Sanctuary Collection on Sun Princess

[reiddg]

Just now, JimmyVWine said:

You already know the answer to that question!

Yes, indeed!

[FLAlaska]

2 minutes ago, Mishkin said:

Were S9 the lowest of the Suite option previously? If so at least you'll still be able to go to the Suite Lounge for drinks that don't count to your 15!

Yes its the lowest, and basically the same cabin as a mini Suite.  The difference in price is , IMO, no way worth the only added benefit which is the Lounge.

[Wishing on a star]

I am not so sure that there will be an 'availability' problem...  The way the Sanctuary is now, much of the time it can be fully booked, but many of the loungers are not occupied....

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

 

I booked our cruise on the Sun with the hope that, somehow, we would be able to have some chance at booking the Sanctuary by the day.  But, that will not be a possibility.

Will we cancel???  I don't know.  I am still excited about the cruise and seeing the new ship.  But absolutely NO other adult area...  That is huge...  And, might be a bigger issue when cruising when schools have Fall Break.

 

Apparently Princess feels it is more important to have a ship-within-a-ship than it is to provide a nice area that is available for adults, even pay-per-day.     All the discussion and disappointment that has been online, with those who were concerned about the Sanctuary situation, must not have carried much weight.

Edited April 23 by Wishing on a star

[FLAlaska]

3 minutes ago, Amy G said:

Thanks.  We are sailing in July so I hope this is still true.

me too!

[Mishkin]

So watching a review of the Sanctuary there were two sections of it. The portion with the padded loungers that was supposedly reserved for suite guests then the other section. Maybe they'll keep those for us that paid extra for suites.

[Mishkin]

1 minute ago, Wishing on a star said:

]Apparently Princess feels it is more important to have a ship-within-a-ship than it is to provide a nice area that is available, even pay-per-day.     All the discussion and disappointment that has been online, with those who were concerned about the Sanctuary situation, must not have carried much weight.

Well they jacked the price up a whole lot with this update. It is more expensive than the old+premier so I'm feeling it is more of a cash grab and they would rather the guaranteed money from suite then the possibility of people buying it on the ship itself. My Suite would be ~$2200 more and our travel companions would be ~$1600 for their reserver collection mini-suite. We all had premier already so no change in price there, they just now get to hang with us in the Sanctuary without maybe being able to pay per day.

 

We'll see what sort of clarification they provide but right now I'm not holding my breath.

[JimmyVWine]

6 minutes ago, FLAlaska said:

The difference in price is , IMO, no way worth the only added benefit which is the Lounge.

Agree.  I just did a price comparison between a Sanctuary Suite (S9)and a Sanctuary Mini-Suite and the difference was eye-popping.  Certainly not worth the extra price when all you get is Lounge access (as if there aren't enough bars on the ship already) and a mini-bar setup (which is redundant now that the Premier Package is baked in to the price of both cabins.)  If one is not already Platinum or Elite, then there is the early boarding perk, but honestly, what is that worth?  So is free laundry and priority tender boarding worth the extra cost?  Not to me. 

Edited April 23 by JimmyVWine

[oteixeira]

4 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

Apparently Princess feels it is more important to have a ship-within-a-ship than it is to provide a nice area that is available for adults, even pay-per-day.     All the discussion and disappointment that has been online, with those who were concerned about the Sanctuary situation, must not have carried much weight.

Based on a review done here on just the last sailing it is more apparent that no one way buying the passes and Princess is just trying to get the money up front rather then leave the area almost completely unused.  

[JimmyVWine]

2 minutes ago, oteixeira said:

Princess is just trying to get the money up front rather then leave the area almost completely unused.

But don't you think that if Princess had made possible pre-booking what few spaces were available for purchase in the Sanctuary through the app that the spaces would have sold out?  

[GK95]

16 minutes ago, Mishkin said:

So watching a review of the Sanctuary there were two sections of it. The portion with the padded loungers that was supposedly reserved for suite guests then the other section. Maybe they'll keep those for us that paid extra for suites.

I don't believe there will be an "other section" anymore. It sounds like the only way to access the Sanctuary, at least on Sun and whenever the Star launches, is to pay extra for the suite. 

My take is that Princess gave that line about different areas so they didn't have to let the cat out of the bag what was about to take place. I don't dislike the idea (I enjoyed the Sanctuary but can see the benefit of it being exclusive), but think they should have done this before the Sun launched. 

[CalTexCruiser]

So what cabins are assigned the Reserve Class dining and what are assigned the Signature dining--or has that distinction been removed?

[oteixeira]

15 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

But don't you think that if Princess had made possible pre-booking what few spaces were available for purchase in the Sanctuary through the app that the spaces would have sold out?  

I actually think if anyone wanted to use the space enough to pre-book then they would absolutely book on board if still available (which it is based on reviews of how empty it is).  So, IMHO, pre-booking only matters if the space is very popular and sells out every sailing (like the NCL vibe).

[reiddg]

14 minutes ago, CalTexCruiser said:

So what cabins are assigned the Reserve Class dining and what are assigned the Signature dining--or has that distinction been removed?

I’m wondering the same thing.  What exactly is the “private” restaurant for the Sanctuary Collection?

[dog]

1 hour ago, cristine said:

We received the email saying we were Upgraded to Sanctuary Class listing our booking number but We are on the TA sailing in September. Our travel summary hasn’t changed. So I find the October starting sailing dates confusing. Maybe we get them, maybe we don’t.

We are in one of the 12 Cat DO Aft cabins..🤪😳

Another confusing roll out…

Ok, correction sent out- starts October 14/24

Edited April 23 by dog

[galveston gal]

6 hours ago, FLAlaska said:

I posted this in another thread, but my C1, previously named Reserve Cabana Suite isn't listed as Sanctuary or Reserve. Trying to find out if they removed the Reserve dining room component.

