Question about Club Orange

[Tryingtocruise]

I'm thinking about inquiring about Club Orange for our July Fjord cruise on the Rotterdam.  I know the biggest benefit is a cabin upgrade.  I am also very interested in the priority boarding and small dining room but I'm not sure just those options are worth the additional cost.  

 

Right now we are booked in a standard Verandah cabin on deck 7 - category VE.  If I can add on Club Orange, can my cabin upgrade be to an aft verandah or a spa verandah?  

 

If a spa verandah, are any spa accesses included?

 

I also realize that Club Orange may be sold out.  I'm just trying to figure out if it is even worth inquiring about.

 

Thanks for the help.

[kirkc]

Spa cabins do not include any spa services. They are just located nearer the spa.

[3rdGenCunarder]

Rotterdam does have a CO dining room. 

 

Priority boarding may or may not apply, depending on the port. Fort Lauderdale is very good about it. I've heard that some ports are not.

 

Your upgrade would be anything in the Veranda (V) category. Part of your research should be to do some dummy bookings to see if anything in the "better" categories is available and in a location you like. July is pretty close, so CO maybe sold out already. 

[DaveOKC]

Many people use the CO upgrade to take Verandah aft cabins.  Also, the small dining area IMO is much better than using the Main Dining Room for breakfast and dinner.

 

[Photophobian]

Club orange can upgrade you to the aft or spa variety. Spa rooms don't come with any additional benefits, it's just literally closer to the spa.

 

In my opinion, club orange is worth it. They figured out a proper price point, so it's not necessarily a "steal" and I don't think it's "overpriced".

 

My advice is use club orange, and request a room that's near the amenities that you use. If you are a smoker, go aft. That way you are closer to the smoking section. 

 

If you enjoy the spa and feel that the thermal suite is a must have, go with something near the front. Preferably the "spa" named rooms.

[mcrcruiser]

Club Orange sells out very fast  .  So if you want CO then book it very early . Cost is under 14 day cruise $50 per day for 2 people 14c days or longer $30 perc day for 2 people  .Good luck 

[consmarci]

Also, priority tenders, so you can walk on to the next tender showing your club orange card without getting on the line or needing a number for the next tender and waiting. Handy on sailings with many tender stops. 

 

[POA1]

As long as a V* is open, you can have it. I'd call your PCC or TA to check availability of Club Orange and the room you want. There are relatively few VS (aft) and Club Orange is capacity limited. Pull down a copy of the Rotterdam Deck Plan as a PDF because you will get to choose a specific room.

 

Be aware that if you dummy book a room, you'll pull it out of inventory. However, if you call, you can find out what's available. It's a pain to do it on the site.

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 minute ago, POA1 said:

As long as a V* is open, you can have it. I'd call your PCC or TA to check availability of Club Orange and the room you want. There are relatively few VS (aft) and Club Orange is capacity limited. Pull down a copy of the Rotterdam Deck Plan as a PDF because you will get to choose a specific room.

 

Be aware that if you dummy book a room, you'll pull it out of inventory. However, if you call, you can find out what's available. It's a pain to do it on the site.

 

I do dummy bookings just far enough to see availability, then back out or choose a different category, so nothing is held for me.

[rochelle_s]

There is also fresh orange juice and mimosas included, also available for room service.

 

Rochelle

 

 

[pghflyer]

They have a great web page with a nice PDF of benefits. I am considering it solely to go from my VH (veranda guarantee) to a better room of my choice, and then all the other benefits would just be bonus. Ours is 28-day sailing so sound like that would be $840 surcharge ($15 per person per day). Is that added to final payment or do you pay that fee when taking it?

[Nodakboiler]

Usually have to pay when adding it to the reservation.

[AFNavigator]

2 hours ago, Tryingtocruise said:

I'm thinking about inquiring about Club Orange for our July Fjord cruise on the Rotterdam.  I know the biggest benefit is a cabin upgrade.  I am also very interested in the priority boarding and small dining room but I'm not sure just those options are worth the additional cost.  

 

Right now we are booked in a standard Verandah cabin on deck 7 - category VE.  If I can add on Club Orange, can my cabin upgrade be to an aft verandah or a spa verandah?  

 

If a spa verandah, are any spa accesses included?

 

I also realize that Club Orange may be sold out.  I'm just trying to figure out if it is even worth inquiring about.

 

Thanks for the help.

You may find Club Orange might actually be "near free".  If you can talk them into temp downgrading you to an obstructed balcony, buy CO, then upgrade to the cabin you want.  We did that our last cruise and actually saved $60 from the cabin fare we originally booked...and essentially got CO for free.

[terrydtx]

If you book the lowest V level cabin and add club orange you get the free upgrade to the highest available V category cabin. Do it right and the upgrade will pay for your CO add. We booked a level B Vista Suite and added CO to get upgraded to a level A VS on our August Volendam cruise. The cost difference of the B VS A paid for our CO add, without CO we would have booked the level A VS anyway. On the Pinnacle class ships with CO dining room that alone is worth the upgrade and cost of CO, all the other CO amenities are just gravy.

