What will Island Princess look like after May 2015?

[sailinglisa]

I cruised the Island in 2003 during a 10 day partial Panama Canal cruise. I absolutely loved the ship! Being able to sit out on the aft cabin decks while going from one lock to the next was awesome. I loved the lay out of the ship.

 

What Princess has done to this ship is absolutely horrible! The aft looks like a box. All the great viewing areas from the aft are gone. The lines of the ship are disfigured.

 

I hope and pray that they do not do the same to the Coral!

[Brisbane41]

I should have added my thoughts about the gym. As someone older and wiser than me once said, "Whenever I feel like exercising, I lie down until the feeling passes."

Why should the minority of passengers that want to use the gym, have scenic views? Surely the gym should be in the bowels of the ship, so those wanting to exercise will not be distracted in their exertions? I hope that the new position of the gym in the Island will be the norm across the fleet in due course.

 

Not likely as it is normally connected to the spa and salon area which is a big money earner for the cruise lines.

[Pushka]

Clearly youve never been into the gym as every cruise I have been on, the gym is pretty much full.

[wowzz]

Clearly youve never been into the gym as every cruise I have been on, the gym is pretty much full.

 

I'm sure that the gyms are full, but I would argue that the non-gym users are in the vast majority.

[partybarbie]

I'm sure that the gyms are full, but I would argue that the non-gym users are in the vast majority.

 

I'm with you. :D I'm on vacation to relax, not break into a sweat. DH and I get plenty of exercise doing drink curls.;)

[Pushka]

Working out in the gym is relaxation for many.

[rljan]

We sail had sailed on the Coral and the Island prior to our TA this fall from Venice to FLL. We aren't too crazy about most of the changes to the Island. We miss the Universe lounge and it seems the on board entertainment has been reduced because of the remodel. There is a shortage of space to hold meetings and places to hide and quietly read a book. One of the things we liked on the old Island was being able to walk completely around the promenade deck. That is gone now. We spoke to people who had cabins in the new section who complained of vibration and some that didn't. The Horizon Court is much better and we actually liked the new gym. If the position of the gym hadn't been at he expense of the Universe lounge, we would have liked it better. It appears that decisions at Princess HQ are now being made by bean counters, not people with cruise experience. It's unlikely we will be back on the Island. It wasn't horrible, but we prefer the Coral until it is ruined.

[TriumphGuy]

Interesting to note that the photos of Island on Princess' website have not been updated. They still show the old configuration, "jet engines" and all.

http://www.princess.com/learn/ships/ip/

[Thoth]

I really enjoyed "On The Bayou" in the Universe Lounge. To me it was one of the best production shows out of my 18 cruises. I guess that show is now gone :(

Edited January 9, 2016 by Thoth

[Colo Cruiser]

I really enjoyed "On The Bayou" in the Universe Lounge. To me it was one of the best production shows out of my 18 cruises. I guess that show is now gone :(

 

No its now performed in the Princess theater and its standing room only.

We have seen it a few time over the years however when we walked into the theater 30 minutes early there were no seats. :(

[lovejact]

I cruised the Island in 2003 during a 10 day partial Panama Canal cruise. I absolutely loved the ship! Being able to sit out on the aft cabin decks while going from one lock to the next was awesome. I loved the lay out of the ship.

 

What Princess has done to this ship is absolutely horrible! The aft looks like a box. All the great viewing areas from the aft are gone. The lines of the ship are disfigured.

 

I hope and pray that they do not do the same to the Coral!

 

Wrong! You still have access to the aft of the ship on deck 8 - It was a great place to see the transit of the Panama Canal on our cruise last month.

[mjrTom]

I think the 'On the Bayou' was the best show they had. I'm not sure if they moved it to the theatre.

[Thrak]

Wrong! You still have access to the aft of the ship on deck 8 - It was a great place to see the transit of the Panama Canal on our cruise last month.

