Club Orange worth it?

[jodi58]

We cancelled our cruise before final payment and the Club Orange amount was completely refunded along with our deposit.

[Florida_gal_50]

15 minutes ago, jodi58 said:

We cancelled our cruise before final payment and the Club Orange amount was completely refunded along with our deposit.

Thank you for providing real world experience.

[0106]

1 hour ago, DCThunder said:

I do not want to change the cabin I have for my upcoming South America Grand Adventure.  I assume that I am under no obligation to take advantage of the cabin upgrade?

Just want to make sure you are aware that the Oosterdam does not have a dedicated CO dining room.  You will eat in the MDR and have 1 additional entree to select.  IMO,  the cabin upgrade and the dedicated dining room are the only reasons to book CO.  

[Overhead Fred]

2 hours ago, Sea42 said:

Club Orange Terms & Conditions: Club Orange pricing starts from US$25 per person, per day on cruises 13 days or less or US$15 per person, per day on cruises longer than 13 days. If there are two occupants
in a stateroom, Club Orange benefits must be purchased by both guests. Third and fourth guests sharing the stateroom with 1st/2nd guests are not required to purchase Club Orange and will receive all benefits except sparkling wine and tote bag. Club Orange is capacity-controlled and available on a first come, first served basis. Benefits may be modified or withdrawn without prior notice. By enrolling in Club Orange, guests who have purchased either a Standard or Platinum Cruise Protection Plan are responsible for any increase in cost of the coverage based on the cost of the Club Orange add-on. Benefits apply only to the booking number listed and are neither transferable nor refundable. Other restrictions may apply. Ships’ Registry: The Netherlands.

 

I was aware of the bolded text in your post but found it to be rather unclear, especially since the previous sentence indicated that CO could increase CCP costs. Thus my posted question. 

 

@jodi58 appears to have provided the clear answer. Thanks!

 

22 minutes ago, jodi58 said:

We cancelled our cruise before final payment and the Club Orange amount was completely refunded along with our deposit.

 

[Caribbean Chris]

Things change from one year to the next. But last year we added ClubOrange to existing bookings by making a simple phone call to the HAL number on the Club Orange PDF (on the HAL website).  
 

(We use a TA and were already booked but HAL CO agent on the phone did not require us to go through our agent to add it.)
 

The HAL agent asked if we had a preference for our upgraded cabin location, and we already had one in mind to suggest, which they moved us to while on the phone.
 

We did not have to pay up front - Club Orange charge was added to our balance due at final payment. TA got changes in fare & cabin # immediately from HAL automatically.
 

We had to cancel before final payment, received our full deposit back. No penalty for Club Orange since we had not yet paid for it. 
 

 

Edited January 23, 2023 by Caribbean Chris

[Florida_gal_50]

26 minutes ago, Caribbean Chris said:

Things change from one year to the next. But last year we added ClubOrange to existing bookings by making a simple phone call to the HAL number on the Club Orange PDF (on the HAL website).  
 

(We use a TA and were already booked but HAL CO agent on the phone did not require us to go through our agent to add it.)
 

The HAL agent asked if we had a preference for our upgraded cabin location, and we already had one in mind to suggest, which they moved us to while on the phone.
 

We did not have to pay up front - Club Orange charge was added to our balance due at final payment. TA got changes in fare & cabin # immediately from HAL automatically.
 

We had to cancel before final payment, received our full deposit back. No penalty for Club Orange since we had not yet paid for it. 
 

 

I really wished they'd be consistent with payment of club orange fees. Good to hear you got the money back.

[Benh]

This is very interesting. And so even though their stated policy is no refunds for Club Orange, in fact (and as makes sense), they do (often?) give refunds. 

 

Is there a special Club Orange phone number, or is it just the regular Holland America number? I'm looking at the pdf right now, and not seeing a Club Orange number....

[lobsternight]

Odd, things seem all over the place.  I was walking by my TA today and asked her about our Club Orange cabin upgrade.  She said we won't know about it until 3 weeks out from sailing.  

