Club Orange sold out 18 months in advance?? Advice needed

[CafeBruno]

Hi, would appreciate your thoughts on this….I’m interested in a 35 day sailing on the Koningsdam in February and March 2025, but really only if I can get Club Orange, since my wife and I really don’t care for breakfasts in the Lido or dinners in the MDR, especially on Pinnacle class ships. I got a very good quote from my very solid and reputable travel agent, and told her to book it, but only for the cheapest balcony cabin, and then at the same time buy Club Orange and upgrade to a better balcony cabin. She’s done this for me several times before, no problem. But this time, she called me back 15 minutes later and told me that HAL told her that CO was sold out for this sailing.

 

This can’t be right, 18 months before sailing, can it? I’ve bought CO at least 6 times in the past, usually 3-6 months before sailing, no problems. How can this sailing suddenly be sold out 18 months in advance? I am wondering if HAL is holding back some CO capacity, and only releasing a few spots at a time, to spread out the capacity and therefore ensure spots are available for those booking later? It seems possible, but it wouldn’t seem smart, since I would think HAL would be more motivated to sell all the CO spots as early as possible, since CO is paid at the time of booking, which of course speeds up HAL’s cash flow. Has anyone run across this situation before, where CO is sold out so far in advance?

 

So I am trying to decide what to do. Since I am getting great pricing now, I could just go ahead and book the cheapest balcony now, and then call HAL every month, to see if any more CO spots open up, and buy it then. And then if it remains “sold out” I guess I can just cancel the cruise, since I really do not want the cheapest Obstructed View balcony. But I hate to tie up a deposit for potentially a long period of time and then cancel if 14 months from now if CO is still sold out. Or, I could just not book the cruise now, and call HAL every month to see if any CO spots have opened up, and then book the cruise with CO then. But who knows if I would still get the great pricing and Early Booking Bonus Have It All perks they are offering now - I doubt it.

 

Anyway I’d appreciate your thoughts on this. Thanks

[canadianbear]

There are a lot of us on the 2024 South Pacific cruise who booked the 2025 when it came available with the early booking bonus so I think a lot went with the CO and upgrade on cabin including us. (Just my thoughts). 
 

Not sure what ideas to give you, sorry.  I’m sure others will chime in that have more experience regarding booking CO.  We’ve only ever had it when in a Neptune suite but for 2025 we booked the lowest Vista suite &  upgraded cabin with CO. 

[cbr663]

You could keep the booking and try calling back to see whether someone has cancelled and a CO has opened up.  The challenge though is do you call daily, weekly, monthly?  It's just timing.

 

I was on a call recently with my TA attempting to transfer a booking to a new booking that involved CO.  It was a long call and at the beginning of the call I was told that CO was available and during the time it took to figure out the transfer and whatnot someone else had called and requested the last CO.  

 

You can try your luck for a few months and then decide if you want to cancel.  Just a reminder - make sure your deposit is 100% refundable.

 

Just a thought though - as you have a TA, would your TA have to check for you or would HAL be okay with your calling?

[OlsSalt]

Too many people now know about "gaming the system" with using CO.

Scarcity is the first law of economics. There are only so many seats to sell.

 

Best they just sell seats to the CO Restaurant perk, and stop engaging in the cabin upgrade lottery.

[Shalandara]

When I was looking to book a Feb 2025 cruise for the early booking promo I priced out doing lowest obstructed balcony, and adding club orange to get the exact cabin I wanted (not exactly highest balcony according to HAL but it was to me due to location).  I gave my TA the price differences of booking that way vs booking the cabin I wanted directly.  She was able to get me the cabin I wanted without the CO but at the CO price strategy.  Since I could care less about the perks of CO I did it via her way since the rare CO spot is wasted on me.

No, I do not know how she did it -- but that is what working with a TA can get you sometimes.  If more did it my way the people who actually want CO benefits wouldn't be shut out so early I think.

