Club Class Mini-Suites

Has anyone sailed in one of the new Club Class Mini-Suites? I've searched the boards looking for feedback but all I can find are comments that were posted at the time Princess announced they were adding them.

I'm booked on a 17 day Emerald cruise, with a lot of sea days, and I have a great rear mini-suite. But, I'm considering upgrading after reading recent reviews of the Emerald which mentioned the crowds, and slow service in the main dining room and the difficulty of finding tables in the buffet.

I would appreciate any experience or comments.

I don't think anybody can report any real experience, yet, C&C. I think the first roll-out of the Club MiniSuites is in December on the Ruby.

The only thing that anybody knows for sure is what Princess has published. Everything else is rumor and innuendo.

Never had any of those issues you mentioned when I sailed on the Emerald OR any other Princess ship I have taken. I'd stick with the aft mini which are my cabin of choice

Has anyone sailed in one of the new Club Class Mini-Suites? I've searched the boards looking for feedback but all I can find are comments that were posted at the time Princess announced they were adding them.

 

I'm booked on a 17 day Emerald cruise, with a lot of sea days, and I have a great rear mini-suite. But, I'm considering upgrading after reading recent reviews of the Emerald which mentioned the crowds, and slow service in the main dining room and the difficulty of finding tables in the buffet.

 

I would appreciate any experience or comments.

This thread has the roll out dates.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2372679&highlight=club+class

Hi and WELCOME to Cruise Critic! :)

Per others who have posted above ... No one has had the opportunity to cruise in the Club Level Mini-Suites yet.

We have one booked for 2018.

We have a Club Class mini on the first sailing of the Coral Princess with the new category of mini on 2/6/17.

Our main question right now is : We are traveling with a couple who have a balcony cabin ! In order to have our MDR seating still together I suspect we will have to give up our club class dining benefits !

Any ideas on that possible problem ?

In order to have our MDR seating still together I suspect we will have to give up our club class dining benefits !

Any ideas on that possible problem ?

I think that you answered your own question. The system collapses if CLCL* passengers can bring others into the "special service" section. Everyone traveling as a group would do it by booking a single CLCL cabin and tethering that to non CLCL passengers which defeats the entire purpose of creating the new class. Look to how they treat breakfast at Sabatini's for suite passengers as precedent. People ask all the time: "We are sailing in a suite but our friends are not. Can we bring them to Sabatini's for breakfast?" and the answer is always "no".

*Starting a new abbreviation, as CC=Cruise Critic around here.

We have a Club Class mini on the first sailing of the Coral Princess with the new category of mini on 2/6/17.

Our main question right now is : We are traveling with a couple who have a balcony cabin ! In order to have our MDR seating still together I suspect we will have to give up our club class dining benefits !

Any ideas on that possible problem ?

Correct.

My in laws will be in the new club class mini suites on the Regal in March 2017! They are pretty excited about it!

From the description in the captain circle magazine you are not really getting much if you are a elite member with princess. They say upgraded bed, and club dinning. Is the service going to really be better ?. I have had good service in the dinning room with anytime dinning. My wife and I always book a mini suite.

I didn't realize this new level of service wouldn't be rolled out until 2017. I'll wait until then to make a decision on upgrading.

I want to have a really special cruise--as the last time I got my husband on a ship we both came down with Norovirus. It's taken 5 years to get him to agree to another cruise.

I didn't realize this new level of service wouldn't be rolled out until 2017. I'll wait until then to make a decision on upgrading.

 

I want to have a really special cruise--as the last time I got my husband on a ship we both came down with Norovirus. It's taken 5 years to get him to agree to another cruise.

Well, it's easy to understand his reluctance. Sadly, sometimes bad things happen to good people. We are all hoping that this will be a "really special cruise" for you.

So, where are you cruising to on the Emerald?

We're sailing from Los Angeles to Santiago in Dec. 2017. It works really well for us as we live in LA so only need air one way. Plus we are taking advantage of a Sip & Sail promo.

We're sailing from Los Angeles to Santiago in Dec. 2017. It works really well for us as we live in LA so only need air one way. Plus we are taking advantage of a Sip & Sail promo.

Wow, that sounds like an excellent adventure. Have a great trip. Most of us will still be around, and, so, we will be patiently looking forward to your report.

