Gifting adult son a Christmas cruise

[Sherry H]

We are considering taking a Christmas cruise for Dec. 2024.  Husband and I would like to have a veranda and put our son in an inside cabin close to us.  We wish to incur all expenses for him as a Christmas gift. When I log into the HAL website I get a better price than if I am not logged in.  Should I reserve the inside room in my name and have my husband reserve the veranda in his name showing our son as the second passenger in that cabin.  We would then just give him the key to the inside cabin.  Hopefully someone here has also dealt with this issue and can give me some advice.    

[Huskerchick]

What a lovely gift. An alternative suggestion would be to book your husband in the veranda cabin as a single and then book you and your son in the inside cabin. Once you are on board only you will need to visit the front desk to secure a key to the veranda cabin and your son will be in his right room

[RMLincoln]

We’ve split ourselves up on reservations to get better pricing because of our Star status, and for each of us to use our stock benefits. Then onboard we go to front desk to have the room keys changed and get the accounts to match the new room keys. Our TA or HAL PCC has usually assisted us in making these split reservations. Once I did a split reservation online for a Carnival cruise with the adult grandkids and it worked ok. There can be difficulties with getting insurance so using a PCC has helped.  
 

[Tampa Girl]

20 minutes ago, Sherry H said:

We are considering taking a Christmas cruise for Dec. 2024.  Husband and I would like to have a veranda and put our son in an inside cabin close to us.  We wish to incur all expenses for him as a Christmas gift. When I log into the HAL website I get a better price than if I am not logged in.  Should I reserve the inside room in my name and have my husband reserve the veranda in his name showing our son as the second passenger in that cabin.  We would then just give him the key to the inside cabin.  Hopefully someone here has also dealt with this issue and can give me some advice.    

 

I am not sure why not logging  in would give you a better price than logging in, and I don't understand why you simply don't reserve two cabins, with you and your husband in one cabin  and your adult son in the interior.  If the mariner status is an issue, I have never found that our 5* status has given us a better price, although HALs website claims that one's status does provide better prices.

[POA1]

Unless you have a casino or restricted, "just for you" rate, the normal Mariner discount can be extended to your son's booking. You'll have to call your PCC, TA, or the HAL reservations number. It won't show up on the website. As long as your rate is not a casino or other restricted rate, that's the cleanest way to go about it.

 

Look at me, disagreeing with the lovely @Huskerchick

😘

 

Also, I'd wait until business hours, Monday - Friday, Seattle time. (US Pacific time zone.)

[Sherry H]

If our Mariner discount can be extended to our son's booking that would be the "cleanest" way. 

We are 4* so free laundry would be nice for the inside cabin.  Also we receive a $200 AARP OBC I doubt would be extended to our son.  

[crystalspin]

Split you and husband up, probably the way Huskerchick suggested.

 

There really are Private Fares (not restricted/casino). We booked a cruise, for $8000 less than the Best Price (barebones) listing, then added HIA for $3500 before the price went up. 

 

Have a wonderful cruise!

[Haljo1935]

Since the rate you are seeing is lower when you are logged in, seems you have a Private Sale or other discount rate that is tied to your Mariner #. If so, it won't transfer to your son, so splitting you & DH will get you the best rates.

Once onboard, Guest Services will happily swap cabins & cards to get your son in the right cabin. Last time we did that, it took about a day for the statements to catch up, but they did and charges were allocated correctly.

If you also want to cover his onboard charges, you can simply put your CC on his room after (or when) you make the cabin switch.

Safe travels - enjoy your cruise!

[Ferry_Watcher]

OP, sounds like this cruise would be a surprise gift to to your adult son - are you sure he would want to go / use his vacation time?

[RuthC]

If your son will be traveling solo, in the sense that he will be alone in his cabin, then he will have a single supplement. If you book your husband in the veranda, and yourself plus son in the inside, then your husband will have a single supplement. 

Before you start thinking about who will be booked in which cabins, to try to get the lowest rates, you need to check both of the combinations of you and DH in the veranda, with son alone (with hopefully two lower fares), vs. DH in veranda (with single supplement) and you and son in inside (with lower fare). 

Huskerchick may not have considered the single supplement in her thinking. 

Good luck, and have fun, whatever way you book! 

[Tampa Girl]

2 hours ago, crystalspin said:

Split you and husband up, probably the way Huskerchick suggested.

 

There really are Private Fares (not restricted/casino). We booked a cruise, for $8000 less than the Best Price (barebones) listing, then added HIA for $3500 before the price went up. 

 

Have a wonderful cruise!

 

What are "private fares" and are they the same as Mariner discounted fares?  If so, how does one apply for one?  I always sign  in using our Mariner # and,  invariably there is no discount off the posted fare.  What am I missing?  We, also, have taken advantage of what HAL calls "private fares", but I did not think that what several people have  referred to as a Mariner discount.  I had gotten the impression that the latter was applicable on the regular offers.  

[crystalspin]

14 minutes ago, Tampa Girl said:

What are "private fares" and are they the same as Mariner discounted fares?  If so, how does one apply for one?  I always sign  in using our Mariner # and,  invariably there is no discount off the posted fare.  What am I missing?  We, also, have taken advantage of what HAL calls "private fares", but I did not think that what several people have  referred to as a Mariner discount.  I had gotten the impression that the latter was applicable on the regular offers.  

I believe that private fares and Mariner fares are NOT the same. Mariner promo (I think) is similar but maybe not the same as the Welcome Back code: good for so many days after you return from a cruise (or maybe applied if you book ON a cruise?). I would love for someone (@RuthC? @Crew News?) to inform us all if I am on the right track.

