Sail and Play offer

[Floating Okie]

Has anyone had any experience with booking a cruise using the Sail and Play Offer? 

[Ready2go11]

Booked Friday with a family member who actually received the offer not me. 
 

Sharing my experience and what I learned. Forgive me if you already know any of this and as always, all experiences are different. 
 

If the person who received the offer logs into their Mariner account and searches for cruises, you will see the reduced prices for cruises included in your offer, including upgraded cabin options.  However, you cannot book online. We called the number on the offer flyer in the email. Our offer was for a free ocean view cabin. We selected a Christmas cruise for 7 nights. 
 

Inside and ocean views are charged $200 per person at booking plus applicable taxes and port charges. So how is it free?  They give the $200 back to each person as OBC on the ship. I presume they charge that so the guest has some skin in the game, as otherwise you could cancel with no penalty since taxes and port charges are refunded if you cancel. 
 

By checking ahead online before we booked, we saw that we could upgrade to a verandah cabin for $549: of which you would still get $200 back in OBC. However, only obstructed verandahs were available. There was no choice for a higher category verandah. As a free cabin, we would be assigned a category F inside, meaning a cabin on deck 1 of the Koningsdam, which is the cruise we chose. 

However, the phone agent said since there were no unobstructed verandahs available with the sail and play promo that we could pay to upgrade to the Orange Club for $25 per person per day, or an extra $350 for both of us for the week. That Orange upgrade allows you to upgrade your cabin to any in the same grouping, or in this case, a jump up to any verandah available. 
 

We upgraded to deck 6, mid ship which has a bunch of upgrade fees if we were booking a verandah without the casino offer. Plus, we will receive the Club Orange benefits as well 

 

We also asked if we could add the Have it All package and were able to for the standard price of $349 per person for the 7 days. The extra cost is worth it for us for us for wifi, dining, beverage package and excursion credit. 
 

We will be traveling with other family and without the casino offer; they booked identical cabin classes and HIA and paid about double what we did with the casino offer, so it was a huge savings and we will still receive the $200 pp in OBC (their included OBC is smaller too).
 

HUGE warning. You must pay for your entire cruise fare within 24 hours of booking and it all becomes non-refundable immediately. If we cancel, we will only receive taxes and port charges back. Highly encourage anyone who books this type of special to consider travel insurance. Of course, if you book and keep the ocean view cabin with no extras, your at risk amount would only be $200 per person. 
 

Hope that helps you. 
 

 

 

 

[Floating Okie]

Thank you for your very informed response.

Did your cruise immediately show up as being paid in full?

[FlorenceItaly]

33 minutes ago, Floating Okie said:

Thank you for your very informed response.

Did your cruise immediately show up as being paid in full?

Yes, your booking confirmation will show zero balance.

It should also show the $200 OBC per person.  This will show on the last page of the booking confirmation under Special Services.

 

[daisy-mae]

1 hour ago, Ready2go11 said:

 

 

 

You must pay for your entire cruise fare within 24 hours of booking and it all becomes non-refundable immediately. If we cancel, we will only receive taxes and port charges back... 
 

 
 

 

 

 

Good to know. Any idea where I would find that on the website?

 

[FlorenceItaly]

Also, as far as insurance, it is a very small price(typically $99PP) for the Platinum Premium Insurance which I mainly purchase because of the medical and Med Jet insurance.

[Ready2go11]

41 minutes ago, daisy-mae said:

Good to know. Any idea where I would find that on the website?

 

Your copied portion is about immediate payment required so I will address that 
 

Below are two excerpts of the fine print from the bottom of the email offer, although I asked if I could pay online and the agent said yes as long as I did it within 24 hours.
 

I wanted to do it  online, as I went to AARP, bought HAL gift cards at 10% off and then paid with those. I also used future cruise deposit credit purchased last month while on board so received an extra $50 OBC there. I love stacking deals 😏

 

Guests are required to provide valid credit card information at time of booking. A charge will be made of $200 per guest (applies to first two guests in a stateroom only). This will be refunded as an Onboard Credit once onboard, as shown on booking confirmation. This charge, all taxes, fees & port expenses, upgrade costs and add-on items are due at time of booking.

This promotion is 100% non-refundable from the point of payment and you are not entitled to any refund, payment, compensation or credit. We strongly recommend that you obtain travel protection for unforeseen events such as trip cancellation, loss or damage to baggage and personal effects, illness, medical expenses, accidental injury or death, or emergency evacuation. Holland America Line offers two Cancellation Protection Plan options which…

[daisy-mae]

Hello again - I am familiar with the immediate payment requirement. However, your mentioned that port charges and taxes would be refunded upon cancellation.

 

The second paragraph from the fine print says otherwise:

 

"This promotion is 100% non-refundable from the point of payment and you are not entitled to any refund, payment, compensation or credit." 

 

 

[silversneakers]

1 hour ago, daisy-mae said:

Hello again - I am familiar with the immediate payment requirement. However, your mentioned that port charges and taxes would be refunded upon cancellation.

 

The second paragraph from the fine print says otherwise:

 

"This promotion is 100% non-refundable from the point of payment and you are not entitled to any refund, payment, compensation or credit." 

 

 

Port charges are always refundable.

[daisy-mae]

30 minutes ago, silversneakers said:

Port charges are always refundable.

Even on this type of promo? How about the taxes?

[idiebabe]

2 hours ago, daisy-mae said:

Even on this type of promo? How about the taxes?

Yes, they refund Port Fees and Taxes according to my PCC.