Club class mini suites are they worth it

[WarEagle76]

Without it we probably wouldn’t be cruising Princess any longer. In addition to many of the changes made by Princess over the years as discussed in other threads, our biggest complaint was using anytime dining and the sometimes long waits encountered when we wanted to dine. We prefer a flexible dining schedule based upon our activities especially on port intensive cruises and found that Club Class takes care of that need nicely. Regarding the cost, we feel like it’s worth it for us and how we like to cruise. And if you are lucky, like we were on a planned Mediterranean cruise coming up in May, we were able to grab a Club Class cabin for the same price as a regular Mini-Suite.

[Kenswing]

Interesting discussion. We have a CC mini suite booked for our first Princess cruise to the Panama Canal next December. I liked the locations mid ship for the CC minis on the Coral and the dining was just an extra perk. Not sure I like the sound though of waiting in line with the other diners since I thought CC had its own entrance/line???

I can't speak specifically for the Coral but Club Class had its own entrance on its sister ship the Island when we cruised in May. Club Class also had its own entrance on the Caribbean Princess when we cruised last month.

[WarEagle76]

Interesting discussion. We have a CC mini suite booked for our first Princess cruise to the Panama Canal next December. I liked the locations mid ship for the CC minis on the Coral and the dining was just an extra perk. Not sure I like the sound though of waiting in line with the other diners since I thought CC had its own entrance/line???

 

Looks like we were posting at the same time. You do have your own entrance. In our experience not only were we seated immediately when we arrived, but we were always seated (at breakfast, lunch and dinner) in the same area with the same (excellent) waitstaff. It was like having the best of anytime and fixed dining all rolled into one. We are hoping for the same experience in May.

[fishywood]

On the older Grand-class ships they were able to open a separate entrance for Club Class passengers at what was previously just used as an emergency exit on the starboard side of the Deck 6 MDR in the hallway alongside Calypso Cove.

 

On Royal and Regal two full entrances had been open from the beginning, so one is simply now dedicated for Club Class. (And on Royal in November that was the entrance used at Afternoon Tea and embarkation day lunch for everyone).

 

The MDRs on Coral and Island have only a single wide center entrance rather than two separate access points from the port and starboard sides. I'm curious how a separate entrance was enabled on Island. As all the reports from Coral are that all diners use the one single entrance there.

[baronessk]

Save the money and go for the Chef's Table Experience!!!

[riffatsea]

Thanks for answering about the Coral. I just looked and had a really hard time finding any reviews that mentioned club class at all. Let me know if you have any links to suggest that talk about that?

When people ask "worth it" questions it is hard to answer because everyone is different in what makes things "worth it" to them.

I didn't even think about the price difference between regular minis and CC for our cruise. I booked the cabin because we like : midship,own dining area,and early embark/disembark. Everything else like wine and canapes or special food in MDR is just gravy/extra.

[peety3]

Not sure why any one would pay $500 to $900 per person more for the same size mini suite just to get two half bottles of wine and a special seat in the dinning room.

Have you been here long? I'm constantly amazed at the apparent percentage of people that HAVE to eat at 6:15. Their world will end unless that happens. Given that most Princess ships don't do anytime dining reservations between 5:31 and 7:29pm, and the fact that most ships end up out of ATD capacity by about 5:45, these people are ready to blow a gasket, sell their stock, switch to another cruise line, and proclaim it all over these forums. Club Class exists for these people (and a few others, no doubt).

[floridalover5623]

Have you been here long? I'm constantly amazed at the apparent percentage of people that HAVE to eat at 6:15. Their world will end unless that happens. Given that most Princess ships don't do anytime dining reservations between 5:31 and 7:29pm, and the fact that most ships end up out of ATD capacity by about 5:45, these people are ready to blow a gasket, sell their stock, switch to another cruise line, and proclaim it all over these forums. Club Class exists for these people (and a few others, no doubt).

It's more like no reservations after 6 PM and before 7:30 or so. I don't think there should be reservations at all for AT dining but that's another thing altogether.

Arrive early at the dining room & you don't need any reservations at all.

[geoherb]

We had Club Class dining at dinner in December on the Royal for being in a suite. I don't think it's worth $2,000 more for a 12-day cruise. We did get very good service at dinner, but you have the same menu with one extra dish. Most of the time it was a salad, pasta dish, or dessert. We took an upsell to the suite and paid a lot less than $2,000 for it.

