Suite Benefits

[jasbo49]

13 hours ago, idahospud said:

Here is an exciting addition to the Suite benefits on the Royal Princess right now! They are testing it here (and only here) and will be making decisions on whether to continue it based on feedback from the Suite guests on the Royal Princess.

 

 

... DRINKS ARE FREE.

 

So, they're having to test and do a study and wait for feedback? To see if people like free drinks?

 

Jim

[cr8tiv1]

Yes, Club Class dining advertises as "no waiting"...but...

 

The area can only accommodate x number of  passengers.  If EVERYONE showed up when the doors opened, then there will be a wait; however long it takes for group one to eat and leave.  

 

I have been there when the doors opened.  A 10-15 minute wait for those "anxious" ones.  My head waiter advised me to be at the door "early" on the last night because I wanted a window seat.  I was first in line.

 

Another time, I wanted the same server.  Head waiter placed me in another section and had my server tend my table (above and beyond what should be expected).  Much appreciated.

 

Another time, I HAD to wait a few minutes because the room was full.  I was seated as soon as someone left and they could turn over the table.  The problem here lies with honoring  passenger's request not to share tables.  Many tables were not filled to capacity.  You are served as soon as you sit.  No need to wait until a table is full.

[pms4104]

50 minutes ago, jasbo49 said:

 

So, they're having to test and do a study and wait for feedback? To see if people like free drinks?

 

Jim

I doubt they're ecpecting feedback ... more like a cost vs fare analysis

Edited September 4, 2019 by pms4104

[chapultepec]

We had the Owners (R730) Suite on the Regal in April out of Ft. Lauderdale. After clearing security and getting our Medallions, we were directed to a separate elevator and taken to the Elite / Platinum waiting lounge. Once the assisted boarding and wedding parties were on, a waiter in a tuxedo escorted us on board via a different gangway than everyone else, through the Casino to elevators near Club 6. The waiter then took us directly to Riviera deck and into the Concierge lounge where we were allowed to leave our bags as the Suite wasn't quite ready.

 

I don't believe escorted boarding comes automatically as we had to ask one of the Princess shore staff in the terminal and it may not be offered at every port.. Regardless, it's a very nice touch and I highly recommend you inquire at the port when staying in a full suite. We're on the Regal again for New Year's (Dec. 29) and look forward to the extra service.

 

Our prayers are with all of the victims of Dorian. 

[AF-1]

22 minutes ago, chapultepec said:

We had the Owners (R730) Suite on the Regal in April out of Ft. Lauderdale. After clearing security and getting our Medallions, we were directed to a separate elevator and taken to the Elite / Platinum waiting lounge. Once the assisted boarding and wedding parties were on, a waiter in a tuxedo escorted us on board via a different gangway than everyone else, through the Casino to elevators near Club 6. The waiter then took us directly to Riviera deck and into the Concierge lounge where we were allowed to leave our bags as the Suite wasn't quite ready.

 

I don't believe escorted boarding comes automatically as we had to ask one of the Princess shore staff in the terminal and it may not be offered at every port.. Regardless, it's a very nice touch and I highly recommend you inquire at the port when staying in a full suite. We're on the Regal again for New Year's (Dec. 29) and look forward to the extra service.

 

Our prayers are with all of the victims of Dorian. 

Also had a suite on last two cruises and have been escorted on both times.  Last time was this past Feb

[Triptkr]

20 minutes ago, AF-1 said:

Also had a suite on last two cruises and have been escorted on both times.  Last time was this past Feb

AF-1,   did you have to ask to be escorted both times?

[AF-1]

Triptkr;  no I did not.  In Feb I checked in at the port in FLL and the ocean medallion person said; oh you are in a suite; let me get someone to escort you on.  The gentleman from the dining room took both my wife and I up to the elite lounge and said when we were ready to board; he would be waiting just outside to escort us to our room.  On our Alaska cruise we had two of our grandkids in a family suite.  Same thing; we were escorted to the elite waiting area in Seattle; and a young lady from the ship brought all four of us onboard

Edited September 4, 2019 by AF-1

[Triptkr]

1 minute ago, AF-1 said:

Triptkr;  no I did not.  In Feb I checked in at the port in FLL and the ocean medallion person said; oh you are in a suite; let me get someone to escort you on.  The gentleman from the dining room took both my wife and I up to the elite lounge and said when we were ready to board; he would be waiting just outside to escort us to our room

Nice!   

