Club orange

[Torquer]

5 hours ago, Catlover54 said:

 

How does a Pinnacle Suite cruiser arrange a window table in the MDR, or a table in Club Orange?  

Is this something you can arrange ahead of the cruise, for a fixed seating?  If you cannot arrange until you are on  board, how and when do you talk to MDR personnel to arrange this for the whole cruise (other than when I have specialty reservations), especially with so many Club Orange people now receiving similar special access?  Or do you have to go day by day, table by table?

 

I have a PS booked and am looking for an orderly, accepted and fair process to hopefully select a good table for my price category (if there is such a selection benefit for the PS).  I am not looking to game the system.

In all our cruises in a Pinnacle Suite, we have never made reservations before boarding.  You will find that as soon as you mention your room number, things just magically happen.  There is certainly no reason for fixed-time seating, since you can have whatever time you want in the lower anytime dining room.  As I said, on Pinnacle-class ships we have not eaten in Club Orange for dinner, so most of the below does not apply if you choose to eat there; we like the view from the windows in the MDR.

 

Whenever the MDR is open for lunch on embarkation day, we go there for lunch.  Just say you would like a nice table by a window.  Then either during the lunch or afterwards, the dining room manager will ask you about dinner reservations.  Just tell them your choices.  Several times the dining room manager has walked around the dining room with us to help pick the best table.  If there are only 2 in your party, there will be no problem having a 4-top just for the 2 of you, and if there are 4 in your party, there will be no problem having a 6-top for your party.  If the MDR is not open for embarkation lunch, just go to the dinner reservation stand that first afternoon and tell them what you want, and they will make it happen.

 

Then after the first night dinner, if you like that table, just tell the manager to reserve it throughout the cruise.  You can have whatever time you like.  We nominally pick 6:30, but based on the port and shipboard activities we often change it to 7:00 or 7:30; just let the manager know the night before.  And if we eat at a specialty restaurant, just tell them you won't be there that night, and you will have your table back again on the following night. 

 

One more thing about dining...and this has been less of a problem now that there is a separate line for Club Orange in the MDR of the non-Pinnacle-class ships.  If there happens to be a long line of people waiting for tables in the MDR, you can usually bypass it.  Remember you don't just have a reservation for dinner at a certain time, but you have an actual table that is sitting there waiting for you and no one else.  So you can wave to the manager or politely work your way around people waiting in line.

 

Also, when the concierge escorts you to your suite on embarkation day, be sure to ask what extra perks that come with the suite, since it does vary a bit from ship to ship.  For example, free non-alcoholic drinks from your refrigerator has been pretty standard for the last 5 years.  Before covid, a free behind-the-scenes ship tour was pretty common but we have not had it yet post-covid.

[vino100]

On 12/21/2022 at 11:15 AM, Catlover54 said:

 

How does a Pinnacle Suite cruiser arrange a window table in the MDR, or a table in Club Orange?  

Is this something you can arrange ahead of the cruise, for a fixed seating?  If you cannot arrange until you are on  board, how and when do you talk to MDR personnel to arrange this for the whole cruise (other than when I have specialty reservations), especially with so many Club Orange people now receiving similar special access?  Or do you have to go day by day, table by table?

 

I have a PS booked and am looking for an orderly, accepted and fair process to hopefully select a good table for my price category (if there is such a selection benefit for the PS).  I am not looking to game the system.

 

I have sailed HAL in Neptune Suite before, but not in a PS, and have not been on HAL since 2019 (am reading a lot of reviews since).

 

Thanks in advance.

when I posted I said 3 Neptune suites, but actually there are 2 and the pinnacle. I am also not looking to game the system, but do wonder if after talking to the concierge they might be able to help with dining and the least busy time. 
I have actually upgraded the balcony cabins to CO and have appreciated all the help. So I big thank you to all the knowledgeable folks who have helped. 
I’m so excited for this cruise with my kids,grand kids and my great grandkids. Only 5 more months. 😀

 

[Torquer]

12 hours ago, vino100 said:

when I posted I said 3 Neptune suites, but actually there are 2 and the pinnacle. I am also not looking to game the system, but do wonder if after talking to the concierge they might be able to help with dining and the least busy time. 
I have actually upgraded the balcony cabins to CO and have appreciated all the help. So I big thank you to all the knowledgeable folks who have helped. 
I’m so excited for this cruise with my kids,grand kids and my great grandkids. Only 5 more months. 😀

 

Oh so you have a PS!  As I said in my last post answering someone else's question, they will take very good care of you.  Have a person in the PS talk to the dining room manager and I'm sure they will accommodate you.

[vino100]

After reading Torqer’s post, I was curious about being escorted to my cabin ? I guess I haven’t heard of that before. How does that work ?