Holland America is out with a cruise match program that might provide a new opportunity for a free cruise. A member of our Frequent Miler Insiders group shared this new offer last night and we’ve seen a mix of data points in terms of offers, from some free play money to a free interior room. My instinct is that those who previously did the Carnival match and didn’t gamble much probably won’t get a big offer here, but it could be worth taking a swing if you haven’t yet hopped into cruise line status matching and/or if you are a gambler.
The Deal
- Holland America Cruise Line is offering a match program whereby your “Loyalty and offers from other casinos could earn you a free cruise”. You can submit casino status and/or competing cruise line offers and potentially get a free cruise (though read more detail below before you dive in on this one)
- Direct link to this deal
Key Terms
- GENERAL FREE DEAL TERMS (APPLICABLE TO ANY/ALL AVAILABLE MATCH PROGRAM FREE DEALS (“DEAL(S)”)) Free Deals exclude any deposit and Taxes, Fees, and Port Expenses (“TFPE”).
- The promotional offer is applicable for 1st/2nd guests only; 3rd/4th/5th guests are responsible for prevailing cruise rates.
- Holland America Line reserves the right to assess a change fee according to the date of the request, the length of the cruise, and the actual cruise sail date.
- Cancellation penalties apply.
- Must be 18+ to play in the casino.
- Invited Guests under the age of 21 must travel with a relative or guardian of 25 years of age or older.
- Exclusions may apply to certain Deals.
- Deals (and any parts) are not transferable, not substitutable, not redeemable for cash and not combinable with any other offer/deal.
- Deals are only applicable to new bookings, on select sailings, and are capacity controlled (regardless of stateroom availability).
- Each Deal is only available on select sailings through the date set forth in the Deal’s specific terms.
- Free Play offers are only valid for the first two guests in the stateroom.
- Carnival Corporation (“Carnival”) is not responsible or liable for any printing errors. Any Deal may be changed or revoked at any time.
- Guests must be eligible for passage on Holland America Line ships to be eligible for these Deals. There is no guarantee of availability at time of booking. © 2022 Carnival Corporation. All rights reserved. Ship Registry: The Netherlands.
- THE MATCH PROGRAM TERMS & CONDITIONS The Match program (“Program”) is only available to legal residents of the 50 US/DC, who are 21 years of age or older.
- Program may provide certain eligible consumers with deal(s) on their next Holland America Line cruise voyage (each a “Deal”).
- In order to be considered for the Program, a consumer must fully complete and submit all required information requested on the Program form at https://oceanplayersclub.com/hollandamericamatch/ or other applicable Program page (collectively, a “Registration Page”); such action does not guarantee that the consumer will be eligible for the Program.
- Carnival Corporation (“Carnival”) makes no representation that any consumer will be eligible for, or receive, any Deal in connection with this Program. All decisions regarding whether a consumer is eligible for the Program/a Deal shall be determined by Carnival in its sole discretion; numerous factors may be considered.
- Approximately seven (7) business days after a consumer submits the Program form on the Registration Page, Carnival will email such guest if (and only if) they are available for any unique Deal. Please allow additional time depending on the number of submissions and other factors.
- The email about the unique Deal (if any) will be sent to the consumer at the email address provided on the Registration Page. Such deals (if any) are unique to such consumer and cannot be shared.
- Each Deal is subject to terms, conditions, and restrictions available on the Holland America Line website.
- If the consumer does not book an available Deal within the timeline specified by the Deal, the Deal will expire and consumer will forfeit any right to such Deal.
- Program and Deals are not transferrable, not redeemable for cash, may not be combined with other offers, and have no cash value. Program and Deals are void where prohibited by law. Restrictions and exclusions may apply.
- Bookings must be made within 60 days of offer being made, at which point Carnival may elect to end the Program; Carnival will post notice of any end of the Program on the Registration Page. However, Program and any Deal may be changed or revoked at any time.
