Those that have had the Have It All Package.

[garysol1]

Did you find it money well spent? Were there restrictions that you were not aware of? Would you purchase it again? 

[bobomonkeyrage]

we had it on a 7 night cruise back in June. We like having it a lot. 
Whether you think it's worth it or not usually comes down to how much you plan to drink. The shore excursion credit is equivalent to a $100 off the price - provided you already planned to book excursions through HAL.  If you're already planning on going to a specialty restaurant at least once, then you can deduct that as well. Internet is the same idea.
So that leaves drinks. We're big drinkers and it definitely paid for itself. Obviously most people don't make up the difference or HAL wouldn't offer it. 
We found that there was a major benefit to it beyond the cost: peace of mind. We liked being carefree and not having to do any math or check our account balance when ordering drinks. Was well worth it for us simply to not have to think about any of it. 
As for exclusions, when we went HIA included any drink $11 or under. That is truly the majority of the menu. At that time if a drink was $12 then you paid full price. I am given to understand that has changed and you are now only charged the difference. I also believe that Rudy's Sal de Mer is not available through the HIA package. 
All in all, if we cruise again, we would book HIA for sure. 

[oaktreerb]

HIA Also covers specialty coffees, sodas, specialty waters, mocktails (nonalcoholic).  It doesn’t cover the minibar in your room or larger water bottles.  You really have to “add it up”.  Maybe wait until they also include gratuities with HIA.

[robotpony]

We also found it useful on our last 2 cruises (gratuities included). Cost per day was reasonable, and we were unable to exceed the package limits. We calculated that the break-even, considering excursion and speciality credits, was around 4 or 5 alcoholic drinks, leaving ample room for coffee, water, and such. We even found the $11 limit reasonable, especially after the change to pay difference pricing in November (a few extra $ if you want a $15 drink).

[3rdGenCunarder]

I have HIA (the $50 version without grats bought after an email offer) for my upcoming Eurodam cruise. If nothing else, the dining credit got me to finally try Tamarind. I do want internet and should be okay with surf. I'm not onine a lot, but I like to keep in touch with home. I was able to book 3 excursions for the $200 credit, leaving behind a whopping $0.15.  I'm not a big drinker, so I'll have to keep track in my journal (anyone remember Bridget Jones recording alcohol units consumed??) to see if I come out behind, even, or ahead on the beverage package. I'm ahead of current bookings already. I did a dummy booking and my cruise currently has the HIA price at $60 per day over the no-promo price. 

 

I just booked the 21-day Caribbean on Zaandam for next year. I did not take the HIA, and not sure if I will, since the dining options are fewer on the small ships. I did the math, and currently it's $70 per day over the no-promo price. HAL really pushes HIA, so I'm waiting to see if I get a better offer in an email. 

 

 

[CruiserBruce]

We think its definitely worth it. Had it on 3 cruises since resumption of cruising, and booked it on two upcoming cruises.

[Radbooks]

It wasn't worth it to me on our 7 day Mexican Rivera cruise on the Koningsdam. We already get discounts for specialty restaurants so that's not a big incentive for us. Wifi is nice to have, but I can wait and use my cell phone in ports and it's not a big deal. I mainly drink soda, but I wanted to try some different drinks but only ended up with a couple of different ones during our trip... not much sounded appealing to me. I probably won't do it again unless it includes the gratuities.

[NCTribeFan]

I've only ever added it on after booking and got it for $50/night, which makes it well worth it.  I'm not a huge drinker (and when there are lots of port days, getting your "money's worth" is sometimes not easy to do, drink-wise).  But I do appreciate the included specialty dining.  Don't typically take ship excursions, but I do if there's something I'm interested in and HAL is paying for it!  And social wi-fi is all I need.  I just like to be able to post pics on FB to show my friends I'm on a cruise in interesting places and they're at home working.  LOL.  I'm so mean! 😁

 

But I don't HAVE to have HIA.  I tacked on 2 5-night sailings after my upcoming Rotterdam TA in April.  It's not available on those short sailings.  The good news is I booked casino offers so get drinks while gambling, so I'll just use my 3* Mariner discount and get a wine package at the start of those 10 nights and grab a drink in the casino when I can.  I'll pay for the other things I want (hello, Tamarind!).

