How to book Princess sanctuary?

[traceytd]

Can we book the Sanctuary online before the cruise. If not how is the easiest way to reserve.

thanks 😁

[Treasure Hunter]

You can not book online prior to the cruise. Not even if you are Elite or have a suite. You have to run onto the ship as soon as you can, run to the front . Stairs or elevator directly to the top deck and you will still find a line. They will allow you to book by day , half day, or by the week ( which is cheaper) it’s around $40 a full day up changes depending the cruise. One tip is if you are on a back to back, you can book the second week on the last day of the first. Or if you are a whale in the casino, I have seen them give away the fancy cabanas with tv and refrigerator. It helps, when it is your turn inline to tip. That might help you get shade or front of the ship Amazing views!   The spa menu can be supplemented with burgers, hot dogs or pizza for a $3 delivery charge. If you are up there in the afternoon a full English tea is served at 3:30. If it is cold you are wrapped in blankets and served hot cocoa. But the best is that once you pick your lounges no one can sit on it but you for the times that you have paid. The service is fabulous. Run do not walk.

[traceytd]

3 minutes ago, Treasure Hunter said:

You can not book online prior to the cruise. Not even if you are Elite or have a suite. You have to run onto the ship as soon as you can, run to the front . Stairs or elevator directly to the top deck and you will still find a line. They will allow you to book by day , half day, or by the week ( which is cheaper) it’s around $40 a full day up changes depending the cruise. One tip is if you are on a back to back, you can book the second week on the last day of the first. Or if you are a whale in the casino, I have seen them give away the fancy cabanas with tv and refrigerator. It helps, when it is your turn inline to tip. That might help you get shade or front of the ship Amazing views!   The spa menu can be supplemented with burgers, hot dogs or pizza for a $3 delivery charge. If you are up there in the afternoon a full English tea is served at 3:30. If it is cold you are wrapped in blankets and served hot cocoa. But the best is that once you pick your lounges no one can sit on it but you for the times that you have paid. The service is fabulous. Run do not walk.

Thanks for the pointers. I can’t wait. I’m still able to run so look out 😆 

 

[Treasure Hunter]

1 minute ago, traceytd said:

Thanks for the pointers. I can’t wait. I’m still able to run so look out 😆 

 

Even in the Elite, suite pre board lounge there is jockeying to be near the door. People try to check in at 10:00. I once was the first one on the ship and we ran up the 17 flights and there was a line!   Remember to go up the stairs way at front of the ship. You might have to jump over wheel chairs.it gets hot  and windy so at least partial shade is a good idea. Good luck!

[traceytd]

6 minutes ago, Treasure Hunter said:

Even in the Elite, suite pre board lounge there is jockeying to be near the door. People try to check in at 10:00. I once was the first one on the ship and we ran up the 17 flights and there was a line!   Remember to go up the stairs way at front of the ship. You might have to jump over wheel chairs.it gets hot  and windy so at least partial shade is a good idea. Good luck!

😂😂 I’m going to try my best.

 

[caribill]

5 hours ago, Treasure Hunter said:

 It helps, when it is your turn inline to tip. That might help you get shade or front of the ship Amazing views!  

 

Not necessary. When it is your turn to sign up, you can select any lounger location that is still available.

[Treasure Hunter]

I disagree. Once all the lounges in the shade at the front of the ship were spoken for. On this trip, a person who was willing to pay for a week over a half a day was not given preference. They moved heaven and earth and bounced around each day, dragged lounges from the sun too , to help us out. Because of medication , my husband can’t sit in the sun. They earned every penny of that tip.  

[chisoxfan]

1 hour ago, Treasure Hunter said:

I disagree. Once all the lounges in the shade at the front of the ship were spoken for. On this trip, a person who was willing to pay for a week over a half a day was not given preference. They moved heaven and earth and bounced around each day, dragged lounges from the sun too , to help us out. Because of medication , my husband can’t sit in the sun. They earned every penny of that tip.  

This struck a cord for me,,,, (we were trying to forget a subpar Princess Canal cruise).

It was very frustrating to want to book a full cruise in the Sanctuary and wait in line behind people who wanted to book a single day spend much time evaluating and reserving their favorite spot.  Makes no sense to me.

Why not allow the first few hours for full cruise booking (maybe some ships do this).

