Have it All - Shorex Warning

[ontheweb]

1 minute ago, KroozNut said:

 

Thanks, but I'm wondering if we can purchase them after we board the ship for cruise port to airport transportation at end of the cruise. We have a lot of OBC, and are looking for various ways to use it after boarding.

We've never waited that long, but I believe you can. They do want you to be able to get off the ship and get home.

[Mary229]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

I don't know if it is the same with HAL, thought I think it would be, but with Princess the excursion back to the airport with sightseeing was treated like an excursion when it came to using credits.

But not the transfers on the webpage, they are not listed as shore excursions.  It is only the ones listed as shore excursions 

[Mary229]

1 hour ago, KroozNut said:

 

Can we purchase transfers onboard, and if so, use OBC for this?

Yes you can and you can use OBC or shore excursions credit c

[bozemanman]

1 hour ago, Mary229 said:

I do not think the credit will work for these.  These are listed under shore excursions.  Usually there are two options each with a wheelchair variation.  One option will be to go direct to the airport, , another option will include some sightseeing with airport drop off

Purchase them by CC and then on board have them charge the OBC and credit your card

[HALcruiser2001]

21 hours ago, LMaxwell said:

 

What I am envisioning is at ShoreEx desk asking to make the purchase for someone else onboard and be deducted from our ShoreEx credit.  

 

Given that they told you that you can't even use your spouses credit, this is unlikely. If your wife wanted to treat the ship like resort while in port and you wanted to explore on multiple excursions, I think you should be able to. I don't know how common that situation is, but I think you should be able to use both the credits that you've been charged for. 

 

For 2024 I am looking at some HIA early booking bonus that includes crew appreciation charges, otherwise I wouldn't normally consider the package at all. Our total alcohol bill from a week long cruise was under $100 and that included $30 for a mixology class for both of us. At least $100 is enough to have some decent selections of tours; NCL gives you $50 credit but their tours cost more than booking privately so it's pretty much a wash. I actually cancelled a 3rd party tour and booked w HAL because the HAL tour was identical price so I figured there's no gain going w 3rd party in that case. 

So after this experiment, I tried to see if I can just do it online.

It seems that I can book shorex, for me 2 times and use up my shorex credit myself, so maybe there is a chance you could assign to someone else.

[LMaxwell]

20 minutes ago, bdd123 said:

So after this experiment, I tried to see if I can just do it online.

It seems that I can book shorex, for me 2 times and use up my shorex credit myself, so maybe there is a chance you could assign to someone else.

 

Appreciate the update of your experiences 

[oakridger]

8 hours ago, bdd123 said:

It seems that I can book shorex, for me 2 times and use up my shorex credit myself, so maybe there is a chance you could assign to someone else.

 

When I was on Nieuw Amsterdam and Rotterdam this fall, all the shore excursions were tied to your cruise card/Navigator App.  No paper tickets.  To get on the excursion you had to show the "ticket" on your phone Navigator App or present your cruise card.

[shack]

While on the topic of HIA and shorexes, at what point can you use HIA shorex credits to book on-line.  And for that matter, specialty dining as well.  I'm guessing it's after final payment which we make in Jan for May NE/CAN Zaandam.

Dining resos not yet available but shorexes are if you pay with C/C which I don't want to do until I've booked shorexes with the HIA credits - whenever they materialize.  I did pay for the unlimited laundry for the week @ $79 because I heard that was going up.

TIA

[oakridger]

Shore Excursions and specialty restaurant reservations are available to book with your HIA at soon as they are available online.  You can do so as soon as you make your deposit and reserve the cruise.  No need to wait until final payment.  When booking online under "Manage My Cruise" you only need to click on the "complimentary" box when reserving.  Don't wait too long because some popular excursions can sell out and specialty dining times too!

 

~Nancy

[shack]

21 minutes ago, oakridger said:

Shore Excursions and specialty restaurant reservations are available to book with your HIA at soon as they are available online.  You can do so as soon as you make your deposit and reserve the cruise.  No need to wait until final payment.  When booking online under "Manage My Cruise" you only need to click on the "complimentary" box when reserving.  Don't wait too long because some popular excursions can sell out and specialty dining times too!

 

~Nancy

Thanks Nancy!  I'm on it.

