Club Orange is Excellent

[Caymus88]

3 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

The "list price" is $35 per person per day on K and NS. All other ships, it's $25 pp pd. Sometimes HAL will offer lower rates. 

 

I can't see that being worth it for priority check in, especially as in most HAL ports you would go through the same security line as all passengers, and only get priority for check-in and boarding. 

 

Simple solution for impatience is to go to the ship later, say 1:00 or 2:00. Many people have reported no waiting at all at those times. 

Thank you!  I guess I wasn’t clear.  Spouse has leg issues and has difficulties standing for long periods.   It’s a moot point now anyway 

[3rdGenCunarder]

2 hours ago, Caymus88 said:

Thank you!  I guess I wasn’t clear.  Spouse has leg issues and has difficulties standing for long periods.   It’s a moot point now anyway 

 

DH could walk the distances in terminals but had difficulty standing because of balance issues. I arranged for wheelchair transfer within the terminal. 

 

[Floridiana]

On 4/16/2019 at 11:16 AM, Crusinsusan2 said:

We were on the 3/17-3/27 Koningsdam sailing in a NS. Club Orange was in our opinion wonderful and a perfect fit for us. 

 I fully agree. We would have loved to eat lunch there and wrote in our evaluation e-mail they should add it. We hated the noisy dining room for lunch and found the Lido too crowded. Koningsdam October/November 2019. 

[Mosaic]

But, isn't that why we HAD the pinnacle grill to start with???

[*Miss G*]

1 hour ago, Mosaic said:

But, isn't that why we HAD the pinnacle grill to start with???

 

The Pinnacle Grill started as a suites-only dining room?  

[Crusinsusan2]

 

2 hours ago, Floridiana said:

On 4/16/2019 at 8:16 AM, Crusinsusan2 said:

We were on the 3/17-3/27 Koningsdam sailing in a NS. Club Orange was in our opinion wonderful and a perfect fit for us. 

 I fully agree. We would have loved to eat lunch there and wrote in our evaluation e-mail they should add it. We hated the noisy dining room for lunch and found the Lido too crowded. Koningsdam October/November 2019.

Excited to be be able to experience CO again for our upcoming Koningsdam sailing Jan 12. Hoping it's as excellent and consistent as our first experience was. Will indeed report back in. YES Floridiana wouldn't it be great if lunch was an option too?  

[mcrcruiser]

imo paying $100 extra per day per couple, for club orange is not worth  it 

[*Miss G*]

2 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

imo paying $100 extra per day per couple, for club orange is not worth  it 

 

Just a point of clarification:  It’s $35/pp/pd on the Pinnacle-class ships.  Lower on the non-Pinnacle class

[Floridiana]

15 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

The Pinnacle Grill started as a suites-only dining room?  

 

Yes and only breakfast is included for suite guests on the older ships. You have to pay for dinner and all guests can make reservations and pay for dinner just like at the other specialty restaurants. Only breakfast is reserved for Neptune and Pinnacle guests.

 

In Club Orange, breakfast and dinner are included for suites guests. The food is the same as in the main dining room with one hors d'oeuvre and one main dish special for OC diners. It's more about dining in a pleasant low noise level restaurant with excellent service than it is about special food. I am not sure I would pay for it extra if it hadn't been included in our Neptune suite. 

 

By the way, we found the food to be much improved from our Veendam cruise years ago. Somehow I remember bland and uninspired food at that time. It's more international and regionally inspired now.

[cruisemom42]

16 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

 

The Pinnacle Grill started as a suites-only dining room?  

 

20 minutes ago, Floridiana said:

Yes

 

 

I do not recall the Pinnacle Grill starting as a suites-only dining room.  Granted I wasn't really sailing HAL in those days (my parents were) but I thought it was always a specialty dining room available to anyone who paid the (at that time small) upcharge.

 

I don't think it was until quite a bit later that it began to be opened to suite guests for breakfast...

[shloink1]

FYI.

Just was offered Club Orange on our December 7th sailing on the Nieuw Amsterdam @$350 for the week, with $100 of that being OBC. This breaks down to $17.86 per person, per day for the cruise. 

[*Miss G*]

24 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

 

I do not recall the Pinnacle Grill starting as a suites-only dining room.  Granted I wasn't really sailing HAL in those days (my parents were) but I thought it was always a specialty dining room available to anyone who paid the (at that time small) upcharge.

 

I don't think it was until quite a bit later that it began to be opened to suite guests for breakfast...

 

This is how I remember it also.

[3rdGenCunarder]

44 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

 

I do not recall the Pinnacle Grill starting as a suites-only dining room.  Granted I wasn't really sailing HAL in those days (my parents were) but I thought it was always a specialty dining room available to anyone who paid the (at that time small) upcharge.

 

I don't think it was until quite a bit later that it began to be opened to suite guests for breakfast...

 

That's my understanding, too. I didn't "move on up" to Neptune Suites until about 6-7 years ago, and by then the Pinnacle breakfast was in place.

 

[3rdGenCunarder]

45 minutes ago, shloink1 said:

FYI.

