Island Princess 3 day Coastal-formal night? Entertainment?

[TillThen]

We're booked on the Island Princess 3 day LA-Vancouver. Wondering if there is a formal night on this short cruise?

Anybody who has been on Island lately, what is the entertainment? How are the shows? Any we should not miss (or miss?) How about the bands? Good dancing? Finally, is there a piano bar?

Thanks, your feedback is appreciated :)

[IECalCruiser]

We're booked on the Island Princess 3 day LA-Vancouver. Wondering if there is a formal night on this short cruise?

Anybody who has been on Island lately, what is the entertainment? How are the shows? Any we should not miss (or miss?) How about the bands? Good dancing? Finally, is there a piano bar?

Thanks, your feedback is appreciated :)

We did the reverse route on the Coral last fall and the evening entertainment was typical for any cruise. They didn't do On the Bayou on our cruise, but if they do it on yours you should try to get a seat. It is only performed on the Coral/Island and is specifically designed for the Universe Lounge. There is no formal night on the three day cruise.

 

Embarkation Day:

MUTS - Movie

Universe Lounge - Movie

Wheelhouse Bar - Live Band

Explorer's Lounge - Live Band/DJ

Bayou Cafe - Trio (for ballroom dancing)

Princess Theater - Welcome Aboard Show

Crooner's Lounge - Piano Bar

 

First Sea Day:

MUTS - Movie

Universe Lounge - Comedian

Wheelhouse Bar - Live Band

Explorer's Lounge - Live Band/DJ

Bayou Cafe - Trio (for ballroom dancing)

Princess Theater - Production Show

Crooner's Lounge - Piano Bar

 

Second Sea Day:

MUTS - Movie

Universe Lounge - Comedian

Wheelhouse Bar - Live Band

Explorer's Lounge - Live Band/DJ

Bayou Cafe - Trio (for ballroom dancing)

Princess Theater - Singer

Crooner's Lounge - Piano Bar

[TillThen]

Thanks so much. This is just what I needed! I love the piano bar, so I'm happy about that. My Mom will like the ball room dancing, and of course the shows. Too bad "On the Bayou" wasn't on - I've read lots of good things about it.

Few last questions. I see from the deck plan there is a casino. Is it open for this cruise? How about bingo? My aunt loves bingo!

Also, is Afternoon Tea served on at least one of the days?

[IECalCruiser]

Few last questions. I see from the deck plan there is a casino. Is it open for this cruise? How about bingo? My aunt loves bingo!

Also, is Afternoon Tea served on at least one of the days?

We don't do the casino or bingo but I checked the Patters.

 

Casino opened about an hour after sailing. I believe that slots are open 24 hours a day. Cashiers opened at 9:00am and tables opened at 10:00am. There was a Black Jack tournament on the first sea day and a slot tournament on the second sea day.

 

There was bingo twice each day at 11:30am and 3:30pm.

 

Afternoon tea is served every day (except embarkation day) on Princess cruises and it was served both sea days at 3:30pm.

[Appygirl]

Oooh. You are on the party boat. We were on the Island Princess a couple of years ago from Fort Lauderdale through the Panama Canal. In Los Angeles about 1200 elderly, quiet, well-behaved passengers disembarked and the party crowd got on. The 3 days back to Vancouver were the craziest I've ever seen on a cruise ship. I think this might be an annual thing for these partiers. The travel agencies around BC are selling this cruise plus air starting at less than $500 so that's a pretty good price for the 20 something party crowd. Also a lot of young families take advantage of the low price, maybe partnered with what a lot of these travel agencies are also selling 3 or 4 nights beforehand at Disneyland for around $600 or so. Great prices! Princess is trying to fill the ship for the last 3 days of repositioning and make it very affordable for young people who couldn't normally take a cruise. There was even a party of 60 partaking in a bridal shower. They were nuts. They were so funny. They all wore feather boas the entire cruise and were drinking and whooping it up and having a great time. The cruise ship made more on liquor sales those last 3 days than the first 15! Departing Los Angeles there is a sailaway party by the Lido deck swimming pool. The young crowd are out with their buckets of beer enjoying the departure so that's where the party is and where you want to be. Great entertainment! Really funny stuff but after awhile they get loud and obnoxious and they're not so funny anymore.

 

Formal night is the 2nd night. For those of us who got on in Fort Lauderdale the menu was the exact same as our first formal night at sea, so we didn't go. The entertainment was also duplicate of what we had earlier in the cruise. Yes, the Island Princess has very good entertainment. Evening shows and daytime activities such as trivia and bingo and dance classes. I don't recall there being any port lecturers during those last 3 days.

