Club Class Dining??

We splurged this time and are doing the Club Class Mini-Suite on our 5 day Cabo Thanksgiving Cruise on Emerald.

Apparently the dining experience is the best perk associated with Club Class. I have a couple questions. Thanks in advance for any answers!

1) We like to eat early i.e, 530 or 6 pm whenever dining room opens. Do we need to reserve or just show up?

2) Are the special table side preparations or Chef's selections any good? Anybody have a favorite?

3) I heard that we have the same private dining for lunch, but only on Sea Days. Is that correct?

From what I have seen and told by the waitstaff the only club class perks are different color napkins

From what I have seen and told by the waitstaff the only club class perks are different color napkins

I heard that the steak is the same but they give you sharper knives

I'm curious to know how many pats of butter they give you in club class and if berries are available.

Everyone is a comedian here!

I have not done it but many people have really enjoyed it. Just walk in anytime. Definitely no waits. They have a list at the door. You cannot bring guests. Sounds like there is a "special" every night. Sometimes table side, sometimes not. If you do a search you might find more, but hopefully those who have done it will respond here.

Everyone reporting back so far has especially loved being able to walk in with no waits. :)

Everyone reporting back so far has especially loved being able to walk in with no waits. :)

For us the big benifit is the hospitality with no wait and everybody knows your name which includes great service. It truly makes us feel special like the old days.

We are elite so normally it is not worth the extra cost but it comes with our favorite cabins M107/108 on the Royal class.

We splurged this time and are doing the Club Class Mini-Suite on our 5 day Cabo Thanksgiving Cruise on Emerald.

 

Apparently the dining experience is the best perk associated with Club Class. I have a couple questions. Thanks in advance for any answers!

Even though you said you had only "a couple of questions", I tried to answer all three.:)

1) We like to eat early i.e, 530 or 6 pm whenever dining room opens. Do we need to reserve or just show up?

You do not need a reservation. You can show up anytime the dining room is open, and you will normally be seated immediately.

2) Are the special table side preparations or Chef's selections any good? Anybody have a favorite?

The preparations are not actually table side, unless you are seated next to where they are prepared. They are prepared at one place in the small Club Class section. I don't really have a favorite, but I enjoyed several of them. We had lobster a couple of times when it was not on the normal menu.

3) I heard that we have the same private dining for lunch, but only on Sea Days. Is that correct?

Club Class dining is available every day for dinner, every day for breakfast, and for lunch on sea days only. These are the same times that the normal MDR is open. At lunch on sea days and at breakfast, you get the same excellent service and the same waiters you get for dinner.

We splurged this time and are doing the Club Class Mini-Suite on our 5 day Cabo Thanksgiving Cruise on Emerald.

 

Apparently the dining experience is the best perk associated with Club Class. I have a couple questions. Thanks in advance for any answers!

 

1) We like to eat early i.e, 530 or 6 pm whenever dining room opens. Do we need to reserve or just show up?

 

2) Are the special table side preparations or Chef's selections any good? Anybody have a favorite?

 

3) I heard that we have the same private dining for lunch, but only on Sea Days. Is that correct?

1) No need to reserve. That's one of the main perks - truly anytime dining. Show up when you like, no wait seating. Tablecloths and napkins are different color and menu has different cover.

2) Yes, some extra dishes or preparations, sometimes table side, or at least in general vicinity and sometimes an extra dish from the kitchen. Sometimes it's just a different sauce or preparation.

3) Yes, CC section is open for lunch on sea days, just like regular MDR. It's also open for breakfast every day during MDR hours.

Club Class gets very positive reviews from those who've done it.. Enjoy.

I just got off the Ruby and had a mini suite with Club Class dining. We loved it! We requested a certain table by the window on day one and that was "our table" for the duration of the cruise, no matter when we got there for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The extra menu items we received were very special. The MaitreD in Club Class was Ricardo Capraro who also happens to be a Master Chef. He cooked in an area towards the center of the Club Class dining room. It is not table side per se but darn close! He made us different pasta dishes (yum!), one night it was a shrimp dish designed to top the steak, bananas foster for dessert one night, cherries jubilee, etc. One of his pasta dishes (that I can't remember the name of) was the best pasta I've ever eaten! You will have the same servers and as stated by someone previously who will get to know your likes and dislikes within a day or two. I think it was well worth the extra cost. Also included with Club Class is priority boarding and disembarkation and priority reservations with Specialty dining. There is also a welcome glass of champagne when you arrive in your stateroom. You can also request fresh fruit in your room every day to your specific tastes. These are Club Class perks that often aren't mentioned.

