Silly suite benefit question

[Tak8]

Generally, I got my laundry back the next day.  I wouldn't count on same day service.  For me, the best perk is breakfast at Sabatini's. A great way to start the day.  

[Schonert]

For the mini bar set up, there is not really a lot of choice, no rum.  I think there was vodka, gin, scotch, for a total of 6 little bottles. You got 6 pops, and a few beers. Also there was one or two Perrier.   You can change out things, but not at the same value, it 1 or 2 bottles of wine (I think it used to be two, but is now one).  You can get two coffee cards, only worth it if you don’t have the drink package.

we did change for they types of pop we wanted, and changed the vodka to gin.

[azbirdmom]

21 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

We were on a 25 day cruise in Jan on the Island in a vista suite and remember the "same day service" check box on the laundry form. However, we also seem to remember there was a fee for that quick turnaround. If you're saying the fee is waived for suite guests (which was not noted anywhere we could find), that's definitely good to know for the next time we book a suite on a long cruise.

 

Yes, it is a suite perk that isn't widely communicated.  We are Elite too so we are familiar with the regular service, but those in full suites get the same day service at no charge.  As others have mentioned, we see a charge on our folio and within a day we see the credit for it.  And I always write "Suite / Elite" at the top of the laundry slip in big letters.

Edited June 21, 2020 by azbirdmom

[XBGuy]

To reiterate what a few others have reported, our laundry turnaround when we had a suite has always been excellent.  Like others, we would leave bags of laundry for the steward when we left for dinner in the evening.  (We are never out of bed by 9:00 in the morning.)  It was always returned sometime between 4:00 and 6:00 the next day.  I'm not sure, but I would not be surprised if suite passengers received priority over elite passengers.  So, we have never experienced a multi-day turnaround.

 

One thing I will recommend is that if you are sending out clothes for both laundry and for cleaning is to separate them into two bags.  They really can't figure out which is which if you put them all in one bag.  Lesson learned.

 

Also, if I can make a recommendation, the Ultimate Balcony Dinner is an excellent way to celebrate your anniversary.  It is not a suite benefit, and it costs $100 per couple, but it is a truly excellent dining experience.  The thing we love about it is that the service is so attentive.  Two servers are dedicated just to you.  If it is too cold to use your balcony, there is plenty of room in your suite.  In five UBDs that we have enjoyed, three of them have been inside,

 

Congratulations on your anniversary.

[compozer]

So many different answers.   Your cabin steward can do nothing to get your laundry back sooner.   It depends on how many elites are on board. Usually there are  not as many on shorter cruises but many many cruisers return to Alaska every year so you never know.  Yes, there is same day service with no extra charge for suites (there is for elites), but you need to have it out first thing in the morning.  And just a note, sometimes your steward does not get to your cabin before the morning deadline.   I have also noticed the cloth suite laundry bags hanging on the steward's cart for hours - so they don't get delivered to the laundry right away.  That happened to us once when I checked same day.  We were the only suite on that side of the ship so I knew it was ours.    I remember one Alaskan town that did not allow grey water discharged while in port so that shut down the laundry for the day and delayed all the laundry.   That was five years ago.     So, long story short - make sure you bring enough pants.    Enjoy your suite!

[gerig]

On 6/21/2020 at 10:38 AM, Cruiserkenn said:

 

Love the aft facing suites with the amazing views!

I am hoping this virus is under control by next May because I have an aft vista suite on the Star and I'm looking forward to dining on my balcony watching Glacier Bay,

[Cruiserkenn]

9 minutes ago, gerig said:

I am hoping this virus is under control by next May because I have an aft vista suite on the Star and I'm looking forward to dining on my balcony watching Glacier Bay,

 

You will love it!  Just fab! 🙂⛴🐋⚓️🐳🛳🌅🌝🌞

[trinitygirl]

Suite laundry was an awesome perk.  I put the bag on my bed before I went to breakfast and it was always back by dinner time.  However, I echo the caution - everything goes through hot water and my cottons (which I always wash in cold) all faded quite a lot.  Cest la vie...  it was very weird to get my undies back ironed!  I asked room services to switch all the little bottles of alcohol to brandy and brought them home, they were perfect for making christmas cakes with!  And i did the same for the beer and soda in the mini fridge, switched them all to sparkling water.  

[turquoisesea]

Here’s more info on your mini bar. We are not drinkers so we called room service when we arrived. They came and removed the alcoholic items and soda from the fridge. We traded them in for one coffee “card” ( no cards anymore - just number of  coffees credited to your account) and water.  Could have had two coffee “cards” but only one of us is a coffee drinker.    This worked perfectly for us. However, it did take  several calls to get those coffee credits to our account. 

