Questions for the "Suite Life" dwellers - thinking of booking our first

[mellon1]

Thanks to all who have posted..:D

 

Not sure if it is worth the extra money to us at this time, as we are not 'foodies' - but certainly enjoy a nice meal - and that seems to be a major part with Club class, Sabatini's for breakfast, full menu available for room service

 

we also enjoy being out on the ship, people watching, and not in our room

 

still,that nice shower...;p

 

We have stayed in a suite for years, doing multiple B2Bs. After last year, things were cut back. We are elite so we get the free laundry and mini bar set up. We never ordered dinners or lunches from dining room in our room. Club Class seemed to be lengthy and not a quick in and out...but service was wonderful...nothing different that everyone else in dining room got.

 

We have no decided to do just a balcony. Based on dollars spent we could not justify the extra cost.

 

Yes, the shower is excellent and the extra room; however, hubby and I discussed and how long are you actually in the shower or room??? Not much to be truthful. Not to pay for the extra costs.

 

The very best is Sabatini for breakfast. The staff is the very best. However, you can go to dining room and get the same food.

 

Just our opinion. Prices have gone up so much in suites. We just can't justify.

[compozer]

Unless you're sailing in Asia, i believe, the only smoking in bars is the smoking lounge.

 

 

I said we started booking suites so we did not have to go to smoky bars. that was many years ago.

[geoherb]

Passengers in suites are supposed to get same-day laundry service if it's picked up by the cabin steward early in the morning. Our cabin steward never picked ours up before 9 a.m., so we got it back the next day. It's unacceptable for it to take longer than that if you're in a suite.

[Coffeeluvr05]

We have only had a window suite, but loved it! It was the best cruise ever! I need time alone away from people and our beautiful window suite was such a nice retreat when I needed some quiet away from people. I loved the free same day laundry. Went home with very little laundry to do. Breakfast in Sabatini’s was divine! Mimosas, fresh squeezed orange juice, cappuccino...the choices were tough. Club class dining was great and the head waiter I will never forget. It was his joy to make each passenger feel special. We had the beverage package so we didn’t really drink any of the mini bar stuff. I took home all of the little bottles of liquor and gave them to my dad for his travel bar. I loved having a nice big bathroom that we could both fit in while getting ready. Suites won’t always be doable for us though. We do have one on our next cruise but it takes a bit to save for that extravagance! If you can, I recommend trying it at least once!

 

 

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[XBGuy]

We have only had a window suite, but loved it! It was the best cruise ever! I need time alone away from people and our beautiful window suite was such a nice retreat when I needed some quiet away from people. I loved the free same day laundry. Went home with very little laundry to do. Breakfast in Sabatini’s was divine! Mimosas, fresh squeezed orange juice, cappuccino...the choices were tough. Club class dining was great and the head waiter I will never forget. It was his joy to make each passenger feel special. We had the beverage package so we didn’t really drink any of the mini bar stuff. I took home all of the little bottles of liquor and gave them to my dad for his travel bar. I loved having a nice big bathroom that we could both fit in while getting ready. Suites won’t always be doable for us though. We do have one on our next cruise but it takes a bit to save for that extravagance! If you can, I recommend trying it at least once!

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What was his name? I sure hope you gave him a shout-out to Princess.

 

That is exactly what every headwaiter should do. He should treat diners as honored guests. He should greet them enthusiastically. He should visit them during their dinner. He should thank them and wish them a good evening/day as they are leaving. He should jump in and assist his staff whenever he sees he can be helpful. He should demand the same level of professionalism and hospitality from his entire staff.

 

(If appropriate, replace the word "he" with "she" in the above paragraph.)

 

I have met such headwaiters on Princess ships, but, sadly, many of them do not strive to reach this level.

[Coffeeluvr05]

What was his name? I sure hope you gave him a shout-out to Princess.

 

That is exactly what every headwaiter should do. He should treat diners as honored guests. He should greet them enthusiastically. He should visit them during their dinner. He should thank them and wish them a good evening/day as they are leaving. He should jump in and assist his staff whenever he sees he can be helpful. He should demand the same level of professionalism and hospitality from his entire staff.

 

(If appropriate, replace the word "he" with "she" in the above paragraph.)

 

I have met such headwaiters on Princess ships, but, sadly, many of them do not strive to reach this level.

 

It was Nelson on the Caribbean Princess. Such a warm, kind gentleman!

[Hazegreyunderway]

We booked our first one for our most recent cruise. OMG ... now we are spoiled. Unfortunately, we will probably will never have one again as it doesn't fit into our budget.

