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Mini suite and club class - perks and tips please


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On Princess, on our last cruise, we had "Club Class Dining" which we loved. Trouble is, the chances of getting it are limited, since they open up only a few of these each cruise, only a select few mini-suites and all full suites get it. In recent years we have always tried for a mini-suite. Personally, I don't think we book anymore unless we can get Club Class though. Only reason we got CC this time is because we booked our first full suite ever. We were on the Pacific Princess. Our full suite was an "Owners Suite" on deck 7, on the stern favoring the port side. No problem with vibration or shaft rumble.  
 
We were on for a month, same waiters every night. Due the full suite we got exclusive breakfasts in Sabatinit's, which really spoiled us. The dining room staff has to be on its toes with C.C. though. Some try to sneak in while others try to bring friends along that haven't paid for or are designated Club Class. More than once we saw them giving guests the old heave-ho.
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23 minutes ago, kennicott said:
Some try to sneak in while others try to bring friends along that haven't paid for or are designated Club Class. More than once we saw them giving guests the old heave-ho.

 

We saw the same. Some seem to feel rules don't apply to them.  :classic_rolleyes:

Also, someone ask if they could trade places with a couple one night -- they would have dinner in regular anytime and let their friends have dinner in CC.

The answer was no it was not allowed.  

 

 

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1 hour ago, kennicott said:
On Princess, on our last cruise, we had "Club Class Dining" which we loved. Trouble is, the chances of getting it are limited, since they open up only a few of these each cruise, only a select few mini-suites and all full suites get it. In recent years we have always tried for a mini-suite. Personally, I don't think we book anymore unless we can get Club Class though. Only reason we got CC this time is because we booked our first full suite ever. We were on the Pacific Princess. Our full suite was an "Owners Suite" on deck 7, on the stern favoring the port side. No problem with vibration or shaft rumble.  
 
We were on for a month, same waiters every night. Due the full suite we got exclusive breakfasts in Sabatinit's, which really spoiled us. The dining room staff has to be on its toes with C.C. though. Some try to sneak in while others try to bring friends along that haven't paid for or are designated Club Class. More than once we saw them giving guests the old heave-ho.

There are designated Mini suits that get the Club Class. The are usually designated with a number as apposed to a letter. On most, not all, of the older (Non-Royal) the MAs which were the Minis on the Dolphin deck center were converted to M-1s which are Club Class. I think the Royals have a M-6 as well as a M-1 Club Class minis (and maybe others), but locations are scattered.

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1 hour ago, Gorilla Girl said:

Attached is the Club Class Mini Suites Perks Flyer.  Hope this helps.  We have done many Princess Cruises in the mini suites and have enjoyed them.

ClubClass-eFlyer.pdf

 

Thanks, for the link. Here's what I said on a review: "We just completed our third voyage on the Pacific Princess. Almost three months total sailing on this vessel. But this one was different, in that we booked our first full suite after over 600 days of sailing and had Club Class Dining. By far our greatest cruise ever from a cabin and dining standpoint. Other aspects of the cruise were good to very good but the cabin and dining made this an excellent cruise experience overall. As before, we really liked the ship and the crew, from the Captain on down. The main dining room (MDR) folks are exceptional. The high point for us on our two previous cruises on the Pacific Princess is that the main dining room service and cuisine had restored our faith in the MDRs. However, this time the Club Class dining at dinner and lunch as well as the suite breakfasts every morning we received in the Sabatini's restaurant on deck 10, elevated this experience to an entirely new high for us. Between receiving this quality meal service and having an "Owners Suite" the voyage resembled a fantasy of high seas travel in the days of yore, which many can only dream of nowadays."

 

 

I had forgotten that we had "Priority specialty dining reservations". We talked about it once on the voyage and laughed, because the MDR Club Class was so good and we liked the wait staff so much it would have been a downer to do a specialty. And we do generally regard the Princess Specialties highly. Much better than Regent's specialties. Probably because Regent doesn't charge for theirs and they are always crammed, over taxing the wait staff and kitchen staff. You can only get a table for two once per voyage on Regent while on Princess we always get one. 

