CalTexCruiser

9 minutes ago, pompeii said:

Do we know for sure that we can bid on upgrades with a comped cruise?  I was wondering about that.  Has anyone done it?

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.

2 minutes ago, telecheck said:

There is really no reason to cancel the Barcelona cruise now. It is still far off and a lot can happen. The deposit of $200 is just a small amount, and with that, I am at least guaranteed an inside room. With tax, it's $285, which is only $40 per day, still a very good deal for solo travel on the newest ship. I can use the OBC to pay for gratuities, and I may still have enough balance to book an excursion. I can always bid for a better cabin closer to sailing if the pricing is good. If I cancel, Princess is the one who would be very happy because they can sell my room for more than $2,000 to other passengers. Of course, they want me to cancel, but I am not going to do that. They need to pay for the mistake they made.

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.

22 minutes ago, memoak said:

As I said when this was first reported it is a glitch in the system. I would have questioned getting something for nothing. Remember if it looks too good to be true it probably is

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.  

56 minutes ago, J18ktleo said:

So I have a group on Star Jan 2026.

I had everyone book suites for the exclusivity of the experience since I loved the suite experience on Celebrity and the new Princess ships sounded like a similar experience.

Now, with these changes, it sounds crowded, over booked and the areas created for 80 suites will be servicing an additional 135 cabins, which is not exclusive, doubling the capacity 😰

Our pricing, since we booked at first offering, is less for the suites than what the mini's are going for now with the Sanctuary experience, which is a positive.

Wondering if the delay of the Star is so they can adjust some of the areas for better capacity and to offer their clients the experience that is so prominently promoted in all the advertisements?

Would be appropriate to deliver what they offer/promote?

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.

35 minutes ago, keldaria said:

I don’t believe that because it would’ve be clearly stated that signature is exclusive to suites like the lounge was. I think some sort of merging of co-mingling will occur which is why they reference private dining instead of coming right out with it.

DELETED as I made the same point you did.

4 minutes ago, techsearch said:

I had my beverage package refunded. I had paid for it (or rather reserved it) and they refunded it as now my Suite 'inlcudes' the Premier package. 

 

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).

17 hours ago, FLAlaska said:

Hopefully they won't  "Sanctuarize" the rest of the fleet

14 hours ago, TRLD said:

If it works for Sun then most likely they will.

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?

1 hour ago, Wishing on a star said:

Just to clarify...  that is not an 'adult area'...  that is a very exclusive area, that is not available to most guests.   There is no open and available adult area onboard.  

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.

Just now, vjmatty said:

It’s not zero cost when you see how much the DO balcony prices have increased to almost double. I think Princess doesn’t know how to get out of its own way with all these new ideas they’ve got for Sphere class. Look at what they did to the so-called Reserve Cabana Minis, that now no longer have reserve dining. That was fast, 8 months before nixing that benefit. And surprise! No price drop for the loss of dining. 

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.

30 minutes ago, happy cruzin said:

Thanks!

I'm new to Princess - never sailed with them before, but have done the Haven, MSC YC, and MSC Explora Journeys.  Curious how these 219 cabins having access to the Sanctuary compares to the total people in the Sanctuary on other ships where they sold day passes.

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.

1 minute ago, happy cruzin said:

Do we know how many additional cabins now have access to the Sanctuary - in addition to the 80 that were Signature Suites?

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

6 minutes ago, chamima said:

 

Nope!

 

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?

34 minutes ago, keldaria said:

The reason some of the suites may not be happy is perks that were previously part of the suite package are essentially being devalued by becoming part of a larger class. S9 suites for example now have very little in benefit over former reserve mini-suite packages even though the upfront cost was more for them. Those in larger suites have similar complaints but they still enjoy larger rooms so some differences in cost would be anticipated.

 

i think the biggest gripe to me is the idea that this is being sold to the suites as an upgrade when in reality the main difference we will notice is the signature restaurant will be more crowded and less exclusive (an assumption but a reasonable one given the lack of clarity here compared to the specific statements regarding the lounge) and the Sanctuary being an included perk vs pay to play will mean that it will likely be more crowded since benefits in inclusive perks tend to be more utilized (to get your moneys worth) than benefits that are al la carte which you’d only pay for and use when you absolutely want to use it.

 

im sure there will still be plenty of room in these areas and it won’t be a massive degradation of service but the half hazard roll out is disappointing and selling it as an “upgrade” to suites is terrible.

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.

1 hour ago, CatMom72 said:

I am in an S4 for June 1 and I got the email, too. I don’t see that I’m getting anything different than I was already getting yesterday lol.

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 

2 hours ago, whitcruising said:

I was already booked in a suite and received an email saying I was “upgraded”  It isn’t an upgrade for me as I had already booked a suite and it doesn’t include the premiere package (which I had also already booked). I’m not the poster from FB but I did receive the email. I sail June 1st, 2024  

 

 

1 hour ago, chisoxfan said:

Thoroughly confusing. We had booked a "signature" suite for Jan. 25 and received the 'congratulations you have been upgraded" even though we fully expected everything listed.

As commented by some our cruise now shows Sanctuary catagories where they had listed Reserve and Signature previously. We paid 6k for Suite and the same dealio is now approx 8500. 

I fully expected the sanctuary to be for suite guests only but it does appear they are trying to expand the categories that use it.

 

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.

3 hours ago, getaway101 said:

Do all ships have a suite concierge if they don't have a suite lounge?

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

6 hours ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

 

Not everything is different but it does feel special. Does it compare to Luminea on Celebrity?  No. But it comes a lot closer than I expected it to. 
 

And the service is top notch. The sommelier is right there to help you with champagne, wine, and desert wine

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?