Is upgrading to the Reserve Collection Mini Suite worth the additional charges?

[Ken the cruiser]

28 minutes ago, HleeCruiser said:

We have booked the Reserve Class for our cruise in Feb on the Regal.   Is the special area of the dining room available for all meals that the MDR is open?  IE Breakfast and dinner on port days and BLD on sea days.   Thank you.

Yes

[HleeCruiser]

5 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Yes

Thank you.

 

[rbtan]

11 hours ago, HleeCruiser said:

We have booked the Reserve Class for our cruise in Feb on the Regal.   Is the special area of the dining room available for all meals that the MDR is open?  IE Breakfast and dinner on port days and BLD on sea days.   Thank you.

Yes. It should have the same times as the MDR Only difference is you can dine anytime in the evening.

[jakec21]

I just experienced the reserve collection on my last cruise 02/24/2024 and for me its totally worth it. They will accomodate any dish you prefer even though not in their daily menu. Service is top quality. Reserve collection mini suites do sell out quick because they only allow few rooms assign during reservations & they will put you in the best cabin locations of the the ship.

 

Edited March 10 by jakec21

[Princessfan20]

On 12/26/2023 at 2:18 PM, cruise_critical said:

We are on one right now and for us it was defintely worth it for the nice mid-ship location and especially due to the Reserved Dining! The level of service is a step up, with faster food delivery (hence much shorter dining time is possible), daily special menu items, and anytime zero wait walk-in. For reserved dining benefit alone, all my future cruises will always be reserved class at a minimum now.

 

We have always booked Reserve Class on all our cruises and found it to be well worth it.  We have noticed on some ships it looks like ATD is a real hassle for many passengers.

[JordanF]

Full disclosure--we have not done this.  However, we recently booked on the Emerald and after much consideration, booked a regular balcony room.  Some considerations were 1. money; 2. the reserve mini suites on this ship were all fully exposed balconies--and I prefer shaded balconies; 3. an extra course at dinner will just make me gain even more weight as there is plenty of free food available all day anyway; 4. I was sorely tempted by the "no wait" dining aspect, but decided the price difference between a regular balcony and the reserve mini suite was worth a little waiting (mine is a 16 day cruise, so it added up!).  This is just to say that I was tempted, but went the other way.

[Rick&Jeannie]

Just in case there is someone who *might* be mislead by the title of this thread (Is upgrading to the Reserve Collection Mini Suite worth the additional charges?)...you cannot "upgrade" to Reserve Collection (formerly known as Club Class).  You *cannot* do any type of "add-on" purchase to add the perks.  If you are already booked into a different type of cabin, you would have to cancel/re-book to get a Reserve Collection Mini Suite.

[memoak]

2 hours ago, JordanF said:

Full disclosure--we have not done this.  However, we recently booked on the Emerald and after much consideration, booked a regular balcony room.  Some considerations were 1. money; 2. the reserve mini suites on this ship were all fully exposed balconies--and I prefer shaded balconies; 3. an extra course at dinner will just make me gain even more weight as there is plenty of free food available all day anyway; 4. I was sorely tempted by the "no wait" dining aspect, but decided the price difference between a regular balcony and the reserve mini suite was worth a little waiting (mine is a 16 day cruise, so it added up!).  This is just to say that I was tempted, but went the other way.

I don’t understand why you would gain more weight with the extra entree. It basically just gives you more choices unless you intend to eat 4-5 entrees per meal

[JordanF]

6 minutes ago, memoak said:

I don’t understand why you would gain more weight with the extra entree. It basically just gives you more choices unless you intend to eat 4-5 entrees per meal

I read it as an extra course option. Maybe I had it wrong?  I any event, I figured I'd do fine in the food department without it. 

[memoak]

13 minutes ago, JordanF said:

I read it as an extra course option. Maybe I had it wrong?  I any event, I figured I'd do fine in the food department without it. 

It is an additional option not on the MDR menu and only available in Reserve class

[Mark_K]

On 12/26/2023 at 6:25 PM, cruise_critical said:

 

Afaik, reserved class mini suites seem to be restricted to the mid-ship mini suites on Baja Deck 11. Don't think you can just pay more for it as I can only assume the number of pax is purposefully limited to keep the reserved dining (no wait walk-in) possible as promoted. But I would give Princess or your CVP a call to confirm for certain.

Not sure which ship that was, but we’re in one on Regal Princess on deck14.  They are also on decks 11 and 12.

[CU64]

On 12/26/2023 at 3:01 PM, cruisinsince75 said:

We have quite the dilemma.  We are booked in a mid ship accessible mini suite.  Reserve Collection was not available for our accessible stateroom.  Our friends are in a full suite and they obviously have RC privileges which include dining.  There doesn't seem to be a way to add RC to our booking.  It appears that you can only do RC in a handful of pre-selected staterooms that are not accessible.  We are already paying extra for our mid ship location.  Is there a way to pay extra for the RC dining privileges?  I can't find any options for it anywhere.  Thanks in advance.

Do you really need accessible if you have a minisuite? Get regular & buy reserve class.

