Hello Friends,
I'm taking my first Princess cruise on Sky Princess in February and I am a bit confused and overwhelmed by how complicated they make things. I'm hoping you might help me straghten out my understanding on a few things. For context, I'm an autistic adult with low support needs but I do seek out the quiet places, shade, and predictible social interactions. I will be cruising with extended family including a daughter and a grandaughter who are also autistic, also with similar sensory issues but also with low support needs. We manage ourselves just fine but it helps a great deal if I know what to expect in advance instead of figuring out when I get there or let things "surprise" me. (Even "good" suprises can disregulate me and feel very disruptive to my peace of mind.) Cruising is AWESOME because it's a predictable, easy-to-plan vacation, with a predictable schedules, familiar events, and there is always someone close by to help if you do need it. But to prepare, it helps to study deck plans, read the daily schedules of past cruises, get familiar with the different venues and their operating times and such. Basically, It helps to know what to expect. So I'm hoping some of you might have the patience to shed light on a few things about Sky Princess with me.
1. Do the women's and men's changing rooms in the spa include segregated sauna/steam rooms that are open to all guests? Or are the steam and saunas in the Enclave thermal suite the only ones?
2. Do you actually reserve a specific lounge chair in the Sanctuary, or can you sit anywhere as long as you have purchased a day or half-day pass? What if you reserved a shady chair and the ship turns and and puts you in the sun? Can you trade chairs with a sun-lover?
3. If you purchase a cabana for a day, can different family members join you in the cabana at different times (as long as the total number of people do not excede the maximum at any one time, of course.)
4. If I purchase the use of a cabana for a day for my adult daughter and I, and my sister purchases a half-day pass, can she have a chair next to my cabana?
5. Is the Retreat pool part of the Sanctuary or is it open to general access?
6. Where are your favorite peaceful places on the ship?
7. Are there dining rooms where you can get table service for breakfast and lunch every day? (I realy can't handle the chaos of a buffet for very long.)
8. Does Princess allow priority boarding for people with invisible disabilities? (Embarkation day and disembarkation day, are even worse than the buffet!) I usually spend sail-away day quietly in my cabin, occasionally stepping out for short errands then going back to the room. I get up early the next morning, fresh to walk the entire ship before many people are up, and I'm fine after that.
Thank you for your patience. It realy does help to know.
~ TaoDiva