Recent Club Class experience/ Grand

[Cruiserkenn]

I was very excited to have Club Class dining, and I was so looking forward to it. This was on the Grand's last Alaska cruise for the season.

What a disappointment! I dined there on a non-formal night at sea, 7:30pm. When I approached the podium, and showed my cruise card, I was told to come back in 30 minutes! There would be a 30 minute wait. This was a shock to me, as all of the promotions of Club Class had emphasized little or no waiting. The blonde young lady in-charge of the podium was totally firm, off-putting, and inflexible.

I did not give up. I insisted that this was not right. Eventually, the young lady said she would have a table for me in 5 minutes. 5 minutes! What a change.

Once seated, the waiter was very nice and extremely cheerful, but the service was glacially slow.

There was no table side preparation. I was shown a plate of veal, which was said to be that evening's special. It looked like a plate of dog food.

Otherwise, the food chosen from the menu was quite good.

I know that some here have had good experiences at Club Class. This is why I was looking forward to it. I did not return, as I did not want to have to fight with the blonde young lady each night.

Other evenings, I went to Crown Grill, Sabatini's, Alfredo's, Horizon Court, Deck 14 pizza, and sometimes room service. All of these other dining choices were great.

So sorry about Club Class. I know that others have had good experiences.

PS - I did ask the blonde young lady if other times would be better, on future evenings. 8:30pm? 6:30 pm? I could be flexible. She cooly said there was no way to know.

PSS - Once seated, I observed that there were several empty tables in sight. The problem was not overcrowding. It seemed that there were not enough dining staff members assigned to the dining room. (I could see other empty tables in the main part of the dining room, too.)

[srpilo]

I was very excited to have Club Class dining' date=' and I was so looking forward to it. This was on the Grand's last Alaska cruise for the season.[/font']

 

What a disappointment! I dined there on a non-formal night at sea, 7:30pm. When I approached the podium, and showed my cruise card, I was told to come back in 30 minutes! There would be a 30 minute wait. This was a shock to me, as all of the promotions of Club Class had emphasized little or no waiting. The blonde young lady in-charge of the podium was totally firm, off-putting, and inflexible.

 

I did not give up. I insisted that this was not right. Eventually, the young lady said she would have a table for me in 5 minutes. 5 minutes! What a change.

 

Once seated, the waiter was very nice and extremely cheerful, but the service was glacially slow.

 

There was no table side preparation. I was shown a plate of veal, which was said to be that evening's special. It looked like a plate of dog food.

 

Otherwise, the food chosen from the menu was quite good.

 

I know that some here have had good experiences at Club Class. This is why I was looking forward to it. I did not return, as I did not want to have to fight with the blonde young lady each night.

 

Other evenings, I went to Crown Grill, Sabatini's, Alfredo's, Horizon Court, Deck 14 pizza, and sometimes room service. All of these other dining choices were great.

 

So sorry about Club Class. I know that others have had good experiences.

 

PS - I did ask the blonde young lady if other times would be better, on future evenings. 8:30pm? 6:30 pm? I could be flexible. She cooly said there was no way to know.

PSS - Once seated, I observed that there were several empty tables in sight. The problem was not overcrowding. It seemed that there were not enough dining staff members assigned to the dining room. (I could see other empty tables in the main part of the dining room, too.)

Yes, in my experience at 7:30 there's almost never a problem with ATD, let alone Club Class.

 

You should be disappointed

Srpilo

[fishywood]

Just curious if you tried breakfast or sea day lunch in the Club Class section.

 

Personally I would look at such an uncooperative host not as an excuse to go elsewhere but as a challenge to be conquered. By the end of the week she will respect me. Or fear me--whichever gets me the service I am rightfully entitled to.

