Japan cruise

[e050377]

We are thinking about taking one of the Japan cruises on the Diamond Princess next summer. There are 4 of us (2 adults & 2 teens). We usually book mini suites and really like them. When looking this morning it showed an option for Club Class. I'm wondering if anyone knows how the dining works. On these cruises only traditional dining is available, but my family prefers anytime. If we spend the extra, does dining work more like anytime where you go when you are hungry and would we be able to sit at a table for 4 vs sharing?

 

 

Thanks!

 

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[sawtooth]

I would be interested in the answer to this question.

Have you asked Princess?

If Club Class on these cruises means dining when you want it would be totally worth it.

[ggprincess2004]

Club Class dining means a section of one dining room is set aside for Suite and Club Class mini-suite passengers, and it is operated on an anytime basis. Which dining room on the Diamond - I don't know. With the four small dining rooms on Decks 5 and 6 mid-ship perhaps they would choose instead to use a portion of the MDS aft on 6. My understanding is that is the dining room that is open for breakfast on the Diamond, so I am guessing that is going to have the separate entrance and special section for Club Dining. Hope that helps.

[dfields1814]

I am on the Diamond next Oct. The Diamond doesn't not have ATD. It is 100% traditional. I spent an hour trying trying to figure out how to order ATD before calling Princess. I don't know how that will effect the Poster's question if that class uses ATD on other ships.

[e050377]

I am going to contact Princess this afternoon and will report back what they tell me

 

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[luv261vaca]

I am also interested in a July 2018 Japan cruise with my family which will include one teenager and three in their 20's. Would anyone have copies of Japan princess patters? I also noticed the dinner choices were set dining times.

[e050377]

I just spoke to a representative at Princess. She said there is no Anytime dining at all. Even Club Class has to eat at the chosen time. Also the odds of getting a table for 4 are the same regardless uf club class or regular mini. It sounded like they put the request in, but it is fed by a status and suites first system. She didn't sound very confident when talking about club class. I may try again when I get home

 

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[e050377]

I just booked a club class mini for Japan next year. Our TA tried to get a straight answer from Princess regarding Club Class dining, but the rep referred him to the pdf that describes Club Class. It says done on our own time, so I'm going to go with it. I have until May of next year to change cabins if that isn't the case

 

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[Brisbane41]

You will not get club class dining in Japan. It will not happen!

 

The dining on Diamond Princess when it is in Japan is based on language ability. I do not agree with the way Princess does it but they separate the Japanese speaking passengers from the English speaking passengers so that they do not have to dine with each other. I do not like this because there are some English speaking passengers who can speak Japanese and there are some Japanese who can speak English. The dining room is divided up based on this. Last year I sailed in a full suite on the Diamond Princess during its Japan cruise in July.

 

Personally I do not like the idea of club class dining anyway or suite class. It reduces the chances of meeting more interesting people if you are stuck in a dining room area reserved exclusively for people in suites.

[caribill]

I just spoke to a representative at Princess. She said there is no Anytime dining at all. Even Club Class has to eat at the chosen time. Also the odds of getting a table for 4 are the same regardless uf club class or regular mini. It sounded like they put the request in, but it is fed by a status and suites first system. She didn't sound very confident when talking about club class. I may try again when I get home

 

 

 

Frankly, the Princess rep probably has no idea how it will be implemented.

 

Until closer to the date (over a year from now) it will be available on the Diamond it will only be a guess.

 

 

With the the "come anytime and be seated" being the biggest benefit of Club Class, it is hard to believe that it will not exist on the Club Class ships that do not have an Anytime Dining Room. There is no special notation in the list of Club Class benefits that says it will not be available on certain ships such as the Diamond and the Pacific.

[Brisbane41]

Frankly, the Princess rep probably has no idea how it will be implemented.

 

Until closer to the date (over a year from now) it will be available on the Diamond it will only be a guess.

 

 

With the the "come anytime and be seated" being the biggest benefit of Club Class, it is hard to believe that it will not exist on the Club Class ships that do not have an Anytime Dining Room. There is no special notation in the list of Club Class benefits that says it will not be available on certain ships such as the Diamond and the Pacific.

 

 

The Princess rep is correct. Read the above statement and you will understand why. They have an entirely different policy for the ship based in Japan and it is all based on language requirements.

[e050377]

I honestly think Princess doesn't know what they are going to do yet. I spoke with a rep and my TA spoke with a rep that have an entirely different answer. First he was referred to the pdf, then he spoke with someone a little higher up who told him after April something there will be an area dedicated to Club Class dining on the

Diamond. Who really knows until the first Japan cruise sails after CC is available.

