Club Class dining was excellent

[moki'smommy]

We are just off the Caribbean Princess 10 night partial Panama transit, and the title says it all. The club class dining was excellent. There was often an "extra item" at lunch, and always one or two at dinner. At dinner, about half were pasta based while at least 3 were beef and one was seafood. There were some special appetizers and deserts, but always a main dish. Each dish that anyone at the table tried got great reviews from that person.

 

In addition, the crew was just plain fun. The head server did whatever necessary to make things happen smoothly--no job was too big or too small for him. He truly backed up his team, the way things are supposed to work. The individual servers and assistants were great. By the second day they recognized us if we walked by the area. Marvin pretended to be sad that we didn't have breakfast with him, but admitted that "upstairs is better," meaning Sabatini's. We once had a wait of maybe 5 minutes for a table. That's not a complaint, just a statement of fact.

 

The food and the service was among the best I've had on any line.

[meatloafsfan]

I'm glad to hear it's still wonderful.

 

We had Mirelle as our head server in Club Class (and then our servers were Wilson and Dragon).

 

Our extra dishes were much heavier on the seafood with a few pastas and an occasional beef dish. Did they offer the Nachos at lunch (if you noticed)?

[DrivesLikeMario]

Interesting. We have Club Class for an upcoming cruise not because we wanted it, but because it came with the category of cabin we'll be in. We'll have to give the dining a try for a change.

[moki'smommy]

I'm glad to hear it's still wonderful.

 

We had Mirelle as our head server in Club Class (and then our servers were Wilson and Dragon).

 

Our extra dishes were much heavier on the seafood with a few pastas and an occasional beef dish. Did they offer the Nachos at lunch (if you noticed)?

Yes, on a 10 day cruise we had nachos at lunch twice.

 

At dinner, we had filet mignon twice, steak diane at least once, a seafood medley once, and several pasta creations. They also offered to alter the spices or whatever if desired, but brought this up after I'd ordered something else. I had chosen to not order the "spicy pasta." There was a Greek salad, another specialty salad, cherries jubilee, and a couple other deserts.

[aknursemom]

Thank you for the information on Club class dining!

[OCruisers]

Just adding ..... We very much enjoyed Club Class Dining on Caribbean Princess in January! (y)

[jondfk]

I'm glad to hear it's still wonderful.

 

We had Mirelle as our head server in Club Class (and then our servers were Wilson and Dragon).

 

Our extra dishes were much heavier on the seafood with a few pastas and an occasional beef dish. Did they offer the Nachos at lunch (if you noticed)?

 

We did the transatlantic on CB in September.

 

Wilson was indeed great, even better was Alex!

 

Jon

[Woobstr112G]

OP;

Glad you enjoyed Club Class dining. I,m looking forward to trying it.....:):):)

Bob

[Lucky TGO]

Thanks for sharing glad you enjoyed Club Class. :)

Tony

[Go-Bucks!]

We enjoyed it. More attentive service.

[donswife]

That is great to hear. We are booked on the similar itinerary on the CB in October, and we will have club class dining.

[decamp303]

Have Club Class on Royal in May. Is Club Class MDR food as amazing on her as well?

[moki'smommy]

Have Club Class on Royal in May. Is Club Class MDR food as amazing on her as well?

The Club Class menu is the regular menu plus one or two additional items at each dinner--typically one main and one either appetizer or desert. We found the regular menu to be good, but we ordered several of the CC entrees. On at least one occasion, the same steak was listed on CC and regular menus, but we were told that the CC was better quality.

 

If you are asking about Royal vs Caribbean Club Class, I can't answer that part.

[AusQueen]

Truly looking forward to this. I am glad to hear it is worth the upgrade from the Mini Suites.

[decamp303]

The Club Class menu is the regular menu plus one or two additional items at each dinner--typically one main and one either appetizer or desert. We found the regular menu to be good' date=' but we ordered several of the CC entrees. On at least one occasion, the same steak was listed on CC and regular menus, but we were told that the CC was better quality.

 

If you are asking about Royal vs Caribbean Club Class, I can't answer that part.[/quote']

 

Thanks. We are in a suite on the Royal Princess to the Britsh Isles. We did the Regal to the Baltic two years ago and the MDR dining was the lo-light of the cruise so excited about the Club Class dining this time.

[moki'smommy]

Truly looking forward to this. I am glad to hear it is worth the upgrade from the Mini Suites.

"Worth it" is something that each individual has to decide for themselves. This was our first time in a suite, so the cost was part of the suite experience.

 

You might want to price the difference between a suite and a club class mini suite--it might work to your benefit.

Re below, I've never done Aqua Class on Celebrity, so can't comment on that comparison. On Celebrity, the Aqua Class is actually in a separate dining room with a completely different menu (as I understand it.)

Edited April 13, 2018 by moki'smommy

[stevenr597]

It seem that Club Class, like Aqua Class on Celebrity, is a return to the golden age of cruising when in addition to great food, one can look forward to great service. Have booked C.C. on Regal Princess in July, and looking forward to comparing it to Aqua Class on Celebrity.

[RMMariner]

You get what you pay for. CC should be better than the regular dining. I am glad to hear it is. I still have 6 kids to get through university, but when they are all gone, I hope to have enough money to upgrade my experience as well. For now I am just happy to go on a cruise once in a while.

 

I think it is great that Princess is offering alternatives.

