New Club Orange

[canadianbear]

34 minutes ago, frankc98376 said:

Hopefully we will see you in April!  Ports are great and the price couldn't be beat 😉

The ports are great aren’t they!  I doubt we will cancel so see you in the Neptune lounge.  Have to get through 3 more cruises before this one! (And hubby still doesn’t know about it yet-it’s his Christmas surprise 😁) 

[twodjs]

Wait a minute. Priority tendering costs HAL $0. Same for all front of the line stuff - no cost. Just a kick in the gut for all those who have been loyal to HAL for a number of years. (Took us almost 25 years to reach 4 star) Do you seriously think the breakfast in Pinnacle needs to be underwritten, given the $500 to $1000 per person, per day Suite guests are paying? And think of the $40 or $50 thousand or more that we've each paid over the years to reach 4 star. HAL is simply being very greedy and short-sighted.  

[sail7seas]

On 12/14/2018 at 4:32 PM, Krazy Kruizers said:

 

 

HAL on the Koningsdam and Nieuw Statendam want the Neptune and Pinnacle Suite passengers to have breakfast in Club Orange.  And soon those suite passengers on the other ships will have a special place to have breakfast in the main dining room. 

 

Doing away with our wonderful breakfasts in the Pinnacle Grill is sad.  JMO

 

[sail7seas]

Since Statendam joined  the fleet and was t he  first HAL ship to have Neptune suites,  we  sailed one her Inaugural season and  in  o nly  Neptunes  for hundreds  of cruisedays  since.   We only sailed in Neptune or Penthouse   BUT  Today, I made it clear I  will not be  a  sucker.      I booked 2 cruises this morning and will be sailing an "R" class ship for both cruises in  a Vista Suite.      HAL has diminished the Neptune product so much and has duplicated too many items into Mariner program that I no longer wish to buy use of a Neptune.  Neptune free laundry is no different than  Mariner Five sstar free  laundry  .  They diminished the value IMO, to the point they finally  chased away one of their most loyal Neptune guests.   Hundreds and  d hundreds of days in Neptune s an d this time I said  "NO"!    I will not buy a product that  hardly resembles how it used to be.

 

IF THEY CHASED ME AWAY FROM NEPTUNES,,,,,,,,,  I wonder how many more  Neptune regulars agree  ???
 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 17, 2018 by sail7seas

[sail7seas]

On 12/15/2018 at 12:07 PM, EDLOS said:

Perhaps someone enlighten me that if you don't want to "where there is a crowd" you are not sailing on Silverseas, Azamara,

 

[/quote]

 

Speaking only for myself.    Because I do Not want to   sail them and please do not race to make assumptions.  often  when one does so, they are very    wrong.

 

I was invited on board   Silverseas  for lunch and   their effort to try to get me to book them     I said yes, to lunch and NO  to booking.

 

 

 

 

 

On 12/15/2018 at 12:07 PM, EDLOS said:

Regent, Oceania, Seabourne, Etc. where for the most part, all of these "Perks" are included.  Also if you compare HAL's number of smaller dining alternatives to MDR with Celebrity, NCL, RCL, etc etc, they are dead last.  Hal seem to have a "Ready, Fire Aim,  management style. It looks like the Club Orange dining room was thought of after the Club Orange concept was implemented. I have been in today's College and Hospital dining venues that look as good or better the above picture

 

[sail7seas]

8 hours ago, kazu said:

 

You remembered correctly, Sail.

 

O does have fans, though 😉  I hope Denise's experience is different than ours and she has a great O cruise.

 

 

Jacqui, Thank you for confirming my memory.  🙂

 

Of course, I, too, wish Denise a   wonderful cruise.   Hope  it is all for which  you wish.

[Despegue]

2 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

Most new restaurants in Calif are "open kitchen" casual - at the highest price points. HAL seeking out younger demographics must have noted this trend. Industrial chic is the term. Sloppy dress required. Minimal to insulting service comes with the package - edgy attitude intended to disempower the customer. Diners are terrified of their food, and now the sneering, disdainful  service ambiance as well. Just reporting what I have been seeing out West for a number of years. 

 

Well here in Culinary Europe, Open Kitchen concept has been popular for ages, and this in many Michelin starred restaurants.

we do NOT dress formal to go to a restaurant, nobody in Continental Europe does anymore, ties are for some work engagements ( less and less actually).

 

That being said, I do very much enjoy a traditional restaurant, with genuine warm smiles, but the World and the HAL passengers are evolving, and that is a good thing.

 

As someone with a passion for Design, I must say that the new Club Orange venue is indeed stale and not attractive.

