Alaska-reserve chair in sanctuary for glacier viewing?

[elaine5]

Can one pre-reserve chairs in the sanctuary for the cruising the fjords day? Does anyone recommend this (Sapphire) if cabin doesn't have balcony? Can we reserve a particular chair/location or is it 1st come to pick a spot?

Edited May 12 by elaine5

[nini]

Yes, you can. To reserve anything in the Sanctuary, I have heard that you must RUN to the Sanctuary upon boarding to book your days. It is very popular.

[Ellipooh]

I did this for Glacier Bay day, and was very glad.

 

After you run to reserve your spot for that day (the most expensive day, all others are cheaper and booking for the duration cheaper still), you can meet the rest of your cabin mates in the MDR for embarkation lunch, knowing that you have a beautiful spot for the big day and can come and go as you please all day long.  
 

YMMV. There are others who find the blue-tinted screens in the Sanctuary to be a huge distraction. 

[cr8tiv1]

Too much to see just from the Sanctuary.  I would rather walk the ship and see Glacier Bay from different spots.

[wcook]

I thought this was a nice video explaining the rules/details (from 2023) and lots of video showing the experience on a glacier day. 
 

EDIT - Just noticed you are on the Sapphire. Different class of ship so things will be different. But I’ll leave the link. 
 

 

Edited May 12 by wcook

[najgreen]

We aren't boarding the ship (the Grand) until 6 pm but would like to book the sanctuary for glacier days.  Will we be out of luck?  And where do you go to book it?

[nini]

4 hours ago, najgreen said:

We aren't boarding the ship (the Grand) until 6 pm but would like to book the sanctuary for glacier days.  Will we be out of luck?  And where do you go to book it?

As in Post #2, you RUN to the Sanctuary to book.

[Lady Arwen]

5 hours ago, najgreen said:

We aren't boarding the ship (the Grand) until 6 pm but would like to book the sanctuary for glacier days.  Will we be out of luck?  And where do you go to book it?

Deck 18 is the Sanctuary.  A crew member will be in attendance to help you.  If you’re late getting there, unfortunately you will be turned away.  It books up very quickly.  We try to get there by 10:30 to 11:00 am and even then we’ve been disappointed.  A 6pm boarding time is very late, but it’s worth trying.

 

Good luck!

[walkingsoon]

" Does anyone recommend this (Sapphire) if cabin doesn't have balcony?" Not really. As cr8tiv1 pointed out, I'd rather move about and view the glaciers from different spots. Likewise, I prefer to see the floating ice from deck 7 rather than deck 18. Even if I had an oversized suite balcony, I'd still spend most of my time out and about.

 

One of the advantages of Sapphire is the very nice and wide promenade deck. There might be times when the very bow on the elevated part of the promenade deck attracts a crowd, but at that same time the sides will be relatively uncrowded with lounge chairs available.

 

Present propulsion issues aside, Sapphire is, in my opinion, possibly the best ship in the Princess fleet and a great way for viewing Alaska.