While complaining...... we were also 'miffed' that they refused to allow us to keep our spot for the canal entrance day.  To be clear we could keep it but it would be for a large single day premium. 
We were happy we declined this and I understood that not many passengers opted for the experience.

[skynight]

Additional tip. Tropical cruise=busy sanctuary. Port intensive non tropical cruise, Baltic, Alaska for example, not so busy.

[Steelers36]

13 hours ago, Treasure Hunter said:

The spa menu can be supplemented with burgers, hot dogs or pizza for a $3 delivery charge.

This should go away with the Medallion and DMW and OCEANNow.  Since I am supposed to be able to order any offering on the app and it comes to me anywhere on the ship, that ought to include the Sanctuary.  Whenever we have been in Sanctuary, we always went out to get our own food.  Gives better personal preference as to serving sizes, choices and it is a chance to stretch legs, etc. 

 

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, skynight said:

Additional tip. Tropical cruise=busy sanctuary. Port intensive non tropical cruise, Baltic, Alaska for example, not so busy.

Absolutely.  All the running, etc, mentioned by @Treasure Hunter has more relevance for a Cairbbean sector cruise and not so much for Europe.

 

[Steelers36]

7 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Not necessary. When it is your turn to sign up, you can select any lounger location that is still available.

Agree.  Not necessary to bribe (er, tip) to get a lounger.  It depends on inventory.  Now, I have been on a ship where they had some set aside for full-cruise bookings - and that makes sense.  We have done full-cruise bookings in the past for Caribbean sector, but that was mostly in the days when you had to book single days each morning you wanted them.  With selections on embarkation day, we usually just book the Sea Days now.  I can understand giving some preference to full-cruise bookings.  If a ship is doing that, then it does make the individual day inventory smaller and further if you want shade versus sun.  Some ships have very little shade areas.  IMO, the best ships for Sanctuary are the Caribbean/Crown/Emerald/Ruby.  (Not sure but some others could be quite good too, but we have not been on Grand, Diamond, Sapphire.  Almost zero shade on Island.  The Royal Class has limited shade.

 

Often passengers will tip some extra on top of the fee at end of voyage or last day booked.

 

I think it puts the employee(s) in a bad situation if you try and hand over a tip with a line-up of other passengers and employees around.  

[Syracusefan44]

I wish Princess allow us to make reservations for The Sanctuary thru the app instead of having to get onboard and head straight up in hopes of securing a spot. 

[caribill]

23 minutes ago, Syracusefan44 said:

I wish Princess allow us to make reservations for The Sanctuary thru the app instead of having to get onboard and head straight up in hopes of securing a spot. 

 

That should almost guarantee that all spots are reserved many months ahead of the cruise, possibly before you make your booking.

 

Problem with reserving ahead of the cruise is it is hard to point out which lounger you want.

[Wishing on a star]

I am thinking that the exact system in place for reserving. loungers by the day/week might differ, not only between ships, but even between sailings.   

First time we tried to book the Sanctuary, I believe that they had front loungers offered to weekly bookings.

The next time, I didn't get that this was the case, but even though we were very early onboard, all front and even 2nd row loungers were taken.  Maybe by Back-2-Back cruisers?

And, cruises like Panama Canal Crossing and Glacier Bay have their own system and pricing.

 

Look at the general direction of sailing to see what might be in the shade.

If the ship will be heading in an East or West direction, the front loungers will either be right in the sun in the morning or afternoon.  And, either Port or Starboard if the ship is heading in a more North or South direction.  (There might be loungers facing out on the Port or Starboard side of the ship, depending on the Ship and the Sanctuary set-up?)

 

The time we had to sit more in the back row of the front section, we ended up being glad, because it was a hot sunny day, and the front loungers were in the sun, while we had shade.

[Treasure Hunter]

We like to sit under the spaced sails, up front, we mostly get shade that way. You are right that it depends where the ship is going. Almost all Caribbean sailings sell out while Cool weather ports not. Our Hawaii cruise from LA in late January was empty as the weather was poor but we loved it. Just wore longs and sweatshirts and wrapped in blankets drinking cocoa . Saw whales and dolphins. 

[Treasure Hunter]

2 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

This should go away with the Medallion and DMW and OCEANNow.  Since I am supposed to be able to order any offering on the app and it comes to me anywhere on the ship, that ought to include the Sanctuary.  Whenever we have been in Sanctuary, we always went out to get our own food.  Gives better personal preference as to serving sizes, choices and it is a chance to stretch legs, etc. 

