5/7 Island Princess Review

[ahracer]

The Following is a review of our excellent Island Princess cruise to Alaska on 5/7/05.

 

Pre-Cruise

 

We flew into Vancouver two days before the cruise departure. We used FF miles for our flights on Continental. Flights were great as the planes were empty and we had plenty of room to spread out. We also arrived in Vancouver about 20 minutes early. We arrived just after 3 jumbo jets from China had just arrived so the line through customs was long. It moved fairly quickly and we were through in about 30 minutes. Our bags were already on the carousel. As we exited we hit an ATM to get some Canadian money. I walked outside and headed straight for the white limos. My wife couldn’t understand why I was walking the opposite direction from the taxis. Once we were in the limo and on our way I explained to her that the limo is only a little more expensive than a taxi and I thought it would be a nice surprise to start off the trip.

 

We arrived at the Hyatt around 12:30. We got a great deal from Hotwire for our two nights there. We ended up with a king room on the 10th floor with a balcony and a nice view. We dropped our bags and went straight to the Tim Horton’s next door to get an Iced Cappuccino. I love those things and we don’t have Tim Horton’s in Atlanta. After that we explored Canada Place and Gastown. We ate dinner at Hon’s Chinese on Robson street then went back to the Hyatt for a few martini’s at the bar.

 

The next morning we woke up to the sight of the Amsterdam pulling into Canada Place. We rented bikes and rode around Stanley Park. This was inexpensive and a great way to see a beautiful park. We then had lunch and rested for a little. Late afternoon we went down to Canada Place to watch the Amsterdam and Sun Princess sail away. The one really neat thing at Canada Place is how close you can get to the ships on the elevated walkways. After that we had dinner at a sports bar and walked around Robson Street.

 

The next morning we woke up and went straight to Canada Place to look at our favorite ship the Island Princess. We looked and took pictures for an hour or so. We were so excited to be getting back on her again. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a store and picked up some cranberry juice and tonic water to have with the vodka we would buy on the ship.

[ahracer]

Embarkation

 

We decided to walk to the pier since it is only about 5 blocks from the Hyatt to Canada Place. We arrived at the pier about 11:15am and dropped our bags off with a porter. We then went inside to the security line. There were several lines with about 6 or so people in each. We then went through Immigration which only took a couple of minutes. After that we then walked right up to the Princess check-in and were quickly given our cards. It was now about 11:30am and we were directed to have a seat until they started boarding. At 11:45am they started boarding. We were on the ship in our cabin just before noon.

 

The incredibly friendly people of Canada made the check-in process a real joy. I did hear from some others that arrived later in the afternoon that it took over an hour to get through embarkation. So if you can get there early.

 

Ship

 

We were staying in E709 a Cat. BE cabin. The cabin location and balcony was great. The balconies on the Aft BE’s are large and fully covered. This is important on an Alaska cruise with the weather. Even though we had good weather there were times when we could use our balcony when most others on the ship could not due to wind or rain. In my opinion on this class of ship the aft Cat. BE’s and BD’s are the best balcony cabins. We actually were booked originally in a Cat. BB and changed it to a BE even though the cost was the same. The best balcony cabins are on the Caribe, Dolphin and Emerald decks.

 

We went to lunch right away to beat the rush. Then we walked around the ship to re-orient ourselves with the layout of the Island after a few cruises on Grand class ships. As most of you know we love the Island Princess and we were not disappointed. She is still in great shape and the crew is very friendly and helpful. We purchased a bottle of vodka from the bar and went to our balcony for sail away. Vancouver is a beautiful city to depart from.

 

The pools were great. We used the indoor Lotus Spa pool on the nice days and then on the cooler rainy days when it got crowded we went to the main outdoor pool. The water was warm enough that it was nice to swim in even when it was 50 degrees and raining. One thing I’m perplexed about is that people keep insisting that the Lotus Spa pool on the Island is adults only. I have been on the Island twice and nowhere is there any indication of this. I think perhaps people are getting confused with the Lotus Spa pool on the Grand class ships which is adults only. I’ve read on here recently of some confrontations with parents about kids in the pool. So make sure it really is an adults only pool before you tell someone to get their kids out!

 

Crooners lounge was great and we enjoyed martini’s there every night before dinner. Johanna was the bartender and she did a great job and was very nice. One word of caution if you attend the martini demonstration there is a very good chance the bartenders will have you up and dancing as they shake the martinis to music. My wife was worried she was going to get picked but nope they walked right past her and got me. Dancing in public at 10:00am with out having at least one drink is not good. Even worse was they filmed it and my wife took great pleasure in putting the channel on in the room that they were showing the video on.

