"Blown away" by the Royal Sanctuary & Retreat

[anskt]

Has anyone else had the windy experience of the Adult Retreat Pool area and Sanctuary on The Royal Princess?

[Cruise Junky]

Not personally, but yes, there's been a few reports of how windy it is when sailing.

[dorisis]

There is always a lot of wind up front while sailing. Island and Coral Sanctuary are aft and I think that is a better location,

[lovevacadays]

Oh no! Sounds like they should have put it aft. With all the information coming out as people cruise the Royal I have to wonder who at Princess is under fire. While there are some really good reviews there does seem to be so many things that the typical Princess cruiser expects while sailing Princess that have gone amiss on this ship.

[sydneyguy]

Has anyone else had the windy experience of the Adult Retreat Pool area and Sanctuary on The Royal Princess?

 

HI Anskt- I am going on the Royal in December. I'd like to book either loungers in the Sanctuary or a Retreat cabana for the entire duration. Would you say the Retreat pool cabanas have more sun than in the Sanctuary? I'd like more sun, less shade but with the convenience of a permanent place. Many thanks :)

[Shogun]

Hi All

 

We found the retreat appeared to collect the wind, any wind, and palm trees were always getting broken.

 

yours Shogun

[Astro Flyer]

Hi All

 

We found the retreat appeared to collect the wind, any wind, and palm trees were always getting broken.

 

yours Shogun

As we disembarked the Med/TA cruise in Ft Lauderdale they were replacing the fake palm trees around the main pool with what looked like round columns of vines.

 

[strummer]

We found the retreat pool was windy on certain days ( I suppose it depends on the wind direction and direction of sailing :confused:) but the Sanctuary was fine, on a day it was really windy by the retreat pool the sanctuary was lovely and calm :)

[-Lew-]

 

As we disembarked the Med/TA cruise in Ft Lauderdale they were replacing the fake palm trees around the main pool with what looked like round columns of vines.

Interesting Frank...

 

Nan and I were wondering how long it would take before those sickly fake palms wold be replaced. Not long I see.

 

Now...any bets on how long the cabanas will last? At $50/half day or $80/day there were no takers on the TA that we saw. The Sanctuary is a much better venue at a much more reasonable price.

 

Lew

[dchip]

I just spent the week in the Sanctuary. The wind wasn't an issue. It was lovely. However, the week before at the Retreat pool was very windy!

 

Cheers, Denise.

[Pootimer]

I'd like to reserve the Sanctuary for the full week on the Royal; could my adult daughter use the Sanctuary on one of the days if I'm not going to use it?

[Pam in CA]

On the Royal's T/A, the Retreat pool area was very windy quite a few days. If the hot tub was bubbling, the wind took the water and wet down the walkway and loungers in it's path. At the same time, the Sanctuary was a bit breezy, not windy, and was relatively calm. The cabanas around the Retreat pool were never booked whenever I walked past or was there. You'd have to enclose yourself to block off the wind and IMHO, why spend all that money to be in a hot, stuffy tent (which is what it essentially is.)

[sydneyguy]

Has anyone had an positive experiences in the Retreat Cabanas? Surely some times of day it must be without wind?

 

 

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[Love.II.Cruise]

Has anyone had an positive experiences in the Retreat Cabanas? Surely some times of day it must be without wind?

 

 

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I'm also curious.

[Stu K]

Thanks for info on column trees having read daves thread and looked at all the pics i thought the had changed then thought i was going mad lol!

 

Stu k

[caribill]

Has anyone had an positive experiences in the Retreat Cabanas? Surely some times of day it must be without wind?

 

 

 

Two different topics here.

 

a) Wind in the retreat area

 

b) Retreat cabanas which appear to be vacant almost all of the time. So far I have not seen a post about the experience of actually renting and using one of these cabanas.

[sydneyguy]

Is there waiter service for drinks if you rent a Retreat pool cabana?

 

 

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[lx200gps]

On the Royal's T/A, the Retreat pool area was very windy quite a few days. If the hot tub was bubbling, the wind took the water and wet down the walkway and loungers in it's path. At the same time, the Sanctuary was a bit breezy, not windy, and was relatively calm. The cabanas around the Retreat pool were never booked whenever I walked past or was there. You'd have to enclose yourself to block off the wind and IMHO, why spend all that money to be in a hot, stuffy tent (which is what it essentially is.)

 

Perhaps the North Atlantic in October isn't very conducive to lounging around a pool area anyway, so that may have had something to do with the lack of activity in the Retreat cabanas? On our Caribbean sailing last week, the cabanas were very busy and popular. I can't say they were 100% booked at all times, but whenever we walked by they sure looked busy

 

The Retreat cabanas, which are pretty much like those ubiquitous backyard tents with fabric roofs and open sliding curtain sides, can't be enclosed to block out wind or sun anyway. The sides are on tracks and only close about a foot or so. The walls can't come close to be completely closed. They did little to block out the hammering sun, so that's why we never bothered with one.

