The Logic for booking Club Class?

Unable to get a confirmed booking for our normal suite, yesterday I decided to book a mini-suite and wait list for an aft suite at which point I had to make a choice about which grade of mini-suite to book.

The cruise concerned is 24 days long and the difference in price between an MB mini-suite and a Club Class M1 mini-suite is exactly £1000 which offers Club Class dining and a few other extras. However, as we are Elite, apart from the Club Class dining, these other extras don't appear to offer us anything at all.

BUT

I can eat EVERY NIGHT in the Crown Grill at a time of my choosing for less than £600.

So, why would I ever consider booking a Club Class mini-suite?

Or am I missing something?

However, as we are Elite, apart from the Club Class dining, these other extras don't appear to offer us anything at all.

 

BUT

 

I can eat EVERY NIGHT in the Crown Grill at a time of my choosing for less than £600.

 

So, why would I ever consider booking a Club Class mini-suite?

 

Or am I missing something?

Nope. We were in Club class on our last cruise (our friends who just started cruising like it) and afterward I sent an email to Princess about the fact that club class offers very little, other than the dining, for elite (and platinum) members that they don't get anyway.

They never responded, but I didn't necessarily expect them to.

If you are in a full suite it's a nice way to dine without an apparent extra cost but otherwise it's not cost effective.

I do not think Club Class dining is worth the extra cost to move over to a Club Class mini for me. We got to try Club Class by taking an upsell to a suite. We went back to a regular balcony cabin on our following cruise and did not miss Club Class dining. We did miss breakfast at Sabatini's, but not enough to pay regular price for a suite.

I just view Club Class as another way to sell features to the unaware people sailing Princess for the first time.

Yes it is nice but definitely not worth any extra cost to me especially when you get the same food as everyone else except for 1 or 2 special dishes made nightly.

I'd opt for the Crown grill anytime.

Not "unaware" just not elite on Princess so when we booked a club class mini suite it was to get the extras like no waiting to be seated and early embarkation etc. The price difference didn't really matter to us.

Now we have upgraded to a full suite for the total experience because it just sounds quite nice!

I would have sworn I never would book club class. But the Royal is moving to the West Coast, and I've booked a club class cabin! This is entirely due to it being one of the forward, corner minis on Marina. Love being high in the ship and forward, and the price wasn't all that bad.

I think there's different ways to look at logic for CC. Here's my thoughts:

It's great for those who don't want to share a table. There's zero expectation that you'll share with CC, but (generally) zero wait.

It's great for those who want attentive service but for whom traditional dining just doesn't work (I do believe the servers are more attentive, and/or are presented with a lower headcount to service thereby allowing more minutes/pax).

It's great for those who insist on eating at 6:04:37pm and expect to be able to walk right into their table at that time (or who expected to be able to make a reservation but were turned away), and the mere mention of eating at 5:30pm (i.e. traditional or an as-the-doors-open ATD reservation) creates an emotionally-fueled response. {Princess has a capacity problem for the first half of dinnertime, for which most ships won't allow ATD reservations aside from 5:30pm OR 7:15pm-ish and later.)

There's also a lunch component to CC (for sea days, or any day that an MDR is open for lunch) and a breakfast component (daily, INCLUDING disembarkation day, which is IMHO a real perk for suite passengers as the suite breakfast isn't offered on that day). I wouldn't solely compare CC cost against Crown Grill, though it's hard to put a value on premium service that's still in an MDR.

I think there's different ways to look at logic for CC. Here's my thoughts:

 

It's great for those who don't want to share a table. There's zero expectation that you'll share with CC, but (generally) zero wait.

It's great for those who want attentive service but for whom traditional dining just doesn't work (I do believe the servers are more attentive, and/or are presented with a lower headcount to service thereby allowing more minutes/pax).

It's great for those who insist on eating at 6:04:37pm and expect to be able to walk right into their table at that time (or who expected to be able to make a reservation but were turned away), and the mere mention of eating at 5:30pm (i.e. traditional or an as-the-doors-open ATD reservation) creates an emotionally-fueled response. {Princess has a capacity problem for the first half of dinnertime, for which most ships won't allow ATD reservations aside from 5:30pm OR 7:15pm-ish and later.)

There's also a lunch component to CC (for sea days, or any day that an MDR is open for lunch) and a breakfast component (daily, INCLUDING disembarkation day, which is IMHO a real perk for suite passengers as the suite breakfast isn't offered on that day). I wouldn't solely compare CC cost against Crown Grill, though it's hard to put a value on premium service that's still in an MDR.

Excellent summation, except for noting that the spacing of the 2-tops is fine-tuned:

close enough that you can chat away with the neighbors and far enough that you

can ignore them without giving offense. When we tried CC, we had 3 couples as

rotating sorta-tablemates.

Unable to get a confirmed booking for our normal suite, yesterday I decided to book a mini-suite and wait list for an aft suite at which point I had to make a choice about which grade of mini-suite to book.

 

The cruise concerned is 24 days long and the difference in price between an MB mini-suite and a Club Class M1 mini-suite is exactly £1000 which offers Club Class dining and a few other extras. However, as we are Elite, apart from the Club Class dining, these other extras don't appear to offer us anything at all.

 

BUT

 

I can eat EVERY NIGHT in the Crown Grill at a time of my choosing for less than £600.

 

So, why would I ever consider booking a Club Class mini-suite?

 

Or am I missing something?

Probably not at that price.

If you are able to get your AFT suite, you will have an opportunity to try the Club Dining. I did for 28 days last October and the Club Dining was a wonderful experience for us. You will be able to judge for yourself.

