Sun Princess Sanctuary Discussion

[Familycruzer11]

1 hour ago, chamima said:

 

 

Great idea!

Are kids allowed in the Signature lounge?

Good question - I believe they are, but would defer to anyone who's been on the ship to say for sure

[TRLD]

3 hours ago, cr2000 said:

You'd be happier on Holland America or Virgin. The cruise industry is changing towards a more family focused demographic, they are just following the demand (and money).

 

Yes and no.  Princess is slightly shifting to include more family friendly options as their ship size grows.  Other than that not much change in the industry.  RCL, NCL and CCL are still primarily NA family focused mass market lines with very large ships.  HAL, Celebrity, and Princess as still NA adult focused mass market  lines that also allow children.  In the premium sector you have no real movement to making ships family friendly.  If anything with the newer lines such as Virgin and even Viking are adult only.

 

Family friendly lines also tend to focus on shorter itineraries with fewer unique destinations, often with more of a ship is the destination feel.  Princess may move to shorter, more repetitive routes with its newest largest ships, but no real sign of that yet.

 

So no real movement to being more family focused.  Only Princess making some slight changes That may make it more of a move up step from CCL for some families.

[Fortunate 2 travel]

What would be really helpful is if Princess would have all the Signature benefits spelled out in their website.  I have a hunch it’s not because non of this has been well planned out.  This information should be readily accessible when you are looking to book.

[TRLD]

1 minute ago, Fortunate 2 travel said:

What would be really helpful is if Princess would have all the Signature benefits spelled out in their website.  I have a hunch it’s not because non of this has been well planned out.  This information should be readily accessible when you are looking to book.

I expect it is more due to this being Princess's first foray into the world of class cruising.  This first year will involve a lot of trial and error as they explore how to integrate a class structure into the world of cruising on Princess.  It will probably take until mid 2025 for the Princess version of the class system to become more defined.

 

If it is successful then I would expect Princess to follow the same path that Celebrity did and retrofit some of the concepts back into the Royal class ships.

[CatMom72]

36 minutes ago, Fortunate 2 travel said:

What would be really helpful is if Princess would have all the Signature benefits spelled out in their website.  I have a hunch it’s not because non of this has been well planned out.  This information should be readily accessible when you are looking to book.

Indeed.  I watched a JJ Cruise video review of the Sun earlier.  According to them, Princess will be selling full-day and half-day passes for the Sanctuary, full stop, no qualifying statements or conditions.  This makes it sound like they expect it to operate like the Sanctuary on any other ship.  There is no mention of the Sanctuary on the Sun possibly becoming suite-only in the future, or of suite passengers having priority access to the Sanctuary outside of the Signature Sun Deck, or of potential limitations on availability for non-suite passengers due to suite passenger overflow from Signature Sun Deck. In other words, they don’t confirm anything the Sanctuary manager said.  And Princess’ own website doesn’t say anything, either. It is not surprising that people are confused.  Princess has not done anything to clarify the situation.  And now that it’s become clear that seating in the “private area of the Sanctuary” that is dedicated to suite passengers is extremely limited, there’s a lot of dissembling going on to cover up the fact that they do not really have a solid plan.  I realize that the Sun is the first in a new class of ships and that there will be some miscues, but not having a clear, well defined, appropriately communicated strategy for how the Sanctuary will function is a pretty big oversight IMO.

[Wishing on a star]

What is needed is to understand that "Sanctuary" has been an adult only area..  thus the name...

A Suite Sundeck, would be a "Suite guests area"...  which would include all ages.

The deck plans clearly show two areas, and two names for these areas.

 

THIS is the big question/confusion.    Princess has been flying by the seat of their pants, and have not adequately thought this out and implemented.

Hasn't it been posted a possible age 16+ restriction?

 

I imagine that those less than 18 or 16 are welcome to the Suite Breakfast.

[Wishing on a star]

I will just say that JJ cruise are not the one's to look for when seeking information about Princess Cruises...

NOT their forte.

[dog]

2 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

What is needed is to understand that "Sanctuary" has been an adult only area..  thus the name...

A Suite Sundeck, would be a "Suite guests area"...  which would include all ages.

The deck plans clearly show two areas, and two names for these areas.

