New Club Orange

[cruzingnut]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

IMHO in order for CO to work on non-Pinnacle ships, they are going to have to follow in Princess’ footsteps a lot closer that they are now before they will be able to designate a separate MDR area. 
 

For example they could get rid of the volunteer option of CO and switch some of the top category Signature and Vista suites to CO suites on their respective ships, adjust their price accordingly, add some additional perks like Princess does, and then they should have a quantifiable count every cruise to fill that area. This way those non-Neptune “suite” folks could start reaping some additional benefits for being in a suite. 

 

Great...so I like a verandah on deck 6 on the Amsterdam but would have to pay more for it when I’m already 5 star and thisclose to Presidents Club and already have most of those CO benefits?  I think not.  (BTW, I’ve no interest in a separate area of the dining room which would be about the only “perk” for me.). I just don’t see how this will work other than on the new ships.  Those are set up for it; keep it there and leave the others alone for heavens sake.  There is so much grumbling about this BS idea that I hope it doesn’t last.  But, it’s a great way to chase away a lot of their most loyal cruisers and therefore not have to dole out all our perks for “free” anymore.  IMNSHO, HAL gave out too much, too soon and are now stuck.  

 

HAL needs to revamp their rewards program big time.  Now, I’m not saying to take things away from people that have it but they could “grandfather” those people in.    Naturally, there would be some that wouldn’t be happy but something really does need to be done about this.

 

I may not sound nice saying this but if someone comes along and gets priority tendering while I’m stuck on the ship, I’m not going to be happy.  And please don’t tell me that they’ve paid for it so should get it.  BS!  I’ve paid for it over and over many times more than ANY amount they will ever pay.  

 

Also, just because other lines do it, why does HAL?  Don’t be “lemmings”, HAL!  Be unique like you used to be; that’s what drew me to you in the first place and that was back in my 40’s.  Yes, you read that right...40’s!

 

Ok, rant over...hope I don’t get flamed but I am entitled to my opinion.

 

Linda R.

[Ken the cruiser]

2 hours ago, cruzingnut said:

 

Great...so I like a verandah on deck 6 on the Amsterdam but would have to pay more for it when I’m already 5 star and thisclose to Presidents Club and already have most of those CO benefits?  I think not.  (BTW, I’ve no interest in a separate area of the dining room which would be about the only “perk” for me.). I just don’t see how this will work other than on the new ships.  Those are set up for it; keep it there and leave the others alone for heavens sake.  There is so much grumbling about this BS idea that I hope it doesn’t last.  But, it’s a great way to chase away a lot of their most loyal cruisers and therefore not have to dole out all our perks for “free” anymore.  IMNSHO, HAL gave out too much, too soon and are now stuck.  

 

HAL needs to revamp their rewards program big time.  Now, I’m not saying to take things away from people that have it but they could “grandfather” those people in.    Naturally, there would be some that wouldn’t be happy but something really does need to be done about this.

 

I may not sound nice saying this but if someone comes along and gets priority tendering while I’m stuck on the ship, I’m not going to be happy.  And please don’t tell me that they’ve paid for it so should get it.  BS!  I’ve paid for it over and over many times more than ANY amount they will ever pay.  

 

Also, just because other lines do it, why does HAL?  Don’t be “lemmings”, HAL!  Be unique like you used to be; that’s what drew me to you in the first place and that was back in my 40’s.  Yes, you read that right...40’s!

 

Ok, rant over...hope I don’t get flamed but I am entitled to my opinion.

 

Linda R.

In the case of the Amsterdam and other similar ships with a lot of Vista Suite A category cabins, my guess is all they would need to do is convert about 10 of them in the center on both sides of deck 6 (20 in total) to CO rather than all of them.  This would leave plenty of A cabins for those like yourself who didn’t want to pay for the extras. 
 

But I must say having a separate anytime dining area would be a nice perk for those VS and SS suite guests who are willing to pay a little extra for a better cabin location, canapés around 4 or 5, priority attention during tendering as well as embarkation and disembarkation, and for all OC, NS and PS suite guests anytime dining in the morning and evening without having to wait in line during prime time dining between 6 and 7 pm.

But, I guess we’ll all just have to wait and see what the HAL CO visionaries will come up with next. 

[terrydtx]

12 hours ago, cruzingnut said:

 

Great...so I like a verandah on deck 6 on the Amsterdam but would have to pay more for it when I’m already 5 star and thisclose to Presidents Club and already have most of those CO benefits?  I think not.  (BTW, I’ve no interest in a separate area of the dining room which would be about the only “perk” for me.). I just don’t see how this will work other than on the new ships.  Those are set up for it; keep it there and leave the others alone for heavens sake.  There is so much grumbling about this BS idea that I hope it doesn’t last.  But, it’s a great way to chase away a lot of their most loyal cruisers and therefore not have to dole out all our perks for “free” anymore.  IMNSHO, HAL gave out too much, too soon and are now stuck.  

