Review of the Excellent Club Orange experience on the Koningsdam

[ZSandy25]

No need to respond to my question, I went to HAL site and read all I need to know...I put my lazy mind to work😃

[3rdGenCunarder]

34 minutes ago, ZSandy25 said:

This may have already been answered if so please excuse my lazy mind for not doing a search😉  Is there a standard cost per day? Do you have to book for the entire cruise? Does CO have to be booked before your cruise starts?  

Thanks...

 

You have to book for the whole cruise. It's $35 on the two Pinnacle ships and $25 for the rest of the fleet. That's per person per day and both people must book it. (3rd and 4th in the cabin are free)

 

Sometimes people get an offer from HAL for $15 pppd, but I don't recall seeing that for the Pinnacle ships, just some of the others. 

 

I don't know about booking on board. 

 

(Answered before I saw your second post)

Edited September 24, 2019 by 3rdGenCunarder

[SempreMare]

18 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Yes, Neptune suites get CO. 

 

This thread makes me wish I checked out Club Orange on the Westerdam to experience the open kitchen. 

 

Is Club Orange restaurant open later than the MDR for dinner? 

 

In the 1 MDR dinner I attended while on the Westerdam in Alaska,  I did see the Club Orange sign off to the right, but I thought it was just priority seating with the same menu.  Not an open kitchen with a different menu.  

 

FYI: 

Before ordering at my MDR assigned table, the server did say to me, without my asking, "because you have Club Orange, you have an extra choice of entree."   The extra choice was a Cajun entree which I've eaten often here in Texas so I stayed with the MDR menu.   

 

I thought it was cool that the server knew I was in a Neptune Suite and therefore had Club Orange, and he made sure to make the offer.

 

ps: @Fredrik thank you for the pictures.

 

Edited September 24, 2019 by SempreMare

[3rdGenCunarder]

19 minutes ago, SempreMare said:

This thread makes me wish I checked out Club Orange on the Westerdam to experience the open kitchen. 

 

Is Club Orange restaurant open later than the MDR for dinner? 

 

In the 1 MDR dinner I attended while on the Westerdam in Alaska,  I did see the Club Orange sign off to the right, but I thought it was just priority seating with the same menu.  Not an open kitchen with a different menu.  

 

FYI: 

Before ordering at my MDR assigned table, the server did say to me, without my asking, "because you have Club Orange, you have an extra choice of entree."   The extra choice was a Cajun entree which I've eaten often here in Texas so I stayed with the MDR menu.   

 

I thought it was cool that the server knew I was in a Neptune Suite and therefore had Club Orange, and he made sure to make the offer.

 

ps: @Fredrik thank you for the pictures.

 

 

Don't have regrets. Westerdam does not have the separate CO restaurant with the open kitchen. That is only on the two newest  (Pinnacle class) ships. 

 

[Lovecruisestoo]

On 9/23/2019 at 6:58 PM, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Yes, Neptune suites get CO. 

 

They have no choice!   No longer is breakfast served in the Pinnacle Grill for Neptune Suite guests.  A MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT FOR SUITE GUESTS.     The Club Orange venue served a decent breakfast but was nothing out of the ordinary.  The location has huge glass windows where people are walking by.  The room service menu only has a few additions.  Hate this change.

[travelqueen101]

On 9/24/2019 at 2:25 PM, SempreMare said:

This thread makes me wish I checked out Club Orange on the Westerdam to experience the open kitchen. 

 

Is Club Orange restaurant open later than the MDR for dinner? 

 

In the 1 MDR dinner I attended while on the Westerdam in Alaska,  I did see the Club Orange sign off to the right, but I thought it was just priority seating with the same menu.  Not an open kitchen with a different menu.  

 

FYI: 

Before ordering at my MDR assigned table, the server did say to me, without my asking, "because you have Club Orange, you have an extra choice of entree."   The extra choice was a Cajun entree which I've eaten often here in Texas so I stayed with the MDR menu.   

 

I thought it was cool that the server knew I was in a Neptune Suite and therefore had Club Orange, and he made sure to make the offer.

 

ps: @Fredrik thank you for the pictures.