In 2004, we cruised from Valparaiso to Ft. Lauderdale--a truly excellent experience. Of course, we then had to fly from the Fort back to Ontario. I'm pretty cranky at the end of a cruise. So, no fun there. One of my main objectives in life, now, is to avoid airports. The reason Princess is my preferred cruise provider is that they have Los Angeles departures/arrivals. I can drive--OK, usually, I can be driven--to and from the port. :)

I didn't realize this new level of service wouldn't be rolled out until 2017. I'll wait until then to make a decision on upgrading.

 

We're sailing from Los Angeles to Santiago in Dec. 2017. It works really well for us as we live in LA so only need air one way. Plus we are taking advantage of a Sip & Sail promo.

The two problems with waiting to make a decision:

1) When you want to decide, all of the Club Class mini-suites may have been taken.

2) If you decide to do it and Club Class is available, you will have to do it with promotions available at that time. If Sip & Sail is not being offered then, you will lose that promo.

Just booked a cruise on the Ruby Princess today for December 22. Talked to Princess and they had a hard time finding out how much the difference was for Club Class. What I was told was $2,668 per person for a Mini Suite Club Class on this cruise, I booked a Mini Suite and paid $1,899 each. Not worth it to me. Not enough perks for that amount of money.

Just booked a cruise on the Ruby Princess today for December 22. Talked to Princess and they had a hard time finding out how much the difference was for Club Class. What I was told was $2,668 per person for a Mini Suite Club Class on this cruise, I booked a Mini Suite and paid $1,899 each. Not worth it to me. Not enough perks for that amount of money.

Especially when we all eat in the same DR. :rolleyes:

Just booked a cruise on the Ruby Princess today for December 22. Talked to Princess and they had a hard time finding out how much the difference was for Club Class. What I was told was $2,668 per person for a Mini Suite Club Class on this cruise, I booked a Mini Suite and paid $1,899 each. Not worth it to me. Not enough perks for that amount of money.

Wow, that's a lot. Might as well throw in a few more bucks and do the full suite (with better perks.)

We have a Club Class mini on the first sailing of the Coral Princess with the new category of mini on 2/6/17.

Our main question right now is : We are traveling with a couple who have a balcony cabin ! In order to have our MDR seating still together I suspect we will have to give up our club class dining benefits !

Any ideas on that possible problem ?

If you have traditional dining it won't effect you. If you have anytime dining it will mean you can't sit together in club class but you can join them in the normal seating area.

Thanks for all the replies ! Guess I'll just have to suck it up and dine with all "The Common Folk" in traditional ding ! 😹

I am looking forward to hearing how the CC Minis work out. Hoping someone will be posting from the Ruby this fall....

If you have traditional dining it won't effect you. If you have anytime dining it will mean you can't sit together in club class but you can join them in the normal seating area.

Are you saying that if a person is in a Club Class Mini Suite, and they opt for Traditional Dining, then they are not seated in the "Club Class dining area" (or whatever it's called)?

Are you saying that if a person is in a Club Class Mini Suite, and they opt for Traditional Dining, then they are not seated in the "Club Class dining area" (or whatever it's called)?

That seems to be the implication. I am not sure if that is published anywhere or whether it is an assumption. Seems to me that the Maitre'D should be able to cobble together several tables of people who have opted for Traditional Dining and who are also staying in CLCL Mini-Suites and then seat them in a separate section of the Dining Room. Obviously people who are not in CLCL wouldn't be able to join those tables. But certainly there have to be enough such people so as to fill up several tables of 8, and some 6s and/or 4s as needed. Perhaps they don't want to go through the effort.

That seems to be the implication. I am not sure if that is published anywhere or whether it is an assumption. Seems to me that the Maitre'D should be able to cobble ogether several tables of people who have opted for Traditional Dining and who are also staying in CLCL Mini-Suites and then seat them in a separate section of the Dining Room. Obviously people who are not in CLCL wouldn't be able to join those tables. But certainly there have to be enough such people so as to fill up several tables of 8, and some 6s and/or 4s as needed. Perhaps they don't want to go through the effort.

Interesting. Thanks Jimmy. I guess we'll see when reports from the first real experiences start trickling in, December/January.

I thought that the Princess Club Dining area was in a separate section of the MDR, not in the Anytime Dining restaurant(s), but with Anytime Dining-type scheduling

Did I misread the Princess description? Of course, the non-club diners would still not be able to join club diners. This is one problem with the suite dining on all cruise lines: all connected passengers have to have an eligible cabin to dine together without an upcharge (Celebrity will allow dining together, but charges a fee).