Premium Cruise Line Adds EZpay Payment Plan

You may be able to budget for that bucket list world cruise, after all. Holland America’s new EZpay payments plan may make it possible. Did I mention it’s interest-free?

Holland America’s EZpay lets you pay off your cruise vacation over time in equal installments. The payments for the balance of the cruise are spread out until the time of final payment. Payments are auto-charged to your credit card every month. Think QVC without the inflated price tag.

With enough lead-time, if you book your Holland America world cruise (or any Holland America cruise) far enough in advance, of course your payments will be smaller and hopefully…less painful on you and your wallet.

If you need to change your mind, you can as Holland America states, “opt out at any time without penalty.” Just note that this must be before final payment date.

How Holland America EZpay works

Almost all of Holland America Line’s worldwide itineraries are eligible for EZpay. You just have to set it up before the final payment deadline. After you’ve paid your cruise deposit, EZpay charges your credit card once a month. The way the installment payments are calculated, you’ll have paid the cruise balance in full by the final payment deadline with no additional fees.

When setting up EZpay, you can choose the date of the monthly charge. A confirmation is sent to you after each payment. You can also add extra funds towards your cruise balance. The remaining balance is  then recalculated in equal monthly amounts.

How to sign up

To sign up for EZpay, you can request it when booking your cruise either with a travel agent or a Holland America Line representative. If you don’t set it up when you make your first deposit, you can set up EZpay at any time leading up to final payment.

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I was curious about this so I asked Holland America what would happen if the price of the cruise should drop? Basically, I was thinking that if someone made their deposit say, 18 months in advance and at four months before sailing, the price drops. The answer was yes, you can have the rate adjusted.

Of course there are conditions to consider such as the type of promotion under which you originally booked your cruise. Some promotional prices have restrictions so it’s really important to read the fine print before locking in that deal.

All in all, I think this is fantastic. For those on fixed incomes, this is a way to plan ahead for whatever cruise you’ve dreamed of taking. For me, I may look at Holland America’s Voyage of the Vikings for 2021 as soon as the rates are published. I’d rather sign up for EZpay at maybe $300 a month for 20 months or more. Take it from my food budget! It’s totally easier for me to plan for a monthly deduction than forking out $4,500+ all at once. And with no interest and it’s cancelable, why not!