Most people opt for the comfy seating rather than the dinette.
Our first rig, the one we owned for 24 years
SEEN HERE, the over-head bed was way too confining for us adults. But that confined space was ideal for our kids. We turned the extra wide dinette into a double bed and kept it that way for us during our trips. As a result we missed not having a dinette, so much that having a dinette setup 100% of the time was one of our highest priorities for rig #2.
Considering just the two of us turning 49 years of age at the time, here were our top 3 critical points at the time when we stumbled on a Phoenix Cruiser 2350 at an area indoor RV show in January 2007.
- Absolutely MUST fit inside our garage (10 foot tall door, 25 feet deep)
- Absolutely MUST have a dinette that we would leave setup that way
(the floor model had a couch in a slide out but the brochure's floorplan also showed a no-slide dinette)
- Absolutely MUST have a permanent bed to sleep together (not separately in twin beds)
Everything else was negotiable to some degree.
There are so many great features that came with our PC, but pointing out one specific bonus for us is having the 3rd seat by the main entry door. The rig originally came with an uncomfortable barrel chair there, but we switched it out for a 3rd matching captain seat. Pictures of both seats can be
SEEN HERE. We often use the front dinette bench for an ottoman. So one of us sits in great comfort while the other sits at the dinette, most often done while watching a movie. If not watching something on the main TV, we usually sit across from each other at the dinette. It's our favorite hang out place. We of coarse eat together that way, but also play games and spread out park maps and such on the table.
The original cloth seat cushions were thicker but with a fluffy generic foam that were not comfortable at all. Years later we got upgraded vinyl-covered cushions with much more dense main foam with a top-coat of memory foam from Phoenix which made a huge improvement in our dinette comfort.
Our plan is to keep our PC until we are too old and dangerous driving it. But if our lives change for whatever the reason, and another rig is planned, a dinette setup all the time will surely remain our top priority. Hopefully you won't miss having one so much that another change needs to take place for you.
There are a few 2351 and 2552 owners here who opted for the dinette in various configurations
- dinette in a slide out, eliminating the pantry
- dinette and pantry without a slide out
- dinette and NO pantry without a slide out (gains a bigger dinette table and more leg room)
The last one intrigues me.
