Club Orange - how to add?

[bebe08]

I've only just recently learned about Club Orange.  I did a mock booking for a cruise I have booked for later this year and didn't see an option for Club Orange.  Is this only offered on certain cruises?  How do you go about adding it to a booking or getting a quote on it?

 

Thanks!

[FlorenceItaly]

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/dining/club-orange.html

 

You must call in to add Club Orange.

Edited July 23, 2023 by FlorenceItaly

[3rdGenCunarder]

If you booked through a travel agent, he/she can add it to your booking. Otherwise, call HAL directly. You'll have to pay for it at that time.

[Crew News]

4 hours ago, bebe08 said:

I've only just recently learned about Club Orange.  I did a mock booking for a cruise I have booked for later this year and didn't see an option for Club Orange.  Is this only offered on certain cruises?  How do you go about adding it to a booking or getting a quote on it?

 

Thanks!

 

Have a deck plan and your credit card nearby.  "Once a guest has booked their cruise, they or their travel advisor can add Club Orange by contacting Holland America Line Ship Inventory at 1-888-628-8107 or 206-626-7381."

[terrydtx]

23 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

If you booked through a travel agent, he/she can add it to your booking. Otherwise, call HAL directly. You'll have to pay for it at that time.

That is how we added CO, at time of booking on our Volendam 2024 cruise with my TA so we start out with the cabin upgrade we wanted. For our Koingsdam cruise in November we had our TA add CO a month after we booked but since we had booked an aft facing Verandah cabin we had nothing to upgrade to, so HAL gave us a $100 OBC instead.

Edited July 24, 2023 by terrydtx

[POA1]

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

That is how we added CO, at time of booking on our Volendam 2024 cruise with my TA so we start out with the cabin upgrade we wanted. For our Koingsdam cruise in November we had our TA add CO a month after we booked but since we had booked an aft facing Verandah cabin we had nothing to upgrade to, so HAL gave us a $100 OBC instead.

Terry -  That's exactly what I've heard from several people: $50/pp if you can't be upgraded. I don't know if the amount varies if the voyage is a longer one  

 

We booked a midship A (Vista) on the Nieuw Statendam in April for a December sailing. When I added CO, there was an AS (aft Vista) available. I declined because we wanted the midship location. Because I declined the upgrade, I got nuttin'. While the aft cabins are great, we have a Retreat Cabana for this cruise. Knowing how often we have to trek back to the room to grab something we've forgotten, we figured midship was best.

[terrydtx]

8 minutes ago, POA1 said:

Terry -  That's exactly what I've heard from several people: $50/pp if you can't be upgraded. I don't know if the amount varies if the voyage is a longer one  

 

We booked a midship A (Vista) on the Nieuw Statendam in April for a December sailing. When I added CO, there was an AS (aft Vista) available. I declined because we wanted the midship location. Because I declined the upgrade, I got nuttin'. While the aft cabins are great, we have a Retreat Cabana for this cruise. Knowing how often we have to trek back to the room to grab something we've forgotten, we figured midship was best.

My understanding is that you only get the extra OBC if there is not a higher category cabin in your type of booking. In our case we had an aft facing verandah cabin on the Koingsdam and there were no verandah cabins higher in our category to upgrade to. When we booked the cruise we grabbed the last aft facing verandah and then added CO a month later.  We didn't want to risk losing the cabin by booking a lower category when we added CO and upgrading to the aft facing verandah. We were fine with the $100 OBC, which brings our CO add on to only $250 in real cost.

Edited July 24, 2023 by terrydtx

[terrydtx]

4 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

My understanding is that you only get the extra OBC if there is not a higher category cabin in your type of booking. In our case we had an aft facing verandah cabin on the Koingsdam and there were no verandah cabins higher in our category to upgrade to. When we booked the cruise we grabbed the last aft facing verandah and then added CO a month later.  We didn't want to risk losing the cabin by booking a lower category when we added CO and upgrading to the aft facing verandah. We were fine with the $100 OBC, which brings our CO add on to only $250 in real cost.

I just looked at our invoice from HAL on the Koingsdam and we actually got $100 pp OBC for not up grading the CO cabin. So, the CO addon total cost was only $150 after the $200 OBC is figured in.

[bebe08]

Thanks all.  I was hoping there was a way to price it out yourself so you could compare the price with CO in the cheapest cabin in the category (and get the upgrade) vs the price without CO for the highest category.  I will be sure to ask my TA to price out both next time I book.

