Sun vs Shade: Regal Sanctuary

[jadephoenixx]

The Sanctuary sounds very appealing. However I'm a sun lover but hubby burns so he needs shade. Are there areas in the Sanctuary where we can get loungers together with one in the sun and one in the shade?

 

Also, do they let you tour the Sanctuary to see if any available loungers are suitable for you before you commit to buying? If we go for it, we'd book for the whole week, unless they allow advanced bookings for sea days.

[IECalCruiser]

DW has an issue with sun exposure. On embarkation day on the Regal I checked out the Sanctuary. For the standard cost there is only filtered sun, not true shade. It appeared you needed to rent one of the high priced cabanas to get true shade. The same was true of the "shade" in the Retreat area :( It was a sunny day on embarkation and it appeared that less than 50% of the sun was actually filtered out. Because our cruise was so port intensive I never got back to the Retreat area. Maybe someone who actually used the area can comment.

[MJSailors]

We reserved the Sanctuary for the entire seven day cruise we recently took from 2/22-3/1 on

As soon as we boarded the ship at approximately 11:30, my DH and I went directly to the Sanctuary to reserve the lounge chairs.

There were a few people ahead of us on the line.

We were asked how many days we wanted to reserve the chairs and were taken around the Sanctuary by the manager to select a spot.

Some chairs were already reserved,but we found two in a shady/sunny spot.

Of course the amount of sun/shade will vary because of the sun's position and the direction of the ship.

There are wicker chairs and sofas in the middle of the Sanctuary with a type of roof over the seating area.

While this seating area is not reserved,it is for the use of the passengers who have reserved loungers. Perhaps your husband could use this seating area if your loungers were getting more sun than he wanted.

A limited number of cabanas are available also.

These offer maximum shade. I noticed loungers in front of the cabanas which may go with the cost of reserving the cabanas.

This may be something you could look into so that you could have sun while your husband could have a shady sitting area.

In chatting with the manager, I found out that it is no longer necessary to get to the Sanctuary early in the morning to reserve a lounger for the day.

Apparently this can be done after boarding or the day before you want the use of the lounger.

We did enjoy the Sanctuary very much.

It is a peaceful area of the ship and we found the staff to be most gracious and helpful.

I am not sure if we would reserve the Sanctuary for the entire cruise again.

We did not use the loungers on two of the port days.

But we did enjoy the quiet comfort of the area on the sea days and the afteroon lea that was served after 3:30.

[caribill]

Also, do they let you tour the Sanctuary to see if any available loungers are suitable for you before you commit to buying?

 

Yes

[SoCal Cruiser78]

Are there umbrellas or other sunscreens provided that you can place over your loungers if you can't get one in the shade?

[Pam in CA]

The attendants will move your lounger if it's in the sun and you want shade. When my lounger had some sun, the attendants reversed it so the sun was at my back. They'll also give you towels to cover your legs if you want more protection.

 

The Royal and Regal have a central "lounge" covered area with couches and seating if you want to get out of the sun or rain.

 

Far forward and towards the middle, there's a metal overhang that provides real shade.

[sydneyguy]

The Sanctuary cabanas are great. You have two loungers in full sun and a large sofa daybed in full shade with TV. The cost of the cabana also included daily alcohol, I can't recall how much.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jadephoenixx]

Thanks everyone! A lot of helpful information. Since we can check it out before reserving, we'll probably do that and then decide what to do.

[Jetswdo]

Dh and I were on the Royal first week of April 2014. We ran like maniacs to pay a fortune for this area (Only recommend if you are on a sailing with many kids- (spring break- mid June through first week in Sept. and mid Dec. through first week in Jan.) We were the first to pick the loungers. We were in supposedly the best area for shade. (filtered)- my legs still got horribly sunburned! Service was lousy- 3 times we found that people snuck in not paying anything- and they were on our loungers that we paid for. The middle couches were never available when we used the sanctuary. Manager was very apologetic-- no problem- we usually are heavy tippers, but didn't tip a dime- very disapointing experience- at least on our sailing. We will be on the Regal next year for New England cruise in October--- Since we expect few children on that sailing, we will not pay for the sanctuary---

[cb at sea]

Be aware that most umbrellas or cabanas are NOT SPF rated...so even tho you're "in the shade" you will be getting UV light! You will even be able to tan in the shade....a bit!