Is Club Class Worth the Extra Cost

[sabrefan]

My wife and I are looking at a cruise tour that includes Ireland on land for 4 nights and then 12 nights on the Emerald Princess. Just looking at cost difference between mini suite and club class which is $400 /pp more for club class. Club class has a special dinning area which I don’t know if this is a separate dining room or a certain area within one of the main dining rooms? They also advertise an expanded menu for club class. Looking for any input from members regarding club class and or mini suite.

[gbphipps]

We generally choose the Club Class mini as our cabin of choice.  One thing we love about it is the Club Class dining (a section of one of the main dining rooms with its own entrance) allows you to just show up during dining hours and be seated right away.  You do not need to make a prior reservation or wait an extended time for a table.  The extended menu does not offer many additional items. It is generally an extra entree and maybe an extra dessert which do not appear on the MDR menu. Precovid the entree was prepared right in the dining room by the Maitre d’ and always smelled wonderful.  I have not as yet sailed Princess postcovid (next month!). You generally get to know your wait staff better as the smaller venue has you seeing the same waiter often.  It is a more personal service, IMHO.  If you are traveling with others in a suite you will be able to eat with them as it is also the suite dining room.  If you have earned elite status, staying in a Club Class mini suite earns you all suite perks except breakfast in Sabatini’s.

[Steelers36]

You are asking a 100% subjective question.  It also implies the guest is already committed to booking at least a Mini-Suite category since nothing below that can get the guest into CC dining.

 

CC is a section of ONE of the DR's (Deck 6 Mid-Ship), closest to the entrance doors, that is reserved for eligible CC guests and is open visually and such to the rest of the DR.  Have not heard of a lot of menu expansion lately, but most report an additional or special app to choose if desired. 

 

400/16 = 25/pp/night.  $50/couple.  This is about the lowest up-charge I have seen reported on here.  IF (yes, a big IF) I was booking a Mini in this situation, I would probably go the extra $25/pp for the experience.  But it is not a decision we will likely ever make since we don't book Mini's to begin with.

 

Enjoy!!

[Shaver John]

Yes, so worth. You have a bit nicer cabin, can dine most times without a wait. We have been asked to use a buzzer once, but decided to go to the buffet and the next day they seems so sorry that it had happened. You get a special item at meals, one not on the regular menu and mostly the special is really good. Had peach Melba once and it was not good to me, but then again my husband ate his and mine. So go figure. 
 

Service is superior and not in a special room but a private part of the dining room. Special linens and very cozy. 
 

We normally only cruise with club class so we have 2 cruises this year coming up and both are club class. 

[dog]

First time in Club Class dining. Not worth extra money to me.

I did not care for the extra choice on the menu. I did like table for two next to window, less people & quieter. With the other dining options- Crown Grill, GiGis, room service to suite etc we did not go to MDR much.

Mini suite is nice choice.

[Mike45LC]

I enjoyed the Club Class dining.  Same exact menu as the Main Dining Room except for an "extra" entree (or appetizer or dessert) every evening.  The extra item didn't do anything for me -- I am a very picky eater and most of the additional items failed my screening!  

 

I loved that Club Class dining is true anytime dining.  We had to wait to be seated only once, and that was under five minutes.  We had the same staff every day, and they were charming and very solicitous.  

 

We always book Mini-Suites, and we are elite, so the only difference between Club Class and Mini-Suite was the dining.  Our last cruise, we had two Crown Grill dinners, so we ate in Club Class five times for dinner.  At $400 per person, would I pay an upgrade fee of $80 per dinner?  Me, no, but my wife, yes.

 

[Lady Arwen]

Love mini suites, but we choose a regular mini and eat a few times in a specialty restaurant and the rest in the MDR.  If you can grab CC at a reduced rate (sometimes they’re priced the same as regular minis close to sail date) then I’d go for it.  I would not pay extra for CC.

[cruzsnooze]

45 minutes ago, gbphipps said:

We generally choose the Club Class mini as our cabin of choice.  One thing we love about it is the   If you have earned elite status, staying in a Club Class mini suite earns you all suite perks except breakfast in Sabatini’s.

