Club Orange Math

[CNSJ]

Plenty of discussion on this forum about whether or not Have it All is worth it, or if Club Orange is worth it.  Below is some math for Club Orange.  Up front Warning:  I do realize that this requires you to commit early to cruises before they sell out of Club Orange and is especially valuable for the Pinnacle Class Ships with a separate Club Orange Dining Room.  If you can't bear the thought of having HAL hold onto your money for a long time, read no further. 

 

Started looking at a unique itinerary in the Baltic for Fall of 2026 onboard Rotterdam.  It stuck out to me as it included Riga, Latvia; Gdansk, Poland; Klaipeda, Lithuania and overnight in Oslo.  Plenty of new ports for us to enjoy in mid-to-late September.  We enjoy a Deck 6 VA Balcony on the Pinnacle Ships and priced out the VA Balcony as a booking vs. a VH Balcony Guarantee.  The Price difference through my Agent was $548 per person from VH to a VA.  Thats $1,096 for nicer location cabin with a great view, and about typical for a 14 day Europe trip.  Since the Fall 2026 Europe season was just launched, and there is still CO availability, I was able to book the VH, get an upgrade same day to VA and get the perks of CO.  We are Four-Star Mariners so the real difference is the Nicer Tote Bag and use of the wonderful CO Dining Room.

 

Cost to add CO?  For this 14 day trip, $15 a day per person.  That's $210 a person/$420 total. So I get the Cabin I want, CO Dining Room, and yes the Tote Bag and saved $675 to boot.  In order to get the upgraded cabin right away you have to pay the CO cost up front.  As I used Future Cruise Deposits, I just had to pay the $420 and let HAL have use of my money for a few years.  Since I used an AARP Gift Card it's really only $378 after the discount, and its all refundable.

 

This is a great perk if you can and desire to book early.  Perhaps this is one way HAL does continue to reward early bookers that understand the system. 

[tigervixxxen]

This was my experience. Might not work out that way every time but when it does makes sense to do it. I would have had zero clue how to make the most of it without reading here so kudos to y’all. DH thought I was insane explaining it but it worked. 
 

For a 7 day Norway cruise next April was $4200 for cheapest non obstructed balcony. I was fine with this cabin and was going to book it. But obstructed balcony was $3850, add CO for $350 total (7x$25x2) was the same $4200. I got to pick a cabin going for $4700 and the CO benefits to boot. 

[Overhead Fred]

Hush!

 

Your revealing our secret booking strategy!! 🤪

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Just remember you are on vacation.

[terrydtx]

We will be doing the exact same thing for an August 2026 Nieuw Statendam 14 night cruise of the British Isles. We also want a midship VA cabin. I plan on booking this next week while onboard the Volendam and adding the Early Booking HIA bonus with the future cruise credit amenities. I used the same strategy when I booked the Volendam cruise 2 years ago, went from a B category Vista Suite to a mid ship A category and the cost difference paid for the CO addon.

Edited August 16 by terrydtx

[asebastian]

I have to revisit CO as well for my future bookings (4 on the books now). I was (mistakenly) under the impression that the CO rate was a fixed $50/per person/per day but some of you have shown me otherwise. Does it vary by cruise or ship?

[terrydtx]

14 minutes ago, asebastian said:

I have to revisit CO as well for my future bookings (4 on the books now). I was (mistakenly) under the impression that the CO rate was a fixed $50/per person/per day but some of you have shown me otherwise. Does it vary by cruise or ship?

It varies by the length of the cruise and starts at $25pp per day or $50 per cabin per day.

Edited August 16 by terrydtx

[a.madruga]

9 hours ago, Overhead Fred said:

Hush!

 

Your revealing our secret booking strategy!! 🤪

totally agree!!!!!

[a.madruga]

2 hours ago, terrydtx said:

We will be doing the exact same thing for an August 2026 Nieuw Statendam 14 night cruise of the British Isles. We also want a midship VA cabin. I plan on booking this next week while onboard the Volendam and adding the Early Booking HIA bonus with the future cruise credit amenities. I used the same strategy when I booked the Volendam cruise 2 years ago, went from a B category Vista Suite to a mid ship A category and the cost difference paid for the CO addon.