 

I just sailed on the Niewu Statendam and was offered by HAL CO at a cost of $300 pp for my 12 day cruise and it is SO worth it!!!  This was offered 2 weeks before the cruise.  They are open for breakfast (love the unlimited complimentary mimosas) and dinner.  Although the menu is pretty much same as the MDR, nothing beats the quality of service the wait staff gave and the concept of the open kitchen.   Its also nice after one meal they all know your name. I wish they were open for lunch.  This is only offered before the cruise.  We tried the MDR on our first day of the cruise and hated it.  Once we ate in CO we never went back to the MDR!!

[3rdGenCunarder]

3 hours ago, Lovecruisestoo said:

They have no choice!   No longer is breakfast served in the Pinnacle Grill for Neptune Suite guests.  A MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT FOR SUITE GUESTS.     The Club Orange venue served a decent breakfast but was nothing out of the ordinary.  The location has huge glass windows where people are walking by.  The room service menu only has a few additions.  Hate this change.

 

I was worried in January when I found out about CO on K'dam. DH and I did a winter Caribbean cruise on HAL every year, and that was going to be my first solo on that tradition. I like fixed dining at a large table, always have. And the large table was especially important to me, as I didn't want to eat dinner alone. I also did not like that I would have to give up the PG breakfast. 

 

I looked at CO and the glass box and I could see that it was almost all 2's and 4's. I knew I'd end up alone or, worse, added to a couple at a 4-top, who did not want an extra person (I had that at breakfast one morning, very uncomfortable). Now, if DH had still been with me, it would have been ideal, as we had to change our habits to a table for two the last few years because of his medical issues. But I was alone and the thought of CO made me dread the cruise. I went straight to the concierge and demanded to get my original dining arrangements reinstated. She did that for me and I ended up at a table with very nice people, and it was even in a quiet corner of the MDR, so we could chat pleasantly. 

 

I have to disagree about the breakfast. I did give that a try the first morning. PG ambiance is better IMO, but the CO food was definitely out of the ordinary. Not the menu choices, but the freshness. Cooked to order and delivered to my table instantly. I sat by myself at a 2-top, read my little newspaper, and enjoyed excellent breakfasts. Staff were VERY nice to me. They must have known I had opted out of dinner there because it seemed that everyone but the chef came over to see if everything was OK. CO was new, and they were obviously concerned that it would be well received. I had breakfast there every morning except for a few days when I had early excursions and did room service instead. When I came back, I was asked if everything was all right, did I have any problems about CO, etc. I reassured them that I was happy with breakfast, but needed to eat earlier a few times. 

 

 

[Himself]

I was a passenger on the Nieuw Statendam in late February and early March.  I had a membership in Club Orange and had breakfast and Dinner there each night and I enjoyed it very much. 

[BarbarianPaul]

15 hours ago, travelqueen101 said:

I just sailed on the Niewu Statendam and was offered by HAL CO at a cost of $300 pp for my 12 day cruise and it is SO worth it!!!  This was offered 2 weeks before the cruise.  They are open for breakfast (love the unlimited complimentary mimosas) and dinner.  Although the menu is pretty much same as the MDR, nothing beats the quality of service the wait staff gave and the concept of the open kitchen.   Its also nice after one meal they all know your name. I wish they were open for lunch.  This is only offered before the cruise.  We tried the MDR on our first day of the cruise and hated it.  Once we ate in CO we never went back to the MDR!!

I’m glad you liked it, but I have an issue with what I regard as a lack of value. For an additional $600, you managed to pay for the same food you’d get in the MDR, in a smaller space whose windows on a busy corridor remind me of a fishbowl. Of course you did get more personalized service, but I’ve never had an issue with the service in the MDR. And the MDR is pretty much open for breakfast all the time too. 
The open kitchen is a nice feature, of course. But, again, the food is the same, so who cares?

For that same $600, you could have eaten at least half of your dinners in a specialty restaurant, or even all of them, depending on your Mariner status.

 

Edited October 4, 2019 by BarbarianPaul
Didn’t make a comment

[travelqueen101]

we paid 1/2 for CO ($300) - it was offered to us 2 weeks before the cruise - I would not normally have paid the $600.  when we showed up at MDR on the first night, they never had put together a table for us (they told us it was a sitting issue) - they had to create one which was practically on top of another one way in the back of the room and the waiter was never even friendly.  also, CO gave us priority check-in and check out - it literally took us 10 minutes from entering the terminal to our room and first to disembark.  the breakfast menu was different, for example, if you wanted an omelette - they made you whatever you wanted.  dinners, if there was something you wanted different, no problem, they did it.  i much preferred the smaller space, met really nice people.  I never realized or let the corridor bother me.  the MDR for breakfast was not open all the time.  it was opened i believe for maybe 90 minutes or so?  don't recall.  specialty restaurant, we ate in the Pinnincal Grill one night.    