[Iamthesea]

Interesting!

[*Miss G*]

8 minutes ago, lobsternight said:

Odd, things seem all over the place.  I was walking by my TA today and asked her about our Club Orange cabin upgrade.  She said we won't know about it until 3 weeks out from sailing.  

 

No.  That’s a guarantee cabin purchase.  With Club Orange you pick your room — from best available — at time of purchase.

[jodi58]

We had to pay for Club Orange as soon as we booked it, maybe because it was under 25.00 deposit promo? 

 

When I inquired about room upgrade, the rep said he never heard of it.  He finally transferred the call to someone who was able to give the upgrade.

 

Still feel bad we had to cancel though.

[Florida_gal_50]

34 minutes ago, jodi58 said:

We had to pay for Club Orange as soon as we booked it, maybe because it was under 25.00 deposit promo? 

 

When I inquired about room upgrade, the rep said he never heard of it.  He finally transferred the call to someone who was able to give the upgrade.

 

Still feel bad we had to cancel though.

I've always had to pay for mine immediately.  I haven't ever booked under a reduced deposit.

[Caribbean Chris]

1 hour ago, Benh said:

This is very interesting. And so even though their stated policy is no refunds for Club Orange, in fact (and as makes sense), they do (often?) give refunds. 

 

Is there a special Club Orange phone number, or is it just the regular Holland America number? I'm looking at the pdf right now, and not seeing a Club Orange number....

Sorry, at appears they’ve revised the PDF and deleted it. Now it says to contact your travel advisor. 
 

As I said in a previous post, things change from year to year. I should have known a dedicated phone line with someone handling Club Orange bookings was working too well and was too simple to last.

[Florida_gal_50]

Try this phone number.  I got it by googling.  It was on an old press release 

 

1-888-628-8107 

[Dobby36]

5 hours ago, DCThunder said:

I do not want to change the cabin I have for my upcoming South America Grand Adventure.  I assume that I am under no obligation to take advantage of the cabin upgrade?

I called the main HAL line a week ago to add it to our South American cruise (see you there!) and said we didn't want any change to the cabin choice, as we love the mini-hallway on deck 10 in the VB category, which we always book.  They took the payment easy-peasy, sent me an updated booking confirmation in minutes.   If we live CO enough we will try to booking into a lower category trick - but honestly the price per day when you are on a 14+ day trip seems worth it IMO for the shorter lines and expanded room service alone - with the cabin change it'd be even sweeter.

[Iamthesea]

2 hours ago, jodi58 said:

We had to pay for Club Orange as soon as we booked it, maybe because it was under 25.00 deposit promo? 

 

When I inquired about room upgrade, the rep said he never heard of it.  He finally transferred the call to someone who was able to give the upgrade.

 

Still feel bad we had to cancel though.

 

We didn't even know about a Club Orange when booking our cruise.  And I really don't think that my TA has heard of it. or at least she is not familiar with the perks.

 

1 hour ago, Caribbean Chris said:

Sorry, at appears they’ve revised the PDF and deleted it. Now it says to contact your travel advisor. 
 

Do you have a link to the PDF, or how I can find it?  I did not know about "shorter lines and expanded room service".

[Dobby36]

1 minute ago, Iamthesea said:

 

We didn't even know about a Club Orange when booking our cruise.  And I really don't think that my TA has heard of it. or at least she is not familiar with the perks.

 

Do you have a link to the PDF, or how I can find it?  I did not know about "shorter lines and expanded room service".

 full Club Orange benefits 

 

try that link above or just google HAL Club ORange.  The shorter lines are at guest services there is a special lane for CO, and at embarkation. The expanded room service at breakfast has additional hot items that are not offered in other guest rooms, and some without charges that usually would have charges (steak, and mimosas, i believe?) but i cannot find that spelled out well anywhere. 

[0106]

You may find this thread helpful too.  (There are several CO threads if you search.)

Be aware,  it is only the breakfast room service menu that has additional complimentary selections.