[Todd320]

There are four club class cabins on the Royal class ships that truly make a difference and they are M107/108 and L107/108. If we can get M107/108 ( gigantic balcony and a completely different and bigger cabin layout) for a reasonable price then we book them and consider club class dinning as a freebie because we would of booked it anyway, cub class or not.

Edited February 4, 2018 by Todd320

[SeaLaRae]

We’ve had CC on both the Island and Caribbean Princesses - wonderful experiences. Our last cruise was on the Ruby and it was terrible - we tried it twice and didn’t go back. It’s nice to have this discussion before you plunk down the extra cash. Princess ships do have their inconsistencies.

[PoohUnderstands]

I have reserved three cruises with a mid CC mini-suite and have not had the price differences that I have read above. I range from a normal 10 day Caribbean to a 14 day Canada/NE cruise and a 24 day N.European TA cruise and the range was from $10-26pp more a day. That is comparing the mid location with a mini alone almost next to me. To me, with these many days with alot at sea and some with hectic port days, I think that just having the positives of CC dining is worth $10-26pp per day. In fact, it is only $20 more for my TA 24 day cruise, so definitely worth it! The special part of CC dining is that it is really like anytime dining without the hassles involved of having to wait forever as I don't eat late or having to make reservations every morning to make sure you don't wait or wait long. That is what is special about CC dining to me, not the extra option or the special colored napkins! Also having basically the same wait staff as in traditional dining is a plus to me too. I guess it really is to each there own. That is why some people swear by inside cabins to really save money. It really is up to the individual.

 

 

Pooh

[palolake]

Yes, yes, yes! It was a wonderful experience!!!

[satxdiver]

So we always book a mini usually in the aft area which we enjoy. On our upcoming cruise next month we have a cc cabin because we caught a really great price that is less than what we are now paying for an aft mini. From what I have read the only "great" thing is the ability to dine whenever you want. We do TD these days because after many years of ATD, we tired of the hassle, new waiters, etc. Obviously this cruise we are doing the cc dining option. However it appears as though the menu is the same with maybe one addition (WOW). We may have a different opinion when we return but it does not look good from what I have read. Our cruise later this year, a cc cabin is thousands $$ more and it is not worth it as of now. I keep reading the cc reports for that "great" reason to shell out a lot more $$$$ for the "privilege" but as of now it appears to be non-existent.

[famski740]

Did a CC mini-suite on the Royal last year and the only "special" services was the separate dining line and dining area in the regular dining room. Never had to wait and were able to walk right in and sat with our waiter each day. They will cook a special dish off to the side of the dining area each dinner and the waiter will bring it to your table along with other specialties he thinks you will like. The only reason we did this was because we got one of the large mini-suites (L108) at the front of the ship with an enormous balcony, but only paid a couple of hundred extra for the 10 day cruise.

 

Would probably not do this again if not getting a great price.

[PoohUnderstands]

Did a CC mini-suite on the Royal last year and the only "special" services was the separate dining line and dining area in the regular dining room. Never had to wait and were able to walk right in and sat with our waiter each day. They will cook a special dish off to the side of the dining area each dinner and the waiter will bring it to your table along with other specialties he thinks you will like. The only reason we did this was because we got one of the large mini-suites (L108) at the front of the ship with an enormous balcony, but only paid a couple of hundred extra for the 10 day cruise.

 

Would probably not do this again if not getting a great price.

 

See highlighted comment. That is why CC is soooooo worth it to me. Again, I will only pay $10-25ish more pp per day for this special service, but so worth it to me. If people are looking to book a mini in a forward or mid location and ATD, I don't see why they wouldn't go the CC route!!!!

 

Pooh

[stoneharborlady]

See highlighted comment. That is why CC is soooooo worth it to me. Again, I will only pay $10-25ish more pp per day for this special service, but so worth it to me. If people are looking to book a mini in a forward or mid location and ATD, I don't see why they wouldn't go the CC route!!!!

 

Pooh

 

In your answer you highlighted that you can walk right into the dining room, no wait, and sit with your own waiter each meal. You can do just that in the main dining room with traditional dining. No waiting, same waiter, no extra charge. True, you have a fixed time for meals, but that is ok with me, I prefer to eat at the same time anyway.

