Club class impact

[Colorado Coasty]

The impact we noticed was on ATD.

 

Half of one restaurant was dedicated to Club Class, (and always looked far from full) this naturally put added pressure on the other 1 1/2, ATD rooms.

Half? What ship?

[mafig]

Bingo!. Celebrity offers suite guest their own dining room with an upgraded menu that is not offered in the MDR, Michael's Club which is a private cocktail venue with complementary drinks and a Concierge plus a choice of a drink package, unlimited internet, $300 OBC or paid gratuities for about the same price. I really don't know why anyone would pay extra just to eat dinner in a roped off section in the steerage dining room. I would rather pay an uncharge to eat in a specialty restaurant every night.

 

It is not "about the same price." Wish it were, because we're researching this now. Unless you consider about $400 p/p "about the same price."

Now if you compare it to Aqua Class and Blu, Celebrity is a better buy (by about $200 p/p, with better perks).

[KruzeKrazy!]

It is not "about the same price." Wish it were, because we're researching this now. Unless you consider about $400 p/p "about the same price."

Now if you compare it to Aqua Class and Blu, Celebrity is a better buy (by about $200 p/p, with better perks).

That's precisely the upcharge for our upcoming Ruby cruise from a std mini to CC mini - $400 per person. Specialty dining every night is a lot cheaper...

 

Hoping one unintended consequence of CC is not increased difficulty getting specialty dinner reservations with more demand for them...

[GUT2407]

Half? What ship?

 

Emerald.

[Iamcruzin]

It is not "about the same price." Wish it were, because we're researching this now. Unless you consider about $400 p/p "about the same price."

Now if you compare it to Aqua Class and Blu, Celebrity is a better buy (by about $200 p/p, with better perks).

 

The cruise 7 day Caribbean cruise I priced for Princess was $300 pp more for Club Class. It was about $100 pp less than a 7 day Caribbean sailing on Celebrity. My bar bill on Princess would be more than $200 on Princess so Celebrity is a better value as it would be all inclusive and a better dining experience. Aqua doesn't interest me due to the location of the rooms but yes it is also a better value with blu and the spa.

Edited January 1, 2017 by Iamcruzin

[Wulfwyn]

Good to hear from you, don't forget the nightly canapés!

 

We dined at different time between 6:10 - 7:15, the service is much quicker so it was no problem making the shows.

Also a plus was they didn't charge a corkage fee, and we brought wine every night to dinner.

Do you know if the MDR was open on enbarkation day for lunch for everyone. That is what I am trying to find out.

 

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[shredie]

I would have liked to be a fly on the wall in the boardroom when they came up with CC. :D

 

We need some ideas on how to generate more revenue that won't cost us anything!

 

[Hand goes up] I know.... lets sell some perks and give it a catchy name! We've already got a warehouse full of the new mattresses we will be installing anyway so lets give them those. We can put them in the priority area with the Elite's and Suites so let em board and disembark early with them. We can give em their own dining area taking away from the ATD who are lined up anyway. If the ATD people in steerage mind so much they can fork out for the upgrade. We usually toss out the excess canapés anyway so lets give em some of those. And priority reservations to the specialty restaurants costs nothing so lets sell them that too.

 

Great ideas! Let's call it Club Class so I can take some of the credit and get some of the bonus cake too!

 

:D:D:D

 

Yep. The Department of Bad Ideas at work again. J.S. loves those guys!

[caribill]

Anytime there is a tiered system- there will be people who felt like they lost something in the structure. If people are willing to pay for the convenience of eating in the main dining room- on their time frame- then they have earned (by virtue of paying extra) the privelege. You can say the same thing about people who buy upgraded economy class passengers on a plane- they get food service first. If you are in standard economy- in one of the last rows- you may not get your choice of entree- your food may not be hot. The people in the front of the plane paid more for that privelege. It does not necessary mean they are not concerned with the inconvienence of others- as you have implied. It means that they used their disposable income (or points or status) to jockey for a better seat.

 

Before they had upgraded economy class they still started serving from the front and those further back often had no choice of entree.

[long cruiser]

I would like to put mini club in perspective with regular mini suites on longer cruises.

I picked a 16 day japan cruise to price out the difference.

There was a $900.00p/p difference.Now that's getting ridiculous especially if you are elite.

I think some executive that dreamed this new class up will probably get fired.

long cruiser

[KruzeKrazy!]

I would like to put mini club in perspective with regular mini suites on longer cruises.

I picked a 16 day japan cruise to price out the difference.

There was a $900.00p/p difference.Now that's getting ridiculous especially if you are elite.

I think some executive that dreamed this new class up will probably get fired.

long cruiser

The future of Club Class likely depends in good part how they book - before most std minis because enough people pay up for the location/perks or last to book because people don't go for the price-benefits trade-off.

 

That said even if they don't book well and they either bring down the differential or discount them some to move them they will still likely produce more revenue than expense.

 

And from a business perspective it's generally better to start with a higher differential and bring it down if need be than to start low and try to raise prices as they search for the right demand-profit sweet spot.

 

My guess is from afar they like the potential accretiveness of the concept and the ships/operations folks will have to deal with pax consequences and figure out how to make it work.

