Cyber Monday adds $25 deposit

[DaveOKC]

Plus you still get the free Crew Incentives from the Black Friday offer.  Just FYI.

[kazu]

I saw the sale on the HAL site - my cost went up.  I did better with the Black Friday sale, surprisingly.

[Ellencruise]

And my cruises in March and July were still at a better price when I booked many months ago!

[zhuangcorp]

What days does HAL usually offer sales? I'll keep an eye out for good deals next year. 

[vicd1969]

The crew appreciations for this promotion are only for the first two passengers, right? It's very difficult to find the fine print on the HAL website.

[crystalspin]

1 hour ago, vicd1969 said:

The crew appreciations for this promotion are only for the first two passengers, right? It's very difficult to find the fine print on the HAL website.

The site won't even let me log in right now, but usually all of the 'perks' are for only the first two pax in a cabin. Which is pretty on when one of the perks is the beverage package -- normally needing to be purchased for ALL adults in a room!

[vicd1969]

53 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

The site won't even let me log in right now, but usually all of the 'perks' are for only the first two pax in a cabin. Which is pretty on when one of the perks is the beverage package -- normally needing to be purchased for ALL adults in a room!

At least the site allowed me to do a dummy booking and the fine print was available when pricing was shown. Yes, the "free gratuities"  are only for the first two pax, as you said. Thank you for trying to look, though.

[netingirl]

Does anyone know how the $25 deposit is supposed to work? My assumption would be that we each pay $25, but when I logged in to look at making a booking - one flagged boldy with the $25 deposit banner - my booking showed a deposit of $1400.  Just a little confused and no information on the Holland site that I could find.

[Double D Cruisers]

14 hours ago, netingirl said:

Does anyone know how the $25 deposit is supposed to work? My assumption would be that we each pay $25, but when I logged in to look at making a booking - one flagged boldy with the $25 deposit banner - my booking showed a deposit of $1400.  Just a little confused and no information on the Holland site that I could find.

Do no rely on the HAL website.  More times than not, it does not work properly.   The same thing happened to me regarding the deposit showing more than the $50.00 (CyberSale deposit amount for two). I tried a couple more times after rebooting my iPad, clearing cache etc.) with no luck.  Finally realized the website is not reliable and called my PCC.  Call your TA or PCC to get the correct price.  Hope this helps.  Good luck!

Edited November 29, 2022 by Double D Cruisers
Edit

[netingirl]

2 hours ago, Double D Cruisers said:

Do no rely on the HAL website.  More times than not, it does not work properly.   The same thing happened to me regarding the deposit showing more than the $50.00 (CyberSale deposit amount for two). I tried a couple more times after rebooting my iPad, clearing cache etc.) with no luck.  Finally realized the website is not reliable and called my PCC.  Call your TA or PCC to get the correct price.  Hope this helps.  Good luck!

That's very helpful Double D :) Thank you!

[Crazy For Cats]

@DaveOKC thanks for posting this sale.  I took advantage of this offer this afternoon.  I booked NS for December 2023.

[azalice]

Booked a 7 day Alaska yesterday. The 25 dollar deposit was per person. Wow. Port charges and fees sure are expensive.

[ONECRUISER]

The $25 Booking was offered couple months ago, cant beat it for Cruise a yr away. Question, what is the "Pre-paid Crew Appreciation Promo?" Doesn't mean Tips included does it? This is on my new Booking, never been on a Holland Cruise.

[crystalspin]

8 minutes ago, ONECRUISER said:

Question, what is the "Pre-paid Crew Appreciation Promo?" Doesn't mean Tips included does it? This is on my new Booking, never been on a Holland Cruise.

Yes, Crew Appreciation is new name for Daily Housekeeping Service fee AKA gratuities. The amount covered is $15.50 per person per day in a standard stateroom and $17pppd in a suite. It applies only to the first two passengers in the cabin.

 

ETA: the crew "covered" by the CA are housekeeping stewards, dining stewards, as well as behind the scenes people like laundry, kitchen help. Bartenders and servers, as well as spa personnel, etc are covered by the 18% service charge added to all of those purchases. If you have HIA (Have It All) OR you have bought one of the Beverage Packages, those charges are covered as well! Some people tip more, some people scoff at paying more...

 

Welcome to HAL!

Edited November 29, 2022 by crystalspin

[ONECRUISER]

3 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

Yes, Crew Appreciation is new name for Daily Housekeeping Service fee AKA gratuities. The amount covered is $15.50 per person per day in a standard stateroom and $17pppd in a suite. It applies only to the first two passengers in the cabin.

 

Welcome to HAL!

Great, a nice Perk for my first Holland Cruise! Thank you!

[deliver42]

Just booked a Nieuw Statendam Caribbean cruise for March, 2024 with the $25.00 deposit, and all the goodies including grats. First time on HAL, and looking forward to it.

[KAKcruiser]

I agree that you can't trust the web site.  They are again not showing the private (mariner) fare.  This happened a few months ago and now the problem is back.  Of course, when you call, the customer service rep sometimes tells you that there is no mariner fare available.  But, if you are persistent and demand to be connected to a pricing specialist, they will know about it.  

[DaveOKC]

45 minutes ago, crystalspin said:

Yes, Crew Appreciation is new name for Daily Housekeeping Service fee AKA gratuities. The amount covered is $15.50 per person per day in a standard stateroom and $17pppd in a suite. It applies only to the first two passengers in the cabin.

 

ETA: the crew "covered" by the CA are housekeeping stewards, dining stewards, as well as behind the scenes people like laundry, kitchen help. Bartenders and servers, as well as spa personnel, etc are covered by the 18% service charge added to all of those purchases. If you have HIA (Have It All) OR you have bought one of the Beverage Packages, those charges are covered as well! Some people tip more, some people scoff at paying more...

 

Welcome to HAL!

Daily service fee increasing by 50 cents for all cabins Feb 1 as I recall.

[crystalspin]

5 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

Daily service fee increasing by 50 cents for all cabins Feb 1 as I recall.

Hah, I didn't know that, but if the cruise is after that AND booked with the promo Crew Appreciation, it will be covered even after the increase. If not booked with the promo, pre-purchasing will also lock in the current price.

[DaveOKC]

16 hours ago, crystalspin said:

Hah, I didn't know that, but if the cruise is after that AND booked with the promo Crew Appreciation, it will be covered even after the increase. If not booked with the promo, pre-purchasing will also lock in the current price.

But it does make the VALUE of the perks worth more!

 

[dreamer321]

I took advantage of the $25 deposit to book a 7 night cruise to Alaska on Koningsdam at the end of May.  First time on HAL, previously on Celebrity.  The price was about the same but I liked HAL's itinerary better than Celebrity for Alaska and wanted to try a different line.

 

Not sure I'll actually make the final payment but I can only lose $25 if I change my mind or something better comes up between now and final payment date.

 

I also had to call to get the $25 deposit.  Trying to book on the website kept screwing up the deposit and the final amount due.

Edited December 2, 2022 by dreamer321
added line regarding calling cruise consultant