Quick Thoughts
We have written quite extensively about cruise line casino match offers, initially with the Carnival Fun Match that continues today (although the free room offers seem to be getting slower to come) and then with the Royal Caribbean match offer. I wrote a standalone post explaining how you can (try) to cruise for “free” (you’ll still pay port taxes) on both Carnival and Royal Caribbean starting with just a credit card.
This new match offer from Holland America purports to offer a shot at a free cruise when you submit information about your loyalty status at another casino, much the same as the offers we have seen from Carnival and Royal Caribbean.
However, while many readers have reported getting offers for free cruises (including in balcony rooms) from those two match offers, the initial data points on this offer are thin.
One member of our Frequent Miler Insiders group reported submitting Caesars Diamond and MGM Gold status and receiving an offer within minutes that he summed up like this:
Received a reply SUPER fast (minutes). Unfortunately, that fast reply was basically a “we know who you are and you don’t gamble enough” type message. Offer of $200 Free Play per person (1st/2nd Guest Only). Hope you all get better offers!
Unfortunately, I got the same response and the same offer of $200 of free play per person. Apparently I did not gamble enough on my previous Carnival cruise for Holland America (although Carnival has been sending me a lot of offers lately).
However, another group member submitted Caesars Diamond status and reported receiving the following offer:
Complimentary Interior Cabin + $100 Freeplay with Drinks for two (2) while playing in the casinoOffer Description: Valid on eligible sailings to Alaska, Mexico, Caribbean, Coastal, and Canada/New England from 2022-2023
My hunch based on the handful of comments so far is that since Holland America is owned by Carnival, they are likely matching up player information and if you have previously cruised with Carnival and not played much, I expect that the resulting offer may be less generous. I should note though that I don’t know that for sure – we have very few data points on this match so far.
After my unexpectedly enjoyable experiences cruising with Carnival and Royal Caribbean last year, Tim set the over/under on how many cruises I take this year at 2 in our FM Predicts post at the beginning of the year and he took the over. Since I like Tim, I figured I’d do my part and throw my hat in the ring on this offer. Unfortunately, no dice for me.
After submitting the match, the confirmation screen said to expect a response in 1-2 business days. However, the immediate response I received via email indicated that they are experiencing a “higher volume than expected” and that it may take a bit longer than usual to reply. It only took about two hours for me to get a response. Note that the offer terms indicate that it may take 7 days to get a response and that you will have 60 days from the date of the offer to make a booking.
If you’re looking to maybe cruise for free on Holland America, this could be worth a shot.
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Just purchased my Holland America “free” cruise. $204 for inside room or $344 for partially obstructed ocean view room. Should get $100 casino play too. Looking forward to this cruise.
Despite the website saying I was ineligible for Have It All, I was able to call and add it for $50/day for my 10 day. Apparently the website errors happen to lots of people trying to add this item, agent didn’t have any issues. Think Citi IT lol. 20 mins on hold, 5 mins with the agent to make the purchase and now I see the $200 in shore excursions credits and 2 dining credits online (what you get depends on length of cruise).
Odd thing, when calling my account showed a $200 overpayment to the agent so the agent applied that to this purchase. Another player of mine recently got a $200 refund from HAL. Both of us were charged $100/person “booking fees” so maybe that was an error.
Just submitted a Caesars Diamond status match to Holland. They responded in about 30 minutes. No free cruise offer, just $200 in match play. Have never sailed on Holland and only sailed on Carnival once back in 2014. Hope this DP helps.
Just submit MGM Gold, get free interior room offer in 6 mins
Just received the “free interior room plus $100 free play” offer, after submitting Caesar’s Diamond info – I have never been on Carnival or HAL. The offer was less than 48 hrs after submission.
I’m a Holland America 5-Star Mariner with over 700 nights onboard. I submitted my gold MGM status matched from Hyatt Globalist and I got the free interior cruise deal. I’ve probably gambled $40 total on my HAL cruises. I’m looking forward to my “free” cruise.
I cruised with HAL 6 times in 2022-23 and have 3 more booked so they obviously don’t care if you’re a loyal HAL passenger and will still give the free cruise.
