Now where did we leave off? Ahh yes, one last look back at the main living space of the cabin.
Let's now take a look at the bedrooms. Yes, bedrooms as there are two separate bedrooms and connected bathrooms in this suite! First we'll pop into the smaller bedroom. This bedroom is located in the interior half of the cabin so there is no natural light and no doors to the balcony. Dad took this bedroom because he enjoys sleeping in complete darkness.
The two bedrooms are steps away from each other with their own doors for privacy. They do not have any locks. There are locks on the bathroom doors however.
Standing just inside the smaller bedroom looking back across the hall at the bigger bedroom. With the doors closed, there was no issue with noise if one of us wanted to sleep and the other stayed up to watch TV.
Main part of the bedroom - I'm pretty sure these beds can separate into twins so you could easily have a couple in the big bedroom and friends or kids in the smaller bedroom. There is no lip or step up into the bedroom but there is to get into the bathroom.
Each nightstand had motion activated lighting on the bottom. Each side of the bed had a small reading light that extended out and a lamp that can be controlled by the toggle switch once in bed. There are a variety of plug types in the wall just below the lampshade. While it made it a minor challenge stretching the phone cord while plugged in, I liked that it kept the phone charging cord up off of the surface. Every evening the stewards would leave us each a copy of the next day's Patter on our beds.
There was also a set of light switches next to the plugs so you can turn on/off overhead lights from bed as well.
Along the wall by the door is a full desk/vanity space with lighted mirror. The small drawer storage is good for things like underclothes or small items like a makeup bag. There are also different types of plugs just above the desk so you can charge electronic devices or plug in hair tools.
Top drawer held a Drybar hair dryer. This one was not connected to a plug in the drawer so you could take it to any plug and use.
There was a level entry into the walk in closet with its own light controls. This area can be closed by a curtain if you want some extra privacy getting dressed. There is a safe, shelving, and both long and short hanging storage. There was also two white fluffy robes and sets of slippers for each bedroom. We only had one large suitcase each so it was easy to stow them on the floor of the hanging space. There was also room under the beds if needed.
Each bedroom had two life jackets in their closet. We also each had a nice sturdy tote bag with the Sanctuary Collection logo versus the blue tote bags with the Princess logo that non suite cabins received.
There was also a full length mirror inside the closet and a small ottoman (seen here under Dad's clothes)
Moving back out into the bedroom, you can see that there was tons of space to move around the bed. The wall mounted TV was easily viewed from either side of the bed. The white fluffy slippers pictured here are the ones we've gotten in suites on other ships. The brown flip flop style shoes next to them are unique to the Sun Princess and the Sanctuary Collection. The design is multiple white colored orientations of the Princess logo.
Here is a closer look at the flip flops:
Let's head into the bathroom next. The switches for the bathroom lights are by the TV outside the bathroom door.
While slightly bigger than the regular cabin's bathroom, you'd have to be really comfortable with each other to use this space at the same time.
There is a step over to get into the shower. There is one grab bar inside the shower. The showerhead is fixed but you can switch it to a handheld wand as needed. A mounted rack held Beekman 1802 bottles of body wash, shampoo, and conditioner. By the sink was bottles of lotion and liquid hand soap. No bar soap provided.
Behind that half wall and facing the sink is the toilet. I get the whole privacy intention but closing the bathroom door while you're in there achieves the same purpose.
Looking back at the bathroom door shows that there is two hooks on the wall for hanging a robe, a nightgown, or an extra wet bathing suit.
To wrap up the interior of this cabin, let's check out what the main bedroom and bathroom look like. The wave pattern on the headboard also had lights controlled by one of the switches. The only drawback to this furniture arrangement is you will hear things if you have noisy enough neighbors.
I had the same desk with drawers and wall mounted TV setup in this bedroom. However, the main paperwork relating to suite/Sanctuary/Elite perks was left in a folder on my desk. Make sure you check through all the paperwork left for you. We got a list each week of special events scheduled in the Sanctuary Lounge and the Sanctuary Club such as wellness sessions and live music. As Elite loyalty level passengers, we also received a letter each week explaining that the Platinum/Suite/Elite evening cocktail hour was held in Butcher's Block from 3:30-5PM. The letter also let us know when a complimentary Grapevine Wine Tasting would be held and that voyage's Captain's Circle Party. As Elite and Suite passengers we also got priority tender access.
