What am I missing? HIA question

[tartanmom]

3* Mariner here yet I'm confused with the pricing for an upcoming cruise. The fare difference between HIA package and basic fare is over $1300 pp. Wouldn't I be better to just book it without and then add it on for $50/pp per day which works out to be $800? Can the HIA package be added to any cruise or are there restrictions?  

[REOVA]

3 minutes ago, tartanmom said:

3* Mariner here yet I'm confused with the pricing for an upcoming cruise. The fare difference between HIA package and basic fare is over $1300 pp. Wouldn't I be better to just book it without and then add it on for $50/pp per day which works out to be $800? Can the HIA package be added to any cruise or are there restrictions?  

Have your TA provide the cost of of each of the 4 (or 5) items in the HIA and see what the difference is between the base a d HIA. Not sure what your $50/pp is for. 

[tartanmom]

According to the HAL website, the HIA package can be added to cruises for $50/pp per day. https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/deals/have-it-all/have-it-all-upgrade.html

[PalmSprings]

It may be that the package you are looking at includes both the standard HIA, plus gratuities.  That would change the break-even considerably.

[Cruising Is Bliss]

HIA on some cruises is an upgraded version. That may be one of them. On my 28 day 2024 Alaska cruise this is my HIA:

 

26-31 Day Premium Wifi HIA Promo

Elite Beverage Pkg HIA Promo

Shore Excursion Discount $100

Shore Excursion Discount $100

Shore Excursion Discount $100

Pinnacle Grill HIA Promo

Pinnacle Grill HIA Promo

Canaletto HIA Promo

Pre-Paid Crew Appreciation Promo

$160 Shore Excursion Credit

Low Price Guarantee

 

[VMax1700]

5 hours ago, tartanmom said:

3* Mariner here yet I'm confused with the pricing for an upcoming cruise. The fare difference between HIA package and basic fare is over $1300 pp. Wouldn't I be better to just book it without and then add it on for $50/pp per day which works out to be $800? Can the HIA package be added to any cruise or are there restrictions?  

Couple of things to look at, very carefully.

Make sure that you are looking at similar currencies.  Your location is B.C., so is the fare in CDN $ or US$ ?  The HIA add on for $50 per day is most definitely US$50 per day.  

Also at the moment HAL is offering 'Have it Al'l on some cruises and "Have it All Early Booking Bonus" on later cruises.  Standard HIA does not include Crew Appreciation, nor does it include premium wifi nor elite beverage pack.  Standard HIA offers 'Surf' wifi and standard Beverage Pack (US$11 per drink, up to 15 per day).

The HIA Early Booking Bonus does include Crew Appreciation and the upgraded wifi and beverage packs.

 

However, I do agree with you that some of the pricing is a little on the crazy side.  I have noticed various cruises where the price of HIA at the time of booking is considerable more than the cost of adding it after booking.  Also, the cost of HIA included in the cruise fare at the time of booking does seem to vary between stateroom categories even on the same cruise.

 

[Lido deck main]

7 hours ago, tartanmom said:

3* Mariner here yet I'm confused with the pricing for an upcoming cruise. The fare difference between HIA package and basic fare is over $1300 pp. Wouldn't I be better to just book it without and then add it on for $50/pp per day which works out to be $800? Can the HIA package be added to any cruise or are there restrictions?  

Some times the basic fare is nonrefundable.  With have it all would be refundable.  The $800.00 remember to add the 1.35 exchange rate.  I think a better comparison for is to evaluate is to find out what the advantage fare is, ( refundable) then do the comparison between advantage and HIA.  The HIA without added gratuities is a deal breaker for me.  Right now I book some cruises with HIA for 2025 includes everything and gratuities, so works out pretty good.

[Florida_gal_50]

5 hours ago, Cruising Is Bliss said:

HIA on some cruises is an upgraded version. That may be one of them. On my 28 day 2024 Alaska cruise this is my HIA:

 

26-31 Day Premium Wifi HIA Promo

 

Elite Beverage Pkg HIA Promo

 

Shore Excursion Discount $100

 

Shore Excursion Discount $100

 

Shore Excursion Discount $100

 

Pinnacle Grill HIA Promo

 

Pinnacle Grill HIA Promo

 

Canaletto HIA Promo

 

Pre-Paid Crew Appreciation Promo

 

$160 Shore Excursion Credit

 

Low Price Guarantee

 

 

Low price guarantee?  That’s the first I’ve heard of that.  Just wondering if they mean they guarantee the price will go lower 😛.