[Kartgv]

We just got off the Star and had a totally opposite experience. We ate in Club Class all 15 nights, and never once had any wait at all for a table. We ate between 7:00 and 7:30 and at least half the nights had a perfect window table for 4 all to ourselves. At the beginning of the cruise, the room was half empty by 7:30, though later in the cruise more people seemed to eat a little later. (By the way, the Anytime Dining Room, which we could easily see from our table, was also half empty every evening by 7:30 or so, so maybe the cruise was not full.) Service was very friendly - Most of the 10 servers in the dining room and the Head Waiter greeted us each evening and all knew our names by the 2nd time they waited on us. The dining room hostess was charming and efficient.

 

The regular menu food was good, not great or memorable, but some of the 'special' dishes were excellent - there was a Pasta Carbonara prepared by the Head Waiter and Chateau Briand and Sea Bass specials that were excellent. The nights that the Head Waiter prepared the Fettuccini Alfredo it was excellent, but the last night when it came from the kitchen, it wasn't as good. We had lobster twice, paired with shrimp, and while it's definitely not Maine lobster, both times it was well prepared - not overcooked like some have reported. We ate several CC breakfasts and there were also special menu items such as a mushroom frittata (prepared by the Head Waiter), delicious blueberry pancakes, and a salmon omelet.

 

We were very glad we chose Club Class. We found it to be well worth the extra cost for this particular trip, when we really needed some extra pampering and complete relaxation. If the prices are not too steep we'll do it again. To the OP, it's really too bad your experience was so different. We had a tough time deciding between booking the Grand and the Star trips - glad we chose the Star!

[easyboy]

I fully understand your disappointment. You were just expecting what was promoted and you paid for it. I would have escalated the matter while onboard.

 

 

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[fishin' musician]

Just curious if you tried breakfast or sea day lunch in the Club Class section.

 

Personally I would look at such an uncooperative host not as an excuse to go elsewhere but as a challenge to be conquered. By the end of the week she will respect me. Or fear me--whichever gets me the service I am rightfully entitled to.

 

Must be a saliva fan! :eek:

[Cruiserkenn]

I fully understand your disappointment. You were just expecting what was promoted and you paid for it. I would have escalated the matter while onboard.

 

 

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Yes, for sure. I wrote a personal letter, to the Maitre D', on our special suite stationary. The

Maitre D' called me, apologized, and offered a complementary dinner at Sabatini's, which was wonderful. The Maitrre D' was great.

[easyboy]

 

Yes' date=' for sure. I wrote a personal letter, to the Maitre D', on our special suite stationary. The [/b']

 

Maitre D' called me, apologized, and offered a complementary dinner at Sabatini's, which was wonderful. The Maitrre D' was great.

 

 

 

That’s good to know!

 

 

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[Cruiserkenn]

We just got off the Star and had a totally opposite experience. We ate in Club Class all 15 nights, and never once had any wait at all for a table. We ate between 7:00 and 7:30 and at least half the nights had a perfect window table for 4 all to ourselves. At the beginning of the cruise, the room was half empty by 7:30, though later in the cruise more people seemed to eat a little later. (By the way, the Anytime Dining Room, which we could easily see from our table, was also half empty every evening by 7:30 or so, so maybe the cruise was not full.) Service was very friendly - Most of the 10 servers in the dining room and the Head Waiter greeted us each evening and all knew our names by the 2nd time they waited on us. The dining room hostess was charming and efficient.

 

The regular menu food was good, not great or memorable, but some of the 'special' dishes were excellent - there was a Pasta Carbonara prepared by the Head Waiter and Chateau Briand and Sea Bass specials that were excellent. The nights that the Head Waiter prepared the Fettuccini Alfredo it was excellent, but the last night when it came from the kitchen, it wasn't as good. We had lobster twice, paired with shrimp, and while it's definitely not Maine lobster, both times it was well prepared - not overcooked like some have reported. We ate several CC breakfasts and there were also special menu items such as a mushroom frittata (prepared by the Head Waiter), delicious blueberry pancakes, and a salmon omelet.