I guess you can hope someone who did the early CO booking (possibly also with the $1 deposit) changes their minds about going and cancels,

[OlsSalt]

CO got off to a very pokey start - no one could figure out what it was, or why they wound want to buy into it. I remember when CO was merely some duct tape on the carpet, in front of the Main Desk for priority line-ups. And one other menu item in the MDR. Priority tender and embarkation offered only limited appeal.

 

Then came this cabin upgrade perk and everyone was talking about CO. On the larger class Pinnacle ships, CO is almost required if you want any semblance to a sane dining experience. That alone is a CO value. Plus they are now filling their cabins with regular reservations.  They don't have that  many left over now to hand out upfront at a discount.

 

So does HAL  need to offer this additional cabin upgrade gimmicks any longer, or does CO have stand alone value as just a quieter dining venue on the larger ships? After our own Konnigsdam experience, I would never sail on her again without just the CO dining option.

[rollie]

12 hours ago, CafeBruno said:

Hi, would appreciate your thoughts on this….I’m interested in a 35 day sailing on the Koningsdam in February and March 2025, but really only if I can get Club Orange, since my wife and I really don’t care for breakfasts in the Lido or dinners in the MDR, especially on Pinnacle class ships. I got a very good quote from my very solid and reputable travel agent, and told her to book it, but only for the cheapest balcony cabin, and then at the same time buy Club Orange and upgrade to a better balcony cabin. She’s done this for me several times before, no problem. But this time, she called me back 15 minutes later and told me that HAL told her that CO was sold out for this sailing.

 

This can’t be right, 18 months before sailing, can it? I’ve bought CO at least 6 times in the past, usually 3-6 months before sailing, no problems. How can this sailing suddenly be sold out 18 months in advance? I am wondering if HAL is holding back some CO capacity, and only releasing a few spots at a time, to spread out the capacity and therefore ensure spots are available for those booking later? It seems possible, but it wouldn’t seem smart, since I would think HAL would be more motivated to sell all the CO spots as early as possible, since CO is paid at the time of booking, which of course speeds up HAL’s cash flow. Has anyone run across this situation before, where CO is sold out so far in advance?

 

So I am trying to decide what to do. Since I am getting great pricing now, I could just go ahead and book the cheapest balcony now, and then call HAL every month, to see if any more CO spots open up, and buy it then. And then if it remains “sold out” I guess I can just cancel the cruise, since I really do not want the cheapest Obstructed View balcony. But I hate to tie up a deposit for potentially a long period of time and then cancel if 14 months from now if CO is still sold out. Or, I could just not book the cruise now, and call HAL every month to see if any CO spots have opened up, and then book the cruise with CO then. But who knows if I would still get the great pricing and Early Booking Bonus Have It All perks they are offering now - I doubt it.

 

Anyway I’d appreciate your thoughts on this. Thanks

We're booked on the same cruise.  We added CO when be booked.  Our friends are joining us and when they first called CO was sold out.  They kept calling and they were lucky to get an opening. I guess there are only about 75 openings.

 

Rollie

[SDARCH]

50 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

So does HAL  need to offer this additional cabin upgrade gimmicks any longer, or does CO have stand alone value as just a quieter dining venue on the larger ships? After our own Konnigsdam experience, I would never sail on her again without just the CO dining option.

I feel the same way.  The thought of being on a Pinnacle class ship w/o CO is a nightmare scenario for me.  I do think HA could GREATLY improve the CO dining situation on the smaller ships by carving out a dedicated section in the Upper Dining Room.  We were on the Zuiderdam w/CO in May and the chaos at the Concierge podium was wild.  The MDR experience on that cruise was so bad we ended up eating in the Lido - which we had never done before.

[alwaysfrantic]

54 minutes ago, SDARCH said:

I feel the same way.  The thought of being on a Pinnacle class ship w/o CO is a nightmare scenario for me.  I do think HA could GREATLY improve the CO dining situation on the smaller ships by carving out a dedicated section in the Upper Dining Room.  We were on the Zuiderdam w/CO in May and the chaos at the Concierge podium was wild.  The MDR experience on that cruise was so bad we ended up eating in the Lido - which we had never done before.