 

THIS is the big question/confusion.    Princess has been flying by the seat of their pants, and have not adequately thought this out and implemented.

Hasn't it been posted a possible age 16+ restriction?

 

I imagine that those less than 18 or 16 are welcome to the Suite Breakfast.

Couldn’t say it any better!

 

it is a work in progress.

[CatMom72]

6 minutes ago, Wishing on a star said:

I will just say that JJ cruise are not the one's to look for when seeking information about Princess Cruises...

NOT their forte.

Fair enough.  But they were sitting in the Sanctuary in their video, so presumably had to talk to the staff to get in.  Not sure how much they asked the staff about the Sanctuary or what they were told, but they’re definitely spreading the word that passes are for sale, and they aren’t saying there are any conditions.  Potential cruisers are likely to assume there aren’t any, especially since that’s how it works for every other ship that has one.

Edited March 14 by CatMom72

[dog]

4 minutes ago, CatMom72 said:

Fair enough.  But they were sitting in the Sanctuary in their video, so presumably had to talk to the staff to get in.  Not sure how much they asked the staff about the Sanctuary or what they were told, but they’re definitely spreading the word that passes are for sale, and they aren’t saying there are any conditions.  Potential cruisers are likely to assume there aren’t any, especially since that’s how it works for every other ship that has one.

You will find out first hand in June!  Not long now!

[nymshowdown]

50 minutes ago, CatMom72 said:

Fair enough.  But they were sitting in the Sanctuary in their video, so presumably had to talk to the staff to get in.  Not sure how much they asked the staff about the Sanctuary or what they were told, but they’re definitely spreading the word that passes are for sale, and they aren’t saying there are any conditions.  Potential cruisers are likely to assume there aren’t any, especially since that’s how it works for every other ship that has one.

The first post in this thread is from a passenger currently onboard who spoke directly to the Sanctuary Manager. 

 

I think I'll trust that information over some youtuber's tour 

[CatMom72]

3 hours ago, nymshowdown said:

The first post in this thread is from a passenger currently onboard who spoke directly to the Sanctuary Manager. 

 

I think I'll trust that information over some youtuber's tour 

Oh I trust the passenger’s account completely.  It’s the Sanctuary manager’s answers I have doubts about.  Just look at what the manager said and ask yourself how it’s going to work from a logistical perspective.  He admits they will sell full-day and half-day passes IF they have extra capacity.   But how/when will they assess whether they have that extra capacity? And how will it be managed in the absence of a reservation system? Will there be restrictions on the sorts of chairs that will be available for non-suite guests at $99 a day? None of this was explained.  At the end of the day, I don’t see how the Sanctuary can function as some kind of weird hybrid between suites-only and pay-per-day.  Others have pointed out that in MSC YC or NCL Haven there’s never a problem finding a chair.  I don’t know about MSC, but I know that on NCL that’s true.  However, both of those lines have a true suite-only sun deck that has plenty of capacity for all of their suite passengers; they don’t try to pack the place by selling off the “extra capacity” to people who aren’t in suites. And on NCL, there’s a whole other paid relaxation space available for non-suite passengers outside the Haven.  Maybe that’s the model that Princess intended when they created the Signature Sun Deck inside the Sanctuary.  The problem is that they did not make that space big enough to accommodate passengers from 80 suites.  Maybe it’s because somewhere along the way they got greedy and decided to sell a bunch of their mini-suites as S9 Signature Collection Suites (the S9 has exactly the same layout as an M1 Reserve Mini, but it costs at least $1000 more per week).  That move created 30 new suites, which is probably why the Sanctuary manager is now having to tell suite passengers that they have access to the entire Sanctuary…even as he admits Princess plans to pack the space with as many others as they can by selling day passes. Maybe some people on these boards aren’t a bit worried about this.  Maybe they rarely use the Sanctuary and don’t care. Fine. But I don’t know why it’s so difficult to acknowledge that this is an issue for those of us who DO enjoy the Sanctuary, paid extra to have access to it, and now feel like we may not be getting what we were told we’d get.  Personally, I don’t care a whit about the weights in the fitness club, or the availability of self-serve soda in the buffet, or whether there is smoking in the casino.  I don’t lift weights, drink soda, or gamble.  But I certainly wouldn’t try to tell someone who loves to gamble and is allergic to cigarette smoke that their concerns about people smoking in the casino aren’t important.