 

I am alerted to Private Fares both by postal mailers and by emails -- mostly to other people in my family whom we hosted and used my addy for on a group Alaska trip! As far as the flyers, I used to think they were just the same as the seasonal deals on the website's Splash screen, and often just round-filed them. 

 

Last summer I was looking to change a medium-length cruise (booked with Welcome Back) to a longer one, and I brought up the longer one on the website. The difference between Best Price and Best Value (ie HIA, which we usually book) was very very high! In investigating what was going on, I determined that the Best Price price was much higher if I wasn't logged on with my Mariner number. The difference more than made up for what I lost by giving up the Welcome Back promo.

 

I have not remembered to ask my PCC if indeed I had a Private Sale price, or just a fluke! I need to call her this coming week and will try to include asking about the fare when I do.

[Sherry H]

Ferry_Watcher, we would never plan a vacation with our son without his permission.  He is single and always spends Christmas week with his dad and I.  As it is always just the 3 of us, we thought it would be a special holiday to spend it on cruise.    

[POA1]

The only way to know whether you can share the fare code is to talk to someone. There are plenty of fare codes that both tie to your Mariner ID and are shareable.

 

You can't share the 4* laundry benefit with a non 4* stateroom. (You could have your son drop his laundry off with you and you could send it out with yours.)

[RuthC]

1 hour ago, crystalspin said:

I would love for someone (@RuthC? @Crew News?) to inform us all if I am on the right track.

I wouldn't know. I haven't gotten offers from HAL in years! I always have had cruises booked (once, it was five in the pipeline! 😁), so I guess they figured I wasn't going to book??? (silly people; I would have.) 
Now that my cruising days are winding down I may start getting offers, but as of now, I don't get offers for private sales. 

[Crew News]

1 hour ago, crystalspin said:

I believe that private fares and Mariner fares are NOT the same. Mariner promo (I think) is similar but maybe not the same as the Welcome Back code: good for so many days after you return from a cruise (or maybe applied if you book ON a cruise?). I would love for someone (@RuthC? @Crew News?) to inform us all if I am on the right track.

 

Private fares appear to be just another promotion and I get the brochures several times a year.  Since I have yet to take advantage of private sales or compared them to posted prices on the HAL website, I'm not sure what makes them special or who else receives them.  If I remember, I will ask my HAL PCC.

[Haljo1935]

I have tested pricing differences of "private fares" I've received and some DH has received. Private fares result in a lower fare when you get to the cabin selection phase of creating a booking.

When not logged in or logged in using DH credentials (if he did not receive same offer), fare is higher than when I am logged in.

The fine print in the offer says they're not transferable and that the person receiving the offer must be on the booking.

Always worth asking about, though.

Edited January 14 by Haljo1935
Typo

[OlsSalt]

We just got our first private fare, after looking at the Majestic Japan online over a few months and debating about it. Maybe that is what triggered the HAL "private fare" offer, that finally tipped us into signing up for it. It was several thousand dollars less than the posted fare, and now even less than the current fare   

 

We are 5 star and long-time HAL cruisers with a high onboard spending number (HAL excursions mainly).  But this was our first "private sale" offer. 

 

Maybe they send them out to long time passengers who appeared interested in a specific cruise by their log in activity, right before the up the prices.  Can they finally pull us in? Yes, that did it for us.  Was it close to the end of a fiscal quarter, and they wanted to up their cash on hand balance. Maybe  that too. 

 

Later there was the offer "book an ocean view and get and upgrade to a verandah" fare .We juggled the numbers around, including the few HIA benefits that we would even use, and our prior "private sale" was still the best price overall so we stayed with it. 

 

I think the Upgrade Fairy hands out private offers in her spare time - by whim and caprice, or a using  deeper agenda that we mortal land creatures will never understand. 

[Sherry H]

Thanks Ruth!  I am aware of the single supplement and will check all possibilities.

[*Miss G*]

I am confused.  I have always booked multiple rooms under the private fare.  The price does not change for the additional room.  What am I missing?

[Tampa Girl]

17 hours ago, crystalspin said:

I believe that private fares and Mariner fares are NOT the same. Mariner promo (I think) is similar but maybe not the same as the Welcome Back code: good for so many days after you return from a cruise (or maybe applied if you book ON a cruise?). I would love for someone (@RuthC? @Crew News?) to inform us all if I am on the right track.

 

I am alerted to Private Fares both by postal mailers and by emails -- mostly to other people in my family whom we hosted and used my addy for on a group Alaska trip! As far as the flyers, I used to think they were just the same as the seasonal deals on the website's Splash screen, and often just round-filed them. 

 

Last summer I was looking to change a medium-length cruise (booked with Welcome Back) to a longer one, and I brought up the longer one on the website. The difference between Best Price and Best Value (ie HIA, which we usually book) was very very high! In investigating what was going on, I determined that the Best Price price was much higher if I wasn't logged on with my Mariner number. The difference more than made up for what I lost by giving up the Welcome Back promo.

 

I have not remembered to ask my PCC if indeed I had a Private Sale price, or just a fluke! I need to call her this coming week and will try to include asking about the fare when I do.

 

Thank you, Crystal, for responding.  The "private fares" that we have received have also been by postal mailers or emails.  However, I will keep a close watch in the future for comparing non logged-in prices and logged-in prices.

[ccqueenanne]

On 1/13/2024 at 11:09 AM, Sherry H said:

If our Mariner discount can be extended to our son's booking that would be the "cleanest" way. 

We are 4* so free laundry would be nice for the inside cabin.  Also we receive a $200 AARP OBC I doubt would be extended to our son.  

 

In case it's cheaper to book your son in the Inside with single supplement, consider buying your son an AARP membership. Many younger folks buy the membership just for deals like this - there is no age requirement.

[Sherry H]

ccqueenanne, fantastic idea!