Sun Princess Signature suite questions answered!

[dog]

So, those booked in suites as of now- have no new benefits , right?  We do not get the premium package that new bookings will get.

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

All that work...  and it's now not applicable.

 

I still hope you all get some benefit from my write up.

[jjack413]

Attached below was added to the site when booking a mini-suite on The Sun. Regular mini suites are now listed as 267 sqft. I booked a mini on the Sun months ago and it was listed as 304 sqft. Another confusing part, I’m not in a signature mini but it allows me to book dining in the signature dining room. I have a feeling all this will change when I sail in 2025.
 

Mini-Suite 

 

• Sleeps up to 4 guests, 267 sqft
• Balcony with scenic views
• Luxury mattress/pillows, two TVs
• Spacious closet

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

But yes, there was always a wait at the Reserve Collection restaurant and a half empty dinning room in the Signature restaurant.  Spreading it out.

[dog]

2 minutes ago, jjack413 said:

 

Attached below was added to the site when booking a mini-suite on The Sun. Regular mini suites are now listed as 267 sqft. I booked a mini on the Sun months ago and it was listed as 304 sqft. Another confusing part, I’m not in a signature mini but it allows me to book dining in the signature dining room. I have a feeling all this will change when I sail in 2025.
 

Mini-Suite 

 

• Sleeps up to 4 guests, 267 sqft
• Balcony with scenic views
• Luxury mattress/pillows, two TVs
• Spacious closet

I wouldn’t be surprised!  Not counting on any of it.

[whitcruising]

16 minutes ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

All that work...  and it's now not applicable.

 

I still hope you all get some benefit from my write up.

Oh, it's very beneficial! I mean there's so much still to be gleaned from your experience. Love reading it!

[SuiteSunrise]

23 minutes ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

All that work...  and it's now not applicable.

 

I still hope you all get some benefit from my write up.

We loved your reviews and it was and still is totally beneficial. Thank you for taking all the time you did for giving us awesome information! We really did appreciate it.

[happy cruzin]

 

[keldaria]

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.

[SuiteSunrise]

3 hours ago, SuiteSunrise said:

What just happened!!! Looks like now alot more room choices have the Sanctuary, Lounge and Signature dining room. The price on our Penthouse Suite now called Vista Suite went from $17,343 Cdn to $24,000!!! What happens with existing bookings???

Now that is has sunk in Lol, I feel we were very lucky to have booked our Penthouse Suite (Vista) when we did. If booking today our price would be $7330 Cdn more. We have Plus not Premier. For the extra in the Premium package, we can just pay the extra and still be way ahead! We were already planning on booking one specialty dining giving us two with the free 1st night one, we don't eat dessert (rarely), not really into the photography as we can take our own great photos, 15 normal drinks is more than enough or so what you pay the difference, fitness classes - don't think so 😂 and we can manage to get to the shows early enough to get a seat if we wish to see a show. 

The Sanctuary is a big one for us so that remains to be seen. All in all, we will stay with our Sun Princess booking. But, if we were to book today, we would be looking at other lines for the price!

[reedprincess]

31 minutes ago, keldaria said:

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.

Current bookings, ie any bookings prior to today, do NOT get the Premier Cruise Package included (nor subject to price hike).

So, if you want it for the 3rd passenger, you'd still have purchase it separate.

In the FAQs:

https://www.princess.com/en-us/ships-and-experience/onboard-experience/sanctuary-collection?cid=mkt_vanityurl_vanityurl_sanctuary_sanctuarycollection_mixed_na_na_na

[happy cruzin]

3 minutes ago, reedprincess said:

Current bookings, ie any bookings prior to today, do NOT get the Premier Cruise Package included (nor subject to price hike).

So, if you want it for the 3rd passenger, you'd still have purchase it separate.

In the FAQs:

https://www.princess.com/en-us/ships-and-experience/onboard-experience/sanctuary-collection?cid=mkt_vanityurl_vanityurl_sanctuary_sanctuarycollection_mixed_na_na_na

Not sure about that!  I got an email from Princess announcing my upgrade to the Sanctuary Collection - which it says includes the Premier Package.

[keldaria]

1 minute ago, reedprincess said:

Current bookings, ie any bookings prior to today, do NOT get the Premier Cruise Package included (nor subject to price hike).

So, if you want it for the 3rd passenger, you'd still have purchase it separate.

In the FAQs:

https://www.princess.com/en-us/ships-and-experience/onboard-experience/sanctuary-collection?cid=mkt_vanityurl_vanityurl_sanctuary_sanctuarycollection_mixed_na_na_na

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

[voljeep]

what are 'bespoke amenities'?

[whitcruising]

49 minutes ago, keldaria said:

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. 

