OBC for teachers and first responders - who is included?

[gregma60]

17 minutes ago, Hllb said:

After more than 50 minutes on the phone, they assure me there is NO WAY to apply this to an existing booking and those of you who were able to are either very confused or lying. I don't have anymore fight in me today....

Wow!  I am so sorry!  Maybe that's one of the perks for having a TA?  I called them a couple of days after it was "verified" and saw it on the HA site.  They confirmed with HA that it went through, and that it was available for a cruise I booked last year and was 100% paid for.  

 

Here is the line from the confirmation email before the OBC:

 

$100.00 Cruise Line Shipboard Credit

 

Here is the same line from the new confirmation after my TA confirmed with HA:

 

$200.00 Cruise Line Shipboard Credit

 

Maybe we just got lucky?

 

-gregma

[Hllb]

8 minutes ago, gregma60 said:

Wow!  I am so sorry!  Maybe that's one of the perks for having a TA?  I called them a couple of days after it was "verified" and saw it on the HA site.  They confirmed with HA that it went through, and that it was available for a cruise I booked last year and was 100% paid for.  

 

Here is the line from the confirmation email before the OBC:

 

$100.00 Cruise Line Shipboard Credit

 

Here is the same line from the new confirmation after my TA confirmed with HA:

 

$200.00 Cruise Line Shipboard Credit

 

Maybe we just got lucky?

 

-gregma

I do have a TA, so I likely will have them try too. Maybe they'll have better luck. I honestly didn't expect it to be difficult so called myself!

[pmjnh]

14 minutes ago, Hllb said:

I do have a TA, so I likely will have them try too. Maybe they'll have better luck. I honestly didn't expect it to be difficult so called myself!

Historically HAL wants you to deal directly with your TA for most matters that will effect your booking. That is what your TA is for...to work with the cruise line for you. . Definitely advise you  to go that route. When I got my approval via email, I forwarded the email directly to my TA who was right on it. Good luck!

Edited March 23, 2023 by pmjnh

[Hllb]

21 minutes ago, pmjnh said:

Historically HAL wants you to deal directly with your TA for most matters that will effect your booking. That is what your TA is for...to work with the cruise line for you. . Definitely advise you  to go that route. When I got my approval via email, I forwarded the email directly to my TA who was right on it. Good luck!

I'm so used to doing everything myself...off to find that approval email!

[TiogaCruiser]

Try emailing Reservations_Submit@hollandamerica.com

[gregma60]

1 hour ago, Hllb said:

I do have a TA, so I likely will have them try too. Maybe they'll have better luck. I honestly didn't expect it to be difficult so called myself!

I kinda learned my lesson when I called HA directly to get trip insurance.  Come to find out, the agent added the insurance, charged my credit card, then about 3 hours later removed the trip insurance.  Guess he was informed I was with a TA so can't do things directly.  I had to go through my TA.  Even though it was well past the cutoff date, with the mess up on HA's end, the TA was able to get it done.  Since then, I don't contact HA for anything, always go through my TA.  They seem to have better connections?

 

-gregma

[Chrissy6299]

That was easy. I was approved right away, and 48 hours later it's in my account.
Thanks for creating this thread to spread the news! 

[GeezerCouple]

Hmmmm... I had no idea about this little discount.

 

Too bad we didn't know about it before, but thus far, we've only been on one HAL cruise... and we LOVED IT!  The only reason we haven't been back yet is...Covid...

I ended up sick, but that wasn't until the last day or two of our time in Sydney.  I was carried off our our plane from Hong Kong [want a fast way through an airport?] in mid-December, 2019, and spent 10 days in hospital on oxygen.  I was diagnosed with RSV (which we'd never previously heard of, and now everyone knows about it), but... we'll never know if maybe, just maybe, I also had a little "something else", given the timing and travel... 😡

 

Anyway, at least we'll know for the future.

