Club Class Dining

[Mike45LC]

Pre-Covid, to me, it was not worth the price to upgrade to Club Class from Mini-Suites -- apples to apples, same physical cabin involved.  [The cost of upgrading from a balcony to a mini-suite was well worth it to us.) 

 

I dislike the Dine My Way program and the termination of the traditional dining, but pre-covid it was not worth $40 - $70 per person per day for the upgrade.

 

I have only sailed once since the "pause", and Club Class was definitely worth it for me.  The Dine My Way lines were long and poorly organized, whereas our Club Class dining worked wonderfully, exactly like Dine My Way was promised (but did not deliver).  We went to dinner whenever we wanted to, and there was never more than a couple of minutes wait (as the hostess seated another couple).  A smiling hostess.  A smiling and attentive waitstaff.  Great service.  Same menu, but when a steak was tough, it was quickly replaced.  A very nice dining experience -- what on-board dining in the Main Dining Rooms used to be like, 20 years ago!  

[memoak]

42 minutes ago, wcflats said:

Hey that’s great..I’m just saying that we like so many of the different options for eating.  What’s not to like about the great hot dogs 🌭 or pizza on the pool deck!😁

Yeah but that is lunch not breakfast or dinner 

[cruzsnooze]

11 hours ago, wowzz said:

You also need to factor in the fact that club class mini suites are in prime locations.

I don't think so. I like the fully covered balconies that you can actually use if it's hot and sunny or rain. Different opinions as to prime locations. 

[PrincessLuver]

13 minutes ago, cruzsnooze said:

I don't think so. I like the fully covered balconies that you can actually use if it's hot and sunny or rain. Different opinions as to prime locations. 

This is ship dependent

[capriccio]

13 hours ago, Lady Arwen said:

We prefer a regular mini suite and dine in the specialty restaurants.  The food is much better and it actually costs less than CC.  You make reservations and never have to wait.

We had our first club class mini in January on the Caribbean Princess when we weren't sailing with family.  We enjoyed the dining experience but that could also be due to the fact that the ship was at 33% capacity.  The food is the same as that in the MDR with the exception of the 'special dish.'  Some were good, some were passable (really bruschetta as a special dish?).  The service was excellent.  But we prefer covered mini-suites on the Emerald deck, not the centrally located Club Class minis.  I love the idea of dining in the specialty restaurants instead - especially on 7 day cruises.  I'm sure we could find something different each night to enjoy. 

[caribill]

The difference in cost from entry price mini-suite to mini-suite Club Class is about $35/person/day. (More if looking at the difference from an inside, oceanview or balcony cabin.)

 

So for two people at is $70/day.

 

You have to decide if that is the best use for your $70 each evening.

[Cuedon]

For me, a giant 'no'.

 

A lot of the benefits are substantially similar to Elite (an opinion oft debated, but whatever), but if you don't have Elite yet, you'll want to factor that into your value calculations; the short tender line can be quite valuable if you like to spend a lot of time ashore. 

 

The main perk for me would be the lack of MDR line, but my recent experience on the Majestic was that wait times with a reservation were effectively "As fast as people got seated". Rarely did it exceed more than a few minutes, rendering this one moot too. (And more and more, I'm finding I'd rather just eat from the buffet anyways.) 

[memoak]

6 hours ago, Cuedon said:

For me, a giant 'no'.

 

A lot of the benefits are substantially similar to Elite (an opinion oft debated, but whatever), but if you don't have Elite yet, you'll want to factor that into your value calculations; the short tender line can be quite valuable if you like to spend a lot of time ashore. 

 

The main perk for me would be the lack of MDR line, but my recent experience on the Majestic was that wait times with a reservation were effectively "As fast as people got seated". Rarely did it exceed more than a few minutes, rendering this one moot too. (And more and more, I'm finding I'd rather just eat from the buffet anyways.) 

I really don’t get what about club class mini suites can be compared to elite perks. CC minis do not get free laundry, mini bar etc. The dining in club class does not come as an elite perk

[reedprincess]

8 minutes ago, memoak said:

I really don’t get what about club class mini suites can be compared to elite perks. CC minis do not get free laundry, mini bar etc. The dining in club class does not come as an elite perk

I often see this referenced frequently too - and don't get it either. 🤷🏻‍♀️

There's very very very few CC perks that overlap with Elite. Priority boarding is really the only one, and that's a bit of a laugh anyways, particularly with current medallion boarding, etc. (and for us, a complete wash as we never come early to join the scrum anyway).

2 350ml bottles of wine, room location and CC dining, canapes on formal night?, are basically the rest (special robe? Lol).  That's CC perks. Not seeing any overlap beyond boarding with Elite myself, but if many think that way, more power to them. 

Edited April 28, 2022 by reedprincess

[capriccio]

The perks are listed here:  https://www.princess.com/learn/ships/staterooms/club-class/

 

We are elite and the only perk we received in addition to the dining was the 1/2 bottle of white wine (we didn't receive the 1/2 bottle of red).  I brought it home to use in cooking.  It was undrinkable even for cooking!  We didn't receive the upgraded terry cloth robes but didn't know we were supposed to.  We didn't know about priority specialty restaurant dining but we didn't go to any of them.  You can tell our main objective was to check out the Club Class dining!

 

The only real perks I could see that non-elites might be interested in and be of value are the early boarding and priority disembarkation lounge but I don't know if the priority embarkation is in effect nor if the club class had access to the disembarkation lounge.

Edited April 28, 2022 by capriccio