 

When we are in the Sanctuary we spend our time up there. The service charge helps supplement  what the attendants earn. Being served in such a lovely way is part of the ambiance.we like to give a little extra. They work so hard to make it memorable.

[lx200gps]

3 hours ago, caribill said:

 

That should almost guarantee that all spots are reserved many months ahead of the cruise, possibly before you make your booking.

 

Problem with reserving ahead of the cruise is it is hard to point out which lounger you want.

Quite agree. If Sanctuary bookings went online, it would be akin to trying to obtain concert tickets online. People wait expectantly to login the minute the tickets go on sale, and when they connect literally two or three minutes past the time the tickets went on sale, all the best ones are gone or the entire show is sold out. Any one trying to obtain tickets hours, days or weeks later are SOL. I'm all for keeping it the way it is.

[skynight]

5 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

This should go away with the Medallion and DMW and OCEANNow.  Since I am supposed to be able to order any offering on the app and it comes to me anywhere on the ship, that ought to include the Sanctuary.  Whenever we have been in Sanctuary, we always went out to get our own food.  Gives better personal preference as to serving sizes, choices and it is a chance to stretch legs, etc. 

 

Maybe. You can only order what is shown on the menu. It's possible that some or all of the Ocean Now selections may have a price. 

[LoriPhil]

The strategy to board as early as possible and immediately go to Sanctuary has worked well for us.  We typically arrive at port for checkin around 10am to get better priority boarding.  I’d bolt up to Sanctuary (using the closest elevator to the facility)  with my carryon luggage still in-hand to get in line and claim our chairs for the cruise, and then go to the cabin to drop off our stuff.  Don’t know if it matters, but our cruises were usually 10+days so we didn’t see as chaotic a sign-up (or we may just have been lucky).  
 

Once we started cruising Royal-class ships I’d do the same process for Enclave instead of Sanctuary, as we enjoyed the luxury of having the Enclave features which are open long after Sanctuary closes each day.  
 

Good luck, and have a wonderful cruise!

 

[Wishing on a star]

I am not sure by this Posters cruising history in their siggie,  but they might not have the Princess Loyalty Status level to get any good priority boarding.   That can make the difference.

Edited June 8, 2021 by Wishing on a star

[Steelers36]

10 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

I am not sure by this Posters cruising history in their siggie,  but they might not have the Princess Loyalty Status level to get any good priority boarding.   That can make the difference.

Good observation.  From a quick glance, they are mostly RCL customers.  Unless booked in a Suite, they are never going to get a decent lounger in the Caribbean sector on a Sea Day.  GL with that.  Maybe if lucky, in the sun on a port day.  It might be possible if you are the first aboard after Suites & Elites, but no guarantees.

[vjmatty]

20 hours ago, Treasure Hunter said:

One tip is if you are on a back to back, you can book the second week on the last day of the first.

If the back to backs are also available as a single cruise, can you book for the whole cruise? And do you know what the weekly rate is?

[caribill]

2 hours ago, LoriPhil said:

The strategy to board as early as possible and immediately go to Sanctuary has worked well for us.  We typically arrive at port for checkin around 10am to get better priority boarding.  I’d bolt up to Sanctuary (using the closest elevator to the facility)  with my carryon luggage still in-hand to get in line and claim our chairs for the cruise, and then go to the cabin to drop off our stuff. 

 

 

The new enforced boarding times due to the pandemic may affect how quickly you can get onto the ship.

[Treasure Hunter]

21 minutes ago, vjmatty said:

If the back to backs are also available as a single cruise, can you book for the whole cruise? And do you know what the weekly rate is?

We booked a cruise from Fort Lauderdale that was called East/West explorer or adventure. It did the eastern Caribbean came back to Fort Lauderdale then went to Mexico. The last day before we came back to Fort Lauderdale they let us book the second week without standing on line on the next day ( boarding day). I can’t remember the exact price but it was around $30-$40 day pp. The week got a discount. We told the head of the Sanctuary on the first day that we wanted to do that and they wrote it down. We gave a tip as a thank you. I know some people on this page don’t approve ( they call it a bribe) but these lovely people took care of us and came around and asked us to choose the lounges we wanted the second week.