JimmyVWine

Given that the space will be used by performers who will be engaged in some pretty athletic maneuvers (assuming that the promised entertainment ever materializes) I have to assume that it is a climate controlled environment. Otherwise the performers will pass out. Now, will the climate controlled system work, and will Princess turn it on during the day? Two different questions. They are marketing it as evoking the terraced cliffs of Santorini. Last time I was in Santorini, it was 100 F degrees.

If my Cabana looks like the one in the second photo when I board in September, rest assured that I will be moving the two balcony chairs into the Cabana and the rattan sofa out onto the balcony each day, reversing the operation before dinner.

June, 2018-CCL trading at $60.157. July, 2018-Princess announces two future ships to be launched as the Sphere Class Ships October, 2022-Construction has been underway for just about a year, and CCL is trading at $9.15. Things got cut along the way. The first photo below is the mock-up of a Cabana Mini-Suite that Princess released to the press (taken from an article written here on CC detailing the progress of the build.) The second photo was taken by a guest this week.

Which brings up a question. Do guests in Suites automatically qualify to use the Sanctuary, or is the Suite-only area of the Sanctuary reserved for Suite guests who then pay an additional fee to get in? If it is the former, you are correct. Space will be fought over. If it is the latter, we will have to see how many Suite guests pay even more to get into the Sanctuary. I have always viewed the Sanctuary as a place for non-Suite guests to pay an upgrade fee to get treated like they are in Suites, and not a place that Suite guests would have much of a need to pay extra for. In other words, "Inside Cabin + Sanctuary Access = very nice cruise" and "Suite + Sanctuary Access = paying extra for little in return." But maybe I am completely wrong about that.

While you are at it, post a daily comment about the Cabana "furnishings" using the words "Spartan", "sparse", "unfinished", "lacking" and "embarrassing".

Given that they more than tripled that capacity of the Sanctuary, and now have it divided into "Suite" and "non-Suite" areas, I think it is highly unlikely that we are going to see hundreds of nicely padded loungers in the non-Suite area. The crew member giving the tour in the video I referred to earlier certainly did not leave the impression that the vast row of vinyl loungers that we saw in the non-Suite area are going to be anything other than what we saw. It almost looks to me like the entire set-up is different, and instead of paying for and reserving a specific seating area for the length of the cruise, what you are buying is entry into a "Haven-esque" escape where there are several different seating options open to all who pay (on the non-Suite side), some of which are padded and many of which are not. And if this is true, we will now have a new category of guest on board, which is the "Sanctuary Chair Hog". Sort of like leaving the ranks of the amateurs and turning pro.

Go to post 2967 earlier in this thread to see a video of the Sanctuary. Jump to 1:26 and watch a minute or so from there and you will see that not only are the lounge chairs unpadded, but the gentleman giving the tour concedes that the Sanctuary on Sun is "very different compared to Royal Class." And yes, they added much more capacity. 324 pax on Sun compared to 60-100 on other ships. The Sanctuary has two sections, one for regular paying guests and one area for Suite passengers. The Suite area looks more like what you would be used to.

As compared to... See now?

Honestly, I cannot imagine what would ever possess anyone to pay extra money to gain access to "Princess Cay at Sea".

I was thinking maybe a Rum Runner that went awry.

Is that supposed to be a giant-sized poster of Whitney, or the performer? Because it looks like neither. And if that video shows us the purpose and intent of that three-story screen, Princess is going to regret installing it. Leave that stuff to MUTS. In the Piazza, it is an obstructive eyesore.

And I'll bet for $50 there is an option that locks it down like Fort Knox! 💰💸

Oh dear. After 80 pages here of angst and anger over cancelled cruises, one has to wonder which would have harmed Princess more: cancelling a third and even fourth cruise, or going forward with a sailing with a ship that doesn't have its most highly advertised features ready for use, and which displaces guests due to significant cabin flooding. Anyone care to guess what the guest (not editor) "star rating" here on Cruise Critic will be after these first guests disembark? If I recall, Royal debuted to a 3.4 or 3.5 rating and now is "all the way up" to a 3.8. Its difficult to overcome a bad start, and this inaugural cruise may follow suit.

That's how I read it.

With the relocation of the IC, and the introduction of the new Coffee Currents, I don't see myself using the Piazza the way it was used before. The new design will certainly alter the aerodynamics of the paper airplanes, for sure! 🛩️ It's not just "words" that will be echoed and magnified, if you know what I mean!

This may explain why they moved away from the naming convention of the decks, though I do miss that. Easier to tap on a pad that has simple numbers instead of "Emerald", "Dolphin", "Caribe" etc. But I surely will miss the lady's voice as she announces "Aloha". Her voice always makes my family smile. Small things, I know.

True. But unlike the Royal Class ships, there seems to be a whole host of options that will provide larger balconies on the Sun Class. On a Royal Class ship, one's ability to move up to a larger balcony is severely limited.

Piecing together various data points, it looks like 10428.

People who paid for the Premier Package should $0.90 mores since according to the itemized details of their package they paid $0.09 per day for Reserved Seating in the theater. Are there really that many people who have never seen this system before? There's a very good chance that the hotel they stayed in the night before the cruise had the same system. Can't remember the last time that I was in a Westin or a W that didn't have this system, and it's been this way for over a decade. Well, for all the people who complain about a lack of privacy while on their balconies, BOOM, they now have a solution!

Certainly not the "same", but in the same style. It doesn't follow that one sister cruise line would have Cabanas that look like a Ritz Carlton and the next sister line would have ones that look like a yurt.

But the just-released video says that you will want to enjoy the experience "again and again." 😆

Putting the TV out there is a nice touch, but when I booked my Cabana, I based my decision off of what I saw on other ships and was expecting this... Wow! Did I get fooled.

The classic example of competing goals. We, as customers, selected Princess because it was different. Princess, as a for-profit business, moves toward other lines because it sees that it is leaving money on the table. If most other cruise lines charge $65 for their steakhouse and Princess charges $29, someone in Santa Clarita is going to take notice and move toward that higher number. Our joy in getting charged less is their sorrow in suppressing profits. Can't be helped.

Honestly, if privacy while stepping outside of one's cabin in to an open area is a major concern, one might want to consider if sailing on a ship with 4,500 other people is the best vacation choice. When I step onto such a ship, I am voluntarily surrendering a certain amount of privacy. Full disclosure...I ALWAYS booked a Dolphin Deck Mini-Suite on the Grand/Gem Class ships, so you know where I am coming from!

Same cabin location and configuration, except that is on the Arvia. Princess really cheaped out when outfitting its Cabanas.