 

HAL needs to revamp their rewards program big time.  Now, I’m not saying to take things away from people that have it but they could “grandfather” those people in.    Naturally, there would be some that wouldn’t be happy but something really does need to be done about this.

 

I may not sound nice saying this but if someone comes along and gets priority tendering while I’m stuck on the ship, I’m not going to be happy.  And please don’t tell me that they’ve paid for it so should get it.  BS!  I’ve paid for it over and over many times more than ANY amount they will ever pay.  

 

Also, just because other lines do it, why does HAL?  Don’t be “lemmings”, HAL!  Be unique like you used to be; that’s what drew me to you in the first place and that was back in my 40’s.  Yes, you read that right...40’s!

 

Ok, rant over...hope I don’t get flamed but I am entitled to my opinion.

 

Linda R.

Linda, great post and I agree 100%. The idea that if I book a NS or have 4 or 5 star Mariner  level and a first time HAL passenger books an inside cabin and gets almost the same Suite Perks by paying an extra $35 per day is just not right. 

[thanna]

One of the perks listed on our CO offer is a room upgrade. Has anybody actually got a room upgrade from CO?

What did you get?

Is it still in the same Cat. or upgrade to higher Cat?

 

Would like to hear from someone who bought CO and got a room upgrade.

 

[frankc98376]

52 minutes ago, thanna said:

One of the perks listed on our CO offer is a room upgrade. Has anybody actually got a room upgrade from CO?

What did you get?

Is it still in the same Cat. or upgrade to higher Cat?

 

Would like to hear from someone who bought CO and got a room upgrade.

 

States that it is an upgrade in the same category.  We all know this  means that you can be "upgraded" to a location under the lido galley or a bar.

[GrammieK]

I am currently on Nieuw Amsterdam in a Neptune suite and I am not impressed with club orange. I will give a full report when I am home. 

The club orange entrance is like a dungeon...right next to elevators on deck 2

any questions?

k

[DaveOKC]

41 minutes ago, GrammieK said:

I am currently on Nieuw Amsterdam in a Neptune suite and I am not impressed with club orange. I will give a full report when I am home. 

The club orange entrance is like a dungeon...right next to elevators on deck 2

any questions?

k

Is that the Pinnacle Grill?

Edited October 23, 2019 by DaveOKC

[kazu]

46 minutes ago, GrammieK said:

I am currently on Nieuw Amsterdam in a Neptune suite and I am not impressed with club orange. I will give a full report when I am home. 

The club orange entrance is like a dungeon...right next to elevators on deck 2

any questions?

k

 

Club Orange on the N Amsterdam?  My understanding has been the only ships where there is a formal Club Orange location are the Pinnacle Class ships.  Deck 2 by the elevators sounds like the Pinnacle Bar or Pinnacle Grill ?????

 

[RocketMan275]

56 minutes ago, GrammieK said:

I am currently on Nieuw Amsterdam in a Neptune suite and I am not impressed with club orange. I will give a full report when I am home. 

The club orange entrance is like a dungeon...right next to elevators on deck 2

any questions?

k

Isn't that the same entrance for lower level of the MDR?

[AncientWanderer]

3 hours ago, thanna said:

One of the perks listed on our CO offer is a room upgrade. Has anybody actually got a room upgrade from CO?

What did you get?

Is it still in the same Cat. or upgrade to higher Cat?

 

Would like to hear from someone who bought CO and got a room upgrade.

 

 

I added CO to a booking for this spring, and no upgrade was available. I have a VB, so assume no VA is available.  (The rules do say something about the upgrade being based on what's available when CO is purchased.)

 

I also added CO to a booking for fall 2020 and was bumped from VB to VA.  When you call, the message says to have a deck plan available so that you can select a stateroom.  I was able to pick my specific cabin and could have chosen to reject an upgrade, if I so desired.  This was a favorable outcome for us, as no VA cabins were available at the time I originally booked the cruise.

[AncientWanderer]

43 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Isn't that the same entrance for lower level of the MDR?

 

This is what it was on the Oosterdam -- just a pathway to a separate check-in desk there off the elevators on the lower level of the dining room, where anytime dining is served.  The do have a big sign.

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 hour ago, GrammieK said:

I am currently on Nieuw Amsterdam in a Neptune suite and I am not impressed with club orange. I will give a full report when I am home. 

