Is The Sanctuary On Princess Cruises Worth The Price? | CruiseReport
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- Опубліковано 26 вер 2022
- We review The Sanctuary on Princess Cruises.
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Absolutely love the special attention in the sanctuary
I enjoyed the Sanctuary on the Grand Princess in 2019 when cruising in Alaska. While everyone else was standing out on deck, I was snuggled up in my blanket. Downside was looking out at the glaciers through tinted glass. There was a special price for the day we went to the glaciers, a full day price with LOTS of perks. (On the Grand you would have to go down to the LOTUS pool to use the pool/ hot tubs). #1 tip - reserve a sea day in the Sanctuary as SOON as you get on board.
Nice review. We enjoyed the Sanctuary on 3 different cruises and felt the cost was worth the experience. Also, while in the Sanctuary, I used the Princess App to keep a steady stream of chips and guacamole headed our way at no cost.
What are the TIMES...Like it's $20 half day... what time is that?
@user-nh3vx5jr9u 8 to noon and Noon to 4 is what my cruise consultant (wife) recalls.
Chris, that was a very nice review. I like your voice and video techniques. No loud music or crazy pop-ups to distract from the information. I also appreciate you staying on topic. There's nothing more frustrating than watching a video where the area of the topic is not covered completely or there is extra dialogue not concerning the topic. My first Princess cruise is coming up in January 2023 and I'm just finding out about the Sanctuary. it sounds like I won't be getting a reservation as we have 1:00pm arrival times selected. Too bad there is a stressful situation to getting a reservation as you first board the ship. I'm not willing to run to The Sanctuary to get reservations. Maybe next time or I might get lucky?
Thank you. You might be surprised that in spite of a late embarkation, you could still get a reservation at The Sanctuary. Sea days are the most popular, so try for a port day (morning or afternoon), if there is a port where your excursion schedule will allow.
The Sanctuary is worth every dime and dollar it charges. It’s the first stop I make after, sometimes instead of, going to my cabin. On longer cruises, with lots of sea days, it’s great!
We have enjoyed the Sanctuary on several Princess Ships. We have found it comfortable and one of the quieter places on the ship with excellent service. We usually booked a half day in the morning or afternoon and it’s rarely ever seems fully booked. It must be one of the best kept secrets on Princess ships
Thanks for this thorough video! By the way, NCL offers two similar retreat options: the fee-based Vibe Beach Club and the free Spice H2O. Both have grottos.
We’ve never opted to use the sanctuary. We sale Princess mostly. Going on the Emerald Princess in 4 days. I’m going to reserve at least a half day as I don’t appreciate music or announcements around the pools and everywhere else so I end up back in the room after I’m done in the sun. Thanks for the cruise line specific review of the amenity.
I just used the sanctuary on the Crown 4/8/23. There were only 16 guests in the Sanctuary today. We had terrible service. I had to go ask to order a drink or get any food. The food wasn’t great either.
I used the Sanctuary on the Coral Princess in Alaska and that was wonderful.
No comparison on this one. We canceled the rest of our days.
Very nice review. I've seen the Sanctuary on several ships but never heard a lot about it. I am glad you enjoyed it but it just doesn't seem like something I would use. Thanks for the review.
We are sailing in 50 days and never would of even thought of using the Sanctuary but your video convinced us that we should. We plan on booking for all three of our at sea days. Thank you for the information.
I think you will love it!
Thank you for the informative video! As an FYI, and since it didn't come across clearly, "The Retreat" on Holland America overlooking the pool, though it may be available to suite guests, is also available to those who have rented a Cabana. We were in a regular balcony room, but rented a cabana for the week, and so had access to The Retreat sun deck area and concierge service. It was wonderful. We paid $530 for the cabana for our 7 night cruise - and it was well worth it for us. Thanks again for the detailed video, I'll have to subscribe to your channel.
We love the Sanctuary and try to book it every cruise. The drawback is trying to get there on embarkation and rushing to get to it to book it. It can be a hassle. And B2B cruisers usually have first dibs. I wish there was a better way.
I agree. I wish it could be pre-booked online.
I LOVE the Sanctuary. I have mostly done cooler weather cruises (Alaska x 4, Canada, British Isles) which means there is much less demand but I still make a point to go straight there upon embarkation to get the best choice of lounger. I'm Elite on Princess now so I get to board in the first groups of passengers which helps as well. One comment I will add is that on all other Princess ships I've been on that have a Sanctuary, they give you a bit of a price break if you book for the full cruise. It's $30/day per person if you book the whole cruise vs. $40 for a full day if you book the days individually. And since several of the ports in Alaska are either an afternoon arrival or an early departure I find I still get to use the Sanctuary every day even when visiting the ports. On other cruises that you think you might miss several days you'd want to do the math to determine if it makes sense to book the full cruise to get the price break or not. :)
"The Sanctuary, for those who have more money than they know what to do with." One of the few things I don't like about Princess. For one who often cruises for $50 per day, paying an extra $40 per day to lie on a more comfortable lounger is hard to justify. I can relax just fine on the Steerage deck for free. Other lines have something similar -not quite as nice- for no charge. We tried it a couple times but probably never again. You did a great job explaining the Sanctuary though.