[capriccio]

13 hours ago, cr2000 said:

 

A lot of time here spent discussing adult only spaces and access to chairs in The Sanctuary, but on a more practical level, on a Mediterranean cruise, isn't the focus really on exploring the historic ports of call? I could see perhaps in the Carribean spending more time lounging by a pool, but if I'm cruising the Mediterranean (where the Sun Princess is now), I'm viewing the ship as nothing more than a place to sleep, eat and maybe enjoy some evening entertainment and breakfast the following morning. Typically the number of sea days is limited.

 

But almost half the year (early October to late March) the Sun will be in Caribbean. I'm sure Princess realized they needed to take that into consideration. 

[CanadianBurger]

11 hours ago, chamima said:

 

 

Great idea!

Are kids allowed in the Signature lounge?

I happened to wander by there yesterday, and while I couldn’t enter, I did see children through the glass door. 

[Lucky TGO]

On 3/13/2024 at 5:04 PM, chamima said:

 

 

🥵🥵🥵

So forty three loungers for 160 (or so) passengers.

I totally agree with you and my friend Mr.Steelers36.

The Captain of The Rowboat,

Tony

[RMorningglory]

Wow... This is a lot of chat and conjecture about clairvoyant mind reading into the intentions of a multi billion dollar corporation and its administration. No matter what their intentions, time will flush out the reality of all of this and may make a lot of this discussion moot. The "why have they done it?" is a lot of assuming, the fact is: They've done it. Now we have to decide what we're going to do with the facts in front of us regarding cruises already booked or when choosing to book a cruise in the future.

 

I called Princess last week during the inaugural Cruise for clarification and again after seeing the information published on CC from the 2nd sailing, and the information coming from my cruise-personalizer changed from last week to this week. Here are the facts as we know them to be confirmed on that call to Princess: A day pass for Sanctuary is $99.00 pp and a cabana is $499.00 for up to 4 ppl just as our STAR passenger CanadianBurger reported. Availability is limited and not guaranteed and is on a First Come First Serve basis depending on availability for the day. There is a designated area reserved for Signature Class passengers. The Sanctuary is an Adults Only Space for passengers 16 years old or older. There are not a set amount of passes available per day as it is dependent on demand from Signature passengers who have priority. That's It. That's ALL we know.

 

Now let's put these facts into play regarding my upcoming 2 cruises on Sun. (Indulge me as I do the math). On my upcoming Med Cruise we have 4 Sea Days. There are 4 of us traveling. If we could reserve, that would be $396 for 4 in regular Sanctuary or $499.00 in a Cabana (Which makes a Cabana seem like a deal to me as opposed to a regular chair. Wine, stocked Fridge, Shady spot etc.). So, added to our Onboard Statement will either be $396pp or $499pp if sharing the cabana depending on our choice IF spots are available for all 4 days. It's a 14 day cruise but we would only use it on sea days so, divided by the number of days on the ship I could swing it but I'd have to think about it rather than just do it automatically like I would have in the past. On a Royal or Grand class ship that would be $30pp/day or $220/Cabana/Day for 4 totaling $120 or $220 for the 4 days. That makes a regular spot more than 3x the previous price and the Cabana more than double. For our 2 week B2B Caribbean cruise for 2 in October we would normally book a whole cruise spot full day in the Sanctuary. With the full 14 days the Cabana is out either way, but the regular spot would be $420pp for Grand and Royal Class and $1386 pp for 14 days on Sun making it almost 4 times the price. Those are FACTS. Now it's up to me what I want to do with those FACTS. I can tell you that it involves deep breathing, a mantra and the Serenity Prayer.

