Do you have flexibility in your schedule? Wish you could set sail with a cruise line at a reduced rate for last minute deals? Do you absolutely hate single supplements? Can you work from anywhere in the world? Well, my fellow cruisers, read on. It turns out, standby programs aren’t just for planes any longer!
In a recent Sail Talk Saturday, we featured an article on the Holland America Line (HAL) Standby Program. The program provides sailors with a great fixed rate for select sailings. At the time of this writing, you can book interior or ocean view cabins for $99 per person per day. Can’t live without a balcony? You can upgrade to a Verandah for just $129 per person per day. Both of those prices include taxes and port fees!
What’s the Catch?
But there’s got to be a catch, right? Well, sorta. Here’s how it works: visit the Holland America Standby Program website and scroll through the list of available sailings. The list is segmented by departure port to help you locate your ideal sailing. HAL suggests this program is best suited for people who live near a specific homeport of the ship/itinerary you’re choosing.
Once you’ve landed on an itinerary, you have to call the HAL Reservations team. This isn’t a booking you can do online – in fact, I can’t even make it through my travel agent portal! Once you get through to an agent, you’ll provide them with the sailing information and cabin type. The agent immediately processes your full payment for the cruise… and then you play the waiting game. Holland America Line reviews the Standby Program list starting 7 days prior to the cruise. The cruise line will notify selected participants up to 2 days before the sailing date.
If you are not selected: Holland America returns the payment back to your form of payment.
If you are selected: Congratulations! You’re going on a cruise. However, and this is very important, if you choose not to sail once selected, you do not get any of your money back.
Note: If the cruise line is running a promotion for 3rd and 4th guest sail free and you’d like to take advantage of that promo, you’ll need to submit all passenger names at the time of the joining the Standby List.
My Experience So Far
Okay, so how true was my experience with this process when compared to how it’s outlined on the website? Since I don’t live near any of Holland America Line’s cruise ports, I had to get creative with travel plans. Prior to calling their reservations department, I pulled up the listing of available itineraries and identified a cruise that sounded fun to sail standby on.
Travel Logistics
Next I started researching travel arrangements to get to and from the cruise port. Because I landed on a repositioning cruise, I’m flying into one airport and out of a different one at the end of the cruise. I scoured airline sites to find who would offer me the most flexibility in the event I wasn’t selected for the cruise and needed to cancel. With only needing to cancel 10 minutes prior to boarding to receive a full refund, Southwest Airlines was the winner. The downside: Southwest Airlines doesn’t fly to the homeport of the cruise (Vancouver), so I’ll be flying into Seattle and then I’ll take the Amtrak train from Seattle to Vancouver.
And this is why Holland America suggests that this program is best suited for those who live near a port that offers standby sailings! 😉
Booking
Once I had the logistics lined up, I got on the phone with Holland America Lines Reservations team. It started off with an automated system trying to determine my needs. I was a bit surprised to see this automated implementation on a cruise line that primarily caters to an older population as the automated systems never seem to work right. With that said, I waited on hold to speak to an agent for just over 2 minutes.
Once the agent answered, they immediately asked for the details of the voyage I wanted to book. I informed the agent that I was looking to participate in the Standby Program. She paused and then asked me for the voyage information. Seeing as how the “Voyage ID” is on the selection list, I provided that thinking it would be easier to match me to the specific sailing. She informed me that those details didn’t help in any way, and that I’d need to provide her with the specific voyage information including ship name, departure date, and number of nights of the voyage. Not sure the point of having a Voyage ID for customers if the cruise line doesn’t use it…
After I pulled up the page that listed the details, I recited that information to the agent. I then had to provide the cabin type, my dining preferences (not sure why this needed was so early on in the process), full name, date of birth, home city (are they going to bring the ship to me?), and my email address.
Payment
A few clicks of the keyboard from on the other side of the phone and I received my booking number! I wasn’t expecting to receive a booking number prior to making payment so I had to ask for it to be repeated. After she repeated the number back to me, I was informed of the total price of the reservation. She shared that I would be transferred to an automated secure phone payment portal.
With the Standby Program, you have to submit full payment at the time of booking. It’s important to note that if Holland America Line selects you to join the itinerary and you are suddenly unable to sail, you lose out on those funds and the cruise line will move on to the next qualified passenger.
As soon as I finished entering my credit card details, the agent was back on the phone asking if I had any other questions about my booking. I confirmed when I should expect a response from the cruise line – between 7 and 2 days prior to sailing – and thanked her for assisting me.
So now what?
Payment has been processed, HAL has my information and interest in going on the selected cruise. Now I just have to wait until the call-back period.
At the beginning of this article I mentioned that there’s no turning back. There’s some fine print that’s important to keep in mind if you’re interested in participating in Holland America’s Standby Program.
- For those that book standby in a Verandah (balcony) cabin and there isn’t inventory available on the sailing, you’ll be given the option to downgrade an interior/ocean view at the $99 daily rate per person if rooms are available. If you choose to decline, you can request to be withdrawn from the list and get your money refunded back to you.
- If your name isn’t drawn by 2-days-out point, HAL will give you the option to remain on the Standby List or be withdrawn. At this point, you could still potentially board the ship if you are near the cruise terminal at least 90-minutes prior to sail-away time. If the ship has space open up due to no-shows they will place you in a cabin. If there still aren’t any options to get you on board, they will refund your payment.
Stay tuned to our YouTube channel and the blog to see if my name was drawn from the list. Whether I’m selected or not, I’ll be sharing the complete experience with you.
And if you have any questions about the process or experience, drop those in the comments below.