 

We didn't use nearly the number of amenities that others did .... never ate in our cabin, never used the laundry, had the beverage package so didn't use the mini-bar, never checked out the DVD's ... but what we did was take advantage of the morning breakfast in the Crown Grill, every day and just loved the Club Class dining. It was worth every bit of booking the suite.

 

I have several more sailings booked, a couple in oceanview and a couple in regular balconies. It's going to be tough now that we know how sweet the suite life is. :D

 

 

 

We know that you mean. We lucked out and had the opportunity to book a Grand suite to Mexico. Talk about spoiled!

We barely left the room. It was such a wonderful experience.

Suite life!

 

 

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[LSGDRG]

The main reason my husband and I book a suite is for the space provided. We spend a lot of time in our cabin and on our balcony. Having the larger balcony and bathroom make the cruise much more pleasant. We don't feel as cramped. We are less likely to disturb one another if one of us wants to sleep in or nap. Also, with a larger balcony, we don't feel the need to book the Sanctuary.

[justafem]

Our Sept cruise is our third time in a suite. First cruise was an upsell (cheap), second was because we had a third in the room (cheaper than 2 insides) this time we'll have 4 in our room (much cheaper than 2 insides!) WS for us, as the price is less than a mini and all the suite benefits.

 

We're not elite (yet), but those double cruise credits add up fast.

 

I really adore the champagne breakfast, the staff goes out of their way to make us feel special. On the first day, I ask for a bowl of berries, a (small) plate of bacon and a glass of whole milk, then every day from that point forward those items are waiting for me.

 

A small "secret" on the suite breakfast: If an item you want isn't on the menu, you can get it, no argument, no fuss, if it's on the ship. Hubby learned the hard way, when he asked for cream. It was real cream, the kind that you can stand a fork in, rich and creamy and way too much for his coffee! Lesson learned, he now asks for milk.

 

There's also the specialty dining the first night, can't forget that perk. I am looking so forward to that molten lava cake that I can't seem to find in the real world. Make it 2 please! Can I please have a case of them to take home?

 

There's a special line at the pursers desk that's just for elites and suites. The regular line can wrap around almost to the dining room, but the much shorter line goes so fast, which is great because our oldest daughter (35 next cruise) continually demagnetizes her cruise card.

 

Another things I've noticed is the steward is better in the suites. Unobtrusive, but available at a moments notice. Maybe it's because they have less rooms (granted they are larger rooms), or because only their best are assigned suites. I don't know, but I appreciate them.

 

Club class dining, what can I say, personalized, fun and always the same servers (at least for our cruise), who get to know your preferences, it's like traditional dining without the fussiness or being locked into a specific time. It seems like dinner is more leisurely, better waitstaff, better food, they even gave us the same window table every night, which we appreciated.

 

Some ships have thermal suites, which is included for the entire sailing while in a suite. There have been some pax that have stated they didn't receive the perk for the entire cruise, but a quick discussion with the hotel manager would clear that up. It states in the suite benefits that it's part of the suite experience.

 

Don't get me wrong, I'm just happy to be on a ship, any ship, any itinerary. Most of our cruises have been obstructed and I'll take it. Heck, I'd sleep in a crews closet if that was available and within the budget.

[getting older slowly]

Suite life is good, but an a port every day cruise, I am not sure, we love sea days, and use our suite a lot during the day as well as the balcony. we do it for the room, and have always been picky over rooms in hotels, and holiday accommodation, so it is the same with a cruise..

 

Also with so many people it is nice to have one own private space to enjoy. along with the perks.

 

we are about to do our forth suite cruise, and I don't think there is any going back now.

 

Cheers and enjoy your suite Don

[Gayle3176]

My husband and I have been fortunate to sail in a suite a couple of times in the past and have a suite reserved for an upcoming SA cruise, but I have a question. I've seen people mention being able to order room service off of the MDR menu. We never been informed of this perk in the past, but would like to take advantage of it for at least one breakfast during our next cruise. Do we simply ask our room attendant for the MDR menu? Do we get a special tag to hang on our door the next before as is done for normal room service? Thanks.

[XBGuy]

My husband and I have been fortunate to sail in a suite a couple of times in the past and have a suite reserved for an upcoming SA cruise, but I have a question. I've seen people mention being able to order room service off of the MDR menu. We never been informed of this perk in the past, but would like to take advantage of it for at least one breakfast during our next cruise. Do we simply ask our room attendant for the MDR menu? Do we get a special tag to hang on our door the next before as is done for normal room service? Thanks.

