Current price for Sanctuary on the Royal

[chamima]

Current price for Sanctuary on the Royal

I can't get the search feature to work.

We board the Royal on Sunday and I wanted to know if the prices I had for the Sanctuary were accurate.

They were $30/pp/per day if you booked for the whole week and $40/per person/per day if you booked one day at a time.

Just wondering if by any chance they came to their senses and lowered the prices back to the the somewhat reasonable $20/pp/per day for the week and $25/per person/ per day by the day.

Thanks!

[Pam in CA]

Last I heard it is $40/day, $20/half-day, $30/day if you book the whole cruise. Doubt prices have come down as it's been reported that the Island and Emerald are now the same as of February 7th. I'll know in about a week what it is on the Sapphire.

[DUC950]

Current price for Sanctuary on the Royal

I can't get the search feature to work.

We board the Royal on Sunday and I wanted to know if the prices I had for the Sanctuary were accurate.

They were $30/pp/per day if you booked for the whole week and $40/per person/per day if you booked one day at a time.

Just wondering if by any chance they came to their senses and lowered the prices back to the the somewhat reasonable $20/pp/per day for the week and $25/per person/ per day by the day.

Thanks!

 

Sailed on the Royal 2/2 and was hoping to reserve the Sanctuary for the week.

We were first on board (9th to board (Platinum)) after Elite and went directly to the Sanctuary. We were at the Sanctuary before 12:15 only to find out they were booked for the week. (They only hold 25% of the loungers for the week and they are mostly booked by the B2B). We were told we could book for Monday which we did and needed to be at the Sanctuary by 6:30 AM each day to book for the following day. The cost was $40/day $20/half day. I don't know how much for the week because we were not able to book for the week. We were very disappointed because we never had this issue on any of our previous Princess Cruises.

[janetz]

Good grief. We are not even going to bother.

[Happy2cruise]

IMO, not worth having to be up there at 6:30 EVERY morning:(. That would be like going to work, thought it was vacation time:confused:

[janetz]

IMO, not worth having to be up there at 6:30 EVERY morning:(. That would be like going to work, thought it was vacation time:confused:

 

 

Your so right.. :p

Edited February 23, 2014 by janetz

[Jetswdo]

for those, like me where having an adult comfortable area is important, I would not book Princess. Celebrity has this included with the price of cruise, it is not crowded. You don't have to go to extreme measures to try to reserve a lounge like on Princess. I will be on the Royal in April, will try to get sanctuary for the week, but don't expect to have it available for me. I don't want to have to get up at 6:00 am to then stand in line on my vacation to reserve for the next day.

Princess has a lot to offer-- as self service washers and dryers- overall a pleasant cruise package. But their sanctuary policy is just plain ridiculous.

[riclop]

Popularity gives you a higher price. We will do without it.

[RhondaPerr]

Wow! How disappointing. We did the Sanctuary on our last cruise, and just loved it! Am I reading this right 40 per person??

[chamima]

We've booked the Sanctuary since it's been available , always for the full length of the cruise.

BUT (and it's a BIG objection :( ) there is no way i can justify $420 ($30/day/pp x 7 days) just for a lounge chair for a one week cruise. And the only way the Sanctuary has any value for us is as a cruise-long thing.

We're Elite and usually are able to board early enough to book a seat but that will no longer matter for us. :(

[Pam in CA]

for those, like me where having an adult comfortable area is important, I would not book Princess. Celebrity has this included with the price of cruise, it is not crowded. You don't have to go to extreme measures to try to reserve a lounge like on Princess.

Most Princess ships have an adults-only area separate from the main pool where it's relatively easy to find a comfortable lounger and is included with the price of the cruise. On the Royal, there's the Retreat. Granted, the Retreat doesn't have the super thick loungers but it's an adults-only area with loungers. No need to pay extra. Think of the Sanctuary as the equivalent of a specialty restaurant: optional and it doesn't replace what's already included. Edited February 23, 2014 by Pam in CA

[Jetswdo]

If the Royal had more pool space with loungers in the shade for adults- I don't think the Sanctuary itself would be that big a deal. It just would have been nice on my upcoming April cruise to not worry about finding a lounger in shade not too far from retreat pool. Celebrity is just a better product for this. All the loungers are padded, the adult area has plenty of loungers available- inteligently covered-- all included in the fare. In spite of the ridiculous price we will still try to see if we can get into the sanctuary-- only if chairs can be in a shaded spot in there. Our second choice is to get a cabana by Retreat pool for the week, if it is offered, so at the very least, we wouldn't have to deal with chair hogs.

Third choice, to just stay in Enclave if we can get passes. So we will be running like maniacs as soon as we board to see what we can get. This is very annoying for us, and a real turn off regarding Princess ships. But, if the food is pleasant on the ship, cabin perfectly comfortable, etc. we will focus on everything else and will have a nice vacation.