[Divi]

Isn’t the $50 per day that you can add onboard just the beverage package not the full HIA?

[VMax1700]

4 minutes ago, Divi said:

Isn’t the $50 per day that you can add onboard just the beverage package not the full HIA?

 

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/onboard-packages/beverage-packages.html

 

[Divi]

@VMax1700 Thanks for clarifying. 

[Banditswife]

We booked a 27 day for Feb of 2025 while onboard, I felt the fare was pretty expensive. Ours includes everything listed in post # 5 except the $160 shore x credit, wondering why they included that on yours.  

 

We also booked a 14 day for Feb of 2024.  Having the HIA pkg w/o crew appreciation added $1078 to the base fare for 2 passengers- so this is less than the $1400 if booking separately.  Adding the HIA also made our deposit refundable, when the base fare deposit was non refundable.

[Kate45]

We just did this. Orig8nally booked advantage fare without HAL pkg cause the other couple that are going with us thought it was way too expensive. Last month they decided they wanted the signature beverage pkg. As a Cdn the price was over $700 ea. So....we ended up booking the HIA pkg which was $625 Cdn$ ea. Even with this, it worked out cheaper than booking the cruise originally including the HIA. Long story short, yes you can book the HIA later, but not right up to final payment date. We were told we could do it until April 21. Our cruise goes early September 

[terrydtx]

1 hour ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Low price guarantee?  That’s the first I’ve heard of that.  Just wondering if they mean they guarantee the price will go lower 😛.

We got this for our early booking of the Volendam in August 2024, I was told by HAL it means if the price drops for our cabin (Vista Suite) prior to final payment, we automatically get repriced to the lower price. Will see if this it true or not.

[terrydtx]

8 hours ago, Cruising Is Bliss said:

HIA on some cruises is an upgraded version. That may be one of them. On my 28 day 2024 Alaska cruise this is my HIA:

 

26-31 Day Premium Wifi HIA Promo

 

Elite Beverage Pkg HIA Promo

 

Shore Excursion Discount $100

 

Shore Excursion Discount $100

 

Shore Excursion Discount $100

 

Pinnacle Grill HIA Promo

 

Pinnacle Grill HIA Promo

 

Canaletto HIA Promo

 

Pre-Paid Crew Appreciation Promo

 

$160 Shore Excursion Credit

 

Low Price Guarantee

 

 

We got the early booking Premium HIA package for our Vista Suite on the 11 day Volendam NE/Canada cruise in August 2024. I priced out each HIA component by itself and the promo we got for $55pp per day was way less than ala carte pricing. We got the Elite Drinks, $200pp shore excursions, 2 each specialty dining, $200 OBC, Premium Wi-Fi for 2, Crew appreciation and the low price guarantee. The Elite drinks package alone is $62pp per day, so the HIA for this cruise is one fantastic deal and why we booked this over 2 other cruise lines we were considering.

Edited April 22, 2023 by terrydtx

[Banditswife]

For those of us who don't drink alcohol much, the price is a bit steep.  If HAL offered more variety in soda pop, it might make it more appealing.  

[terrydtx]

20 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

We got the early booking Premium HIA package for our Vista Suite on the 11 day Volendam NE/Canada cruise in August 2024. I priced out each HIA component by itself and the promo we got for $55pp per day was way less than ala carte pricing. We got the Elite Drinks, $200pp shore excursions, 2 each specialty dining, $200 OBC, Premium Wi-Fi for 2, Crew appreciation and the low price guarantee. The Elite drinks package alone is $62pp per day, so the HIA for this cruise is one fantastic deal and why we booked this over 2 other cruise lines we were considering.

I went back on the above cruise pricing, if we bought all of the HIA promo items ala carte the total would have been $1393pp. The Premium early booking HIA promo with OBC and crew appreciation only cost us $605pp over the non base no HIA price, we are saving $788pp.

