Sorry - Another Club Orange ?

[kazu]

1 hour ago, terrydtx said:

The only thing I can think of is the OP has a TA who either, doesn't know HAL and CO or was just not wanting to be bothered booking CO for her client.

 

Most likely and either one means like you said - time for a new TA.

[LLRS11]

Thanks for the helpful information.  It does seem like the TA just didn't want to be bothered.  We have decided to cancel and rebook (with another TA) after we have verified that CO is available on the sailing.  I appreciate the tips from all of you.

[Toofarfromthesea]

7 hours ago, terrydtx said:

The CO dining room is so much nicer and intimate than the MDR, not having a view of the sea is well worth it. IMO the food served in CO seems to be better than the MDR and we have found the extra CO entrees that are cooked to order to be far superior to the MDR fare. The service in the CO is also far superior to the MDR, IMO.

 

I had all day and all evening to look at the sea so I didn't really care about not being able to see the sea while eating dinner.

[chill6x6]

13 hours ago, terrydtx said:

The CO dining room is so much nicer and intimate than the MDR, not having a view of the sea is well worth it. IMO the food served in CO seems to be better than the MDR and we have found the extra CO entrees that are cooked to order to be far superior to the MDR fare. The service in the CO is also far superior to the MDR, IMO.

Thanks for the info.  I'll be the first to admit we are used to Coastal Kitchen and The Haven Restaurant but really liked the ambiance of the HA MDR.  I'll go with your advice!

[YourWorldWithBill]

13 minutes ago, chill6x6 said:

Thanks for the info.  I'll be the first to admit we are used to Coastal Kitchen and The Haven Restaurant but really liked the ambiance of the HA MDR.  I'll go with your advice!

Although it looks like you've decided, this is just another note in agreement with what so many said. I also like looking out at the ocean, but have found that even when I was dining near a window I tend not to look out as much as I think I will. And we never missed the view from CO.

[*Miss G*]

I have to say that I have had a total of one time (one time!) to be seated near a window in the MDR in all the years that I have cruised with HAL.  In every meal in Club Orange I have been able to see the sea.  In fact, we were able to see a number of whales bubbling in Alaska and we didn’t even have to leave our seats!

[POA1]

13 hours ago, kazu said:

 

I am confused by your TA - why would they tell you to do book the cruise

Because they get paid that way! 😉 There's not a good reason from the customer's perspective.

[POA1]

As a counter-point: We're usually late, fixed seating people. (Known as Main seating in HAL's booking system.) We've always - and I mean always - had excellent service in the MDR.

 

We've done Club Orange once, on the Nieuw Statendam in December 2023. We had great service on the first night from our waiter, Tre. We told the CO supervisor that Tre did an excellent job and requested to sit at one of his tables going forward. Tre was "our guy" for most every meal in the CO dining room for the entire trip. In essence, we recreated the fixed dining experience in Club Orange. We even wound up with the same table 4 out of 5 nights.

 

We do like the extra entrée choices that come with Club Orange, but we'd be just as happy with late, fixed dining in the MDR. (I've heard reports that the MDR is noisy on the Pinnacle Class ships. Not having experienced the MDR on the Nieuw Statendam, I can't really comment on that.