How to book Princess sanctuary?

[rheathslc]

On 4/10/2022 at 7:12 AM, Kathyrd said:

We are new to princess we have a penthouse suite with a huge balcony at the back of the ship . Is there a benefit to the sanctuary other than an additional place to relax?

I love the Sanctuary for the service you get from the Serenity Stewards as much as the peace and quite and great views and the great (complementary and exclusive) food they have for breakfast and lunch. Sure the name is a little fussy but they do a wonderful job. With the new app you can order just about anything you could possibly want delivered to your stateroom but it may or may not be the same person and they may not remember how you like things. Plus (and this may have changed since November when we were last on board with Princess) when do do get delivery to your stateroom they were NOT bringing it into the cabin for us. We had to meet them at the door. So you have to keep popping up and down to answer the door.  If you're on the balcony it's hard to hear them knock. The stewards in the Sanctuary anticipated our needs and offered to refill our drinks before they were empty. And if you have the drinks package you can only order one drink at a time with the app. I'm weird, I like to cut my white wine with san pellegrino and I had to place two separate orders on the app to be delivered to our room. Sometimes they came together, sometimes not. Our Sanctuary stewards brought both at once. And remembered I didn't want ice. I gave an envelope with a cash tip to each of the four stewards who worked the Sanctuary during our cruise on the last day. They more than earned it. I'd say it depends on if you have the budget for it and want to splurge. You can probably get a very good experience on your own balcony. We're sailing in one of the aft suites on the Diamond for my 40th in September and I'm SOOO excited. Enjoy!

[rheathslc]

On 4/20/2022 at 11:18 AM, deb18560 said:

This will be our first Princess cruise. Is it worth doing the Sanctuary on an Alaska cruise in May? Everyone talks about strategizing for sun or shade for warm cruises, but will it be frigid in Alaska? Thanks!

I'm on the May 21st sailing to Alaska on the Crown rt from Seattle and plan on booking the Sanctuary  as soon as I get on board. I don't anticipate it being full except for the Glacier Bay day which costs more and has a few other perks. It will probably be very cold and windy and likely will be rainy and I still plan on booking it. I will have lots of warm, cozy clothes and can bundle up. But I'm in an inside cabin on this one. If I was doing a balcony I might forego the Sanctuary on this one. But probably not. I really LOVE the Sanctuary.

[deb18560]

22 hours ago, rheathslc said:

I'm on the May 21st sailing to Alaska on the Crown rt from Seattle and plan on booking the Sanctuary  as soon as I get on board. I don't anticipate it being full except for the Glacier Bay day which costs more and has a few other perks. It will probably be very cold and windy and likely will be rainy and I still plan on booking it. I will have lots of warm, cozy clothes and can bundle up. But I'm in an inside cabin on this one. If I was doing a balcony I might forego the Sanctuary on this one. But probably not. I really LOVE the Sanctuary.

We're on the same sailing!

[rheathslc]

54 minutes ago, deb18560 said:

We're on the same sailing!

Yay! I think I've seen you on the roll call. It's very quiet though. Usually there's more activity on the roll calls when we're this close. 26 days!

[deb18560]

On 4/25/2022 at 4:58 PM, rheathslc said:

Yay! I think I've seen you on the roll call. It's very quiet though. Usually there's more activity on the roll calls when we're this close. 26 days!

I was bored tonight and looked through the available staterooms. There are over 500. Did you get the email with the itinerary change? My husband did, but I didn't.

[rheathslc]

8 hours ago, deb18560 said:

I was bored tonight and looked through the available staterooms. There are over 500. Did you get the email with the itinerary change? My husband did, but I didn't.

I do that too! Haha! I did that a few days ago and was pleasantly surprised. I'm still in an inside cabin but might try to get a balcony and I'm glad there are plenty left. Plus it means fewer people on board which is always a plus to me. I did get the email but only after I logged into cruise personalizer and saw that the image for the cruise had changed and that usually means an itinerary change so I checked and sure enough, no Ketchikan.

[JF - retired RRT]

On 4/24/2022 at 4:52 PM, rheathslc said:

The Crown/Grand class ships (Grand, Sapphire, Diamond, Emerald, Ruby, Crown, Caribbean) have the outdoor Lotus pool (including two hot tubs) which has signs posted saying that it's adults only. They also have aft pools that are adults only (on some at least - possibly all of them). Neither have a fee to use. A lot of people assume the Lotus pool is part of the Sanctuary because it's accessed from either stairs right next to the Sanctuary entrance or through the Lotus Spa and thus has a fee for use but it is not (and some people may be miffed I'm giving away the secret 🙂). 

When we did the Tahiti cruise on the Crown several years ago...the "secret" was out. It was literally standing room only. ALL of the loungers and the bleacher typ seating for all day every day. We gave up and used the hot tub above Adagio (the current deck plan looks like that's now part of the kid's club?).

[smilesonfaces]

Is it easy enough to just book a couple of half days in the Sanctuary or will all the places be taken with full week bookings ? Would we need to go to guest services to book as soon as we board ?
thank you ! 

