blondee419

My experience was this - 1. got involved in trivia, even though my mom was sick that night, and 2. my gorgeous sister wasn't there this time. 😉  Sadly it was the end of the cruise, but it was just a fling, so I guess that cut down on the awkward morning-aftern-ness being drawn out longer? 

Most importantly, I was NOT "cruising" for a romance. The hookup happened organically. 

On 5/29/2020 at 2:33 PM, BigHouseFootball said:

 

3.  We are probably going to go with a balcony cabin and the ships for the 2021 season are the Coral, Star, and Royal (I realize 2022 may have different ships) but from looking at pictures are there some balcony cabins that are open to those above you who can look down into your balcony? Any suggestions on decks that are best for balconies/which ones to avoid for privacy? 

Did Coral to AK because she's a smaller ship and can access some of the inner passage areas that the larger ships can not. I've been on Star to HI. Loved both ships, but definitely do Coral in Alaska if you can! 
 

12 minutes ago, Thrak said:

 

Can you tell us who that was? I know Matt O'Brien was due to leave Island March 17 but don't know who took his place. The CD thread wasn't updated. I hadn't planned to sail Island again but my wife really wants the itinerary for next May so we're booked. The cruise may even actually happen. There is a particular person we previously had as assistant CD that was so horribly obnoxious I might even cancel a cruise if I were to find him as CD.

DuVal Gamble.  He wasn't around unless he was the center of attention. Not approachable at all unless there was a large audience around.  

12 hours ago, Julia’s Journey’s said:

Please tell me more, I have 30 days booked on her next year.

Full Panama Canal transit last year on her for my birthday.  They crammed on more cabins (i.e. passengers), and didn't expand the crew.  Very crowded in the venues during bad weather with more people & less space on board.  The crew were fantastic, but this is the first time I've had crew actually complain about their working conditions.  Also, we had an obnoxious CD (who was an assistant CD on our Hawaii cruise on Star in 2017). 

But, that's MY opinion, and believe me when I say that there are other people who enjoy Island. I did love her (non-chopped up) sister ship Coral when we sailed her to Alaska. 

Also, despite all that - you're on a cruise!!! So it's really just perspective sometimes.  I had a fantastic cruise, but I just wouldn't want to be on that particular ship again if I can avoid it. 

Can you post their actual responses instead of your summary?  Sometimes it helps to have additional sets of eyes to parse out or interpret information. 

Most definitely will book again. 
 

12 minutes ago, drowelf said:

Thats standard boilerplate for the benefit. It must be renewed each year, so it always has a cut-off date associated with the renewal. 

Thanks! 
In light of someone else floating the idea they'd be doing away with the benefit, I was just curious if that was standard or something new.  

~ A Druid Dwarf

Is there always a cut off date in that letter?  according to the link, https://www.carnivalcorp.com/static-files/50351a91-4dc0-4f6b-bfec-684647e6129f

"Reservations must be made by February 28, 2021."

Really? We're complaining about safety? 

My sister was a flight attendant. I take that instruction seriously before each take-off, too.  People get really, really, REALLY stupid when they're panicking during an emergency.  It never hurts to take a few minutes and re-acquaint yourself with safety drills no matter how many times you've seen them. 😐

So, I'm late to the party, but on my Panama Canal cruise this past April a trivia team calling themselves "The Island Hoppers" not only did the same thing, but they also resorted to pulling out their phones on the last few days AND accused other teams of cheating.  On my Hawaii cruise, one team kept winning but my team kicked their ass on the very last trivia of the cruise. We had an advantage in that my sister and I knew the last dozen or so name that tune questions that were from the 90s/00s, and their team included the most travelled couple on the ship (so, skewing older).  That was the sweetest victory ever. 

The thing in common? These people tend to not only be sore losers, they're cocky winners who suck the life out of every trivia by taking themselves so seriously. (My opinion, like noses, etc.) I also do competitive online trivia, but cheez-its people! it's bilge water champagne and cheap coasters you're playing for! This ain't Jeopardy! tournaments here! 

On 6/23/2019 at 4:21 PM, phillies fan said:

I'm giving thought to taking a 10 day cruise of the Panama Canal this upcoming year.   The choices seem to be the Island Princess (older, smaller ship; transits the historical locks) or and Caribbean Princess (newer and larger ship, transits the new locks).