(But we were so thrilled with the Lincoln Center Stage, and that's not going to be the same regular, which might make a difference.  However, the main call is always the itinerary!)

 

GC

[RD64]

6 hours ago, Hllb said:

I believe it's only available once per year, not per cruise. Not sure if you have to reapply each year, but probably?

Yes once per year.

[Coloradohawk]

Whelp that was a kick in the gut.  Applied and was approved within hours.  Showed up in my future cruise credits under onboard credits after about 24 hours.  Looked today and it has disappeared and no onboard credits are listed.  Too good to be true or start digging with Holland or TA?

[campbean41]

2 minutes ago, Coloradohawk said:

Whelp that was a kick in the gut.  Applied and was approved within hours.  Showed up in my future cruise credits under onboard credits after about 24 hours.  Looked today and it has disappeared and no onboard credits are listed.  Too good to be true or start digging with Holland or TA?

My OBC disappeared from that same area of my profile after I called to have it applied to a November 2023 cruise. Maybe that happened? Good luck!

[LoveLowRiders]

Mine was listed in future cruise credits under onboard credits this morning.  This evening I got an updated booking confirmation from Holland that showed the OBC added to my cruise in June.  It is no longer listed in the FCC section of my profile. I booked directly with Holland. If you didn’t and used a TA I would check with them and see if it’s been applied to your upcoming cruise.

[IamHungry]

FCC section was posted 24 hours after verified. An email to my TA removed that and extra OBC was added to my trip in July.

[AnnieBelle]

On 3/23/2023 at 6:44 AM, pmjnh said:

I just got approved and my TA is following through with HAL to apply it to my recent booking . 

Did it work? My TA has tried calling HAL and she didn’t make any headway. I sent her the email that showed I was verified. 

[SUESEABE]

Does anyone know if eligibility is included for retired status? I am a retired nurse and hubby is retired police.

[Ineke]

On 3/21/2023 at 7:35 AM, Noesja said:

Looks like this program is only valid in the US. I guess HAL appreciates teachers not so much in the Netherlands 😬

It's the same with price drops, no compensation for Dutch nationals.

I was just about to ask the same about Canadians.

[RD64]

4 hours ago, Ineke said:

I was just about to ask the same about Canadians.

No Canadians are definitely eligible for the credit unless the situation has changed in the last several months.

[pmjnh]

7 hours ago, AnnieBelle said:

Did it work? My TA has tried calling HAL and she didn’t make any headway. I sent her the email that showed I was verified. 

 

Yes, it did. 

[pmjnh]

6 hours ago, SUESEABE said:

Does anyone know if eligibility is included for retired status? I am a retired nurse and hubby is retired police.

 

My friend is a retired police and no, retired police are not eligible.  I am a retired RN but because I worked in a school as a nurse and was under the teacher contract, I was eligible as an educator.

[nyc12345]

16 hours ago, AnnieBelle said:

Did it work? My TA has tried calling HAL and she didn’t make any headway. I sent her the email that showed I was verified. 

 

Not for me, even though I got the email confirming my status.  Don't see anything on HAL's website when I log in to my account or on my reservation.

[HelloKittysMum]

On 3/23/2023 at 5:22 AM, Aitchgeye said:

Also, HAL does not  acknowledge educators who work in other countries, like Australia.  Maybe HAL do not have processes to validate our teacher registration details, or maybe we are too small of a customer base for them to care otherwise.

Helena

Only USA and Canada (my husband and I are UK academics and we tried)

[Brewgirl1]

I'm a Para and I got it!

 

[Coloradohawk]

After contacting my TA, my credit was removed from cruise credits to my booking.  Yea!!

[mkl55]

I am a retired teacher.  I applied and submitted the form with my pension information from our state teacher's retirement board.  I got an email stating that my organization's name is missing.  I don't have anything else but my retirement board info.  What worked for you retired teachers?

 

[pschweig]

I sent an image of my faculty ID.