I was just on Zuiderdam in a Neptune so we used the priority line in MDR.  It was great.  There was never anyone in line and they helped us immediately.  
 

next trip is. NS on a pinnacle class ship.   If I want to eat in MDR and not CO, there is no special line, correct?   I saw photos of the CO soace and it honestly looked like a diner.  I hope they were old photos.  (On NS)

[SDARCH]

1 minute ago, alwaysfrantic said:

If I want to eat in MDR and not CO, there is no special line, correct?

I do not recall seeing a dedicated CO podium at the MDR on the K-dam.  There should be one for Reservations, along with the one for walk-up.  I'll check it out in a few weeks when we board the NS.

 

The issue we had on the Zuiderdam was that the person at the CO podium was taking folks from the other two lines, even through there was a long line for CO guests.  I had heard that there was a huge staff change for our cruise....we boarded the day the World Cruise ended. The entire MDR was chaos like I have never seen.

I believe the NS CO dining room was purpose built as America's Test Kitchen - like the K-dam....hence the diner look.

[SueMo]

My TA got us CO by waiting until the week before final payment was due as there are many cancellations that week.

[cbr663]

2 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

.... On the larger class Pinnacle ships, CO is almost required if you want any semblance to a sane dining experience. That alone is a CO value. Plus they are now filling their cabins with regular reservations.  They don't have that  many left over now to hand out upfront at a discount.

 

So does HAL  need to offer this additional cabin upgrade gimmicks any longer, or does CO have stand alone value as just a quieter dining venue on the larger ships? After our own Konnigsdam experience, I would never sail on her again without just the CO dining option.

 

That's how we feel also.  Will never sail on a Pinnacle Ship without CO.

[JeffElizabeth]

2 hours ago, SDARCH said:

I feel the same way.  The thought of being on a Pinnacle class ship w/o CO is a nightmare scenario for me.  I do think HA could GREATLY improve the CO dining situation on the smaller ships by carving out a dedicated section in the Upper Dining Room.  We were on the Zuiderdam w/CO in May and the chaos at the Concierge podium was wild.  The MDR experience on that cruise was so bad we ended up eating in the Lido - which we had never done before.

Princess carved out a suite dining area on the Emerald Princess last September.  Shouldn't be hard to do on a Holland ship. 

[cruisemom42]

4 hours ago, SDARCH said:

 I do think HA could GREATLY improve the CO dining situation on the smaller ships by carving out a dedicated section in the Upper Dining Room.

 

If you request Fixed Dining, wouldn't that obviate the need for a dedicated section?  What am I missing?

 

(Not a big fan of "carve-outs" as they inevitably put space pressure on other areas.)

[SDARCH]

44 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

If you request Fixed Dining, wouldn't that obviate the need for a dedicated section?

I'm unfamiliar with Fixed Dining?  Is that the same table and same time every night?  Or just the same time - early or late?

I haven't really figured the nuances of the MDR yet.  It would be great to reserve a table on the Navigator app.

[cruisemom42]

8 minutes ago, SDARCH said:

I'm unfamiliar with Fixed Dining?  Is that the same table and same time every night?  Or just the same time - early or late?

I haven't really figured the nuances of the MDR yet.  It would be great to reserve a table on the Navigator app.

 

Same table, same time. No need to wait in a line because you know where you're going and what time to be there. 😉

[Cruise Suzy]

12 minutes ago, SDARCH said:

I'm unfamiliar with Fixed Dining?

 

When you book a HAL cruise, you select either fixed dining or any time dining. If fixed, you have your choice of early or late - same time and table every night unless, of course, you make reservations at a specialty restaurant or have a late shore excursion. The tables are on Deck 3 of the MDR. With any time dining, you show up at the Deck 2 MDR entrance when you want - or you can eat at the Lido or other dining venue. You can make an MDR reservation once onboard for a specific time.

