Club Orange cost & benefits?

[boze9999]

3 minutes ago, Leo-the-fox said:

I think OC can go to pinnacle grill for breakfast on Eurodam.

That is true @Leo-the-fox on all the non-pinnacle ships, OC breakfast is in the Pinnacle Grill - which is so wonderful. 

 

[oaktreerb]

6 minutes ago, Torquer said:

We have never been invited to or heard of any of these special events either.  We always stay in a suite, so we get the CO benefits, rather than paying an add-on fee for them.  Has anyone heard of these events?  Do you perhaps have to pay for CO, rather than being in a suite to get invited?

I’ve has CO several times on the Koningsdam since Covid and no special events were offered.   Anybody can get the jewelry cleaning or the Spa and beauty  consultation, etc.  Any special events suggested have been upsell opportunities for the ship or available to anyone.

[oaktreerb]

8 minutes ago, boze9999 said:

That is true @Leo-the-fox on all the non-pinnacle ships, OC breakfast is in the Pinnacle Grill - which is so wonderful. 

 

 On which ship did you have that experience?    I thought Pinnacle Grill breakfast was only available to Neptune and Pinnacle Suite passengers on non-pinnacle ships.

 

[boze9999]

1 minute ago, oaktreerb said:

 On which ship did you have that experience?    I thought Pinnacle Grill breakfast was only available to Neptune and Pinnacle Suite passengers on non-pinnacle ships.

 

I could be wrong @oaktreerb.It's been a while since we've traveled in a non-Pinnacle and I just recall many of our OC traveling friends joining us in the PG for BF. Perhaps it is now different. 

 

[oakridger]

37 minutes ago, Leo-the-fox said:

I think OC can go to pinnacle grill for breakfast on Eurodam.

 

I recall that the CO people can't use Pinnacle Grill due to limited capacity.  Neptunes use it for breakfast.  People with CO on non-Pinnacle ships is that correct?

 

~Nancy

[Nickelpenny]

1 hour ago, cbr663 said:

We got 2 bags on our last cruise.  We are winning 😜😆😂🤣🤪

I am jealous!! 🤣😅😇🥴

[kazu]

1 hour ago, Leo-the-fox said:

I think OC can go to pinnacle grill for breakfast on Eurodam.

 

I think not unless you have pulled it off.

 

Pinnacle Grill breakfast is for Neptune Suite and above only - not club orange.

 

On the Oosterdam in November it was only Neptune suites.  They don’t have the capacity unless they really limit CO on those ships.  

[vino100]

Just now, kazu said:

I will respectfully disagree with Bill B.  If I am on a Pinnacle Class ship, I want Club Orange.

 

not for the perks but for that dining room.  The MDR on the pinnacle class ships are very loud IMO - hard to hear even the companion next to you let alone anyone else.

 

the ambience in the CO dining room is very nice - peaceful, good service and good food.  I’ve used CO once to upgrade my cabin & it worked well but last time my cabin had already been chosen and after experiencing the difference in the dining room, I knew I wanted CO again.  

 

It’s all subjective of course but for me that dining room is a must.

 

Oh and let’s not forget the coveted tote bag 😂 

these are my thoughts exactly. The dining room is worth every penny. Of course certain suites have this perk already. 

[Maria63]

1 hour ago, oakridger said:

 

Yes, CO does have a separate host stand and priority seating in the MDR which of course is good if there is a line up to enter.  If you find out about a separate seating area for CO, please let us know.

 

Thanks,

~Nancy

 

We had CO on Westerdam´s Indonesia cruise Feb 23 (our first HAL cruise) and found it to be worth the cost. In the MDR we had a separate area and got a nice & quiet window table for 2, the same table every night. The extra item on the menu was however nothing very special, though no complaints either. 

 

CO also had a separate queue at guest services, which turned out very convenient on this cruise as there were quite a few things to sort out that required frequent trips to GS and the queues were often very long indeed. 

[oakridger]

@Maria63 Thanks for sharing your experience.  It looks like the separate MDR dining area for CO isn't consistent from cruise/ship to cruise/ship. 