[AFNavigator]

3 hours ago, jodi58 said:

We had to pay for Club Orange as soon as we booked it, maybe because it was under 25.00 deposit promo? 

 

When I inquired about room upgrade, the rep said he never heard of it.  He finally transferred the call to someone who was able to give the upgrade.

 

Still feel bad we had to cancel though.

I can see a TA not being up to speed on HAL's Club Orange benefits but it is really disappointing to keep hearing about HAL sales representatives not knowing their products. One would expect that a sales representative would have had at least some rudimentary training on the Club Orange program. 

[DCThunder]

13 hours ago, 0106 said:

Just want to make sure you are aware that the Oosterdam does not have a dedicated CO dining room.  You will eat in the MDR and have 1 additional entree to select.  IMO,  the cabin upgrade and the dedicated dining room are the only reasons to book CO.  

Thanks for that perspective.  Very helpful.

[cruising sister]

I just booked a cruise on NS for this May. Both my TA and the first HAL agent were clueless on how CO worked. After insisting I was right the HAL agent talked to another HAL agent and we were able to get it done. Yes, you pay for CO at time of booking. I am traveling solo and did NOT have to pay for 2. I paid for lowest fare and up graded to the cabin I wanted. I am only 1star and am really looking forward to the priority boarding and tender benefits. I will report back after I cruise to say how I liked it. 

[Caribbean Chris]

16 minutes ago, cruising sister said:

I just booked a cruise on NS for this May. Both my TA and the first HAL agent were clueless on how CO worked. After insisting I was right the HAL agent talked to another HAL agent and we were able to get it done. Yes, you pay for CO at time of booking. I am traveling solo and did NOT have to pay for 2. I paid for lowest fare and up graded to the cabin I wanted. I am only 1star and am really looking forward to the priority boarding and tender benefits. I will report back after I cruise to say how I liked it. 

Thanks for recent real-world report! Sounds good - glad you only paid one CO add-on fare and got the upgrade you wanted. Have a great cruise. We’ll be on NS just before you in early April.

[jimbob22]

two aspects that puzzle me a bit wrt how it works on non-pinnacle ships.  If I'm CO, I wouldn't really have any issue eating in the MDR, but it seems like the CO dining room on the pinnacle ships has a 'shortcut' to the kitchen, where they get food delivered quickly and hot.  

 

Can this be replicated in any way in the MDR? I'm just not sure if it's possible for a subset of people in the MDR to get their food any differently than the rest of the people in the MDR.  

 

But also, the plus of the CO dining room on the pinnacle class is that it avoids the touchy situation of numerous people in line to get into the MDR and seeing (and resenting) the CO people waltzing by and getting seated ahead of them.  I've not heard of any resulting fisticuffs.  How is Hal currently avoiding this type of situation?

[DCThunder]

9 minutes ago, jimbob22 said:

But also, the plus of the CO dining room on the pinnacle class is that it avoids the touchy situation of numerous people in line to get into the MDR and seeing (and resenting) the CO people waltzing by and getting seated ahead of them.  I've not heard of any resulting fisticuffs.  How is Hal currently avoiding this type of situation?

What percentage of passengers are CO and is there a maximum number of CO slots on each ship?  The "touchy situation" you posit might not be that frequent.

 

I've got an upcoming cruise on Oosterdam, a non-Pinnacle class ship.  I do not want to give up the cabin I have booked.  So I'm debating if paying the extra $$$ for a bathrobe and priority boarding of the ship and tenders is worth it.

[jimbob22]

19 minutes ago, DCThunder said:

What percentage of passengers are CO and is there a maximum number of CO slots on each ship?  The "touchy situation" you posit might not be that frequent.

 

I've got an upcoming cruise on Oosterdam, a non-Pinnacle class ship.  I do not want to give up the cabin I have booked.  So I'm debating if paying the extra $$$ for a bathrobe and priority boarding of the ship and tenders is worth it.

I haven't seen any stats on it.  10% seems high.  But 5% seems low. Maybe in between?  The room upgrade is the main perk, for your situation I'm not so sure I'd do it.