CalTexCruiser

Not sure about this particular comped cruise as this is an oddball due to not being part of a casino offer. However, recently, we were offered (through the casino) a comped inside cabin, but chose to pay $ 400 (total for two people over the entire sailing) for a mini-suite. We then bid and were successfully upgraded to a Penthouse Suite.

Good for you. Princess is counting on people cancelling due to their disappointment in getting a comped inside cabin with no perks versus the too good to be true comped mini suite with Premiere package. If you really think about it, a comped inside cabin on the newest ship is a great deal.

True. I went through the booking process and when I saw 0 dollars for a mini-suite that includes the Premiere Package on the Star, I concluded that this booking if made will be revoked and I did not want to go through the hassle of dealing with Princess to cancel. Although I must say the consolation prize of a comped inside cabin is not bad for Princess' newest ship.

If they can keep the space previously identified as the Signature Restaurant as dedicated dining for suites only, that would go part of the way in delivering what they promoted. For the Sanctuary Club, I suppose that was always intended to be a shared space with non-suite guests. The only thing lost would be the small dedicated suite area of the Sanctuary, which did not have the space to hold all suite guests anyway.

DELETED as I made the same point you did.

Does your Travel Summary now state Premier package? I purchased Plus with my Penthouse Suite and it is still Plus. Absolutely no refund to me.

Bringing this back on topic: I wonder if they'll dedicate, to suite guests only, some number of loungers in the Sanctuary Club (even though the suite area has apparently been removed) and seats in private dining (even though it is likely that Signature Dining will be merged with Reserve Dining), so suite guests would not be in a situation where they'll be left to wander aimlessly in the Sanctuary Club or have to wait to dine (gasp).

It is definitely possible to "Sanctuarize" the Royal class ships--just combine the Retreat pool and the Sanctuary and voila, you've got a Sun deck at the front.

Has anyone already booked in a full suite prior to this change emailed their CVP or higher ups at Princess to ask what "upgrade" is provided to full suite bookings with the Sanctuary Collection?

LOL. You just described the Sanctuary on ANY Princess ship. It is designed to be exclusive so that the vast majority of guests are EXCLUDED.

It's a zero cost gift to those already booked in D0 and Reserve mini-suite (before the change to the Sanctuary class). For those of us already booked in suites, there is absolutely no "upgrade." I wouldn't even care if Princess had not sent me an email telling me I've been upgraded, because there is no upgrade for suite passengers. Just send the upgrade email to the D0 and Reserve mini-suite folks because they are getting free upgrades. I understand that the prices have NOW gone up dramatically as Princess is trying to monetize the Sanctuary space.

On the other Princess ships, the number of people allowed into the Sanctuary is determined by the number of loungers/cabanas available, so there is never an overcrowding issue. When comparing to Celebrity, there are 158 suites in total on the Celebrity Apex. So the Retreat sundeck on the Apex would be shared by a smaller quantity of cabins (61 less cabins) than on the Princess Sun. I don't know the difference in square footage between the Apex Retreat and the Sun Sanctuary sundeck, but there will definitely be more people now in the Sun Sanctuary sundeck than in Celebrity's Retreat sundeck. And I often find the Celebrity Retreat sundeck to be quite crowded, especially during sea days. That does not bode well for the Sun Sanctuary sundeck on a warm weather sailing.

I believe there were 90+ or even 100+ Reserve Mini-suites under the old system, so at least those number of cabins will now have access to the Sanctuary. LOL

They will have to combine the two restaurants into one "private" restaurant. No way the Reserve Collection Restaurant can accommodate all the Mini-Suites that have been designated as Sanctuary Collection; or could it?

Well said. Princess just: 1) Provided an incredible gift to the D0 balcony cabins of private dining and sanctuary access (whoever said you can't get something for nothing have not met Princess management); 2) Provided a substantial gift of sanctuary access to those booked in Reserve Mini's; 3) Shafted those in S9 suites which are basically the same as Reserve Mini's but who probably paid hundreds if not thousands more (versus the Reserve Mini's) just for access to the lounge; and 4) Degraded the experience of those in higher level suites who now have to deal with a much more crowded Sanctuary and private dining.

agreed they should at least upgrade folks in S class cabins to Premier from Plus for free, and for those already booked with Premier give them an OBC equal to the difference between Plus and Premier

same here. Booked in an S4 absolutely no “upgrade” for us if anything it’s a downgrade for us as they will be jamming more people into the “sanctuary” and “private” dining

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

thanks for the detailed report @Sox Fan Cruiser. Very much appreciated. One question regarding the suite lounge...are alcoholic beverages available all day in the lounge. If so, that would be unlike the concierge lounge on the Royal Class ships where free alcohol is available only during happy hour (5-7pm). If free alcoholic beverages are available all day in the suite lounge, then there would less of a reason for folks in a suite to buy a Premium Plus/Premier package.

We were on the March 2024 Singapore - Dubai sailing that was cancelled. The Encore sailed directly from Singapore to the Med around the horn of Africa without passengers. My guess they will sail from the Med to Singapore without passengers in November.

no only ships with concierge lounges (ie suite lounges) have concierges

I'm actually encouraged to hear that the food is better in the Sun Signature restaurant than the MDR. Sounds like Princess is upping its suite benefits to get closer to Celebrity's Retreat and NCL's Haven. With the separate restaurant for the Signature Suite, I hope they get a little more creative in the future with their offerings for suite guests.

I've not been on Princess' older ships so would not have any comment on the Caribbean Princess. In my opinion, the following benefits of the Sun would likely outweigh the larger suite on the older ship: 1) included use of the Sanctuary with its dedicated pool and hot tub; 2) suite lounge; and 3) dedicated Signature restaurant (I'm not a fan of the Reserve class restaurant of the other ships that is just a section of the MDR). 1) would be especially important in a warm weather sailing.

Thanks for reporting. We were originally assigned deck 17 penthouse suites but switched to deck 15 penthouse suites due to noise concerns from the Sanctuary. With the large number of loungers in the Sanctuary I guess some noise would be inevitable during setup.

@duck65 Were you aware of any non-suite guests in the Sanctuary? my understanding is that it costs 99 per sea day to book a lounger for a non-suite guest and I wonder if demand is high?