[AF-1]

turquoisesea;   so you called room service to have the coffee card added to your accout?  You swapped out mini frig for coffee card; is that correct?

[Triptkr]

I hope you guys get to go on this cruise...in a suite!   Suite life is the BEST and totally worth the money in our opinion.  Alaska is beautiful and you will have an awesome time.  We loved all the suite benefits...fresh fruit, mini-bar, breakfast @ Sabatini's.   If you guys are coffee drinkers, you get to have any type of coffee drink you want and as many as you want at breakfast in Sabatini's.  I didn't buy a coffee card due to this and would recommend if you want to take this route to bring your own carafe that they will fill up before you leave the restaurant.  (I had asked for a to-go cup but was told they didn't have any there.)  

When we had laundry done it was back to us pronto...depending on when we put it out for laundry, it was a very timely.   Enjoy all the benefits and use them!!!!   :)   

Edited June 25, 2020 by Triptkr
addition of info

[voljeep]

17 hours ago, turquoisesea said:

They came and removed the alcoholic items and soda from the fridge. We traded them in for one coffee “card” ( no cards anymore - just number of  coffees credited to your account) and water.

so, how many 'waters' did you get to keep along with the 'one' coffee package ?

[XBGuy]

49 minutes ago, Triptkr said:

I hope you guys get to go on this cruise...in a suite!   Suite life is the BEST and totally worth the money in our opinion.  Alaska is beautiful and you will have an awesome time.  We loved all the suite benefits...fresh fruit, mini-bar, breakfast @ Sabatini's.   If you guys are coffee drinkers, you get to have any type of coffee drink you want and as many as you want at breakfast in Sabatini's.  I didn't buy a coffee card due to this and would recommend if you want to take this route to bring your own carafe that they will fill up before you leave the restaurant.  (I had asked for a to-go cup but was told they didn't have any there.)  

When we had laundry done it was back to us pronto...depending on when we put it out for laundry, it was a very timely.   Enjoy all the benefits and use them!!!!   🙂  

 

Sorry, folks, I have to tell a story.  Our last cruise was the Los Angeles-Hawaii roundtrip this past January.  We had a terrific aft-facing suite on the Star Princess.  Another sweet suite benefit is a complimentary specialty restaurant dinner on the first evening of the cruise.  We called the DINE line and booked a table at Sabatini's.  Dinner was terrific, but equally enjoyable was the rapport that we quickly established with the headwaiter and several of the front of the room staff.  As we were leaving, the headwaiter asked if we would be back for the suite breakfast the next day.  We gave a very noncommital response and bade everybody a good evening.

 

My wife is a late sleeper--not just on cruises, that is her normal routine,  Prior to the quarantine, my regular routine was to get up in the morning and head to the local coffee shop, meet my buddy and solve the world's problems.  Now I get up, go downstairs make my own coffee and the world has to solve its own problems.  On a cruise, my regular routine is to get up and head either to the buffet or to the dining room.  I like chatting with people and, so, in the dining room I would tell the hostess that I would be happy to share or in the buffet, I will often invite myself to take an empty seat at a one of the larger tables.  My previous experiences with the suite breakfast was when I walked in, I would be seated alone at a table.  Not the worst thing in the world.

 

Anyway, back to the January Hawaii cruise, over the course of the cruise, we had dinner at Sabatini's five times.  More than once somebody would ask, "Will we see you for breakfast, tomorrow?"

 

Towards the end of the cruise, after getting the question, again, I said to the headwaiter, "If I come in for breakfast by myself because Mrs. XBGuy is sleeping late, you're going to seat me at a table by myself, aren't you."

 

He agreed that, sure enough, that would happen.

 

Regardless, on the very last day of the cruise, I decided to have breakfast at Sabatini's.  Interestingly, the breakfast headwaiter was not the same as the dinner headwaiter.  Instead it was the headwaiter from Crown Grill.  We had also made multiple visits to Crown Grill, and he recognized me, immediately.  I had blown away him and several Crown Grill servers by sharing an outstanding Cabernet Sauvignon on our first visit.

 

As expected, I was seated alone at a table.  It was apparent that each of the parties at the other tables were regulars and they had their routines.  When the waitress--a strikingly beautiful charmer from Mexico--asked what I would like to drink I told her I would like an orange juice and coffee.

 

She had the most quizzical look on her face, and she asked, "What kind of coffee?"

 

Now, I'm sure that I had the quizzical look on my face.  "Black?"

 

She scurried of and retrieved a cup of coffee for me.

