choose one free shore excursion (up to $100 value) or apply $100 off any one tour. For 10–20-day voyages, guests can choose two free shore excursions (up to $100 value per tour) or apply $100 off each of any two tours. For 21+ day voyages (excluding Grands), guests can choose three free shore excursions (up to $100 value per tour) or apply $100 off each of any three tours. "

 

I used $14.50/day as my basic figure for gratuities (for the sake of brevity, I didn't go with the amount for full suites.)  The flat amount of the excursion benefit is $100 per included excursion.  According to the above, for a 6 day cruise the gratuity would be $87, so the $100 discount would be good.  For 7 days the gratuity would be $101.50 (basically a wash) and on a 9 day cruise the gratuity would be $130.50 so only getting a $100 discount instead isn't a good deal.

 

A 10 day cruise would get you two $100 excursion discounts and the grats would be $145, so the $200 discount is a win.  For a 20 day cruise, you still only get $200 discounts but the grats will be $290 you would pay.

 

If my figure of $14.5/day is wrong, then you can recalculate but I think the logic will remain the same.  All that said, I too would rather have the pre-paid gratuities in a promotion rather than free/discounted excursions but to each their own.

[kazu]

53 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

 

 

I used $14.50/day as my basic figure for gratuities (for the sake of brevity, I didn't go with the amount for full suites.)  The flat amount of the excursion benefit is $100 per included excursion.  According to the above, for a 6 day cruise the gratuity would be $87, so the $100 discount would be good.  For 7 days the gratuity would be $101.50 (basically a wash) and on a 9 day cruise the gratuity would be $130.50 so only getting a $100 discount instead isn't a good deal.

 

HSC (now the Cruise Incentive programme) as I said clearly in my post has gone up to $15 per day.  that makes a difference according to my math.  And if you have a verandah on an R class ship which is charged as a suite or a suite on that or any other ship (Signature, Neptune, PS), it’s $17 per day pp.  It’s a lose situation on anything but the 10 day scenario.

 

53 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

 

A 10 day cruise would get you two $100 excursion discounts and the grats would be $145, so the $200 discount is a win.  For a 20 day cruise, you still only get $200 discounts but the grats will be $290 you would pay.

 

IF you want to do shore excursions with HAL. 😉. the grats are more than what you are saying though. But the 10 day is the only exception I see IF people want to do shore excursions.

 

53 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

If my figure of $14.5/day is wrong, then you can recalculate but I think the logic will remain the same.  All that said, I too would rather have the pre-paid gratuities in a promotion rather than free/discounted excursions but to each their own.

 

I totally agree.  I far prefer the prepaid cruise incentive (former HSC).  It’s a win in nearly every scenario and while I do the odd HAL excursion, I can’t visualize a time we would do 3.

Ironically I checked our cruise next year.  We have the old Have it all with prepared HSC, etc.  Evaluated it against Best price and then looked at the new pricing.  It is MORE than our old price and the HSC/Cruise Incentive add up to $850 - while the shore excursion discount is $600 IF we were to do 3 HAL tours.  You don’t need to be a genius to do the math.

[Daniel A]

8 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

HSC (now the Cruise Incentive programme) as I said clearly in my post has gone up to $15 per day.  that makes a difference according to my math.  

The only place I could find the daily grats rate was in my most recent booking which was done with the original Have It All promo.  That booking is still showing $14.50 so that's where I got my numbers from.  I don't know where to find any info about the current rate.  I agree completely with you that the excursion discount will only be helpful in some circumstances IF one were already looking to book a HAL excursion.

[kazu]

24 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

HSC (now the Cruise Incentive programme) as I said clearly in my post has gone up to $15 per day.  that makes a difference according to my math.  And if you have a verandah on an R class ship which is charged as a suite or a suite on that or any other ship (Signature, Neptune, PS), it’s $17 per day pp.  It’s a lose situation on anything but the 10 day scenario.

 

 

IF you want to do shore excursions with HAL. 😉. the grats are more than what you are saying though. But the 10 day is the only exception I see IF people want to do shore excursions.

 

 

I totally agree.  I far prefer the prepaid cruise incentive (former HSC).  It’s a win in nearly every scenario and while I do the odd HAL excursion, I can’t visualize a time we would do 3.

Ironically I checked our cruise next year.  We have the old Have it all with prepared HSC, etc.  Evaluated it against Best price and then looked at the new pricing.  It is MORE than our old price and the HSC/Cruise Incentive add up to $850 - while the shore excursion discount is $600 IF we were to do 3 HAL tours.  You don’t need to be a genius to do the math.

 

There was a recent announcement on the HAL board about the “new” Cruise Incentive package and the new pricing.  Not sure if your old pricing will be honoured or if you will get a notice it has been increased but it has gone up.

[AncientWanderer]

3 hours ago, GypsySonnetGirl said:

We saw where you can make dining reservations & shore excursions under this promo starting July 6, 2021. Hope it works out. Usually when you get the promos for the Pinnacle Grill, etc., they give you undesirable times and dates. We have two cruises booked under this promo and are anxious to see how it goes.

 

This brings in some new considerations.  I wonder if those who don't purchase the promo will have a heck of a time pre-booking desirable times for the specialty restaurants.  We have literally five different cruises booked and none have opened up dining reservations.   We always have our dining lined up before we cruise.  Fingers crossed that doesn't have to change.

[Daniel A]

2 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

There was a recent announcement on the HAL board about the “new” Cruise Incentive package and the new pricing.  Not sure if your old pricing will be honoured or if you will get a notice it has been increased but it has gone up.

My booking was with the Have it All which includes gratuities so, the actual price is going to stay the same for me.  I must have gotten in before the increase.

[kazu]

10 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

My booking was with the Have it All which includes gratuities so, the actual price is going to stay the same for me.  I must have gotten in before the increase.

 

Then you have no worries.  I wonder if the reason for the change to the shore excursions was because of the increase 😉   Who knows?

[kazu]

13 minutes ago, AncientWanderer said:

 

This brings in some new considerations.  I wonder if those who don't purchase the promo will have a heck of a time pre-booking desirable times for the specialty restaurants.  We have literally five different cruises booked and none have opened up dining reservations.   We always have our dining lined up before we cruise.  Fingers crossed that doesn't have to change.

 

We haven’t been able to pre-book our PG dinners yet.  Hopefully they open up.  Apparently from another post on the HAL board, there is a service charge added so not sure if that is the issue on the booking or not.

While we have Have it All, we don’t care and have certain days and times we want like so many .  If Have it All doesn’t work out, so be it.