I have sailed with Princess 23 times. I don’t use ‘The Sanctuary’, but to be fair, there are a lot more amenities than just laying around on an upscale lounger. Besides, when in port, if not getting off the ship, usually these up-charged features are discounted. Personally, I always get a balcony cabin and in some ports, we stay onboard if we have been there before. Our cabin balcony is our ‘sanctuary’. And yes…. I’m looking for a last minute cruise as we speak
How does it compare to the Serenity deck on Carnival
@@CB-io4fn The Serenity deck on Panorama is really nice. The Princess Sanctuary is better and it is covered. The advantage with the Sanctuary is that you have a reserved seat where you don't have to get there early in the morning or hope to get a seat. They also have light food service there. But still not worth the price for me.
The sanctuary experience on Crown Princess for the day at Glacier Bay was amazing.
Going on CaribbeanPrincess in January, will do half day on sea days in Sanctuary. To me well worth the few dollars.
cost sanctuary on glacier national bay day please? what month, were you to cold outside so long? thanks
Enjoyed the video. Only one complaint. Don’t tease us about an upcoming video regarding dining. At least give some info in your overall review
I would’ve liked to have tried it but it sold out before we could book anything. We actually got on board earlier than scheduled but still couldn’t get anything and we went right up to try when we got on the ship. I found this similar to lots of things on Princess (first time sailing Princess, on Discovery), that is they have some nice ideas in “theory” but often flawed or inefficient execution. For example medallion was great for getting in and out of rooms, on off ship but ordering drinks or food you’d see servers walking around lost looking for people with one item vs coming out w a tray of drinks to people. Jammed up bars also and took bartenders attn from people actually at the bar. Much room for improvement IMO. That said I was able to just walk into the Sanctuary and look around one day and it looked really nice. Just the odds of getting a spot were zero in our cruise. Frustrating to see loungers unused for big stretches of days when other people could’ve had the opportunity to use them.
I hope they've fixed that since your visit. Thanks for sharing!
My husband and I are going on our first ever cruise in April 2023 on discovery princess and we will be celebrating our 21st anniversary!! I was watching your video and thinking we could do a day on those loungers they looked very comfy!! Question though can you bring clothes to change into if you decided later you wanted to go in the hot tub?
There are large restrooms available large enough where you could change clothes.
I like the sanctuary, in my opinion it varies with the different boats. Now don't get me wrong I do like the smaller boats Ruby, Royal versus the bigger boats discovery, sky... but I do have to say this the sanctuary on the bigger boats is a higher level of service. I just have a feeling that the reason for this is because they're trying to get more people on the bigger boats versus the smaller boats and they lower the quality of service on the smaller boats just my opinion... John pageant has turned the princess brand into the Greyhound of the Seas.He definitely does not listen to his most loyal guests... thanks for sharing
Royal Caribbean's Odyssey of the Sea has an adult only area, Solarium, with a bar (Pay) a small buffet (Free), Mutli-level pool, hot tubs, lounging areas, Great service, panoramic view, all free, except for the drinks. Just got off the Princess cruise and the Sanctuary well is for suckers. But it looked like the 14 guest were enjoying it lol. I toured it and no way would I pay for it.
How much?
I read where you said the cucumber water was included but what about the meals that you showed were brought to you. I think I read there have been some changes for have food delivered. So basically I'm wondering what is included for the $20/$40 charge? ps....some if not all Carnival ships have a sanctuary with padded chairs for free. No extra charge and always has availability. My sister was on Carnival dream for 8 days to the Bahamas and had a great experience!
Yes, they did include the meal service as well. A limited menu, but complimentary.
Just wondering if the sanctuary is wheelchair accessible it’s going to be my first cruise loved your video
I think it is, but that may depend on the ship.
Sorry I meant to say I’m going on sky princess
Do you know if the Sanctuary is open on days when at Ports of Call? We are going to be on the Ruby Princess in January & are trying to determine if we should do an excersion.
Sanctuary is open every day as far as I know. In fact, we prefer port days because Sanctuary is less crowded and often we have been to the port multiple times.
Yup loved the sanctuary. I really didn't like that the Majestic didn't have it on that ship.
I was a little bummed about that as well.
The chairs in the cabanas look uncomfortable. Are you able to get into a comfortable position to read a book, etc? I see they have loungers, but a comfy couch is nice. Thank you.
Can this be reserved before you board the ship? Looks very interesting.
No. You can only reserve once you are onboard.
How windy is the sanctuary? Any shady areas?
There are shady areas and one day it was so windy, we just left.
Are the drinks extra ?
Yes. The cucumber and citrus waters are complimentary, but other drinks are standard pricing, unless you have a drink package.
How much does it cost to reserve 2 sun loungers for a week?
I did not get the weekly rates. Sorry.
I wish everyone would keep it a secret so we can get in; nobody else needs to know about it!!!!
That thought did cross my mind.
On Embarkation day is there someone /crew member up in the sanctuary area so you can book a full day or half day❓ That looks like the perfect area for a little peace and quiet.
Thanks⚓⛴️
Yea, that’s actually the only way to book. And it sells out quickly.