Holland America Club Orange Benefits: Is It Worth It?

Several cruise lines offer additional packages that guests can book if they want to enhance their experience. And on Holland America, that package is named Club Orange.

It’s completely optional, and many guests will have a wonderful cruise without paying the additional fee, but there are a lot of perks that you get if you decide that Club Orange is for you.

Let’s take a look at what Club Orange is, what it comes with, and whether it’s worth the cost.

Club Orange Explained

Club Orange is an additional perks package available on all Holland America cruise ships. Guests who choose to pay for Club Orange get priority for certain parts of the cruise experience, improved dining options and special event invitations.

Availability for Club Orange is restricted for each cruise – only a limited number of people will be able to pay for it to ensure that the package retains its value. So, if you’re considering it, make sure you book it as early as possible for your cruise to avoid disappointment.

Club Orange Perks

Here’s a full list of perks you get when you pay for Club Orange:

1. Priority Check-In

When you arrive at the cruise terminal to begin your vacation, there’ll be a special line you can use to check in as a priority, helping you to get onto the ship even faster. 

To be clear, you aren’t guaranteed to be assigned an early boarding time, so it doesn’t mean that you’re guaranteed to be one of the very first people on the ship. Instead, it means that you get to fast-track the queues within your allotted boarding time.

So it is good, because nobody likes to be hanging around in the cruise terminal for a long time, but don’t confuse priority check-in with priority boarding.

2. Priority Speciality Dining Reservations

This perk is a little confusing, because while Club Orange does give you access to priority to make speciality dining reservations, it’s only when you’re onboard. And it’s possible to book speciality restaurants before you cruise. So it’s recommended that you book before you sail anyway, if you want to make sure you secure a table at your restaurants of choice.

3. Guest Services Priority Line

Onboard the ship, there’s a priority line for Club Orange members, so if you do have any problems or need assistance with any part of your cruise while onboard, you shouldn’t be waiting long. A minor perk since you may not need to make use of it, but a useful one if you are in need of Guest Services’ help.

4. Shore Excursions Priority Line

Club Orange members also get to use a priority line for the shore excursions desk, so you’ll be able to get fast access to excursions when onboard (ideal if there are last-minute cancellations for popular excursions you missed out on) or if you need to cancel any bookings yourself.

5. Priority Tender Access

While most ports that Holland America ships visit have a pier where the ship will dock, some aren’t able to accommodate ships in this way. In those instances, the ship will anchor off the coast and then use smaller tender boats to get guests ashore. 

Club Orange members get priority access to the tenders to shore, so you can explore the port sooner. However, the guests who book a shore excursion through Holland America will get the top priority, so if you’re just exploring the port on your own (or you’ve booked excursions with a third-party company), you’ll be waiting a little while still.

Also, you won’t get priority when returning to the ship. You’ll have to queue at the port along with everyone else.

6. Priority Disembarkation

On the final day of your cruise, Club Orange members are able to get priority disembarkation, allowing them to be one of the first off the ship. While you may prefer to remain on the ship as long as possible for a leisurely breakfast, many prefer to beat the crowds, especially if they need to get a taxi to the airport or are driving out from a busy car park.

7. Expanded Room Service Breakfast Menu

Guests with Club Orange have access to an expanded breakfast room service menu which is available 24/7. I’ll cover the menu in detail below.

8. Exclusive Dining Venue

Club Orange guests also get to enjoy a private dining venue on their ship. On the Pinnacle-class ships (Koningsdam, Nieuw Statendam, Rotterdam) this is a completely separate dining room, whereas on other ships in the fleet, it will be a reserved area of the main dining room.

9. Complimentary Stateroom Upgrade

One of the biggest perks of the Club Orange package is that guests will receive a complimentary stateroom upgrade. This doesn’t mean jumping from an Inside room to a Balcony room though, it means getting an upgrade within the category that you’ve booked – so if you’ve booked a Balcony, you’ll get an upgraded Balcony.

If there are no upgrades available, the terms state that an alternative perk will be offered.

10. Concierge Service

Club Orange guests have access to a Concierge service onboard. The Concierge can handle a wide range of requests for you, such as booking your shore excursions or handling your dining reservations, leaving you free to relax and enjoy more of your cruise.