 

The day we spent in the Sanctuary was largely wind-free, certainly not very noticeable or troublesome. Same for the Retreat when we passed through. On our sailing, a few days saw winds of 20+ knots per the weather report from the bridge, so coupled with the ship's own 15 kts or so, wind is always going to be a factor.

 

But I agree, aft would be a better location for areas like these.

[5:00_Somewhere]

Two different topics here.

 

a) Wind in the retreat area

 

b) Retreat cabanas which appear to be vacant almost all of the time. So far I have not seen a post about the experience of actually renting and using one of these cabanas.

 

We were on the Royal last week, and I can report that there was a good bit of wind in the Retreat area at times on sea days, but we never found it to be too much; in fact when the sun was strong, we quite enjoyed it. We never experienced wind strong enough to blow the bubbling water out of the hot tubs, as Pam mentioned.

 

As for the Retreat Cabanas, they were booked every day of our cruise. You have to get in line by 8:00 a.m. the morning BEFORE you want to use the Cabana in order to book it. We would have liked to book one, but I frankly did not feel it was worth getting in line at 7:00 a.m. (which friends reported was necessary in order to have a chance of actually being able to reserve a cabana) for me to have a cabana. We used the regular loungers in the Retreat area and found them to be just fine for us.

 

We had friends who used the Sanctuary 3 days of the cruise, and did not report any issues with the wind.

 

Is there waiter service for drinks if you rent a Retreat pool cabana?

 

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There is, indeed, cocktail waits service (from the nearby Retreat Bar) for the entire Retreat area, including the cabanas. This does not, however, include wait service for food (as is offered in the Sanctuary.) In fact, one of the Retreat waiters was so friendly, attentive and overall good that he warranted a special comment in my post-cruise survey (thank you again, Jose Carlos). ;)

Edited November 21, 2013 by 5:00_Somewhere

[Woobstr112G]

We were on the Royal last week, and I can report that there was a good bit of wind in the Retreat area at times on sea days, but we never found it to be too much; in fact when the sun was strong, we quite enjoyed it. We never experienced wind strong enough to blow the bubbling water out of the hot tubs, as Pam mentioned.

 

As for the Retreat Cabanas, they were booked every day of our cruise. You have to get in line by 8:00 a.m. the morning BEFORE you want to use the Cabana in order to book it. We would have liked to book one, but I frankly did not feel it was worth getting in line at 7:00 a.m. (which friends reported was necessary in order to have a chance of actually being able to reserve a cabana) for me to have a cabana. We used the regular loungers in the Retreat area and found them to be just fine for us.

 

We had friends who used the Sanctuary 3 days of the cruise, and did not report any issues with the wind.

 

 

 

There is, indeed, cocktail waits service (from the nearby Retreat Bar) for the entire Retreat area, including the cabanas. This does not, however, include wait service for food (as is offered in the Sanctuary.) In fact, one of the Retreat waiters was so friendly, attentive and overall good that he warranted a special comment in my post-cruise survey (thank you again, Jose Carlos). ;)

 

Question about the cabanas. Did you see or hear of any disagreements as to the ownership of the open areas between the edge of a cabana and the edge of the retreat pool?

Bob

[Steven_&_Daniel]

We sailed the maiden Caribbean voyage. The Retreat area was very windy on sea days. Sometimes water had blown over a large part of the deck around the pool.

 

I remember seeing palm trees at the pools in the original drawings of the Royal. When we sailed, they had tall square plastic boxwood topiaries. I figured the palm trees must have went the way of the dueling glass pianos, LOL. I didn't realize the Royal started with the palm trees and they replaced them.

 

I don't know how long the topiaries will last. They look okay for what they are, but we once saw a small child pulling pieces off of one and throwing them in the pool. (avoiding comment on parenting)

 

I like the concept of greenery on the pool deck. I just don't know how well it's going to work in the long run.

[caribill]

I don't know how long the topiaries will last. They look okay for what they are, but we once saw a small child pulling pieces off of one and throwing them in the pool. (avoiding comment on parenting)

 

 

Interersting since those under age 18 are not supposed to be in that area.

[windsor26]

If they had positioned the Retreat at the aft area they would be having the problems of the soot and etc.:mad:

[Steven_&_Daniel]

Interersting since those under age 18 are not supposed to be in that area.

 

 

Sorry, I should have specified. The child was at the main pool, near The Mermaid's Tail. The link I posted shows the main pool (actually, it shows the fountain and the splash pool). They have the same topiaries at both locations.

Edited November 22, 2013 by Steven_&_Daniel

[5:00_Somewhere]

Question about the cabanas. Did you see or hear of any disagreements as to the ownership of the open areas between the edge of a cabana and the edge of the retreat pool?

Bob

 

None. On the other hand, the only people I ever saw in that area were talking with the people in the cabana. No one else was really trying to occupy that area, at least not on our cruise. I do have to say that, over all, the people in the Retreat Pool area seemed to be very "adult" about the situation - if you will - and everyone seemed to be respectful of one another and to "play well together". The only grumbling I heard had to do with the usual chair hogging, especially in the early morning: people leaving towels, books, bags, etc., on loungers and disappearing for hours on end. But, that happens on every ship.