Booked yesterday. Allow some time, took about 45 mins. Will go a bit quicker if you have a HAL loyalty account set up first. First call the agent booked it and said we would pay the taxes and fees online after booking within 24 hours to keep our booking. Offered an ocean view upgrade for $200pp on a 10 day but we passed.
After call went online and no way to pay, had to call and get transferred to casino services and that is what ate up most of the time. About 25 mins on hold, agent processed my taxes and fees plus a $100pp “booking fee” which I was not happy about having not heard mention of that anywhere. Agent said it would be a shipboard credit, then said it was for the $100 for the casino. I didn’t push for clarification as even if it’s a sunk cost this is a great deal.
The paperwork emailed to me does not have proper amounts for total due. Agent that processed the payment said it will be 7-10 days for properly updated paperwork as it has to be processed by the casino division.
Anyone know if this includes the Land+Sea cruise tours?
it does not, at least not for me. I checked.
Got the terrible $200 credit offer for MGM Gold.
Did that offer include a free cruise?
Submitted yesterday but all I have is a note my request has been received.
Got the free cruise offer about a day later. Submitted MGM Gold. I’ve never done a match for a cruise before and haven’t sailed in well over a decade.
Got the offer.
Complimentary Interior Cabin + $100 Freeplay with Drinks for two (2) while playing in the casino
Offer Description: Valid on eligible sailings to Alaska, Mexico, Caribbean, Coastal, and Canada/New England on 2023 sailings
Submitted my MGM gold and caesars diamond . I have never cruised before.
Same. I also submitted both MGM Gold and Caesars Diamond.
I received the Interior room offer, if I then took that offer and submitted that to Royal Caribbean, do you think they’d match it? I haven’t submitted anything for Royal yet, just Carnival & Holland America. No offer on Carnival yet either.
This offer is new so no one knows, but it’s likely. If you do submit, make sure to post your datapoint
I have 2 questions… Has anyone who has taken them up on the offer gotten the “have it all” package? (free drinks, shore excursion credit, wifi and 1 free specialty dining)? When booking, I inquired about how much it would cost to upgrade to this package, and he assured me it was included? If this is true, that is an even more incredible value. He then said he had to submit a ticket to the casino dept to get my fare credited. I paid a total of $390 (port fees, taxes for 2 cruisers). My account is still showing that I owe the balance of the cruise (fares including the have it all package for both of us). Has this been the case with others? He said 7-10 business days, but I’m anxious to have it show properly asap!
“have it all” package is not included, agent quoted me $350 pp and I declined, and we cannot take any other promotions since this is a “casino package”.
That is what I thought also, but the agent I booked with insisted it was included. I was willing to pay a few hundred dollars a person, but he said it was already included. Is your booking showing as paid in full on Holland America? Mine isn’t as of yet… Nowhere does my fare separate out the have it all package, just shows the fare. I’m not sure what the heck will happen?
After adding it my booking spells out each of the benefits on the payments page of the updated confirmation. If you don’t see them on your confirmation I would call HAL…
When I go to my booking on the website and select beverage packages the have it all offer shows “$” but no number, it errors out on clicking and says “your booking is not eligible for this package”. The agent on booking made no mention of the package and I didn’t not enquire about it.
Submitted MGM gold (matched from Hyatt Globalist). I was asked for a better (bigger) screenshot & was instantly offered a free interior room on any 2023 sailing up to 12-days, excluding Europe & Asia.
Interestingly, while my email offer includes the “must book within 60 days” language, a phone rep. didn’t show that requirement on their end. I probably won’t risk letting the offer expire, but the agent checked & double-checked & confirmed that they didn’t see anything about the 60 day deadline.
Still waiting on my Carnival offer…
To these folks submitting screenshots—doesnt the screenshot also include “tier points” or whatever, clearly showing the status is matched and you didn’t stay? Or is there a place on the website that says you’re gold without revealing that?
Nope.
If you pull up your card by clicking the Gold icon in the top right (and get the overall window sizing/screenshot just right), your MGM activity isn’t visible at all.
