New Club Orange

[RocketMan275]

5 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

 

The funny thing is this could mean it is also a success - an alternative-for those who really want a very quiet dining venue - set apart from what others complain is a noisy main dining room. 

Sounds very attractive to ourselves.  We don't like crowded and much prefer quiet.

[cruisemom42]

6 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

FWIW, my TA thinks HAL is chasing Celebrity and trying to get closer to their suite amenities.  The problem is that the lines with a designated restaurant for suites had that venue from the start, at least on most of their ships. This is a retrofit--my suite got me the right to eat dinner in America's Test Kitchen. It just doesn't feel like a step up. 

 

For the record, Luminae was also a retrofit (on all ships except Edge, which just launched). The restaurant was carved out of the MDR space on Celebrity ships. It was not introduced until April 2015 -- and at that time Celebrity's newest ship, Reflection, was already 3 years old.

[Caribbean Chris]

48 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

I take it back. I was just looking at my pictures and here's the view from a table near the walkway.

 

Thanks so much for posting those photos! Now I see what Miss G meant about the glass walls offering some sea view. This view toward the walkway hasn't shown up clearly on any of the other photos I have seen.

 

This was the Kdam, right? The chairs look much more comfortable than the N. Stat. chairs. 

[Caribbean Chris]

27 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

For the record, Luminae was also a retrofit (on all ships except Edge, which just launched). The restaurant was carved out of the MDR space on Celebrity ships. It was not introduced until April 2015 -- and at that time Celebrity's newest ship, Reflection, was already 3 years old.

 

Yes, and you probably recall, as I do, that there was a big uproar on cruise critic at the time. 

[*Miss G*]

39 minutes ago, Caribbean Chris said:

This was the Kdam, right? The chairs look much more comfortable than the N. Stat. chairs.

 

I found the chairs, even the high ones, on the Kdam quite comfortable.  I agree that the NS chairs aren’t the same and that they appear uncomfortable, but I have no experience with them.  It’s just a perception.

[RocketMan275]

1 hour ago, Caribbean Chris said:

 

Yes, and you probably recall, as I do, that there was a big uproar on cruise critic at the time. 

There's a big uproar on cruise critic every time the time changes.

[RuthC]

2 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

And they are so cheap that I got only one chocolate. Geez, couldn't they give me the "missing person's" chocolate??????????????

Next time just let the steward know that you want two chocolates. I have done that for years, and they willingly give me two.

You can also let them know if you prefer the milk or dark chocolates, or one of each. They will give you what you want.
After all, if you are a single paying double, it's the least they can do.

[RuthC]

Sorry, don't know how it double posted.

Edited February 19, 2019 by RuthC

[twodjs]

17 hours ago, SunNFunCruzer said:

Since we haven't been on the ship yet, we don't know what to expect but $1,000 extra for a private dining room on a sailing with 6 ports and only one tender port seems like a waste of money. If people paid just a couple hundred dollars for an inside cabin and wanted to splurge -- maybe?  Thanks in advance for sharing your experience.  

In my opinion, you would be out of your mind to spend $1000 to eat the SAME FOOD served in the main dining room! Why would you do that? CO IS NOT A SPECIALTY RESTAURANT! Same menu with the addiition of one special item.This is at least the third reconfiguration of a failed restaurant venue space. Hal can't seem to get it right. If you wanted to go to a real specialty restaurant, that cost would be on top of your $50 per day per person. They must be trying to market it as "eat where the Suite guests eat". Duh! Only because they have taken away what was a Suite's only perk of breakfast in the Pinnacle Grille. Notice in the pictures, there are not even table cloths. Come on, it's a Dennys! A huge downgrade from Pinnacle and an insult to Suite guests. Don't waste your money. 

[redpear1]

Last spring on our Koningsdam transatlantic it was a Tapas bar with small and larger plates offered in the evening. They charged 15 dollars p/p. It was, in my opinion a very good value. We also had the chef master dinner there and that was not good to noisy and rather uncomfortable They seem to be having trouble monetizing this piece of prime real estate 

Fifty p/p per day seems like a lot of money, and I think we should stay tuned for what they might come up with next. For us the tapas concept was good and we enjoyed going there a number of times.