 

I really wish Princess would build another few ships of this class as I really feel it is the perfect design. The space ratio is great and it is not uncommon to feel like you are the only ones one the ship.

 

We did have a few problems. Our cabin steward was not very good. She did not clean the room very good. We never got the robes we requested from her. We only had one beach towel in the room, we requested another but never received it so I had to go get one off the laundry cart. The next day she replaced them with two fresh towels. After that we never got a fresh beach towel again. We would leave the wet ones on the floor or bed and she would just hang them up on the door. This was the worst cabin service in the 16 cruises I’ve been on. Twice we did not have hot water to take a shower. It wasn’t all cold but room temperature.

 

Trying to book two cabins on board turned into a disaster. It was clear that the rep. didn’t understand what we wanted and I tried to get her to just make it an open booking but she insisted she could get us booked on the specific cruise and cabins we wanted. Well she tried and it took my T.A. almost an hour today to get it straightened out. Where do they find these people??

[ahracer]

Dining

 

This cruise was kind of different for us. Since the scenery was so amazing and it stayed light until very late we had a heard time breaking away to eat diner. So we ended up eating at the Bayou Café one night and the dining room two nights. The other nights we ate the Horizon Court so we didn’t miss anything. Normally we eat every meal except maybe one in the dining room. The food was excellent everywhere. I personally think the buffet on the Island is better than the other Princess ships I’ve been on. The service in the Horizon Court was better than normal. The dining rooms were never full as I think most people were doing the same as us and eating at the Horizon Court.

 

This was the most casual cruise I’ve ever been on. Jeans were very common in the dining room.

 

Shows

 

We only attended one show. It was a comedian and a ventriloquist. The comedian was very funny but between the two of them the show was only about 45 minutes. I wish it would have been longer. I know they did have several problems with the stage in the Universe Lounge that forced them to cancel the Tribute show two nights. They did have problems also with the cooking show when they couldn’t get the curtain to raise.

 

Weather

 

The weather was great! Much better than expected. In Vancouver it was cool in the morning but warmed up in the afternoon. In Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and our first sea day the highs were about 80. The mornings would be a little cool but it was warm in the afternoon. The last two days in Glacier Bay and College Fjord it was overcast and rained periodically. The temperature was in the 50’s and more what we expected Alaska weather to be like.

 

 

 

Wildlife

 

We saw just about everything. Grizzly bears, humpback whales, orca’s, bald eagles, seals, sea lions, otters.

 

Bring binoculars or you will not be able to make out a bear from a rock on the shore!

 

Itinerary

 

Day 1 – Cruising the inside passage. Unfortunately the most interesting sights occur in the middle of the night as navigate through the narrows of B.C. during the day land is visible in the distant but not that exciting.

 

Day 2 – Ketchikan. I woke up at 3:15am as we were approaching Ketchikan and it was already light out so I went out on the balcony until we docked at 5:30am. The scenery arriving and leaving Ketchikan was incredible! The one thing that amazed me in Alaska was how much the tide changes. We didn’t have anything planned other than walking around the town. Of course we didn’t realize how small the town was!! But it was a short stop so it worked out good. All of the towns we stopped at were much smaller than I anticipated.

 

Day 3 – Juneau. We originally planned to take the shuttle to Mendenhall Glacier and hike. But after buying our shuttle tickets we saw an ad for a helicopter tour with a glacier landing. We traded in our shuttle tickets and bought two tickets for the helicopter tout with Coastal Helicopters. There shuttle arrived a few minutes later to pick us and the other couple we’d be flying with. We flew up the mountain to Herbert glacier and landed on it. We then got out and walked around and the pilot showed us holes that were 700 feet deep and got us drink of glacier water. He also took pictures of us. We then flew over the mountains to the ice field and then down Mendenhall Glacier. The trip was incredible, it was by far the highlight of the trip!

 

Day 4 – Skagway. In the morning we walked around the town and then in the afternoon we did the WhitePass Railroad trip. It was very nice and has some awesome scenery with perfectly clear skies fro picture taking.

 

Day 5- Glacier Bay. It was exciting to see the glaciers from such a close position and we got some great pictures of the Marjorie Glacier calving. It was also a great spot for wildlife.

 

Day 6 – College Fjord. Mostly a sea day since you don’t arrive until 3:00pm. It was nice with some spectacular views of the glaciers. You depart glacier bay at 6:00pm and are only 40 miles from Whittier so the ship basically sails in circles then docks at midnight.