Eagle, or should I say duck, eyed readers might be able to spot the two new friends I brought home for Prince S. All other rubber ducks were rehidden or gifted to crew. Thank you to the fellow cruiser on our Magic Conjurer's Cruise roll call who made the ducks clad in a magician's outfit and monogrammed them with our cruise dates. The white duck was a surprise left by Princess in each Sanctuary cabin during the week. It features a coral colored Princess logo and a tag with #SanctuaryCollection written on it.
This was also where we found our blue clip medallion holders that we received for booking the Premier Package rate. After trying out the blue clips for a day or two, I was too concerned that I'd end up having it drop off somewhere, especially when we had to ride on a tender.
We both opted to purchase the recycled plastic wristband from the Medallion shop. It feels very comfortable wearing and made scanning in and out so much easier! The recycled plastic band is made from the plastic cleaned up out of the ocean and they number each band on the inside strap. The kind young lady helping us suggested that I try on a smaller wristband when the first was too loose. I joked that this was pretty unusual for me to have to go down in size for something I'm going to wear and she nearly doubled over laughing.
Note the different look to the face of our medallions. I see questions from many passengers who are thinking something is wrong because the typical medallion face shows one's loyalty level color - Blue for new cruisers, Gold, a reddish color for Ruby, a silver/grey color for Platinum, and black for Elite. The normal medallion also shows the entire Princess logo within the circle. If you book a Sanctuary cabin, your medallion will feature this zoomed in logo and be salmon/coral in color. I also learned from the crew that they can tell at a glance on their devices whether you should be in a Sanctuary area because your medallion's security photo will show up with an "S" next to it. As someone who has paid a larger amount for the perks, I am glad that they are that diligent about not letting anyone in who didn't pay for it. Celebrity Cruises has an option for a fee and with space available and Maitre'D permission, you could invite someone to dine in their Retreat only restaurant with you. I like that Princess did not even allow buying such a pass because the smaller guest size is part of what enables the crew to provide such attentive service.
The main bedroom had two sliding glass doors to access the balcony as did the main space. They each had their own curtain. I loved being able to keep the curtain by my desk closed to keep the sun out of my face while working yet fill the room with natural light by leaving open the other curtain. The fact that all of the curtains had a sheer curtain and a solid curtain gave us some great options to control having natural light when we wanted it but not the blinding sun.
Tons of space to move around the room. That full length mirror was more magnified than the light up ones at the desk and bathroom sink. Use that mirror on the wall if you want to see your pores from space.
While my walk in closet space also had a curtain for privacy, it required passing through the dressing area to access the bathroom. Both bathrooms and nightstands had motion activated nightlights. I spent the first couple nights keeping the curtain to the dressing area closed because anytime I'd kick my leg out from under the covers during the night, it would trigger a click sound and turn on the bathroom's motion activated light. I soon figured out it was easier to close my bathroom door when I headed to bed so it couldn't sense my motion. A couple nights with rough seas though sent that bathroom door flying open and slamming shut.
Hey Prince S! There's more room tour to cover. No sleeping on the job!
I loved the special extra touches like the labeled Sanctuary Collection stationery and pencil left in the cabin. We used the pads to write notes to our steward and each other. They also might have found a way into my suitcase to bring home.
My dressing room/walk in closet had shelving on one side and hanging space on the other side along with some drawers. I thought the design of the different width and shaped shelving was very clever. I had more drawer items than hanging clothes so I dedicated certain shelves to certain categories of clothing. As the casual clothes came back from the laundry, I used the provided hangers to add them to the closet side. Easy way to keep track of what I hadn't worn yet before wearing the cleaned clothes again. Tall items like my backpack for shore excursions and carry on for air travel fit perfectly in the middle slots.
We had a good variety of regular hangers, skirt hangers with clips and the soft padded hangers. Clipped to the hangers is where we'd find new laundry bags to use. If you need more hangers, the steward would be happy to supply extra. I believe the Ocean Medallion app even has that request as an option under the amenities you can order to be delivered to your cabin.
