Review of Club Orange on the Eurodam June 24, 2023 to Alaska

[horseymike]

Thanks again Bill.

You gave me the incentive to step up to the plate 👍

[2inTul]

17 minutes ago, YourWorldWithBill said:

Glad to hear it!  Now I just hope it lives up to expectations; my mother had a philosophy of expecting the worst, then when anything better happens, she felt great!

Absolutely!  Pessimists are never disappointed.  😄

[oceanbill457]

2inTul

Interested in your Admiral Nelson profile. I am a retired US Navy officer. My Naval hero is Horatio Nelson. I have read virtually all accounts of his exploits. I was fortunately able to get a guided tour of Victory during my career. Would love to exchange with you. Bill Mitchell

[PSR]

On 7/3/2023 at 9:29 AM, cbr663 said:

 

The CO dining room on the Pinnacle Class ships is the primary driver for us to continue sailing on HAL.  We absolutely enjoyed the experience on the Koningsdam in May.  We enjoyed it so much that while onboard we booked a future cruise on the Rotterdam in a Neptune Suite and have since down graded it to a Vista Suite with CO as we felt the CO dining was the best part of the onboard experience for us.

 

I thought Neptune suite passengers have access to CO. Is this not true? Or did you just switch to lower the cruse fare and still get CO? Thanks for any info.

[cbr663]

59 minutes ago, PSR said:

 

I thought Neptune suite passengers have access to CO. Is this not true? Or did you just switch to lower the cruse fare and still get CO? Thanks for any info.

 

Yes, Neptune Suite passengers have access to some of the CO amenities, with CO dining being one of them.  We just weren't overly impressed with the Neptune Suite experience and decided that the separate CO dining room was of more value to us in a lower category cabin than having it included with a Neptune Suite.

 

We are one of the few posters who aren't wowed by the Neptune Suite experience.  We tried the NS experience years ago and didn't enjoy it then and continued cruising in a lower category and were happy.  We thought we would try it again on our May cruise and while it was better than our previous experience, it still fell short for us.  

[YourWorldWithBill]

1 hour ago, cbr663 said:

We are one of the few posters who aren't wowed by the Neptune Suite experience.  We tried the NS experience years ago and didn't enjoy it then and continued cruising in a lower category and were happy.  We thought we would try it again on our May cruise and while it was better than our previous experience, it still fell short for us.  

The size of the Neptune suite is not a big deal to us, but we got addicted to access to the concierge, who can handle any issues and answer any questions. And some really simple stuff such as being able to grab a soda or some ice anytime is convenient. But we'll probably do the same as you and get a verandah with CO next time; on a pinnacle class ship!

[cbr663]

1 hour ago, YourWorldWithBill said:

The size of the Neptune suite is not a big deal to us, but we got addicted to access to the concierge, who can handle any issues and answer any questions. And some really simple stuff such as being able to grab a soda or some ice anytime is convenient. But we'll probably do the same as you and get a verandah with CO next time; on a pinnacle class ship!

 

The size of the Neptune Suite is nice, but like you, it isn't a big deal for us either.  It's great that you enjoy the Neptune Lounge and the service that the concierge offers.  We don't enjoy it and that is the primary reason why we chose to downgrade.  We instead chose a Vista Suite that is 2 doors away from the Neptune Suite that we had booked.  We saved more than half the cost of the Neptune Suite.  For us, it was answering the question "What were we getting for the $$thousands more in the Neptune Suite vs the Vista Suite with CO and we simply didn't see the value for us.  

[YourWorldWithBill]

On 7/4/2023 at 6:30 PM, cbr663 said:

 

The size of the Neptune Suite is nice, but like you, it isn't a big deal for us either.  It's great that you enjoy the Neptune Lounge and the service that the concierge offers.  We don't enjoy it and that is the primary reason why we chose to downgrade.  We instead chose a Vista Suite that is 2 doors away from the Neptune Suite that we had booked.  We saved more than half the cost of the Neptune Suite.  For us, it was answering the question "What were we getting for the $$thousands more in the Neptune Suite vs the Vista Suite with CO and we simply didn't see the value for us.  

