Why a suite?

[justcrusn]

We are experienced cruisers, mostly celebrity but royal,disney, and carnival too.

new to princess!  We love the suite experience on celebrity, MOSTLY due to a dedicated restaurant.

I am sure a princess suite is larger than a standard balcony cabin, but what else?

What do we get in a suite experience? Likely on crown (we know about the propulsion problems)

Thanks in advance

[pms4104]

30 minutes ago, justcrusn said:

We are experienced cruisers, mostly celebrity but royal,disney, and carnival too.

new to princess!  We love the suite experience on celebrity, MOSTLY due to a dedicated restaurant.

I am sure a princess suite is larger than a standard balcony cabin, but what else?

What do we get in a suite experience? Likely on crown (we know about the propulsion problems)

Thanks in advance

Have you reviewed the Princess website -- or done a search here -- to see the suite goodies?

[geoherb]

Princess lists the benefits: https://www.princess.com/learn/ships/staterooms/suites/

 

I don't find the cost worth it. We booked a suite just once through an upsell at a great price. I did enjoy breakfast in a separate restaurant--wonderful. We traded our second minibar for coffee cards. That was great back then because our unused punches carried over to other cruises. 

 

Dinner in the Club Class area of the dining room was nice. They have the best servers in that area. But the menu is the same as the rest of the dining room with one or two additional specials available. The extra space in the cabin was phenomenal, especially the bathroom. We were on the Royal, though, and our suite did not have a great balcony.

 

The Concierge Lounge is a nice space. We would have used it more if our suite had been closer. But ours was at the bow of the ship. The concierge made reservations for us for the Crown Grill the first night (which is included with a suite except on short cruises). We had tried calling from our cabin and couldn't get through. They kept a nice selection of things to eat there and had a fancy coffee machine that made cappuccino.

Same day laundry is also a great benefit. But we were already Elite by the time we had a suite and getting laundry back the next day or two would have sufficed for us.

 

 

Edited June 21, 2022 by geoherb

[Ken the cruiser]

I'm just going to speak to the cabin itself. I'll let others talk about the other amenities. We just spent 18 days on the Caribbean Princess in an aft-facing vista suite, the smallest cabins in their suite class, and loved it!

 

As far as the cabin goes, it's more like a Celebrity suite with a separate sleeping area. There is a separate walk-in shower AND a full-size tub. There is even a separate room for the sink and toilet. Also, our aft-facing balcony was the width of the cabin, roughly 20', and about 10' feet deep, fully covered! I'm not aware of any Celebrity aft-facing suites offering a fully covered balcony. 

 

 

[justcrusn]

Thanks!

I’ve learned more from the experts here than i ever would anywhere else!

appreciate the insights. 
It looks like it comes down to how much more $$$ it costs

Wifey will likely want to splurge, in the cheap one lol

[cruzsnooze]

I sail mostly in suites on Princess. Only on newer ships do you have a concierge lounge. The amenities are skimpy compared to other cruise lines. It's the cabin size and separate walk in shower that I enjoy most. Club Class dining is a second reason to book a suite but you can get Club Class in a mini suite for much less then a full suite fare. 

[Fa-Li]

I personally love the private breakfast restaurant.  A dedicated wait staff that knows exactly what you like by day 2 is so much nicer than going to the buffet or waiting for the slow service in the dining room.

 

Also, and this is a small thing, but the champagne greeting from the cabin steward on day one really makes it feel like my vacation has started.  I didn't realize how much I liked that until we sailed on Royal last month in a suite and did not have that little perk.

 

The split bathroom set up is nice as well when two people are trying to get ready for the day or for dinner.

[azbirdmom]

On the Royal class ships the aft suite balconies wrap around the back corner of the ship.  Some of these balconies are huge, others are narrow.  The balconies on the sides of the ship are narrow on these newer ships.

 

On the older ships the balconies are much bigger and the tub is a jacuzzi type.

 

You mentioned a dedicated restaurant and there is one for breakfast which is very nice.  It is only for suite passengers and is held in either the Crown Grill or Sabatini's.  It has a special menu but you can request anything you want (within reason).  Mimosas and specialty coffees are included which is less of a perk now that many folks purchase a Princess Plus fare.

[dog]

Crown? No way.  Discovery Princess yes if you find an acceptable fare for your budget.

I used my FCC for a PH suite- aft facing corner. Loved it. Extras not worth it to me to pay difference from a deluxe balcony- my usual choice.

[Tak8]

Breakfast is the big perk for me.  Better service and food at suite breakfast.  French toast and Eggs Benedict are great.

[memoak]

Size matters. !!  As does club class dining. We book suites unless the price is just too crazy and then we go for a club class mini

[Murray's Pop]

We have cruised in suites on a number cruise lines, including Princess.  Our absolute favorite for suite cruising is HAL.   To us their suite perks are the best, especially the Neptune Lounge.  