[Lava123]

I agree, it’s just that you will always get great service and it’s probaly much quieter.

[twodjs]

We always get great service in the main dining room and it's not $1000 quieter!

[rucrazy]

13 minutes ago, twodjs said:

We always get great service in the main dining room 

ALWAYS is  a HUGE term... I would use mostly great service.. sometimes people get stuck in the weeds...:)

[3rdGenCunarder]

56 minutes ago, twodjs said:

In my opinion, you would be out of your mind to spend $1000 to eat the SAME FOOD served in the main dining room! Why would you do that? CO IS NOT A SPECIALTY RESTAURANT! Same menu with the addiition of one special item.This is at least the third reconfiguration of a failed restaurant venue space. Hal can't seem to get it right. If you wanted to go to a real specialty restaurant, that cost would be on top of your $50 per day per person. They must be trying to market it as "eat where the Suite guests eat". Duh! Only because they have taken away what was a Suite's only perk of breakfast in the Pinnacle Grille. Notice in the pictures, there are not even table cloths. Come on, it's a Dennys! A huge downgrade from Pinnacle and an insult to Suite guests. Don't waste your money. 

 

To be fair, there are table cloths at dinner. As for being quieter, that's probably true, as it's never full. It's a very hard space, with all that glass and metal and no carpet, so I imagine it could get loud. 

 

You may have hit on something with your idea about what they're trying to sell. HAL may think people won't notice how little value there is because they're distracted by getting something they otherwise wouldn't have. But if you look at the $50 pp to eat MDR food when you can eat at a specialty restaurant for less than $50, or MDR without any surcharge, it's a lot of money to eat in a smaller room.

[twodjs]

I used "always" because Lava123 used "always". Your "mostly" is probably more accurate. But that statement goes for all venues on HAL, specialty or MDR.

[rucrazy]

4 minutes ago, twodjs said:

 But that statement goes for all venues on HAL, specialty or MDR.

So true.. and not just limited to cruise ships!! 

[Overhead Fred]

45 minutes ago, redpear1 said:

Last spring on our Koningsdam transatlantic it was a Tapas bar with small and larger plates offered in the evening. They charged 15 dollars p/p. It was, in my opinion a very good value.

 

I agree! We were on the same cruise and quite enjoyed the taps/gastropub venue. We were definitely planning on using it during future cruises. If CO does not pan out, I would really like to see HAL go back to the tapas/gastropub concept. 

 

If they want to continue with CO, or move the Canaletto there (a suggestion from @rkacruiser that is worth considering), they probably need to redo the space. It was originally designed as a hands-on test kitchen/restaurant (thus the hi-tops & kitchen vents). 

 

47 minutes ago, redpear1 said:

We also had the chef master dinner there and that was not good to noisy and rather uncomfortable

 

I somewhat disagree. We also did the Cellar Master's Dinner in what is now Club Orange. I thought is was a fine venue for the dinner. It did not seem too noisy to us, but maybe we just had a good table location. It was also our first Cellar Master's Dinner ever so it all seemed fantastic to us. If one were used to having them in the Pinnacle or Tamarind, I could see where the CO space would not seem as nice. 

 

By the way, we did not find the chairs uncomfortable (the same ones that are generating complaints on the Nieuw Statendam), but maybe we were too taken with the food to notice!

[drowelf]

18 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

There's a big uproar on cruise critic every time the time changes.

And when it sunny or rainy or cold or hot. 

[SunNFunCruzer]

If you'll indulge us what might be a stupid question:

 

We're on the Koningsdam. We've always enjoyed the Library to have a quiet, comfortable, non-smoking area to read or play cards or board games. We've always been able to find a few people to join in to poker, dominoes, etc.

 

We've since learned that the Koningsdam does not have a formal library. Is Club Orange open for lunch? Or just breakfast and dinner? Would card/game players be able to use that space to play when not being occupied by diners?