From what I see online I wonder how the Vista suite compares to a verandah.

[cbr663]

27 minutes ago, YourWorldWithBill said:

From what I see online I wonder how the Vista suite compares to a verandah.

 

Just a little longer.  We've sailed in a Vista Suite on the Koningsdam and we enjoyed it.

[Maya_C]

On 7/2/2023 at 11:27 PM, Andi Land said:

Hi! Yes, at dinner we had the menu with the additional entree. After dinner they always asked if we wanted coffee to go with dessert. I’d guess you could get cappuccino. I don’t drink coffee so I don’t know for sure. Breakfast should have had fresh squeezed OJ but we never received it. There was the separate line at Guest Services which was rarely busy and we also had the nicer upgraded robes that we used every day at the thermal suite. 

 

With Club Orange you get freshly squeezed orange juice only when you order a room service breakfast, not if you eat elsewhere. I knew that before I boarded, so that info is somewhere in the Club Orange write-up it on HAL's website. Freshly squeezed orange juice is on the Club Orange room service breakfast menu. I had to ask for our cabin attendant for that menu on the first day. It wasn't automatically placed in the room every day. This was on the Zaandam.

[LabMom57]

On 7/2/2023 at 5:21 PM, Andi Land said:

Anything more specific you wanted to know? Please ask ☺️

 

We are considering adding CO for our Alaskan cruise on Eurodam in August. For me, the tipping point would be the expanded room service menu for breakfast. Can you provide any information on the difference between the regular room service menu and the expanded CO one?

 

Thanks!

[Andi Land]

8 minutes ago, LabMom57 said:

 

We are considering adding CO for our Alaskan cruise on Eurodam in August. For me, the tipping point would be the expanded room service menu for breakfast. Can you provide any information on the difference between the regular room service menu and the expanded CO one?

 

Thanks!

I’m hopeful someone else will have info for you. We didn’t order room service on the entire trip. Sorry 😞 

[oakridger]

4 hours ago, LabMom57 said:

Can you provide any information on the difference between the regular room service menu and the expanded CO one?

 

Thanks!

 

From the website of CC member @Crew News:  Club Orange Room Service Breakfast card

 

Breakfast-Room-Service-PS-NS-Orange.pdf (rogerjett-photography.com)

 

 

 

Regular Room Service Breakfast card:

 

Breakfast-Room-Service-Standard.pdf (rogerjett-photography.com)

 

As always, thank you Roger for the menus!!!

 

~Nancy

 

 

 

[kazu]

17 hours ago, Maya_C said:

 

With Club Orange you get freshly squeezed orange juice only when you order a room service breakfast, not if you eat elsewhere. I knew that before I boarded, so that info is somewhere in the Club Orange write-up it on HAL's website. Freshly squeezed orange juice is on the Club Orange room service breakfast menu. I had to ask for our cabin attendant for that menu on the first day. It wasn't automatically placed in the room every day. This was on the Zaandam.

 

That must be because it’s a non Pinnacle Class ship?  

I had Club Orange on the Koningsdam and fresh squeezed orange juice was on the breakfast menu with no surcharge as were the mimosas.

 

When I was on the Oosterdam I was never given a C.O. Menu but I didn’t push it as my table mates did not have Club Orange so I can’t comment on it.

[Maya_C]

3 hours ago, kazu said:

 

That must be because it’s a non Pinnacle Class ship?  

I had Club Orange on the Koningsdam and fresh squeezed orange juice was on the breakfast menu with no surcharge as were the mimosas.

 

When I was on the Oosterdam I was never given a C.O. Menu but I didn’t push it as my table mates did not have Club Orange so I can’t comment on it.

 

Yes, the Pinnacle ships are the only ones offering no-charge freshly squeezed orange juice on the breakfast menu because Club Orange members eat in a separate dining room, along with passengers in the higher room categories. On the other ships, where CO members eat in the MDR, fresh OJ with no surcharge is only on the room service menu. At dinner in the MDR on non-Pinnacle ships, CO passengers are offered a menu with one extra entree choice. We had to ask for this menu on the first night in the MDR on the Zaandam, but after that the server always handed it to us when he gave out the menus to the other passengers at the table.