If the Minisuite location is not desirable for you, the Club Dining is really the only benefit.

Club Dining does make the Princess Suite experience more competitive with other cruise lines. (Just a little closer)

I would have sworn I never would book club class. But the Royal is moving to the West Coast, and I've booked a club class cabin! This is entirely due to it being one of the forward, corner minis on Marina. Love being high in the ship and forward, and the price wasn't all that bad.

We end up in club class because of the unique cabins of M107/108 on the Royal/Regal. The two room setup of the cabin which includes a picture window not to mention the mega deck is the reason we in up in club class.

One most remember that the mini-suites which are designed C.C., are generally, due to location, the more expensive class of mini-suites anyway.

One must ask whether the dining experience is worth the added charge. Some individuals can argue that they rather have an inside cabin and save all the money, because, other than not having a window or balcony there is no difference.

To us, C.C. is like Aqua Class on Celebrity. It is a return to the day that one had superior service in the dining room for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It comes down to a matter of preference.

It does seem to be quite popular and usually all booked up well before the cruise.

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It does seem to be quite popular and usually all booked up well before the cruise.

Even more telling, Princess is adding CC staterooms rather than removing them.

Watch the deckplan changes.

We got Club Class dining as part of an upgrade to a suite, so the price was very right. I don't know what my thoughts would be if it was an extra cost in a mini-suite. It is good, but there are limits to my budget. For the right price, it is very nice...but 1000 GDP seems like a lot even for 24 nights.

Princess missed a huge opportunity here. Why make a separate dining area but serve the same food as the MDR? They need to catch up to Celebrity and make it a true "club class" experience with upgraded food/menus.

Princess missed a huge opportunity here. Why make a separate dining area but serve the same food as the MDR? They need to catch up to Celebrity and make it a true "club class" experience with upgraded food/menus.

Uhh... Because they consistently sell out as is (and are converting more staterooms

to Club Class to boot)? :halo:

Probably not at that price.

 

 

 

If you are able to get your AFT suite, you will have an opportunity to try the Club Dining. I did for 28 days last October and the Club Dining was a wonderful experience for us. You will be able to judge for yourself.

 

 

 

If the Minisuite location is not desirable for you, the Club Dining is really the only benefit.

 

Club Dining does make the Princess Suite experience more competitive with other cruise lines. (Just a little closer)

Actually we have already experienced Club Class dining when in a suite and agree with all the positive comments

BUT

until I found myself in the situation of having to be waitlisted for a suite, I had never looked at the difference in cost between a normal mini-suite and a Club Class mini and was surprised that the difference was greater than the cost of dining EVERY NIGHT in the Crown Grill

AND

whilst I appreciate the benefits of Club Class dining, IMHO the benefits do not compare with the experience of either The Crown Grill or Sabatini’s.

So given the choice between paying £1000 extra for a Club Class mini-suite or £600 to eat in The Crown Grill every night, The Crown Grill wins hands down every time.

On the subject of your last paragraph where you say that Club Class dining enhances the suite experience, then I have to disagree. This was discussed at the time Club Class was introduced and a number of people, including myself, observed that, under the old system, suite passengers were generally unofficially assigned a reserved designated table in Anytime Dining and could therefore enjoy the equivalent benefits of Club Class dining and enjoy the company of friends irrespective of their cabin grade. However that is another subject and not relevant to my original observation that for Elites in mini-suites there are better and cheaper dining options than paying for Club Class.

One most remember that the mini-suites which are designed C.C., are generally, due to location, the more expensive class of mini-suites anyway. One must ask whether the dining experience is worth the added charge. Some individuals can argue that they rather have an inside cabin and save all the money, because, other than not having a window or balcony there is no difference. To us, C.C. is like Aqua Class on Celebrity. It is a return to the day that one had superior service in the dining room for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It comes down to a matter of preference. It does seem to be quite popular and usually all booked up well before the cruise.

Recently stayed in a club class mini suite on the Crown. The price difference was $110 between M1 and MA. Well worth it. Club Class dining was wonderful. You are also paying for location. Booked Club class for the Regal 2019. Difference between Club Class M1 and MA when I booked was $90 per person. We always had to pay a premium for mid ship location.

I've been following prices for our 10-nt Feb 2019 Mexico ... we booked our ME mini at Launch Fare and added PBP shortly thereafter with Sip/Sail promo.

Current Come Back New pricing for aft mini (ME guarantee) some $800 more than our fsre ... and Club Class now DOUBLE our ME fare.

Of course I underdtand an M1 always is more costly than M1 ... but nearly $2K per person could get me another whole cruise in an ME!

So. we'll be content dining with the rest of the steerage peeps ...as CC seems to have some limited appeal but the perkd would need to be WAY better to get us to pay that premium.

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We could never eat at the Crown Grill every night! I don't think there is enough variety and there is too much food. Yes I know only you and you alone can control what you eat. We are trying CC for the first time this fall for 24 days. Anytime dining does not work for us because we like the same waiters and we don't like the "times" for traditional. So, we are going to give it a whirl. We are also in the place in our lives where we can afford it without feeling too guilty. A couple of years ago, no way!

"old age isn't a problem, it's the goal..."

Of course I underdtand an M1 always is more costly than M1 ... should read "more than ME."

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Of course I underdtand an M1 always is more costly than M1 ... should read "more than ME."

 

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Compare M1 to MA and M5* to ME.

*Dunno if there really is an M5, but I have seen an MB turn into an M2.

Comparr all you want

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But $2K each for dif between ME to M1 is not in my futurr

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