Star princess Mini suite New to Princess.

[welshfamily]

We are a family of 4 adults, two of which work in Education and therefore are limited to cruising to the UK’s six week summer holidays ( 18th July /29th August). We are parents and two adult children ( brother and sister ) so they need a decent sized cabin.

we have cruised originally with Celebrity and for the past 8 years Azamara and Oceania. 

We have seen a cruise out of San Francisco. The Star Princess. 

We are looking at the mini suite’s (due to size ) and have stumbled across Club Class. 

Could anyone with experience of these categories please let us know your opinions. 

If anyone things mini suites are a waste of money please be honest. 

Thank you in advance

 

 

[skynight]

Four passengers in a mini. There is a queen sized bed which can be split into two twins. The third berth is the convertible sofa. The 4th berth is a bunk that lowers from the ceiling. The bathroom is a little larger with a tub/shower combination. Make sure your cabin handles 4 with this configuration and not with a roll away.

Club Class means that all passengers in the cabin will be able to use Club Class dining. Passengers in non Club Class Cabins can not dine in Club Class dining. For example, if your children are in a different cabin they would not be able to join you in Club Class. Club Class dining is anytime dining, serving breakfast and dinner each day and lunch on sea days. Walk in any time the DR is open and you should be seated fairly promptly. It is a section of the deck 6 mid ship DR. The menu is the same as the other DR's except there is an additional menu item. Service is greatly improved over regular seating.

With two adult children you may wish to consider a standard balcony cabin with an interior for the children across the hall or nearby.  

The Star is an older ship, 2002, with nice design. Expect some things that are not bright and shinny. It is scheduled to leave the fleet in October 2021, being transferred to P&O Australia.

Princess is a mainstream cruise line, not a luxury line like Azamara and Oceania. Expect differences, especially in the food area.

 

[riffatsea]

Hi,

Since you are used to the even more expensive Oceania and Azamara, you may want to consider booking a full suite instead of a mini suite.

The full suite will have a 2nd toilet and will get you some extra perks like a special breakfast restaurant and some other things. It also has club class dining which is a smaller area within the MDR where you walk in and are seated right away with wait staff that will get to know you.

There are some extra dishes offered that are not on the regular MDR menu .

On our first Princess cruise we started out with a mini but then upgraded to a full suite and now that's what we book.

https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/ships/PrincessSuite_eFlyer.pdf

Edited January 14, 2020 by riffatsea

[TNTLAMB]

The best way to describe a mini-suite is a budget motel room similar to  Red Roof Innor cComfort Inn Club Class dining gets you anytime dining without waiting. The difference in price isn't worth it for 4 depending on the "sale" at the time. You can prolly score two standard cabins or a suite cheaper  and be a lot more comfortable. 

Edited January 14, 2020 by TNTLAMB

[Daniel A]

Our first cruise was in a mini on Star.  We loved it and DW never wants anything else (with the exception of the Royal Class Ships.)  Four in the mini is certainly packing it in but doable for a short cruise.  I wouldn't trade for a regular balcony as it is slightly smaller but more importantly they only have one desk chair to sit in.  The other three occupants would need to sit on the bed...  I never thought spending money on Club Class was worth it.  Those minis are the exact same size as the rest, but they are charging more for them because of their location in the center of the ship.  (Less ship movement and close proximity to central elevators and stairwell.)  You also would get minor perks in MDR that do not justify the extra cost for us.  We would rather save the money by booking a standard mini and use the savings for a couple of specialty dinners.

[Colo Cruiser]

5 hours ago, welshfamily said:

We are a family of 4 adults, two of which work in Education and therefore are limited to cruising to the UK’s six week summer holidays ( 18th July /29th August). We are parents and two adult children ( brother and sister ) so they need a decent sized cabin.

we have cruised originally with Celebrity and for the past 8 years Azamara and Oceania. 

We have seen a cruise out of San Francisco. The Star Princess. 

We are looking at the mini suite’s (due to size ) and have stumbled across Club Class. 