 

Many have reported that they have asked their room steward to bring them the dining room menu every day. What I did was take my wife's iPad down to one of the dining rooms where the menus are posted after lunch and snap a couple pics.

 

Now, here is my gripe. We called in our order, at the end we were told it would be about 45 minutes. If they had just stopped there, it would have been fine. I am very OK with 45 minute delivery estimate. However, the telephone order taker added, "because we have to pick it up in the dining room."

 

I did not need that information. It sounds like them having to go to the dining room is a problem of my causing. So, now I'm a bit miffed.

 

It now becomes more irritating.

 

Almost exactly 45 minutes later, there is a knock on the door. Excellent. Here is our meal.

 

Wrong. It is the room steward (actually, stewardess). She wants to know if we are needing turn-down service. "No, thank you, very much, we are dining in, tonight."

 

45 minutes later, still, no dinner. So, we call room service.

 

"You haven't received your dinner, yet? Please hold."

 

Holding.

 

She comes back on the line. "You haven't received anything?"

 

You make partial deliveries????? "No, we haven't received anything."

 

"One second, please."

 

"We'll send somebody over to the dining room and bring your order to you as soon as possible."

 

Again, I am reminded that I am causing them hardship because they have to go to the dining room to pick up my order.

 

30 minutes later, there is a knock on the door. It is our dinner--2-1/2 hours after the initial call.

 

Now, I understand that sometimes things fall through the cracks. Here I am living a pretty fat life in a fancy suite. I have no right to get upset about a human mistake. The part that bugged my, and about which I did complain to Princess, was the multiple comments about them having to go to the dining room to pick up my order. That is not my problem, but they sure seem to want to make it my problem.

[Hobbes67]

We just got off the Golden 2 weeks, and had a window suite. Loved the breakfast in the Crown Grill and dinner in Club Class. Mostly loved how quiet it was and easy to get in and out of. Food was also very good. On the bad side, we did not get flowers on formal night nor were they offered. No champagne on Sail Away. No fruit in our room for 2 days and then our guy just happen to mention, hey do you want any fruit? Laundry was always second day, never same day. My daughter had the suite next door and when she asked for her husbands jacket to be pressed and back for the next day she was charged for it and was told because they got it late the day before. We are elite so I was going to change out our bar service for coffee cards, but they said they would just put the coffee cards (4) on our account for this cruise only. How could you use 4 coffee cards in a week. Since we had Sip and Sail we did not need the coffee cards either so we left the drinks in the cabin when we disembarked. Drank a few waters. I was hoping to get a survey when we got home as we had often gotten in the past, but one did not arrive. I contacted customer service to ask about it and have not heard back from them. So surprised! We have been on 24 cruises and have 2 more booked. Might start looking a other cruise lines to see what they are like.

[Jimbo]

All this talk about how nice it is and not even one person has shared a picture.

 

 

Jimbo:)

[geoherb]

Having to wait two and a half hours for dinner is unacceptable. You should have called sooner instead of waiting 45 minutes after it was promised.

 

The only time we ordered off the dining room menu was the last morning of our cruise, when Sabatini's was closed. It came on time. We had saved our half bottle of champagne to have our mimosas. Breakfast at Sabatini's was the suite perk I missed the most when we went back to being regular passengers.

[moki'smommy]

We just got off the Golden 2 weeks, and had a window suite. Loved the breakfast in the Crown Grill and dinner in Club Class. Mostly loved how quiet it was and easy to get in and out of. Food was also very good. On the bad side, we did not get flowers on formal night nor were they offered. No champagne on Sail Away. No fruit in our room for 2 days and then our guy just happen to mention, hey do you want any fruit? Laundry was always second day, never same day. My daughter had the suite next door and when she asked for her husbands jacket to be pressed and back for the next day she was charged for it and was told because they got it late the day before. We are elite so I was going to change out our bar service for coffee cards, but they said they would just put the coffee cards (4) on our account for this cruise only. How could you use 4 coffee cards in a week. Since we had Sip and Sail we did not need the coffee cards either so we left the drinks in the cabin when we disembarked. Drank a few waters. I was hoping to get a survey when we got home as we had often gotten in the past, but one did not arrive. I contacted customer service to ask about it and have not heard back from them. So surprised! We have been on 24 cruises and have 2 more booked. Might start looking a other cruise lines to see what they are like.

