Sanctuary Pass - A Cautionary Tale

[lushou]

Here is the email I just sent to Princess regarding our Emerald Princess sailing 9/12/10 - 9/19/10.

 

"

Princess,

 

 

I filled out the online survey. 900 characters for comments was not enough. Here it is.

 

 

Although our recent Emerald Princess cruise (our 5th cruise and 3rd on Princess in 3 years) (9/12/10 - 9/19/10) was excellent, there was one thing that really deflated our excitement on day 1 and lasted throughout the trip. I will set the scene. We are two 31 year olds, married with no kids. We brought along our two 31 year old married friends as well. Baja 341 for them and Plaza 231 for us. We planned months in advance to get in line at Port Everglades at exactly 10am. This would ensure that we would be one of the very first non-platinum, non-elite cruisers to enter the ship when the doors opened. We left our $269 hotel room at 8am on Sunday morning to get our bags and my wife to the rental car terminal, to pick up our friends at their hotel, to drop off the car at the rental car terminal and then to make it to Port Everglades at 10. We succeeded! We were the 10, 1, 12, 13th person in line with a purple card #1 in the terminal. We were excited.

 

 

I want to tell you why we wanted to be one of the first ones on the ship. For the previous two Princess cruises, my wife LOVED the Sanctuary. She burns very easily and needs the shade. We knew that by being first on the ship, we could run to the sanctuary at 12 when the doors are opened. We could be first in line behind the platinum or elite members. We were going to get 2 week long passes @ $15/day/person. This was after all, the entire reason for our planning. My wife wanted to spent most of every day in the Sanctuary reading on the comfortable, shade covered chairs.

 

 

So here we are, 12pm on Sunday the 12th of September. Group 1 is called. We rush through the gates and get our boarding passes. We go up the escalator and bypass the boarding photo area, scan our cards and calmly but quickly walk to the sanctuary. We get there and there are 2 in line in front of us. Ok, no big deal. As we look around, many of the Sanctuary seats are already filled with people in their bathing suits. We were in the first 15 people on the ship and took 10 minutes to get from the waiting area all the way to the Sanctuary. So, we stood there thinking, ok, no big deal. Then, the first person in line walks away and the attendant says to the person (married couple with Elite status) in front of me "I'm sorry folks, but the weekly passes are sold out." WHAT???? We planned everything perfectly and were one of the first on the ship. How could this happen? If this wasn't bad enough, the attendant kept repeating himself. He just kept saying that all of the passes were sold and we could come back at 8 am each day. I did the 8am thing each day the last two times. I actually did the 6am thing because I wanted to ensure my wife had a seat. Every day we were somewhat uneasy about the following day and whether or not we would get the pass.

 

 

We found out by looking at the chart of seats one day, that there are between 10 and 15 "Week long passes" available per cruise and 32 day by day passes. What we don't understand is that we and other people were in line willing to buy the week long passes for full price right at the beginning of our cruise. We made the effort to get there and were not rewarded with this opportunity. This is NOT COOL! The main reason we chose Princess (for the 3rd year in a row) was because we knew we'd be able to get a full week Sanctuary pass. We will most likely not choose Princess next time because of the no-chance-for-a-sanctuary-pass issue. And what we found out is that the passes were taken by the back to back cruisers that stayed on the ship and the passes were sold out by 10am. We didn't even get the opportunity to board until 12. This is B.S.! The Sanctuary pass sale should open once everyone has the opportunity to board. Better yet, since there were 32 daily passes open and we were willing to pay, we should have been able to get the week long passes at 12:15 just after boarding the ship.

 

 

We will probably not cruise with Princess again. Our friends, on their first cruise, have said the same as well."

[jff50]

If this issue is a deal breaker, and other cruise lines can better meet your needs, than you should take your business elsewhere.

[1 HappyCruiser]

It sounds to me that the weekly passes are priced much to cheap. Princess should reconsider an increase & there wouldn't be such a long line waiting to reserve them.

[Colo Cruiser]

Sounds like some b2b's took up slots.

[chrysalis]

Some of those weekly passes might have been sold to people already on the ship (ie, they were doing B2B cruises).

 

If, as you suggest, they don't start selling passes until everyone is on the ship (3:30 or later), would you have stood in line from noon, until then?

[Toto2Kansas]

I am going to take a guess here that you were on a 7 day cruise? If so, another guess is that there were many passengers sailing on a back to back cruise and since they were already onboard, they grabbed up the sanctuary passes quickly. (this can happen quite often)

From what we have seen, more and more are booking less expensive staterooms and just counting on paying for a sanctuary pass for the week.

 

One thing you can never do is to count on things like this before you even board, especially with limited seating, on warmer climate cruises.

 

Sorry you were disappointed that the sanctuary was not available to you on this sailing.

 

One thing to keep in mind when writing to Princess though. Keep things short and to the point. They don't care what you paid for your pre-cruise hotel or what you did with your rental car, or any of the trivial stuff. Keep the letter short and include the facts about what you were disappointed in, without so many details. And you broke a letter writing rule, you never tell them that you will probably not be sailing with them again (threats will get you nowhere), as this just tells them why worry, they have lost you as a passenger already. I am sure you will get the form letter telling you they are sorry the sanctuary was sold out before you arrived for the full cruise passes, and that will be it. They can't invent extra lounges or space, and it is the chance you take.