11. Sparkling Wine Welcome

On embarkation day, guests with Club Orange will be greeted with a glass of sparkling wine, or a non-alcoholic alternative if they prefer. A small touch but a nice way to feel special on your arrival.

12. Premium Bathrobes

Guests with Club Orange will enjoy more plush bathrobes in their staterooms, making their cruise more comfortable. They’re upgraded quality compared to the regular bathrobes offered, and while you don’t get to keep them by default, you do have the option of buying them and even having them monogrammed.

13. Club Orange Keycard & Tote Bag

Your room keycard will be a special Club Orange one, to let you show off your status as a Club Orange member, and you’ll also receive a special Club Orange tote bag in your cabin, although it will be one per cabin, not one per person.

14. Special Event Invitation

On every cruise, all Club Orange members are invited to a special event as chosen by the Captain onboard. These events vary, but could include a tour of the backstage areas of the ship, or a chat with the ship’s entertainers over coffee, or a private consultation at the Greenhouse Spa & Salon.

Club Orange Menus

Club Orange guests can enjoy expanded menus for breakfast and dinner, along with a wider choice of options for room service breakfast.

For breakfast and dinner in Club Orange restaurant venue, the menu is only marginally expanded with one or two additional options and these vary every day, so you aren’t missing out on much if you decide not to go for Club Orange.

Club Orange for Suite Guests

Guests booking either a Neptune Suite or Pinnacle Suite already get all the perks of Club Orange, except for the complimentary stateroom upgrade which is not available to them anyway. So these suite guests don’t need to purchase Club Orange.

Read more: Holland Americal Line Suite Benefits

Choosing a Neptune or Pinnacle Suite gets you an even longer list of perks than Club Orange can offer, though the best perks are those that Club Orange gets. So Club Orange can be a nice way for non-suite guests to experience a touch of the suite experience.

You’ll also get some of the same perks when you join the Mariner Society, which is Holland America’s loyalty program, although only when you start to reach the upper tiers by cruising for 200 days with the cruise line, or 100 days in a suite.

Club Orange Costs

Club Orange costs $25 per person, per day for cruises up to 13 days, and $15 per person, per day for cruises of 13 days or more. It has to be purchased for the entire cabin but only the first two guests in a cabin must pay, so per cabin it costs $50 per day or $30 per day, depending on cruise length.

That means that, for a cruise lasting 7 days, Club Orange will cost an additional $350. It also means that it’s cheaper to book Club Orange for a 14-night cruise ($30 x 14 = $420) than it is to book it for a 9, 10, 11, 12 or 13-day cruise, since they cost between $450 and $650.

While the first two guests are eligible to pay for Club Orange, all guests will get to make use of the benefits, so it becomes even better value on a per-person basis if you’re cruising with four guests in one cabin.

Also, it’s worth noting that Club Orange can only be purchased before you sail, you can’t pay for it once you’ve got on the ship. Of course, by that time you’d have missed out on some of the perks anyway, such as priority check-in and likely the priority booking for speciality restaurants.

Is Club Orange Worth It?

Club Orange is not cheap, although if you’re sailing with Holland America you will likely have paid a premium cruise fare already anyway, and so compared to the total cost of your cruise, the Club Orange cost may not be too much extra to add on.

Whether or not it’s worth it depends entirely on how much you’ll make use of the additional perks. The expanded menus and private dining venues are nice to have but if you’re going to order from the regular menu anyway, then the perk is redundant.

The priority access perks are useful, especially if you’re someone who likes to be first to get on or off the ship. But you could manage without them if you wanted to save a few hundred dollars.

The sparkling wine, premium bathrobes, tote bag and keycard are just nice small touches. On their own, they aren’t worth the cost, but as part of the whole package they are pleasant extras to sweeten the deal.

And then the stateroom upgrade and event invitation are good perks, but once again think about whether you need them.

I do think you get a lot included with Club Orange – more than some other cruise lines offer as part of these types of bonus packages. But I also think that the cost can get quite high, especially on those 9-13 day itineraries. So think hard about whether Club Orange offers good value to you, based on your own cruise preferences.

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