[Debbdo]

This upcoming cruise will be our 3rd in a suite. We've never had the pleasure of being escorted to our cabin. Maybe the 3rd time is the charm!

[AF-1]

Debbdo; hopefully that will happen.  It was a very nice touch and made us feel appreciated.

[Debbdo]

1 hour ago, chapultepec said:

We had the Owners (R730) Suite on the Regal in April out of Ft. Lauderdale. After clearing security and getting our Medallions, we were directed to a separate elevator and taken to the Elite / Platinum waiting lounge. Once the assisted boarding and wedding parties were on, a waiter in a tuxedo escorted us on board via a different gangway than everyone else, through the Casino to elevators near Club 6. The waiter then took us directly to Riviera deck and into the Concierge lounge where we were allowed to leave our bags as the Suite wasn't quite ready.

 

I don't believe escorted boarding comes automatically as we had to ask one of the Princess shore staff in the terminal and it may not be offered at every port.. Regardless, it's a very nice touch and I highly recommend you inquire at the port when staying in a full suite. We're on the Regal again for New Year's (Dec. 29) and look forward to the extra service.

 

Our prayers are with all of the victims of Dorian. 

We have R731 on the Regal for our upcoming cruise out of New York. Looking forward to that big balcony and the concierge lounge. We've had a suite before, but this is our first aft with a wrap around balcony. Was it as wonderful as I envision? How was the concierge lounge? Anything worth getting excited about? 

[chapultepec]

We have R731 on the Regal for our upcoming cruise out of New York. Looking forward to that big balcony and the concierge lounge. We've had a suite before, but this is our first aft with a wrap around balcony. Was it as wonderful as I envision? How was the concierge lounge? Anything worth getting excited about? 

The balcony is enormous!!! . . . almost too big for 2 people but a perfect spot for a balcony dinner. there is a balcony entrance from both the bedroom & living room.

The Concierge (Elite and full suite) lounge is available 24/7 but only staffed at certain times in the day. There are beverages and snacks which change according to the time of day and the hostess can make dining & shore reservations for you. There are copies of same day menus and one of the perks to a full suite is that you can have any item off the menus served in your suite if you don't wish to dine with 4000 of your closet friends.

 

This will be our 4th time in a full suite and will be very hard downgrading to a smaller cabin . . . unless I win the lottery. (:

[nukesubsailor]

5 minutes ago, chapultepec said:

We have R731 on the Regal for our upcoming cruise out of New York. Looking forward to that big balcony and the concierge lounge. We've had a suite before, but this is our first aft with a wrap around balcony. Was it as wonderful as I envision? How was the concierge lounge? Anything worth getting excited about? 

The balcony is enormous!!! . . . almost too big for 2 people but a perfect spot for a balcony dinner. there is a balcony entrance from both the bedroom & living room.

The Concierge (Elite and full suite) lounge is available 24/7 but only staffed at certain times in the day. There are beverages and snacks which change according to the time of day and the hostess can make dining & shore reservations for you. There are copies of same day menus and one of the perks to a full suite is that you can have any item off the menus served in your suite if you don't wish to dine with 4000 of your closet friends.

 

This will be our 4th time in a full suite and will be very hard downgrading to a smaller cabin . . . unless I win the lottery. 🙂

The Concierge lounge on Riviera deck on Royal class ships is only for those who pay to book a full suite.  Your membership level in the Princess Captains' Circle loyalty club has nothing to do access to the Concierge lounge.  Only those in a full suite will have a cruise card that will unlock the door to the Concierge lounge.

[Debbdo]

26 minutes ago, chapultepec said:

We have R731 on the Regal for our upcoming cruise out of New York. Looking forward to that big balcony and the concierge lounge. We've had a suite before, but this is our first aft with a wrap around balcony. Was it as wonderful as I envision? How was the concierge lounge? Anything worth getting excited about? 

The balcony is enormous!!! . . . almost too big for 2 people but a perfect spot for a balcony dinner. there is a balcony entrance from both the bedroom & living room.

The Concierge (Elite and full suite) lounge is available 24/7 but only staffed at certain times in the day. There are beverages and snacks which change according to the time of day and the hostess can make dining & shore reservations for you. There are copies of same day menus and one of the perks to a full suite is that you can have any item off the menus served in your suite if you don't wish to dine with 4000 of your closet friends.