 

Disembrakation

 

Since the ship arrives at midnight disembarkation is scheduled to begin at 6:00am. They were however an hour late due to the trains being late. We took the bus the airport and picked up a rental car. If I had to do it over again I would have skipped the car and went to Princess hospitality center downtown. There is plenty to do in downtown without needing a car. I don’t recommend the Alaska Experience though. It is pretty cheesy! We arrived back at the airport around 5:30pm for our 8:45pm flight. The airport was not crowded at all and in fact our flight was only half full.

 

If I did this an Alaska cruise again I would either do the southbound or roundtrip from Seattle. The flight home from Anchorage is tough especially when you have to wait around all day for it.

 

I’m sure I’ve forgotten plenty so ask if you have any questions.

 

Scott

[LARGIN]

Thanks Scott for the review. I'll will check the Lotus Spa Pool on the Coral next week. I thought I saw an adults only sign on our cruise last year.

[ahracer]

Thanks Larry it would interesting to know.

 

Scott

[mii]

Great review: I love the Coral/Island. Just the right size. Having been on the Coral I will sail on her again next year May 2006. Glad you had a great time. I agree with you in that Princess needs to build more of that size ship. Again thanks.

 

Marilyn

[TorontoTL]

Great review, thanks for posting it. Sounds like you had a wonderful cruise. Sorry to hear about your cabin steward. Also glad you noticed how nice we are up here in Canada.

[Lynda90]

Scott, thanks so much for the great review. I've never been on the Island before but will be next year. Can't wait. Thanks for sharing.:D

[bdjam]

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh…your review made me homesick.:(

 

So was the future cruise representative still the tall, blonde Canadian woman? I can’t remember her name, but she and I shared a couple of chuckles when she was telling me stories of people trying to reserve cruises. Like “I’d like to sail from Sydney…how do I get to the ship?” Stuff like that. Anyway, she seemed somewhat competent with me, so I wonder what happened.

 

I think the martini demonstration was one of the fun points of the trip. We also enjoyed the ice carving, the sushi demo and the vegetable carving. It sounds like silly stuff, but when you figure the talent that goes into making a watermelon look like a fish bowl, you can see what talent these crew members really have.

 

Sorry too about the room steward. We felt that ours seemed like he was always under pressure when we were on board. I think he said he had 20 cabins or something like that. We had trouble with the beach towels too. One time we ran completely out – Joe was able to get them for us in a couple of hours – and another time I think we had five in the room all at once. And one time we didn’t get any regular towels, so it was good to have the five so we could use some as bath towels.

 

I miss Island Princess – thanks for the review.

[ahracer]

Yes, it was still the tall Canadian women. She got off the ship on Saturday. She was very nice but for some reason she couldn't understand that we wanted to book one balcony cabin and an inside across from it. The only reason I let her continue booking it wrong was she was so nice and trying to please us so much I didn't have the heart to tell her she had it all screwed up. I didn't realize how bad until my T.A. tried to fix it today.

 

The martini demonstration was great except for the part where I had to dance around with a martini shaker!! ;) Plus I did win a martini and a deck of the Crooner's cards in the trivia part. I also was able to get a menu to take home for my bar.

 

I miss the Island too!!! When I win the lotto I'm going to have a replica of the Lotus Spa pool built in my backyard!!:)

 

Scott

[Druke I]

I agree with you re building more ships of the Island/Coral class, or at least a similar sized class of ship. We were on the Coral a couple of years ago, and were impressed.

 

If it can't fit through the Panama Canal, it is too big.

[ceejay_San Angelo]

Yours is the first full review I've read of Alaska this year, and I appreciate it! I have a few questions, of course :rolleyes:

* How were you treated at the Hyatt with a Hotwire reservation? I booked our Hyatt rooms thru Hotwire, too, and have read a few negative stories about how folks who book thru discount brokers and treated poorly.

* May I be really nosy and ask how much the impromptu Juneau helicopter trip cost per person? Sounds fabulous!!

* Glad to hear pulling into Ketchikan was so scenic. I've been watching the bridge cams of the Coral and Island this week to get an idea of what things will look like. I tend to be an earlybird, so am packing my drip Melita filter and hot pot to have some GOOD coffee out on that balcony early in the am!!!

* Do you plan to post photos? Would love to see pics too, but really do appreciate the trip review!!!

[Deb in Cali]

If it can't fit through the Panama Canal, it is too big.

 

That statement bears repeating.

 

Great review. I am counting the days until I'm on the Regal. I am looking forward to sailing on her before Princess sells her. I sailed on the Dawn 5 years ago and it was a great experience.

 

Princess may lose a huge passenger base to other lines if she keeps selling off her smaller ships and replaces them with the megaliners that have 5000 passengers.