 

We were very glad we chose Club Class. We found it to be well worth the extra cost for this particular trip, when we really needed some extra pampering and complete relaxation. If the prices are not too steep we'll do it again. To the OP, it's really too bad your experience was so different. We had a tough time deciding between booking the Grand and the Star trips - glad we chose the Star!

Thanks! Glad to hear of your good experience.

[Cruiserkenn]

Just curious if you tried breakfast or sea day lunch in the Club Class section.

 

Personally I would look at such an uncooperative host not as an excuse to go elsewhere but as a challenge to be conquered. By the end of the week she will respect me. Or fear me--whichever gets me the service I am rightfully entitled to.

We were fortunate to have a suite, so we fully enjoyed the suite amenities, such as breakfast in Crown Grill and ordering from the diining room menu for room service. All of this was wonderful

[Cruiserkenn]

Yes, in my experience at 7:30 there's almost never a problem with ATD, let alone Club Class.

 

You should be disappointed

Srpilo

Thanks! That is what I thought about 7:30pm, too.

[rwmiller]

Cruisin' Rabbit,

 

I think I was there when you were talking with the host on the ship. Quite the small world.

 

We also were in a suite so did not need to visit Club Class for every meal. Our experience was that they usually filled the tables with early arrivals and arriving after 7 the tables were opening up. Didn't always get a prime table - they have a few 2 tops that are right next to others where you feel like you have to talk to the other diners. But, we always got a table without waiting after that second night. I think they needed to have a few more tables dedicated to Club Class with more staff, we also had times where we waited longer than we liked for our waiter.

 

Happy Sailing,

Bob

[bandgbasset]

We just got off the grand to Mexico. On the last night we asked the "blond lady" what time the embarkation breakfast would be.

 

She sAid she didn't know IF the club class breakfast would be open. WHAT!!! We went to the buffet as we wanted to disembark early. As it turned out it was open. Thought that was kind of rude. We were in a suite so we had fabulous breakfasts in the crown grill.

[Steelers36]

I was first wondering if the OP had presented himself/herself at the correct entrance as it seemed like they were where regular AT diners enter and I thought there was a separate dedicated entrance. But then another poster reported the same "greeter". Seems hard to accept that a greeter specifically assigned to CC was off-putting to be nice. OTOH, if there were a lot of CC diners and tables all full at prime time, what do they do?

Perhaps the passenger should be offered either to wait or be seated tout de suite in the AT section?

(I'd rather be seated anywhere than wait 30 mins for a CC table - same menu).

[Cruiserkenn]

Cruisin' Rabbit,

 

I think I was there when you were talking with the host on the ship. Quite the small world.

 

We also were in a suite so did not need to visit Club Class for every meal. Our experience was that they usually filled the tables with early arrivals and arriving after 7 the tables were opening up. Didn't always get a prime table - they have a few 2 tops that are right next to others where you feel like you have to talk to the other diners. But, we always got a table without waiting after that second night. I think they needed to have a few more tables dedicated to Club Class with more staff, we also had times where we waited longer than we liked for our waiter.

 

Happy Sailing,

Bob

Wow! That's amazing! Thanks for letting me know that things were better after the second night.

 

Thanks again, and happy cruising.

Edited October 10, 2017 by Cruisin'Rabbit

[Cruiserkenn]

I was first wondering if the OP had presented himself/herself at the correct entrance as it seemed like they were where regular AT diners enter and I thought there was a separate dedicated entrance. But then another poster reported the same "greeter". Seems hard to accept that a greeter specifically assigned to CC was off-putting to be nice. OTOH, if there were a lot of CC diners and tables all full at prime time, what do they do?

Perhaps the passenger should be offered either to wait or be seated tout de suite in the AT section?

(I'd rather be seated anywhere than wait 30 mins for a CC table - same menu).

 

There is a separate hallway for the entrance, with a huge "Club Class" sign. I was in the right place, for sure. Also, there were empty , unused tables both in Club Class and in the MDR. Seems that they did not have enough staff assigned to the task at hand.

