vjmatty

Sounds like it’s ship specific. Your experience, if I’m reading correctly, is limited to a Millennium sailing. Others are giving examples of the remaining three ships and the thread is about Infinity, which I can confirm as of less than two months an ago was allowing multiple menus in Blu and Luminae.

Thank you for noticing that, unfortunately it’s too late to edit again 😕

Here is the new itinerary: Oct 22 Depart 6:00PM Barcelona Oct 23 Mallorca (Palma) 8am to 6pm Oct 25 Gibraltar 7am to 6pm Oct 28 Azores Islands (Ponta Delgada), 9am to 6pm Nov 5 Ft. Lauderdale, Arrive 6pm All the rest are sea days. ETA: Subject to change of course.

I should have clarified…by same menu I meant that if the Reserve and Signature dining rooms become two Sanctuary class dining rooms, that they both have the same special menu that you are referring to. I did not mean the same menu as the soon to be former Reserve dining room.

Alcatraz?

And that’s exactly what I meant about the numbers working. For me that means enough tables so that I can walk in whenever I want with no reservation. If that perk remains as such then I’ll be satisfied. Otherwise you’re right it’s not what was offered.

So in other words, two “Sanctuary Class” dining rooms formerly known as Reserve and Signature? As long as the menus are the same hopefully it won’t matter which one is assigned. If you look at the deck plan they can’t be merged, but perhaps commingling would happen. I guess I don’t care what kind of cabin the table next to me is in as long as the numbers work.

I’m wondering how dining is going to work also. I don’t think the suites will be infringed on because the Reserve restaurant population has been cut in half and they are only adding the 12 DO cabins. That should give relief to the overcrowding in Reserve dining that was observed in the earlier sailings. Signature dining should not be affected, as there will still have to be two separate dining rooms since they can’t be combined with the kitchen being in between the dining rooms. But then again at this point I have learned not to underestimate Princess’ ability to come up with more bad ideas.

Oh I love walking, and get my 10k steps in no problem. My knee can’t do more than 5 flights of stairs though and the wait for elevators on that ship is ridiculous. I’m keeping an open mind about Sun though, and giving it a fair chance.

I’m the one you asked, and yes I did answer your question. You’re confusing two different posters.

Yes I have. In fact, to illustrate my ability to compare, I’ve been in a Royal Suite, Crown Loft Suite, Owner’s Suite and Grand Suite on RC; Royal Suite and Aqua Sky Suite on Celebrity, Penthouse Suite and Window Suite on Princess, as well as Princess Grill and Queens Grill on Cunard. The most enjoyable for me were those suites that had their own areas for dining and lounges but not far removed from everything else. I liked Queens Grill on Cunard and Owners Suite on Deck 8 near Central Park on Oasis Class the best. My least favorite was the Crown Loft Suite on Oasis class ships. There is only one set of elevators because deck 17 is very small. Also, the CLS itself, while beautiful to look at, was impractical as the stairs got old quickly lol.

Agreed, I don’t know why so many people equate Park 19 with the water parks and amusement type rides on other more child-oriented ships. Park 19 is just a glorified sports deck. I also agree there’s a difference between younger couples and family-oriented. Many couples now are deciding not to have children.

The issue with the golden door concept is when it becomes too removed from the other venues on the ship you might want to experience and enjoy. For example, Oasis class on Royal Caribbean has deck 17 where certain suites are on the same floor as the dining room and suite lounge, with nothing else. That’s great if all you’re going to do for the entire cruise is eat and drink. However, if you want Io go to trivia, live music, broadway shows, specialty dining, the spa, other bars, basically any kind of entertainment, it’s a pain when you need to run back to deck 17 to change, drop off bags, shower or grab something from your suite. Cruise lines need to find that balance between exclusivity and isolation.

Unless you’re like me with extremely bad luck…in my case it’s a lot cheaper to just pay for my room and stay out of the casino. Lioness’ method is obviously not for everyone.

I watched it post live and did not find anything noteworthy beyond what we already know here. Definitely over the top promotionalism if that’s a word. I’m also disliking her husband the more I hear about him lol, especially the dissing of Amtrak irritated me because I love trains. Anyway I am sure they filtered out a lot of the questions we all had because she either didn’t have an answer or didn’t want to answer.

Good question….if they make the whole area homogenous then the cushions will have to match. The question is whether they will do as you say and supply more of the loungers with them or just downgrade those in the former suite area.

I’m seeing a lot of availability with those but to be fair I’m only booked on Europe and transatlantic sailings in the Sphere class. I don’t sail the Caribbean on Princess because they fail to service the northeast adequately, and there are so many better options in the tropical market. As for short term vs long term, at my age time goes by fast so short term is gone in the blink of an eye lol. ETA: I should add however, that the lack of shade in the Caribbean might actually make the sanctuary unpleasant.

I think it was even more of a concern. If we assume as you seem to that everyone will be out there at once, that tiny area was not enough for 160 people. The thing about day passes with the old system, if someone buys it they’re almost 100% likely to use it. Less likely with permissive included access of the 215 cabins. As I mentioned above, even Celebrity and MSC don’t have enough seating on their decks or restaurants for every passenger entitled to be there at the same time. But hey, we’re both speculating. We won’t know who’s right until October.

Yeah I’ve always been bothered by the fact that Princess charges for their solarium equivalent. When I do my pros and cons list between Princess and RC/Celebrity, that’s a big thorn in my side with Princess. I think the answer on Sphere class is to just get a cabana mini or otherwise large balcony. You’re going to need it if you want shade anyway. ETA: Ironically, this move is making the C1 minis more attractive, until you consider the removed private dining. All these changes are just making it harder to pick the right cabin category.

lol I should clarify that is not my personal assessment of the DO category passengers, in fact I sail in a variety of cabins from an ocean view to a mid level full suite. I’m just responding to the somewhat distasteful vibes I’m getting from people on this topic.

I don’t think we need it….the whole area is now exclusive, with exponentially more space and a lot less passengers than under the old system. If you’re worried about the “lower class” type passenger, they’ll be priced out of the sanctuary club rooms anyway 🤷🏻‍♀️

They’re also removing all of the C1 and C2 minis from private dining and removing day passes from the sanctuary. I think it is premature to assume that the numbers won’t even out when both the subtractions and additions are made. Even MSC’s Yacht Club and Celebrity’s Retreat don’t have enough space in their dining room and private deck for every single person in suites to be present at the same exact time.

Ok now I’m really confused. The “entire area” of the Sanctuary minus the signature Sun deck was $100 per day, and now it’s included, correct? Am I missing something?

That actually looks like a lot more room than suites originally had, like 4 times as much. The question is, do those additional Sanctuary Club cabins add up to more or less than the number of day passes that are being sold on sailings between now and October. I personally don’t think the original Signature area was big enough for 80 suites.

You’re better off with the Carnival card since you get points for all Carnival Corp cruise lines.