 

While we have cruised on suites on Princess we actually prefer Club Class.  The suite perks are not that impressive on Princess to warrant the increased costs.

[DiRonT]

We live aft facing suites.  We actually prefer the aft penthouse suites on the older ships (Crown, Sapphire, Caribbean, etc.).  We have sailed in aft suites on Majestic and Discovery but other than access to the Concierge suite, they don't have as much appeal for us even though we had the largest balconies available (except for Sky Suites).  Just our opinion.

[JF - retired RRT]

@justcrusn If you decide on a suite, bring the list of suite amenities with you. We got almost none of the listed items without asking for them. Don't know if it was our steward or lack of availability, but once we asked we usually got the item. Some exceptions were the "extra" item at dinner in the Club Class dining room and the welcome champagne/bubbly (didn't really want it, but it was supposed to be offered). We literally had to ask for almost everything that was on the list. 

Be informed and prepared.

[XBGuy]

To Mrs. XBGuy and me, the best thing about a suite is all the extra real estate.  

 

Mrs. XBGuy is more of a night owl than I am.  It is nice that I can climb in the bed draw the curtain and isolate myself a bit from the light that she has on and the TV that she may be watching.  As somebody has previously mentioned, the bathroom can be entered from either the bedroom area or the sitting room area.  That works well.

 

We have had aft-facing suites on the Ruby Princess and the Star Princess.  Those are excellent.  You are wind-protected out there, and, so, it is very pleasant while the ship is actually cruising.  We have enjoyed multiple Ultimate Balcony Dinners on various cruises and the only time we actually had it on the balcony was on that 

[PhotoGal07]

I have to say, I was not wowed by the suite experience on Princess.  We've done NCL, and Disney, as well and both seemed to have a better suite product.  The extra room is helpful (we cruise with the kiddos, so 4 in the room), as is the bigger balcony which we REALLY enjoy.  The club class dining without the wait is of course nice, and the breakfast in the Crown Grill is a lovely way to start off the day.  But I missed a lot of the touches from the other lines that made us feel like the staff was going above and beyond for us.  On Disney and NCL there was always a concierge crew member checking in once or twice during the day to make sure that everything was to our liking, did we need any help, any reservations, etc.   If we mentioned we were going to see one of the movies, they quickly would magic up some candy for the kids (and adults!) to take with.  They were there asking if we wanted an escort for disembarkation, or did we need to change our disembarkation time.  They noticed the kids loved the chocolate chip cookies, did we want a plate of those brought to the room this afternoon?  Just lots of small little things that show that they are anticipating your wants and needs and getting to know your preferences, that did not happen on Princess.  Nothing on Princess was bad, it was all fine, but it wasn't the same level of service as the other lines.

On DCL and NCL there were always tables always set aside for a last minute reservation for suite guests, etc, and generally the same for limited space events on the ship.  Our last night on Princess we looked at the menu and were not thrilled with the offerings and wanted to go to Crown Grill, but were told it was full.  Luckily they had a cancellation and they managed to squeeze us in, but part of the perk of a suite to me IS to be able to switch things up at the last minute and know it will be taken care of and not just hoping someone decides to cancel.  

To be fair, we sailed on the Grand, which does not have a dedicated concierge lounge, which may be why we missed a lot of the concierge interaction.  But if it was just the two of us sailing, I'd likely do a CC mini suite instead, or if I wanted the suite experience, I'd choose a different line.

[voljeep]

7 minutes ago, PhotoGal07 said:

I have to say, I was not wowed by the suite experience on Princess.  We've done NCL, and Disney, as well and both seemed to have a better suite product.  The extra room is helpful (we cruise with the kiddos, so 4 in the room), as is the bigger balcony which we REALLY enjoy.  The club class dining without the wait is of course nice, and the breakfast in the Crown Grill is a lovely way to start off the day.  But I missed a lot of the touches from the other lines that made us feel like the staff was going above and beyond for us.  On Disney and NCL there was always a concierge crew member checking in once or twice during the day to make sure that everything was to our liking, did we need any help, any reservations, etc.   If we mentioned we were going to see one of the movies, they quickly would magic up some candy for the kids (and adults!) to take with.  They were there asking if we wanted an escort for disembarkation, or did we need to change our disembarkation time.  They noticed the kids loved the chocolate chip cookies, did we want a plate of those brought to the room this afternoon?  Just lots of small little things that show that they are anticipating your wants and needs and getting to know your preferences, that did not happen on Princess.  Nothing on Princess was bad, it was all fine, but it wasn't the same level of service as the other lines.

On DCL and NCL there were always tables always set aside for a last minute reservation for suite guests, etc, and generally the same for limited space events on the ship.  Our last night on Princess we looked at the menu and were not thrilled with the offerings and wanted to go to Crown Grill, but were told it was full.  Luckily they had a cancellation and they managed to squeeze us in, but part of the perk of a suite to me IS to be able to switch things up at the last minute and know it will be taken care of and not just hoping someone decides to cancel.  