 

Anything anyone could offer to help in this decision would be appreciated.

I just returned from a 7 day cruise on the Coral Princess which I greatly enjoyed.   I understand the Island Princess was a sister ship, but has been modified to add additional cabins at the cost of the aft lounge.

 

 

All of the opinions are my own..... 

We did the island without knowing much about it, and because we wanted to transit the old locks.  We went thru this past April 2019. 

My $0.02? Do not sail on the island. 

The coral is wonderful! we've sailed her to Alaska, and would sail her again.  The island got crowded when the weather was bad, and everyone was stuck inside with less public space. They increased the number of cabins (and thus the number of passengers), but did not increase the number of crew.  I've never met a more demoralized crew. Also, DuVal is the cruise director, and I found him even more irritating now that he's in charge, more-so than when he was just on the cd staff on the Star a few years back.  

Again. My opinion. 

Panama Canal full transit, 15 days, April 2019

Ship - Island Princess

Class - Coral class

Deck - 11

Cabin # -  B740

Category - BD

Port/Starboard/Bow/Stern -  Stern, all the way aft

Connects With Cabin # - n/a

Accessible - nope

Quiet - yes

Balcony Size - normal

View - 180* 

Privacy Issues - none

Wind - none

Soot - none

Problems -

* Bathroom issues - the shower would not drain the first day, but our steward notified the engineers and they snaked the drain and it worked fine from then on. Toilet needed to be serviced twice. Not sure if it's related to the drainage issue in the shower?

* Balcony can get very warm, since it's almost entirely enclosed, but the view is fantastic when traversing the canal.  This is one of the added cabins from the retrofit of Island. There are no footstools on the balconies, and this was our only real complaint. 

* TV satellite was out for several days, not sure if it was due to our location or other issues. 

Comments - 

* Everything was new! TV, Fridge, etc., all worked well. 

* Beds were comfortable, in the 2 twin bed configuration. Lots of storage space underneath.  

* No barrel chairs, for you barrel chair fans, but the round table was in the room. We moved it into the closet for the duration of our cruise. 

* Laundry rooms are nearby. 

* You will get your steps in each day, with the location of the cabin all the way aft, especially if you eat at the buffet! 

* the hallway carpet trick still works; When facing the bow of the ship,  red border on the left (port), green border on the right (starboard) 

tl;dr: CDC recommends Hep A, typhoid & malaria. It's up to you if you want to pay for them since not all is covered by insurance. 

Hi Teacher, 

I just finished FLL-LA on Island through the Canal. I got Hep A, Typhoid, and Malaria.  Typhoid and Malaria are NOT generally covered by insurance, so be forewarned. The bugs weren't horrible, though when we were in the canal and for the day in Panama, there was a specific request to keep the doors closed so that insects didn't fly inside.  I don't know that the insects were that bad (it was April), so maybe see what the bug situation is before you commit.  You do need to go ahead and do the Typhoid (course of 3 live vaccine pills) pretty soon if you decide to do that - i think you need to take it about 2 months in advance? The Malarial drug started 1 week before exposure, through the time in the affected area, and continue about 1 week after (21-28 day course of pills, depending on what your doctor says).  I will note my mom was a public health nurse and insisted I do the minimal CDC recommendations (The above three) and my doctor concurred. That was all that was recommended. Nothing was actually *required*. 

Anywho - enjoy your cruise! 

~Blondee419 
 

8 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy your cruise.

....

8 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

I hope your next cruise is more to your liking. 

On the contrary - I did enjoy my cruise. I'm sorry that I didn't make that more clear! However, of the cruises i've been on, this was not the most exciting one.  The pax were (as to be expected) those who have the money and free time to be able to take off that long, or, older.  (I'm fortunate to have a job where I can take off 3 weeks at a time at my age.) That also contributed to the overall quiet vibe, IMO.

I thought that Island added 200 cabins, which is about 400 pax, and that is not insignificant when the crew is not proportionally increased.   On the last 2 days, with the weather, there was much more crowding in the public areas than the previous 13 days.  Additionally, there were about 100 staff who were down for the count in the food service areas by the end of the cruise (there was some bug going around - both mom and I got it, and the medical centre was definitely over flowing), which can't be controlled. 

