Club Orange Reviews

[Ipeeinthepools]

11 hours ago, SSFrance69 said:

That's exactly what we did. Being a first time HAL cruiser, I didn't realize that with Club Orange comes and upgrade. Well we had already booked an aft facing verandah and didn't want to chance losing it, so we just refused the upgrade. I have no regrets. The other perks seemed worth it alone and I can only imagine how nice those aft veranda views are going to be in Alaska. You mentioned Luminae. Have you ever tried Blu? We did a sailing to Bermuda last year on Summit and sailed Aqua. Because it's an older class ship, we were able to snag an Aqua stateroom with an aft facing veranda. It was amazing and we loved the food, ambiance and size of Blu. We were about to completely give up on Celebrity, but that experience was enough to keep them in the comparison loop when looking at cruises. We've got an Aqua stateroom on Ascent next sprint, the HAL Alaska on Koningsdam in July with CO and then hope to hop back on another Oceania ship in 2026. Just waiting for sailings to be announced.

 

The Aqua class concept at Celebrity is brilliant.  Someone at Celebrity figured out how to sell some of the least desirable cabins on the ship at premium prices.  Most of the Aqua class cabins are located under the pool deck, exercise facility or other noisy common areas and most experienced cruisers would never book a cabin in those areas by choice.  Although the smaller Blu dining room is nice, a noisy cabin is at a higher price is not really desirable to me and the Blu menu is an acquired taste.  In any case, it's great marketing concept but it's not for me.

[ghstudio]

Yesterday was a tender port in Greenland.  Those without club orange waited up to 2 hours for a tender to go ashore, We have CO…it took us just 10 minutes.  Priority tendering can be a significant plus.

[Gracie115]

On 8/15/2024 at 6:20 AM, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

The Aqua class concept at Celebrity is brilliant.  Someone at Celebrity figured out how to sell some of the least desirable cabins on the ship at premium prices.  Most of the Aqua class cabins are located under the pool deck, exercise facility or other noisy common areas and most experienced cruisers would never book a cabin in those areas by choice.  Although the smaller Blu dining room is nice, a noisy cabin is at a higher price is not really desirable to me and the Blu menu is an acquired taste.  In any case, it's great marketing concept but it's not for me.

We sailed on Aqua on Solstice, Equinox & Silhouette and loved it.  We had rooms on the hump which great balconies and NEVER had a noise problem.  Blu was wonderful at the time (haven't been there in several years now)  and a HUGE improvement over the crowding in the MDR.  It's actually WHY we went back to Celebrity back in 2010.  

 

You just have to do your research to the cabins that will work best for you.  Something I do on every sailing no matter the line.

[a.madruga]

On 8/16/2024 at 12:34 PM, Gracie115 said:

We sailed on Aqua on Solstice, Equinox & Silhouette and loved it.  We had rooms on the hump which great balconies and NEVER had a noise problem.  Blu was wonderful at the time (haven't been there in several years now)  and a HUGE improvement over the crowding in the MDR.  It's actually WHY we went back to Celebrity back in 2010.  

 

You just have to do your research to the cabins that will work best for you.  Something I do on every sailing no matter the line.

totally agree with your cruising thoughts we too are not loyal to a brand but rather nice itinerary and more bang for ones hard earned money

[Stateroom_Sailor]

On 8/16/2024 at 9:34 AM, Gracie115 said:

We sailed on Aqua on Solstice, Equinox & Silhouette and loved it.  We had rooms on the hump which great balconies and NEVER had a noise problem.  Blu was wonderful at the time (haven't been there in several years now)  and a HUGE improvement over the crowding in the MDR.  It's actually WHY we went back to Celebrity back in 2010.  

 

You just have to do your research to the cabins that will work best for you.  Something I do on every sailing no matter the line.

 

We sailed Aqua on Summit, Infinity, and Eclipse.  I never noticed any of these problems either. 

 

It was only a 4-night Halloween cruise on Infinity in 2018, but I negotiated an upgrade from Concierge to Aqua after final payment, on the hump for $100 pp, $549 pp total with the package.

[terrydtx]

We are currently on the Volendam with CO. It has worked perfectly for us from the priority boarding to the MDR special CO line, no waiting more than a minute or two. We had an issue on embarkation and being able to use the CO guest services line was really nice when there were about 20 people waiting in line in the standard GS line.

 

We booked while onboard our 2026 Nieuw Statendam cruise and added CO. We booked an obstructed Verandah cabin, and CO got us upgraded to the VA category, deck 6 midship cabin that we wanted. The difference in cost paid for the CO addon.