 

This will be our 4th time in a full suite and will be very hard downgrading to a smaller cabin . . . unless I win the lottery. 🙂

Thank you so much! 15 days and counting! This is our 3rd suite, 2nd aft and 1st aft wrap around balcony. Love the suite life and very grateful that we can do it once a year. My husband has already "warned" me that the suite life will probably end when he retires so I plan to enjoy it while I can!! 

[Glenndale]

If you are elite and book a suite do you get 2 mini bar set ups?

[pms4104]

2 hours ago, Glenndale said:

If you are elite and book a suite do you get 2 mini bar set ups?

You  do.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

Sorry I didn't read all the responses, I don't know of any hidden benefits, unless the two waters a day is "hidden". There may be more unofficial benefits and different ships (classes) may have different benefits. Here are the important ones to me:

 

1) Complimentary laundry - I pack a LOT less because of this. On a 15 day cruise I take half or less of what I used to take.

2) Breakfast at Sabatini's - Not a lot of variety, but on a 15 day cruise it is a nice change of pace and always very uncrowded.

3) Complimentary Signature Dining on Sailaway day - It helps me (us) evaluate if it is good enough to return to and pay for (great marketing idea).

 

Of lesser importance:

 

4) Nightly canapes - meh

5) Priority Embark/Debark - better than not having it

6) Expedited Dining Room Seating - great when it works as planned, but I'm flexible so....

[Cruise Raider]

2 hours ago, scottca075 said:

Sorry I didn't read all the responses, I don't know of any hidden benefits, unless the two waters a day is "hidden". There may be more unofficial benefits and different ships (classes) may have different benefits. Here are the important ones to me:

 

 

2) Breakfast at Sabatini's - Not a lot of variety, but on a 15 day cruise it is a nice change of pace and always very uncrowded.

 

 

You know, I try to never order outside the menu but the one and only time we've been booked in a suite so far, the maitre'd assured us that if we wanted something that was not on the menu, just say the word and if it was on the ship, we could order it.  I am sure that was within reason, though.  For example, I wanted turkey sausage instead of the pork sausage at breakfast and poof, it was there every day for me if I wanted it even though not on the menu.  Also, my hubby can't have OJ so his mimosas were actually made as a Bellini.  So, I think the variety is more than what is just listed on the menu.  

Edited September 9, 2019 by Cruise Raider

[Gracie115]

2 hours ago, scottca075 said:

 

2) Breakfast at Sabatini's - Not a lot of variety, but on a 15 day cruise it is a nice change of pace and always very uncrowded.

 

 

The menu itself is limited but we asked for other items a few times and they were happy to provide, I think the Sabatini's breakfast is one of the best suite perks.

 

[mrmarklin]

34 minutes ago, Gracie115 said:

 

The menu itself is limited but we asked for other items a few times and they were happy to provide, I think the Sabatini's breakfast is one of the best suite perks.

 

 

I agree, a great perk.  I don't get the limited menu.  It seems to have all breakfast items, unless of course one is not from an English speaking country.

[Colo Cruiser]

13 minutes ago, mrmarklin said:

 

I agree, a great perk.  I don't get the limited menu.  It seems to have all breakfast items, unless of course one is not from an English speaking country.

Curious....what do you think it should have?

[pms4104]

1 hour ago, mrmarklin said:

 

I agree, a great perk.  I don't get the limited menu.  It seems to have all breakfast items, unless of course one is not from an English speaking country.

Well, it is breakfast, after all ... even for those from non-English speaking countries.

[mrmarklin]

1 hour ago, Colo Cruiser said:

Curious....what do you think it should have?

Germans eat a lot of charcuterie for breakfast together with Brotchen.  Asians will have rice with whatever.  Mexicans will certainly have tortillas and chilaquiles.  I could go on, but it's different depending on culture. 

I noticed the buffet had dishes catering to other cultures on the Regal Princess last summer.

[Colo Cruiser]

3 minutes ago, mrmarklin said:

Germans eat a lot of charcuterie for breakfast together with Brotchen.  Asians will have rice with whatever.  Mexicans will certainly have tortillas and chilaquiles.  I could go on, but it's different depending on culture. 

I noticed the buffet had dishes catering to other cultures on the Regal Princess last summer.

Thanks. I guess you never know until you ask.  😉

[atchisog]

One can order the James Beard french toast anytime in Sabatini's! My favorite item on the ship..........