[Colorado Coasty]

Emerald.

 

I believe Emerald has 26 suites and 28 club class minis (I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong). That's 54 cabins eligible for club class. That equates to between 108 to approximately 130 people. Seems unlikely they would close off half of a dining room.

[Nickoli G]

We have a CC mini booked. We booked when Princess was on the very ground floor of the roll out. We wanted to book a MA gty- but for just a little bit more (less than $150 for the two of us), we snagged a mini with the largest bump out balcony.

 

Our reason for booking a MA gty? We have a better shot at being offered an upsell to a full suite. If we don't get the upsell call- we are really happy in a mid-ship mini. The whole CC deal was completely secondary to us.

I agree a little with Some of the comments on the impact of the CC on the ship experience and disagree with some others. All I can add is we sailed on the Island Princes in January 2016 to Panama, it was our first cruise in about 5 years and was our first time with ATD option and it was a horrable experience, lines a mile long stretching back to the Cigar lounge. So unless that was an anomaly and only an issue with that MDR staff I don't know, but after reading a lot of comments about ATD and the waits I think it has been an issue for a while. To me if you can afford the upgrade to CC then go for it and everyone else will have to work around the change. Every time a line makes a change be it cabin arrangement or major remodel something is taken away. They can't add on more ship like you can on a house remodel. I guerantee when they but in the Sanctuary someone lost something, an aft pool or just an open lounge area. Or when the first specialty restaurant opened someone lost a set in a lounge or casino table or machine. So it is what it is and roll with it. There are a lot of choises out there pick another line or choose a traditional dinner time and just stick to it. So everyone just grab another specialty drink because you baught the all inclusive drink package and relax...... your on a cruise ship!

[bluegiraffe]

Bingo! When I read the Club Class description and the "Perks", I thought to my self really....? Then I attempted to book a cruise in Club Class and was shocked at the price difference between a Club Class mini and a standard mini that was only 2 doors away. Celebrity offers suite guest their own dining room with an upgraded menu that is not offered in the MDR, Michael's Club which is a private cocktail venue with complementary drinks and a Concierge plus a choice of a drink package, unlimited internet, $300 OBC or paid gratuities for about the same price. I really don't know why anyone would pay extra just to eat dinner in a roped off section in the steerage dining room. I would rather pay an uncharge to eat in a specialty restaurant every night.

 

Ditto. While understanding that people value things differently, I looked at the "perks" of Club Class and saw zero value for me. Pass.

[mthomp5]

Bingo! When I read the Club Class description and the "Perks", I thought to my self really....? Then I attempted to book a cruise in Club Class and was shocked at the price difference between a Club Class mini and a standard mini that was only 2 doors away. Celebrity offers suite guest their own dining room with an upgraded menu that is not offered in the MDR, Michael's Club which is a private cocktail venue with complementary drinks and a Concierge plus a choice of a drink package, unlimited internet, $300 OBC or paid gratuities for about the same price. I really don't know why anyone would pay extra just to eat dinner in a roped off section in the steerage dining room. I would rather pay an uncharge to eat in a specialty restaurant every night.

 

Good point! I would rather pay an up charge to eat in a specialty restaurant every or most nights than pay an up charge to avoid Anytime Dining lines. A lot of the other "perks" aren't perks to some people as they may already receive some of them for being elite. As for the new bed, CC may be the first to use them but that means those beds will also be the first to be worn out.

[geocruiser]

Ditto. While understanding that people value things differently, I looked at the "perks" of Club Class and saw zero value for me. Pass.

 

I agree with you.

 

I took a look at Club Class on Princess'e web site and one of the "perks" made me laugh. Look at the last perk, I thought it was not a good way to word it. It just struck me the wrong way.:)

 

Copied from Princess's web site:

 

2. What is Club Class Dining?

It’s an exclusive, uniquely styled, dedicated area of the Main Dining Room available to Full Suite and

Club Class Mini-Suite guests for dinner each evening as well as breakfast and lunch on sea days. Club

Class Dining includes:

• Expedited seating with no wait

• Private main dining room entrance with host*

• Exclusive menu options with Daily Chef’s Special

• Table-side preparation

• Dedicated wait staff

 

The last perk of "Dedicated wait staff". What does that mean? If you are not in Club Class your wait staff is not dedicated? The rest of the ship is being served by a wait staff that does not care? Are they fly -by -night staff. You have to pay extra to get a good waiter.

 

What happened to Princess's Consummate Host for all?

 

Alas, I don't count in my low balcony cabin. OK, I am off my soap box

Edited January 1, 2017 by geocruiser

[iceleven]

I believe Emerald has 26 suites and 28 club class minis (I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong). That's 54 cabins eligible for club class. That equates to between 108 to approximately 130 people. Seems unlikely they would close off half of a dining room.

 

I agree but if these 108+ people are given the right to chose their reservation time, and tables of choice, will still need to be held for those even when they are not being used. I can see where more than just seating for the 108-130 people would be necessary to accommodate them "as promised."

[sunsetbeachgal]

It will be interesting to see how upsells are handled if the upsell involves unsold CC cabins. Will the upsell price be different for a regular mini versus a CC?

 

Lots of questions, time will tell

 

 

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Edited January 1, 2017 by sunsetbeachgal

[Woodinville]

Just off the Ruby Princess 22-30 December 2016.

For Christmas, we splurged into the new Club-Suite concept.

 

Used the Club Class "Enhanced Dining"

 

The locale is the Port side of the Da Vinci dining room, about 1/8 of the dining room by my estimation - or one station used by two/three server pairs.

 

We visited the Da Vinci Dining room every evening for dinner -- between 5:30-7:30

Each of those evenings, we saw that there were many empty tables in the other 7/8 of the dining area ... this was during the Standard Dining period first sitting at 5:30 .. .the DaVinci then opened to anytime dining and based on the empty tables at the early seating, I have no doubt the crowded experience described in prior replies are factual as the ship was at 100% capacity and the set-aside area may have impacted table availability.

 

Realizing that expectations and experiences vary from cruiser to cruiser. This Club Class concept exceeded our expectations, and had a very positive impact on our cruise overall. Such was the experience, that our visiting the speciality restaurants simply did not happen.

 

Enjoy the day and Happy New Year to you all .

Edited January 1, 2017 by Woodinville
typo

[shredie]

Just off the Ruby Princess 22-30 December 2016.

For Christmas, we splurged into the new Club-Suite concept.

 

Used the Club Class "Enhanced Dining"

Enjoy the day and Happy New Year to you all .

I'm glad you enjoyed yourselves. :) You will now be bombarded with questions. :D:D

 

First up: did you have the same table every night with the same waitstaff?

[critterchick]

I'm glad you enjoyed yourselves. :) You will now be bombarded with questions. :D:D

 

First up: did you have the same table every night with the same waitstaff?

 

We didn't have the same table on the December 17 sailing, but we did have the same waitstaff. We didn't care as much about which table we got as we did sitting with them.

 

Like Woodinville, we really enjoyed the CC experience. It was akin to eating out in a nice restaurant instead of being in the middle of the maelstrom that most Princess (and RCI, to be fair) MDRs have become. We did enjoy Crown Grill for dinner one night, but would have been perfectly happy to skip it in favor of the CC dining room. And CC offers breakfast and lunch, too, something the specialty restaurants generally don't.

[GUT2407]

I believe Emerald has 26 suites and 28 club class minis (I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong). That's 54 cabins eligible for club class. That equates to between 108 to approximately 130 people. Seems unlikely they would close off half of a dining room.

 

To be honest I don't care if it seems unlikely or not, on Emerald on the 12 Dec sailing they had one half (Port I think it was) of Da Vinci dinning room closed off for Club Class only.

 

And that was a huge impact on all other ATD.

[OCruisers]

Just off the Ruby Princess 22-30 December 2016.

For Christmas, we splurged into the new Club-Suite concept.

 

Used the Club Class "Enhanced Dining"

...............

This Club Class concept exceeded our expectations, and had a very positive impact on our cruise overall. Such was the experience, that our visiting the speciality restaurants simply did not happen.

 

Enjoy the day and Happy New Year to you all .

 

Thanks so VERY much for your post!

We are looking forward to CC Dining. :)

[OCruisers]

We didn't have the same table on the December 17 sailing, but we did have the same waitstaff. We didn't care as much about which table we got as we did sitting with them.

 

Like Woodinville, we really enjoyed the CC experience. It was akin to eating out in a nice restaurant instead of being in the middle of the maelstrom that most Princess (and RCI, to be fair) MDRs have become. We did enjoy Crown Grill for dinner one night, but would have been perfectly happy to skip it in favor of the CC dining room. And CC offers breakfast and lunch, too, something the specialty restaurants generally don't.

 

Did CC offer Lunch on Port Days as well as Sea Days?

Normally the MDR is not open for lunch on Port Days. :confused:

[Tranquility Base]

To be honest I don't care if it seems unlikely or not, on Emerald on the 12 Dec sailing they had one half (Port I think it was) of Da Vinci dinning room closed off for Club Class only.

 

And that was a huge impact on all other ATD.

If I recall correctly this is the DR which is TD early and then becomes ATD later.

Is that correct ?

 

Do you think the impact on ATD would be worse for those dining earlier or later in the evening ?

Edited January 1, 2017 by Tranquility Base

[XBGuy]

We didn't have the same table on the December 17 sailing, but we did have the same waitstaff. We didn't care as much about which table we got as we did sitting with them.

 

Like Woodinville, we really enjoyed the CC experience. It was akin to eating out in a nice restaurant instead of being in the middle of the maelstrom that most Princess (and RCI, to be fair) MDRs have become. We did enjoy Crown Grill for dinner one night, but would have been perfectly happy to skip it in favor of the CC dining room. And CC offers breakfast and lunch, too, something the specialty restaurants generally don't.

 

Finally, a worthwhile contribution to this conversation. Thank you, CritterChick. :)

 

My wife and I have do not eat in the dining rooms because, frankly, the experience is more like attending a banquet than dining. The "maelstrom" metaphor is spot on. CritterChick has given me a reason to consider Club Class.