Edited February 5, 2018 by stoneharborlady
addition

[voljeep]

I guess it would all depend on if you think 'eating a meal' is an 'EVENT' and one of the highlights of your day / cruise.

 

for us, certainly not the mdr 'experience', but maybe CG is more like going to a nice mid-range steak house..

 

and don't even get me started on the 'formal night experience in the mdr'...:cool:

[memoak]

Having had club class dining on the Pacific last year I can say that the extra dish was really remarkable nearly every evening - made all the difference in the dining experience whether it was prepared in the dining room or the kitchen

[foodsvcmgr]

Agree with Stoneharborlady, we will save the money with fixed dining which is our preference anyway plus the covered minis that we use on Emerald aft are not part of CC in any case.

[Kineticoh20]

My cruise coming up in a few weeks had club class mini's at $1000 pp not worth it at all. We seldom wait long for dinner and $2000 buys a lot of Crown grill and Sabatini's;p

[ccruzer123]

Thanks for answering about the Coral. I just looked and had a really hard time finding any reviews that mentioned club class at all. Let me know if you have any links to suggest that talk about that?

When people ask "worth it" questions it is hard to answer because everyone is different in what makes things "worth it" to them.

I didn't even think about the price difference between regular minis and CC for our cruise. I booked the cabin because we like : midship,own dining area,and early embark/disembark. Everything else like wine and canapes or special food in MDR is just gravy/extra.

 

We did Club Class on Coral Princess this last December and it was excellent. We heard that Corp. came on just before our cruise and discussed Club Class dining and experience with the chef, maitre'd, etc. Guess, Corp wasn't happy with what they were doing prior to our cruise. Anyway, the waiters told us changes were made including special items offered, new maitre'd and food prep in Club Class area. Whatever they did it was successful, we were very happy with our experience.

 

Coral Princess has two doors at the entrance to MDR. The left hand door is the one used by Club Class, a sign indicates Club Class. It has its own greeter who welcomes you, learns your name and cabin number fairly quickly. They then take you to the Club Class section each meal where you can select whatever table you would like that is available. Staff immediately seats you, gives you a menu and takes your drink order. Bread and butter is delivered and you are told what the daily special is for the evening. Serve is quick, staff excellent and friendly.

 

This was our second experience with Club Class, the first was on Pacific Princess and it was excellent.

 

We normally have booked mid- ship mini-suites in the past, the cost was always higher than aft or forward mini-suite cabins. The cost might be a little higher than in the past for these cabins but we feel it is worth the extra expense, at least for us. In the future, we would probably not book with Princess without utilizing Club Class, that is, if cost was reasonable.

[PoohUnderstands]

In your answer you highlighted that you can walk right into the dining room, no wait, and sit with your own waiter each meal. You can do just that in the main dining room with traditional dining. No waiting, same waiter, no extra charge. True, you have a fixed time for meals, but that is ok with me, I prefer to eat at the same time anyway.

 

I loved traditional dining for so many years, but in the last few years, the 6PM dinner experience for us has become non-existent. Get to the ship and your dining time is realistically 5:30 or 5:45. This is just too early for us, regardless of our tours or not. And late dining is not in the cards for us as after eating a meal, I must stay vertical (i.e. can't lay down in bed) for a minimum of 4 hours or else I have problems! Grin. So late dining is out. That is why I love CC dining. It has become my traditional dining at a reasonable time (6-7pm)!!!

 

Pooh

[riffatsea]

@az2sea, Thank you sooo much for your specific Coral info!!

We have a mid ship Caribe deck CC mini and are excited for our first Princess cruise.

I am trying to decide if I should move up to a full suite although the ones available are on the sides towards the aft of the ship. We have never been that far back and wonder about it in terms of engine noise, movement etc. Any thoughts??

[stoneharborlady]

I loved traditional dining for so many years, but in the last few years, the 6PM dinner experience for us has become non-existent. Get to the ship and your dining time is realistically 5:30 or 5:45. This is just too early for us, regardless of our tours or not. And late dining is not in the cards for us as after eating a meal, I must stay vertical (i.e. can't lay down in bed) for a minimum of 4 hours or else I have problems! Grin. So late dining is out. That is why I love CC dining. It has become my traditional dining at a reasonable time (6-7pm)!!!

 

Pooh

 

 

I think unless you are five years old, 5:30 is a bit early for anyone to have dinner. I wonder more dont complain about that.