[reedprincess]

It seem that Club Class, like Aqua Class on Celebrity, is a return to the golden age of cruising when in addition to great food, one can look forward to great service. Have booked C.C. on Regal Princess in July, and looking forward to comparing it to Aqua Class on Celebrity.

It's not comparable to Aqua Class. Away class dining, Blu, is a completely separate dining room, with totally different decor, totally different menu, etc

Club Class is a small section of MDR, different linens, and as .owed above, same menu wirh a couple additions each night, that vary depending on chef and maitr'de. . There's also no access to Thermal Suite (unlike access to Persian Gardens in Aqua Class), etc. Club Class can be a good addition to Princess, just don't go expecting an Aqua Class experience .

[helencruising]

Thank you for posting your thoughts.

[chisoxfan]

It's not comparable to Aqua Class. Away class dining, Blu, is a completely separate dining room, with totally different decor, totally different menu, etc

Club Class is a small section of MDR, different linens, and as .owed above, same menu wirh a couple additions each night, that vary depending on chef and maitr'de. . There's also no access to Thermal Suite (unlike access to Persian Gardens in Aqua Class), etc. Club Class can be a good addition to Princess, just don't go expecting an Aqua Class experience .

 

I have to agree with these comments. We were recently in AQ on Equinox and had a most enjoyable experience dining in dedicated Blu. Underwhelmed with dining on CB Canal cruise and were often seated within close proximity of CC dining. Don't understand how their dining experience could be that much better than what we 'enjoyed'.

[moki'smommy]

I have to agree with these comments. We were recently in AQ on Equinox and had a most enjoyable experience dining in dedicated Blu. Underwhelmed with dining on CB Canal cruise and were often seated within close proximity of CC dining. Don't understand how their dining experience could be that much better than what we 'enjoyed'.

This was our first time in CC. The differences are actually impressive. First is that there is at least one "main" that is for CC only, in addition to anything on the menu. There were also special appetizers and desserts. These were uniformly excellent in quality. Next is the service. I've previously found service on Princess to be adequate but nothing special. The service in CC rivaled anything I've seen on any other line, including lines that cost a lot more than Princess. Not only was it totally efficient, but these guys were friendly and fun. My previous experience was that we went to dinner because it was dinner time; on this cruise we actually looked forward to going to dinner. Bottom line---we found it to be a significant improvement over our past Princess dining experiences. There was nothing wrong with the previous, but this was better. In fairness, I did not "choose" CC dining--it was one of the perks of a suite (also first time for that). I'm guessing that you also got Aqua Class as a suite benefit.

 

It was also my first experience with any time dining. We had to wait maybe 5 minutes on one night, otherwise no wait at all. That one small wait was easy to explain--it was a port day and basically we got back to the ship, showered, dressed, and went to dinner. My guess is that everyone else had the same idea. And I certainly don't object to a 5 minute wait.

[Justprettynpink]

Is Club Class available for lunch on embarkment day?

 

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[moki'smommy]

Is Club Class available for lunch on embarkment day?

 

Sent from my SM-G955U using Forums mobile app

Yes, and all sea days as well.

[reedprincess]

This was our first time in CC. The differences are actually impressive. First is that there is at least one "main" that is for CC only' date=' in addition to anything on the menu. There were also special appetizers and desserts. These were uniformly excellent in quality. Next is the service. I've previously found service on Princess to be adequate but nothing special. The service in CC rivaled anything I've seen on any other line, including lines that cost a lot more than Princess. Not only was it totally efficient, but these guys were friendly and fun. My previous experience was that we went to dinner because it was dinner time; on this cruise we actually looked forward to going to dinner. Bottom line---we found it to be a significant improvement over our past Princess dining experiences. There was nothing wrong with the previous, but this was better. In fairness, I did not "choose" CC dining--it was one of the perks of a suite (also first time for that). I'm guessing that you also got Aqua Class as a suite benefit.

 

It was also my first experience with any time dining. We had to wait maybe 5 minutes on one night, otherwise no wait at all. That one small wait was easy to explain--it was a port day and basically we got back to the ship, showered, dressed, and went to dinner. My guess is that everyone else had the same idea. And I certainly don't object to a 5 minute wait.[/quote']

FWIW - Aqua Class is not a suite thing on Celebrity. Suites have Luminae, which is also a compelling different dining room, with very different dining options from the MDR. Almost all cooked to order, specialty items, etc. All anytime dining also.

Aqua Class is a specific class of stateroom that has special perks attached .including things in cabin and the dining room Blu and Persian Garden access (similar to Thermal Suite access for suites on Princess).

It's unfortunate you've had such lackluster service in Princess in the past. We've always had lovely experience, friendly staff, prompt and efficient service, etc. Often were amongst the last out of the dining room as our table is enjoying ourselves so much (late seating), and very often the maitre'des hAve gone above and beyond with special appetizers for out table or additional flambees or such wending the in dining room cooking (cherries jubilee or bananas foster or such - once had a maitr'de that flambeed took my hubby's fruit plate and flamed it up, etc - it was fun!)

When we've dine anytime dining, waits have never been more than 5-10 minutes tops, but then we eat late.

We look forward to trying Club Class , but the price will definitely have to be right as often the difference is so much that we could eat in the specialty restaurants each night and still have $$ left over . It will likely be next time we book a suite, which we do periodically...

Very glass you did have such a lovely experience , happy sails wherever they may take you...