CalTexCruiser

Update on how Sanctuary booking worked in our case, as explained to me by the Concierge Lounge concierge--by the way Vladimir on the Regal is fantastic...highly efficient and friendly. The Go Princess lounge concierge texts the passenger's request to the Concierge Lounge concierge, who then works with the Sanctuary folks over the phone to make the bookings. So if you want specific lounge locations other than shaded/unshaded, that request can also be passed on. Any other booking requests such as spa, specialty dining, etc., are handled the same way.

Space for about 20-25 guests, so that appears to be the reason that it’s a random selection from among full suite guests the Mercedes van is very nice because of the large embarkation delay there was little benefit for us in terms of avoiding line. We still had to go through blue lane to get medallions they check you in at the lounge and then we got cards to use to pick up our medallions at the regular counter

Also not all suite guests are extended invitations they said it is random selection and if you are not invited don’t show up they said they are also going to increase the size of the lounge

In the GO lounge now waiting for the all clear to get on Regal, which was 3 hrs late coming in better to wait in lounge than at the terminal due to delay in boarding Sanctuary booking: the concierge walks around with his phone and you inform him of dates and whether you want loungers or cabana, and shaded or not. He sends request to ship, and 40 minutes later he told us that our Sanctuary bookings were confirmed. No drawings medallions. They check you in and if you don’t have medallion they give you card to use to pick up the medallions

In all likelihood I don’t think they would turn you away. The concierge person I spoke to mentioned that the reason we were getting the invitation is because we are in a suite. No other factor was mentioned.

I hope they'll get our medallions. Otherwise it's just a free shuttle to the port from a lounge. At a minimum we hope to reserve some spots in the Sanctuary for a few sea days.

😄LOL a rented space has become "Princess Cruises Headquarters"...see the blurb below in the email they sent me. Good thing you warned me otherwise I would have been looking for some grand Princess HQ signage. Also note the last sentence there...seems to suggest that in the future suite passengers may be able to park their vehicles at the GO Princess Lounge.

Unexpectedly, I received a call and email on Friday from a Princess Shoreside Concierge inviting us to the GO Princess Lounge on the day of embarkation next Tuesday because we are in a full suite. This lounge appears to be outside of the port area, on the first floor of Princess Cruises HQ. Apparently, they will handle our luggage and a shuttle will take us to the terminal. The email said "that waiting in line can be a hassle, so we want to make sure you can get onboard as quickly and smoothly as possible." Not sure what that means. We don't have our medallions so wonder if the concierges in the lounge can produce those for us. The concierge also said that we can "book any onboard experiences you may be interested in," presumably including the Sanctuary. It'll be interesting if that's the case, as suite passengers (at least in Port Everglades) would have first dibs ahead of other passengers (except for B2B passengers). I have not heard of a shoreside lounge as a service for full suite passengers, but then again this will only be our third time on Princess so I may have just missed the announcement on this. If indeed this lounge will allow full suite passengers to check in at a relaxing lounge and provide a fast lane to board it will be a great feature.

Thanks for this info! We will be on the Encore on 3/16, after the 3-week implementation.

That sounds horrific. Those Star class suites are expensive. Hope you complained to his manager.

I'm a bit confused as to why the bone around the implant broke. Was the implant recently installed and thus the bone has not yet completely healed around it? My understanding is that it takes 6 months for the bone to harden around the implant, so patients should avoid applying great force on the implant until after 6 months have passed. If the implant had been there for a while, perhaps the claim should be against your dentist for a shoddy implant job? I think you'll have a hard time prevailing against Princess in a court of law? You'll have to prove they failed to exercise due care in preparing your lobster cake, i.e., that their kitchen practices are not consistent with what a reasonable kitchen staff would exercise. The legal fees to take this to court will quickly exceed your implant cost.

Is there a difference between the Retreat on the Encore vs Ovation? I see positive comments on the Ovation Retreat but I have not seen positive comments on the Encore Retreat (unless I missed those)? On our upcoming 18-day sailing on the Encore the price is a little over $ 1,800 so comes out to about 100 per day. Since there are a lot of sea days on this one it may be worth it.

