OCJayGuy

Count some of us millenials in too, who prefer the quiet, watching the sea go by, no kid vibe. Must be working for them though, on this Jan cruise we just took, all cabanas were reportedly sold out before sailing.

Interesting concept. I hope everyone makes their standby cruise. My control issues got a flare up rash reading all this 😊

Just got off our first HAL cruise and already itching to book another. We are debating between Indonesia (Ubud has been on the bucket list for a long time) and Japan, so following and really appreciate all the insight here.

I think we were on the same cruise, cheers! It was our first time with CO/first HAL cruise (so we don't have much to compare to). We were completely ignored by the two agents at the Priority Embarkation post in SD until we finally managed to get their attention, set us back a boarding group or two but not a huge deal. For the dedicated restaurant, we had to wait a total of three separate times (the first night when they were offering people free sparkling wine was the longest at about 30 mins like you mentioned). We only dined in the MDR for lunch on embarkation day, so not much to compare to, but we thought the service in the Club Orange dining room was fantastic and it made our trip (kudos to Aji and Putra). Mention anything you were excited to try, or something you loved, and you got extra portions of it without even asking. The other servers would also check in even if they weren't dedicated to our table. The location of the CO dining room (on Koningsdam at least) is along a hallway to the main dining room, so there is lots of foot traffic watching you eat if seated on that side (you can tell them where you like to sit or if there's a waiter you prefer). Dedicated concierge line wasn't that helpful as they took a long time to pick up or just didn't at all. Agreed that CO guest services desk was nice as the regular line was horrendous at times and barely moved (just gotta deal with the stare daggers coming from o'er there). All the shortcomings of VQ cabin that people mention are true, definitely weigh the pros and cons before upgrading to that verandah category with CO. We ended up loving how close it was to lido, pizza, and burgers, but probably could have traded it for midship stability and larger balcony. No vitamin water, and the yoga mat was a decoration that took up room. Priority tender was nice, especially if you had a tighter self booked excursion you needed to get out to. And the CO bag makes everything worth it , JK. Even with some issues, we would do CO again for the cabin upgrade and dedicated dining room, (oh and fresh OJ!), but would think twice on ships where it's part of the MDR.

Annoying when that kind of stuff happens. I think im staying put in VQ for now, really not a fan of the couch placement in the Vistas and not being able to watch tv from it. I should also mention i cant wait to try the CO restaurant, so I'm staying on topic for the grouches. Ive already recommended CO to my other family members with HAL offers, and i havent even done it yet 🙂

haha, I appreciate the honest thoughts about it! And good to know, may not trade out locations if there's no real redeeming value, other than to just say we tried it once.

Glad to hear that you enjoyed it, appreciate this info! I haven't even thought about where to get coffee yet, and didn't know there was a quiet secret deck to visit. I just called them out of sheer curiosity to see what the difference would be to jump to Vista Suite from VQ, and it's pennies. (I half expected needing to cover the value I got using CO to get to VQ.) From what I've read in other threads, there's not a big difference in what the rooms offer (correct me if wrong!), but I might be curious to try it since the cost is so low. Looking at where those rooms are located now. ps. i also asked about adding HIA to my existing booking, and the gratuity promo would not be applicable, since it is tied to new bookings only (per her supervisor).

Thats too funny 😅😂. I'll be a very happy camper if its this difficult to give them my money in their casino.

Try clearing your cookies, or accessing the HAL website from your browser's incognito mode. I've also seen the same error you screenshot, but HIA shows up available to purchase about 80% of the time.

Don't tell us, we don't know the difference yet, hehe jk. We'll be fine with that, we just want to be close to the spa for using the thermal suite, and the (ugh!) gym. Appreciate the heads up!

As much time as I just spent toying with the category upgrade, the main reason that attracted us to CO initially was the private dining venue on Pinnacle ships. Sorry to hear about the experience in MDR, but its good to know that the differences can be significant and make it worthwhile.

Just got off the phone and have the revised confirmation email. C Oceanview upgrade to VH Veranda for $100pp, VH Veranda then upgraded using Club Orange to VQ Veranda. Should be all set, but I'm holding my breath a little cause they sure made it seem like I broke the system lol.

Thanks for the additional info! I was searching around for the terms and conditions, to see the multiple ways my cruise would be excluded lol. Glad it appears somewhat open. Hopefully calling in to add won't be it's own 'unforgettable journey'.

Just saw Have It All promoted with prepaid stateroom gratuities. It's a nice addition for the standard HIA , I know the early booking HIA already includes this benefit. Wasn't interested in HIA before, but feel like this tips the scales for us.

Maybe final payment depends on the casino offer? Mine was due one day after the booking. Just got off the phone with them for a second try at this, and looks like we made some headway. Agent had to call two different departments (resolutions and ship inventory). Both departments confirmed that if I'm willing to pay the $200 to upgrade from C Oceanview > VH Veranda, then they can apply the CO and bump me up to VQ. He had to verify that my original stateroom wasn't already upgraded, which it wasn't. Unfortunately I called as the departments were closing for the day, so I have to call back tomorrow but the agent put the approval notes in my reservation so it should make the effort tomorrow easier (fingers, toes, and more crossed).