 

Thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge.

 

[3rdGenCunarder]

CO  isn't open for lunch, just breakfast and dinner. I haven't seen anyone in there at lunch time, and I don't think they'll allow casual use because it's a "special place."

There are some games in the Crows Nest area, so you might find card players. On my recent K cruise, there were some times for specific games listed in the When & Where. Scatergories, Pictionary, etc. in Crows Nest. I saw lots of people sitting at tables in the pool area playing various games, mostly card games.

 

[OlsSalt]

The ships that used to have the Northern Lights disco area have converted this space to a "Gallery Bar", which in fact is a terrific space for board games and other table games, with the sports bar and TVs in only a corner of this newly remodeled space.

 

It is great because they have a lot of board games available and people can make noise while they are enjoying them, unlike the Library where quiet please is best way to enjoy the library space. They should have put in a similar space on the newer ships - it serves a lot of functions very well - group games and sports viewing.  It was very popular on the Eurodam over the holidays. Assume this transformation has taken place on the Vista ships Northern Lights space as well.

[SunNFunCruzer]

Thanks for the reply!

 

Tables in a formal Library are elbow height like tables in Club Orange. They are at an appropriate height for gaming. The tables in the Crows Nest are too low to comfortably use to play games. They are more like a coffee table that is fine to rest a glass but not comfortable for cruisers, especially older cruisers, to use when playing.

 

We also have a smoke allergy and are reading that the aft of the ship and the sections near the casino and musical venues on decks 2 and 3 have a second hand smoke issue. We have a balcony cabin, but like being out and about.

 

I posted this issue on my Roll Call and expected to ask when we boarded, but I was given the name and email address of a HAL/CruiseCritic liaison. We've been reading a lot of posts on this website and people seem to ask for crazy things and seem really demanding with the crew... asking for access to elbow height tables for a few hours a day does not seem unreasonable... but time will tell. 

 

A man named Cliff graciously organized our Roll Call and I believe ordered coffee/tea/cookies. I would have requested a Group Happy Hour, but I believe the Meet & Greet is early morning and the demographic of the group is older.  

 

Thanks again for the info!

[Ken the cruiser]

I apologize for coming in late on this thread and haven't read most of the 19 pages of comments, but the Club Orange dining amenity sounds to us like a version of the Princess Club Class dining service. Personally, we really didn't read anything that was worth close to $50 pp/day, but the private breakfast and dinner venue in the MDR on most of the HAL ships would be a nice addition (for no additional charge) to any category that included "suite" in the name to include the Vista and Signature suites as well as the already included Neptune and Pinnacle suites.

Edited February 20, 2019 by Ken the cruiser

[3rdGenCunarder]

14 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I apologize for coming in late on this thread and haven't read most of the 19 pages of comments, but the Club Orange dining amenity sounds to us like a version of the Princess Club Class dining service. Personally, we really didn't read anything that was worth close to $50 pp/day, but the private breakfast and dinner venue in the MDR on most of the HAL ships would be a nice addition (for no additional charge) to any category that included "suite" in the name to include the Vista and Signature suites as well as the already included Neptune and Pinnacle suites.

 

The space isn't nearly big enough for all of the "suite" passengers. I think there are are about 40 NS and PS suites and the CO has about 50 seats, maybe 60. 

 

I wonder if this dinner space for NS and PS passengers is also a move to reduce crowding in the MDR. In his announcements, the cruise director often reminded people that it's always easy to get a table in the MDR after 8 PM. HAL's "demographic" tends to like an early dinner. Early dining (5:15-5:30 early fixed, say 7:00 or earlier for open) makes both levels busy. So if I have to wait for a table in the MDR at 7:00, but I can walk right in at CO, I guess that's a perk. And for every CO table that's taken, it's another table available in the MDR.

 

[Fredrik]

We’ve now booked CO for our NS cruise in March. We have a Vista suite but no suite perks nor are we 4/5 star members so it made perfect sense for us. Really looking forward to trying the open seating, with what I can expect reading this thread, absolutely no wait 😉 Will be back with a review.