The all-new Sanctuary Collection just debuted on Sun Princess, and we were the first to check it out during our recent 3-day media sailing on the ship upon her arrival in Fort Lauderdale. Now, we’re back and share everything you need to know about the Sun Princess Sanctuary Collection to help you decide if it’s the right fit for your next cruise vacation.

Sun Princess Sanctuary Collection – Everything You Need to Know

As a first for Princess Cruises, Sun Princess debuts the line’s attempt at a ship-within-a-ship experience. The Sun Princess Sanctuary Collection includes the most luxurious accommodations on the ship, exclusive spaces available only to guests staying in these staterooms, and a number of additional benefits.

We cover them all in this post, as well as give you a look at our Sanctuary Mini-Suite. We also compare this new Sanctuary Collection to other similar experiences to determine if it’s worth upgrading.

What is the Sanctuary Collection?

The brand-new Sanctuary Collection just debuted on Sun Princess in October 2024. It will also be featured on Star Princess when she arrives in fall 2025.

The Sanctuary Collection cabins replace the former Signature Collection and Reserve Collection staterooms on Sun and Star Princess. There are a total of 80 Sanctuary Collection Suites, 123 Mini-Suites, and 12 Premium Deluxe Balconies included in the Sanctuary Collection.

The room categories available to book are:

• Sky Suite
• Grand Suite
• Vista Suite
• Signature Suite
• Sanctuary Mini-Suite
• Sanctuary Balcony

All guests can book an available Sanctuary Collection stateroom. However, guests must be 16+ to gain access to the exclusive Sanctuary Club sundeck.

In addition to upgraded accommodations, Sun Princess Sanctuary Collection guests get access to an exclusive sundeck and restaurant. Suite guests only have access to the Suite Lounge as well.

Further, guests staying in the Sanctuary Collection get the Princess Premier package for an even more all-inclusive experience. This is a $90 per person, per day upgrade for all other guests.

The Sanctuary Collection offers guests many of the luxuries of small ship cruising combined with all the amenities of modern mega-ships. Guests can enjoy the Sanctuary Collection’s exclusive spaces but still take advantage of all the other onboard offerings for the best of both worlds.

Sun Princess Sanctuary Collection Exclusive Spaces

Sanctuary Club

Perhaps the best part of staying in the Princess Cruises Sanctuary Collection is the Sanctuary Club sundeck. This tranquil top deck space features a pool, whirlpool, upgraded loungers, a full bar, light bites throughout the day, an exclusive food menu, and even cabanas available to rent. Oh, and you won’t want to miss your champagne wall photo-op either!

This is a great space to relax on a sea day. Guests can soak up the sun away from all the crowds on the rest of the ship. The Sanctuary Club also hosts exclusive events, wellness classes, and more throughout the cruise. These include Outdoor YogaSix and StretchLab sessions, as well as live music and pop-up entertainment.

Located aft on Deck 18, this space also provides great wake views and is the perfect spot to enjoy sailaway.

Sanctuary Collection Restaurant

With some shifting around of venues onboard Sun Princess, the new Sanctuary Collection Restaurant is now the top level of the 3-story main dining room. This exclusive restaurant is reserved just for guests staying in the Sanctuary Collection. It’s open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner featuring an upgraded menu and dedicated waitstaff, with no reservations needed.

We sampled the dinner menu one evening and can attest the selections were top-notch. Items included shrimp cocktail, prime rib from a carving trolley, filet mignon, lobster tail, and more for no additional fee.

Suite Lounge

For suite guests only, the Suite Lounge is located on Deck 16 aft. This cozy indoor space is a great spot to relax with a morning cup of coffee. Or, guests can enjoy a pre-dinner cocktail in this exclusive lounge. Those staying in Sanctuary Mini-Suites or Balconies do not have access to this lounge. Even still, this space is rather small given there are 80 suites.