We had a window suite on the Caribbean Princess in April, and the things you described were not our situation. We did have a "forgetful" steward and I had to ask for things--laundry bag, embarkation letter, etc. We did get fruit in the room at embarkation, an orchid on the counter in the room and carnations in the bathroom. There were no formal night flowers; I didn't know that was a thing. We got embarkation canapes and later profitteroles without ordering either. Laundry was "next day." We did trade our mini bar for two unmarked coffee cards, but this was April before the electronic system started.

 

Your breakfast was in Crown Grill? Is there not a Sabatini's, or is CG the standard place on the Golden? I'm asking because we have a window suite on the Golden later this year. It sounds like there were a couple of serious gaps in your service.

[Host CJSKIDS]

We had a window suite on the Caribbean Princess in April' date=' and the things you described were not our situation. We did have a "forgetful" steward and I had to ask for things--laundry bag, embarkation letter, etc. We did get fruit in the room at embarkation, an orchid on the counter in the room and carnations in the bathroom. There were no formal night flowers; I didn't know that was a thing. We got embarkation canapes and later profitteroles without ordering either. Laundry was "next day." We did trade our mini bar for two unmarked coffee cards, but this was April before the electronic system started.

 

Your breakfast was in Crown Grill? Is there not a Sabatini's, or is CG the standard place on the Golden? I'm asking because we have a window suite on the Golden later this year. It sounds like there were a couple of serious gaps in your service.[/quote']

 

They used to give boutonnière type flowers on formal nights. That went away years ago. I can’t remember the last time we got them.

There used to also be an arrangement in the suite and that also changed to the orchid. Makes it that they don’t have to freshen them up often.

[Debbdo]

All this talk about how nice it is and not even one person has shared a picture.

 

 

Jimbo:)

 

 

 

Our suite on the Coral Princess.

[Hobbes67]

We had a window suite on the Caribbean Princess in April' date=' and the things you described were not our situation. We did have a "forgetful" steward and I had to ask for things--laundry bag, embarkation letter, etc. We did get fruit in the room at embarkation, an orchid on the counter in the room and carnations in the bathroom. There were no formal night flowers; I didn't know that was a thing. We got embarkation canapes and later profitteroles without ordering either. Laundry was "next day." We did trade our mini bar for two unmarked coffee cards, but this was April before the electronic system started.

 

Your breakfast was in Crown Grill? Is there not a Sabatini's, or is CG the standard place on the Golden? I'm asking because we have a window suite on the Golden later this year. It sounds like there were a couple of serious gaps in your service.[/quote']

 

Yes, on the Golden the breakfast is in the Crown even though they do have a Sabatini's. Since you are in a window suite you will love it as it is very near the suite. Food and service was great! No coffee cards so you will want to take any old ones you have and see if they will use them.

[moki'smommy]

Yes, on the Golden the breakfast is in the Crown even though they do have a Sabatini's. Since you are in a window suite you will love it as it is very near the suite. Food and service was great! No coffee cards so you will want to take any old ones you have and see if they will use them.

Thanks! Never been on the Golden before....and I'm one of those people who likes to have their ducks in a row well in advance. Breakfast in CG is even more convenient than Sabatini's!

[caribill]

The part that bugged my, and about which I did complain to Princess, was the multiple comments about them having to go to the dining room to pick up my order.

 

Well, when you order from the dining room menu, that is where the food needs to come from.

[caribill]

We are elite so I was going to change out our bar service for coffee cards, but they said they would just put the coffee cards (4) on our account for this cruise only. How could you use 4 coffee cards in a week. Since we had Sip and Sail we did not need the coffee cards either so we left the drinks in the cabin when we disembarked.

 

As you are probably aware by now, Princess no longer has physical coffee cards and instead puts them onto your onboard account. So, whether you need them on your cruise card or not, that is the way the trade is made these days.

[Jimbo]

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Our suite on the Coral Princess.

 

Thanks for the Pictures, very nice!

 

Jimbo:)

[Gayle3176]

Thanks to those that answered my question regarding ordering room service from the MDR menu. We were hoping to take advantage of the breakfast menu on one or two mornings as we have early morning 'scenic cruising' and thought it would be nice to simply have breakfast in our cabin, so we didn't miss anything. Maybe we'll give it a try one morning and see how it goes. Thanks again.

[Mapu]

Thanks to those that answered my question regarding ordering room service from the MDR menu. We were hoping to take advantage of the breakfast menu on one or two mornings as we have early morning 'scenic cruising' and thought it would be nice to simply have breakfast in our cabin, so we didn't miss anything. Maybe we'll give it a try one morning and see how it goes. Thanks again.

The suites also come with an Ultimate Balcony Breakfast, so you might want to schedule it for one of those mornings.