Lady Arwen

I would not wait until sailaway. Have your dinner earlier, to avoid the wind blowing your dinner away. lol We book L101 frequently and we love it, but we understand that sometimes the balcony is not always useable. In port, it’s your own private resort in CC class. Enjoy!

Thank you! Folks need to read through a post thoroughly before getting all riled up. Apparently, you do and I appreciate you correcting that on my behalf.

Before you start to admonish me, please see post #30. I was questioning those facts and asked for clarification. I did not present any of this as fact!

Certainly not our experience, but of course everyone has a different perspective.

You are correct

If this upgrade charge covers only crew incentive, then it’s a hard no for us! For a two week cruise this is $3100.00 US. ($4200.00 Canadian). It boggles my mind! Who would pay this plus their cruise fare? We will most definitely stay with a standard mini suite and some specialty restaurants with a nicer menu, no wait to be seated and elevated service.

Just to clarify: Club Class is an extra $220.00 per cabin PER DAY. We don’t sail less than 12 days, so about $2600.00+ towards crew incentive? I must have interpreted this incorrectly.

Yes, for you HAL is not likely your go to cruiseline. Personally, I find the lower rates on Princess come at a bigger cost in amenities and the shipboard experience. We do sail Princess, depending on itinerary. We love sailing out of Southampton, so that attracts us. We find that price alone is just not a deciding factor. Luckily, there is something for everyone’s taste and budget.

We just booked Rotterdam TA for 2024 with standard HIA perks and early booking bonus, which includes prepaid gratuities, shore excursions, specialty dining and more. We also receive a 25% discount (casino rate) on any HAL cruise we book, and no, we are not big gamblers. We qualified in 2008 and have been blessed with this perk since then. HAL for us is a bargain.

How disappointing! I’m thinking our next cruise on Regal might be our last Princess cruise. We shall see how that goes. Perhaps Celebrity will be our one and only cruiseline looking forward. I do love some of Princess itineraries, so that aspect will be missed.

We’ve dined in Blu a few of times, mostly on Edge class. It’s nice and certainly a step above the MDR. Celebrity guests love it! They book as far in advance as possible to get those cabins. We’ve also stayed in the traditional balconies on deck six by Eden and it was lovely, but folks do love the suites near the Magic Carpet, which is in itself a brilliant can concept. Celebrity knows what their guests want and they deliver in spades.

I have the opposite experience. Our CVP is a gem. Had her for years and wouldn’t dream of booking with just any Princess rep. Answers emails immediately. Returns my calls within 24 hours…..usually 1-3 hours. Last week she called to ask about one of our dogs because I had mentioned to her a few weeks prior that he wasn’t well. We chatted about the weather here in Canada and hers in Florida. Told me about her laser eye surgery. We had a half an hour conversation and she didn’t mention Princess until we were saying goodbye and then she inquired if there was anything she could help us with. Wish I could share her with everybody! When you find a good one, hang onto them because those ones are few and far between.

On our upcoming Regal 12 night cruise we may bid to upgrade to Club Class, but only to a maximum of $200-$250 total for both of us. Our dilemma is that our mini suite is on Lido deck, our preferred location, so we would also have to give that up. DH says no thank you, but we’ll see.

Totally respect your opinion, which actually is not that far from mine. It really boils down to individual tastes and comfort. What works beautifully for one is an abomination to another. We’re all so lucky to be able to do this cruise thing, regardless of what line or ship we prefer. Whatever floats your boat! (yeah, I know, pretty corny).

Totally agree with you! Princess bathrooms are, for the most part, like what you would expect in a motel. Those shower curtains…….yuck!

I assumed it must be an extra special entree since it’s so costly to book Club Class. If it were just a salad or appetizer then who would book it?

Respectfully disagree as far as dining experience. Blu is a specialty restaurant limited to Aqua Class passengers. Far superior to the Club Class MDR menu plus the one additional plate. The food is exactly the same in MDR and Club Class. Yes, Club Class are Mini Suites and Aqua Class are standard balconies. Service is equal. However, Celebrity as a whole is a step above any Princess ship. IMHO. On Princess, we book standard mini suites and dine mostly in the Specialty Restaurants, which is a notch above Club Class but less expensive. It’s all a matter of taste and preferences. To each their own.

Actually, not similar at all to Blu Restaurant, which is open to only Aqua Class cabins. Blu is a separate restaurant, unique menu not available in the MDR and with a dedicated wait staff. More on the line of a specialty restaurant, but only available to Aqua Class guests. Club Class is an elevated MDR experience using the same kitchen and menu.

The other bed is a pull down ceiling berth over the sofa.

We’re not fans of frou frou drinks. I like G&T, preferably Hendricks, Aperol Spritz, Grey Goose & tonic. DH only drinks Scotch, straight up. We are boring!

Our thought is to take advantage of the discount offered to us until HAL no longer offers it, which could be sooner than later. If it ends, then we’ll just have to compare prices with the other lines. We also get a reduced casino rate with Princess. Time will tell.

We booked Rotterdam TA in 2024 with HIA and Early Booking Bonus (more perks and pre-paid grats included) and received our 25% Casino Discount. Extremely good price and our shipboard account will most likely stay at zero. That discount makes a huge difference!

Hard to answer because everyone has different tastes. RCI and Celebrity are excellent. NCL has very good shows, too. HAL has the Music Walk, which is brilliant, but their production shows are average. These are the only lines I have experience with, so maybe someone else will chime in with other opinions.

You are referring to Royal Princess and Regal Princess, although there are other Royal class ships. There are production shows on all ships, but they vary depending on the ship. The Piazza is the hub of entertainment, both day and evening, on every ship regardless of class. Obviously, the production shows on the newer ships are more elaborate, but not necessarily better than the others. Depends on your taste and your preferences. Daily activities are comparable on all ships. I find any Princess entertainment to be decent, but not fabulous. Other lines have much better, both day and evening.

I totally agree with you! My comment meant to say that “No” I would not be interested at that price. Sorry for the confusion!