 

Now a few anecdotal obsevations that ought to really get this party started: We've been in a LOT of Sanctuaries over the years. If I said how they are run has been consistent throughout the fleet I'd be fibbing. My experience is that depending on the staffing, it either runs like a top or it's a bit of a hot mess. Regal Class Ships tend to be a little more organized as the entrance to the area is better defined and it's harder to just wander into. The Grand Class ships are way too easy to access and people are forever getting in, kind of bewildered and lost. It usually doesn't last long but it happens a lot. A strong leader in Sanctuary and a well seasoned staff makes a difference to the overall experience and it's usually pretty easy to tell what you're going to get just by the how the process goes to reserve on embarkation day. We were just on a 10 day Canal 1/2 Transit on Ruby and it was more the Hot Mess than the well oiled machine. There was literally NO ONE there before noon other than the 2 of us on ANY day, Sea OR Port. We were the ONLY full cruise full day passengers. Yeay for us! At noon the rest showed up but even on sea days it didn't seem full yet they were turning passengers away. I thought this was weird so I kissed up to a couple staff to be nosey and get the dirt. Get this, They let people reseve 1/2 days, let them come at Noon instead of 1 like it should be AAANNNDD, only charged them IF they showed up. WHAT? No wonder they were full but 1/3 of the seats were empty. I thought this must be a mistake but, instead of the one time charge that usually appears on our OBS when we book full cruise, $30 appeared DAILY indicating that we were being charged daily. That never happened before. I didn't test the presumption that we wouldn't be charged if we didn't show up but it's not a far stretch to believe that the info was correct and that's how they were playing it. I do NOT think any of this was "Princess Policy" but it was what happened. I can tell you it wasn't like that on Discovery on our previous cruise when there was an attendant at the desk almost 100% of the time and they ran that Sanctuary like wardens! If you were talking too loud they gave you the side eye. I also observed people being accommodated in the Sanctuary as a problem solver for difficult or problem guests. 2 couples also "Bullied" their way in when the sanctuary was sold out by throwing a Giggy-Fit at the front desk. They actually reorganized the lay out to get them in with 3 hotel managers involved in the whole scene. I felt bad for the staff who just had to suck it up.

 

The reason I'm relaying these stories is to exemplify the fact that things change, are not always consistent, don't always follow the rules and can't necessarily be counted upon. My Cruise-Consultant at Princess asked me to call her after our April 27th 2 week cruise and tell her what I observed in reality rather than what the party line says should happen. That indicates to me that even they aren't sure how this is all going to work. It's a long way from California to Rome and from the corporate thinkers to the ship and even further to the staff who have to implement those decisions and face US, the happy passengers. I'm going to run up there as usual on April 27th and see what the story is myself and whether or not a little charm might get a more in depth explanation of the wishy-washy parts of the story that breeds all this conjecture and assuming.

 

I promise to relay the facts I find in the weeks to come but, in the meantime, Let's give them a minute to get their act together and see how it plays out. And hey, you can always just go pitch a fit at the front desk and strong arm your way in, but it will still cost you at least $99 and that plan isn't very ZEN. (See me deep breathing, remembering my Mantra and internally repeating: God grant me the Serenity to ACCEPT the things I CAN NOT Change, to change the things I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference.)  Namaste

 

 

[CatMom72]

1 hour ago, RMorningglory said:

Wow... This is a lot of chat and conjecture about clairvoyant mind reading into the intentions of a multi billion dollar corporation and its administration. No matter what their intentions, time will flush out the reality of all of this and may make a lot of this discussion moot. The "why have they done it?" is a lot of assuming, the fact is: They've done it. Now we have to decide what we're going to do with the facts in front of us regarding cruises already booked or when choosing to book a cruise in the future.

 

I called Princess last week during the inaugural Cruise for clarification and again after seeing the information published on CC from the 2nd sailing, and the information coming from my cruise-personalizer changed from last week to this week. Here are the facts as we know them to be confirmed on that call to Princess: A day pass for Sanctuary is $99.00 pp and a cabana is $499.00 for up to 4 ppl just as our STAR passenger CanadianBurger reported. Availability is limited and not guaranteed and is on a First Come First Serve basis depending on availability for the day. There is a designated area reserved for Signature Class passengers. The Sanctuary is an Adults Only Space for passengers 16 years old or older. There are not a set amount of passes available per day as it is dependent on demand from Signature passengers who have priority. That's It. That's ALL we know.

