What Advisors Should Know About Holland America’s New All-Inclusive Fare

Earlier this month, Holland America Line announced a new all-inclusive fare called Have It All, a new fare that includes shore excursions, drinks, specialty dining, and WiFi all rolled into one.

The fare will be available year-round on all itineraries six days or longer except for Grand Voyages. The fare is valued at $99 per guest per day for a seven-day sailing, which Holland America says is a savings of 50% or more if the amenities were purchased individually.

On Friday, Holland America’s Chief Commercial Officer Beth Bodensteiner spoke to TMR about the fare and how it will impact travel advisors moving forward.

While Have It All won’t be the first time that Holland America has offered an all-inclusive option for guests—the line’s Explore Four promotion, which it tends to offer each summer, had offered a similar option. However, Have It All will be an evergreen promotion that will have a permanent place in Holland America’s offerings.

Bodensteiner told TMR that the fare was partly born out of the pandemic pause.

“We’ve been doing the research and preparation on the offer for several months now because we really took advantage of the pause in our business to take some time and research our guests to find out what onboard amenities were most attractive,” she said.

Impact on advisors and on commissions
For travel advisors, the new fare represents an opportunity to speak to clients who have previously opted against cruising because of confusion over pricing.

The biggest questions coming from first-time cruise guests pre-COVID-19 all revolved around pricing, according to TMR’s debut Outlook on New to Cruise, an inside look at the market for first-time cruisers from the perspective of the front-line sellers, the travel advisors (The report, sponsored by Royal Caribbean Group, which includes Celebrity Cruises, Royal Caribbean International, and Silversea, is now live on TMR here).

Having an all-inclusive fare allows advisors to bypass those questions.

“The pricing can be slightly complicated for a cruise versus other vacation options so I think it does give them peace of mind so they know they can purchase upfront,” Bodensteiner said.

“The promotions are a great tool for travel agents that are trying to explain cruising to a brand new guest that has never cruised before – they can assure them that when they get on board they will not have to worry about these things,” she added.

For travel advisors’ bottom lines, it also “means more commission for them,” Bodensteiner told TMR.

“The fare combines a lot of amenities into the price means a higher fare,” she said. “It’s 100% commissionable.”

The future of cruise fares
For right now, the new fare will exist alongside all of Holland America’s other fares and promotions.

Bodensteiner said that, typically, the team at Holland America sees Have It All having a higher pickup with guests on the shorter sailings, with those on longer cruises opting towards more of an a la carte fare.

However, the increase in all-inclusive fares—Celebrity Cruises made the move to an all-inclusive fare in November 2020 and Virgin Voyages opted to debut with all-inclusive fares—could be a trend for the industry at large.

“It’s hard to see in the future, but we have seen such good response and our sister brands. It is not unheard of to think that that could happen that cruising could become an all-inclusive proposition,” Bodensteiner said.

“I do think this is an evolution of the industry – you’ve already seen many cruise lines move to a similar pricing structure and I think you will continue to see this evolve and move in this direction,” she added.

Holland America operations update
“We are very busy and excited working on a plan to return to service in a safe and healthy way – it’s exciting to be at that point versus where we were a year and six months ago,” Bodensteiner said when asked about Holland America’s return to service.

“I know travel agents that are equally as eager to start earning revenue and earning commissions again and we are looking at ways that we can help accelerate that,” she added.

In terms of demand and bookings, the line is already seeing heavy demand for 2022 and for next summer, including international destinations like Iceland, Greenland, and Newfoundland.

“We’re seeing people are looking forward to being able to travel further from home and checking destinations off of their bucket list,” she said.