HAL Shakes Ups Standby AGAIN [New Rates, Ports, Rules]
Вставка
- Опубліковано 29 вер 2024
- Holland America has made two major changes to the standby program since May 1, 2024. First, they added European embarkation ports, with exciting itineraries and different pricing and rules. Then they revised the North American program pricing. On the surface, it appears they doubled the price, but that is not really the case.
In this video I explain how to find the information on the new ports and what is up with the pricing.
Come check out the latest!
I wonder if you could book one of those European cruises by using a VPN and browsing from Europe....or if there is some sort of residency requirement. I'm always looking for last minute deals from Seattle (since we are about an hour from the port), but this standby scheme seems like too much hassle. We just booked a nice 11 day Seattle RT west coast cruise on Princess in September so now I at least have something to look forward to. Great job on the videos. I always look forward to them.
I like the way you think. Unfortunately you can't book standby cruises online, but have to call HAL. We booked one of ours through a travel agent, but after that experience she won't book them any more. Hopefully someone will respond who has tried this.
We didn't get on our Westerdam 7/7/24 7 Day HAL Standby Cruise and have not received our HAL Refund. Have you got your HAL Standby Refund?
We had our refund back within 3 days after the ship sailed.
I live in Florida, I booked the 42 day Med Cruze standby cruisin March 2024 . Your channel has been unbelievably helpful, thanks for that. Through a a friend who called me from a ship in the Med I learned about the program and a phone # , I called right away and sent them $5,800 . They sent me an e-mail receipt 👍. I’m Booked November 9, 2024 , well see what happens 🤞, meanwhile I’ll be watching your channel to learn anything and I will let you know my experiences . The cruise departs Ft Lauderdale and ends there, we are 2 hours from the Port, so I’m lucky and able to wait till the last minute. Thanks again for the great information.
Richard
Thanks for the wonderful comments. Hopefully we we see you on the ship! We booked this cruise on standby in March also. We will fly to Florida. If we don't get on the ship we will rent a car and drive to Disney world instead. We are currently on the Queen Mary 2 in Norway. Let's stay in touch until cruise time!
@@mytravelwindow3061 no🤞 Hope to see you in November on Cruze thanks enjoy Norway .
Truth in price advertising is not a bad thing. Don't know why knowing the upfront true price is a bad thing. But the general change of a price per day that increases prices is not a good thing
@@waynejenkins1061 It's not a bad thing at all. But what HAL was trying to do was advertise a fixed room price and let total price be variable. Now they are complying with the law by posting a fixed total price. And that makes the price of some cruises no longer worth the hassle.
Another concise informative production that addresses the pricing change I noticed this weekend. I am watching the HAL standby program in anticipation of it including FL ports. I enjoy your channel and you are my first destination for cruise news. Thank you.
Thanks. HAL posted the summer schedule in March, so I am anticipating that they will post the winter schedule sometime in late August or early September.
You have found what I have. For me, not living right at a port, and being interested only in longer cruises, the recent changes effectively eliminate the Standby option for me. On longer cruises, it is now far more expensive, and not worth the ramifications. And, there are no longer cruises left on the North American Standby list, and they don't seem to be adding anything to the list. I am currently on Standby for two longer cruises, and I'm feeling like they are likely to be the last for me. With cruises selling out everywhere these days, deliberate overbooking, waiting lists....and lastly, Standby, I think HA is doing everything they can to ensure no ship ever leaves port with an empty cabin. Unfortunately, I think it also pretty much eliminates Standby as an option, for me. Thank you for confirming what I knew of these changes,
Yes, I agree. HAL has so much of their fleet tied up in Alaska for the summer that they really focused this program on making sure those stay full all summer. We are 5 hours from Seattle, and I might be tempted to try one of the early or late season Alaska cruises again. But for the most part, we want to do longer cruises, and the new pricing kills these. I wish we had the options that the European passengers have!
Is one of your sailings the 42-day one from Ft. Lauderdale on Nov 9? I think they removed this from the list before it sold out because they had too many people sign up. I know of at least a half dozen standby people on this ship. The final payment date is this Friday, and no category is yet sold out. It will be interesting to see how HAL reduces prices for that voyage to try to fill the ship.
@@mytravelwindow3061 yes, I am Standby for the November 9th 42 days, as well as next weeks 35 day out of Boston.
Wow, I would have signed up for the 35-day one, but we already had vacation planned which wouldn't allow it. It was sold out when they removed it from the sign-up list, while the 42-day one wasn't. What are your plans for going to Boston? If you aren't on at the 48-hour point, will you hold on for longer?
@@mytravelwindow3061 I will not go to Boston unless I know I'm on the ship. I will monitor flights during the last 48 hours and decide when I have to pull the plug. I will also check and see if I can stay on Standby till the last minute, and meet the ship in one of the next three ports if I can't make Boston in time. Stay tuned!
@@mytravelwindow3061 I see today on FB that numerous people are being offered cancelation deals on the July 20th Voyage of the Vikings out of Boston. It's obviously over sold. Plus there will be a waiting list, then Standby. So, no real chance for Standby. I wonder if they offer the cancelation deals to people who paid less, and take people who bought later at much higher rates? Seems like a bit of a scam to me. And for the Standby people with no hope, I wonder how many HA never pays back, due to death, illness, insurance, confusion....and, they have had the use of all the Standby people's money, interest free, for some time. The whole situation seems a bit too slimy to me...
Disagree, port and taxes for most Caribbean cruises can be as low as $175 or $25 pd pp. making old total $49+25=$74. Even at $250 its $36+$49=$85 pp/pd.
I will defer to your knowledge of these, although Caribbean cruises aren't on the list right now for being able to be booked. Right now pretty much all that is on the list are Alaska and New England.
The site that I used to use to calculate fees was CruisePlum, and they now have everything bundled so you can't see the breakout anymore.
I wonder if the price will change when they flip to the winter Caribbean season. If not, this will not be as attractive.
Thanks for the information.
Our pleasure!