 

Now let's put these facts into play regarding my upcoming 2 cruises on Sun. (Indulge me as I do the math). On my upcoming Med Cruise we have 4 Sea Days. There are 4 of us traveling. If we could reserve, that would be $396 for 4 in regular Sanctuary or $499.00 in a Cabana (Which makes a Cabana seem like a deal to me as opposed to a regular chair. Wine, stocked Fridge, Shady spot etc.). So, added to our Onboard Statement will either be $396pp or $499pp if sharing the cabana depending on our choice IF spots are available for all 4 days. It's a 14 day cruise but we would only use it on sea days so, divided by the number of days on the ship I could swing it but I'd have to think about it rather than just do it automatically like I would have in the past. On a Royal or Grand class ship that would be $30pp/day or $220/Cabana/Day for 4 totaling $120 or $220 for the 4 days. That makes a regular spot more than 3x the previous price and the Cabana more than double. For our 2 week B2B Caribbean cruise for 2 in October we would normally book a whole cruise spot full day in the Sanctuary. With the full 14 days the Cabana is out either way, but the regular spot would be $420pp for Grand and Royal Class and $1386 pp for 14 days on Sun making it almost 4 times the price. Those are FACTS. Now it's up to me what I want to do with those FACTS. I can tell you that it involves deep breathing, a mantra and the Serenity Prayer.

 

Now a few anecdotal obsevations that ought to really get this party started: We've been in a LOT of Sanctuaries over the years. If I said how they are run has been consistent throughout the fleet I'd be fibbing. My experience is that depending on the staffing, it either runs like a top or it's a bit of a hot mess. Regal Class Ships tend to be a little more organized as the entrance to the area is better defined and it's harder to just wander into. The Grand Class ships are way too easy to access and people are forever getting in, kind of bewildered and lost. It usually doesn't last long but it happens a lot. A strong leader in Sanctuary and a well seasoned staff makes a difference to the overall experience and it's usually pretty easy to tell what you're going to get just by the how the process goes to reserve on embarkation day. We were just on a 10 day Canal 1/2 Transit on Ruby and it was more the Hot Mess than the well oiled machine. There was literally NO ONE there before noon other than the 2 of us on ANY day, Sea OR Port. We were the ONLY full cruise full day passengers. Yeay for us! At noon the rest showed up but even on sea days it didn't seem full yet they were turning passengers away. I thought this was weird so I kissed up to a couple staff to be nosey and get the dirt. Get this, They let people reseve 1/2 days, let them come at Noon instead of 1 like it should be AAANNNDD, only charged them IF they showed up. WHAT? No wonder they were full but 1/3 of the seats were empty. I thought this must be a mistake but, instead of the one time charge that usually appears on our OBS when we book full cruise, $30 appeared DAILY indicating that we were being charged daily. That never happened before. I didn't test the presumption that we wouldn't be charged if we didn't show up but it's not a far stretch to believe that the info was correct and that's how they were playing it. I do NOT think any of this was "Princess Policy" but it was what happened. I can tell you it wasn't like that on Discovery on our previous cruise when there was an attendant at the desk almost 100% of the time and they ran that Sanctuary like wardens! If you were talking too loud they gave you the side eye. I also observed people being accommodated in the Sanctuary as a problem solver for difficult or problem guests. 2 couples also "Bullied" their way in when the sanctuary was sold out by throwing a Giggy-Fit at the front desk. They actually reorganized the lay out to get them in with 3 hotel managers involved in the whole scene. I felt bad for the staff who just had to suck it up.

 

The reason I'm relaying these stories is to exemplify the fact that things change, are not always consistent, don't always follow the rules and can't necessarily be counted upon. My Cruise-Consultant at Princess asked me to call her after our April 27th 2 week cruise and tell her what I observed in reality rather than what the party line says should happen. That indicates to me that even they aren't sure how this is all going to work. It's a long way from California to Rome and from the corporate thinkers to the ship and even further to the staff who have to implement those decisions and face US, the happy passengers. I'm going to run up there as usual on April 27th and see what the story is myself and whether or not a little charm might get a more in depth explanation of the wishy-washy parts of the story that breeds all this conjecture and assuming.

