NEW Cabin Class Category: Club Class Mini-Suite

[Go-Bucks!]

Celebrity took a portion of the MDR and enclosed it to create Blu. Royal Caribbean took their crown lounge and made it into their Coastal Kitchens and suites lounge on Oasis class ships. In both cases, you got the same kind of complaints.

 

 

Well, the complaints must have made a difference because on the Infinity Blu is a separate restaurant, not a section of the MDR.

[RDC1]

Well, the complaints must have made a difference because on the Infinity Blu is a separate restaurant, not a section of the MDR.

 

They have always been separate. However, they did take part of the floor space away from the MDR and then walled it off to create BLU. So the MDR is smaller then it used to be.

[Go-Bucks!]

The class system is what keeps us away from some of the other lines. I guess the snobs will be happy since they will be able to pay for the "honor" of looking down their noses at the steerage passengers.

 

You are also right about how it will impact the steerage diners in the same room with the "entitled." How is this different from having suite passengers or elites next to you? They aren't next to you. They are in a special section from where they can "look down" on the rest of us. We have already seen how this is going to fuel the snob element.

 

 

These 2 quotes about "snobs" are really sad. Obviously the poster is very concerned about what others think of them and they have a fear that others are judging them by "looking down on them." Very sad indeed.

 

The good news is that, truly, no one cares about what cabin you book or the perks that others get. And if they do, so what; who cares??! :rolleyes:

[Go-Bucks!]

They have always been separate. However, they did take part of the floor space away from the MDR and then walled it off to create BLU. So the MDR is smaller then it used to be.

 

 

Oh, ok.

 

Since we rarely ever saw the MDR full or a waiting line, it must have not made much difference. I liked the MDR too (especially the huge window in the back), but we felt like the quality of service was way better in Blu, although I didn't always like their meal offerings (some dishes were a bit "far out"). :p

[dtb55]

Celebrity took a portion of the MDR and enclosed it to create Blu. Royal Caribbean took their crown lounge and made it into their Coastal Kitchens and suites lounge on Oasis class ships. In both cases, you got the same kind of complaints.

 

 

There will be a private entrance with host, so maybe the area will be private as well.

[TwoBadKnees]

If Princess ever creates a level above Elite, maybe it will include full "club" benefits to the passenger without regards to the cabin category.

[RocketMan275]

Well, the complaints must have made a difference because on the Infinity Blu is a separate restaurant, not a section of the MDR.

 

The only complaint creating a separate restaurant resolved was the fact that Aqua class dining isn't directly observable by other passengers. The other complaints, ie, some passengers being "more equal than others", taking space from the MDR to Blu, etc., remain. I suspect that Princess will create a separate dining area for Club Class too.

 

FWIW, I responded to a Princess survey a few months ago. When asked what improvements I would suggest, I specifically pointed out that Celebrity and Royal were instituting special dining areas and lounges for suites passengers. I reported this on CC too.

Edited May 6, 2016 by RocketMan275

[Murphey]

If Princess ever creates a level above Elite, maybe it will include full "club" benefits to the passenger without regards to the cabin category.

 

That will never happen!! :D

[pjrockman]

Of course you could get it, you just need to pay for it. You can't buy a Lexus for the price of a KIA. When you eat at a restaurant at home do you want to get the filet mignon the next table ordered but pay for a hamburger? It's all about getting more for paying more, it's all around you in daily life, at the grocery store, at the clothing store, at restaurants.

 

 

And concerts including location and backstage passes; and, sporting events including club seating and dedicated bars, restaurants and buffets. It's all in what a person feels is worth extra money for them in any particular situation. It's the old 'cost' vs 'value' vs 'worth'. Those factors are different for everyone.

 

Just my opinion. Paul

[Host Jazzbeau]

If Princess ever creates a level above Elite, maybe it will include full "club" benefits to the passenger without regards to the cabin category.

 

This is a really dangerous precedent, which Celebrity is trying to walk back from. So many people have become Elite there that on many cruises they can no longer fit into the space for the Elite reception. Restaurants are sized based on the number of cabins that qualify, whereas status categories are always growing -- so this would be a dramatically worse problem.