How would we find out once on board whether we (in a full suite) have access to the Enclave? Do we ask the concierge in the Concierge Lounge?

I did a search on the princess website and on one of the big online TAs. For the nerds out there, what I observed is that a few days before the first round of bid acceptances, all of the full suites (one Premium and one PH) disappeared from inventory, and then a few days, the bid acceptances were sent out. It appears that the third party that handles the bids takes cabins out of inventory for processing.

One 12-day cruise. At around the 30-day mark, several on our roll call got notified of their upgrades, including one person from a Reserve Class Mini-Suite to a Premium Suite. After that, all mini-suites and full suites showed sold out, at which point I concluded that the upgrades have occurred and we lost. Then out of the blue, at the 11-day mark, we got our upgrade to the Penthouse. Perhaps they wanted to see if they can get better bids before deciding on the Penthouse? Or the Penthouse was not available at the 30-day mark and someone cancelled later? Good luck on your bids. And it appears there may be hope until closer to sailing.

Or rough seas. Looks like a weather system is coming in that will create large waves by tomorrow. Hope your sailing is close enough to shore to avoid it.

Just got notified of our upgrade from mini-suite to penthouse suite on Regal. 11 days away from our sailing. We bid a little bit over the minimum.

Food quality the same but choice definitely expanded for upper suites...unlimited specialty dining. When we sail upper suites, we may go to Luminae a couple of times to enjoy specific meals we special order ahead of time, and the remainder to specialty dining. And you can book specialty dinners last minute on a whim with the butler or concierge and we've never had an issue getting a reservation. The two-story Edge Villa is a unique suite and we absolutely love it, with its open space, plunge pool, private door from the hallway to the Retreat Lounge, and private door to the Retreat sun deck. As to butler service, we received the best butler service ever when we stayed in a Sky Suite...lovely butler from Romania. Butler service in the upper suites were good but not over the top good for us.

I think it's a fantasy (on Celebrity's part) to think that a room steward that is overwhelmed servicing a large number of cabins (including non-suites) can somehow become a fully functional Retreat Host that can provide Retreat level service to the one or more suites he/she is also responsible for. Unfortunately, these overworked room stewards/Retreat Hosts may be at the receiving end of post-cruise surveys from suite guests whose ire should really be directed at Celebrity management.

I think this answers my question above regarding "In some circumstances, package upgrades may increase your cruise fare" noted in the upgrade screenshot. I currently have a very cheap casino rate on my mini-suite, so if I decide to cancel last minute I'm out just a few hundred dollars. On the other hand, if I "upgrade" to the Plus package, Princess refares us to the Plus fare, and if I cancel last minute I'll be out a couple thousand dollars. In view of this, we are waiting to upgrade to the Plus package.

I'm confused by "In some circumstances, package upgrades may increase your cruise fare" in the screenshot below when trying to upgrade to the Plus package. It sounds like they may increase the standard fare you paid originally, but I'm sure that's not what they mean?

No motion at all. And my wife is extremely motion sensitive and sometimes gets seasick even in the bathtub. Our sailing had smooth seas YMMV.

On our Mexican Riviera cruise, we surprisingly enjoyed the Window Suite on the Discovery Princess. No balcony on this suite but: 1) loved the floor to ceiling windows on the side and up front (lots of them) to provide a panoramic view (the view in Cabo San Lucas while the ship was anchoring was fantastic), 2) the suite felt very roomy because the space that would have been used by the balcony is now part of the suite. 3) the weather was so hot that we likely would not have used a balcony much anyway, 4) the suite was a few steps away from the bar in the Retreat Pool--easy to grab drinks there to bring to our suite, and we got to know the bartender well, 5) easy access to the Retreat Pool and the hot tubs. CONS: far from the Concierge Lounge. No balcony if you want one.

You'll need to sign up for the UHD, Ultimate Hallway Dining. They'll set up a lovely dinner for you right outside your stateroom door in the hallway. But do make sure to scoot up against the wall a bit so others can pass by.