The light switches by the bathroom door controlled the main ceiling lights, the nightlight, and a separate light over the shower stall. There is a step up into the bathroom here as well. Sometimes the door would take some extra effort to fully close which probably led to it being swung open during the nights of rough seas and fast speed.
This being the bigger bathroom, the layout had two distinct features that the other bathroom did not.
Like the other bathroom, while my counter and lighted mirror space were longer, there still was no storage except for washcloths and hand towels. I kept a couple things on the counter that I needed all the time and resorted to taking things in and out of my travel kit to use while I got ready each day.
The vertical panel in the middle rocked back and forth if you touched it but it never seemed to open or slide away for storage. There are two sinks in this bathroom but a good bit of the remaining counter space is taken up by trays to hold glasses, tissues, and the hand soap/lotion. The sinks were a good depth helping keep any splashed out water at bay. It was easy to get up under the running faucet to wash or fill a glass.
Standard plug for an electric razor right by the mirror.
Looking back through the dressing area/walk in closet to the bedroom space:
A hint at our first extra feature in this bathroom while I point out the single hook on each side of this wall. I used one to hang up my nightgown and the other to hold the twisty hair towel I brought with me. Those twisty hair towels work so much better on corralling my long wet hair after a shower than trying to balance a huge provided towel. Note my travel kit stowed on the small ledge.
Our first unique item in this bathroom is a large tub! The ledge held a spare bottle of body wash. There was one grab bar placed at a nice angle to hold while lowering or lifting yourself out of the tub.
Next item as we work our way around the perimeter of the room is a slightly larger glass shower stall. This stall also had a retractable clothesline, fixed shower head, handheld shower wand, grab bar, and wooden bench. I also had a mounted shelf with my own supply of Beekman 1802 body wash, shampoo, and conditioner. The shower stall was super spacious and easy to move in and out of the water flow to lather. One drawback is that occasionally I'd get a sudden spurt of colder water and then it would go back to a steady warm water. The more frustrating drawback is that my shower seemed to have trouble draining as fast as it should from day 1. I'd have to be careful not to slip in the standing water as I moved around the shower. Thankfully it never got so bad as to fill the shower basin or risk leaking out onto the floor. I also missed having any sort of ledge or shelving in the shower to hold my own products. I would have just let it sit on the floor but my little tube of face wash would have been floating down river by the end of the shower.
The final thing that made my bathroom unique was that the toilet area had its own stall. The front door of the stall had translucent film blurring so you had privacy from all those prying eyes that come to hang out in your private cabin bathroom? The glass wall that doubled as the shower wall had the same translucent film so that peeping tom grabbing a shower won't be able to see you on the toilet. I always wondered why the privacy film on the toilet stall when the same body parts would be freely viewed while taking a shower?
On the plus side, I appreciated having a second trash can inside the toilet stall so I could dispose of cleansing wipes and female hygiene products without having to hold onto them or balance them somewhere until I was ready to leave the stall. I was also pleased as a fluffy person that there was plenty of space while using the facilities.
Okay, it's a beautiful sunny day outside. Let's step outside for some fresh air!
There are no loungers on this balcony but I spent an hour or two sitting on this cushioned bench throughout the cruise. I brought the table over in front of me to set up my tablet. It also made for a great spot to people watch those on the other ships when we were docked in port.
My view while sitting on the couch spanned the entire length of our balcony. The balcony is mostly shaded and has a light operable by one of the switches in the bedroom. There was a speaker nearby so I was able to hear any announcements while sitting on the balcony.
The doors that led back to the bigger bedroom. You could only go back inside the doors that were already unlocked. The glass was mostly reflective so no one could really look into your cabin unless they got super close to the glass.
Our next grouping of furniture was this small two top table. It was big enough for two people to have brought out individual plates of breakfast on the balcony or to set up your laptop/tablet to do some work al fresco.
Second set of doors that led back into the living space by the dining table.
Third set of doors that led back into the main space by the couch. Plus the one piece of furniture on this balcony that had any sort of foot support. Dad used this chair to sit outside and read occasionally and said it was comfortable and easy to read books on his tablet in the shade.
The view looking back to where we came out onto the balcony.
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