Room upgrade substitute Club Orange on booked cruise?

[coachmouchet]

So what does Holland America offer for room upgrade substitutions if you decide to purchase Club Orange and the ship is sold out?

Going on Volendam.

[FOPMan]

Upgrades are on a space available basis, as clearly stated in HAL promo material. No space available, no upgrade.

[coachmouchet]

Yeah, but what do they offer as a substitute?  Is it OBC, if so how much?  Is it beverage card? etc

[coachmouchet]

8 minutes ago, FOPMan said:

Upgrades are on a space available basis, as clearly stated in HAL promo material. No space available, no upgrade.

As quoted by HAL:

What if there is not a better stateroom available for the complimentary upgrade? Guests will be upgraded to the best available stateroom within the meta category at the time of Club Orange purchase. If a stateroom upgrade is not available at that time, guests will receive an alternative benefit determined by our Ship Inventory team.

 

So, what is the alternative benefit is what I am asking.

[3rdGenCunarder]

From the downloadable pdf about CO:

 

If a stateroom upgrade is not available at that time,
guests will receive an alternative benefit determined by
our Ship Inventory team.

 

They keep their options open. I believe someone posted that they got $50 OBC. Someone else got a small reduction in the price of their CO upgrade. 

 

If the ship is sold out, it's possible that CO will be sold out, too. They do limit the numbers.

Edited July 19, 2023 by 3rdGenCunarder

[CruiserBruce]

34 minutes ago, coachmouchet said:

So what does Holland America offer for room upgrade substitutions if you decide to purchase Club Orange and the ship is sold out?

Going on Volendam.

How do you know the ship is sold out? If you are going to buy Club Orange, I would be checking the actual status of available cabins before I ask this question.

[Florida_gal_50]

32 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

How do you know the ship is sold out? If you are going to buy Club Orange, I would be checking the actual status of available cabins before I ask this question.

Absolutely, especially since the only benefit in my mind on a non pinnacle is the room upgrade.  If you can’t get that, it not worth the money.

[cbr663]

If the ship is sold out it is likely that CO will not be available for purchase as availability is limited on each cruise.  I recall one CC poster stating that they received a $100 OBC when a cabin upgrade could not be performed, but I think this was because they booked the highest category cabin in the meta category.

[spkack]

11 hours ago, cbr663 said:

If the ship is sold out it is likely that CO will not be available for purchase as availability is limited on each cruise.  I recall one CC poster stating that they received a $100 OBC when a cabin upgrade could not be performed, but I think this was because they booked the highest category cabin in the meta category.

We had this exact situation, we already had the highest available level with CO.  HAL offered OBC as well but was only $50.  I was happy to get it.  So it seems YMMV.

[coachmouchet]

18 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

How do you know the ship is sold out? If you are going to buy Club Orange, I would be checking the actual status of available cabins before I ask this question.

I know it is sold out by going to several websites and them stating it is sold out.  I have my cruise booked.  I was just asking what would HAL give me in return if I wanted to add Club Orange and they had no rooms available for upgrade.  Pretty simple question.

[coachmouchet]

6 hours ago, spkack said:

We had this exact situation, we already had the highest available level with CO.  HAL offered OBC as well but was only $50.  I was happy to get it.  So it seems YMMV.

Thank you so much!  You understood my question!  This is all I wanted to know.

[coachmouchet]

18 hours ago, cbr663 said:

If the ship is sold out it is likely that CO will not be available for purchase as availability is limited on each cruise.  I recall one CC poster stating that they received a $100 OBC when a cabin upgrade could not be performed, but I think this was because they booked the highest category cabin in the meta category.

Great!  Thank you!  This is the info I needed to know.

[CruiserBruce]

26 minutes ago, coachmouchet said:

I know it is sold out by going to several websites and them stating it is sold out.  I have my cruise booked.  I was just asking what would HAL give me in return if I wanted to add Club Orange and they had no rooms available for upgrade.  Pretty simple question.

As others have mentioned, they probably won't sell you CO at this point.

 

Believe me there are a lot of people who think they know how to tell, from public sources, how full a ship is. It isn't as easy as one thinks it is. There are a number of things, like guarantee bookings, that can mislead one trying to determine fullness.

[Haljo1935]

5 hours ago, coachmouchet said:

I know it is sold out by going to several websites and them stating it is sold out.  I have my cruise booked.  I was just asking what would HAL give me in return if I wanted to add Club Orange and they had no rooms available for upgrade.  Pretty simple question.

Hey @coachmouchet when you call the CO number, or GS if that's who you want to call, they should check the status of CO availability before letting you actually book it. If it's sold out, which can happen irrespective of the sailing status since CO is capacity controlled, they shouldn't sell it to you.

Yes, I've read the posts of people saying they've been offered $xx OBC because an upgrade cabin wasn't available, but I have also personally been told I couldn't add CO because it was sold out.

If you select your upgraded cabin at the same time you add CO, there wouldn't be an issue w/availability. Some people might want to select the cabin later, which then could result in one not being available; I don't fall into that group. Give me what I pay for at the time of purchase!! Lol.

Hope you're able to get what you're looking for.

Safe travels  - enjoy your cruise!

[Florida_gal_50]

I’m not sure why anyone would wait to pick a cabin unless you don’t have to pay for it immediately.  While club orange can be difficult to get on the pinnacle ships I got it no problem on my last cruise on a non pinnacle 7 weeks before sailing.  I’m not saying that will be the case on every sailing but there is a lot less reason to get it on the non pinnacle. 

[POA1]

Also, if you opt out of the upgrade because you really want to keep your current stateroom, they won't give you any OBC or other fabulous prize for being unupgradeable. I opted out of an upgrade because I (stupidly) bought a high category, midship room and did not want to move.

 

In the grand scheme of things, we're only missing out on a nominal amout of OBC, which we probably would leave in the casino or on our waistlines. (Paid Dive In room service after a night in the bars, anyone? A very dangerous feature of the Navigator app. 😮 🍟🍔)

[terrydtx]

On 7/18/2023 at 8:05 PM, coachmouchet said:

Yeah, but what do they offer as a substitute?  Is it OBC, if so how much?  Is it beverage card? etc

We got a $100 OBC pp for our Nov. Koingsdam cruise as we were already at the highest category verandah cabin category when we added. CO.

[mi-oh-tx]

We booked Club Orange on a pinnacle class ship, but they said rooms for upgrade were not available.  We got $100 obc 

[coachmouchet]

So glad I didn’t add Club Orange!   When I got to Vancouver to check in I noticed my cabin had changed.  I was upgraded from ocean view to a vista suite without even asking!!   I don’t know how I got so lucky but me and my family are extremely thankful and happy!!  So far our cruise to Alaska on the Volendam is going great!!!

[Haljo1935]

On 7/28/2023 at 10:53 PM, coachmouchet said:

So glad I didn’t add Club Orange!   When I got to Vancouver to check in I noticed my cabin had changed.  I was upgraded from ocean view to a vista suite without even asking!!   I don’t know how I got so lucky but me and my family are extremely thankful and happy!!  So far our cruise to Alaska on the Volendam is going great!!!

You have indeed been visited by the Don't-Upgrade-Better-Things-Are-Instore Fairy!! Sometimes the universe just bestows good karma on people it knows will appreciate it and your reaction is exactly what it was hoping for!! Congrats!!

Had that happen (sort of) when we went to Alaska this year - got moved from partially obstructed balcony to a signature suite the night before we left. We genuinely felt blessed and when I sent my TA a message to thank him, he said it wasn't him, it was all HAL. Sometimes things just work like they should.🤗