Our Sun Princess Sanctuary Collection Mini-Suite

During our recent Sun Princess sailing, we stayed in a Sanctuary Collection Mini-Suite on Deck 14, cabin 14456. According to Princess Cruises’ website, these cabins measure approximately 304 square feet including the balcony. These rooms feature a separate seating area, spacious closet, two televisions, a desk, an upgraded bathroom, and signature bathrobes and slippers.

In comparison to our previous balcony cabin on the ship, there was noticeably more space in this mini-suite. We also liked the separation of the bed and sitting area, with the closet situated between the two areas. There was ample storage space, and we love the new bathroom design featured in all cabins on Sun Princess.

This Mini-Suite is the mid-level accommodation in the Sanctuary Collection. It features more space than a balcony stateroom at an affordable price point.

While they might be difficult to snag, the 12 Sanctuary Balconies are basically Premium Deluxe balconies with an upgraded balcony. Yet, these cabins still get access to the exclusive Sanctuary Collection spaces.

If you want a more upgraded experience, you can opt for one of the suites. These accommodations vary in size from the Signature Suite up to the Sky Suite measuring in at over 1200 square feet. These suites come with a complimentary mini-bar, a Lavazza coffee maker, and more.

Sun Princess Sanctuary Collection Benefits

In addition to more upscale accommodations and exclusive spaces, booking a room in the Sanctuary Collection comes with other perks that are part of the Princess Premier package. This package provides guests with the Premier Beverage Package, MedallionNet Max WiFi for four devices, crew appreciation, unlimited specialty dining, unlimited casual dining meals and premium desserts, complimentary OceanNow delivery and room service delivery, and unlimited fitness classes.

The Premier Beverage Package includes an unlimited premium selection of beer, wine by the glass, and cocktails up to $20 USD at all the bar and lounges. It also includes all non-alcoholic beverages like bottled water (500ml only), fountain sodas, fresh juices, specialty coffees and teas, frappes and/or milkshakes at Coffee & Cones, and Red Bull energy drinks. There’s also a 25% discount on all bottles of wine, one-liter bottles of water, and bottled juices.

When it comes to WiFi, each guest will receive the four-device MedallionNet Max WiFi plan.  This new “Max” WiFi cannot be purchased separately.

Guests staying in the Sanctuary Collection (as well as all guests who upgrade to the Princess Plus or Premier packages) get included crew appreciation. These gratuities are $17 to $19 per person, per day depending on your room category.

A huge perk of the Princess Premier package is unlimited specialty and casual dining during the cruise. This means you can dine at all the onboard restaurants for no added fees. These include Crown Grill, Sabatini’s, Makoto Ocean, Umai Teppanyaki and Hot Pot, Alfredo’s Pizzeria, The Butcher’s Block by Dario, and The Catch by Rudi. Guests can also enjoy unlimited premium desserts from Coffee & Cones, OceanNow (normally a one-time access fee of $14.99 per person), and room service (normally a $5 fee per order). Love by Britto is excluded from this package.

Guests staying in the Sanctuary Collection get unlimited fitness classes as well. As part of Princess Cruises’ partnership with Xponential Fitness, guests can partake in classes from Pure Barre, Club Pilates, YogaSix, CycleBar, and Stretch Lab.

Not to mention, Princess Premier guests get reserved theater seating for production shows in the Arena. They also get a photo package, free Medallion device delivery (normally $10 fee), and ability to win Princess Prizes.

However, aside from the perks of the Princess Premier package, Sanctuary Collection guests do not receive any benefits above and beyond. Some competitor brands offer additonal perks such as butler service, a separate embarkation lounge in the terminal, priority embarkation and disembarkation for all types of cabins in this area, exclusive spaces on cruise private islands, laundry services, access to the ship’s thermal suite, etc.

Given that you get many of the same perks by just upgrading to the Princess Premier package, you may be wondering if the Sun Princess Sanctuary Collection is worth it. Or, how it stacks up to the competition. Well, let’s take a look.