Personally, I have zeroes across the board in MGM, but that wasn’t visible in my screenshot(s) at all.
I haven’t even taken my free Carnival balcony cruise yet, but still got the Holland inside cabin offer within an hour of submitting MGM gold. At first, I submitted a pdf, and they came back asking for a screenshot. After that, I got offer right away! Confused as to why some of you aren’t getting it?
I’ve also sailed with Carnival several years ago and have my free cruise booked in April. Wonder if MGM Gold works better? Nancy at milesforfamily also submitted MGM Gold.
Send a picture of Caesar’s diamond, got an offer for 200 dollars obc and that’s it.
So resubmitted with MGM gold and an alternate email address and got the free interior room offer.
So not sure what the criteria are.
Interesting that worked for you!!
[…] few days ago, I read a blog post on Frequent Miler and then another one on Frequent Floaters about status matching to Holland America cruise line. […]
Got a complimentary cabin offer for Holland America – interior cabin. To upgrade to a balcony/verandah room will cost $1000 per person. Yikes!
Diane, that’s just probably a quirk of that particular cruise. I priced out several, and the costs for upgrading varied widely by sailing. On the one we ultimately chose, it was $134 x 2 to upgrade from interior to Oceanivew and then $315 x 2 to go to an Obstructed Verandah. I didn’t price out a regular unobstructed verandah, but my point is that it’s certainly possible to get out of an interior room for a lot less than 1k each.
Thanks for the info! I thought the same thing but when I asked the customer service person, they said a verandah upgrade would range between $800 and $1000 per person for the upgrade depending on the cruise I selected. I think I’ll call again and hopefully speak to another person and get better information
Am I the only one that submitted Caesar Diamond cards and didn’t get the free cruise offer?
All I got was an offer for $200 of free play. When I inquired about the complimentary cabin offer, they said I’m not eligible due to having status with Holland America’s sister brand (presumably Carnival). I have entry-level Red status with Carnival.
Yes, same thing happened to me. I sailed with Carnival once 8 years ago and apparently that trumps me have diamond status with Caesars now. I thought this was a match to other casinos, not if we have previously sailed with any of their sister brands.
So all these people receiving complimentary cabin offers … you’ve never sailed with Carnival before?
Good question…hoping some will respond.
honestly I dont remember… even if I did (a long time ago), I probably did not have any status with Carnival so its not linked to my Caesars
No, I never had.
I have sailed with carnival many years ago, but still got the offer with MGM gold.
Same, diamond only got me an offer of 200 dollars. Never cruised before.
Also got an offer after I uploaded the diamond pic:
Offer Type HALMatch 1: Complimentary Interior Cabin + $100 Freeplay with Drinks for two (2) while playing in the casino
Offer Description: Valid on eligible sailings to Alaska, Mexico, Caribbean, Coastal, and Canada/New England on 2023 sailings
Called and was told I could choose any cruises from the above sailings (up to 12 days). Thanks Nick!!!
Is this still working? I’m stuck at uploading the file. After file is uploaded, it returned error that upload file is too large, even file size is less than 5MB.
I had that issue also, I had to use my computer instead of my phone and then it worked fine.
Are you uploading photos of the physical card or just a screenshot of the card from the app?
Can you use onboard credit to start the gambling? I am trying to spend enough for a good offer, maybe a comped interior room, but don’t have any idea how much it might cost to gamble to reach this level. And is that why you cash out and start with a new card?
I was matched for 1 complimentary interior cabin + $100 free play with drinks for two (2) while playing in the casino. valid on eligible sailings to Alaska, Caribbean, Coastal, and Canada/New England from 2022-2023.
Nick – And I just booked my Caribbean 11 night cruise with a Verandah upgrade for a total of $1060.00. I was told that I could book up to 12 days with my offer.
Did you get interior offer, and asked for veranda upgrade? Fee total was $1060?
Yes – I was offered interior and then paid to upgrade to Verandah room. upgrade + tax =$1060.
