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New to HAL - Questions


rhinomike
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Hello,

 

We are not new to cruising. We have about 50 cruises under our belts. But primarily with Carnival, NCL and Royal Caribbean.  This will be our first time on HAL and we are excited to give it a try. I am wondering if there is some type of VIP or front of the line passes that you can purchase on HAL. Carnival has faster to the fun, RC has the key program. NCL has excellent suite benefits. 
 

We are currently booked this July sailing in Europe on the Nieu Statendam. We have balcony cabins reserved. I was thinking about upgrading to a suite. Are there any perks when upgrading to a suite besides a larger room?  NCL has priority boarding, debarkation, tendering, reserved show seating, butler and some others. What does HAL offer?  Is it worth paying extra for the suite?    
 

Thank you in advance. The advice is greatly appreciated. 

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So doing a little research I found out about Club Orange. Also I found out my wife had already purchased it with our two Verandah Cabins. It was $2500 for our group of 5. To upgrade us to suites would be $3000. Do the club orange perks come with the suites or would I still need the club orange package?  Thank you. 

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15 minutes ago, rhinomike said:

Hello,

 

We are not new to cruising. We have about 50 cruises under our belts. But primarily with Carnival, NCL and Royal Caribbean.  This will be our first time on HAL and we are excited to give it a try. I am wondering if there is some type of VIP or front of the line passes that you can purchase on HAL. Carnival has faster to the fun, RC has the key program. NCL has excellent suite benefits. 

 

 

If you don’t want to upgrade to a suite, you could look at Club Orange.  I’d be tempted to wait until closer to sailing in the hopes there is a “deal” on it but Club Orange will give you a special dining area for breakfast and dinner with an additional entree that is not offered in the MDR.  Also gives priority embarkation, tendering and a special line at the front desk.  (I’m sure there are a couple of other benefits I’ve forgotten).

 

15 minutes ago, rhinomike said:

 


 

We are currently booked this July sailing in Europe on the Nieu Statendam. We have balcony cabins reserved. I was thinking about upgrading to a suite. Are there any perks when upgrading to a suite besides a larger room?  NCL has priority boarding, debarkation, tendering, reserved show seating, butler and some others. What does HAL offer?  Is it worth paying extra for the suite?    
 

Thank you in advance. The advice is greatly appreciated. 

 

To get any “real” benefits on HAL you need to book a Neptune Suite or above.  No butler service but there is the Neptune Lounge with concierges that take care of basically anything you need.  They take care of specialty restaurant reservations, shore excursions, front desk duties, etc.  No free bar but there is priority boarding, disembarkation & tendering.  Neptune Suites have all of the Club O benefits along with free laundry, drycleaning and pressing.  Coffee machine in the room, Bose speaker, lots of space.  I’m sure I’ve forgotten a few benefits but that’s it in a nutshell.

 

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What kind of suite are you considering?  The Neptune suites have the most perks.

 

Is the $3,000 on top of the $2,500 you already paid for Club Orange?

Edited by Roz
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5 minutes ago, rhinomike said:

So doing a little research I found out about Club Orange. Also I found out my wife had already purchased it with our two Verandah Cabins. It was $2500 for our group of 5. To upgrade us to suites would be $3000. Do the club orange perks come with the suites or would I still need the club orange package?  Thank you. 

 

Club Orange perks come with the Neptune suites - not the Signature nor Vista Suites.

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25 minutes ago, rhinomike said:

Do the club orange perks come with the suites or would I still need the club orange package?  Thank you. 

 

The Club Orange comes automatically with the Neptune and Pinnacle suites, no extra charge. The N and P guests also have privileged embarkation and don't need tender tickets for tender rides. Just show up and join the line at the end if there is one. Laundry service is included and it is done very well. These suites  have a separate lounge with first rate concierges. They make reservations for you and help you in any which way. The lounges have snacks and the only decent coffee according to my husband. I drink tea or hot chocolate. Although the lounge itself is a windowless space, it is great for the concierges, the coffee, the newspaper excerpts, the books (The Koningsdam had no library, the Nieu Statendam probably doesn't either).

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2 hours ago, Roz said:

What kind of suite are you considering?  The Neptune suites have the most perks.

 

Is the $3,000 on top of the $2,500 you already paid for Club Orange?

  It was $3k more to upgrade to a basic suite. Not the Neptune class suite. That is on top of the $2500 we spent on club orange. With the info I read here I will keep our Verandah Cabin with the Club Orange. To go up to Neptune suites was an additional $10k. 

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I didn't see it mentioned, but suites (even Vista Suites) give you double "days" i.e. loyalty points in the Mariner Society. Just for the first two people in a room, I believe. If you get the suite as an "upsell" i.e. paid upgrade for a lower rate, it will not give you the double-days.

 

Spending "bonus days" comes at a rate of $300 per point to the first two in the cabin. Pretty sure that your up-payment for Club Orange counts as bonus spending, whereas paying for the Suite would not.

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One thing to consider is the largest HAL ship is dwarfed by most of the ships on the cruise lines you mentioned.  I sailed a full capacity Koningsdam last spring.  The only time we encountered issues was reboarding the ship  at Half Moon Cay and dinner.  We didn’t have a set dining time.  If I were to go again I would be sure to have fixed dining

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