 

 

I was telling my wife last night about all the exchanges and posts taking place over HAL's forum due charging extra for a second entree. One Dude is a big Oceania promoter (Regent and Oceania are sister lines, Regent is the so called “luxury” one though), so was adamant that Oceania was so much better than HAL. Since we just completed this last voyage on the Pacific Princess and know exactly what we paid, I was able to cost out one comparable on Oceania's Regatta. Here is what I said:   "I just recently calculated expenses for a 28 day cruise in North America on the Oceania's Regatta in the exact same Owners Suite as we had on the Pacific Princess (Note: The Pacific Princess is the R-3 from the defunct Renaissance Cruises and the Regatta is the R-2). This Oceania cruise would run us $957.00 per day per person. Compare this to what we paid on Princess during a 29 day cruise a few months ago, $530.p.p. p.d. In addition, the Regatta charges are going to be even more as we get no free internet, plus we get 7 shore exclusions each on the Regatta but any more we take will be an additional charge. We do get a butler if we choose to use the Regatta. But been there done that, the Butler isn't worth it and we must pay for one like it or not on Oceania. In summary, Oceania costs us about  $1000. more per day for the same cabin and about the same cruise as we had on Princess or $28,000. more for the cruise. 
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2 hours ago, kennicott said:
Here is what I said:   "I just recently calculated expenses for a 28 day cruise in North America on the Oceania's Regatta in the exact same Owners Suite as we had on the Pacific Princess (Note: The Pacific Princess is the R-3 from the defunct Renaissance Cruises and the Regatta is the R-2). This Oceania cruise would run us $957.00 per day per person. Compare this to what we paid on Princess during a 29 day cruise a few months ago, $530.p.p. p.d. In addition, the Regatta charges are going to be even more as we get no free internet, plus we get 7 shore exclusions each on the Regatta but any more we take will be an additional charge. We do get a butler if we choose to use the Regatta. But been there done that, the Butler isn't worth it and we must pay for one like it or not on Oceania. In summary, Oceania costs us about  $1000. more per day for the same cabin and about the same cruise as we had on Princess or $28,000. more for the cruise. 

Well, I wouldn't call it exactly the same. When Oceania bought the Ocean Princess in 2016, they spent over $60 million to bring it up to their standards. That ship, of course, is now called Sirena. We cruised this past summer in an aft-facing A1 cabin on the Nautica, another one of O's R class ships, and one of the Owner Suites was next to us. On transition day, as we were on a 32 day cruise, we peeked in and, wow, that's one nice cabin! But definitely too ritsey for our pockets! But if the OS on the Pacific is even close to being that nice, then you definitely got a great deal at $530 pp/day.

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11 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

But definitely too ritsey for our pockets! But if the OS on the Pacific is even close to being that nice, then you definitely got a great deal at $530 pp/day.

Here it is. So large that I can't get much into a single shot. We were on the Seven Seas Mariner just before the Princess voyage. FDR did put a lot of resources into refurbishing that one, I have to admit. But there is tendency to exaggerate the on board ambiences of these luxury lines, in my opinion.  Actually, Princess has put some money into the Pacific over the last couple of years as well, which hopefully means Princess might keep it a while longer.  

2018---Pacific Princess  Meditteranean and TA 668.JPG

2018---Pacific Princess  Meditteranean and TA 672.JPG

2018---Pacific Princess  Meditteranean and TA 673.JPG

2018---Pacific Princess  Meditteranean and TA 670.JPG

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11 hours ago, mthomp5 said:

Regarding the two half bottles of wine they give with the Club Class Mini’s, are we allowed to bring those into the MDR?  Or are they to be enjoyed only in the cabin?

 

Assume yes.  I noticed a couple with their bottles of CC wine drinking them in CC Dining.  

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