Thank so much Nick! Just booked and 11 day cruise, from Caesar’s Diamond (via Wyndham Diamond) sailing and upgraded from stock interior cabin offer to a aft balcony cabin. All in with taxes, daily tips etc. $1400 vs $4400!
Maybe next post is how much you have saved in a year in cruise bookings with your match posts?
Will be sure to link and HT on FrequentFloaters post all about this sailing!
For upgrade to balcony did you just do over the phone? any discount tip for this?
Thanks!
Just called the number included in the email and asked for cost to upgrade. It was only $330 per person so a great value IMO.
$330，that’s a great price, may I know which one you booked?
Sorry no I keep my travel plans (dates) private.
Like anyone could pick you out from the other thousand (plus) people who book that cruise….
I don’t find it unreasonable at all for someone to keep their specific travel plans to themselves for a multitude of reasons.
Successful with Caesar’s Diamond as well. Interior cabin + 100 freeplay + free drinks while playing.
So did you only do Caesar’s Diamond? I ask because my in-laws only have Caesars no MGM, but I had MGM when I did the match.
@Nick Reyes What status/paperwork did you submit for your Holland match?
Does anyone get error that only 1 file can be attached? I was trying to add 3 different players card and I am getting this error.
Failed on mobile for me several times and then worked on desktop the first time.
Did you get an offer, Grant?
Yes, here is the offer I got:
Offer Type HALMatch 1: Complimentary Interior Cabin + $100 Freeplay with Drinks for two (2) while playing in the casino
Offer Description: Valid on eligible sailings to Alaska, Mexico, Caribbean, Coastal, and Canada/New England on 2023 sailings
Nice, just submitted mine! Did the Carnival offer come through for you, also?
No, I’m still only getting the $5,000 casino match play offer every week.
That’s too bad, but there’s still hope. I just got confirmation of an inside cabin with Holland!! 60 days to book a cruise until end of Dec.
Congrats on the great cruise offer 🙂
I got that error, so attached one, then got an email asking me to submit others. All worked out pretty smoothly, with a favorable outcome.
Just print a bunch of stuff to a PDF (load PDF printer software if needed) then upload one PDF with many shots!
DP: I submitted Caesars Diamond status yesterday and received the same interior cabin in North America offer as above, good through Dec 31 2023. It was for an up to 10 day cruise. You can pay to upgrade cabin level. For one 10-day cruise I checked the taxes, fees + mandatory tip ($16/day/person) totaled $1046 for 2 people. Applied for Carnival match January 1st, still watching for an offer.
How did you get the details what cruises are included? I think I got the same offer, this is what my offer says. I don’t see what cruises or length anywhere.
Complimentary Interior Cabin + $100 Freeplay with Drinks for two (2) while playing in the casino
Offer Description: Valid on eligible sailings to Alaska, Mexico, Caribbean, Coastal, and Canada/New England from 2022-2023
I called into Holland America and provided the certificate number I was given. Based on that certificate number/offer they told me I could use it for any 10-day or less cruise with availability through the end of the year.
Got an offer 30 min after submitting (MGM Gold + Caesars Diamond Elite). Interior cabin + 100 freeplay. 3 to 12 nights cruises up to 12/31/23, excluding holidays. Thank you so much !
Did you submit your status cards that expire in January 2021? Also, what format did you upload the images in? I’m having trouble where it keeps saying the image is too large, not in the correct format, or only 1 imagine can be uploaded.
Yes, expiration Jan 22. Had to create 1 image of the 4 pics (fronts & backs), with a really low quality (515kb) for form to accept it.
Sorry I meant January 2022. Thanks! Just submitted and will report back.
I had these issues and so only uploaded a screen shot of the front of my card from the app (Caesars Diamond). Within hours got an offer for a free interior cabin
Did your offer email have the length on it? I got the following offer: Complimentary Interior Cabin + $100 Freeplay with Drinks for two (2) while playing in the casino
Offer Description: Valid on eligible sailings to Alaska, Mexico, Caribbean, Coastal, and Canada/New England from 2022-2023
I don’t see a length on it and trying to figure out what cruises it would be good for.