[Lucky TGO]

Wow! That’s exactly what’s not suppose to happen.:(

Tony

[gamajr]

We got off the Grand Princess last Thursday (October 5) and had the opposite experience.

 

We had Club Class and a mini-suite. We ever once waited for a table apart from perhaps 2 minutes once whilst they reset the table. We ate there every night apart from the night that we went to the Crowne Dining Room. Service was always very prompt. We had two sets of servers, depending on where we sat, but all of them knew our names and quickly remembered our drink preferences etc.

 

We usually ate continental breakfast on our balcony and alternated lunches between the dining room, the pizza place and the food served poolside. We only ate at the buffet twice.

 

Club Class isn't a necessity but it was nice never having to wait and having the flexibility to dine whenever we wanted to.

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

We just got off the Royal and had club class dining during our 21 day cruise. We never had to wait, but other than that I just don’t get the club class experience. We never had any dishes prepared at our table. Special dishes were sometimes prepared in one set location in the club class section so if you were sitting next to that area I guess you could claim table side preparation. Sometimes the extra dish was just a main dish with a different sauce. Since we had a free upgrade to a suite, we used club class dining. But, I would never pay extra for it.

[seafish]

So far - our CC dining experience has been - 1st night we go to the designated CC dining venue - upon entry our names were checked off against a CC list - after which we were immediately seated - service & food quality excellent - evening specials were prepared at one CC dining room location - no actual "table side" food preparations. After the 1st night - we were always promptly & cheerfully greeted by the CC hostess by name - ushered to our same TF2 with the same wonderful wait staff. I must admit it was great to be able to by-pass that long ATD wait line and go directly to our CC table. For breakfast & lunch on a few sea/turnaround days we had to opt for another TF2 but never a problem. The only problem we saw over 14 days - a few demanding CC guests that obviously wanted to be seen & impress others entering the MDR with their CC status - (they) definitely were noticed.

[Cruiserkenn]

So far - our CC dining experience has been - 1st night we go to the designated CC dining venue - upon entry our names were checked off against a CC list - after which we were immediately seated - service & food quality excellent - evening specials were prepared at one CC dining room location - no actual "table side" food preparations. After the 1st night - we were always promptly & cheerfully greeted by the CC hostess by name - ushered to our same TF2 with the same wonderful wait staff. I must admit it was great to be able to by-pass that long ATD wait line and go directly to our CC table. For breakfast & lunch on a few sea/turnaround days we had to opt for another TF2 but never a problem. The only problem we saw over 14 days - a few demanding CC guests that obviously wanted to be seen & impress others entering the MDR with their CC status - (they) definitely were noticed.

h

Thanks, good to hear. What ship?

[Cruiserkenn]

We got off the Grand Princess last Thursday (October 5) and had the opposite experience.

 

We had Club Class and a mini-suite. We ever once waited for a table apart from perhaps 2 minutes once whilst they reset the table. We ate there every night apart from the night that we went to the Crowne Dining Room. Service was always very prompt. We had two sets of servers, depending on where we sat, but all of them knew our names and quickly remembered our drink preferences etc.

 

We usually ate continental breakfast on our balcony and alternated lunches between the dining room, the pizza place and the food served poolside. We only ate at the buffet twice.

 

Club Class isn't a necessity but it was nice never having to wait and having the flexibility to dine whenever we wanted to.

Thanks for this great report about the Grand. I have had nothing but good experiences on the Grand, otherwise. Thanks again😊

[seafish]

h

Thanks' date=' good to hear. What ship?[/quote']

 

Regal

[iceleven]

Are the daily "specials" ever posted on the outside menu? Is there any way to know what special item will be served on that day?

[NavyVeteran]

Are the daily "specials" ever posted on the outside menu? Is there any way to know what special item will be served on that day?

They are not posted. If you want to know in advance, then ask the headwaiter. He will tell you if he knows, but I'm not sure he always knows the day before.