HAL isn't too consistent about a lot of things though. 😉

 

~Nancy

 

 

[POA1]

2 hours ago, Leo-the-fox said:

@YourWorldWithBill

I always confused about the verandah stateroom categories as there are so many of them. Is VH(Partially obstructed view) being the lowest? what's the hightest one?  With CO, how high can you actually upgrade to from VH?

 

VH is fully obstructed. VF is partially obstructed. Highest category depends on the ship. Among them, VQ (spa), VS (aft), V or VA.

[Nickelpenny]

12 minutes ago, oakridger said:

@Maria63 Thanks for sharing your experience.  It looks like the separate MDR dining area for CO isn't consistent from cruise/ship to cruise/ship. 

HAL isn't too consistent about a lot of things though. 😉

 

~Nancy

 

 

I’m going to go ask in a couple of minutes 👍

[cbr663]

1 hour ago, oaktreerb said:

We got two of the 150 Anniversary bags.  I already have several of the CO bags so I was happy with what we got.

We got 2 of those also.  All of our bags end up in the back of our car and yesterday while out shopping I grabbed for a bag and pulled out one of the larger, blue HAL logo bags.  We actually prefer those.  😄

[Bill B]

1 hour ago, oaktreerb said:

 Anybody can get the jewelry cleaning or the Spa and beauty  consultation, etc.  Any special events suggested have been upsell opportunities for the ship or available to anyone.

 

Yes, but with CO the upsell opportunities are chosen by the captain! 🤣

[YourWorldWithBill]

3 hours ago, Leo-the-fox said:

@YourWorldWithBill

I always confused about the verandah stateroom categories as there are so many of them. Is VH(Partially obstructed view) being the lowest? what's the hightest one?  With CO, how high can you actually upgrade to from VH?

 

You can choose whatever category verandah you want, as long as it's a verandah; that is, it's a "v" cabin. We picked the stateroom we wanted, which would have been more expensive than the one we paid for, which was the least expensive. I think it was probably a partially obstructed view.

[Sea-n-Ease]

Can anyone clarify how these two Club Orange perks work?

 

- Priority access to specialty restaurant reservations

 

- Priority Disembarkation 

[cbr663]

20 minutes ago, Sea-n-Ease said:

Can anyone clarify how these two Club Orange perks work?

 

- Priority access to specialty restaurant reservations

 

- Priority Disembarkation 

Priority disembarkation is basically you can disembark whenever you want - from the earliest to the very last time available.

 

The priority access to speciality restaurant reservations is very nice.  Upon entering our cabin there was a card in our cabin with a phone number to call to make reservations.  So much easier and quicker than dealing with the embarkation crowds around the reservations desk.  

[alyssamma]

15 hours ago, Leo-the-fox said:

@YourWorldWithBill

I always confused about the verandah stateroom categories as there are so many of them. Is VH(Partially obstructed view) being the lowest? what's the hightest one?  With CO, how high can you actually upgrade to from VH?

 

You can upgrade to the highest V. We have booked 3 VHs...twice we upgraded to VB (we like those better than VA) and once to an aft Verandah. So long as the cabin is a) in your same class, i.e., V* and b) available, you can pick it.

 

As others have said, the upgrade alone usually pays for CO and the other perks are just icing on the cake. Personally I love the separate dining room on the Pinnacle class ships. 

 

The process is, when you purchase CO they'll ask you what cabin you want. You tell them. Easy Peasy.

 

[Toofarfromthesea]

16 hours ago, Bill B said:

It's: 

$25/person/day on cruises up to 13 days
$15/person/day on cruises 13+ days

 

Not worth it for me. I pick my stateroom and an upgrade to the best available in the "meta category" would likely be less desirable. The expended menus might be nice, as would the priority tender embarkation but the rest is mostly just 'fluff'. For example:

- a concierge to make dining reservations and book shore excursions;

- Invitation to a special onboard event chosen by the Captain, such as a Private Greenhouse Spa & Salon® consultation.

 

Get serious! I can book my own excursions, and don't need to sold an overpriced & scientifically dubious detox treatment (I have a liver that will take care of the toxins from my Elite Beverage Package).