 

I went ahead and booked, because there are only 2 CC mini that hold 4. I will watch and if it remains traditional only I will downgrade to a regular mini. Not being structured on vacation is the only true benefit of CC to us

 

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[klutzj]

We are beginning a 16-day Japanese cruise next August 28--if any one has information/advice, I'd really like to read it. Thanks!

[BassettMom]

You will not get club class dining in Japan. It will not happen!

 

The dining on Diamond Princess when it is in Japan is based on language ability. I do not agree with the way Princess does it but they separate the Japanese speaking passengers from the English speaking passengers so that they do not have to dine with each other. I do not like this because there are some English speaking passengers who can speak Japanese and there are some Japanese who can speak English. The dining room is divided up based on this. Last year I sailed in a full suite on the Diamond Princess during its Japan cruise in July.

 

Personally I do not like the idea of club class dining anyway or suite class. It reduces the chances of meeting more interesting people if you are stuck in a dining room area reserved exclusively for people in suites.

 

I understand why they do this since the waiters need to be able to speak the language (Japanese or English), but I think I'm going to have an issue during my cruise in October. I booked from the US and speak English; my aunt and uncle booked in Japan and speak Japanese, but we want to sit at the same table together. Since my uncle doesn't speak English, I want to sit in the "Japanese" section with them. I have a TWID (travelling with ID) set up to link our bookings and we are both on late seating, but I have a feeling the table assignment will be wrong when we board, with them assigned to a Japanese-speaking table and me and my SIL assigned to an English-speaking table.

[cruiseidaho]

We just returned from a 13-day cruise around Japan, including South Korea and Russia. Our dining was fixed time of 5:30 in the Santa Fe dining room on deck six. The Santa Fe also included Club Class dining, which was located in a section on the starboard side in the rear of the restaurant. Out cruise card was checked each evening to see that we went to the correct section, that is until the greeters became acquainted with us. We had a table for two. There were Japanese couples on both sides of our table, one couple spoke English and the other couple spoke only Japanese. However, they were most anxious to try to communicate and we had a great time exchanging words and phrases, with a lot of help from the English speaking couple, and a lot off pantomime. . Behind us was a Japanese speaking family of six and the restaurant seemed to be of a similar mixture. All of the waiters and assistants seemed to be able to speak both languages. The menus were in both languages. For breakfast, the Santa Fe was restricted to Club Class only.

[USN59-79]

I understand why they do this since the waiters need to be able to speak the language (Japanese or English), but I think I'm going to have an issue during my cruise in October. I booked from the US and speak English; my aunt and uncle booked in Japan and speak Japanese, but we want to sit at the same table together. Since my uncle doesn't speak English, I want to sit in the "Japanese" section with them. I have a TWID (travelling with ID) set up to link our bookings and we are both on late seating, but I have a feeling the table assignment will be wrong when we board, with them assigned to a Japanese-speaking table and me and my SIL assigned to an English-speaking table.

Donna,

Anytime we have been assigned dining other than what we prefer, we look up the Dining Room Manager (I was going to use that French word, but didn't know how to spell it) as soon as possible after boarding. He should be at a table outside the MDR taking requests. We have always been able to change it at that time.

[BassettMom]

Donna,

Anytime we have been assigned dining other than what we prefer, we look up the Dining Room Manager (I was going to use that French word, but didn't know how to spell it) as soon as possible after boarding. He should be at a table outside the MDR taking requests. We have always been able to change it at that time.

Yup, plan to do that if necessary, but really hoping not to have to as there is enough to do that first day without having "chores" to take care of. :-)

Donna

 

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[caribill]

I understand why they do this since the waiters need to be able to speak the language (Japanese or English), but I think I'm going to have an issue during my cruise in October. I booked from the US and speak English; my aunt and uncle booked in Japan and speak Japanese, but we want to sit at the same table together. Since my uncle doesn't speak English, I want to sit in the "Japanese" section with them. I have a TWID (travelling with ID) set up to link our bookings and we are both on late seating, but I have a feeling the table assignment will be wrong when we board, with them assigned to a Japanese-speaking table and me and my SIL assigned to an English-speaking table.

 

If your bookings are linked properly, you will be assigned to the same dining room table, possibly one that will also have other people.

 

If the waiter does not speak Japanese, speak with the Maitre d' or your headwaiter to either switch to anither table or have a different waiter serve your table.

[BassettMom]

If your bookings are linked properly, you will be assigned to the same dining room table, possibly one that will also have other people.

 

If the waiter does not speak Japanese, speak with the Maitre d' or your headwaiter to either switch to anither table or have a different waiter serve your table.

Keeping my fingers crossed it works out.

 

 

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