Edited August 26 by terrydtx

[Dave JS]

2 hours ago, terrydtx said:

We are currently on the Volendam with CO. It has worked perfectly for us from the priority boarding to the MDR special CO line, no waiting more than a minute or two. We had an issue on embarkation and being able to use the CO guest services line was really nice when there were about 20 people waiting in line in the standard GS line.

 

We booked while onboard our 2026 Nieuw Statendam cruise and added CO. We booked an obstructed Verandah cabin, and CO got us upgraded to the VA category, deck 6 midship cabin that we wanted. The difference in cost paid for the CO addon.

 

Great, did you get a large balcony?

[shiner6]

We are club orange for first time on current cruise. We did not receive any cabin upgrade and were told that it is subject to availability and no other compensation is given. Ok, I guess that is on me for not reading the fine print. I did read the posts on this board ( that is how I found out about it). The club orange menu selections have not been anything I would ever order again. I think the only perk we have enjoyed so far is the designated line at guest services. There was no expedited club orange for excursions today. We waited to embark also, along with everyone else. Maybe I am missing something? Or do I need to ask more questions?

[PROCRUISE]

3 hours ago, shiner6 said:

We are club orange for first time on current cruise. We did not receive any cabin upgrade and were told that it is subject to availability and no other compensation is given. Ok, I guess that is on me for not reading the fine print. I did read the posts on this board ( that is how I found out about it). The club orange menu selections have not been anything I would ever order again. I think the only perk we have enjoyed so far is the designated line at guest services. There was no expedited club orange for excursions today. We waited to embark also, along with everyone else. Maybe I am missing something? Or do I need to ask more questions?

Have had CO previously on the NS and Rotterdam and will have it again on the same two vessels in 12/24 and 3/25. When boarding, indeed there is no special line and you have to tell them at check-in that you're CO which does get you onboard a little sooner. Agree that when disembarking, CO makes NO difference nor on excursions. I like the private dining area but its only on the pinnacle class three ships. I book CO when booking the cruise through our HAL PVP and do get and upgrade in cabin choice. CO is often filled up if you don't book a cruise far in advance of cruising date.

[Dave JS]

15 minutes ago, PROCRUISE said:

vessels in 12/24 and 3/25. When boarding, indeed there is no special line and you have to tell them at check-in that you're CO which does get you onboard a little sooner. Agree that when dis

So the CO promise is smoke and mirrors?

[PROCRUISE]

3 minutes ago, Dave JS said:

So the CO promise is smoke and mirrors?

Guess it depends on how you look at it. As I said, I personally would probably only us CO on the pinnacle ships due to the private dining rooms. On any other vessel, it might help save money with cabin upgrade but no private dining area - there is a separate open area in the MDR for CO.

I'm expecting to again, on the two upcoming cruises, to need to tell at check-in that we're CO. Previously they then sent us up front of a line for general seating, awaiting to board, and sent us up an elevator to a smaller seating area. Once boarding as allowed, we boarded first. I will actually check with guest services with regards to ship excursions and disembarking because preciously (X2) we never were told or saw any special areas for CO. Perhaps I'm wrong but, will find out in December.

[Dave JS]

40 minutes ago, PROCRUISE said:

Guess it depends on how you look at it. As I said, I personally would probably only us CO on the pinnacle ships due to the private dining rooms. On any other vessel, it might help save money with cabin upgrade but no private dining area - there is a separate open area in the MDR for CO.

I'm expecting to again, on the two upcoming cruises, to need to tell at check-in that we're CO. Previously they then sent us up front of a line for general seating, awaiting to board, and sent us up an elevator to a smaller seating area. Once boarding as allowed, we boarded first. I will actually check with guest services with regards to ship excursions and disembarking because preciously (X2) we never were told or saw any special areas for CO. Perhaps I'm wrong but, will find out in December.

what class of ship were you on

[57redbird]

1 hour ago, PROCRUISE said:

Guess it depends on how you look at it. As I said, I personally would probably only us CO on the pinnacle ships due to the private dining rooms. On any other vessel, it might help save money with cabin upgrade but no private dining area - there is a separate open area in the MDR for CO.

I'm expecting to again, on the two upcoming cruises, to need to tell at check-in that we're CO. Previously they then sent us up front of a line for general seating, awaiting to board, and sent us up an elevator to a smaller seating area. Once boarding as allowed, we boarded first. I will actually check with guest services with regards to ship excursions and disembarking because preciously (X2) we never were told or saw any special areas for CO. Perhaps I'm wrong but, will find out in December.

We didn't even rate Priority anything when we were in a Neptune Suite in 2023.

