keldaria

According to the brochure it’s a site to site transporter. You just tap your exclusive medallion like a Star Trek com badge and tell them where you want to go.

I assumed those cabin classes would be going away and reverting to normal CA or CB class cabins for future bookings since a separate category for them would no longer make sense without reserve benefits. However that’s just an assumption. Ironically looking at the website I can see C1 & C2 bookings which still ironically list reserve class benefits being included for new bookings but I assume that’s an oversight awaiting correction.

My understanding is that the reserve cabana class cabins that booked before this announcement are being grandfathered in and will get all the same benefits (at least private dining, no idea about sanctuary access) for their cruise but going forward it will be just a normal class cabin. I believe people have been posting that a “sanctuary class” item has been added to their extras to denote this grandfathering process. This in theory would mean access to all sanctuary items meaning for cruises with booked reserve class cabins that these sanctuary areas will have more people than they will going forward, so not just the 215 cabins. i don’t think anyone is “losing” things they booked except for signature (suite) class cabins since it seems the signature section of the sanctuary is going away and it’s being speculated that the signature restaurant will be shared since they are using vague references to private dining instead of direct references like the suite only lounge.

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.

Number of Sanctuary Cabins is roughly the same as the number of Reserve and Signature (suite) cabins from before the change. Some reserve cabins (cabana) got dropped off but some deluxe cabins got added. I think there may be 10 or so less cabins in the new collection total so not a huge swing.

I think this is typical. I believe I seen in another thread mentioning that reservations for the sun don’t open up until 60 days out with only a few quirks like the butcher block sometimes offering availability earlier than that. Not sure how accurate that is but my S0 reservation has no availability ether but I’m a little less than a year out.

Worth noting this from the FAQ page too. This seems to confirm they are replacing reserve and signature classes with one class of sanctuary which would seem to imply the dining options are likely getting combined, but I've not seen anything specific announced officially. Just speculation on my part.

Yeah, was just typing an update since the "learn more" link from the email is working now (previously busted). It redirects to that page which has the FAQ that clarifies that. Still quite misleading to send an email advertising this a complimentary upgrade which actually has no additional perks or features and only adds additional people to what would have previously been more exclusive. Trying not to be a snob about it but seems like options I'm paying for are being devalued and nothing of value being added. Would love to hear confirmation from someone in a Reserve Mini-Suite that they got the same email implying inclusion of premier when its not actually included. Seems like an oversight on whoever generated the email. Attaching images of the relevant portions of my email noting the upgrade, the princess premier and the only exception/note included was about 16+ for access to the Sanctuary Club

Yes, it seems so. If you book in the sanctuary class it’s automatically included.

Sort of weird and leaving me with more questions than not. For the dining, it puzzles me why they keep referring to it as a Private Restaurant instead of just naming the reserve, signature restaurants by name. Like no where does it actually spell those out by name which leads me to believe they are going to quasi merge them and allow all sanctuary level bookings to go to either. I see some people saying the mini-suites would still be limited to the reserve restaurant but nothing official I've seen would seem to indicate that, and based on observations from sox in this thread, it sounds like the reserve restaurant was overbooked and signature underbooked. So it makes sense they would make this move since it sounds like they both functioned off the same kitchen anyways. Maybe one will be setup for reservations and the other for walk-ins or something like that. Providing it doesn't crowd out both locations it seems reasonable even if the suite level diners have a more crowded space. I also assume the inclusion of the premier is not only a move to justify a pricing bump from people willing to pay a premium anyways, but also another way to help defray the congestion at the reserve restaurant since pushing all sanctuary class bookings to burn 2 specialty restaurant experiences would obviously push a good amount of patrons elsewhere, especially when the embarkation complimentary specialty restaurant credit helps do that as well for suite level bookings. The question I have on premier now, is my booking (Sky Suite) already had premier for guest 1 and 2 added because thats all that can be added during the initial booking with guest 3+ needing to be added later, likely on the ship. Now with it including all guest in the suite, it seems like guest 3, 4 and 5 would get it too as part of the suite package if I booked today. I got an email a few moments ago announcing the "complementary upgrade" to sanctuary collection with all the listed benefits including the premier but no mention of the premier perk not being included in prior bookings (as mentioned in other press releases) which makes me wonder if they are throwing that at suite level users as an offset/perk, if its an oversight of the email or if its just because i already had it added to guest 1 and 2. I'm wondering if I should make an effort to discuss with a princess rep since a free premier upgrade for guest 3, 4 and 5 would be pretty sweet and save a little money too since I intended to add at least guest 3 and 4 anyways (not to mention the comp specialty restaurants for guest 5 and crew appreciation if its now included). Honestly this sounds like they wanted to justify charging more for their reserve collection so they add some benefits you'd normally have to pay extra for and made them mandatory while also balancing out some of the congestion in the dining areas.

Same, we’re booked in a Sky Suite next April and this thread has been most encouraging and helpful. I extremely appreciate the great details and information being shared here. Still lots of planning and learning to do for my trip but with the sky suite being a huge piece of the expense I’m happy to be reassured it appears to be a good investment based on what I’m hearing. The only thing I’m slightly concerned about is that we won’t be able to go back to more budget friendly trips after our once in a lifetime splurge vacation is done.