Absolutely wrong information. Mini suites be it club class or regular mini suite  do NOT yield  suite perks. Elite perks are for every elite tier no matter what category cabin you sail in. 

[Murray's Pop]

We love Club Class, mainly due to the CC dining.  Also the CC cabins are located in the best areas on the ship.  We have done both full suite and Club Class and prefer the Club Class. 

[Bollycats]

Back in 2019 my Mom and I were all set for our usual balcony cabin. Then she broke her knee. At the last minute we needed to upgrade to a handicapped room. The only room available was a Club Class mini so we took it. Luckily, the upsell was only something like $90 each. I enjoyed it a lot-nice location, room was huge (since it was a handicapped-lots of floor space), the 2 small bottles of wine (we didn't have a drink package so that was nice), and the special area to eat breakfast and dinner. We didn't eat any of the extra meal options but did enjoy not having to wait and could just walk right in. (the line to enter the dining room for breakfast the first day was a mile long!)Having said all that, I would never pay a lot for this service. It was nice, but not necessary. If I can get it again for $100 pp or less I would probably go for it. 

[Sea Hag]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

You are asking a 100% subjective question.  It also implies the guest is already committed to booking at least a Mini-Suite category since nothing below that can get the guest into CC dining.

 

CC is a section of ONE of the DR's (Deck 6 Mid-Ship), closest to the entrance doors, that is reserved for eligible CC guests and is open visually and such to the rest of the DR.  Have not heard of a lot of menu expansion lately, but most report an additional or special app to choose if desired. 

 

400/16 = 25/pp/night.  $50/couple.  This is about the lowest up-charge I have seen reported on here.  IF (yes, a big IF) I was booking a Mini in this situation, I would probably go the extra $25/pp for the experience.  But it is not a decision we will likely ever make since we don't book Mini's to begin with.

 

Enjoy!!

I agree with what you said, but people should think of it as, for example, 400/16 = 25/pp/DAY $50/couple, if they plan to go to the MDR for breakfast and sea days lunch. There's a lot of benefit having CC for breakfast and sea days lunch.

[waltd]

It's nice to try it at least once for the right price.  Would consider it a true Anytime Dining experience.  Not sure I would say the service is any better or worse then Traditional Dining.   Guess we have always been lucky.    Last cruise the additional menu item was repeated twice on our 10 day cruise.   Same menu as Traditional.  Nothing different about the CC mini other then location, location, location. 

Only you can decide by trying it once.  

 

[memoak]

1 hour ago, gbphipps said:

We generally choose the Club Class mini as our cabin of choice.  One thing we love about it is the Club Class dining (a section of one of the main dining rooms with its own entrance) allows you to just show up during dining hours and be seated right away.  You do not need to make a prior reservation or wait an extended time for a table.  The extended menu does not offer many additional items. It is generally an extra entree and maybe an extra dessert which do not appear on the MDR menu. Precovid the entree was prepared right in the dining room by the Maitre d’ and always smelled wonderful.  I have not as yet sailed Princess postcovid (next month!). You generally get to know your wait staff better as the smaller venue has you seeing the same waiter often.  It is a more personal service, IMHO.  If you are traveling with others in a suite you will be able to eat with them as it is also the suite dining room.  If you have earned elite status, staying in a Club Class mini suite earns you all suite perks except breakfast in Sabatini’s.

We love CC dining the extra entree we probably pick about half the time  Service is super good but do not confuse it with full suites even if you are elite not the same but still better than steerage

[Tak8]

It's nice to be able to walk in and get a table.  The extra dish is nice.  Service is excellent.  Worth it, depends.

[voljeep]

1 hour ago, Steelers36 said:

You are asking a 100% subjective question.  It also implies the guest is already committed to booking at least a Mini-Suite category since nothing below that can get the guest into CC dining.

 

CC is a section of ONE of the DR's (Deck 6 Mid-Ship), closest to the entrance doors, that is reserved for eligible CC guests and is open visually and such to the rest of the DR.  Have not heard of a lot of menu expansion lately, but most report an additional or special app to choose if desired. 