 

The real entertainment is watching all the drunken revelers. Karaoke nights were a little slow during the Panama Canal portion of the cruise but once the party crowd got on board in LA and fueled with liquid courage they took over the karaoke and it was hilarious. Another couple who'd been on the entire cruise got together with us and we were just enjoying the people watching. The only time on the whole cruise that this boat came alive was the last 3 nights from LA to Vancouver so we were enjoying the action. Around 2am the drunken revelers decided to whoop it up in the hallways pounding on doors, screaming, and running with security in hot pursuit. So that's a little annoying when you want to sleep but we still came out to watch security in action. We had become friends with one of the security staff and she said their brig was full of drunks. One of the drunks stole some of the balloons off my door that had been on since the start of the cruise.

 

Anyway, take it for what it is. Those 3 days on the Island Princess will be a loud, crazy party boat and the best entertainment is watching the other passengers. Have fun. Enjoy your cruise!

[IECalCruiser]

Formal night is the 2nd night. For those of us who got on in Fort Lauderdale the menu was the exact same as our first formal night at sea, so we didn't go. The entertainment was also duplicate of what we had earlier in the cruise. Yes, the Island Princess has very good entertainment. Evening shows and daytime activities such as trivia and bingo and dance classes. I don't recall there being any port lecturers during those last 3 days.

I don't know when you were on your cruise but currently there are no formal nights on a 1-3 day cruise. We did have the typical first formal night Captain's Welcome Dinner menu on the second evening although. Checking the patters, there was also a naturalist lecture at 3:15pm both days. There were a fair number of Canadians on our cruise combing it with several days in Vegas afterwards before flying home. Ours was not the same party cruise as Appygirl had.

[caribill]

Formal night is the 2nd night.

 

I don't know when you were on your cruise but currently there are no formal nights on a 1-3 day cruise.

 

If you are booked for the cruise, check the personalizer to see if there are any formal nights. In the section that lists the itinerary at the end of the itinerary it will say how many formal and how many smart casual nights.

 

The Princess "Cruise Answer Book" says there are no formal nights on cruises of one to three days.

Edited March 24, 2013 by caribill

[DrivesLikeMario]

Oooh. You are on the party boat. We were on the Island Princess a couple of years ago from Fort Lauderdale through the Panama Canal. In Los Angeles about 1200 elderly, quiet, well-behaved passengers disembarked and the party crowd got on. The 3 days back to Vancouver were the craziest I've ever seen on a cruise ship. I think this might be an annual thing for these partiers. The travel agencies around BC are selling this cruise plus air starting at less than $500 so that's a pretty good price for the 20 something party crowd. Also a lot of young families take advantage of the low price, maybe partnered with what a lot of these travel agencies are also selling 3 or 4 nights beforehand at Disneyland for around $600 or so. Great prices! Princess is trying to fill the ship for the last 3 days of repositioning and make it very affordable for young people who couldn't normally take a cruise. There was even a party of 60 partaking in a bridal shower. They were nuts. They were so funny. They all wore feather boas the entire cruise and were drinking and whooping it up and having a great time. The cruise ship made more on liquor sales those last 3 days than the first 15! Departing Los Angeles there is a sailaway party by the Lido deck swimming pool. The young crowd are out with their buckets of beer enjoying the departure so that's where the party is and where you want to be. Great entertainment! Really funny stuff but after awhile they get loud and obnoxious and they're not so funny anymore.

 

Formal night is the 2nd night. For those of us who got on in Fort Lauderdale the menu was the exact same as our first formal night at sea, so we didn't go. The entertainment was also duplicate of what we had earlier in the cruise. Yes, the Island Princess has very good entertainment. Evening shows and daytime activities such as trivia and bingo and dance classes. I don't recall there being any port lecturers during those last 3 days.

 

The real entertainment is watching all the drunken revelers. Karaoke nights were a little slow during the Panama Canal portion of the cruise but once the party crowd got on board in LA and fueled with liquid courage they took over the karaoke and it was hilarious. Another couple who'd been on the entire cruise got together with us and we were just enjoying the people watching. The only time on the whole cruise that this boat came alive was the last 3 nights from LA to Vancouver so we were enjoying the action. Around 2am the drunken revelers decided to whoop it up in the hallways pounding on doors, screaming, and running with security in hot pursuit. So that's a little annoying when you want to sleep but we still came out to watch security in action. We had become friends with one of the security staff and she said their brig was full of drunks. One of the drunks stole some of the balloons off my door that had been on since the start of the cruise.

 

Anyway, take it for what it is. Those 3 days on the Island Princess will be a loud, crazy party boat and the best entertainment is watching the other passengers. Have fun. Enjoy your cruise!

 

Just want to give the flipside to this post above. I've done a lot of coastals and my experience has been the complete opposite of what Appygirl said. They are usually filled with business incentive groups or people going on the longer voyages that the coastal is just a small part of. I have NEVER encountered drunks or unruly people on ANY of the coastals. Your experience sounds like the short Carnival cruises. Definitely not something Princess is known for and not something I've ever experienced, so that's why I'm so surprised.