[cherrybear]

Not being a "foodie" I couldn't care less about the special dining, and we had very nice new beds on the Ruby in March of this year, I hope they do something about the sofas. Some of them are brutal. So far I haven't seen one perk that entices me to book the higher class. So I'll stick with a regular mini or even, gasp, a plain old balcony.

[Putterdude]

I haven't read anything in the announcement or this thread that is causing me any real concern. Specialty dining venues have been around for years and there are people who never step foot in a MDR, we have the Sanctuary which is a pay for use venue, I doesn't appeal to me but people go gaga over it, full suite pax have a seperate dining room. If some people want to pay extra for a few extra perks ....so be it.

[pris993]

I would not get too excited about this new category of cabins - unless it is something you want, don't see it impacting other passengers at all. Saw the same thing on the Queen Mary 2, Cunard this year.... we had a limited view cabin, given the costs, had a great table for 2 in the MDR, fantastic food and service and we were not even in a suite or their version of club class, which is a cabin that look just like Princess mini suite. If you read on the Cunard boards, cruise critic folks say you can't get off menu requests on Cunard unless you are in a suite... lol, we did.

 

I am sure it will work out about the same on Princess.

 

We usually do late traditional dining on Princess -- many times the MDR is only 1/2 full. The menu today is not as great as it use to be, when we want something special we go to the Crown Grill. Seems to work out fine.

 

On Celebrity, which we also cruise, tried BLU once was not impressed, don't find the food and service in MD or SR on Celebrity that great, but they do have a very nice buffet... so we often do the buffet on X the entire cruise.

 

With over 50 cruise on 9 different lines, we pick and choose what we like on board and don't get to excited about the changes. We adjust around them. Seems to work out pretty well.

 

Happy cruising...

[IECalCruiser]

My concern is that an area of the ATD dining room will be reserved and to reduce wait times a significant portion of the DR will be held and underutilized creating longer waits for earlier dining. The Club Class Mini-Suites are now shown with the full suites. There are typically between 26 to 30 full suites on a Grand class ship and there will be 28 Club Class mini's. That is about 56 cabins with an average of two per cabin so there will be around 112 passengers expecting to eat whenever they want to eat without any wait. That could certainly impact other diners. Now if they would convert the early TD/late ATD to full time ATD that could help slightly.

[RDC1]

My concern is that an area of the ATD dining room will be reserved and to reduce wait times a significant portion of the DR will be held and underutilized creating longer waits for earlier dining. The Club Class Mini-Suites are now shown with the full suites. There are typically between 26 to 30 full suites on a Grand class ship and there will be 28 Club Class mini's. That is about 56 cabins with an average of two per cabin so there will be around 112 passengers expecting to eat whenever they want to eat without any wait. That could certainly impact other diners. Now if they would convert the early TD/late ATD to full time ATD that could help slightly.

 

You already have more people requesting TD then they can accommodate so I would hope they do not do that conversion,

 

The other question is if this represents the first step down the same path that Celebrity has taken. Celebrity did the special dining, it also blocked out some of the choice seats in the theater (upper level center) for suites, it then took one of the lounges away and made it for suites only. That is when I stopped cruising Celebrity.

 

I don't have an issue with giving benefits for people that pay more, but when they remove things that were available and make them unavailable as part of the process it impacts the value others receive.

 

So if the implementation results in increased ATD wait times, a lower of food quality in the MDR, or is followed by other items as Celebrity did, then each would have to determine its impact upon their perceived value of cruising on the line.

Edited May 6, 2016 by RDC1

[Womble99]

Anyone know if the aft mini's on the sun class are going to be included in the Club Class? They are listed as premium mini's but are still M4, seems odd but I guess I could live with the great views for the cheaper price (which they are at present) than the extras.

[happysnapper]

Priority embarkation and disembarkation is a bit of a joke now on Princess in Australia. With so many loyal pax and suite pax the last time we sailed the priority line was 3-4 times longer than the normal line. Saw a number of pax changing lines as priority was taking so long.