[3rdGenCunarder]

I don't think I even had to click on complimentary. The computer just figured it out.  After reading about losing the value of a cancelled excursion, I thought I would book a third one. I had been debating between taxi/resort fee to a beach in Curacao or taking the ship's tour. Price was about equal, so I booked the tour, expecting to pay for it. HIA says two excursions, up to $200. I don't remember if it's $100 each or $200 total. They do say that if you book more than 2 excursions, HIA will cover the most expensive, up to that $200 cap. Well, surprise! My HIA is paying for all 3 of my excursions, which total just under $200. I now have a $0.15 credit left in my excursion account. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

On 12/17/2022 at 3:12 PM, CNSJ said:

On Rotterdam today , with HIA Package.  Using part of the Shorex Credit for an upcoming stop in Amber Cove to snorkel.  That excursion was just cancelled due to forecast weather tomorrow.  Options were to book another excursion or simply loose the credit as its non-refundable.  So..... I asked, what it this had been the last port and there were no other opportunities.  The answer was the credit is non-refundable, not even against your onboard expenses.  Even if port visit is cancelled, no compensation.  

 

I am sure it's in the fine print.... just passing this on to fellow cruisers.

 

Second time on new Rotterdam.  Nice ship.

 

And it just happened to me. I'm on Eurodam, leaving on the 15th. Today I got an email saying that the snorkel by boat at HMC has been cancelled "due to operational reasons." Not a lot of ports on this cruise, so my HIA is now worth somewhat less. I don't think there's anything else I particularly want to do on HMC, so I may skip it entirely.  I don't want to substitute the airport transfer. I'd rather lose the credit than deal with the whole bus thing. 

 

Edited to add: I spent some time on HAL website. Not surprising, anything I might have booked as a substitute is sold out. 

Edited January 4, 2023 by 3rdGenCunarder

[pghflyer]

These huge bundles that all the cruise lines do now really make it so you need to value that stuff yourself and back out your valuation of a perk to figure out your price you want to pay for an itinerary. I do it in a spreadsheet so I can compare among lines too with their different bundles. $200 in shore excursion is worth about $50 to me since I don't prefer ship arranged excursions, and even in the rare case of an attractive option, they are typically priced about 40% higher than booking yourself with the same or similar provider. I have a Holland AU/ NZ itinerary now where we have $200 each but are going to just eat most of it because they only offer a small number of bus-only tours in most the ports and we will be doing pre and post trip activities that wouldn't work with the slow bus airport transfers on embark/debark days.

[HALcruiser2001]

2 hours ago, pghflyer said:

These huge bundles that all the cruise lines do now really make it so you need to value that stuff yourself and back out your valuation of a perk to figure out your price you want to pay for an itinerary. I do it in a spreadsheet so I can compare among lines too with their different bundles. $200 in shore excursion is worth about $50 to me since I don't prefer ship arranged excursions, and even in the rare case of an attractive option, they are typically priced about 40% higher than booking yourself with the same or similar provider. I have a Holland AU/ NZ itinerary now where we have $200 each but are going to just eat most of it because they only offer a small number of bus-only tours in most the ports and we will be doing pre and post trip activities that wouldn't work with the slow bus airport transfers on embark/debark days.

I won't waste $400 of my time trying to figure out if $379 HIA for a week is worth it when if I add up the cost of 6 waters, 2 coffees, 2 teas and 4 cocktails is worth it.  That is 14 drinks at $6/drink average (with service), that is $84/day.   Considering I got Crew Appreciation, 2 meals and 2 excursions, it seems like a no brainer.

[HappyInVan]

6 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

And it just happened to me. I'm on Eurodam, leaving on the 15th. Today I got an email saying that the snorkel by boat at HMC has been cancelled "due to operational reasons." Not a lot of ports on this cruise, so my HIA is now worth somewhat less. I don't think there's anything else I particularly want to do on HMC, so I may skip it entirely.  I don't want to substitute the airport transfer. I'd rather lose the credit than deal with the whole bus thing. 

 

Edited to add: I spent some time on HAL website. Not surprising, anything I might have booked as a substitute is sold out. 

 

That's my experience too. By the time that they cancel the EXC for operational reasons, nothing interesting is left. I certainly won't waste my time on an hour EXC that's really just a bus ride.

[KroozNut]

19 hours ago, HappyInVan said:

 

That's my experience too. By the time that they cancel the EXC for operational reasons, nothing interesting is left. I certainly won't waste my time on an hour EXC that's really just a bus ride.

 

Crazy!