[Mary229]

I have never paid the going rate for it and I wouldn’t either.   The most I have paid is $30 a day as opposed to the $50 advertised price.  At $30 it is barely worth it as I rarely drink alcoholic or sweetened beverages (mock tails).  If in North America and Europe I have adequate internet in every port and certainly can wait until in port for said service. The meals and shore excursions are nice but I could just as well not have them.  Actually I never tried a specialty restaurant until HiA and though it was nice it was not exceptional.   If it is a deal offering the crew tips it becomes very enticing.  

[garysol1]

27 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I have never paid the going rate for it and I wouldn’t either.   The most I have paid is $30 a day as opposed to the $50 advertised price.  At $30 it is barely worth it as I rarely drink alcoholic or sweetened beverages (mock tails).  If in North America and Europe I have adequate internet in every port and certainly can wait until in port for said service. The meals and shore excursions are nice but I could just as well not have them.  Actually I never tried a specialty restaurant until HiA and though it was nice it was not exceptional.   If it is a deal offering the crew tips it becomes very enticing.  

 

Mary, How did you go about getting the discounted rate?

 

 

 

 

 

[dmcfad2]

For us, I really think that we would spend less by paying for drinks as we go, as we aren’t big drinkers. However, it is really nice to not have to keep track of the prices and amount of drinks every day. I like to try new drinks. On our last cruise, I think we each had about 3-4 alcoholic drinks a day, plus soda and coffee.

We always get internet and usually book a shore excursion or two through the cruise line, so that is worth it.

I really like that you can book the cruise with a refundable deposit when you do the HIA promotion. Otherwise, the deposit is non-refundable.

We are five star so already get two free speciality dinners. We ended up doing speciality restaurants a lot on our last cruise to take advantage of HIA.  
Bottom line, I think booking with HIA costs us a little more than what we actually spend, but we find it worth it to not have the big bill at the end. I also try to book HIA when crew incentive is included.

 

[HALcruiser2001]

On 1/2/2023 at 5:35 PM, oaktreerb said:

HIA Also covers specialty coffees, sodas, specialty waters, mocktails (nonalcoholic).  It doesn’t cover the minibar in your room or larger water bottles.  You really have to “add it up”.  Maybe wait until they also include gratuities with HIA.

I think HIA does include service charges.   It did on mine.

[3rdGenCunarder]

46 minutes ago, bdd123 said:

I think HIA does include service charges.   It did on mine.

 Most recent offers I've seen do not.

[Cruise Suzy]

 

 

8 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

55 minutes ago, bdd123 said:

I think HIA does include service charges.   It did on mine.

 Most recent offers I've seen do not.

 

I think it's a matter of semantics.

 

HIA always includes the 18% service charges on the included meals and beverages. Normally the daily Crew Appreciation (aka gratuities) charges are not included. However, there are quite a few periods of the year when Crew Appreciation is included to the HIA fare.

 

I figure out the value to us of the items included in the HIA fare. Then I compare that plus the Advantage fare (which has a refundable deposit without any perks but you have to call to get it) to the HIA fare. Usually the HIA fare is a somewhat better buy for us.

[3rdGenCunarder]

Just now, Cruise Suzy said:

 

 

 

I think it's a matter of semantics.

 

HIA always includes the 18% service charges on the included meals and beverages. Normally the daily Crew Appreciation (aka gratuities) charges are not included. However, there are quite a few periods of the year when Crew Appreciation is included to the HIA fare.

 

I figure out the value to us of the items included in the HIA fare. Then I compare that plus the Advantage fare (which has a refundable deposit without any perks but you have to call to get it) to the HIA fare. Usually the HIA fare is a somewhat better buy for us.

 

I do that math, too. I just booked a cruise for 2024, and my TA booked it on the advantage fare. I guess the website can show only two fares because the choices were "best price" (nonrefundable deposit) and HIA. 

 

HAL always says HIA is a "$100 value." Do they ever try to sell it at $100 per day? When I do the math, I don't see how it adds up to $100. $50 is about break even for me.

[Cruise Suzy]

2 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

HAL always says HIA is a "$100 value." Do they ever try to sell it at $100 per day?

 

They usually sell it for $50 or less pp pd. But when you add HAL's price for the beverage and Internet packages to their price for the Specialty restaurant(s) and shore excursions it comes out close to the $100 value pp pd.

[HALcruiser2001]

3 hours ago, Cruise Suzy said:

 

 

 

I think it's a matter of semantics.