[floridalover5623]

I haven't read anything in the announcement or this thread that is causing me any real concern. Specialty dining venues have been around for years and there are people who never step foot in a MDR, we have the Sanctuary which is a pay for use venue, I doesn't appeal to me but people go gaga over it, full suite pax have a seperate dining room. If some people want to pay extra for a few extra perks ....so be it.

 

They do? I never realized this, unless you're referring to their suite cabin as a dining section.

 

My concern is that an area of the ATD dining room will be reserved and to reduce wait times a significant portion of the DR will be held and underutilized creating longer waits for earlier dining. The Club Class Mini-Suites are now shown with the full suites. There are typically between 26 to 30 full suites on a Grand class ship and there will be 28 Club Class mini's. That is about 56 cabins with an average of two per cabin so there will be around 112 passengers expecting to eat whenever they want to eat without any wait. That could certainly impact other diners. Now if they would convert the early TD/late ATD to full time ATD that could help slightly.

That's exactly my concern. They have to dedicate a section on the AT dining room with tables especially for those club guests- which will reduce the capacity for others.

I think it's probably time that we'll go back to traditional dining so we'll have a table waiting for us also.

[floridalover5623]

I'm surprised they didn't include priority tender boarding as well.

[IECalCruiser]

I haven't read anything in the announcement or this thread that is causing me any real concern. Specialty dining venues have been around for years and there are people who never step foot in a MDR, we have the Sanctuary which is a pay for use venue, I doesn't appeal to me but people go gaga over it, full suite pax have a seperate dining room. If some people want to pay extra for a few extra perks ....so be it.

They do? I never realized this, unless you're referring to their suite cabin as a dining section...

The new Suite Amenities includes "Exclusive Club Class Dining in the main dining room for dinner every day as well as breakfast and lunch on sea days." While not a separate dining room it is a separate section of a dining room. Also listed is "Complementary specialty dining mimosa breakfast (Daily)." Edited May 6, 2016 by IECalCruiser

[R&S]

I found it interesting that the new mini-suite category actually shows up under Suites when making an online booking. Once you select the suite category, the room then shows up as a Premium Mini Suite. I think that could cause some confusion for folks. They click Suites, find a good price and then realize later that they were booking a Mini Suite. Perhaps they should keep the new class of rooms in the Mini Suite category they already have. Just a thought.

 

Enjoy your cruise,

[IECalCruiser]

I found it interesting that the new mini-suite category actually shows up under Suites when making an online booking. Once you select the suite category, the room then shows up as a Premium Mini Suite. I think that could cause some confusion for folks. They click Suites, find a good price and then realize later that they were booking a Mini Suite. Perhaps they should keep the new class of rooms in the Mini Suite category they already have. Just a thought.

 

 

 

Enjoy your cruise,

The specific amenities for the Club Class mini's aren't yet listed. It will be interesting to see the differences.

[cruzsnooze]

I found it interesting that the new mini-suite category actually shows up under Suites when making an online booking. Once you select the suite category, the room then shows up as a Premium Mini Suite. I think that could cause some confusion for folks. They click Suites, find a good price and then realize later that they were booking a Mini Suite. Perhaps they should keep the new class of rooms in the Mini Suite category they already have. Just a thought.

 

Enjoy your cruise,

 

If they list them under the suite category then it should also give 2 cruise credits.

[Thrak]

As for the "special menu" they talk about... I'm hoping that the regular MDR menu returns to what it has been in the past and all of those Curtis Stone items that many people don't seem to care for end up as the super special items on the new menu for the "special" folks.

 

I also have to wonder if the special dining class will have extra butter... :rolleyes:

[shredie]

As for the "special menu" they talk about... I'm hoping that the regular MDR menu returns to what it has been in the past and all of those Curtis Stone items that many people don't seem to care for end up as the super special items on the new menu for the "special" folks.

 

I also have to wonder if the special dining class will have extra butter... :rolleyes:

 

The butter jokes will never die. :D My worry is that the food we get now in the MDR will become the "special" stuff and the new MDR menu will be leftovers from the buffet.