I hope you enjoy your cruise and especially the Club Class dining! :)

p.s. There was unlimited butter and their butter is excellent! I guess someone's cruise had limited butter so now this has become a "thing" on cruisecritic.

Also included with Club Class is priority boarding and disembarkation and priority reservations with Specialty dining. There is also a welcome glass of champagne when you arrive in your stateroom. You can also request fresh fruit in your room every day to your specific tastes. These are Club Class perks that often aren't mentioned.

Now I have some research to do: isn't daily fresh fruit upon request available to "regular" mini-suites on up? If not, I may have to upgrade...

I enjoyed Club Class on my British Isles Caribbean Princess cruise. Yes, lunch was only available on sea days. The special pasta dishes were very good. You could get it as an appetizer portion in case you'd like a smaller portion.

Now I have some research to do: isn't daily fresh fruit upon request available to "regular" mini-suites on up? If not, I may have to upgrade...

Yes

As others have said, the real benefit is the totally relaxed experience - no wait for a table, the wait staff is well trained and knows you from Day 1, the Head Waiter checks with you each night to make sure you're happy. The CC specials that were outstanding during our cruise included a fresh Sea Bass with tropical fruit salsa, a penne pasta with seafood sauce, a Chateaubriand that was perfectly prepared. One morning for breakfast there were blueberry pancakes as a special that were wonderful. We'll book it again if the price isn't too outrageous.

One thing we especially appreciated: During the course of a 15 night cruise, we were seated at dinner with at least 3 different wait staff teams. (I believe there were 5 different teams total in the section.) Some of the other staff waited on us at breakfasts and lunches. They were all great and even when we weren't seated in their section, they'd stop and say "Hello". At the end of the cruise we wondered what to do about extra gratuities - it seemed they all deserved it but it was awkward handing out many envelopes and what if we missed someone??? We talked to the Head Waiter and he said that if we liked, we could put whatever amount we were comfortable with in a single envelope, give it to him, and he would distribute it to the a pool that was just for Club Class staff.

We did our first cruise on Ruby in Club Class and the dining experience was awesome. They anticipated our wants every night. We had stricken the automatic tips and tipped our "crew" a fair amount. We recently got graduation photos from the lead waiter's daughter's graduation ceremony, which our tipping helped with. They saw that the melon balls in port wine and berries lavishly enrobed in butter were big hits at our table so they were whisked to our table before our napkins were unfolded. It was very special to see the enrobing process tableside. After dessert specially decorated scooters would wheel up and bring us super plush towels. Any we did not use would be sent to our suites. I think some of this was "Ensenada Only"

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So question about CC lunch -- we are doing the 5 night cruise to Cabo. We arrive in cabo around 1pm on a Wednesday and all aboard is 11:30am on Thursday, with 12pm departure. Will the CC dining be available for lunch on either of those days?? They aren't technically "sea days" but we are at sea during the lunch hour

We did our first cruise on Ruby in Club Class and the dining experience was awesome. They anticipated our wants every night. We had stricken the automatic tips and tipped our "crew" a fair amount. We recently got graduation photos from the lead waiter's daughter's graduation ceremony, which our tipping helped with. They saw that the melon balls in port wine and berries lavishly enrobed in butter were big hits at our table so they were whisked to our table before our napkins were unfolded. It was very special to see the enrobing process tableside. After dessert specially decorated scooters would wheel up and bring us super plush towels. Any we did not use would be sent to our suites. I think some of this was "Ensenada Only"

 

 

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No doubt others will chime in here. I don't understand how you think you helped your crew, or someone's graduation. If a passenger has cancelled the auto-tips, then individual waiters, stewards, etc are NOT allowed to keep cash tips for themselves and are required/expected to turn them into the pool for sharing. Would you mind indicating why you cancelled the auto-tips? What about your cabin steward and others? Were you concerned about tip money going to other wait-staff around the ship?

I'm curious to know how many pats of butter they give you in club class and if berries are available.

2 pats, but will get more if you asks. They probably wasted a lot by throwing out.

I just got off the Ruby and had a mini suite with Club Class dining. We loved it! We requested a certain table by the window on day one and that was "our table" for the duration of the cruise, no matter when we got there for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The extra menu items we received were very special. The MaitreD in Club Class was Ricardo Capraro who also happens to be a Master Chef. He cooked in an area towards the center of the Club Class dining room. It is not table side per se but darn close! He made us different pasta dishes (yum!), one night it was a shrimp dish designed to top the steak, bananas foster for dessert one night, cherries jubilee, etc. One of his pasta dishes (that I can't remember the name of) was the best pasta I've ever eaten! You will have the same servers and as stated by someone previously who will get to know your likes and dislikes within a day or two. I think it was well worth the extra cost. Also included with Club Class is priority boarding and disembarkation and priority reservations with Specialty dining. There is also a welcome glass of champagne when you arrive in your stateroom. You can also request fresh fruit in your room every day to your specific tastes. These are Club Class perks that often aren't mentioned.

