Sail Standby for $49 a day- new program

[rj59]

I cleared 4 days before for a 2-night cruise on Westerdam tomorrow. Never look for a boarding pass in the app, because it's the last to appear. Just look at your check-in online, where they have documents, and print out a boarding pass with your luggage tags. If not, don't sweat it, just show up and they'll print one out for you at the pier. The same thing happens if you don't appear in the face ID check-in machines, they'll just forward you to an agent who will look you up and print out something. On my first standby, they couldn't even do that, and wrote 'he's in the system' on a sticky note, and when I got to security, they saw I was registered for the cruise. On my last standby, my steward asked where my roommate was, the person who had canceled to give me a spot. You'll probably need to go to guest services and register a credit card, or ask for an invitation to any mariners events, or for mariners cocktail coupons, because those also don't make their way to rooms that quickly. 

[FlaMariner]

What advantage is there to this "stand by" program vs booking under current regular fares?

 

If the "stand by" fare is $99 inside/night, when I look at, for example, the prices of HAL Caribbean cruises, the regular prices for many cruises today are less than $99 inside/night (also for the balcony rate of $129/night).......What am I not understanding?

 

Here are prices that are less than $99 inside/night for this season.....(These are all the new "all in" prices that include tax/port").

 

 

 

21	Nov 23	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Zuiderdam	4.5	$3,969	$1,610	59%	$76 Per Night!
#47779	14	Nov 30	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Nieuw Statendam	5	$2,522	$1,065	58%	$76 Per Night!
#47733	14	Dec 8	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Nieuw Amsterdam	5	$2,437	$1,073	56%	$76 Per Night!
#18653	15	Dec 8	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Eurodam	5	$2,692	$1,140	58%	$76 Per Night!
#47728	14	Dec 1	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Nieuw Amsterdam	5	$2,432	$1,078	56%	$77 Per Night!
#47784	14	Dec 7	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Nieuw Statendam	5	$2,519	$1,079	57%	$77 Per Night!
#47718	14	Nov 10	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Nieuw Amsterdam	5	$2,622	$1,102	58%	$78 Per Night!
#47714	14	Nov 3	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Nieuw Amsterdam	5	$2,619	$1,107	58%	$79 Per Night!
#47688	10	Nov 17	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Eurodam	5	$2,022	$809	60%	$80 Per Night!
#47689	21	Nov 17	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Eurodam	5	$4,697	$1,707	64%	$81 Per Night!
#47954	17	Dec 4	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Zuiderdam	4.5	$3,629	$1,387	62%	$81 Per Night!
#47948	14	Nov 9	Boston, MA	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Zuiderdam	4.5	$2,649	$1,149	57%	$82 Per Night!
#11698	21	Nov 27	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Eurodam	5	$4,597	$1,727	62%	$82 Per Night!
#47777	7	Nov 30	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Nieuw Statendam	5	$1,302	$574	56%	$82 Per Night!
#12171	10	Dec 8	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Eurodam	5	$1,922	$829	57%	$82 Per Night!
#47870	9	Nov 29	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Rotterdam	5	$1,749	$761	56%	$84 Per Night!
#47727	7	Dec 1	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Nieuw Amsterdam	5	$1,254	$594	53%	$84 Per Night!
#47731	7	Dec 8	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Nieuw Amsterdam	5	$1,262	$589	53%	$84 Per Night!
#47735	7	Dec 15	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Nieuw Amsterdam	5	$1,254	$589	53%	$84 Per Night!
#47953	10	Dec 4	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Zuiderdam	4.5	$1,934	$854	56%	$85 Per Night!
#47782	7	Dec 7	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Nieuw Statendam	5	$1,304	$595	54%	$85 Per Night!
#47785	7	Dec 14	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Nieuw Statendam	5	$1,299	$595	54%	$85 Per Night!
#47716	7	Nov 10	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Nieuw Amsterdam	5	$1,354	$606	55%	$86 Per Night!
#47869	21	Nov 17	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Rotterdam	5	$4,174	$1,810	57%	$86 Per Night!
#19156	5	Dec 18	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Eurodam	5	$594	$430	28%	$86 Per Night!
#47721	14	Nov 17	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Nieuw Amsterdam	5	$2,977	$1,228	59%	$87 Per Night!
#47951	11	Nov 23	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Zuiderdam	4.5	$2,164	$966	55%	$87 Per Night!
#47872	21	Nov 29	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Rotterdam	5	$4,084	$1,833	55%	$87 Per Night!
#47720	7	Nov 17	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Nieuw Amsterdam	5	$1,362	$634	53%	$90 Per Night!
#47725	14	Nov 24	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Nieuw Amsterdam	5	$2,879	$1,262	56%	$90 Per Night!
#47679	7	Nov 3	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Nieuw Amsterdam	5	$1,359	$639	53%	$91 Per Night!
#47955	7	Dec 14	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Zuiderdam	4.5	$906	$654	28%	$93 Per Night!
#47686	21	Nov 6	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Eurodam	5	$4,697	$1,979	58%	$94 Per Night!
#12126	11	Nov 27	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Eurodam	5	$2,499	$1,043	58%	$94 Per Night!
#47786	14	Dec 14	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Nieuw Statendam	5	$2,897	$1,349	53%	$96 Per Night!
#47857	21	Dec 8	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Rotterdam	5	$4,554	$2,064	55%	$98 Per Night!
#21901	12	Dec 18	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Fort Lauderdale, FL	Holland America / Eurodam	5	$2,429	$1,186	51%	$98 Per Night!