[Toofarfromthesea]

I wonder if CO sells out faster on long itineraries that many people have been anticipating and therefore book early and book CO.  I ask this because I had no trouble getting CO on a cruise only 6 months out but it was a more mundane cruise that sails fairly frequently - a 17 day cruise around Hawaii.  And I was also able to get it on a 14 day Mexican Riviera/Coastal California cruise, but that one is a little more than a year off.  Or maybe for some reason CO is not as demand on cruises out of San Diego.  It's a conundrum.

[mafig]

I got CO for a cruise that's 3 months away ..... it's only 9 days.

I'm looking forward to it.

[CafeBruno]

Thanks for your thoughts on this. I still find it hard to believe CO is really all sold out so far in advance - I'd like to believe they are holding spots back. I am pretty sure I'm going to put a deposit down and then check back maybe once a month so see if any spots have opened up. And then as we get closer to the final payment date, I will check more frequently, like weekly or even daily in the final days. But as was mentioned earlier, Lido breakfast and MDR dinner on the Pinnacle class ships are just too hectic and loud for me, even on fixed dinner, so I don't think I will keep the reservation unless I can get Club Orange dining. 

[Desert Cruisers]

17 hours ago, Toofarfromthesea said:

I wonder if CO sells out faster on long itineraries that many people have been anticipating and therefore book early and book CO.  I ask this because I had no trouble getting CO on a cruise only 6 months out but it was a more mundane cruise that sails fairly frequently - a 17 day cruise around Hawaii.  And I was also able to get it on a 14 day Mexican Riviera/Coastal California cruise, but that one is a little more than a year off.  Or maybe for some reason CO is not as demand on cruises out of San Diego.  It's a conundrum.

Booked Hawaii out of San Diego on the Koningsdam for late January several months ago.  Club Orange not available.  Monitoring situation and hoping for the best.

[Desert Cruisers]

Several posters have said that they would not book the Koningsdam without Club Orange.  Just wondering...are the problems with lines at the MDR mainly during the earlier dining hours?  We typically get to the MDR at 6:45-7:30 pm and have never had a problem on a HAL ship. In fact, the MDR is pretty empty by 7ish.

[Toofarfromthesea]

8 minutes ago, Desert Cruisers said:

Booked Hawaii out of San Diego on the Koningsdam for late January several months ago.  Club Orange not available.  Monitoring situation and hoping for the best.

 

Huh, I booked the Jan 13th sailing of that itinerary about 30 days ago and was able to get it.  I hope a spot opens up for you.

[Toofarfromthesea]

6 minutes ago, Desert Cruisers said:

Several posters have said that they would not book the Koningsdam without Club Orange.  Just wondering...are the problems with lines at the MDR mainly during the earlier dining hours?  We typically get to the MDR at 6:45-7:30 pm and have never had a problem on a HAL ship. In fact, the MDR is pretty empty by 7ish.

 

My #1 motivation for getting CO is the cabin upgrade with the CO dining room in second place - I suspect it may be the other way around for most other folks.  But I eat late, typically 8:30, so if I have to eat in the MDR I think I'll be fine compared to earlier diners.

[3rdGenCunarder]

16 minutes ago, Desert Cruisers said:

Several posters have said that they would not book the Koningsdam without Club Orange.  Just wondering...are the problems with lines at the MDR mainly during the earlier dining hours?  We typically get to the MDR at 6:45-7:30 pm and have never had a problem on a HAL ship. In fact, the MDR is pretty empty by 7ish.

 

I've been on K'dam twice, early fixed dining both times. We were on the upper level, so we didn't have to deal with the line for open seating. With so many people wanting the early dining time, I don't know why HAL doesn't make early fixed available for more people. If early fixed dining uses the whole upper level, why not use some of the lower level, too?