The club orange entrance is like a dungeon...right next to elevators on deck 2

any questions?

k

 

Yes, I definitely have a question. Is there a separate CO restaurant on the NA? And please tell us where the dungeon-like entrance is, aft elevators or midship?

 

Other than not being impressed with CO, I hope you're enjoying the cruise!

 

 

 

[3rdGenCunarder]

2 hours ago, frankc98376 said:

States that it is an upgrade in the same category.  We all know this  means that you can be "upgraded" to a location under the lido galley or a bar.

 

It says "same meta category." I have no idea what "meta" means in this context. I've seen reports of upgrades within the same letter category to a "better" location. I've seen reports of upgrades from one letter category to a higher letter but within the same larger category, such as from one OV to a "better" OV. Not OV to balcony or balcony to suite.

 

And it says "if available," so they can dangle it to entice people to book CO but not have to deliver on that.

 

[AncientWanderer]

2 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

It says "same meta category." I have no idea what "meta" means in this context. I've seen reports of upgrades within the same letter category to a "better" location. I've seen reports of upgrades from one letter category to a higher letter but within the same larger category, such as from one OV to a "better" OV. Not OV to balcony or balcony to suite.

 

And it says "if available," so they can dangle it to entice people to book CO but not have to deliver on that.

 

 

I don't really see how any major upgrade could be given for 25 or 30 dollars a day.  The unveiling of this program wasn't very well thought out.  I expect to see a lot of fine-tuning as time passes, but I don't really expect the concept to go away, because every other mainstream cruise line has something similar.  HAL seems to just be testing the waters and acclimating us slowly to the change.

[3rdGenCunarder]

13 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

In the case of the Amsterdam and other similar ships with a lot of Vista Suite A category cabins, my guess is all they would need to do is convert about 10 of them in the center on both sides of deck 6 (20 in total) to CO rather than all of them.  This would leave plenty of A cabins for those like yourself who didn’t want to pay for the extras. 
 

But I must say having a separate anytime dining area would be a nice perk for those VS and SS suite guests who are willing to pay a little extra for a better cabin location, canapés around 4 or 5, priority attention during tendering as well as embarkation and disembarkation, and for all OC, NS and PS suite guests anytime dining in the morning and evening without having to wait in line during prime time dining between 6 and 7 pm.

But, I guess we’ll all just have to wait and see what the HAL CO visionaries will come up with next. 

 

Adding to vista and signature suite perks without also bumping up neptune and pinnacle suite perks is not going to please those who pay so much more for the NS and PS. As someone who has mostly sailed in a neptune, I am not terribly bothered about CO encroaching on my perks. CO sounds good, but for a daily fee, you're not geting most of the perks EVERY day of the cruise. Unless you're on a cruise with a lot of tender ports, that priority isn't a big deal. Priority embarkation is one day. And the priority lines at excursion and front desk, well, how much does anyone go to those desks? Priority seating at dinner is a good perk. But I do fixed dining, so no matter which category I sail in, I wouldn't be using that perk. 

 

I don't see HAL designating CO cabins. There's no advantage to it for them. However pointless or annoying many of us see CO to be, it's a win-win for HAL. With no permanent physical investment (other than on K and NS), it doesn't matter to HAL if 2 people or 22 people buy CO. If a large number of people on a cruise buy CO, HAL makes extra money. And if only a few people on a cruise buy CO, HAL hasn't lost any money on an investment other than a few orange mats and a sign at the MDR. On top of that, it's enticing to a lot of people who might not book HAL but now are thinking about it because they can get "extras." 

 

[3rdGenCunarder]

2 minutes ago, AncientWanderer said:

 

I don't really see how any major upgrade could be given for 25 or 30 dollars a day.  The unveiling of this program wasn't very well thought out.  I expect to see a lot of fine-tuning as time passes, but I don't really expect the concept to go away, because every other mainstream cruise line has something similar.  HAL seems to just be testing the waters and acclimating us slowly to the change.

 

(bold is mine)

So true! Look at how long it took for them to have a clear description available on the website. They're making it up as they go along. 

[AncientWanderer]

5 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Adding to vista and signature suite perks without also bumping up neptune and pinnacle suite perks is not going to please those who pay so much more for the NS and PS. As someone who has mostly sailed in a neptune, I am not terribly bothered about CO encroaching on my perks. CO sounds good, but for a daily fee, you're not geting most of the perks EVERY day of the cruise. Unless you're on a cruise with a lot of tender ports, that priority isn't a big deal. Priority embarkation is one day. And the priority lines at excursion and front desk, well, how much does anyone go to those desks? Priority seating at dinner is a good perk. But I do fixed dining, so no matter which category I sail in, I wouldn't be using that perk. 