 

Edit: I see this on the linked document which is helpful $25/person/day on cruises up to 13 days $15/person/day on cruises 13+ days

Edited July 26, 2023 by bebe08
update

[friendswithdave]

Something to keep in mind is Club Orange can sell out. I just booked CO for a cruise 5 months away and when my friend went to book it a few minutes later they were sold out. He is now #1 on the wait list.

[terrydtx]

3 hours ago, friendswithdave said:

Something to keep in mind is Club Orange can sell out. I just booked CO for a cruise 5 months away and when my friend went to book it a few minutes later they were sold out. He is now #1 on the wait list.

From several experiences I have read on CC keep calling for your friend every day until successful.

[cbr663]

3 hours ago, friendswithdave said:

Something to keep in mind is Club Orange can sell out. I just booked CO for a cruise 5 months away and when my friend went to book it a few minutes later they were sold out. He is now #1 on the wait list.

Yes, CO is limited.  We tried to book a cruise on Monday and discovered that CO was sold out.  We weren't interested in sailing without it so we keep on looking. 🙂

[terrydtx]

4 minutes ago, cbr663 said:

Yes, CO is limited.  We tried to book a cruise on Monday and discovered that CO was sold out.  We weren't interested in sailing without it so we keep on looking. 🙂

It is hard to get HAL to say how many, not in Neptune and Pinnacle suites, can add CO on any cruise. I recently saw a post that said 50 on the Rotterdam, but that seems very low, might be more on non-Pinnacle class ships since they do not have to worry about over burdening the CO dining room.

[acruisingcouple]

9 hours ago, terrydtx said:

From several experiences I have read on CC keep calling for your friend every day until successful.

Yes!  It was sold out on the Rotterdam when I called the first time.  Three calls and two weeks later, it was available.  

[BLH613]

On 7/24/2023 at 9:09 AM, terrydtx said:

For our Koingsdam cruise in November we had our TA add CO a month after we booked but since we had booked an aft facing Verandah cabin we had nothing to upgrade to, so HAL gave us a $100 OBC instead.

We have an aft-facing cabin on Rotterdam for a Panama Canal cruise next year. Do Verandah Spa (VQ) cabins not count as the next step up in the same category? 

 

We would like the other benefits of CO but don't want to move cabins so we'd decline the upgrade but the OBC would be nice if the VQ cabins are considered a category of their own.

[terrydtx]

11 minutes ago, BLH613 said:

We have an aft-facing cabin on Rotterdam for a Panama Canal cruise next year. Do Verandah Spa (VQ) cabins not count as the next step up in the same category? 

 

We would like the other benefits of CO but don't want to move cabins so we'd decline the upgrade but the OBC would be nice if the VQ cabins are considered a category of their own.

On our cruise there were no higher category aft facing cabins available, so it was not an option. I may be wrong but I do not Believe the Koingsdam has any aft facing AQ cabins, at least I can't find them on any deck plans.

[3rdGenCunarder]

2 hours ago, terrydtx said:

On our cruise there were no higher category aft facing cabins available, so it was not an option. I may be wrong but I do not Believe the Koingsdam has any aft facing AQ cabins, at least I can't find them on any deck plans.

 

All of the "spa" cabins are forward so that they are "just steps away from the spa." I had an aft cabin on Eurodam this winter, and my cabin was MANY steps away from the spa!

[Haljo1935]

12 hours ago, BLH613 said:

We have an aft-facing cabin on Rotterdam for a Panama Canal cruise next year. Do Verandah Spa (VQ) cabins not count as the next step up in the same category? 

 

We would like the other benefits of CO but don't want to move cabins so we'd decline the upgrade but the OBC would be nice if the VQ cabins are considered a category of their own.

My experience has been the spa VQ cabins are still Verandah so if there was one open you would asking to receive OBC even though a cabin was available. 

You can ask before committing and before paying.

[POA1]

12 hours ago, BLH613 said:

We have an aft-facing cabin on Rotterdam for a Panama Canal cruise next year. Do Verandah Spa (VQ) cabins not count as the next step up in the same category? 

 

We would like the other benefits of CO but don't want to move cabins so we'd decline the upgrade but the OBC would be nice if the VQ cabins are considered a category of their own.

