Have it All now Excluded from Honor Bar in Neptune Lounge

[JeffElizabeth]

5 hours ago, AncientWanderer said:

 

Remember that suite guests do get the Club Orange dining room for dinner on the new ships.  That's a cool new amenity.

 

My wife loves the Club Orange restaurant,  I am fine with the main dining room. I do admit the service is very good in the Club Orange. 

[scooter6139]

35 minutes ago, AncientWanderer said:

 

Do officers still mingle with guests on other cruise lines?  I thought access to the bridge and officer mingling went the way of the dodo because of Covid.  

NCL has a Meet the Captian if you are in the Haven.  Princess had an Officer Mingle during a special Happy Hour during our last Discovery voyage (think it was during the Captains Diner) 

[vino100]

9 hours ago, kazu said:

here was always a reception for the Neptune Suite passengers with officers.  On the Prinsendam it was in the Captain’s Day room with wonderful hors d’hoevre.

 

 There was a suite luncheon (usually in the Pinnacle Grill).  There were often VIP parties with officers and Neptune Suites were included in those.

 

Things like a bridge tour, ship’s tour, etc would be offered on certain ships and there was priority given to Neptune Suites in choosing their tables in the MDR pre-cruise.

 

I absolutely rember all the perks you mentioned. Sadly I think they are a thing of the past. Fond memories for sure. 

[oakridger]

8 hours ago, dfrohman said:

I can't confirm it but it was posted on another forum that HAL has just rescinded that policy and the honor drinks in the NL are once again included in the drink package. 

 

Thanks.  Can you provide a little more information on this or direct us to it? 

 

~Nancy

[aussiedisneyfan]

3 hours ago, oakridger said:

 

Thanks.  Can you provide a little more information on this or direct us to it? 

 

~Nancy

There was a post from somebody onboard saying it had been rescinded.  It was on another chat forum so we cannot post a link.

[Tampa Girl]

On 6/14/2023 at 3:47 PM, Live4cruises said:

That's just silly!  They just included them not long ago. The concierges in my experience were well aware of activity around the lounge, and people were good about reporting what was poured. The concierges just made a note of it. I never did pay attention to see if those were included in a daily count. 

 

Since the purchase of the drinks were on an honor system, I assume that the concierges did not have the ship's cards to register the drinks automatically.  At any other bar throughout the ship, you have to have the card.  Lacking that, there is a lot of additional work on the part of the concierges to enter the information manually, so I can understand why that might be a reason for the change.

[dfrohman]

9 hours ago, oakridger said:

 

Thanks.  Can you provide a little more information on this or direct us to it? 

 

~Nancy

This is what was posted on a FB HAL related forum: GREAT NEWS! Due to guest and staff feedback, HAL has decided to rescind this new policy and the Neptune Lounge Honor Bar WILL be included in the Signature Beverage Package. Thanks HAL for listening to your guests!

[BermudaBound2014]

44 minutes ago, dfrohman said:

This is what was posted on a FB HAL related forum: GREAT NEWS! Due to guest and staff feedback, HAL has decided to rescind this new policy and the Neptune Lounge Honor Bar WILL be included in the Signature Beverage Package. Thanks HAL for listening to your guests!

 

And to add to this post, the person is reporting from the Noordam. 

 

I just checked and Honor Bar is still excluded on the HAL Terms and Conditions website, but that may take a bit to change. 

 

Edited June 16, 2023 by BermudaBound2014

[Florida_gal_50]

4 hours ago, dfrohman said:

This is what was posted on a FB HAL related forum: GREAT NEWS! Due to guest and staff feedback, HAL has decided to rescind this new policy and the Neptune Lounge Honor Bar WILL be included in the Signature Beverage Package. Thanks HAL for listening to your guests!

Thank you for this accurate information.

[BermudaBound2014]

1 hour ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Thank you for this accurate information.

The exact same person who reported HAL was charging in Honor Bar later reported that HAL changed their minds.
 