 

Deb

[Druke I]

Deb in Cali

 

Slight correction to your post. Princess is not selling Regal Princess - it is being transferred to another division under the Carnival umbrella, much like Royal Princess was transferred to P&O.

 

We have one more cruise booked on Regal Princess before she leaves the fleet - 'round the Horn in Mar 06, Buenos Aires to Santiago.

[LARGIN]

As for big.. The Coral/Island are longer than any other Princess ship..

[kryos]

Thanks Scott for the review. I'll will check the Lotus Spa Pool on the Coral next week. I thought I saw an adults only sign on our cruise last year.

Could it be that they only restrict children from using the Lotus Pool on cruises where there are a lot of kids onboard? While I'm not a "pool person," I can't honestly say I remember seeing any signs prohibiting children in the Lotus Pool during our Hawaii trip. But then, there were only like 12 kids onboard that sailing, so it wouldn't have made much sense restricting them to the Lido one.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[Druke I]

Largin

 

But they will still fit in the locks of the Panama Canal, and the beamy Grand class could never squeeze in!

[ahracer]

Yours is the first full review I've read of Alaska this year, and I appreciate it! I have a few questions, of course :rolleyes:

* How were you treated at the Hyatt with a Hotwire reservation? I booked our Hyatt rooms thru Hotwire, too, and have read a few negative stories about how folks who book thru discount brokers and treated poorly.

* May I be really nosy and ask how much the impromptu Juneau helicopter trip cost per person? Sounds fabulous!!

* Glad to hear pulling into Ketchikan was so scenic. I've been watching the bridge cams of the Coral and Island this week to get an idea of what things will look like. I tend to be an earlybird, so am packing my drip Melita filter and hot pot to have some GOOD coffee out on that balcony early in the am!!!

* Do you plan to post photos? Would love to see pics too, but really do appreciate the trip review!!!

 

It was the first time I used Hotwire and we were treated no differently then if we had paid their rates which was more then twice as much. In fact we checked in ealry with no problem and were giving a room wiht a view and a balcony.

 

The helicopter trip was $185 each with Coastal Helicopters.

 

I have close to 900 photos but I've never posted pics on here. I'll have to look into it. I am going to put them somewhere like Webshots or something but it will probably be a week or so until I get to it.

 

 

Scott

[kryos]

I know they did have several problems with the stage in the Universe Lounge that forced them to cancel the Tribute show two nights. They did have problems also with the cooking show when they couldn’t get the curtain to raise.

They had trouble getting power to the cooking appliances a couple of weeks before on the Island's last Hawaii run. But, after much fiddling around, someone from the cruise director's staff was able to get the appliances to work. I figured it was gonna be an awfully long cooking show if the stove didn't work. :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

This was the most casual cruise I’ve ever been on. Jeans were very common in the dining room.

Great review, by the way. Thanks for taking the time to write it!

 

You were lucky on your cruise. I saw several people being turned away from the dining room on various nights due to inappropriate attire. The only night I saw the rules "relaxed" was on the last night of the cruise. Several people, including myself, were wearing jeans to dinner. After all, Princess requires you to put the luggage out before dinner ... so there really is no choice if jeans are what you are planning on wearing for the trip home the next morning. I don't know about others, but I prefer to pack as much as I can into the checked luggage so that I don't have a heavy carry-on to lug on the plane home.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[ahracer]

They had trouble getting power to the cooking appliances a couple of weeks before on the Island's last Hawaii run. But, after much fiddling around, someone from the cruise director's staff was able to get the appliances to work. I figured it was gonna be an awfully long cooking show if the stove didn't work. :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

 

LOL. that might be why the chef looked so mad when he was standing there waiting for them to rearrange the stage.

 

Scott

[edYYZ]

As for big.. The Coral/Island are longer than any other Princess ship..

Actually, according to the Alaska booklet, the Island/Coral are 965 feet in length while the Diamond/Sapphire are 970! :)

[NitaBcruising]

Scott,

 

Thanks so much for your great review! Those of us going soon, appreciate hearing all about Alaska! :)

 

Maybe you can pick your favorite pics and post somewhere, then post the link here! I'd love to see them, well, not all 900, of course! :D

[LARGIN]

Actually, according to the Alaska booklet, the Island/Coral are 965 feet in length while the Diamond/Sapphire are 970! :)

 

That is the 2005 Alaska booklet and I think the dimension stated there is incorrect. The 2005/2006 Cruise Atlas, 2005/2006 Caribbean/Mexico booklet, 2005/2006 Australia/South Pacific booklet, 2005/2006 Asia booklet as well as Expedia have the correct dimension as 952 feet.

[debinnh]

Great review! Now I am getting really excited. I look forward to your photos too.