Sphere Class - Full Suites and Reserve Collection Cabins

[Upper Bob]

I was curious about the new Sun and Star Princess cabin numbers, so I did a little research and made some calculations. These Sphere Class ships have 2,150 cabins compared to 1,780 for the first three Royal Class and 1,830 for the last three. These two newest ships seem to reverse the trend of having more full suites than Reserve Collection cabins (formerly Club Class). It is also apparent that Princess is increasing the total number of full suites and Reserve Collection mini's as a percentage of the total cabins. They also seem to have considered the large increase in these categories with completely separate dining areas for both from the MDR's. Whether or not these new private dining areas will be large enough to eliminate waiting for a table is still unknown. I know the one time we had Club Class on the Caribbean Princess (Grand Class) last fall, pretty much every night we had to wait 30-45 minutes to be seated, while on both the Enchanted and Discovery in Club Class we have never waited. The total number of full suite and Reserve Class cabins with access to the Reserve Collection dining area on the Royal Class ships ranges from 74-84 (almost an even split between cabin classes). On the new Sphere Class, there are now 177 Reserve Collection cabins for the new "Reserve Collection Restaurant" and 72 full suites for the "Signature Restaurant." Calculations show 5.5% of the cabins on the Royal Class ships are either full suites or Reserve Collection (Club Class), while on the new Sphere Class, 11.5% of the cabins are either a full suite or Reserve Collection. This trend towards more higher prices cabins is not a surprise, as cruise lines are looking everywhere to generate more income these days. What is also not surprising is seeing those cabins being the first to fill when new sailings are released.  I personally like the fact that these new, largest ever, Princess ships still have 20-23% fewer people than Carnival's Excel Class and Royal Caribbean's Oasis and (soon to sail) Ikon Class ships. 

[Cruz4Sun]

Interesting observations!  We have a reserve class cabana suite booked for next fall on the Sun and am looking forward to having a private dining area.  We just got off the Caribbean Princess last week and never had to wait to be seated in the reserve section of the MDR.  We went to dinner each evening at about 6:15 or 6:30 so maybe that is a bit on the early side.

[c-boy]

 👍 you sir are correct, and I'm glad Princess got my memo.