 

The last time we were on the Island's coastal, we met some of the very nicest people we have ever cruised with. We joined in for trivia with a couple different groups of people and truly had such a good time with them. There were very few kids and very, very few young adults. Most people seemed to be in the 40-60 age range with a good portion of retirees. On the whole, it was by far the nicest, friendliest, most interesting group of passengers we've ever experienced.

[DrivesLikeMario]

If you are booked for the cruise, check the personalizer to see if there are any formal nights. In the section that lists the itinerary at the end of the itinerary it will say how many formal and how many smart casual nights.

 

The Princess "Cruise Answer Book" says there are no formal nights on cruises of one to three days.

 

That's true. Even though some of the Princess reps will tell you there is 1 formal night, there isn't.

[Appygirl]

I checked my patters and as IECalCruiser said it was called the Captain's welcome dinner but the dress code said formal and they were taking formal photos that night too so no longer being formal is great news. One less outfit to pack! I am now seriously considering booking this just for the fun party atmosphere so thanks for the heads up! I really need to go on a fun wild cruise after my most recent cruise on HAL's Zaandam and 9pm bedtime! The problem is my father has been bugging me to go on more cruises with him this year and if he finds out I booked without him I won't hear the end of it. He's now in a wheelchair and needs a pusher. Princess is his favorite, in the past he's done 2 or 3 Princess cruises a year, and one or two on other lines. The problem is he will hate the party atmosphere on this route so there's no point on taking him on a cruise I know he'll find disappointing and possibly distressing. The Island staff said this LA-Vancouver route is always a party but none of them had ever seen passengers acting as wild as they were on our cruise where security was kept hopping. May 10 is a weekend. Lot of young people can take a day off work and fly to LA on Thursday night. Maybe me too if I can slip this past my father! Really got me thinking now!

[DrivesLikeMario]

I still don't get it. "Fun, party atmosphere"? I think you have Carnival confused with Princess. I would not describe these cruises as wild parties by any stretch of the imagination. :confused:

[TillThen]

Oohhhh this is a very interesting post. After we put our Mom and Aunt to bed we can join in the partying!!!

Having said that though, I'd rather WATCH the entertainment than BE the entertainment !! Lol

[whirledpeas]

does anyone have info about the 3 day Coastal from LA to Vancouver for the Golden? We are taking her up to Vancouver and then have booked the 1 day back to Seattle. I hear THAT one is a party trip. Which is fine, since we end up at home at the end of it all! Not finding much info about this trip. Help? oh, the trip is April 29 out of LA.

Edited March 11, 2014 by whirledpeas

[whirledpeas]

oh, never mind. looks like the Golden Princess 3 day is not going to happen. Just found out, no thanks to Princess, that we can't book a 3 day and the 1 day back to back. The foreign port is not "distant" enough. Obscure, odd rule that was going to leave us stranded in either LA or Vancouver, had I not called them to ask about how it all worked. Epic fail, Princess.

[Colo Cruiser]

oh, never mind. looks like the Golden Princess 3 day is not going to happen. Just found out, no thanks to Princess, that we can't book a 3 day and the 1 day back to back. The foreign port is not "distant" enough. Obscure, odd rule that was going to leave us stranded in either LA or Vancouver, had I not called them to ask about how it all worked. Epic fail, Princess.

 

Why would you blame Princess???

 

 

Have to change ships or 24 hours in between if its the same ship.

Edited March 11, 2014 by Colo Cruiser

[jimcradd]

I did the Island LA to Vancouver cruise in 2010 and it was a bit of a party cruise. Not in an obnoxious out of control way but a lot of fun. It was filled with Canadians heading home and every night the bars and loungers were packed with people out having a good time.

 

It was actually the cruise that got us back to sailing on Princess. We had taken a 4 year break and were cruising on Royal Caribbean (never again), and Celebrity.

 

Jim

[avcruz]

I've done a number of 2 and 3 days coastals between San Francisco and Vancouver and LA and Vancouver, and although I would call them livelier than the longer cruises I've been on, I don't think I'd refer to them as party cruises. They tend to attract a younger crowd who are looking for an inexpensive weekend away or a quick introduction to cruising.

 

Now the 1 day cruises between Vancouver and Seattle - those are party cruises!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[Colo Cruiser]

We have sailed a few coastal cruises as well and have never seen a party atmosphere. :confused:

[Cruise Raider]

oh, never mind. looks like the Golden Princess 3 day is not going to happen. Just found out, no thanks to Princess, that we can't book a 3 day and the 1 day back to back. The foreign port is not "distant" enough. Obscure, odd rule that was going to leave us stranded in either LA or Vancouver, had I not called them to ask about how it all worked. Epic fail, Princess.

 

This is not a rule made by Princess but the Passenger Vessel Act that does not allow you to book a non-roundtrip American to American port without a longer stay (1 night I believe?) or a stop in a distant foreign port. They are not allowed to book you on the itinerary you chose -- which you could be subject to a fine if you found a way to do it. So, not really a Princess failure.

We found there are sometimes several options in which you can stay overnight in Vancouver and take a different ship down to Seattle.