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Truth about the Sanctuary

Kathiebrown

By Kathiebrown,
in Princess Cruises

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Kathiebrown

Kathiebrown

Posted
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Our last three cruises we booked the Sanctuary for the entire time on the cruise and loved it. Thinking about going on the Emerald Princess in January. Call Princess today and was told you could only book the Sanctuary day by day and that you were never able to book it for the entire cruise. I know that is not true. Has anyone recently booked the Sanctuary for the entire week? What is the truth about the booking now in the Sanctuary?

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Pam in CA

Pam in CA

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You can't pre-book the Sanctuary. The "truth" is that it depends on the ship and maybe even the itinerary. On some ships/itineraries, you can book for the length of the cruise. On some ships/itineraries, you can book only by the day. Best thing to do is to check when you board the ship.

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lovevacadays

lovevacadays

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Our last three cruises we booked the Sanctuary for the entire time on the cruise and loved it. Thinking about going on the Emerald Princess in January. Call Princess today and was told you could only book the Sanctuary day by day and that you were never able to book it for the entire cruise. I know that is not true. Has anyone recently booked the Sanctuary for the entire week? What is the truth about the booking now in the Sanctuary?

 

I'm thinking the rep you talked to might not have been well informed about the sanctuary. Certainly, it is not true that you can never book the santuary for the entire week. I believe in most cases you can book for the whole week. Once you get on the ship, pop on up to the sanctuary and check it out.

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I_heart_vaca

I_heart_vaca

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I seem to recall someone on here mentioning that since Staggered Boarding meant some people couldn't get on early enough to book, that on those cruises you could only book daily, so the early boarders didn't get all the seats. Someone else mentioned they had been told that since Sanctuary has limited space - and most people don't use it the whole time, Princess was thinking of selling slots in 1/2 day increments to increase the number of potentials who could use it. I suspect its a change in policy they are testing on different ships before making a fleet wide change. If you can't book pre-boarding, I would just go first thing on arrival and ask on ship. Good luck!

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CruisinChris

CruisinChris

Posted
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Princess changed policy on the Sanctuary back in March. You have to book day by day they no longer allow you to book for the entire cruise. I personally experienced this on the Emerald in March. We were on the first cruise with the new policy. What a stupid change in my opinion.

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TracieABD "Live from...." Rare

TracieABD

Posted
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Princess changed policy on the Sanctuary back in March. You have to book day by day they no longer allow you to book for the entire cruise. I personally experienced this on the Emerald in March. We were on the first cruise with the new policy. What a stupid change in my opinion.

Does anyone know if this is per ship or if it is a system-wide change?

 

Is there anyone who has been on a Princess ship in the last couple of months that has had a similar or different experience?

 

Thanks!

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  • 3 months later...
tequilatamm

tequilatamm

Posted
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We're down here in Sydney, and just popping onto a quick "short break" from Sydney to Brisbane for 2 nights.

 

I can't find any info about booking or pre-booking The Sanctuary on such a short cruise. It sounds like you can book it in half-day blocks, but no word on whether you can pre-book or how to book once you're on.

 

Is the consensus to simply pop by The Sanctuary when we get on-board and try to be quick? I'm imagining that everyone and their brother will be trying to book it for the ONE full-day we have sailing! Argh.

 

Anyone with experience of this recently in Australia on the Sun Princess?

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crows nest club

crows nest club

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We have recently got off the Grand some 10 days ago and I can confirm that you can book the Sanctuary for the entire cruise. They sell approx. 50% of the loungers for the whole cruise and and the remainder are held back for the day-to-day bookings on a first come first served basis on the day.

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shofer

shofer

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I seem to recall someone on here mentioning that since Staggered Boarding meant some people couldn't get on early enough to book, that on those cruises you could only book daily, so the early boarders didn't get all the seats. Someone else mentioned they had been told that since Sanctuary has limited space - and most people don't use it the whole time, Princess was thinking of selling slots in 1/2 day increments to increase the number of potentials who could use it. I suspect its a change in policy they are testing on different ships before making a fleet wide change. If you can't book pre-boarding, I would just go first thing on arrival and ask on ship. Good luck!

 

We did a half day on our last sea day this past trip. No hassle. Just ran up there at 8 AM and put in our names.

 

Sue

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caribill

caribill

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Hi does anybody know if your loungers are reserved when you pay for sanctuary?

 

When you reserve, the lounger is yours. If you booked for the entrie cruise, it is yours for the entire cruise. You get to pick the location from the available lounges at the time you book.

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Eppe4

Eppe4

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We were on the Emerald 4/6/12 for 10 days and all three of us booked the Santuary for the entire cruise. We also did this on the Grand in January and we'll be doing it later this month on the Caribbean Princess. My D/H will be devastated if he can't have "his" lounge chair for the entire cruise. We love it up there.

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TracieABD "Live from...." Rare

TracieABD

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thought they would get a share of them :confused:

Who knows...

We always give our "Serenity Stewards" a bit extra.

 

On our next cruise, it will be too cold to book the Sanctuary for the 2 weeks. I will probably avoid the open decks as much as possible, except to run/walk in the mornings.:)

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