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Free Cruises - what is the catch?

C

CalGalTraveler

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
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Location
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HGVC, MVC Vistana
After our first cruise on Holland America we now get offers for free inside staterooms. Are these a good value? If so, what is the best way to take advantage of these offers?

Are there location, # of night or other sweetspots to look for? Gotchas to watch out for where the cruise becomes more expensive than buying a cabin?

FWIW... I deposited $100 toward a new HA cruise to get free beverage package and some other benefits on our next cruise. Can those apply to these offers?
 
Call HA's Customer Service and ask them. I'd submit that there is no actual 'free' stateroom, but perhaps the voucher you got may well be applicable toward your next cruise. After the Covid cancellations back in '21 & '22, we had several deposits that got 'Future Cruise Credits' that we were able to apply to later ones. These credits aren't good forever- they DO expire, so ask their rep.
 
I have the same offers from sailing Norwegian, Princess, and Carnival. The free inside doesn't cover Port Fees and Taxes. We prefer to upgrade to a balcony so we also pay the cabin upgrade fee. Then of course when you cruise there are excursions, photo packages, bingo, casino, etc, etc, so the free inside cabin offers work out to be just a discount. The cruise lines will make money...

I've been looking hard at a repositioning cruise on Carnival in the fall, LA through Alaska and across the Pacific to Japan, fly home from Tokyo. The offer is $100 each for an ocean view (window) cabin.
 
A free cruise is just a zero base fare. You will have to pay taxes, fees, mandatory tips and service charges, which would work out to about $2,000 for a week cruise.
 
I lost a little money (around a grand) on my cruise on R/C back in September . . . and am continually receiving offers for free inside cabins for myself (port fees + taxes extra) plus "deeply discounted" rate for my guest/roommate. Most offers have been pretty short 3-5 days, and Caribbean (east or west) out of Galveston or Florida. None of the dates have worked for me yet, but I will consider an offer if it's for later in the year, in the fall as an example.
 
echino said:
A free cruise is just a zero base fare. You will have to pay taxes, fees, mandatory tips and service charges, which would work out to about $2,000 for a week cruise.
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$2,000 for a week seems high. I'm not paying that much for the two I've done/booked, paying for the base fare (+ the mandatory add ons).
 
I wish we could take advantage of this transpacific repositioning. Even paying port fees, taxes, and grats it's a great daily average price.

1705157384864.png
 
@SmithOp That looks amazing! I would normally avoid Carnival but since it is during school and a long journey, I would expect it to be rather sane.

I would hope it is a large ship as this is early season for the North Pacific.
 
Just out of curiousity, where are you seeing these prices? I have seen good prices on vacationstogo (Icruise) but nothing like this.
 
jpsmit said:
Just out of curiousity, where are you seeing these prices? I have seen good prices on vacationstogo (Icruise) but nothing like this.
Click to expand...
Join the Carnival VIFP club, it's free. Take a cruise, spend a few bucks in the casino (they track with your room key). Boom, your inbox gets offers a couple of times a week from Carnival.

@CalGalTraveler I know that Carnival has a bad rep for drunken brawls, but it is possible to enjoy a Carnival cruise. We took the 7 day Mexico cruise out of Long Beach in September, booked a Spa balcony cabin and generally stayed away from the Lido deck and buffet. We enjoyed staying on the ship for port days, the spa amenities, the sports deck, specialty dining, piano bar, brewery tour and BBQ restaurant. The shows were not that great.

I would avoid the 3-4 night booze cruises on Carnival.
 
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PamMo said:
Surely those are daily prices, right?
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You would think right? The Suite price was $4600 per person, so the deal is on OV and balcony. These repositioning cruises can offer the biggest discount, and they like to get the gamblers back onboard with lots of sea days.

I clicked through the offer to show total cost of a balcony, not the best location Deck 4 forward, but a smoking deal.

1705592086190.png
 
My wife and I received a "free cruise" certificate as part of attending an owner update presentation. Not sure we will actually get to use it as the "free" cruise options are pretty limited and other options only give you a discount for the standard cruise fare.
 
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