[sofietucker]

On the Kdam a couple of years ago, we ate at a great little restaurant that had morphed from the Test Kitchen: happy cordial servers, great music, an exciting vibe--and fabulous food! Glass box on corridor, open kitchen, right next to Sel de Mer. Sounds like CO has replaced it...

Also, remember the one-night Le Cirque in the Pinnacle? Now replaced by De Librije. According to pics above, these are the same Cirque plates! Funny.

Looking forward to it.

[RocketMan275]

On 10/4/2019 at 10:05 AM, BarbarianPaul said:

 For an additional $600, you managed to pay for the same food you’d get in the MDR, in a smaller space whose windows on a busy corridor remind me of a fishbowl.

 

If you think dining in Club Orange is dining in a fishbowl you must think dining in the MDR is dining in an aquarium.  I very loud and crowded aquarium. 

[BarbarianPaul]

1 hour ago, RocketMan275 said:

If you think dining in Club Orange is dining in a fishbowl you must think dining in the MDR is dining in an aquarium.  I very loud and crowded aquarium. 

No, not at all. I love looking out at the sea, not a hallway where people walk by and look in!

But Club Orange is actually part of the MDR in most HA ships. I’m certainly not saying the MDR is perfect, but I don’t believe paying for basically the same menu in a smaller venue is a good value.

[RocketMan275]

12 hours ago, BarbarianPaul said:

No, not at all. I love looking out at the sea, not a hallway where people walk by and look in!

But Club Orange is actually part of the MDR in most HA ships. I’m certainly not saying the MDR is perfect, but I don’t believe paying for basically the same menu in a smaller venue is a good value.

CO on the Pinnacle Class ships offers an excellent way to escape the loud and crowded MDR.  There are very few opportunities to see the sea from the MDR especially after dark when most dine.

[Mosaic]

CO is a downgrade for Neptune Suite guests

[RocketMan275]

18 minutes ago, Mosaic said:

CO is a downgrade for Neptune Suite guests

I really don't understand why. 

On all the ships except the Pinnacle Class, CO has changed nothing.

On the Pinnacle Class, breakfast for suites has moved to the CO area.

While some might consider that a downgrade, it is IMHO, a minor downgrade.

That minor downgrade is more than offset by suites guests having a less crowded, less hectic, and less noisy dinner experience.

 

FWIW, I wouldn't pay extra for CO on any ship except the Pinnacle Class.  Even, as a suites guest, I might pay extra for the improved dinner experience on a Pinnacle Class.

[*Miss G*]

My sentiments mirror RocketMan’s exactly.

[Vict0riann]

I believe you must book it ahead of time, and also sometimes the price is reduced.  I think it was US$35 a day pp on our Koningsdam cruise in October.  

 

We haven’t ever had it, and it seems to me to be a bit like eating in a fishbowl as you walk past.  But I have to admit I rather envied the people in there, eating their dinners in peace and quiet.  The dining room on Koningsdam is a chaotic and noisy scene.  The acoustics are terrible.  

 

On the ships without a dedicated CO, people with the orange key card just get to jump the queue and are taken into a special area of the regular lower dining room, I believe.

 

PS I guess I needn’t have written any of that.  I only read page one of the thread before I wrote it. 

Edited November 18, 2019 by Vict0riann

[BarbarianPaul]

We’re currently on the Noordam in New Zealand. My wife and I do not have a set dining time, but generally arrive at the MDR around 7 or 7:30, the most popular times. This has been a fantastic 33 day cruise from Honolulu. One of the many aspects we’ve appreciated is that we were given a pager only once to wait for seating...virtually every other time we’ve been seated immediately, always at our requested table for two. 
 

So, at least for us, the immediate seating provided by CO, in the exact venue, would have been meaningless. We’re also four star, so the priority tendering, and priority disembarkation/embarkation, is already a benefit we enjoy. 

 

I agree that the CO on pinnacle class ships must certainly be a little more sedate. But, as we’ve all discussed, it doesn’t look out on the ocean. It looks out on a hallway. And the tables are still close together, albeit less in total number because the room is relatively small. But we enjoy the energy and activity of the MDR, and when we want a break, we can always go to a specialty restaurant. 

