reedprincess Posted May 4, 2016 #1 Share Posted May 4, 2016 (edited) Interesting new Princess development - new class of stateroom category! Looks like Princess is following in the footsteps of Celebrity, Royal, MSC, NCL, etc with separate dining/ship within a ship concept for some room classes.... http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=7001 Edited May 4, 2016 by reedprincess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphey Posted May 4, 2016 #2 Share Posted May 4, 2016 Ahhhh, the caste system comes to Princess! :eek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reedprincess Posted May 4, 2016 Author #3 Share Posted May 4, 2016 Ahhhh, the caste system comes to Princess! :eek: It was bound to happen I suppose....Princess was one of the last holdouts on making separate dining and such setups for certain room categories.. Most other lines have embraced it for a while - and it apparently works for them, keeping ships full and the money flowing..not surprising Princess is looking to "cash in" on the class system... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pris993 Posted May 4, 2016 #4 Share Posted May 4, 2016 interesting, monkey see, monkey do. We are elite on Princess and Celebrity. Tried the Spa Cabin and BLU (separate dining) on Celebrity... it was not enough of a draw for us to book Celebrity over Princess.... for the extra dollars a Spa Cabin or Club Cabin might costs, I would prefer to spend the same money at the Crown Grill. Princess followed Celebrity with no main deck, disappointing on the Royal and Regal. I wish would follow Celebrity and Holland American design with a forward looking lounge over the bow... love those rooms on both Celebrity and Holland American... have always missed this feature on Princess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JF - retired RRT Posted May 4, 2016 #5 Share Posted May 4, 2016 The relatively small extra perk ("exclusive" dining) wouldn't be enough for me to spend extra $$. As stated above Crown Grill every evening would probably be a better buy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruise2relax Posted May 4, 2016 #6 Share Posted May 4, 2016 It all would depend on the price point and what the real extras are. We are Elite level so what is in the description is repetitive of some of those perks. Time will tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Treven Posted May 4, 2016 #7 Share Posted May 4, 2016 Ahhhh, the caste system comes to Princess! :eek: Separate, but (more) equal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare stevenr597 Posted May 4, 2016 #8 Share Posted May 4, 2016 Any idea when it will be introduced on the Island and Coral Princess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishywood Posted May 4, 2016 #9 Share Posted May 4, 2016 Princess has decided to add dining perks to full suite passengers. Understandably necessary given what the competition has done. But my guess is the cost-benefit analysis of the new perks concluded that a higher number of paying passengers than the full suite capacity are needed to cover the expense. So the bean counters' solution is to allow a certain number of mini suite guests to "buy in". But as has already been said the cost for them needs to be not more than the cover charge for eating every night in the specialty restaurants or there will be few takers. And I wonder about the economics of hold both "suite breakfast" in a specialty restaurant and "club breakfast" in a section of the MDR. Would be shocked if they weren't merged into a single area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZ Ocean Lover Posted May 4, 2016 #10 Share Posted May 4, 2016 I would buy into this if they guaranteed that the two top next to me was further away than 6 inches. It doesn't take much to make me happy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emmak8 Posted May 4, 2016 #11 Share Posted May 4, 2016 Will this new level of cabin change or enhance elite loyalty level? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reedprincess Posted May 4, 2016 Author #12 Share Posted May 4, 2016 (edited) Lots of unanswered questions regarding this, as I would expect given the limited info in the article. And all the other articles I've found simply repeat what is said in this one. Will definitely be on the lookout for more info in days ahead. Lots of time till first supposed installation on Ruby this fall..... I wouldn't be surprised to see changes to suite amenities in light of this, or potentially even changes to Captain's Circle either (although this is pure SPECULATION at this point). Edited May 4, 2016 by reedprincess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoffeHound Posted May 4, 2016 #13 Share Posted May 4, 2016 Princess has decided to add dining perks to full suite passengers. Understandably necessary given what the competition has done. But my guess is the cost-benefit analysis of the new perks concluded that a higher number of paying passengers than the full suite capacity are needed to cover the expense. So the bean counters' solution is to allow a certain number of mini suite guests to "buy in". But as has already been said the cost for them needs to be not more than the cover charge for eating every night in the specialty restaurants or there will be few takers. And I wonder about the economics of hold both "suite breakfast" in a specialty restaurant and "club breakfast" in a section of the MDR. Would be shocked if they weren't merged into a single area. My first thought was There goes breakfast in Sabatinis for suite guests. If the special dining option no longer includes mimosas and espresso drinks, I don't think the Suite guests will be happy, so I think it will be interesting to see how this evolves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishywood Posted May 4, 2016 #14 Share Posted May 4, 2016 (edited) Yes the Cruise Critic article is