[YourWorldWithBill]

Another footnote to what others have said: the CO dining room on the Rotterdam is really nice. This is the first ship on which CO was included from the beginning, instead of just added on.

[POA1]

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

If you book the lowest V level cabin and add club orange you get the free upgrade to the highest available V category cabin. Do it right and the upgrade will pay for your CO add. We booked a level B Vista Suite and added CO to get upgraded to a level A VS on our August Volendam cruise. The cost difference of the B VS A paid for our CO add, without CO we would have booked the level A VS anyway. On the Pinnacle class ships with CO dining room that alone is worth the upgrade and cost of CO, all the other CO amenities are just gravy.

Thanks. You just answered one of my "burning questions." Is CO available on the Volendam and Zaandam.

[Tryingtocruise]

Thanks for all the info!  DH and I decided to pass this time.  Decided we would rather spend the money elsewhere.  It's our first time on HAL so we figured we would experience the MDR and be "normal" cruisers for the first time.  DH did say we would consider it for the next HAL cruise.

[terrydtx]

2 hours ago, POA1 said:

Thanks. You just answered one of my "burning questions." Is CO available on the Volendam and Zaandam.

CO is available on all HAL ships, for ships older than Pinnacle class CO dining is in MDR but with priority seating and an extra special entree and starter. We have it on our August Volendam cruise.

[TAW1963]

I have a different question regarding Club Orange and upsells.  Several months back, we booked an Alaska cruise on the Westerdam for May 19.  I booked the lowest category veranda cabin (VH), purchased Club Orange and was upgraded to an aft-facing veranda, which we love.  Club Orange certainly paid for itself with the upgrade alone.  For our sailing, the prices of a Signature suite have considerably dropped and we are past final payment.  If I were to call HAL and try and purchase the lowest category Signature suite as an upsell, would they apply my, already purchased, Club Orange and allow me to then upgrade to my choice of Signature suite?  In this case, Club Orange pays for itself and then some, if this is allowed..

[terrydtx]

If you are past final payment you should call HAL or whoever you booked the cruise through to ask this question. 

[TAW1963]

7 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

If you are past final payment you should call HAL or whoever you booked the cruise through to ask this question. 

Thanks!  I booked directly with HAL.  I agree and thought it best to contact HAL for this question too, but often times one gets differing answers depending on the agent they get.  If others may have experience with this and were allowed to do this, then I may push back a little more if the HAL agent says no.

[terrydtx]

24 minutes ago, TAW1963 said:

Thanks!  I booked directly with HAL.  I agree and thought it best to contact HAL for this question too, but often times one gets differing answers depending on the agent they get.  If others may have experience with this and were allowed to do this, then I may push back a little more if the HAL agent says no.

Usually if you are changing cabin category and pricing you have to cancel the previous cruise and initiate a totally new booking, but you will lose any booking amenities and addons from the previous cruise. You could lose CO if it is already sold out for your cruise. It is the same if the price drops for your cabin, you have to rebook to get the new pricing.

[TAW1963]

8 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Usually if you are changing cabin category and pricing you have to cancel the previous cruise and initiate a totally new booking, but you will lose any booking amenities and addons from the previous cruise. You could lose CO if it is already sold out for your cruise. It is the same if the price drops for your cabin, you have to rebook to get the new pricing.

That almost certainly will be the case, I am afraid.   I have never tried to purchase an upsell to a higher category on HAL.  Thanks so much for your advice.

[3rdGenCunarder]

9 minutes ago, TAW1963 said:

That almost certainly will be the case, I am afraid.   I have never tried to purchase an upsell to a higher category on HAL.  Thanks so much for your advice.

 

I have purchased an upsell in the past, not involving CO. I think I did it twice, both times because I decided I did want a better cabin, not because of any HAL offer. They were happy to take my money and I did not have to rebook.

 

But if there's a price drop change, I agree with @terrydtx, they're likely to want you to cancel and rebook. I think HAL (and other lines, too) does this to discourage people from calling and wanting to refare for less. 

[TAW1963]

16 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

I have purchased an upsell in the past, not involving CO. I think I did it twice, both times because I decided I did want a better cabin, not because of any HAL offer. They were happy to take my money and I did not have to rebook.

 

But if there's a price drop change, I agree with @terrydtx, they're likely to want you to cancel and rebook. I think HAL (and other lines, too) does this to discourage people from calling and wanting to refare for less. 

Thanks for the reply.  For my current veranda cabin, there has not been a price drop.   However, it appears that the fare for the Signature suite is the one that has not dropped or, perhaps, it has been low for quite some time.   We are perfectly happy in our aft-facing veranda cabin.