[High C's]

We are currently on the Island, and the new prices are indeed in effect here, too: $40 per day; $20 per half day; and $30 per day if booking the entire cruise. PLUS this does not include Canal day - that is an additional $60!!! :eek:

 

We did book it as we had our hearts set on it for this particular cruise, but will definitely reconsider on other cruises in the future.

 

And may I say that the sanctuary is no where near full any day! It will be interesting to see tomorrow as we go through the Canal, as that could be purchased independently ahead of time.

[Pam in CA]

If the Royal had more pool space with loungers in the shade for adults- I don't think the Sanctuary itself would be that big a deal. It just would have been nice on my upcoming April cruise to not worry about finding a lounger in shade not too far from retreat pool. Celebrity is just a better product for this. All the loungers are padded, the adult area has plenty of loungers available- inteligently covered-- all included in the fare. In spite of the ridiculous price we will still try to see if we can get into the sanctuary-- only if chairs can be in a shaded spot in there. Our second choice is to get a cabana by Retreat pool for the week, if it is offered, so at the very least, we wouldn't have to deal with chair hogs.

Third choice, to just stay in Enclave if we can get passes. So we will be running like maniacs as soon as we board to see what we can get. This is very annoying for us, and a real turn off regarding Princess ships. But, if the food is pleasant on the ship, cabin perfectly comfortable, etc. we will focus on everything else and will have a nice vacation.

You are right about the Royal not having shaded areas, either around the pool or otherwise. Even the cabanas by the Retreat pool don't have shade. There isn't real shade in the Sanctuary either as there are canvas coverings that filter light and are lightly shaded but the sun goes on every lounger at one point or another. :( The only really shaded area in the Sanctuary is a centrally covered area with couches and chairs that anyone booked in the Sanctuary can use. Shade is important to me so I booked a lounger in the Sanctuary so that my back was to the sun most of the time. There are some spots around the Retreat pool that are shady for a while:

 

 

These are the cabanas and as you can see, there's little shade:

 

You can see how the light is filtered in the Sanctuary but it's not really shady:

[HazyDavy]

Just off the Royal yesterday. Sanctuary prices are indeed $40/pp per day.

 

I reserved it for 2 of the 3 sea days. The first time I was up there at about 6:35 and was 7th in line. Second time I was there at about 6:15 and was 3rd in line. In both instances the 2 available cabanas ($180.00 per day for 2 people) were taken by the first 2 groups in line.

 

Pam is absolutely right about the "shade" in the Sanctuary. I was able to get chairs in the "shade" but the term "shade" in the Sanctuary is interpreted very loosely. As Pam said, the canvas coverings filter the sun but do not provide shade. The second day I was only able to stay at the Sanctuary for maybe 90 minutes before I had to call it quits. The central shaded area with couches, chairs, tables available to get out of the sun is divided into 4 areas, all of which were usually occupied.

 

So, all in all the Sanctuary was a bust for me. I didn't appreciate having to get up early to reserve the space, and, as someone who wanted real shade, the chairs in the "shade" weren't usable most of the day.

 

I will say though that the staff and service there were great. Had there been real shade, it would have definitely been worth the cost and effort.

[Jetswdo]

This whole sanctuary thing is giving me a headache! If we can't just reserve for the week (again, I'm already assuming to be shut out) I'm just not going to bother on a daily basis- nervous about getting up early enough in the am, to be bothered on vacation. If I can snag (albeit at a ridiculous price) one of the retreat cabanas, which does provide a little shade from above- for the week, then at least I can come and go as I like- So I have plan A (Sanctuary) plan B (Retreat cabanas), plan C making use of Enclave- plan D, non of the above and that will be that. I think, then in the future I will only use Princess for port intensive long cruises, where I don't have to worry about laundry, not having enough time to really make use of the sanctuary in any case. This sailing on the Royal will give my dh the 3 full days to snorkel, which is all he wanted for this trip. As long as at least the food is pleasant, cabin comfortable enough,--I am treating myself to a few spa treaments, I will be a happy camper.

[chamima]

We're currently on the Royal and the $30/pp/per day is now sounding like a bargain.

They've decided that for these "short" cruises there will be no week long price to book and it's $40/pp/per day whether you book for one day at a time or for the whole week in advance.

It's really a high price but I have to say that on this ship it's almost worth any price. We've found most of the areas on the ship (including the "retreat" pool ) are crowded and noisy with music playing very loud and so people talking loudly to be heard above the music.The Sanctuary really is a "sanctuary" from the hustle bustle of this large ship!

It's also really hard to find any shade in most areas near any pool. . There are shady areas in the Sanctuary - just ask the attendants before you book your chair - they know and are honest about sun/shade and noise/quiet.

