Club Orange crowding

[guerchino]

Apologies if this has been answered in an earlier thread - haven’t found it.

 

Have been told by Holland America that they do not limit the number of people who wish to pay the up charge for Club Orange and that they do not give priority to Neptune Suite guests.  Given this, have people found that Club Orange gets crowded.

 

Thanks

 

[consmarci]

They do limit. Called to upgrade and they said no more available. On Rotterdam. In our experience it was never crowded.

[anne_p]

Hey Guys we are new to HA. What is Club Orange?I would also like to know about booking cabanas. The HA app said to go to the lido deck to book one. Do either of you know how much they charge per day for the cabanas? Thanks!

[TheEmerson]

I was also informed at least on the Rotterdam in April that CO was sold out for the TA sailing.

[TheEmerson]

2 minutes ago, anne_p said:

Hey Guys we are new to HA. What is Club Orange?I would also like to know about booking cabanas. The HA app said to go to the lido deck to book one. Do either of you know how much they charge per day for the cabanas? Thanks!

Call Ship Services for the price and booking.  

Ship Services at 1-800-541-1576

[kazu]

24 minutes ago, guerchino said:

Apologies if this has been answered in an earlier thread - haven’t found it.

 

Have been told by Holland America that they do not limit the number of people who wish to pay the up charge for Club Orange and that they do not give priority to Neptune Suite guests.  Given this, have people found that Club Orange gets crowded.

 

Thanks

 

 

Either someone communicated incorrectly or they didn’t know what they are talking about.

Club Orange is limited capacity.  Neptune Suite guest have access to the CO dining room (of course).

 

And no, it’s not crowded.

[kazu]

13 minutes ago, anne_p said:

Hey Guys we are new to HA. What is Club Orange?I would also like to know about booking cabanas. The HA app said to go to the lido deck to book one. Do either of you know how much they charge per day for the cabanas? Thanks!

 

These 2 links should help regarding Club Orange:

 

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

 

https://www.hollandamerica.com/content/dam/hal/inventory-assets/activity-types/dining/club-orange/Club_Orange_Benefits.pdf

 

The Club Orange dining room is only available on the Pinnacle Class ships (Rotterdam, Koningsdam, Nieuw Statendam).

[guerchino]

Thank you for your answers.  I spoke to guest services before posting .  The person there “checked” , came back on and told me no limit and no priority for Neptune Suites.  It must be like Rick in Casablanca - she was misinformed.

[scooter6139]

28 minutes ago, guerchino said:

Thank you for your answers.  I spoke to guest services before posting .  The person there “checked” , came back on and told me no limit and no priority for Neptune Suites.  It must be like Rick in Casablanca - she was misinformed.

Are you just referring to the Dining Room on Pinnacle class ships or the add-on you can get?

 

Club Orange dining room is just first come, first serve I believe.

 

Neptune Suites don't need to add on Club Orange package as they get most of the same benefits.  They do limit the purchase of Club Orange packages, but it's dependent on the ship.  Don't know what "services" you spoke to, but they do NOT know what they are talking about.

[KAKcruiser]

The people in ships services used to be very competent and reliable.  But I think the calls are mostly being handled by a call center these days.  So, lots of luck with the information they give to you.

[YourWorldWithBill]

Although it's true that they limit the number of CO packages, it's interesting that what @consmarcisaid is also true: on our Rotterdam cruise it was never crowded.

 

Also, in addition to the links posted here, you might take a look at some long threads here posted as questions about Club Orange. Most of the posts say it's worth it for the benefits, especially if you're on one of the Pinnacle class ships.

[janmcn]

Our experience with CO as Neptunes on Koningsdam was that we had no priority in their CO dining room and in fact it was crowded to the point we didn’t bother to have dinner in there…and actually walked out at breakfast when service was very slow. The  Koningsdam CO restaurant is not as good as what we observed in the Rotterdam. Do not know about the NS.

[Stelladoro]

3 hours ago, TheEmerson said:

I was also informed at least on the Rotterdam in April that CO was sold out for the TA sailing.

We booked the Rotterdam April/24 TA in early June. I was told at time of booking that we got the last 2 spots in CO. So they do sell out and early booking is key.

[waiting2retire]

We were given beepers and had to wait for up to 30 minutes for a table in Club Orange at dinner on the Nieuw Statendam. Never had to wait for a table in the CO dining room on the Rotterdam. In my opinion, this is due to the better configuration of the dining room on the Rotterdam with many more 2-tops than the ones that were designed originally as Test Kitchens on the Nieuw Statendam and the Konigsdam. 
 