 

I don't see HAL designating CO cabins. There's no advantage to it for them. However pointless or annoying many of us see CO to be, it's a win-win for HAL. With no permanent physical investment (other than on K and NS), it doesn't matter to HAL if 2 people or 22 people buy CO. If a large number of people on a cruise buy CO, HAL makes extra money. And if only a few people on a cruise buy CO, HAL hasn't lost any money on an investment other than a few orange mats and a sign at the MDR. On top of that, it's enticing to a lot of people who might not book HAL but now are thinking about it because they can get "extras." 

 

 

I tend to agree that they don't have to designate cabins.  Right now, nobody knows about the program, so very few are signed on.  As with most things, eventually there will be competition to buy a CO Golden Ticket and they will know how many are onboard ahead of time -- so there is flexibility per cruise to either set aside a portion of MDR, if there are a lot of CO, or just give priority seating scattered around the MDR.  Win-win for HAL.  On the Pinnacle-class ships, the number of CO is necessarily limited by the capacity of the special CO restaurant.

 

As far as too many give-aways, I do feel a bit of a burn, being 4-star.  As far as the suite guests go, I don't see much impact.  There are so many great things about being in a large suite, with a large balcony, and having access to the Neptune Lounge, which is one of our favorite parts of the suite experience.  No going to the Lido for much of anything!!  CO doesn't impact any of that at all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[frankc98376]

4 minutes ago, AncientWanderer said:

 

  On the Pinnacle-class ships, the number of CO is necessarily limited by the capacity of the special CO restaurant.

 

 

4 minutes ago, AncientWanderer said:

Until someone in Seattle office comes up with the next great idea for that space- then off to MDR

 

 

 

 

 

 

[AncientWanderer]

1 minute ago, frankc98376 said:

 

 

 

Frankc, your quote makes it look like I said what you said.  I have that problem all the time with the new CC.

 

But anyhow, you are correct, I think.  They can easily swoop in and re-purpose the CO restaurant.  We are all guessing here about all of it anyhow.

[AncientWanderer]

Just to touch on one other thing...though quite veiled, there have been hints on these CO threads of concern from suite guests about having to mingle with the CO diners who might be in low-category cabins.

I can be a real snob, and I'm not concerned about this at all.  We have had some real doozies in the Pinnacle lounge and PG breakfasts.  Good and bad manners don't seem to have any correlation to economic status in this modern world we live in.  IMHO  

[RocketMan275]

1 hour ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Yes, I definitely have a question. Is there a separate CO restaurant on the NA? And please tell us where the dungeon-like entrance is, aft elevators or midship?

 

Other than not being impressed with CO, I hope you're enjoying the cruise!

 

 

 

Was on NAM shortly after CO was inaugurated on that ship in Sep.  There was no separate CO restaurant.  CO passengers were seated in the MDR just like everyone else.  They used the same entrance to the MDR as did all others dining in the lower level of the MDR.  It's hard to  understand how that entrance could be considered 'dungeon like' and not so consider the entrance to the lower level of the MDR as also being 'dungeon like'.

 

Suite passengers still had the Neptune Grill breakfast perk.

[GrammieK]

Quick response

separatr entrance on 2

not main entrance

still pinnacle for breakfast

tried club orange for lunch

taken to back of restaurant 

tables on top of each other

printed paper menu with 3 mediocre choices. 

We left w/o eating and ate at pinnacle for $15 each. It was worth it!

i will try to answer more later

k

[GrammieK]

And entrance is marked with an unimaginative sign that looks like....

detour or men’s room this way. Nothing premium about it!

[3rdGenCunarder]

9 minutes ago, GrammieK said:

Quick response

separatr entrance on 2

not main entrance

still pinnacle for breakfast

tried club orange for lunch

taken to back of restaurant 

tables on top of each other

printed paper menu with 3 mediocre choices. 

We left w/o eating and ate at pinnacle for $15 each. It was worth it!

i will try to answer more later

k

 

Sounds like the entrance takes you down the side hallway past the digital workshop?

 

It's odd that you had CO seating for lunch, because the explanation of CO only says breakfast and dinner. Was the menu you were given different from the regular MDR lunch? 

[kazu]

15 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Sounds like the entrance takes you down the side hallway past the digital workshop?

 

It's odd that you had CO seating for lunch, because the explanation of CO only says breakfast and dinner. Was the menu you were given different from the regular MDR lunch? 

 

I agree.  Very odd.  I find this whole report confusing.

My friends were in CO on the King where they have their own defined room and there is no lunch served.  I'm a tad bamboozled by GrammieK's reports.