[CU64]

On 3/11/2024 at 9:02 AM, JordanF said:

I read it as an extra course option. Maybe I had it wrong?  I any event, I figured I'd do fine in the food department without it. 

 

On 3/11/2024 at 9:02 AM, JordanF said:

I read it as an extra course option. Maybe I had it wrong?  I any event, I figured I'd do fine in the food department without it. 

The extra course is usually a specialty prepared pasta dish and often a separate salad. You may choose these over other menu items. I had never had Reserve Class until our 15 day Hawaii RT from LA on Emerald. What a pleasure to be in that environment. Not having to reserve or wait is not the half of it. Personal attention and service. Ability to add and/or modify regular menu items with ease. People showed up light casual dress & did not spend time looking at phones. A very lovely civilized experience. Will always book now going forward.

It elevated the whole travel experience. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

3 hours ago, CU64 said:

Do you really need accessible if you have a minisuite? Get regular & buy reserve class.

Minisuites have the shower over the bath. Not suitable for people who need an accessible cabin.

 

Also you can't just buy Reserve Class as an add-on to a regular cabin. You have to book a Reserve Class cabin to get access to Reserve Class dining.

[notatubaplayer]

We have done a lot of reserve collection trips.  To be honest the concept is a little dated.  At first the additional food options were really attractive but that appears to be diminishing.  That being said we have always enjoyed the social atmosphere because people tend to get to know each other when you are in a small area every night.  Most ships have rows of two tables for a portion of the area with very little room in between.  You invariably meet the people on each side of you on busy nights.  The staff in RC is usually outstanding. 

[cruzsnooze]

Maybe look at this in a different way. You cannot get reserve class if you're not in a reserve class mini suite or full suite. Reserve class typically costs $50 PP PD.  For $25-$39 per dinner you can eat in a specialty restaurant for dinner every night and come out financially ahead. As for eating with your friends who have reserve class it won't happen and shouldn't happen to anyone who's not entitled to it. 

[Elevatorman]

It was worth it for me on my last Christmas cruise because I have always booked a mini close to midship elevators. Having the ability to enter the dining room any time we wanted and be seated immediately with same servers but an extra perk. 
on my upcoming Christmas cruise I was able to book a mini midship cabin so I did not need the reserve collection cabin. So I will book it only when I can’t book the cabin I prefer. 

[CU64]

20 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Minisuites have the shower over the bath. Not suitable for people who need an accessible cabin.

 

Also you can't just buy Reserve Class as an add-on to a regular cabin. You have to book a Reserve Class cabin to get access to Reserve Class dining.

I mean get a regular Reserve Class minisuite. It depends on your disability whether you need accessible. 

[cr8tiv1]

It is very sad that Princess does not offer a Reserved Collection Accessible Mini Suite.  Sometimes an accessible suite is out of range for some.  

[NavyVeteran]

4 hours ago, CU64 said:

I mean get a regular Reserve Class minisuite. It depends on your disability whether you need accessible. 

Princess mini-suites are not suitable for some people with even minor mobility issues. The shower in tub is a deal-breaker. We have never booked an accessible cabin, but DW cannot use the tub in a mini-suite. We always book oceanview, balcony, or full suites - never mini-suites.

[rbtan]

Well, you get a larger cabin. You have a Reserve class only rest. (at least on the new Sun)

[sabookkeeper]

On 12/26/2023 at 6:01 PM, cruisinsince75 said:

We have quite the dilemma.  We are booked in a mid ship accessible mini suite.  Reserve Collection was not available for our accessible stateroom.  Our friends are in a full suite and they obviously have RC privileges which include dining.  There doesn't seem to be a way to add RC to our booking.  It appears that you can only do RC in a handful of pre-selected staterooms that are not accessible.  We are already paying extra for our mid ship location.  Is there a way to pay extra for the RC dining privileges?  I can't find any options for it anywhere.  Thanks in advance.

There are accessible reserved class mini-suites.  We were looking to upgrade our accessible balcony to an accessible mini-suite but the only ones available with the RC suits.  We didn't want to pay what they were asking for them so we are staying in our balcony cabin.

[peder]

On 3/11/2024 at 9:48 AM, Rick&Jeannie said:

Just in case there is someone who *might* be mislead by the title of this thread (Is upgrading to the Reserve Collection Mini Suite worth the additional charges?)...you cannot "upgrade" to Reserve Collection (formerly known as Club Class).  You *cannot* do any type of "add-on" purchase to add the perks.  If you are already booked into a different type of cabin, you would have to cancel/re-book to get a Reserve Collection Mini Suite.

Surely Princess Cruises would be happy to move your cabin (for the appropriate fare difference, of course) to a Reserve Collection Mini Suite without requiring cancel/rebook.

[Mike A]

On the Majestic, Baja and Aloha 432 and 433 are Accessible. The staterooms and balconies are huge with a stall shower. 

[memoak]

Just now, peder said:

Surely Princess Cruises would be happy to move your cabin (for the appropriate fare difference, of course) to a Reserve Collection Mini Suite without requiring cancel/rebook.

As long as there are any available. They usually sell out fast along with full suites