 

HIA always includes the 18% service charges on the included meals and beverages. Normally the daily Crew Appreciation (aka gratuities) charges are not included. However, there are quite a few periods of the year when Crew Appreciation is included to the HIA fare.

 

I figure out the value to us of the items included in the HIA fare. Then I compare that plus the Advantage fare (which has a refundable deposit without any perks but you have to call to get it) to the HIA fare. Usually the HIA fare is a somewhat better buy for us.

So...   what do you think that this means, this is a break down of my HIA.

 

Description Guest Included
7-Day Surf Wifi Hia Promo 1,2
Signature Beverage Pkg Hia Promo 1,2
Shore Excursion Discount H I A1:  1,2

1 Night Spec Dining H I A Promo2:1,2
Pre-Paid Crew Appreciation Promo: 1,2

[oakridger]

@bdd123If I understand your question correctly, this means you do have pre-paid crew appreciation included for guests 1 and 2 plus all the other items listed. 

 

~Nancy

[Mary229]

On 1/2/2023 at 8:31 PM, garysol1 said:

 

Mary, How did you go about getting the discounted rate?

 

 

 

 

 

In one case it was a special fare price, in another I called about 2 weeks out and asked for their best price and on another I visited the website during the cyber sale and was shocked to see an outs offer which I quickly snapped up.  

[garysol1]

1 hour ago, Mary229 said:

In one case it was a special fare price, in another I called about 2 weeks out and asked for their best price and on another I visited the website during the cyber sale and was shocked to see an outs offer which I quickly snapped up.  

Thanks Mary. We are 10 days out and I did call last night and $50pp per day is still the best price. Guess it is what it is. Thanks for the info

[rodndonna]

On 1/2/2023 at 10:52 PM, dmcfad2 said:

Bottom line, I think booking with HIA costs us a little more than what we actually spend, but we find it worth it to not have the big bill at the end. I also try to book HIA when crew incentive is included.

 

This would be us.

If we didn't have it, would probably spend a little less than it cost and perhaps save a bit of money.

When we have it, we drink a little more (would never normally pay for specialty coffee, mocktail, can of water for room etc) so we 'get' our money's worth.

In the end though, we just REALLY just like the convenience of it. Over the last 30+ years we have (and continue) to do annual holidays in warm all-inclusive resort places to get away from winter, so it is a model we have grown to really like.

 

The more we can prepay, the better for us.

[albingirl]

We've had it but can live without.  On one of our longer cruises to Europe, 49 days, we didn't have it and didn't miss it.  We were drinking wine in all the ports and happy hour on the ship was fine.  Plus, with the wine package, and discounts for that, we were happy enough.

[3rdGenCunarder]

5 minutes ago, albingirl said:

We've had it but can live without.  On one of our longer cruises to Europe, 49 days, we didn't have it and didn't miss it.  We were drinking wine in all the ports and happy hour on the ship was fine.  Plus, with the wine package, and discounts for that, we were happy enough.

 

I'm thinking along those lines for my cruise next year. 21 days on Zaandam. Traveling alone, it's hard for me to get through a wine package on a short (7-10 day) cruise. The last time I had a wine package, I ordered the fizz on the last night and shared it with the table, just to use up the package. But on a longer cruise, that might be a better way to go, especially at a 4* discount. 

 

Also, the HIA for a cruise that long has 3 specialty meals. I'm not excited about Caneletto (I can get rustic lasagna any night), and the Pinnacle on the R and S ships always struck me as dark and depressing. 

 

So you really do have to look at what you can get from the package on your particular ship and itinerary.

 

[DaveOKC]

Recently we have been on casino offers, so do not get the HIA.  However, on our Oct cruise it seemed to be a very good deal:

Cost extra $514 for an 11 day cruise, so $47 per day per person

Received:

$200 in shore excursions EACH

2 specialty dining (Pinnacle and Tamarind) - EACH

Free wifi

Thus cost for drink package is under $200 for 11 days!

 

[HALcruiser2001]

10 hours ago, oakridger said:

@bdd123If I understand your question correctly, this means you do have pre-paid crew appreciation included for guests 1 and 2 plus all the other items listed. 

 

~Nancy

But, as it is documented and explained in T&C and confirmation, it is not clear to me if crew appreciation is for the trip or just the HIA package items.  Of course when I purchased I assumed it was for the trip not just HIA.