Blu at Celebrity, combined with an Open Kitchen concept and the Warm HAL service and menus, would be a winner.

 

[RocketMan275]

I'm going to state a minority opinion.  Personally, while I don't think HAL hit a home run with Club Orange, it is a remarkable improvement over the MDR.   The MDR is too crowded, too loud, and too pretentious for our tastes.  Club Orange would provide a venue venue that is not so loud to preclude a conversation, the tables are not so close together that we have to share the conversation on the next table, a more relaxed atmosphere, and where casual clothing is welcome.  If HAL provided a suites only lounge, I would call it a home run.  

[sail7seas]

7 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

Years ago we looked at what appeared to be very good Oceania pricing for a transatlantic, we quickly ran into two deal breakers - no covered lido area for those long TA at-sea days, and no cabins whatsoever available at their offered entry prices.

 

We continue to get at least weekly glossy brochures from Oceania - not sure why they continue such an expensive and unproductive marketing campaign since we never looked at them again.

 

Instead we looked at HAL for a TA and found a fabulous one on the Maasdam at least twice as long, far more interesting ports, covered Lido and easily half the price. At that point, we never looked back and just stuck with HAL whenever we wanted to go anywhere.

 

 

I get an outrageous amount of glossy mail from "O"    I never requested any and wish they would stop wasting money and take me  off their list.

 

I never even read it.

[OlsSalt]

1 hour ago, RocketMan275 said:

I'm going to state a minority opinion.  Personally, while I don't think HAL hit a home run with Club Orange, it is a remarkable improvement over the MDR.   The MDR is too crowded, too loud, and too pretentious for our tastes.  Club Orange would provide a venue venue that is not so loud to preclude a conversation, the tables are not so close together that we have to share the conversation on the next table, a more relaxed atmosphere, and where casual clothing is welcome.  If HAL provided a suites only lounge, I would call it a home run.  

 

Fixed late dining, upper dining room on HAL ships is wonderful. 

[RocketMan275]

8 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

 

Fixed late dining, upper dining room on HAL ships is wonderful. 

I respect the fact that many think the MDR is fabulous but, very frankly, it isn't for us. 

We find the Lido to be a more pleasant experience.  

I believe we would find the Club Orange far more to our liking. 

 

 

Edited December 17, 2018 by RocketMan275

[OlsSalt]

23 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

I respect the fact that many think the MDR is fabulous but, very frankly, it isn't for us. 

We find the Lido to be a more pleasant experience.  

I believe we would find the Club Orange far more to our liking. 

 

 

 

Pays to be discriminatory when dissing the main dining room since the experience is so vastly different depending on when and where one dines in the main dining room. I hate open dining on the lower level. I would always choose the Lido over that. But late fixed in the upper dining room is better than the Pinnacle - except it is free and  the waiters are perfect once they get to know you after the first night. 

[Vict0riann]

I did see seven couples having dinner in Club Orange last night, so the numbers are going up. I have to wonder how many have the benefit compared with how many are using it.

[Doubt It]

It seems to me that on the mass cruise lines the a) complexity of booking a cruise and b) making sure you get what you booked on board, is becoming laughable - for our household it is a total turnoff.

 

Prefer the premium to luxury lines for the straightforwardness of their offerings and on board product. There certainly is less class distinction.

 

I have concern for the ever increasing challenge the staff face in delivering a matrix of individual and cross linked services - must be horrendous. Something has to give.

 

Cruising is fading from our purchasing future due to the constant price increases, on board shrilling for sales, together with declining product value. Our October 2018 cruise on Oceania was an epic failure to deliver and that cruise line will never get our business again. 

 

There are many ways to spend one's $, cruising is just one option.

 

 

[RocketMan275]

14 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

 

Pays to be discriminatory when dissing the main dining room since the experience is so vastly different depending on when and where one dines in the main dining room. I hate open dining on the lower level. I would always choose the Lido over that. But late fixed in the upper dining room is better than the Pinnacle - except it is free and  the waiters are perfect once they get to know you after the first night. 

Glad you enjoy the Upper/Late.  It's not for us.

 

[RocketMan275]

1 hour ago, Vict0riann said:

I did see seven couples having dinner in Club Orange last night, so the numbers are going up. I have to wonder how many have the benefit compared with how many are using it.

Suspect the low turnout might be the result of the way HAL rolled out Club Orange.

[frankc98376]

47 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Suspect the low turnout might be the result of the way HAL rolled out Club Orange.