We got an email indicating the private dining is still included.  Our agent confirmed he saw a note on our booking noting it as grandfathered.

[galveston gal]

3 hours ago, reiddg said:

I’m wondering the same thing.  What exactly is the “private” restaurant for the Sanctuary Collection?

I bet they are one and the same.  

[galveston gal]

5 hours ago, reiddg said:

Exactly.  I was wondering though, was the private restaurant originally for both Signature and Reserve or were they separate?

They were separate 

[catlover41]

I have a Penthouse Suite booked on the Sun during the Summer.  I can't find anything on the Princess website anymore about Signature Suite benefits.  By that I mean things beyond the private restaurant and the Sanctuary: laundry, priority embarkation and tenders, 1 mini-bar set-up.  I don't like that I have no evidence of those promises made that I paid for.  It's all very confusing.  

Edited April 24 by catlover41
typo

[Cubgal25]

I am in what was called Cabana Reserve collection. My email said that they are now called cabana deck mini suites. My reserve status will be grandfathered in, but people booking C2 or C1 going forward will not be reserve apparently. I think that is a terrible move. I would not have booked C2 if it wasn't reserve. I am attending a Princess webinar on Thursday that will be addressing this. Not quite sure why they did this. Now many fewer people in reserve dining room.

[Cubgal25]

I am in what was called Cabana Reserve collection. My email said that they are now called cabana deck mini suites. My reserve status will be grandfathered in, but people booking C2 or C1 going forward will not be reserve apparently. I think that is a terrible move. I would not have booked C2 if it wasn't reserve. I am attending a Princess webinar on Thursday that will be addressing this. Not quite sure why they did this. Now many fewer people in reserve dining room.

[reedprincess]

32 minutes ago, catlover41 said:

I have a Penthouse Suite booked on the Sun during the Summer.  I can't find anything on the Princess website anymore about Signature Suite benefits.  By that I mean things beyond the private restaurant and the Sanctuary: laundry, priority embarkation and tenders, 1 mini-bar set-up.  I don't like that I have no evidence of those promises made that I paid for.  It's all very confusing.  

There's no changes for you 

The "Sanctuary Class" changes do not take affect til the Sun hits the Caribbean late October 2024 

Check the Suite perks page on the website: 

https://www.princess.com/en-us/ships-and-experience/ships/staterooms/suites

[catlover41]

9 minutes ago, reedprincess said:

There's no changes for you 

The "Sanctuary Class" changes do not take affect til the Sun hits the Caribbean late October 2024 

Check the Suite perks page on the website: 

https://www.princess.com/en-us/ships-and-experience/ships/staterooms/suites

 

Thanks, that is helpful, I appreciate it.  I will say, though, that the generic suite benefits don't include the full list of Signature benefits marketed for the Sun.  But when I try to book a new suite during the Summer on the Sun, it shows me the same list of originally marketed benefits.  That same list appears for later Suite bookings once the Sanctuary name starts being used in October.  (The list of benefits for Sanctuary, non-Suite rooms post-October isn't as extensive, so there's still suite-specific perks.). What a mess.

[reedprincess]

23 minutes ago, catlover41 said:

 

Thanks, that is helpful, I appreciate it.  I will say, though, that the generic suite benefits don't include the full list of Signature benefits marketed for the Sun.  But when I try to book a new suite during the Summer on the Sun, it shows me the same list of originally marketed benefits.  That same list appears for later Suite bookings once the Sanctuary name starts being used in October.  (The list of benefits for Sanctuary, non-Suite rooms post-October isn't as extensive, so there's still suite-specific perks.). What a mess.

What specific Sun marketed suite perks are missing?   

(And by that, I don't mean from the suite perk page, given it's generic and covers all their ships, which all have some solid deviations from each other - Concierge Lounge, Signature Lounge, no lounge, Thermal Suite, no Enclave, and so forth).

 

What was specific to the Sun that's missing in any description/listings at this point - beyond the Sanctuary Sun deck? 

 

I admit - I don't have a dog in this as I haven't booked a suite on Sun or Star, although I do book them in older ships (or have been generously upgraded in recent years).

 

 

[Flo71]

Hm so I could book a sanctuary balcony and get all these benefits, I think those cabins will be in demand - depending on cost of course. Would love to see Sun or Star sailing out of Southampton 2026. hurry up Princess with the 2026 Europe sailings!

[NeutralNovice]

After receiving the e-mail, I got all excited, thinking I could get a refund for the Premier Package but nope!   But I will say this.. the prices are insanely higher.

 

I cruised on PCL for the first time a several years ago and apparently I played a decent amount at the casino (I think overall, I lost $2k).  I haven't been since  but luckily, Princess continued sending me offers where I got up to a Balcony for "free."  I was looking through Sun Princess sailings and the suite upgrade prices were irresistible, showing $1600pp so I booked a Penthouse Suite for a November sailing for a whopping $3926 once taxes/misc were factored in.  I also booked the Premier Package for 2 so that was another $1150 or so.  Total I've paid so far is ust over $5k.

 

I just took a look at other cruses that I remember seeing the same price upgrade for and holy smokes... the upgrade cost has skyrocketed to $6857 PER PERSON!  And if I wanted a Sanctuary Mini-Suite, it's $3724 PER PERSON!

 

Luckily, on non-Sphere class ships, the Suite upgrade price is still similar to what I've gotten before but I am guessing that will all change in a matter of time if they ever convert the older ships to have something similar.

 

So yeah, I'm glad I booked these early as I will never pay that much for a suite.  Lucky me.

Edited April 24 by NeutralNovice