Similar programs on other lines similar to Club Class Mini Suite on Princess

Alaska is a beautiful place and I'm sure you'll have a wonderful adventure. It is great that you found a way to enjoy cruising and avoid crowds at the same time. We enjoyed our sailing on the Regal Princess several years ago and have since been on the Island Princess and the Ruby Princess. The Regal was our favorite of the three but the other two were very nice and those both were for the itinerary. I recommend the Panama Canal Transit as a future adventure.

My pleasure AuntPinkie...I hope you do get the chance to enjoy this Princess Program as much as my wife and I did!! Actually we were so inpressed we are ALREADY booked in the same cabin number on the Royal (Regal's sister ship) next May for our first cruise to ALASKA!! We can't wait to see The Great Land and to sail another beautiful Princess ship!

Regards & MERRY CHRISTMAS, Whitetrike

Carnival's program is for both Jr. Suites and full suites. Neither is as extravagant as a Princess suite. But I think the major appeal is the "private" dining. I plan on saving up for that on our next Princess cruise. If Whitetrike hadn't asked the question in the first place, I wouldn't know about such a wonderful "perk".

Thanks, Whitetrike!

Whitestrike isn't talking about full suites here, just mini-suites. As most know a mini-suite is just a glorified balcony cabin. A real suite should have a bedroom separated by a wall and doors. Some time back many lines came up with the marketing gimmick of placing a sliding curtain in a balcony cabin and called it a "mini". Later, they still call them mini-suites but have even abandoned placing a curtain divider in them.

What Princess has come up with here is an exclusive dining experience for a select number of mini-suites on a given vessel. Like most other loyalty perks, occupants of a full suite receive all those benefits without achieving a commensurate loyalty status. Likewise, with the new Mini-Suite Club Class dining, that feature is automatically extended for all full suite occupants as well.

Our first exposure to Club Class dining was two years ago, when I booked a mini-suite on the Pacific Princess. All Club Class mini's were already sold out. But then, we just got off the Pacific Princess again yesterday morning and this time we had a full suite (our first full suite ever). Suffice to say, we liked Club Class so much that I don't believe we will book a cruise again unless we can get it. We liked the full suite so much I wish I could say the same about that but realistically we probably will never have the opportunity to do that again, so have to get back to the real world.

Yes - RCL, Celebrity and I'm sure other lines provide priority boarding for Suite classes. On Celebrity - they also provide for Aqua. We've been very lucky, maybe the time we go to the port but have experienced very good embarkations. Of course if you accumulate higher status on the loyalty programs you get priority boarding also.

I would suggest you check with Celebrity Cruise line. Princess, HAL and Celebrity are premium cruise lines so the food and service will be better then on the regular lines. I know Celebrity does have the BLU dining room for Aqua class cabins, I'd think they would also have the priority boarding and dining for Suite class (I'm a poor guy so I have never booked a suite to date). After cruising on a premium line you may not be as happy with service and food on other lines.

Im glad you overcame your anxiety, and had a good cruise. I strongly suggest you look into NCL's "Haven" Suites. Theres a comprehensive explanation, either on their website itself, or merely googling "NCL Haven perks"...It is specifically designed to accommodate what you prefer..from priority boarding to private dining, concierge service for everything, and virtually no stress whatsoever. including crowd avoidance.

Carnival does have priority boarding and debarkation with purchase of a suite or FTTF (Faster to the fun program). They do not have a separate dining room for these categories. Sorry can't help with any other cruise lines.