Could anyone with experience of these categories please let us know your opinions. 

If anyone things mini suites are a waste of money please be honest. 

Thank you in advance

 

 

To sum it up the category Mini Suite should NOT have the word suite in it.

A tad bigger balcony cabin with a bathtub/sofa.

It will be crowded with 4 adults.

 

You would be better to book 2 cabins.

[welshfamily]

Gosh sorry.

We would have two separate mini suites. One for us and one for the kids.

Its an Alaska cruise. Balcony space is important to enable us to enjoy the views. 

Hadn’t thought of one of the larger suites as we find having a butler unnecessary.   

The midship location is important as the trip across the Pacific could be rough ( is it ?we have no idea). Saying that I was the one of the only people still eating whilst an Azamara ship went through the South China seas last December ,it was a bit like being in a washing machine but my husband really didn’t enjoy the rough sea.

Not so bothered about having a separate bit of the MDR. Is it awkward?  Use to cruises were everyone is the same out of the cabin. 

[Colo Cruiser]

11 minutes ago, welshfamily said:

Gosh sorry.

We would have two separate mini suites. One for us and one for the kids.

Its an Alaska cruise. Balcony space is important to enable us to enjoy the views. 

Hadn’t thought of one of the larger suites as we find having a butler unnecessary.   

The midship location is important as the trip across the Pacific could be rough ( is it ?we have no idea). Saying that I was the one of the only people still eating whilst an Azamara ship went through the South China seas last December ,it was a bit like being in a washing machine but my husband really didn’t enjoy the rough sea.

Not so bothered about having a separate bit of the MDR. Is it awkward?  Use to cruises were everyone is the same out of the cabin. 

Brilliant!!  

That would be much more comfortable!

Club Class is a nice addition.

Walk into the DR anytime during dining hours and be seated right away.

One suggestion is try and book 2 together on Emerald deck (however these are not mid ship) and not Club Class.

The balcony is completely covered.

All others on Dolphin deck are completely open and not a good idea if there is any bad weather. Also protection from the sun.

[Daniel A]

22 minutes ago, welshfamily said:

Gosh sorry.

We would have two separate mini suites. One for us and one for the kids.

Its an Alaska cruise. Balcony space is important to enable us to enjoy the views. 

Hadn’t thought of one of the larger suites as we find having a butler unnecessary.   

The midship location is important as the trip across the Pacific could be rough ( is it ?we have no idea). Saying that I was the one of the only people still eating whilst an Azamara ship went through the South China seas last December ,it was a bit like being in a washing machine but my husband really didn’t enjoy the rough sea.

Not so bothered about having a separate bit of the MDR. Is it awkward?  Use to cruises were everyone is the same out of the cabin. 

We have a 28 day cruise on the Star in 2021.  Because we were booking so early, I was able to get us a standard mini right next to a Club Class for a lot less money.  But we are still close to the center of the ship.

[skynight]

"Hadn’t thought of one of the larger suites as we find having a butler unnecessary."

No butler service on Princess in any cabin. Ever think about a family suite? They are really like two minis connected. There are only two of them on the Star.

[Colo Cruiser]

9 minutes ago, skynight said:

"Hadn’t thought of one of the larger suites as we find having a butler unnecessary."

No butler service on Princess in any cabin. Ever think about a family suite? They are really like two minis connected. There are only two of them on the Star.

XS Family suite is a Quad inside connected to a mini.

Only issue it is all the way forward and the unprotected balcony gets really windy.

 

https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/ships/products/staterooms/family-suite.html

[Daniel A]

Another option would be to look for a mini-suite next to a balcony cabin and ask the steward to open the balcony divider between the two staterooms.

[riffatsea]

Did you look at the info I posted about what suites get for extra perks on Princess??

There's no butler involved just some special extras.

2 mini suites is a different story.

We like mid ship locations so that's why we originally booked the Club Class mini which was mid ship.

We just thought that the full suite perks were more to our liking.

I like Club Class dining as it is Any time dining with no waiting and a smaller area so that the wait staff gets to know you.