 

You miss the point.  You can book the cheapest cabin in your chosen class and then use the CO upgrade to upgrade to your favored cabin.  When you do your upgrade you don't get some random cabin, you choose from available cabins in your class.  So you would simply select your desired cabin as your upgrade.

[Torquer]

16 hours ago, kazu said:

Pinnacle Grill breakfast is for Neptune Suite and above only - not club orange.

 

On the Oosterdam in November it was only Neptune suites.  They don’t have the capacity unless they really limit CO on those ships.  

That is correct that the Pinnacle Grill breakfast is only for NS and PS suites; you cannot go there if you have just purchased Club Orange. 

 

However, I'm not sure what several people have said about capacity is true.  Without actually counting tables, it does seem that the Pinnacle Grill on non-Pinnacle-Class ships has at least as many tables as the Club Orange dining room on Pinnacle-Class ships.  So I'm not sure why HAL doesn't allow purchasers of Club Orange to use the PG for breakfast.  I'm not complaining since we always have a suite, but it is only ever a few tables being used and very quiet in there for breakfast.  I suspect a lot of suite guests don't know about this perk.

[kazu]

3 minutes ago, Torquer said:

That is correct that the Pinnacle Grill breakfast is only for NS and PS suites; you cannot go there if you have just purchased Club Orange. 

 

However, I'm not sure what several people have said about capacity is true.  Without actually counting tables, it does seem that the Pinnacle Grill on non-Pinnacle-Class ships has at least as many tables as the Club Orange dining room on Pinnacle-Class ships.  So I'm not sure why HAL doesn't allow purchasers of Club Orange to use the PG for breakfast.  I'm not complaining since we always have a suite, but it is only ever a few tables being used and very quiet in there for breakfast.  I suspect a lot of suite guests don't know about this perk.

 

I don’t think that the PG does have as many tables as Club Orange on the Pinnacle Class ships.  

the tables are further apart in the PG than in Club Orange IMO.   I know when we had breakfast in the PG it was often quite busy - especially on sea days.  On port days, it wasn’t as busy depending on the arrival and excursion timing.  My experience in a suite is limited to the Rotterdam (old one), Prinsendam, Oosterdam, Westerdam, Noordam and Maasdam though.  The itineraries were longer ones so I don’t know if that makes a difference or not?

[RuthC]

1 hour ago, Torquer said:

Without actually counting tables, it does seem that the Pinnacle Grill on non-Pinnacle-Class ships has at least as many tables as the Club Orange dining room on Pinnacle-Class ships. 

Not all of them.

The Pinnacle Grills on the Volendam and Zaandam don't appear to me (I haven't counted) to have as many tables as the other non-Pinnacle class ships. When you add in that those ships also have many Neptune Suites (that would also include the other non-Pinnacle class ships), there does not appear to be room for everyone in the Pinnacle Grill for breakfast. 

[kazu]

24 minutes ago, RuthC said:

Not all of them.

The Pinnacle Grills on the Volendam and Zaandam don't appear to me (I haven't counted) to have as many tables as the other non-Pinnacle class ships. When you add in that those ships also have many Neptune Suites (that would also include the other non-Pinnacle class ships), there does not appear to be room for everyone in the Pinnacle Grill for breakfast. 

 

Your point on the Neptune Suites is a good one, Ruth.  there are fewer Neptune Suites on the Pinnacle Class ships than the non Pinnacle Class ships on a pro rata basis of cabins.

 

I completely agree with you on lack of room.

[Bill B]

8 hours ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

You miss the point.  You can book the cheapest cabin in your chosen class and then use the CO upgrade to upgrade to your favored cabin.  When you do your upgrade you don't get some random cabin, you choose from available cabins in your class.  So you would simply select your desired cabin as your upgrade.

 

Thanks for clarifying that. 

[Maria63]

As for CO breakfast, on our Westerdam cruise last February, we did not get to have it in the suite restaurant. However, as CO we got an expanded room service breakfast that we enjoyed very much. I think it is the same as for the suite class as it includes complimentary freshly squeezed orange juice, mimosas, eggs benedict, and so on.