~Blondee

Just got off Island this week after a full Panama Canal transit. The views below are entirely my own 🙂 If you have any other questions, please let me know and I'm happy to answer them! 

* She is incredibly understaffed! I can not stress this enough.  We were talking to one of the buffet stewards who is only a month away from getting off the ship. She said that they didn't add any crew space with the last overhaul AND they're down about 100 people. It showed.  A ship intended to have about 1600 now carries 2000+, with the same 900 crew. 

* The last 2 days from Puerto Vallarta to LA were extremely windy and cold, so people were driven inside. The loss of public areas meant that there was crowding. Oh, so much crowding. Tempers ran high, and activities were not as much fun. 

* The staff (excluding entertainment staff) do the best that they can. You can tell how stressed they are 😞

* The entertainment staff: DuVal was nowhere to be seen (Unless a LOT of people would see him) and I never heard him do most announcements.  Olivia was a typical 23 year old drunk kid, and by the end of the cruise was on my last nerve.  DJ Chris, Yris, Trewlawney,  and the new addition Kristoff were awesome, and did the best they could.  The productions I saw were quite solid, and for the most part on-board activities were as well.  Nothing spectacular one way or the other.  The enrichment talks were actually quite interesting as well. 

* The captain was not visible at all, minus the welcome speech at the champagne waterfall. The rest of the crew (especially the italians) were so much more fun and outgoing. Captain of the watch gave noon announcements, and a few other Italians were running disembarkations in ports each day were especially helpful and entertaining! 

~Blondee

Just going to point out the obvious here... 

The "customer base" is getting older.... and dying off.  If they don't attract a younger audience, the cruise line will also die off. 

I'm 39, btw, and I love Princess. I also enjoy the more laid back "old people" excursions - not the ziplines and such. 

~Blondee419

Last cruise Captain Tuvo was **literally** chasing my sister around the ship. Figured out our mini-suite and everything to call her....

My boss was scheduled to be on this cruise, from LA - FLL. He was offered re-booking for an April cruise, and $150/OBC. PLUS, the April cruise was cheaper.

I think I did read somewhere Pacific Princess was going to be sold.

Yep!! That's us! Would love to see you on a future cruise!

For sure! Our next one is April 2019, full Panama Canal transit - Ft. Lauderdale to LA.

My mom says Hi!!!

that you k? We were your trivia team mates on that cruise!!

v & r???

I’m sure I can guess why... 🤣🤣

She's 2 years younger than I, and we probably brought the average age down to about 82. ;p

Just replying to everyone, sorry not just the last thread I read.... the guy has a family. Let him be. Just cross your fingers he’s on your next ship. He is a good friend of mine, great guy. And as much as I would love to share with you all his future whereabouts, you can’t just take a cruise for a captain...

LOL. I know a lot of people do take cruises for him! Love the family thing - He also made quite the impression last February over Valentiene's Day on my Hawaii Cruise with my mom and my sister. Especially my sister :cool::cool:

Slept on a sofa bed in our mini-suite, pulled out on a 15 night to Hawaii last year. Was totally fine/comfortable!

Edit: It's not like a futon. It's a regular pull out couch type.

I am 39, my sister is 37. We were on a Hawaiian cruise last year with mom and it was fine. My sister is not going on the Panama canal next year because she "doesn't want to be surrounded by old people." In my experience, that's the nature of longer cruises. She made friends with the CD staff, and stayed in Skywalkers till it closed down though. Even the el Capitan knew her by name (and figured out our stateroom number, but that's another thread entirely). I enjoyed the daytime activities, and am happy reading on our balcony. I'm not particularly a partier, but I was able to hit every BOGO as needed for my booze. Princess is in my experience younger than Celebrity, and less rowdy/drunk/party-centric than Carnival, the other two lines I've been on.

Bottom line, the cruise is what you make of it.... Unless you need to have a belly flop contest and go skydiving. Then you need Carnival or RCCL, respectively :)

Yeah, Did this last month on Star. No problems, plus my mom took 2 bottles of wine in carry on. Good luck!

~Kathryn