 

400/16 = 25/pp/night.  $50/couple.  This is about the lowest up-charge I have seen reported on here.  IF (yes, a big IF) I was booking a Mini in this situation, I would probably go the extra $25/pp for the experience.  But it is not a decision we will likely ever make since we don't book Mini's to begin with.

 

Enjoy!!

try 400/12 night cruise, not 16 = 33 pp pd

[Steelers36]

5 minutes ago, voljeep said:

try 400/12 night cruise, not 16 = 33 pp pd

Oh, right you are!!  I over-looked that the first four nights were a separate land trip.  Still lower than some rates I have seen (like $50/pp/day).  Anyway, thanks for correcting.

[wowzz]

We refared to a cc mini suite,  as the price dropped below the price we had paid for a standard minisuite.  

Better location with a bigger balcony, and not having to wait in line for the MDR will be nice.

We'll let you know in June how the experience was.

[SpiderNZ]

Hi everyone, first time cruisers here. We are looking at CC on an Alaska cruise next year (after we got covided out of 2020,) and read this page with real interest. One of the other 'perks' of cc was priority embark/disembark. Does this mean just for the start and end of the cruise, or does it include at every port, ie so we would be one of the first off the ship? Thanks team.

[wowzz]

18 minutes ago, SpiderNZ said:

Hi everyone, first time cruisers here. We are looking at CC on an Alaska cruise next year (after we got covided out of 2020,) and read this page with real interest. One of the other 'perks' of cc was priority embark/disembark. Does this mean just for the start and end of the cruise, or does it include at every port, ie so we would be one of the first off the ship? Thanks team.

My understanding is that it is just for the start and end of the cruise.  Although we are never in a rush to get off, so not really a big deal as far as we are concerned. 

[Steelers36]

2 hours ago, Sea Hag said:

I agree with what you said, but people should think of it as, for example, 400/16 = 25/pp/DAY $50/couple, if they plan to go to the MDR for breakfast and sea days lunch. There's a lot of benefit having CC for breakfast and sea days lunch.

Good point about the additional meal opportunities.

[Mike45LC]

58 minutes ago, wowzz said:

My understanding is that it is just for the start and end of the cruise.  Although we are never in a rush to get off, so not really a big deal as far as we are concerned. 

Priority boarding is one of the perks that is already part of the Elite package.  I forgot about it.  I never get to the ship early for embarkation, and as far as debarking,  I would rather leave later, not early -- more time on the ship!

 

Wowzz is correct, only first and last day.  Not for intermediate ports of call or tender ports.  

 

I also forgot about the two mini-bottles of wine.  I always leave those for the cabin steward.  

 

[capriccio]

This is a frequent question with totally subjective answers.

 

Here  is a similar recent thread:

 

 

[caribill]

9 hours ago, SpiderNZ said:

One of the other 'perks' of cc was priority embark/disembark. Does this mean just for the start and end of the cruise, or does it include at every port, ie so we would be one of the first off the ship?

 

At the start of a cruise the priority embarkation is only of value if you check in before boarding has started. Once boarding has started, everyone goes to the ship after checking in.

 

At the end of the cruise, anyone who does not like their assigned disembarkation time can request a different time and usually can get it unless that time slot is full.

 

So it really is not much of a benefit.

[CruisinFinsUp]

We usually cruise in a minisuite.  
This past March we choose a club class mini ONLY because of the unreliability and hassle of the dining function on the medallion app.  
With everything we'd read, and because we didn't want to be tethered to our phones, we booked club class for the simple reason we didn't have to make dining reservations.   We wanted a hassle free 10 days.  
 

The "extra" menu item was fine.   The service was spotty.  They were clearly understaffed.  The tables for 2 were close together. We ended up in conversation with the next few tables because we were all so close.  
 

The cabin is exactly the same as any other mini.  The two half bottles of wine were sub-par. 
 

Next time we won't bother paying the extra and we'll fight with the app for dining reservations.  It wasn't worth the upcharge for us.  We'd rather spend that money going to Crown Grill or something else.   

[Lady Arwen]

Exactly!  We do mini suites and specialty restaurants and throw in a couple of MDR dinners.  We save loads of money and the food and service in the specialty restaurants is superior to Club Class and no waiting in line either.  Why would anyone pay extra for CC?