IMO a Good move on HAls part. I would prefer it if HAL could also report accurate information on their website. 
 

Edited June 16, 2023 by BermudaBound2014

[terrydtx]

On 6/16/2023 at 9:24 AM, dfrohman said:

This is what was posted on a FB HAL related forum: GREAT NEWS! Due to guest and staff feedback, HAL has decided to rescind this new policy and the Neptune Lounge Honor Bar WILL be included in the Signature Beverage Package. Thanks HAL for listening to your guests!

If HAL wants to semi compete with other cruise line suite's amenities, like Celebrity's Retreat Lounge, the honor bar should be 100% free or included in the Neptune lounge. 

[BermudaBound2014]

2 hours ago, terrydtx said:

If HAL wants to semi compete with other cruise line suite's amenities, like Celebrity's Retreat Lounge, the honor bar should be 100% free or included in the Neptune lounge. 

 

It doesn't seem to me that HAL wants to compete for the suite passengers. They are leaps behind the competition in suite amenity offerings. I wonder why? 

[terrydtx]

13 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

It doesn't seem to me that HAL wants to compete for the suite passengers. They are leaps behind the competition in suite amenity offerings. I wonder why? 

In the non-suite segment of cruising HAL is very competitive and with the ability to upgrade to Club Orange and its added benefits they may be a step ahead of other cruise lines in the non-suite market. For a similar itinerary I would choose a HAL Verandah cabin over a Celebrity standard Verandah because of Club Orange. When it comes to booking a suite, I would choose a Celebrity Retreat Sky Suite over a HAL Neptune or Pinnacle suite. I know some HAL loyalists have never been happy with passengers not in Neptune and Pinnacle suites being able to buy their way into their benefits with CO.

Edited June 18, 2023 by terrydtx

[BermudaBound2014]

4 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

In the non-suite segment of cruising HAL is very competitive and with the ability to upgrade to Club Orange and its added benefits they may be a step ahead of other cruise lines in the non-suite market. I know some HAL loyalists have never been happy with passengers not in Neptune and Pinnacle suites being able to buy their way into their benefits with CO.

 

Maybe. I just don't see Club Orange as a huge benefit past the upgrade at booking. Unlike Blu, Club Orange is basically the MDR w/ one additional dish per night. Based on the additional dishes offered on 7 nights, I'd only order the 'special' on two nights. Sure you will get a better service, but I consider club orange a substantial step down from Blu. 

[Florida_gal_50]

There was an interesting post in this thread done by cruisemom.  She did a comparison of pricing between and inside and suite prices per sq foot.  They were virtually the same.  That should give you the answer right there because from what I hear the same can’t be said for celebrity. 

[terrydtx]

4 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

Maybe. I just don't see Club Orange as a huge benefit past the upgrade at booking. Unlike Blu, Club Orange is basically the MDR w/ one additional dish per night. Based on the additional dishes offered on 7 nights, I'd only order the 'special' on two nights. Sure you will get a better service, but I consider club orange a substantial step down from Blu. 

On the 3 Pinnacle Class ships the separate Club Orange dining room is a big plus, maybe not as good as Blu, but so much better than dining with 400 people in a banquet hall setting MDR. The one thing we do not like is having dinner in the noisy crowded slow service MDR's on any cruise ship.  On Celebrity we sail in Aqua or Suites for this reason. The other CO benefits, like priority check-in, boarding and tendering is a plus for us. Having a special guest service line is also a plus when we need help. Having priority specialty restaurant reservations is also nice. I still believe CO for non suites on HAL puts them ahead of other cruise lines in non suites.

[Florida_gal_50]

1 minute ago, terrydtx said:

On the 3 Pinnacle Class ships the separate Club Orange dining room is a big plus, maybe not as good as Blu, but so much better than dining with 400 people in a banquet hall setting MDR. The one thing we do not like is having dinner in the noisy crowded slow service MDR's on any cruise ship.  On Celebrity we sail in Aqua or Suites for this reason. The other CO benefits, like priority check-in, boarding and tendering is a plus for us. Having a special guest service line is also a plus when we need help. Having priority specialty restaurant reservations is also nice. I still believe CO for non suites on HAL puts them ahead of other cruise lines in non suites.