maddeningly vague about some "VIP guest services and amenities" :confused: So what other suite perks might (speculatively) trickle down to Club Class: Mini-bar and bath furnishings? Separate check-in and pursers desk lines?? Laundry and tendering??? In some ways this smells like just an overpriced clone of Carnival's "faster to the fun" Edited May 4, 2016 by fishywood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seacruise9 Posted May 4, 2016 #15 Share Posted May 4, 2016 Any idea when it will be introduced on the Island and Coral Princess. Hi, According to the Princess website, Club Class Mini-Suites will debut on the following dates: Ruby Princess, Dec. 10, 2016 Emerald Princess, Dec. 12, 2016 Island Princess, Jan. 4, 2017 Sapphire Princess, Jan. 7, 2017 Regal Princess, Jan. 8, 2017 Grand Princess, Jan. 9, 2017 Royal Princess, Jan. 29, 2017 Coral Princess, Feb. 6, 2017 Majestic Princess, March 30, 2017 Sun Princess, April 5, 2017 Crown Princess, April 8, 2017 Star Princess, April 11, 2017 Caribbean Princess, April 6, 2017 Diamond Princess, April 20, 2017 Pacific Princess, June 9, 2017 Sea Princess, Sep. 2, 2017 Golden Princess, Oct. 2, 2017 Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seacruise9 Posted May 4, 2016 #16 Share Posted May 4, 2016 Hi, The Princess website has further information concerning the new Club Class: http://www.princess.com/learn/ships/staterooms/club-class/ Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphey Posted May 4, 2016 #17 Share Posted May 4, 2016 So Club Class dining will now be exactly like regular dining was 5-10 years ago!! :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dchip Posted May 4, 2016 #18 Share Posted May 4, 2016 So Club Class dining will now be exactly like regular dining was 5-10 years ago!! :rolleyes: Exactly! Cheers, Denise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caribensun Posted May 4, 2016 #19 Share Posted May 4, 2016 If Elite level and book a full suite, other than the cabin space not a real reason to book one anymore. I feel like more and more other than space and balcony furniture (loungers that rarely recline anymore) in full suite nothing special about booking one. We are moving to lux lines because of it. If cruising Princess, I would rather pay for the club class mini, save money and get same treatment and dining amenity as suites, there is always the Sanctuary for the "special" feeling and lounger. Changes are never ending. Just my opinion. Sandipalms Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raider23 Posted May 4, 2016 #20 Share Posted May 4, 2016 Seems to me that this is reminiscent of the origins of cruising with first class and lower classes, much like the Titanic. That turned out pretty well didn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astro Flyer Posted May 4, 2016 #21 Share Posted May 4, 2016 Here's a link to the Club Class info on the Carnival Corporation (not just Carnival Cruises) website about this change: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=140690&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=2164990 Since all cabins are scheduled to get the Princess Luxury Bed, why are they promoting it for this new level of service? It's just marketing hype that isn't unique to Club Class and is falsely promoting something that every cabin will have in it. Upgraded Amenities & Services Club Class Mini-Suite guests will also enjoy the following additional VIP perks: •The Princess Luxury Bed – Club Class guests will be among the first to experience the "Ultimate Sleep at Sea," in the new bed designed in collaboration with board certified sleep expert Dr. Michael Breus and renowned HGTV Designer Candice Olson It states this is part of their "Come Back New Promise, which is delivering guests a premium cruise vacation"...guess that premium cruise experience comes with an additional cost. One of the things that has kept me from sailing on Cunard is reading about a 2-class system which if this is the first step towards a similar system on Princess will have me reevaluating whether Princess is still my best cruising option. On CC it's regularly commented about how the only extra benefit for a minisuite (beyond the extra room) is a cheap glass of sparkling wine so it's not a big surprise to me that they're adding a couple of extra benefits but I wonder how much extra Club Class will cost? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 4cats4me Posted May 4, 2016 #22 Share Posted May 4, 2016 Can't wait to see what they'll charge for club class. We like to do Aqua on Celebrity and enjoy the dedicated small, intimate dining room and extremely accommodating service and we also enjoy the use of the spa INCluded with Aqua, but we won't pay more than $25 pp per day over the price of a regular balcony accommodation. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy2cruise Posted May 4, 2016 #23 Share Posted May 4, 2016 I would buy into this if they guaranteed that the two top next to me was further away than 6 inches. It doesn't take much to make me happy. Dream on;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCruisers Posted May 4, 2016 #24 Share Posted May 4, 2016 Not so sure if we're happy about this or not. :confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reedprincess Posted May 4, 2016 Author #25 Share Posted May 4, 2016 Seems to me that this is reminiscent of the origins of cruising with first class and lower classes, much like the Titanic. That turned out pretty well didn't it? Yup, it turned out so great that most all cruise lines still practice it, with Haven on NCL, Suite Class on RCI and Celebrity (plus Aqua Class on Celebrity), Yacht Club on MSC, Grill classes on Cunard, and so on... Extra perks for those willing to pay more is pretty normal across the lines - Princess is simply keeping up with the times and other lines. Go figure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now