 

Personally, I am not sure what you wanted Princess to do about this problem. They can't sell something that is already sold out????

 

Best of luck with your letter to Princess though and Happy cruising in the future on whichever cruise line you choose. ;)

[cherylandtk]

Ahh, I am sorry your well-laid plans did not work out, that is clearly very frustrating to you. There is not, however, a guarantee that boarding early will get you a place in the Sanctuary. It usually works out that way, as your first two trips did, but as you learned this trip, not always. The only way to guarantee a shaded place to spend the day outdoors is to book a covered balcony, not an inside cabin.

[cruiseron36]

Even though you were in the first group to check in, don't forget all of the elite and platinum were in front of you and on the ship before you, not to mention the folks that stayed on from the previous cruise.

[georoc01]

Ahh, I am sorry your well-laid plans did not work out, that is clearly very frustrating to you. There is not, however, a guarantee that boarding early will get you a place in the Sanctuary. It usually works out that way, as your first two trips did, but as you learned this trip, not always. The only way to guarantee a shaded place to spend the day outdoors is to book a covered balcony, not an inside cabin.

 

This is exactly why we get a balcony on our cruise. Sanctuary didn't exist back when we first started cruising and found this to be the best way to get a nice seat in the shade.

[PescadoAmarillo]

It sounds to me that the weekly passes are priced much to cheap. Princess should reconsider an increase & there wouldn't be such a long line waiting to reserve them.

 

I've said this before about the Chef's Table, but in that cas, I suggested that Princess simply offer it more nights. In the case of the Sanctuary, it does sound like there is a lot of room to raise the price (and I certainly hope Princess doesn't expand its space, meaning that even more of the ship is off limits to everyone else).

 

I'm sorry the OP was so disappointed, and erroneously expected that by boarding the ship early, they would be assured a Sanctuary spot. But I also agree that, although the OP wasn't seeking our opnion on his letter writing style, threatening to never cruise Princess again basically shuts down any opportunity for Princess to remedy this situation for his traveling companions and him.

[-Lew-]

How about a more equitable procedure for awarding cruise-long sanctuary passes? Allowing those doing a B2B to book before boarding even begins is just not fair to those coming aboard.

 

Perhaps a lottery for cruise-long passes to begin on first full day could be instituted. Sign up anytime during embarkation day; passes for lucky winners would be sent to their cabins and their onboard account would be charged.

 

Doesn't seem like rocket science and it would be fair for all.

 

Lew

[pablo222]

Here is the email I just sent to Princess regarding our Emerald Princess sailing 9/12/10 - 9/19/10.

 

I disembarked emerald on 9/12. There were 500 b2b passengers

staying on. I'd guess some of them got to the sanctuary early.

 

On the other hand, the weekly passes are first come, first serve.

You have to have some expectation, that you won't always get

what you want, no matter how disappointing it is.

 

And, as one of the other posters mentioned -- if the weekly sanctuary

passes are so oversubscribed, it's a good time to double the price!

[lushou]

How about a more equitable procedure for awarding cruise-long sanctuary passes? Allowing those doing a B2B to book before boarding even begins is just not fair to those coming aboard.

 

Perhaps a lottery for cruise-long passes to begin on first full day could be instituted. Sign up anytime during embarkation day; passes for lucky winners would be sent to their cabins and their onboard account would be charged.

 

Doesn't seem like rocket science and it would be fair for all.

 

Lew

 

It was the 500b2b people that got the passes. They should have to wait until official boarding begins at noon. Also, I didn't break any letter writing rules. I am not asking for money or anything. I just wanted to let them know what all we went through to secure a weeklong pass. Also, most of you missed the point about the 10-15 week long passes versus 32 daily passes. If you have a line of people willing to buy week long passes, then sell the rest of the passes! We shouldn't have to do day by day when there are obviously 32 full day passes available!

[nana nancy]

RCL's ships have the Solarium. Lots of shady spots, adults only, and no charge. Sailed on RCL 4 times so far, always had a good time, good food and service and always used the Solarium. We could go for an evening swim after dinner or the show, really pleasant. Hope you get a response that satisfies.

[1 HappyCruiser]

I've said this before about the Chef's Table, but in that cas, I suggested that Princess simply offer it more nights. In the case of the Sanctuary, it does sound like there is a lot of room to raise the price (and I certainly hope Princess doesn't expand its space, meaning that even more of the ship is off limits to everyone else).

 

I'm sorry the OP was so disappointed, and erroneously expected that by boarding the ship early, they would be assured a Sanctuary spot. But I also agree that, although the OP wasn't seeking our opnion on his letter writing style, threatening to never cruise Princess again basically shuts down any opportunity for Princess to remedy this situation for his traveling companions and him.

 

Although I hat to see more space dedicated to the Sanctuary, my main concern is that they might limit the use of the Lotus pool only to those people who book the Sanctuary.