 

I promise to relay the facts I find in the weeks to come but, in the meantime, Let's give them a minute to get their act together and see how it plays out. And hey, you can always just go pitch a fit at the front desk and strong arm your way in, but it will still cost you at least $99 and that plan isn't very ZEN. (See me deep breathing, remembering my Mantra and internally repeating: God grant me the Serenity to ACCEPT the things I CAN NOT Change, to change the things I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference.)  Namaste

 

 

I will be interested in hearing about your experience. I suspect it will be closer to the “hot mess” scenario because of the added confusion related to suite passengers.  As several of us have pointed out already, the math doesn’t add up and Princess’ answers don’t make sense.  I hope they figure it out before I get on the ship because I don’t want to waste any part of my vacation stressing about whether or not I am going to get the Sanctuary spot I already paid for as a suite passenger.  Unfortunately, I am not that good at the Serenity breathing thing, but I’ll give it a go.

[Fortunate 2 travel]

The Sanctuary is a place people make a beeline to when they board (us included) to reserve.  And they are beautiful spaces, from the videos and photos I’ve seen not so much on the Sun.  Why mess with a great product?   Cruise ships are the business of Princess.  How do you launch a new ship and have no clue how to manage amenities that are on current ships?  Sounds like the powers that be don’t have cruise backgrounds.  We booked a suite on a 14 night for the first time so we don’t have to make the mad dash.  We have decided to go ahead and try it.  All our flights are booked, plans made for the week in Europe before the cruise, but we have lowered our expectations for the cruise experience.  It would be great to be pleasantly surprised.  

[WonderMan3]

34 minutes ago, CatMom72 said:

I will be interested in hearing about your experience. I suspect it will be closer to the “hot mess” scenario because of the added confusion related to suite passengers.  As several of us have pointed out already, the math doesn’t add up and Princess’ answers don’t make sense.  I hope they figure it out before I get on the ship because I don’t want to waste any part of my vacation stressing about whether or not I am going to get the Sanctuary spot I already paid for as a suite passenger.  Unfortunately, I am not that good at the Serenity breathing thing, but I’ll give it a go.

For a suite passenger, what would be confusing? You have guaranteed access to the Sanctuary and can use any area of the space or any available lounger/sunbed. Now you may get up there and find that there are no loungers/sunbeds available, or the preferred area you want to sit is not available because they are all occupied, but that just means getting up there earlier in the day to guarantee getting one, which is the same as any sundeck. Obviously the exception to that is the Sanctuary on the other ships where you can pay and reserve a lounger in advance; but with that process it's always first come first served too and not everyone can book it because you're competing with the entire ship for access as opposed to just suite guests (and a limited number of additional passengers on lower capacity days). But that is not happening on this ship for suite guests so you know that going into it and there should be no confusion about that process. I mean what does one do when wanting to use a sundeck on any other Princess ship if missing out on booking The Sanctuary because reservations all filled up right away; you go early to get a chair at the sundeck to guarantee you get one.

 

For non-suite guests, there could be a level of "confusion", but to me it's more of a level of the unknown because we haven't seen that process in action yet. Non-suite guests who want to use the Sanctuary won't know until day of apparently if they can pay to access the space. But as a suite guest I personally wouldn't be stressing over that since I have guaranteed access.

[WonderMan3]

14 minutes ago, Fortunate 2 travel said:

The Sanctuary is a place people make a beeline to when they board (us included) to reserve.  And they are beautiful spaces, from the videos and photos I’ve seen not so much on the Sun.  Why mess with a great product?   Cruise ships are the business of Princess.  How do you launch a new ship and have no clue how to manage amenities that are on current ships?  Sounds like the powers that be don’t have cruise backgrounds.  We booked a suite on a 14 night for the first time so we don’t have to make the mad dash.  We have decided to go ahead and try it.  All our flights are booked, plans made for the week in Europe before the cruise, but we have lowered our expectations for the cruise experience.  It would be great to be pleasantly surprised.  

I like the fact that as a suite guest now I don't have to race to some desk on boarding day to possibly get a lounger on a nice sundeck.

[Wishing on a star]

" I can tell you that it involves deep breathing, a mantra and the Serenity Prayer."

Amen and AMEN!!!!  

Love that!!!

 

Again, I have posted on this topic of the Sanctuary, not just because I want to whine and kvetch etc..  But, because I think that Princess should hear all of our concerns as they attempt (attempt) to iron this out.     Their lack of any cohesive policy, changing course mid-stream, and having no transparency...  that is what has added to all of this conjecture and discussion.