Is the Sun Princess Sanctuary Collection worth it?

When looking at the inclusions of the Princess Sanctuary Collection, the most obvious comparison is Celebrity Cruises‘ Retreat. The Retreat is all suites and gives all guests the All Included package which is similar to Princess Premier. All Included gives guests premium drinks, WiFi, an exclusive restaurant, sundeck, lounge, room service, priority embarkation/disembarkation, butler services, and reserved theater seating. There’s also complimentary fitness classes, laundry services, and access to the thermal suite for guests in select suite categories.

The big omission in Celebrity’s package (for more entry level suites) when compared to Princess Premier is specialty dining. This can add up if you planned to dine at several of these venues during your cruise. However, the argument could be if you have an exclusive restaurant then why would you need unlimited specialty dining. Of note, Celebrity’s Royal Suites and above do get unlimited specialty dining.

Gratuities are NOT part of The Retreat pricing either. These are $23 per person, per day.

When comparing the two directly on price, we chose a test cruise which was a similar 7-day Caribbean sailing in January 2026. The lowest entry level suite on Celebrity was priced just under $9K with an additional $322 for gratuities. The lowest entry level suite on Sun Princess was just over $9K. Thus, a suite on both lines is essentially the same price.

However, Princess does have lower entry point staterooms. Guests can book a Sanctuary Collection mini-suite for just over $5700 or a Sanctuary Collection balcony for just over $5200. Celebrity doesn’t offer such staterooms in The Retreat. The cruise line does have AquaClass cabins which have their own exclusive restaurant but do not get access to the private sundeck.

Now, the more well-known ship-within-a-ship experiences are on MSC Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line, which feature keycard-acess-only complexes.

NCL’s The Haven comes with butler service, an exclusive restaurant, private courtyard/sundeck, and lounge. It also includes all More at Sea perks like a drink package and specialty dining credits, as well as priority embarkation/disembarkation, reserved theater seating, and thermal suite access for select suites. For a similar test cruise in January 2026, prices start at around $9200. However, these “entry level” suites are considerably larger.

Similarly, MSC’s Yacht Club highlights its butler service, along with an exclusive restaurant, lounge, and sundeck with a grill serving breakfast and lunch. It too includes the Premium drink package, WiFi, reserved theater seating, priority embarkation/disembarkation, access to the thermal suite, and more. A balcony suite on the line’s newest ship, World America, for our same January 2026 cruise comes in at $6100. And an interior Yacht Club suite’s price is just $4300! Even the duplex suite which has nearly 500 square feet of space is only $8700.

Determining which is better comes down to your preferences and how much you value the specific inclusions that each line offers as there are some differences. Still, entering the market with its first attempt at a ship-within-a-ship experience, we think the Sun Princess Sanctuary Collection is a worthy contender.

Now, let’s look at upgrading to Princess Premier vs. booking into the Sanctuary Collection. If we took our same test cruise, it would cost about $1400 more to go from a Premium Deluxe Balcony with Princess Premier to a Sanctuary Balcony. It would cost about $1800 more to go from a standard Mini-Suite with Princess Premier to a Sanctuary Mini-Suite. So, only you can determine if it is worth it for you to upgrade, gaining access to the exclusive spaces that come with the Sanctuary Collection.

Of course, all of the prices listed are for illustrative purposes only. Prices can fluctuate based on time of booking, itinerary, cabin availability, etc.

Ultimately, Princess Cruises’ new Sanctuary Collection might be worth it if you are looking for a private retreat alongside all the other amenities that mega-ships offer. In our opinion, it’s a great choice for multigenerational families and couples looking for a more upscale cruise vacation.

Comments

Would you consider staying in the Sanctuary Collection on Sun or Star Princess? Do you usually book these ship-within-a-ship complexes when you cruise? Drop us an anchor below to share your opinions on the new Sun Princess Sanctuary Collection.