 

I hope you enjoy your cruise and especially the Club Class dining! :)

 

p.s. There was unlimited butter and their butter is excellent! I guess someone's cruise had limited butter so now this has become a "thing" on cruisecritic.

I must say, that I was a little skeptical about CC when I first heard about it before it was launched. Reading all of the positive reviews, it looks like I'll definitely be trying it on our next Princess cruise where we have a suite booked.....:):):)

Bob

We're on the Regal right now and eating in Club Class. We're really enjoying it. Sorta has the best of traditional and anytime dining; we've had the same table (2 top by a window) for every meal with the same wait staff, but we've shown up anytime between 5:30-6:30pm.

I thought we'd get "tableside" cooking, but it's not. Whatever extra food is made, gets made out in the dining room but not near us. Otherwise, it's the same menu as other diners, but with excellent service.

The head waiter custom makes crepes every morning, but we eat breakfast in Sabatini's. He jokes with us every evening that we need to come eat his crepes some morning.

We have Club Class as a suite perk but I wouldn't pay a lot of extra money for it. One couple said they only paid $100pp more for a 7 day cruise, but I've seen some prices that are $600pp or more than a regular mini; I personally wouldn't pay that much to eat in Club Class.

So question about CC lunch -- we are doing the 5 night cruise to Cabo. We arrive in cabo around 1pm on a Wednesday and all aboard is 11:30am on Thursday, with 12pm departure. Will the CC dining be available for lunch on either of those days?? They aren't technically "sea days" but we are at sea during the lunch hour

Club Class dining is open for lunch on the same "sea days" that the MDR is open for lunch.

In my experience, it was open on days when the ship was at sea during the normal lunch time, but this could vary by ship and itinerary. Since the normal lunch time is 12:00 noon to 1:30 pm, I would expect it to be open both of those days. Since everyone is on board for lunch both of those days, the buffet would be much too busy without the MDR being open - so it will probably be open.

I am very much looking forward to CC dining on this ship for all the positive reviews. We will definitely have to try lunch here one day for sure. :)

After reading some positive comments here on CC (and talking to DWs cousin who likes Club Class) we tried to be very observant during our recent Regal cruise. We go to dinner (Open Seating) at 7:30 - 8) and would always walk by the Club Dining entry (DW used the rest room near that location) to see what was happening. There was never a queue and always empty tables. We would walk to the other door to dine in the regular MDR and there was also no queue and plenty of empty tables. The menus are the same, the galley preparation is done in the same place by the same cooks, etc etc. Club Class does get an additional menu item....which we are told is a nice perk if you happen to like that particular extra item (otherwise you have exactly the same food as folks in regular dining). At breakfast and lunch it was about the same. In the MDR we prefer to share a large table...which is always possible...since there are enough folks (until around 8pm) to fill a large table. In Club Dining we noticed that most folks are at 2-tops or dining at 4 tops with friends/family. We suspect that asking to share a large Club Class table at 7:45 would find the cruisers dining alone.

Would we do club class? Only if it were no extra cost....and I can see us still going to the regular MDR Open sitting area for some dinners so we can join others at a large table.

Hank

My wife and I took our first ever Princess cruise in February 2017 on the Emerald Princess from Sydney around New Zealand. We were in a suite and the Club Class dining was a pleasant surprise. The Maitre D was a very keen and good cook who prepared a special course on 10 out of the 12 nights. Some were table side, some were at a special station in the middle of CC. There was also an off the menu special main course almost every night.

We had a suite on the Caribbean Princess for our 2nd Princess cruise in July - Caribbean Princess from Southampton around the British Isles. On this cruise, the Maitre D wasn’t such a keen cook and only did specials on about half the nights. Still a great experience.

So the table side cooking may be dependent on how comfortable the Maitre D is it.

We have trips on the Diamond Princess and Pacific Princess coming up in December and January. We’ve booked suites on both because we enjoy CC (and the extra space and free laundry).

To answer the other questions. We never had to wait. We had lunch in CC on embarkation day. We had the same wait staff for the whole cruise.

Another plus was the seating. There are many 2 tops that are close together. We chatted with many different couples over the course of the cruises. All the dining room staff knew our names by the 3rd day and figured out what we liked quickly. Oh, and there was unlimited butter.

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Thank you for everyone's thoughts on what to expect. I have treated myself to club class on the first club class cruise on the Star in December. I certainly hope the have crepes in the morning.

I appreciate the advice on handling the extra tip.

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