[CatMom72]

24 minutes ago, WonderMan3 said:

You have guaranteed access to the Sanctuary and can use any area of the space or any available lounger/sunbed. Now you may get up there and find that there are no loungers/sunbeds available…

This is the problem. What good is having guaranteed access if I have nowhere to sit? The whole point of buying a suite is to ensure access to a lounge chair on demand, just like I always had under the traditional system.  At least under that system I only had to rush up to the Sanctuary once on the first day to ensure my reserved chair would be available for the entire week.  After that, the stress would be over.  I would be able to relax, knowing that my chair would be waiting for me when I wanted it, whether I got there at 7AM or had a late breakfast and got there at 11AM.  Now I have to wake up early and rush up to the Sanctuary every single day just to ensure I get access to a chair I ALREADY PAID FOR as part of my cruise fare? And if I don’t make it up there in time (however that is defined), the Sanctuary manager can resell my chair to someone else??  How is that relaxing, especially for those of us who are not early risers? In the past if I wasn’t able to get to the Sanctuary quickly enough to buy a chair, at least I wasn’t getting charged for it.  Now I am getting charged for it even if I want it and don’t get it. And these are just the issues that suite passengers will have to contend with.  Non-suite passengers will face a whole other level of uncertainty.  It is clear that you are not worried about having a stressful experience with this, and that’s great.  Although I am less optimistic, I hope you are right and this entire process is seamless and pleasant.  I guess we’ll find out.  For any of the suite folks who are on the ship before us, I look forward to getting their impressions of how it’s panning out.

[capriccio]

Thank you @CatMom72 for so eloquently expressing our concerns too. 

 

We don't need to make final payment until the fall for our January 2025 cruise so I'm hoping Princess can work things out.  Otherwise we will switch to an MSC Yacht Club cruise.  While Princess is our favorite cruise line when cruising with friends and family a couple of times a year, when we sail alone and want to be pampered we stopped booking Princess suites and switched to MSC.  We are hoping that the suite experience on the Sun class of ships would more closely resemble that on MSC.

Edited March 15 by capriccio

[RMorningglory]

WonderMan3, I'll meet you at Jimmy's Hideaway for a drink and we can cry in our beer and commiserate together next time I travel from Mid to Lower Cape! LOL. We travel too often to do the Suite thing regularly so we'll just have to live like the regular folks and take our chances. I totally agree with the "Lower our Expectations" comment. I think that's the key to serenity. Expect nothing and be pleasantly surprised when something nice happens. Wish it wasn't the way it is, but it is the way it is so... we'll figure it out as we go and be OK either way. Talk about 1st world problems? I'm the luckiest guy alive to be have the luxury of 12 weeks off annually to travel. The Sun seems like a Beautiful, if Different ship than we're accustomed to. I'm going to figure it out and I'm going to have an awesome time no matter what because I want to have an awesome time. If I'm not in Sanctuary I'll be somewhere else. How many kids can there be on a 2 week cruise from April 27th to May 15th or from October 19th to November 2nd when Kids are supposed to be in school? That being said I bet I can find a spot to relax in some quiet corner if I look hard enough. And I will. No matter what happens, I'm still going to feel like I'm "King of the World!!" on the brand new and beautiful Sun Princess, sailing to magical ports with the person I love most in the world. The only tears will be tears of gratitude and joy no matter where I'm sitting! In the words of Jack Dawson, "I figure life's a gift and I don't intend on wasting it. You never know what hand you're gonna get dealt next. You learn to take life as it comes at you". No matter what, it's going to be a lot better than the Titanic, and Jack had a good time all the way to the end. I intend to do the same with much better results. Hope this made you laugh a little.

[CatMom72]

28 minutes ago, RMorningglory said:

In the words of Jack Dawson, "I figure life's a gift and I don't intend on wasting it. You never know what hand you're gonna get dealt next. You learn to take life as it comes at you". No matter what, it's going to be a lot better than the Titanic, and Jack had a good time all the way to the end. I intend to do the same with much better results. Hope this made you laugh a little.

It made me laugh a little.  Poor Jack.  So optimistic.  48 hours later, frozen to death at bottom of the Atlantic.  But like my husband always says, there was room for both of them on that door!!
 

To making it count!

Edited March 15 by CatMom72