To be fair, we sailed on the Grand, which does not have a dedicated concierge lounge, which may be why we missed a lot of the concierge interaction.  But if it was just the two of us sailing, I'd likely do a CC mini suite instead, or if I wanted the suite experience, I'd choose a different line.

I'm guessing that Disney "suite" was at a totally different price point than Princess, huh?

[PhotoGal07]

It was definitely more expensive, but I don't recall it being such a completely different price point.  It was also quite a bit bigger.  The NCL suite we had was on par with the Princess pricing and similar in size, it was on an older ship that did not have the Haven.  Regardless suite amenities and service were better on both of the other lines.

[scooter6139]

Did our first full suite (S4) on Discovery last month.  We usually stay in Balcony or Mini-Suites so this was fun to try.  Enjoyed the perks we did get, but don't think the "suite life" on Princess can match what some other lines have.  One thing I hate about most Princess cabins is that stupid shower curtain.  I will upgrade just to get away from that monstrosity!

 

We are doing The Haven on NCL this December for the first time, so that will be a good comparison.

[XBGuy]

22 hours ago, XBGuy said:

To Mrs. XBGuy and me, the best thing about a suite is all the extra real estate.  

 

Mrs. XBGuy is more of a night owl than I am.  It is nice that I can climb in the bed draw the curtain and isolate myself a bit from the light that she has on and the TV that she may be watching.  As somebody has previously mentioned, the bathroom can be entered from either the bedroom area or the sitting room area.  That works well.

 

We have had aft-facing suites on the Ruby Princess and the Star Princess.  Those are excellent.  You are wind-protected out there, and, so, it is very pleasant while the ship is actually cruising.  We have enjoyed multiple Ultimate Balcony Dinners on various cruises and the only time we actually had it on the balcony was on that 

 

Well this is pretty disappointing.  As you can see, my response was truncated.  Good chance it was an operator error.

 

I went on to make a few more points. but I am not going to try to recreate them now.  My conclusion is that we cruise in suites just because we like them.  We don't try to rationalize it.

[JF - retired RRT]

2 hours ago, PhotoGal07 said:

To be fair, we sailed on the Grand, which does not have a dedicated concierge lounge, which may be why we missed a lot of the concierge interaction.  But if it was just the two of us sailing, I'd likely do a CC mini suite instead, or if I wanted the suite experience, I'd choose a different line.

Nope. We were in a suite on Discovery and the concierge did nothing above & beyond. We were so unimpressed with the Concierge lounge...we went once to see what was available (got some coffee/tea), went back a 2nd time to inquire about reservations in a specialty restaurant. The concierge was busy with another couple, we waited 20 minutes and left. So, not impressed.

[tetleytea]

That might only be that particular concierge.   We were very happy with our concierge on the Ruby.

[c-boy]

love the suite life. A well placed suite makes a difference. Large room, sitting area, wet bar, large tub and shower, two sinks, lots of closet space,  wonderful linens .....  scoot across the passage to the concierge lounge have a seat in the fine corinthian leather chair for evening cocktails, hor d' oeuvres and stimulating conversation.  Sashay on up to the dining area to be greeted by a smiling staff member, who addresses use as madame and sir and escorting us to a secluded and quite corner of a private dining area.  We settle on the  Indian family style special for the night.  Wonderful food, service and atmosphere. Gallop on up to casino for an evening of high stake adventure. When the moon rises head back to the concierge lounge for a quite night cap and slip back across  the hall to our suite with  drinks in hand so that we may sit and gaze upon the moon lit seas while laying in our comfy loungers draped in 32 0z. plush robes. 

[XBGuy]

30 minutes ago, JF - retired RRT said:

Nope. We were in a suite on Discovery and the concierge did nothing above & beyond. We were so unimpressed with the Concierge lounge...we went once to see what was available (got some coffee/tea), went back a 2nd time to inquire about reservations in a specialty restaurant. The concierge was busy with another couple, we waited 20 minutes and left. So, not impressed.

 

That is very disappointing.  Similar to @tetleytea, our one experience with the Suite Concierge was very satisfying.  I used the concierge to make dinner reservations, he secured seats for us for the Chef's Table, and, after I told him that we were having a problem with the toilet in our cabin, a plumber was knocking at our door within 20 minutes.

 

In a case where one couple is monopolizing the concierge, I have to question what need (real or imagined) that the couple had that required so much of his time.  Ultimately, of course, I have to fault the concierge for allowing it to happen.

 

[voljeep]

4 minutes ago, c-boy said:

lounge have a seat in the fine corinthian leather

in the 1975 Chrysler Cordova - aka Ricardo Suave, you and the lovely J 😈