I called to inquire more and they told me 3 to 10 days. No other limitations besides that and holidays. You can choose any ship or itinerary in the mentioned destinations. Rotterdam is a brand new ship !
Thanks for sharing. Submitted and waiting to hear. Submitted only my MGM gold card to Carnival and have only gotten the $500 off offer so far so I do not have high hopes! Can’t hurt to try.
update: In the note I mentioned I’ve cruised with Celebrity and Oceania and would like to try Holland. Submitted my MGM gold card only and was offered “1: Complimentary Interior Cabin + $100 Freeplay with Drinks for two (2) while playing in the casino
Offer Description: Valid on eligible sailings to Alaska, Mexico, Caribbean, Coastal, and Canada/New England from 2022-2023″
I just entered my request. We will see if and when I get a reply.
it’s been 7 weeks and i still haven’t received anything from my Club Royale Offer Request.
Same. Was looking forward to that one even more than the Carnival offer.
Nick did you do the churning by using your card to put in cash on the On Board cash and then pulling it out at the casino? There have been discussions about it on FT and I was thinking of doing it on my cruise.
I do this every cruise but I pay it off with AARP purchased giftcards (10% off) can use PayPal on AARP if that is a bonus category at the time or use a 2% Cashback card and it’s pretty easy money, 13.1% return on fake spend. I do between 5&15k per cruise depending on length.
Andrew , care to outline the steps? Load card numbers online prior to cruise, take to casino cage, or guest services? Will be multiple gift cards, how much do you spread it out or is it lump sum? 12 night Baltic in July 2023 on Carnival via Casino match, thanks
Sure, so I buy all the GCs ahead of time and print them out to take with – $500 denominations. At slot machine you can add funds with no fee up to 5k/day. At the tables they charge a 3% fee. I generally withdraw it gradually from the cashier while also adding more funds and then make a big final withdrawal/close out on the last evening.
While that’s going on I swing by guest services whenever it’s not really busy and apply the GCs to my account. That’s pretty much it. You can overpay/prepay your account this way too and then just charge in the casino up to whatever it is to minimize trips to guest services.
AARP Gift Cards – I keep hearing about these but don’t have an AARP membership. Is it worth it to get the AARP Membership. Also don’t you have to declare anything above $10k if international. I mean it is technically my money but still don’t want to tangled up in bureaucracy
Also I was just thinking of buying them on Slide at 8% off. Hopefully you can do this on the ship. I was not sure. Did not want to be stuck with a ton of gift cards I could not use otherwise.
Which gc’s are you buying to use on the cruise?
AARP sells carnival gift cards for 10% off. $12,500 worth per month max.
Andrew, have you ever used these on Holland America Cruises specifically? Their CSR told me Carnival GCs can’t be used on these cruises after checking with her supervisor.
Just carnival. AARP also has royal Caribbean and celebrity GCs as well but no Holland America.
Thanks Andrew. Searches suggest Carnival corporate GCs work, but not Carnival retail GCs. Interestingly, getslide.com sells Carnival at 8% discount, and also HA but at 6% discount.
AARP now has Holland America gift cards! I just used $1600 of them today to pay off my “free” casino cruise – but I only spent $1440 thanks to the 10% off. I got the same comped interior room as others in this thread, but we upgraded to a Family Oceanview and will be taking our 2 kids along. Added bonus is that we’re cruising over Thanksgiving (which I wasn’t sure would be allowed, since some others mentioned possible holiday exclusions). So $1440 for a 7 day Thanksgiving cruise where I don’t have to cook or clean, in a very nice room!
Adding one caution: the cruise is completely non-refundable and no changes allowed, except in the first 24 hours after booking. I thought about taking out cancel for any reason trip insurance because of this, but I actually don’t stand to lose that much. I’m in for $1440 total for our cruise, but upon asking an agent, she clarified that we would actually get port fees/taxes back if we cancel, which is $900 for the 4 of us. So my exposure is only $540. Definitely hoping nothing happens to make us cancel, though, as this is a fantastic deal!