[Lido deck main]

21 minutes ago, Banditswife said:

For those of us who don't drink alcohol much, the price is a bit steep.  If HAL offered more variety in soda pop, it might make it more appealing.  

We Have it All, my husband rarely drinks alcohol, there are virgin style drinks he enjoys.  

[Roz]

I just wish HAL's pricing wasn't so confusing.  As a solo cruiser whose alcohol consumption is 0-2 drinks per day, and who rarely does specialty dining, I've never found the HIA pkgs. to be to my advantage. 

[cbr663]

43 minutes ago, Roz said:

I just wish HAL's pricing wasn't so confusing.  As a solo cruiser whose alcohol consumption is 0-2 drinks per day, and who rarely does specialty dining, I've never found the HIA pkgs. to be to my advantage. 

 

I so agree.  Simply too many pricing models and I hate that when you look to check out a fare it seems like every time you make a selection the prices keep changing.

 

We rarely drink alcohol so we typically don't find the HIA very appealing.  We have it for our upcoming cruise only because our TA advertised it at a significant lower price than even HAL had priced its base and advantage fare.  It was less expensive for us to select HIA than to select the cruise without it.  

[Tampa Girl]

3 hours ago, Banditswife said:

Adding the HIA also made our deposit refundable, when the base fare deposit was non refundable.

Where, please, does HAL provide for transforming a non-refundable into a refundable deposit?  

I was not aware of this.  

[Banditswife]

1 hour ago, Tampa Girl said:

Where, please, does HAL provide for transforming a non-refundable into a refundable deposit?  

I was not aware of this.  

I am not sure you can change non refundable to refundable after a cruise is booked.  When starting a new booking, I asked our TA to check the price with & without HIA.  That is where I learned that if I booked w/o HIA, it would be non refundable.  I think HAL does that to encourage the higher amount paid for a cruise.

 

When we booked a future cruise while onboard, the rep didn't give us any other options.  We had to book with the premium HIA pkg.  He kept pointing out how our deposit was fully refundable & the low price guarantee.  I imagine that if we find a lower price, they will say we lose the premium HIA pkg with the lower price.  I questioned the $11,000+ for the 27 day Amazon Explorer in 2025 in an inside cabin.  That is when he kept pointing out the fully refundable & low price guarantee.  I look at it this way:  we have until Oct of 2024 to make final payment & until then to cancel w/o penalty.  If I find a better deal, we will just cancel & rebook.

[Cruise Suzy]

6 minutes ago, Banditswife said:

When starting a new booking, I asked our TA to check the price with & without HIA.  That is where I learned that if I booked w/o HIA, it would be non refundable.  I think HAL does that to encourage the higher amount paid for a cruise.

There is a third price for cruises - not listed on the Website. It's the Advantage Price - refundable deposit but no Have It All. You or your TA must call to get the cruise price. Sometimes you can estimate the Advantage Price by adding the normal deposit amount to the non-refundable deposit cruise price. Once you have the Advantage Price, then you can see how much Have It All costs and do the math to see whether or not it is worth it to you.

[Banditswife]

1 minute ago, Cruise Suzy said:

There is a third price for cruises - not listed on the Website. It's the Advantage Price - refundable deposit but no Have It All. You or your TA must call to get the cruise price. Sometimes you can estimate the Advantage Price by adding the normal deposit amount to the non-refundable deposit cruise price. Once you have the Advantage Price, then you can see how much Have It All costs and do the math to see whether or not it is worth it to you.

Thanks, this thread is the 1st time I have heard of  "advantage" pricing.  I will try to remember  your formula to calculate.  In our most recent booking, using that formula does make HIA worth it, even though we are not huge drinkers.  

[BermudaBound2014]

It is absolutely cheaper for me to book the HIA package separately as a solo. 35 Day cruise.

 

$6,000 without Have it all (I do have a fully refundable deposit and $550 in OBC)

$10,500 with have it all. (that's a whopping $4,500 additional).

 

If I add Have it all today at $50per day that's $1,750 additional to included drinks, internet, $300 shore excursion, and 3 nights specialty dining. So, by waiting to book Have it All I 'saved' $3,000.

 

Still not sure if I'm going to purchase.

Edited April 22, 2023 by BermudaBound2014