VQ is higher. If you decline it, you do not get the OBC. If the VQs were sold out, you would get the OBC because there's no where to go. We had a similar situation. We have a midship A (Vista Suite +super excited about the extra 2 feet of cabin depth!) We did not want an AS (Aft Vista Suite) because we are a midship kind of folks. I declined the upgrade, so no OBC. Ironically, or moronically, if we had waited a week, all the AS rooms would have been gone. Then we would have received the OBC.

 

We're okay with the final outcome as long as we get that sweet, sweet Club Orange tote bag and those Orange key cards that cause envy amongst all who gaze upon them.

[BLH613]

14 hours ago, POA1 said:

VQ is higher. If you decline it, you do not get the OBC. If the VQs were sold out, you would get the OBC because there's no where to go. We had a similar situation. We have a midship A (Vista Suite +super excited about the extra 2 feet of cabin depth!) We did not want an AS (Aft Vista Suite) because we are a midship kind of folks. I declined the upgrade, so no OBC. Ironically, or moronically, if we had waited a week, all the AS rooms would have been gone. Then we would have received the OBC.

 

We're okay with the final outcome as long as we get that sweet, sweet Club Orange tote bag and those Orange key cards that cause envy amongst all who gaze upon them.

Thank you!  We'd also really enjoy the coveted Club Orange tote bag and Orange key card! The OBC is a perk, but we're more interested in the CO dining room. I'll keep checking the VQ cabin availability before committing but I understand we're walking a fine line between CO being sold out and the VQ cabins being sold out. 

[CNSJ]

DO NOT underestimate the value of the tote bag. 

[Crew News]

3 minutes ago, CNSJ said:

DO NOT underestimate the value of the tote bag. 

The free jewelry cleaning at the Mirabella Shop is quite a perk.

[ilv4cruising]

Hi all,

 

I'm finding all of the CO posts very helpful.  However, I have a question.  We have never added this to our cruise but our thinking about it for our cruise next year.  However, we would only be adding it for the dining room benefits.

 

For many reasons we prefer fixed seating.

 

My question about Club Orange is it open seating with a different table, servers etc. each night or can you request the same table?  Also, if open seating if you go at "prime" times is there a wait?

 

Thanks in advance.

[terrydtx]

17 minutes ago, ilv4cruising said:

Hi all,

 

I'm finding all of the CO posts very helpful.  However, I have a question.  We have never added this to our cruise but our thinking about it for our cruise next year.  However, we would only be adding it for the dining room benefits.

 

For many reasons we prefer fixed seating.

 

My question about Club Orange is it open seating with a different table, servers etc. each night or can you request the same table?  Also, if open seating if you go at "prime" times is there a wait?

 

Thanks in advance.

Depends on the ship, the 3 Pinnacle Class ships have a dedicated CO dining room which is open seating for dinner. On all other ships the Club Orange entrance to the MDR is on the anytime dining level, and you are seated before others in the non-CO line. Last year on the Oosterdam we had open dining without CO (we prefer open dining) and I never saw a line at the CO entrance,

[kazu]

29 minutes ago, ilv4cruising said:

Hi all,

 

I'm finding all of the CO posts very helpful.  However, I have a question.  We have never added this to our cruise but our thinking about it for our cruise next year.  However, we would only be adding it for the dining room benefits.

 

For many reasons we prefer fixed seating.

 

My question about Club Orange is it open seating with a different table, servers etc. each night or can you request the same table?  Also, if open seating if you go at "prime" times is there a wait?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

To add to what has been just posted:

 

Since you are booking it for the dining, I’m guessing you are on a Pinnacle Class ship.  That being the case, it is “open” dining and you may or may not have the same table each night.  I found they made sure you were ok with the table.

 

there are around 4-5 servers who all take care of you.  They all get to know you and if you have a waiter you prefer, you can ask to be seated in their area.

 

I was used to fixed dining and found this experience very similar.  I liked it enough to book it again for this October and I only booked it for the dining room although the special line at guest services doesn’t hurt 😉  (I’m not going to join the crowd raving about the bag & special key card 😂).

 

Not sure what “prime” dining time is for you.  I asked the first night when the best times were to come.  For the first 5 days I was solo and either ate alone and 1 night shared a table.  Those nights I dined earlier - 5 - 5:30 PM.  After that friends joined me on the cruise and we dined at 6:30 usually.  We didn’t have a wait on any of the nights.  My friends use CO a lot so I suspect they also asked about the good time to come.