IMO  Vista suite not worth it unless you get a great price 

one can go lowest obstructed balcony and move up to a V or VS 

there are few V with larger balcony and VS. with aft balcony

again just our choice

[terrydtx]

8 minutes ago, a.madruga said:

IMO  Vista suite not worth it unless you get a great price 

one can go lowest obstructed balcony and move up to a V or VS 

there are few V with larger balcony and VS. with aft balcony

again just our choice

On the Volendam the only balcony cabins are Vista Suites and up, so yes a VS is worth the cost and adding CO. No standard balcony cabins on Volendam and Zaandam.

[CNSJ]

10 hours ago, Overhead Fred said:

Your revealing our secret booking strategy!!

Yes, but to be fair, I have learned all this and so much more more from our Cruise Critic Community.  Early bird gets the worm.  My guess is that less than 25% of people on any cruise use Cruise Critic and even fewer are willing to book that far out.  

[terrydtx]

6 minutes ago, CNSJ said:

Yes, but to be fair, I have learned all this and so much more more from our Cruise Critic Community.  Early bird gets the worm.  My guess is that less than 25% of people on any cruise use Cruise Critic and even fewer are willing to book that far out.  

I never considered booking CO until I read about it on CC. HAL doesn't do a great job of promoting it on their website, which I suspect is intentional. Our first time booking it I got asked repeatably how I got the nice Orange tote bag.

 

Judging by the very few CC members on our Volendam cruise roll call, 25% may be rather high.

Edited August 16 by terrydtx

[a.madruga]

12 minutes ago, CNSJ said:

Yes, but to be fair, I have learned all this and so much more more from our Cruise Critic Community.  Early bird gets the worm.  My guess is that less than 25% of people on any cruise use Cruise Critic and even fewer are willing to book that far out.  

we have learned that booking further down the cruise calendar one gets a better deal 

that's how CO came across our path

[VermeulT]

4 hours ago, terrydtx said:

It varies by the length of the cruise and starts at $25pp per day or $50 per cabin per day.

Is it max $50 per cabin or are you assuming 2 person occupancy.  Do all 3 in the cabin pay? (I assume)?

[Ipeeinthepools]

I really wish all of this discussion about the CO benefits would stop.  😉

[terrydtx]

22 minutes ago, VermeulT said:

Is it max $50 per cabin or are you assuming 2 person occupancy.  Do all 3 in the cabin pay? (I assume)?

I am not 100% sure but I believe only the first 2 have to pay and a 3rd person is included. We have never cruises on HAL with more than 2 of us in a cabin.

[CNSJ]

1 hour ago, VermeulT said:

Is it max $50 per cabin or are you assuming 2 person occupancy.

Keep in mind it's $25 per person/day on cruises less than 2 weeks.  Only $15 a day on cruises over 14 days.

Edited August 16 by CNSJ
typo

[*Miss G*]

From the HAL page:  Club Orange Benefits

 

[CNSJ]

8 hours ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

Just remember you are on vacation.

Is it vacation if you are retired?  

Since you are on ship probably more than off ship....what's a vacation to you @Gail & Marty sailing away? 🤔

[terrydtx]

2 minutes ago, CNSJ said:

Is it vacation if you are retired?  

Since you are on ship probably more than off ship....what's a vacation to you @Gail & Marty sailing away? 🤔

Being retired is like Saturday everyday. No longer need a vacation just a deluxe trip to someplace we haven.t been before that can last more than a couple of weeks.

[gizmodog]

Does mariner status matter for club orange 

 

[FlorenceItaly]

1 minute ago, gizmodog said:

Does mariner status matter for club orange 

 

No.

[terrydtx]

19 minutes ago, gizmodog said:

Does mariner status matter for club orange 

 

No

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

1 hour ago, CNSJ said:

Is it vacation if you are retired?  

Since you are on ship probably more than off ship....what's a vacation to you @Gail & Marty sailing away? 🤔

We don't go on a Vacation anymore, For us it's a life style. Travelers ,We have second homes, Holland American ships  what is different with our second home we use it a lot  for about 7 to 8 months a year.

[Vaxine]

With Club Orange stateroom upgrades, do you pick your stateroom, or do you get offered a specific stateroom in your upgrade class?