Bright lights, uncomfortable furniture, restaurant vent hoods over the tables, view of people walking to MDR.   Not my definition of fine dining. I don't need 12 TV's that all tell me I am in Club Orange. Also with no carpet and all hard sided furniture I'd guess that when full this will be a very noisy venue. One picture that was posted at breakfast had no tablecloths on tables- appeared to be paper place mats (hopefully they weren't paper). Appeared to me as a last minute change without much planning.

 

Likely we won't be on the Pinnacle ships anytime soon.  If CO is added to other ships in MDR won't affect us as dinner for us is always the PG.  We don't like the noise and activity in MDR so  breakfast would most likely be room service- they will just need more room service staff. Maybe suite passengers should order room service and carry it to the NL to join friends 🙂

 

My suggestion would be keep Club Orange for those that want to pay for it and keep the NS/PS breakfast in the PG. I want a quiet breakfast in a nice place with a view of the ocean from my table.

Edited December 18, 2018 by frankc98376

[EDLOS]

19 hours ago, sail7seas said:

 

[/quote]

 

Speaking only for myself.    Because I do Not want to   sail them and please do not race to make assumptions.  often  when one does so, they are very    wrong.

 

I was invited on board   Silverseas  for lunch and   their effort to try to get me to book them     I said yes, to lunch and NO  to booking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting, your luncheon on a Silverseas ship was certainly an in depth experience  on whether to cruise with them or not.

Have you done other similar in depth investigations on Seabourne, Regent, etc. etc. and crossed them off your list of possibles.

Going on this site as a non-member, I discovered many of the posts by others  were "Edited" by "Sail7 seas"

Help me understand what your role is on HAL posts please.

These are the posts as a non CC member you cannot reply too.

[OlsSalt]

1 hour ago, Doubt It said:

It seems to me that on the mass cruise lines the a) complexity of booking a cruise and b) making sure you get what you booked on board, is becoming laughable - for our household it is a total turnoff.

 

Prefer the premium to luxury lines for the straightforwardness of their offerings and on board product. There certainly is less class distinction.

 

I have concern for the ever increasing challenge the staff face in delivering a matrix of individual and cross linked services - must be horrendous. Something has to give.

 

Cruising is fading from our purchasing future due to the constant price increases, on board shrilling for sales, together with declining product value. Our October 2018 cruise on Oceania was an epic failure to deliver and that cruise line will never get our business again. 

 

There are many ways to spend one's $, cruising is just one option.

 

 

 

We cruise to travel. HAL delivers.

[RocketMan275]

2 hours ago, frankc98376 said:

Bright lights, uncomfortable furniture, restaurant vent hoods over the tables, view of people walking to MDR.   Not my definition of fine dining. I don't need 12 TV's that all tell me I am in Club Orange. Also with no carpet and all hard sided furniture I'd guess that when full this will be a very noisy venue. One picture that was posted at breakfast had no tablecloths on tables- appeared to be paper place mats (hopefully they weren't paper). Appeared to me as a last minute change without much planning.

 

Where did  you see pictures of vent hoods and no table cloths?

[frankc98376]

11 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Where did  you see pictures of vent hoods and no table cloths?

Picture below was labeled as breakfast- came from a passenger on inaugural.  There is someone sitting

at a table on the right

[terrydtx]

35 minutes ago, frankc98376 said:

Picture below was labeled as breakfast- came from a passenger on inaugural.  There is someone sitting

at a table on the right

Looks like a college dorm cafeteria and how uncomfortable can the backs of those chair be?  Supposedly for dinner the tables get white tablecloths.

[OlsSalt]

1 minute ago, terrydtx said:

Looks like a college dorm cafeteria and how uncomfortable can the backs of those chair be?  Supposedly for dinner the tables get white tablecloths.

 

Chairs have reasonable back support at two key pressure points. Not sure I  even use a back rest that much when I am sitting and dining - more leaning forward. College dorm or edgy restaurant yes- but after all table cloths are now deemed bad for the environment - water, energy, chemicals, waste water, cotton farming depletes soil - etc, etc.  One sees them less and less. And less.

[terrydtx]

1 minute ago, OlsSalt said:

 

Chairs have reasonable back support at two key pressure points. Not sure I  even use a back rest that much when I am sitting and dining - more leaning forward. College dorm or edgy restaurant yes- but after all table cloths are now deemed bad for the environment - water, energy, chemicals, waste water, cotton farming depletes soil - etc, etc.  One sees them less and less. And less.

But I still haven't seen anything to make me want to spend an extra $50pp/day or $700 per couple on a 7 night cruise. I see this whole concept going down in flames.

[sail7seas]

On 10/28/2018 at 6:06 AM, kazu said:

And I will, Ann 😄

 

TIA,   to both of you.   🙂

On 10/28/2018 at 6:06 AM, kazu said: