Club Class

[haircut4u]

I am a solo traveller and enjoy meeting people. I have booked a couple of more cruises and thought, for a change, I would go Club Class.  Now I think I have made a mistake in that I will not be able to ask to share a table.  Is that correct?  If so, does anyone know, if one can change the booked grade?  I have only paid deposits.  Thanks.

[Chad_O]

We have sailed club class a couple times and actually met so many interesting and fun people while in that section of the dining room that we started requesting a larger table to all be together and the staff made it happen with no issue. It really enhanced an already great experience.

[caribill]

13 minutes ago, haircut4u said:

I am a solo traveller and enjoy meeting people. I have booked a couple of more cruises and thought, for a change, I would go Club Class.  Now I think I have made a mistake in that I will not be able to ask to share a table.  Is that correct?  If so, does anyone know, if one can change the booked grade?  I have only paid deposits.  Thanks.

Yes, since it is not final payment time you can change your booking with no problem.

 

However, even though you are in a Club Class cabin, you can keep that cabin if you like its location and other amenities but also eat in regular anytime dining. You will not be forced to eat in the Club Class dining area at breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

[jennybenny]

The best amenity of Club Class is being able to eat at whatever time you want.  The only issue could be that there may not be people who want to eat with others during the time you want to go.  As Caribill mentions, you don't have to go to Club Class to eat. You could go to ATD, and sit with others.   Usually if you are willing to share a table, you can be seated immediately.  

If the location of your cabin is not important, than maybe you don't need the Club class amenities?  Only you can decide what's best for you.

 

Changing your booking is re-faring your cruise.  If you have a refundable deposit, it can be moved to your next cabin.  If you do not have a refundable deposit you could lose it since it's a "new booking".

I really enjoyed Club class.  If you want, give it a try.  

Edited November 9, 2018 by jennybenny

[PoohUnderstands]

Just got off a 14 day cruise with Royal CC dining.  There are many two tables and they are relatively close to each other.  I found that if you wanted to you could talk or not to the couples on either side of you.  So sit in a middle location and it will be like sitting at a table for 5.  Then if there is a day you are wanting to be alone to enjoy your meal and read, etc.  you can do that too.  CC dining can be as sociable as you want to make it.

 

Pooh

[Cruise Raider]

We've only had club class once and we were asked on a couple of occasions if we were willing to share.  Sometimes we did, sometimes we didn't ... but if you ask the hostess, she will try to arrange it for you to share.  Now, there will have to be others in club class that are also willing to share.  A lot of times, people book club class for the express reason of not having to share .... so no guarantees.  

If you don't mind sharing, I probably wouldn't waste my money booking a club class cabin.  You can always just go to the anytime dining line and share a table at dinner ... so to me, you could book a cheaper cabin to do so.  

[TracieABD]

Our group in CC this past May was rather chatty- over the course of 12 nights, we all got to know each other a bit. I am certain as a solo in CC- others will take an interest in you.

[sewgood]

I have had Club Class on two cruises and each time there was a social area with the tables for two close together and bench seating on one side.

We had so much fun in this area chatting to the people next to us.

The staff get to know where you like to sit and the social area is usually the same people.

Last cruise we had a solo lady in her 70's that was in a suite and would eat in Club Class for breakfast when I asked Marie why she didn't eat in the Crown Grill for breakfast she said that she had tried it and nobody spoke to her. She said she really enjoyed eating in Club Class. We all knew she was travelling by herself so always had a chat to her when she was next to us in CC as did the other passengers in the social area.

[Haboob]

Last year on Ruby, there were no scratch groups in Club Class.  Show up as 2, 4 or 20, and they'd seat you

together.  Show up as 2 and say "we'd like to share a 6-top (or whatever)", and they'd say, "Sorry, no".

 

As it was, we were always seated at a deuce, in a line of deuces close enough that you could talk to

your neighbors, but far enough that you didn't really have to acknowledge them.

[OCruisers]

We love Club Class  Dining ... but unless there are others coming in at the same time who also wish to share a table, we've been seated alone. 

As mentioned by others, there are some tables for two very close together that are fun and almost like sharing a table.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 11, 2018 by OCruisers

[haircut4u]

Thanks for the interesting replies.  As it will be a Christmas Cruise I definitely do not want to sit alone.  Therefore should there a problem if I go Anytime Dining which I would normally have anyway?  Garry

[cacruiser54]

When we had Club Class, they would greet us by name and ask us if we wished to share a table. Also, as mentioned previously the small two tables are placed near enough that you can chat with the other guests.

[geoherb]

When we ate in the Club Class section of the dining room, we originally asked about sharing a table. They said no. We worked around it by making friends with others and dining with them a couple of times. We just showed up together. It worked the same way at Sabatini's for breakfast--never able to share unless we arrived at the same time as another couple who wished to share with us. But many times we were at tables for two close enough to have a conversation with others at nearby tables.

[Momma Rene]

On 11/11/2018 at 12:04 PM, PoohUnderstands said:

Just got off a 14 day cruise with Royal CC dining.  There are many two tables and they are relatively close to each other.  I found that if you wanted to you could talk or not to the couples on either side of you.  So sit in a middle location and it will be like sitting at a table for 5.  Then if there is a day you are wanting to be alone to enjoy your meal and read, etc.  you can do that too.  CC dining can be as sociable as you want to make it.

 

Pooh

Did you notice if the tables for two are by the windows?  I'll be on the Grand and love sitting by the window

[memoak]

One issue with sharing tables in club class is that if some folks have already started eating and you show up it could throw off the wait staffs timing.  If you come to dinner at the same time then it is much easier on the wait staff.

[donswife]

We shared tables with others in CC a few times, and often sat close enough to converse at the row of 2 tops.  In addition, the staff all get to know you and are more inclined to converse, especially if you are not there at a peak time.

[abbydancer2003]

We've been in Club class a few times, usually with friends, so we'd have a 4 top.  We did one by ourselves, but ended up eating dinner with friends from a previous cruise.  They never ate lunch when we did, though, so we would usually share.  It was a 12 day cruise, so we at with the same people a few times.   This was the Emerald.  I think it depends on the ship and probably on the head waiter.

[PoohUnderstands]

18 hours ago, Momma Rene said:

Did you notice if the tables for two are by the windows?  I'll be on the Grand and love sitting by the window

 

We were on the Royal; won't be in CC on the Grand to next March.  On the Royal there were 6 windows in CC.  Next to 4 of them were tables for two.  But you could see outside at the next tables for two over from the ones right next to the windows.  You will have no problem sitting by the window usually.

 

Pooh

[rockdoctor]

We too enjoy sitting at large tables. Our experience in Club Dinning was not enjoyable from this perspective. On two occasions we asked to start a share table but were warned by the staff that it probably wouldn’t work. They were right. Both times we ate by ourselves at a table for 8. We gave up and sat at a two top after that. We don’t like Blu on Celebrity for the same reason. But then a lot of cruisers say there are too few two tops. 

[OR_Cowboy_1952]

I can’t say this is true for all ships, but we were on the Ruby 3 weeks ago and used Club Class dining.  On the Ruby, Club Class is a cordoned off section of the DaVinci MDR (deck 6).  The area is not that large as only about 70 to 80 cabins are qualified for Club Class dining (CC Mini-suites & full Suites) and many of these passengers dine elsewhere.  There is a bench seat along the aft portion of the CC area with 6 tables for 2 arranged along it.  If you ask to be seated there you will may have dinners on either side of you.  It is certainly possible to say hello and see what happens, but understand many CC diners chose it to dine with their significant other and really don’t want to chat.  

 

The draw of CC is the individualized service and the menu extras.  You are seated immediately.  If you use the same table every meal (which you can do) your wait staff will learn your likes and dislikes and be better prepared for you.  On our cruise the CC section head prepared a special pasta dish every night in the dining room and would customize for you as an appetizer or main dish.  It was wonderful.

[sewgood]

On 11/12/2018 at 11:05 AM, haircut4u said:

Thanks for the interesting replies.  As it will be a Christmas Cruise I definitely do not want to sit alone.  Therefore should there a problem if I go Anytime Dining which I would normally have anyway?  Garry

On our last CC cruise on the Majestic we choose traditional dining as we had friends with us that weren't in Class Class.

We asked if we could dine in Club Class at night time for our evening meal for a couple of nights when our friends were not going to turn at the MDR for dinner.

The response was you are welcome here any night and so that was the case on the two night we went to CC for dinner.

So I see no reason why you can't select anytime dining and cancel it if you find that you are enjoying CC at breakfast and lunch.

But do try eating in CC for a couple of meals to see if it suits you.

[kenexx]

Are there tables for 2 that aren’t close to other tables?

[jennybenny]

5 minutes ago, kenexx said:

Are there tables for 2 that aren’t close to other tables?

Our only CC experience was on the Ruby and all the tables for 2 were close to each other.  There were other tables for 4 or more, but those were empty most of the time.  I'm sure you could ask to not be put in the cramped tables, and see what they say.  The tables for 2 were filled one at a time, closest to the window, then then next table, and next, etc.  The last night we arrived late for dinner and were in the last table for 2 in the row.  Everyone is right on top of each other, but I still prefer that to having to wait for anytime dining!

Edited November 15, 2018 by jennybenny

[abbydancer2003]

4 minutes ago, kenexx said:

Are there tables for 2 that aren’t close to other tables?

 

4 minutes ago, kenexx said:

Are there tables for 2 that aren’t close to other tables?

Not sure why it's double quoting but there are some usually that aren't in the set against the wall, so not as close.  I've also heard it depends on the number of groups in club class, ie if you are traveling with friends or family and have marked your reservations, that will affect how they set it up for your cruise.

[OR_Cowboy_1952]

16 minutes ago, kenexx said:

Are there tables for 2 that aren’t close to other tables?

 

Yes there are, we were just on the Ruby and there were a few tables against the wall around the corner from the entrance.  Even the tables that were near each other were about 75 cm (30 inches) apart.  You can ask for a special table the first night and keep it the entire cruise.