[Hobby3333]

I tried to stay out of the fray but…..we have been on the Rotterdam twice with Club Orange and will be in CO again in July 2025 to Iceland.  All three times we have gotten the cabin upgrade.  Might be because I book so early in advance.  Having said that, we love the private dining.  The service is top notch and I believe the food comes out hotter.  

[Dave JS]

15 minutes ago, Hobby3333 said:

I tried to stay out of the fray but…..we have been on the Rotterdam twice with Club Orange and will be in CO again in July 2025 to Iceland.  All three times we have gotten the cabin upgrade.  Might be because I book so early in advance.  Having said that, we love the private dining.  The service is top notch and I believe the food comes out hotter.  

What was your experience with Prioirity Boarding, Customer Service and Embarkation?

[Ipeeinthepools]

42 minutes ago, 57redbird said:

We didn't even rate Priority anything when we were in a Neptune Suite in 2023.

Yea you did, but you just didn't get it.

[waiting2retire]

CO offers priority boarding, not priority check-in. There is a difference. Some embarkation ports do give priority check-in to 4 and 5* mariners and CO but not all. I think it depends on whether configuration of the physical space allows it. 
 

The other priority conferred on CO guests is for tendering. I’m not sure what you mean by priority for excursions. HAL will always give tendering priority to guests on their own excursions. Anytime I have experienced tendering priority with CO, we have been instructed to go to a meeting area (usually one of the lounges) and escorted to the tenders via elevator. 
 

our disembarkation instructions included bag tags that put us un an early disembarkation time slot and we were told we could disembark anytime after that. Since we normally take our own bags off with us to catch an early flight, it’s not usually an issue. 
 

The priority line at Guest Services has proven to be very useful and the room upgrade, used to its best advantage, can more than cover the cost of Club Orange. 
 

But I really don’t recommend it 😉😄

[Hobby3333]

1 minute ago, Dave JS said:

What was your experience with Prioirity Boarding, Customer Service and Embarkation?

Glad you asked.  The first time in CO I had to tell rep that we were in CO and she immediately moved us to another area and we got on the ship as fast as MSC YC, maybe faster.  As fate would have it, we never needed CS.  Can’t wait till July.  

[PROCRUISE]

1 hour ago, Dave JS said:

what class of ship were you on

Pinnacle: NS and Rotterdam. Same two ships for next two cruises too.

[57redbird]

1 hour ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

Yea you did, but you just didn't get it.

True...

[OVgirl]

If there is no availability to upgrade your cabin when you purchase Club Orange, ask them to book and charge you as a guarantee in the lowest cabin of your category and then give you your booked cabin as the upgrade.

Is that clear as mud?

[terrydtx]

9 hours ago, Dave JS said:

What was your experience with Prioirity Boarding, Customer Service and Embarkation?

We are currently on the Volendam with Club Orange.  When we checked in last week in Boston at 11:30 we were expedited to the CO and 4 and 5 star line and boarded before anyone else. Took 15 minutes to board. Guest services had a CO line and we walked right up to fix a minor issue while at least 20 others were in the non CO GS line.  The MDR anytime dining is a breeze with CO which has a dedicated podium that has a big Club Orange sign. We get some dirty looks from people waiting in line.

[Ipeeinthepools]

Does anyone know how if there is Priority Disembarkation for people do self-assist with Club Orange?   I was hoping there is a waiting area and someone would escort you to the front of the line.

[terrydtx]

12 minutes ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

Does anyone know how if there is Priority Disembarkation for people do self-assist with Club Orange?   I was hoping there is a waiting area and someone would escort you to the front of the line.

I am not aware of any CO disembarkation priorities. 

[POA1]

We've had Club Orange twice. First on the Nieuw Statendam in December 2023, and then over Easter 2024 on the Rotterdam. We have a in early 2025 on the Nieuw Statendam again. If we were on a non Pinnacle class ship (in other words, not the 2 we were on plus the Koningsdam) we'd opt for fixed dining, main seating. (The late one.) We like the Club Orange dining room, but it's not a deal breaker for us. I realize that it makes a difference to some people, but in our humble little opinions, it shines more at breakfast than dinner.

 

For us, the room upgrade is the determining factor. We're already Four Star, giving us priority boarding and tendering. (When you are 4* and Club Orange, they load you into a catapult for super fast embarkation.)

 

I would not base my cruise choice solely on whether or not I could get Club Orange. However, if you go the Club Orange route, make sure you read about the benefits so that you can make the most of it. Also realize that if they're out of the special Club Orange tote bags, your entire cruise will be RUINED and you'll spend the whole trip crying so hard that the tears run down your legs.