Re the observation that the MDR offers no views of the ocean during dinner because its dark out there...well, that depends where you are! We’ve enjoyed amazing ocean views down here for the last several weeks, as well as in the Baltic last summer.

 

[*Miss G*]

The first time I ever looked upon a body of water during dinner (with the exception of a PG) was in the Club Orange venue on Koningsdam.  Up until and since then, all of my assigned tables in the MDR have been well away from any window or view.

 

Just saying.

[BarbarianPaul]

8 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

The first time I ever looked upon a body of water during dinner (with the exception of a PG) was in the Club Orange venue on Koningsdam.  Up until and since then, all of my assigned tables in the MDR have been well away from any window or view.

 

Just saying.

We’ve never had an assigned table. And once the Maitre d learned that our preference was to sit near a window, he’s been pretty good at delivering on this.

[ColoRockiesFan]

On 10/3/2019 at 7:50 PM, travelqueen101 said:

I just sailed on the Niewu Statendam and was offered by HAL CO at a cost of $300 pp for my 12 day cruise and it is SO worth it!!!  This was offered 2 weeks before the cruise.  They are open for breakfast (love the unlimited complimentary mimosas) and dinner.  Although the menu is pretty much same as the MDR, nothing beats the quality of service the wait staff gave and the concept of the open kitchen.   Its also nice after one meal they all know your name. I wish they were open for lunch.  This is only offered before the cruise.  We tried the MDR on our first day of the cruise and hated it.  Once we ate in CO we never went back to the MDR!!

Completely agree! As a lowly one star HAL newbie, sailing solo, selecting Club Orange was the best choice ever! I am now thoroughly spoiled and cannot imagine sailing again without booking Club Orange. I ate every breakfast and dinner in CO. I loved everything! The food, the staff, the ambiance, etc. I got an email invite about 2 weeks before sailing for an extra charge of $25/day. I not only got CO but an upgraded cabin + several other perks. For me, this was very worth the extra money. I only wish CO was open for lunch as well. 

[LewiLewi]

23 minutes ago, ColoRockiesFan said:

Completely agree! As a lowly one star HAL newbie, sailing solo, selecting Club Orange was the best choice ever! I am now thoroughly spoiled and cannot imagine sailing again without booking Club Orange. I ate every breakfast and dinner in CO. I loved everything! The food, the staff, the ambiance, etc. I got an email invite about 2 weeks before sailing for an extra charge of $25/day. I not only got CO but an upgraded cabin + several other perks. For me, this was very worth the extra money. I only wish CO was open for lunch as well. 

We passed CO on the Koningsdam every day on our way to the MDR. It does not have any water views but looks out on a hallway where people pass by on their way to the MDR. We enjoy sitting with other people, and it looked like every one in CO was sitting at tables for two.

IMO it is just another gimmick for HAL to make an extra buck.

[ColoRockiesFan]

9 minutes ago, LewiLewi said:

We passed CO on the Koningsdam every day on our way to the MDR. It does not have any water views but looks out on a hallway where people pass by on their way to the MDR. We enjoy sitting with other people, and it looked like every one in CO was sitting at tables for two.

IMO it is just another gimmick for HAL to make an extra buck.

I had a table near the window (and hallway) and had good water views. I saw a pod of about 35 dolphins pass. Saw some nice sunsets and watched a few boats pass by. The people watching as folks passed by was really fun as well. There are several tables for 4 as well as a few tables for 6. Although I preferred a table for 2, I got to know and converse with others seated near me (if we were in the mood). 

 

Photos below are of CO from my table and also of the windows. 

[RMLincoln]

On 12/25/2019 at 9:04 AM, LewiLewi said:

...

IMO it is just another gimmick for HAL to make an extra buck.

 

If some people are happy to pay extra for what they deem is worth it to them, I'm fine with that, and fine with HAL making an extra buck!  That'll help keep my cruise price down, better value for me!    I believe the base price for CO - before discounts - is $50pd/p, and at that rate we can almost buy another cruise, at least sometimes.  

 

I will say that the MDR on Koningsdam was so noisy at peak times that we were happy to eat at later times.  The wait stations are very large, very busy and with so many people, plates, tableware rattling around it could be rather unpleasant, IMO.  I can certainly understand some people being willing to pay for a calmer venue.  m--