Personally I like hearing negative posts about club orange.  I hope more people do it.  It’s getting harder to book so any negative press is good press for those of us that have actually tried it and enjoy it.

[BermudaBound2014]

5 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

On the 3 Pinnacle Class ships the separate Club Orange dining room is a big plus, maybe not as good as Blu, but so much better than dining with 400 people in a banquet hall setting MDR. The one thing we do not like is having dinner in the noisy crowded slow service MDR's on any cruise ship.  On Celebrity we sail in Aqua or Suites for this reason. The other CO benefits, like priority check-in, boarding and tendering is a plus for us. Having a special guest service line is also a plus when we need help. Having priority specialty restaurant reservations is also nice. I still believe CO for non suites on HAL puts them ahead of other cruise lines in non suites.

 

I'm not suggesting Club orange is a bad experience. I've never been in it, how would I know? I'm not a big MDR person so an upgraded MDR experience holds much less merit for me than for someone who would normally plan to dine in the MDR nightly. Maybe I'd try if for a shorter 7 or 14 night cruise, but I couldn't justify the cost on my 35 night HAL cruise. 

[terrydtx]

4 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Personally I like hearing negative posts about club orange.  I hope more people do it.  It’s getting harder to book so any negative press is good press for those of us that have actually tried it and enjoy it.

A very valid point and if more people book it, the prices will rise as HAL sees a huge profit center for it.  So for those of you looking at CO it is just a terrible service and not at all worth the cost to upgrade. Your upgraded cabins are all behind the lifeboats or just under a leaking pool.

[Florida_gal_50]

3 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

A very valid point and if more people book it, the prices will rise as HAL sees a huge profit center for it.  So for those of you looking at CO it is just a terrible service and not at all worth the cost to upgrade. Your upgraded cabins are all behind the lifeboats or just under a leaking pool.

You forgot the part about people staring in the windows at you 😛😂.  That my personal favorite.

[OlsSalt]

4 hours ago, terrydtx said:

If HAL wants to semi compete with other cruise line suite's amenities, like Celebrity's Retreat Lounge, the honor bar should be 100% free or included in the Neptune lounge. 

 

Wants to compete ...........or needs to compete?

If they sell out the real estate at this price and value point, why add additional expenses?

 

Always an interesting and perhaps arcane process - setting cabin pricing.

[YourWorldWithBill]

5 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Personally I like hearing negative posts about club orange.  I hope more people do it.  It’s getting harder to book so any negative press is good press for those of us that have actually tried it and enjoy it.

Good one! But as @terrydtxsaid, there is a big difference between CO on the Pinnacle class ships and others. The priority boarding is still there, separate lines, etc., so it's still a benefit; but also having a separate dining room is the icing on the cake. 

[Florida_gal_50]

59 minutes ago, YourWorldWithBill said:

Good one! But as @terrydtxsaid, there is a big difference between CO on the Pinnacle class ships and others. The priority boarding is still there, separate lines, etc., so it's still a benefit; but also having a separate dining room is the icing on the cake. 

Yes, of course.  I think you’d be hard pressed to find anyone to disagree on that.  It’s still good to get the cabin upgraded too.

[TGCRUISEO]

On the Oosterdam today and happy to report all drinks in the Neptune lounge are included in HIA. You just fill out the form and turn it in to the desk

 

 

[BermudaBound2014]

28 minutes ago, TGCRUISEO said:

On the Oosterdam today and happy to report all drinks in the Neptune lounge are included in HIA. You just fill out the form and turn it in to the desk

 

 

 

Thanks for reporting. It appears that may have been a VERY short experiment 🙂 

 

Enjoy your cruise.