Club Orange

[Atlantic Canada]

We are sailing on the Konningsdam in November and have received an invitation for a Club Orange upgrade (for a price). Has anyone done this and if so is it worth the extra money

[canadianbear]

There are lots of threads about this with a lot of different opinions.  You might do a search and read through them.  Only then can you make a decision on if you think it’s worth it. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

try these threads, which I found in a search for "orange" in titles

 

 

 

[highland cruiser]

Only Neptune and Pinnacle suites receive Club Orange at no additional cost. 

We were offered it on the  Amsterdam 14 days to Alaska in September for $15 pp.   We declined as being 5 star we have most of the offers Club Orange make. Later on we took an upsell to a Neptune.  Enjoyed the extra entrée a few nights.  But even if we hadn't been in a Neptune suite,  we wouldn't have purchased it just for the extra entrée .  Never tried the breakfast.  Pinnacle was great.   We even did the Lido on early tour days and were very happy with that.  

Only you can decide it if is worth the extra money.  There are a lot of interesting views about Club Orange.

 

[sevenseasnomad]

On an upcoming B2B on Nieuw Statendam, the early fixed seating has been reserved by a huge group who's aboard the 2nd week.  Since we prefer the early fixed, we chose to buy CO (for more reasons than that, which I won't go into here) rather than deal with making reservations etc.  Now, we're actually getting excited about it.  After those cruises, I'll report on whether this extra purchase was worth the money for us.  

 

Of course, someone else may feel differently.  I believe each passenger has to weigh the advantages/disadvantages for himself/herself and purchase or not purchase accordingly.

Edited November 1, 2019 by sevenseasnomad

[Crusinsusan2]

Can only speak for us and our CO experience on the Koningsdam that was included with a Neptune suite.  We are 4* mariners so most of the perks we already had with the exception of the designated dining space for breakfast and dinner. Best experience ever for dining and service in all our years with HAL for breakfast and dinners. LOVE and frequent the specialty restaurants before, during and since but what we experienced on the K dining in Club Orange would be something we would pay for if booking less than a suite that included it. Having said that, can't image upgrading for it on any ship that did not have a separate chef & open kitchen, dining area and service specifically devoted  to the space like the Koningsdam.  

     

[Ken the cruiser]

11 hours ago, Atlantic Canada said:

We are sailing on the Konningsdam in November and have received an invitation for a Club Orange upgrade (for a price). Has anyone done this and if so is it worth the extra money

What type of cabin are you in and did the invite include refaring your existing cabin rate to equal the cheapest available fare in the meta category you’re currently booked in without you having to give up your existing cabin?
 

OTOH if you are in the cheapest cabin in your meta category, will they also allow you to upgrade to the most expensive cabin that is currently available in that category without an addition charge? If so that difference in cabin rates, depending on your current booking, may help you figure out what the net cost would be if you purchase the CO for $35 pp. Who knows, depending on your booked category, the cabin fare difference may be more than $35 pp/day. 

[*Miss G*]

19 hours ago, Crusinsusan2 said:

Can only speak for us and our CO experience on the Koningsdam that was included with a Neptune suite.  We are 4* mariners so most of the perks we already had with the exception of the designated dining space for breakfast and dinner. Best experience ever for dining and service in all our years with HAL for breakfast and dinners. LOVE and frequent the specialty restaurants before, during and since but what we experienced on the K dining in Club Orange would be something we would pay for if booking less than a suite that included it. Having said that, can't image upgrading for it on any ship that did not have a separate chef & open kitchen, dining area and service specifically devoted  to the space like the Koningsdam.  

     

 

My experience exactly mirrors Crusinsusan.  I would absolutely purchase CO on a Pinnacle-class ship if I wasn’t in a Neptune.  It is worthwhile to me because I strongly dislike the Lido and the MDR.  The CO venue suits my preferences perfectly.

[3rdGenCunarder]

20 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

What type of cabin are you in and did the invite include refaring your existing cabin rate to equal the cheapest available fare in the meta category you’re currently booked in without you having to give up your existing cabin?
 

OTOH if you are in the cheapest cabin in your meta category, will they also allow you to upgrade to the most expensive cabin that is currently available in that category without an addition charge? If so that difference in cabin rates, depending on your current booking, may help you figure out what the net cost would be if you purchase the CO for $35 pp. Who knows, depending on your booked category, the cabin fare difference may be more than $35 pp/day. 

 

Where did you see the part about refaring to the lowest fare in the metacategory? I thought the only option was an upgrade "if available."

 

[Ken the cruiser]

23 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Where did you see the part about refaring to the lowest fare in the metacategory? I thought the only option was an upgrade "if available."

 

I recently asked our HAL PCC 5 booking questions related to CO which he subsequently provided the answers to that I then posted on the “big” multi page CO thread. Here were the answers to my #4 question. I’d repost all 5 here, but I didn’t want to abuse the OP’s thread. 

4. If the overall price of the cabin subsequently goes down or new promotions become available which makes economical sense to refare the booking to take advantage of those changes, can we refare the now CO booking or does the entire booking become nonrefundable at that time of the CO purchase?

A: You can only refare prior to when cancel fees begin. Cancel fees begin immediately, whenever a booking is made with a restricted fare/non-refundable deposit promo. So again, depends on the type of promotion you're booked with and also when you try to make this change.

[Ken the cruiser]

53 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Where did you see the part about refaring to the lowest fare in the metacategory? I thought the only option was an upgrade "if available."

 

For the refare of a CO booking to work the best, the OP’s original booking would have to have been the cheapest fare in the meta category BEFORE upgrading to CO. It wouldn’t be of much benefit from my understanding if they had originally booked the highest category prior to upgrading to CO. 

Edited November 2, 2019 by Ken the cruiser