[jennifers490]

It was the 500b2b people that got the passes. They should have to wait until official boarding begins at noon. Also, I didn't break any letter writing rules. I am not asking for money or anything. I just wanted to let them know what all we went through to secure a weeklong pass. Also, most of you missed the point about the 10-15 week long passes versus 32 daily passes. If you have a line of people willing to buy week long passes, then sell the rest of the passes! We shouldn't have to do day by day when there are obviously 32 full day passes available!

 

I agree this sounds disappointing but if they sold it all out for the week then people who didn't get the weekly ones and wanted to do a day pass would be angry and disappointed also. At least keeping the day ones available gives people more of a chance to at least use it once and many people don't need to do it every day. I'm not sure if there is a real solution to this since there are such few spots.

 

I think it would be fair to start selling them at noon, but even then you may experience a line of people who were on the ship before you. I'm not sure this would be a reason not to cruise princess again if the rest of the cruise was great.

[chrysalis]

It was the 500b2b people that got the passes. They should have to wait until official boarding begins at noon. Also, I didn't break any letter writing rules. I am not asking for money or anything. I just wanted to let them know what all we went through to secure a weeklong pass. Also, most of you missed the point about the 10-15 week long passes versus 32 daily passes. If you have a line of people willing to buy week long passes, then sell the rest of the passes! We shouldn't have to do day by day when there are obviously 32 full day passes available!

 

So all of the people flying in from overseas on Princess-arranged flights/charters (arriving mid-afternoon) would never be able to use the area, even for a day, right?

[geoherb]

I'm glad I don't want to pay extra for a bit of shade. We tend to do other activities in the morning and early afternoon and wait until later in the day to swim in the spa pool. I hope this remains a free area.

[steve ch]

So all of the people flying in from overseas on Princess-arranged flights/charters (arriving mid-afternoon) would never be able to use the area, even for a day, right?

 

Good point. I'm on the Sea Princess in November and my flight (Princess charter) doesn't even land until 3:30p.m. so no chance of weekly Sanctuary passes or chef's table, regardless of status. Why do they even bother to advertise them to me?

 

No one wants to be rushing around just after embarkation, raising stress levels. A lottery is the fair way to do it.

[Loonbeam]

I brought this up on another thread, namely there needs to be a better system for this. Personally, I am fan of a lottery, with the option to sign up for the lottery in the Cruise Personalizer. That way, the 'Lucky 15' can be chosen by sailaway and have their passes in hand to choose chairs that night, the rest can be sold by day. B2B cruisers could sign up for the lottery on each leg. At the very least, sales should not open until newly boarding cruisers have a chance to get access.

 

The Chef's table is one thing, but for something that is promoted as such a key component, there really needs to be something more equitable.

 

BTW, instead of saying you will never sail Princess again, a better way to phrase it is that 'While I would love to sail Princess again, this issue will be a factor in my next Cruise selection" or similar. Let them know they have a chance to retain your business.

 

 

(side note - based on the numbers above, the Sanctuary is limited to 47 people on that ship. I didn't think the numbers were that small, if so, thats a huge misuse of space, and very underpriced! - I say this as a CCL shareholder, as I don't see that much other incremental revenue generated for the expense besides the $700 per day or so in fees)

[u2cruiser]

Did you enjoy the rest of your cruise?

 

I can't see what the fuss is about, staying in one area. I know lots of people do enjoy the area but there are tons of shady, quiet spots all around the ship.

[RickEk]

I think the OP has a legitimate gripe. Folks who are on a B2B shouldn't have the opportunity to buy week-long passes before the folks who are boarding for the first time. But then again, if they had limited the start of Sanctuary pass sales till noon, those B2B'ers would have been queued up early too... Maybe the only equitable solution is to have a lottery system...

[chrysalis]

I think the OP has a legitimate gripe. Folks who are on a B2B shouldn't have the opportunity to buy week-long passes before the folks who are boarding for the first time. But then again, if they had limited the start of Sanctuary pass sales till noon, those B2B'ers would have been queued up early too... Maybe the only equitable solution is to have a lottery system...

 

The lottery system sounds good at first glance, but, you could only run it by cabin, and then what if you got picked, and your friends or family in another cabin do not get picked?

 

Doesn't matter how you look at it or do it, someone will be unhappy.

[1stCruiser]

The lottery system sounds good at first glance, but, you could only run it by cabin, and then what if you got picked, and your friends or family in another cabin do not get picked?

 

Doesn't matter how you look at it or do it, someone will be unhappy.

 

The only equitable way is to book a Sanctuary chair as you would an excursion -same way as booking a cabana, floater, clam shell or aqua chair on Princess Cays. As soon as excursion bookings open, it's whoever gets to book it first.

[cruzinchris]

The only equitable way is to book a Sanctuary chair as you would an excursion -same way as booking a cabana, floater, clam shell or aqua chair on Princess Cays. As soon as excursion bookings open, it's whoever gets to book it first.

 

Your suggestion is a good one. Perhaps Chef's Table should be booked as a shore excursion, also, since it seems to fill up quickly. Spa and salon appointments can be scheduled ahead of time, so why not include other special activities and/or services that offer limited availability?

Chris