 

Again, I had enjoyed the suite breakfast in the past, and I did know that some people order Mimosas with their suite breakfast, but it wasn't until that occurrence that I realized that a majority of coffee drinkers order specialty coffees.

 

So, if you do order black coffee with your suite breakfast, they will be able to accommodate you.  My guess, and this is only a guess, is that they can also provide decaf if requested,

 

 

 

 

[jondfk]

Suite breakfast (in Sabatini's or Crown Grill) is without a doubt the benefit we most appreciate.  It's a lovely way to start the day and turns what is (in my opinion) the least memorable cruise ship meal into a highlight of most days.

[jeeper2]

On 6/21/2020 at 7:38 AM, Cruiserkenn said:

 

Love the aft facing suites with the amazing views!

They are the best!!!

 

[Loucat]

Best turnaround is to tell your suite attendant is that you need your garments back within one day. We have done several Princess suties and if you "pardon the pun" press the issue-they will respond.

Your attendant has to pick up your garments and bring to you once ready. Plan ahead and you can make it with limited time. Our issue was that the attendant comes on in LATE afternoon and if you are waiting for an item, you may need to call them.

There is no charge on your account when in a full suite.

[gerig]

2 hours ago, jeeper2 said:

They are the best!!!

 

Hoping I get to experience my Star vista suite next May,

 

[trbarton]

On 6/20/2020 at 5:11 PM, franktown said:

We would usually leave a bag of laundry for the room steward before we went to dinner.  It was always back the next afternoon.  Great suite perk especially on longer cruises.

Thanks! I like your idea of leaving it out before you go to dinner. I’ll try that on my next cruise. 
 

Tom😀

[I object 2]

XBGuy:  would you mind sharing which deck your suite was on?  We've booked an aft suite on Dolphin deck for our LA-Hawaii round trip. I'm trying to find out if the aft suites have covered balconies.   

[turquoisesea]

On 6/25/2020 at 4:44 PM, AF-1 said:

turquoisesea;   so you called room service to have the coffee card added to your accout?  You swapped out mini frig for coffee card; is that correct?

Yes. I checked with the passenger services desk and they directed me to Room  Service. Yes. Swapped mini fridge for coffee card and big bottles of water. 
This was on the Ruby, August, 2019.   BTW learned we could do this from a posting on these boards. 

[jeeper2]

On 6/25/2020 at 8:02 PM, gerig said:

Hoping I get to experience my Star vista suite next May,

 

I hope you do, too! 😊

 

[AF-1]

10 hours ago, turquoisesea said:

Yes. I checked with the passenger services desk and they directed me to Room  Service. Yes. Swapped mini fridge for coffee card and big bottles of water. 
This was on the Ruby, August, 2019.   BTW learned we could do this from a posting on these boards. 

Thanks;  I have swapped out booze for more soda and seltzer waters.  Next time I will look at the coffee card option

[Cruiserkenn]

14 hours ago, I object 2 said:

XBGuy:  would you mind sharing which deck your suite was on?  We've booked an aft suite on Dolphin deck for our LA-Hawaii round trip. I'm trying to find out if the aft suites have covered balconies.   

 

Not XB Guy, but for sure the aft facing suites on Star and other Grand Class ships are covered.  The balconies on the Dolphin deck suites are deep and covered🙂⛴🐳🐋⚓️🛳🌈🌅🌝

[Hlitner]

The OP is curious about the laundry turn around.  On many Princess cruises it is awful...usually around 3 days.   The problem is that Princess gives free laundry to many passengers including all Elites.   This puts a lot of demand on the crew who work in the laundry.  You will sometimes find a letter in your cabin (on embarkation day) explaining that the laundry and dry cleaning normally take about 72 hours.

 

Hank

[XBGuy]

18 hours ago, I object 2 said:

XBGuy:  would you mind sharing which deck your suite was on?  We've booked an aft suite on Dolphin deck for our LA-Hawaii round trip. I'm trying to find out if the aft suites have covered balconies.   

 

3 hours ago, Cruiserkenn said:

 

Not XB Guy, but for sure the aft facing suites on Star and other Grand Class ships are covered.  The balconies on the Dolphin deck suites are deep and covered🙂⛴🐳🐋⚓️🛳🌈🌅🌝

 

Thanks to Cruiserkenn for helping out, there.  👍👍👍

 

We were on Deck 10, and, specifically, cabin C749.  It is, in fact covered.  Maybe this pic will help you out.

 

 

In further support of Cruiserkenn's comments, about a year previous, we were also in cabin C749 on the Ruby Princess, and it was, essentially, identical.