 

My situation is the exact same as yours--sky suite with guests one and two already having bought the Premier Package. Coincidentally, I booked the 3rd passenger's Premier package just last night--ha! However, I also noticed that they didn't mention that the Premiere Package wouldn't be included for those having already booked. I did a little further investigating in the email that I also received about the "upgrade" and it IS listed in the FAQ section if you keep scrolling. It says that the Premiere is not included for those already booked. Hope this helps!

[keldaria]

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.

 

 

[phuac]

Mini Suites in the Aft are just "Mini Suites", not Sanctuary Mini Suites.

There are some in the middle of the ship that do not count as Sanctuary either.  Probably those that were "Reserve Mini Suites" were converted to Sanctuary Mini Suites.

 

Agree, really weird that there are 267 SQ FT Mini Suites and 304 SQ Ft ones.  Before, I thought all mini suites were listed at 304 sq ft.  

Edited April 23 by phuac

[phuac]

Signature Suites are still called Signature Suites... not Sanctuary Suites.

But they have Sanctuary benefits listed instead.  

Seems weird, they should have just called them Sanctuary Suites... much like how they have Sanctuary Mini Suites vs Mini Suites.  

 

[oteixeira]

And I just checked my booking and they dropped the word Signature from it:

 

DETAILS

Stateroom:Suite,  16xxx, Category S9

[jjack413]

9 minutes ago, phuac said:

Mini Suites in the Aft are just "Mini Suites", not Sanctuary Mini Suites.

There are some in the middle of the ship that do not count as Sanctuary either.

Agree, really weird that there are 267 SQ FT Mini Suites and 304 SQ Ft ones.  Before, I thought all mini suites were listed at 304 sq ft.  

I’m in an aft mini with signature dining. That will probably soon change. That’s ok with me. I have no real desire to eat in the signature location but that was the option provided at the time. No need for Premier if it’s an up-charge. The mini sqft are smaller because they don’t have that cabana, but not 267 sqft . 

Edited April 23 by jjack413

[capriccio]

We booked an S9 (signature suite/mini-suite layout) 3 months ago.  When I checked our travel summary this afternoon, note the added line at the bottom.  We still have the Plus package but they added a Sanctuary Class Indicator.

 

Plus Beverage Package + Juice Bar	1	$514.43	$514.43
MedallionNet 1-device WiFi	1	$104.93	$104.93
Fitness Classes (2 Classes)	1	$55.09	$55.09
Premium Desserts (2 per day)	1	$73.22	$73.22
DND - Free Medallion Shipping	1	$7.00	$7.00
Crew Appreciation Included	1	$126.00	$126.00
SANCTUARY CLASS INDICATOR	1	$0.00	$0.00

[MTNest93]

We are booked in a cabana-mini (deck10 - not reserve).   My only concern with these changes is that we purchased the Premier package and since we won't have early access to make specialty dining reservations, we may have difficulty booking our two included dinners with all the suites now having Premier, plus their included embarkation specialty dinner.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out once the new dining reservations open up.  I think our backup plan will be to drop to the Plus package and forgo specialty dining if it proves impossible to make reservations that work for us. 

[oteixeira]

33 minutes ago, capriccio said:

We booked an S9 (signature suite/mini-suite layout) 3 months ago.  When I checked our travel summary this afternoon, note the added line at the bottom.  We still have the Plus package but they added a Sanctuary Class Indicator.

 

Plus Beverage Package + Juice Bar	1	$514.43	$514.43
MedallionNet 1-device WiFi	1	$104.93	$104.93
Fitness Classes (2 Classes)	1	$55.09	$55.09
Premium Desserts (2 per day)	1	$73.22	$73.22
DND - Free Medallion Shipping	1	$7.00	$7.00
Crew Appreciation Included	1	$126.00	$126.00
SANCTUARY CLASS INDICATOR	1	$0.00	$0.00

I am S9 with Premier and just checked mine and do NOT have the Indicator line.  Go figure.  I think they are still trying to figure this out.  LOL  

[dog]

1 minute ago, oteixeira said:

I am S9 with Premier and just checked mine and do NOT have the Indicator line.  Go figure.  I think they are still trying to figure this out.  LOL  

My S9 booking does not have it either.

My D0-aft does.

[Suite Susie]

Really disappointed with all this as we have an Owners Suite booked for September next year. So if I’m reading this right all we will no longer have exclusive use of the Signature Restaurant and the Sanctuary will now be far busier and hard to get a seat. We book suites at great expense to get a more special experience. Now it seems that the only advantage of booking a full suite now is a bigger room and use of the Concierge Lounge. Will have to see how it pans out, but I think we will be cancelling.