[Steelers36]

13 minutes ago, smilesonfaces said:

Is it easy enough to just book a couple of half days in the Sanctuary or will all the places be taken with full week bookings ? Would we need to go to guest services to book as soon as we board ?
thank you ! 

You go to the Sanctuary itself.  They do not allow all chairs to go for full voyage bookings (at least that is the way it was).  It's first-come-first-served at the Sanctuary.  If a Caribbean sector voyage, get up there ASAP with priority boarding.  If other places, not such a big deal.

[rheathslc]

3 hours ago, JF - retired RRT said:

When we did the Tahiti cruise on the Crown several years ago...the "secret" was out. It was literally standing room only. ALL of the loungers and the bleacher typ seating for all day every day. We gave up and used the hot tub above Adagio (the current deck plan looks like that's now part of the kid's club?).

I really like that hot tub at the back. It's still accessible and we found it was almost never in use (at least that was the case on the Ruby in Nov 2021) And it also seemed to stay hotter than than others in the main pools areas. It was across from the section they keep closed off and locked for the kids club but still accessible. There were very few young people on board though and only teens as it was a before the vaccines were approved for younger kiddos.

[smilesonfaces]

11 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

You go to the Sanctuary itself.  They do not allow all chairs to go for full voyage bookings (at least that is the way it was).  It's first-come-first-served at the Sanctuary.  If a Caribbean sector voyage, get up there ASAP with priority boarding.  If other places, not such a big deal.

Thank you. It is Western Europe. I’m sure sea-days will be very busy but hopefully then all spaces won’t be taken for the full week which I don’t really want. Thankyou for saying you go straight to the Sanctuary because I would have thought I’d be booking at Guest Services !

[marcruiser]

What is the Enclave that someone referred to.  Is it on the new Discovery?  What is different between the Enclave and the Sanctuary?  Are they both on the Discovery?  Thank you.

[rheathslc]

15 hours ago, marcruiser said:

What is the Enclave that someone referred to.  Is it on the new Discovery?  What is different between the Enclave and the Sanctuary?  Are they both on the Discovery?  Thank you.

The Enclave is the name of the Thermal Suite on all 6 of the Royal Class ships. The Enclave and whole Lotus spa are now on the Plaza deck on the newer ships and the Enclave has the hydrotherapy pool which the original thermal suites on the older ships do not have. 

The Sanctuary is on the top deck and all the way forward on most ships (except Island and Coral). 

They are separate spaces and both have an extra fee for use. The Enclave can be booked in advance on the cruise personalizer for a full cruise pass for a single person or for a couple (used it with my mom - can be any two people over 18). The Sanctuary is only able to be booked on board and can be booked for a half day ($20pp), full day ($40pp) or for the full cruise for $30pp per day.

Edited May 2, 2022 by rheathslc

[rheathslc]

15 hours ago, marcruiser said:

What is the Enclave that someone referred to.  Is it on the new Discovery?  What is different between the Enclave and the Sanctuary?  Are they both on the Discovery?  Thank you.

Bottom line: 

Enclave is an indoor thermal suite connected to the Lotus Spa and the Sanctuary is a top deck, outdoor (with some covered areas) upscale lounge area. Both are adults only and cost extra. 🙂

[lynnfriel]

I will be on a panama canal cruise on the Ruby Princess in December. 
I will have platinum status starting with that cruise. 

I really want to get to a good sanctuary location for the cruise as I have an indoor cabin.  
I don't know what the odds are going to be but I will be there as early as they let me to get on board 🙂 

I'm guessing this would be another cruise where the sanctuary books up fast?  

[rbtan]

On 8/26/2022 at 12:05 PM, MissP22 said:

I believe there was a posted sign on one of the ships. 

 

56 minutes ago, lynnfriel said:

I will be on a panama canal cruise on the Ruby Princess in December. 
I will have platinum status starting with that cruise. 

I really want to get to a good sanctuary location for the cruise as I have an indoor cabin.  
I don't know what the odds are going to be but I will be there as early as they let me to get on board 🙂 

I'm guessing this would be another cruise where the sanctuary books up fast?  

Basically GO right to the Sanctuary upon boarding & reserve your times.

[rheathslc]

59 minutes ago, lynnfriel said:

I will be on a panama canal cruise on the Ruby Princess in December. 
I will have platinum status starting with that cruise. 

I really want to get to a good sanctuary location for the cruise as I have an indoor cabin.  
I don't know what the odds are going to be but I will be there as early as they let me to get on board 🙂 

I'm guessing this would be another cruise where the sanctuary books up fast?  

You'd be guessing right. 🙂 And there is usually (or there was in the past anyway) an extra charge for the actual Panama Canal day and that won't be included automatically if you book for the whole cruise. With Platinum status I have been getting on board early enough to book for the full cruise since the restart but those were all on sailings that were around half full and the Sanctuary was deserted every day other than me. Hope you can book the lounger you want!

[MissP22]

Can the Sanctuary be reserved using another person's name?