[RhondaPerr]

So disappointed! It was so nice not to have to fight for chairs. I really can't see paying almost $300 :(

[Steelers36]

Last I heard it is $40/day, $20/half-day, $30/day if you book the whole cruise. Doubt prices have come down as it's been reported that the Island and Emerald are now the same as of February 7th. I'll know in about a week what it is on the Sapphire.

 

 

It's kind of moot now, but I just want to correct one thing. I was aware ROYAL had the higher price and it seemed as though it was going to spread.

 

However, we were on the FEB 7th EMERALD trip and we had the old price ($20 daily or $15 daily if book the entire cruise). We got two nice chairs for the entire cruise for $270 total. Yes, on the 10-day they only charged for 9 full days. We could use the chairs for the sailaway afternoon, but that was a day with no full service, so we got a freebee. And of course you disembark early on the last day, so it was fair. OTOH, I recall paying for 7 days x $15 on our 1-week cruises the past several seasons (2 RUBY's and 2 CARIBBEAN's).

 

OKay, so one day I was talking to GENEROSO MAZZONE (Maitre D') and he had just got the memo that day to raise the prices beginning next voyage. So, EMERALD's prices went up for the FEB 17th sailing. I asked the Sanctuary manager later in the week if they were grandfathering the B2B's at the old pricing and he said no (we were not B2B).

 

So just wanted to set the record straight.

 

Outside of that, I do think a doubling of the price is a bit outrageous and 50% up would have been fine I think. However, Princess can charge whatever it likes if the folks beat a path to the door so to speak. Given that they could probably sell out SANCTUARY space twice over most trips, maybe they think they can sell it out once over at double the price and have less disappointed folks.

[caribill]

However, we were on the FEB 7th EMERALD trip and we had the old price ($20 daily or $15 daily if book the entire cruise). We got two nice chairs for the entire cruise for $270 total. Yes, on the 10-day they only charged for 9 full days. We could use the chairs for the sailaway afternoon, but that was a day with no full service, so we got a freebee. And of course you disembark early on the last day, so it was fair. OTOH, I recall paying for 7 days x $15 on our 1-week cruises the past several seasons (2 RUBY's and 2 CARIBBEAN's).

 

OKay, so one day I was talking to GENEROSO MAZZONE (Maitre D') and he had just got the memo that day to raise the prices beginning next voyage. So, EMERALD's prices went up for the FEB 17th sailing.

So just wanted to set the record straight.

 

 

Price on the 2/15/14 CB sailing increased to $20 per half-day, $30 full day.

[Steelers36]

Price on the 2/15/14 CB sailing increased to $20 per half-day, $30 full day.

 

I know you are experienced with Princess, but did you actually book and pay that price? Princess has always sold Sanctuary singly by the 1/2 day segment - so it becomes $40 per individual full day. The $30 price is only if booking the full cruise (or balance of a full cruise should that actually be an option beyond the departure afternoon).

 

Even under the original pricing, it was $10 per 1/2 day - and therefore $20 for a full individual day. It was only $15 per day if booking the full cruise.

 

I think it is just an interpretation of how you were told the pricing or how it was printed.

 

(PS - elsewhere I saw that PescoArmadillo noted the EMERALD price had not changed after Feb 17, but that was just the fact that the boilerplate sections of the Patter had not been changed).

[Debe7ing]

We have LOVED the Sanctuary on all of our cruising since inception, but with these price increases, it only makes it easier to justify the cost of a balcony cabin vs ocean view in my opinion...;)

[caribill]

I know you are experienced with Princess, but did you actually book and pay that price? Princess has always sold Sanctuary singly by the 1/2 day segment - so it becomes $40 per individual full day. The $30 price is only if booking the full cruise (or balance of a full cruise should that actually be an option beyond the departure afternoon).

 

 

No, I did not book because I never use the Sanctuary.

 

However, I was exploring the CB on embarkation day and when at the Sanctuary heard the attendant tell those wanting to book what the new pricing was. The passengers that heard this were upset because they had called the Princess 800 number before the cruise and were told the old pricing. I then spoke with the attendant who verified that the new CB pricing was $20 for half day and $30 for full day.

 

I did not ask what the price would be for the entire cruise.

[Pam in CA]

Current price on the Sapphire is the new $20/half-day, $40/day, $30/day/full cruise. :( Boarded today and ran up there to book. It's gonna be my "balcony" for the cruise. The attendant remembered me from January.

[Steelers36]

Current price on the Sapphire is the new $20/half-day, $40/day, $30/day/full cruise. :( Boarded today and ran up there to book. It's gonna be my "balcony" for the cruise. The attendant remembered me from January.

 

Enjoy it, Pam. It's so much more spacious than any balcony on-board. And you can see in more directions. And not many balconies can hold one lounger chair - let alone two!

 

And PS to anyone still questionning - the above is the accurate new pricing. Do not expect or argue to get $30 for booking a single full day.

Edited March 2, 2014 by steelers36