island princess.. better deck?

[skrodle]

Hi all... we are looking to book a Full Transit Panama Canal, and looking at a Full Suite on the Island.

 

Deck 9 and 10 are both available, i know on Grand Class ships some balconies are fully covered/partially covered... Does anyone know if on Island there is any difference between deck 9 and 10? And for full transit is it better to be higher or lower? (if other decks became available..)

 

thanks for your input

[skrodle]

Second question, there is a map change to the deck plan on Nov 15, 2015... I dont see any differences... anyone know what the change is on Island?

[Nancyquilts]

If you do a search on this Princess board for Coral and Island balconies, you'll find a thread by Tom. His site is closed, but if you go to the end of the thread, a very nice cruise critic has revived the information. It shows which suites have covered or partially covered balconies.

[Corfe Mixture]

Hi,

 

We have been on a suite on Island when passing through the canal and are booked to do it again next Christmas and this should answer your question.

 

The suites towards the aft end of D deck are fully covered.

The suites towards the aft end of C deck are half covered.

The suites in the centre if D deck are half covered.

 

Until a couple of years ago. The midship suite and C deck suites were Premium and the D deck suites were Vista, which implied the C deck aft suites were more popular than the D deck aft suites. However, they have now redesignated the C deck suite as being Vista, though there is only around $150 difference in the price if the two grades, so it

 

We were in C704 Sumatra suite last year when we started from Fort Lauderdale and it was very good. Next year we will be mid ships and on the other side as we are starting from San Pedro.

 

When booking, my recommendation would always be to make sure you are on the South American sided the ship (port side - even number - if transiting from Fort Lauderdale to San Pedro, starboard side - odd number - if starting from California).

 

Reasons for this are multiple.

 

1. It takes most of the day to transit the canal and, as you pass through the canalised section, as opposed to Lake Gatun, the South American side is much more interesting as that is the side with the infrastructure support ports, the Panama railway, and is the side that the Chagres river joins into the canal.

 

What this meant was that, although we were up at the front with everyone else as we passed through the locks (although we have now done the canal three times we still like to be up front for the entry locks), we were able to spend the day relaxing on our balcony and watching the villages pass by, the occasional train run alongside us and other interesting sights. The other side is most vegetation and not much else, apart from the Chagres dam at Colon.

 

2. As you are passing across the top of South America, you will have sun for most of the day. The other side will be in shade.

 

3. Whilst on passage in the Pacific, you will get the evening sunset whilst you enjoy you pre-dinner drinks before you go to dinner.

 

That is about it, other than to say that, as a suite passenger, there seems to be an unofficial rule whereby, if you book Anytime Dining, once they know you, they will save you, and the whole of your group, the same table every night and you can avoid having to choose between eating too early or too late.

 

Enjoy. We did. Don't delay. Book soon as the aft C deck and midship D deck suites seem to get booked up very quickly, which is why we have already booked for Christmas 2015.

[Corfe Mixture]

On the subject of the change in the deck plans, I too can't see any difference, but I think this is administrative and is simply because this is the date on which the cabin grades are reviewed across the fleet and, even those ships which have no changes still have separate tabs for either side of the review date.

 

Having said that, it is worth saying that the plans will not be absolutely correct and will need updating as Island is going in for a refit in the Spring and it is reported that changes will include making the casino smaller and using the space for additional cabins.

 

One other piece of information I forgot to include in my previous message, not that it is an issue for us, is that:

C704 is definitely aarranged with the bed in the forward half of the suite, i.e. you sleep with you head forward and your feet aft.

 

I believe this is also the case for C628, C643, C703, D630, D631, D703, D704 whereas in C701, C702, D701 and D702 are the other way around and you sleep with your feet point towards the bow.

 

I also suspect, but won't be sure until next Christmas, but I think that in the case of the midship suites. D420 and D421 you sleep with feet pointing aft and in D422 and D423 you sleep with feet pointing forwards.

[DragonflyCruiser]

Thanks Corfe Mixture! Just reading your review. We will travel in Feb and it appears we booked the correct side to enjoy the balcony with sunsets! And, the canal sights!

 

Enjoyed your review.