[cbr663]

On our Alaskan cruise in May on the Koningsdam CO was busy on embarkation night for dinner.  We were told there was a 40 min wait for a table and we went to the MDR instead.  The next morning though we simply walked in to CO for every meal and were seated right away.  It wasn't busy for the remainder of the cruise.

 

We have CO for our upcoming West Coast cruise again on the K' and we have decided that we will dine in the Tamarind on embarkation for dinner so as to avoid the first night shenanigans.

 

I can also confirm that we have tried to book an upcoming Southern Carribean cruise on the Rotterdam and CO was indeed sold out when we called.  It is indeed capacity controlled on the Pinnacle Class ships.

[kazu]

I had Club Orange on the Koningsdam with a very sold out ship (past the max) and other than one 5 minute wait one breakfast I had no waits.

 

what I did on the first night was ask when the best times were to come.  Their advice was good and I followed it and never ever had a pager.

My tip is to ask for best times.  What seemed to work well on our cruise was very early (like 5PM) or 6:30 or 8 PM.   that was a Christmas/New Years cruise so that may not be the case for any one else’s.  Ask and they will advise of optimum times.

[oaktreerb]

7 hours ago, guerchino said:

Thank you for your answers.  I spoke to guest services before posting .  The person there “checked” , came back on and told me no limit and no priority for Neptune Suites.  It must be like Rick in Casablanca - she was misinformed.

Maybe there is no limit to CO on ships that do not have a dedicated dining room.  That may be the unanswered question.  There is no priority in the CO dining venue for Neptune Suites on any ship.  On the ships that do not have a separate CO dining room, the Neptune Suites have the option to have breakfast in the Pinnacle dining room, CO does not have that option.

[boze9999]

8 hours ago, guerchino said:

Thank you for your answers.  I spoke to guest services before posting .  The person there “checked” , came back on and told me no limit and no priority for Neptune Suites.  It must be like Rick in Casablanca - she was misinformed.

Hi @guerchino - if you are on the Rotterdam, Nieuw Statendam and Koningsdam, OC is indeed limited as those ships have a dedicated dining room. Any of the other ships merely have a section of the main dining room which focuses on Club Orange Guests. IMO, you would benefit from paying for it on the three mentioned ships, however personally speaking (unless I really wanted priority tendering and boarding and a short que line for guest services, I would give some thought to the true benefits for you and they fit your wishes. 

Edited August 1, 2023 by boze9999

[Mermen]

Like most others who have responded, we also did not experience over-crowding in Club Orange on the Rotterdam last year. Walking from our Neptune suite downstairs to Club Orange, would always pass the extremely long line of hungry guests waiting to be seated in the MDR. I was grateful for our dining venue…but am a little nervous now about Club Orange being in the MDR on our next Westerdam cruise. 

Edited August 1, 2023 by Mermen

[lf4UA]

I’ve experienced CO in both pinnacle and non-pinnacle class ships and find CO of value for the dedicated MDR line on non-pinnacle ships. Had CO on Eurodam in 2019 and could walk in and get a table at any time.  I do think, however, the program might have been fairly new at that time since I was approached about adding it (rather than the other way around) close to the time of sailing. I’m glad I added it right away for our May 2024 trip on Koningsdam!

[Mosaic]

Did not wait for CO on NS a few weeks ago.  Tried to go 5 times in 10 days.  2 days had 20 minute waits. We left on those 2 nights.

[DaveOKC]

Had Club Orange on the Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam a total of 4 times in past year.  In the MDR we used the CO special line and never had a wait of more than 1-2 minutes.  However, there was no special area in the MDR for CO guests - we were just seated with regular diners. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 hour ago, DaveOKC said:

Had Club Orange on the Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam a total of 4 times in past year.  In the MDR we used the CO special line and never had a wait of more than 1-2 minutes.  However, there was no special area in the MDR for CO guests - we were just seated with regular diners. 

 

When CO was new, there was talk of a special area in the MDR, but I've never seen that. 

 

Since I don't sail on Pinnacle ships if I can help it and I like fixed dining and I'm 4-star, the only real value of CO for me is the upgrade. If the math works out, as it did for my next two cruises, I'll do CO. (I already have the tote bag, so I don't need another)

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

It is limited, and it's a great program.

[Ready2go11]

On the New Statendam last Christmas we had to wait at dinner a few times with a pager when we were there as a group of six and I believe there were only two tables set that large. At breakfast one morning they did push a four table and a two table together for us. Whenever we were in the club orange dining room as a two person or four person table we had no wait.