Just was offered Club Orange on our December 7th sailing on the Nieuw Amsterdam @$350 for the week, with $100 of that being OBC. This breaks down to $17.86 per person, per day for the cruise. 

 

This is the first offer of OBC I've seen for CO. HAL must be having a really hard time selling this. 

[DaveOKC]

53 minutes ago, shloink1 said:

FYI.

Just was offered Club Orange on our December 7th sailing on the Nieuw Amsterdam @$350 for the week, with $100 of that being OBC. This breaks down to $17.86 per person, per day for the cruise. 

In August we got a similar offer on the Amsterdam for $15 pp per day for CO.  No OBC of course.  For us the value was not there (already have some of the perks plus did not want an upgrade).

 

 

Edited November 16, 2019 by DaveOKC

[*Miss G*]

4 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

This is the first offer of OBC I've seen for CO. HAL must be having a really hard time selling this. 

 

I don’t doubt it.  I cannot fathom how they think this is a value-add on the non-Pinnacle ships.

[JeffElizabeth]

On 3/6/2019 at 6:55 AM, SJSULIBRARIAN said:

Having had breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill on the Prinsendam, I would say no other PG can even come close to its excellence. 

Agree. We were loyal Prinsendam customers and loved their PG. Wasn't nearly as nice on the Amsterdam. The OC? My SIL thought the price was worth it but this was only her second cruise.

[bEwAbG]

On 11/16/2019 at 10:47 AM, 3rdGenCunarder said:

This is the first offer of OBC I've seen for CO. HAL must be having a really hard time selling this. 

 

I hope the poster will come back and clarify, but I read it as if they used OBC to pay for part of it, so the net out of pocket cost was that much lower. 

[RocketMan275]

On 11/16/2019 at 8:35 AM, Floridiana said:

 

Yes and only breakfast is included for suite guests on the older ships. You have to pay for dinner and all guests can make reservations and pay for dinner just like at the other specialty restaurants. Only breakfast is reserved for Neptune and Pinnacle guests.

 

In Club Orange, breakfast and dinner are included for suites guests. The food is the same as in the main dining room with one hors d'oeuvre and one main dish special for OC diners. It's more about dining in a pleasant low noise level restaurant with excellent service than it is about special food. I am not sure I would pay for it extra if it hadn't been included in our Neptune suite. 

 

By the way, we found the food to be much improved from our Veendam cruise years ago. Somehow I remember bland and uninspired food at that time. It's more international and regionally inspired now.

FWIW, the breakfast menu in the Pinnacle Grill is the same breakfast menu in the MDR.

[sofietucker]

Hmm. .We are so pleased with Luminae when we sail on Celebrity & had expected that CO would be similar. Nope! On the Nieuw Statendam next month, based on these reviews, looks like we'll be having NS room service breakfast. We always loved Pinnacle breakfast as it was hushed and gracious; guess we'll  invent our own version of that (and not have to dress, lol). We'll only be eating in the CO for 2 dinners; are there menus posted anywhere online? If their "extra items" include foie gras, that may drive when we eat there (though Sel de Mer always has it as well). Or are the extra menu items not that special?

[DaveOKC]

1 hour ago, RocketMan275 said:

FWIW, the breakfast menu in the Pinnacle Grill is the same breakfast menu in the MDR.

I thought there was an extra item or two??

[RocketMan275]

1 hour ago, DaveOKC said:

I thought there was an extra item or two??

Only for dinner.

[frankc98376]

3 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

I thought there was an extra item or two??

They have made us special request items in the PG at breakfast.  Several times I have had Nasi Goreng (Indonesian Fried Rice) for breakfast.  We eat dinner exclusively in PG so the staff gets to know us.  As long as they have the ingredients they are usually willing to fulfill requests at breakfast. I usually ask our server at dinner the night before and they pass the message along.

Edited November 17, 2019 by frankc98376

[3rdGenCunarder]

8 hours ago, bEwAbG said:

 

I hope the poster will come back and clarify, but I read it as if they used OBC to pay for part of it, so the net out of pocket cost was that much lower. 

 

Ah, that didn't occur to me. HAL doesn't usually let you use OBC before the cruise, but they're so desperate to sell CO, they might do anything. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

5 hours ago, sofietucker said:

Hmm. .We are so pleased with Luminae when we sail on Celebrity & had expected that CO would be similar. Nope! On the Nieuw Statendam next month, based on these reviews, looks like we'll be having NS room service breakfast. We always loved Pinnacle breakfast as it was hushed and gracious; guess we'll  invent our own version of that (and not have to dress, lol). We'll only be eating in the CO for 2 dinners; are there menus posted anywhere online? If their "extra items" include foie gras, that may drive when we eat there (though Sel de Mer always has it as well). Or are the extra menu items not that special?

 

I found it difficult to get advance information on the specials, but that was early in the existence of CO. 

 

Give CO breakfast a try. I didn't care for the ambiance, but the food was cooked right there. So if you like pancakes or waffles, that will beat MDR, Pinnacle, or Room Service. Less than a minute from griddle to table.