[PDsquare]

I think what is most attractive about this program is for the solo traveler. With that $99 there is no single supplement. I had a friend who was successful in joining myself and my other friend/roommate on a cruise at the end of May. Her fare was well below what it would have been if she had booked a solo room in advance. This is documented earlier in this thread. At that time the taxes were not included in the fare and even with the taxes she still saved around $800 for a seven day Boston to Montreal on Volendam. 

[romet]

Congrats on making the Koningsdam on Aug 31.  We were hoping for Koningsdam on Aug 24, but weren’t cleared from the #2 in line position, so cancelled one day before.  We were reimbursed very quickly.  Instead we were very lucky to book last minute Celebrity Solstice leaving Aug 25. Booked this with Vacations to Go on Aug 23.

[rj59]

10 hours ago, romet said:

Congrats on making the Koningsdam on Aug 31.  We were hoping for Koningsdam on Aug 24, but weren’t cleared from the #2 in line position, so cancelled one day before.  We were reimbursed very quickly.  Instead we were very lucky to book last minute Celebrity Solstice leaving Aug 25. Booked this with Vacations to Go on Aug 23.

I found that NCL also has last-minute deals comparable to HAL standby to fill open spaces on their ships to Alaska. After getting denied for standby several times, I was going to try NCL Encore or Bliss instead, but I ended up getting a surprise Westerdam spot. When it was $49/nt, plus taxes, it was a no-brainer, but now it's not always the best deal. So I'm doing $100/nt on Princess to Mexico in November, plus $200 obc, but I'm on standby for Koningsdam in January, as well as March and April. For winter cruises out of San Diego, my plan is to just fly there the night before if they haven't denied me, and if I don't get a last-minute spot, I scheduled a refundable Southwest flight home a few days later, so instead of a cruise I'd just get a beach getaway. As a retired solo cruiser, it's still a great deal much of the time, and although I don't like the stress and uncertainty, I do like the price certainty, whereas with other cruises I'm constantly. monitoring fares and have a lot of remorse when prices drop after payment. I also get a lot of cold feet and cancel cruises, especially back when I could get a good chunk of taxes/fees back, so I actually like that I'm committed to a standby cruise and can't back out on a cruise that I don't really love, like a somewhat useless Seattle-Vancouver 2-nt one I booked a few weeks ago. 

[Sail and Relax]

I agree with PDSquare, it really works for solo traveler.  I had a friend that was able to board the Westerdam 53 day to Japan at $99/day on Sept 1.  If she purchased a solo inside room it would have cost an est of $12,000.  She paid about $5500.  If you have a free schedule, easily able to get to the departure port and willing to take a gamble it works.  She was notified 6 days before the cruise with a cabin number.  

[HSCSUSIQ]

Anyone on Standby for the Volendam November 9 cross Atlantic cruise?  Think there’s a chance to get on board as a solo?