 

That is truly good news for us. We are sailing on Island for the southbound after our Alaska land tour next June. Many thanks for the info. :)

[reedprincess]

I think the 'On the Bayou' was the best show they had. I'm not sure if they moved it to the theatre.

 

As noted above and in earlier posts. On The Bayou is now being performed in the Princess Theater. There was lots of available seats on our Dec 20, 2015 sailing, contrary to earlier posts about it being standing room only....perhaps ours was a one off....

[Thoth]

No its now performed in the Princess theater and its standing room only.

We have seen it a few time over the years however when we walked into the theater 30 minutes early there were no seats. :(

well cool ! Maybe I'll see it again sometime.

[jasbo49]

As noted above and in earlier posts. On The Bayou is now being performed in the Princess Theater. There was lots of available seats on our Dec 20, 2015 sailing, contrary to earlier posts about it being standing room only....perhaps ours was a one off....

 

Interesting. On our Dec. 5 cruise, it was packed 30 minutes before showtime.

 

Jim

[c-legs]

For what it's worth....and as mentionned earlier in this thread, Coral is not getting the same ''treatment '' Island P did. It's safe to presume Princess's

suits decided to abort the project. Coral's upcoming drydock has been reduced by 6 days and she'll sail a 6 day ''shorty'' before slotting back in her regularly scheduled sailings.

The Jet Engines might go, however....

Cheers

[jeeper2]

I think the 'On the Bayou' was the best show they had. I'm not sure if they moved it to the theatre.

 

I consider it one of the best shows I have seen. Part of the appeal was the intimacy of the Universe Lounge, complete with Mardi Gras decorations. In my opinion, this could not be duplicated in the main showroom, but I'm willing to give it a try when and if it is available.

 

In the meantime, I am hoping to get to see it one more time on the Coral, before she goes the way of the Island. I loved both those ships!

[Colo Cruiser]

I consider it one of the best shows I have seen. Part of the appeal was the intimacy of the Universe Lounge, complete with Mardi Gras decorations. In my opinion, this could not be duplicated in the main showroom, but I'm willing to give it a try when and if it is available.

 

In the meantime, I am hoping to get to see it one more time on the Coral, before she goes the way of the Island. I loved both those ships!

 

 

Yes its a very good show! :)

[Andy200]

My husband and I just returned from a cruise on the Island Princess to the Panama Canal, among other places. Pluses: the food was very good, better than most of the other ships we have sailed on, and there have been many. We ate mostly in the formal dining room, for their "Anytime" services. But one of the biggest problems was, as people have mentioned, that Princess added a large number of passengers (we heard 100-140!), without expanding the public areas, such as the dining rooms! If we had known this, we wouuld have signed up for the "Traditional" dining, where the passengers can pick a definite time and have theirtables ready for them. There were times when we had to wait a half hour or more, to be seated, and then the service, while friendly and professional, was quite slow. We missed some shows because of this, which was distressing. Many passengers were upset by this, and I imagine the reviews will not be very good.

The other problem was the shower space. We had a balcony room on Deck 10, arranged by our agent, and while the room space was O.K. (not as large as some we've had, but adequate), the shower was tiny! We are relatively thin people, but I don't know how people who are either tall (my husband is about 6') or stocky could even fit in the shower! The bathroom space was also small, but at least there was enough room to move a little, but the shower was totally inadequate! Another bad review for that, I'm sure.

The cruise itself was nice, although several of the stops were way too short. For example, in Aruba, we went on a tour (ostrich farm etc. -- just O.K.), but we left around noon, I think, so we had absolutely no time to shop, which would have been fun. In general, if I had known all these things, I think we would have chosen a different line/ship. This was a partial trip through the canal, which was enough for me, and we did a tour to see Panama City and the Milleflores lock, which was interesting. The entertainment was also good.

We met some great people and had a very nice time with them. Bob and Adrienne, if you're reading this--thanks for everything! Great time!

[Colo Cruiser]

My husband and I just returned from a cruise on the Island Princess to the Panama Canal, among other places. Pluses: the food was very good, better than most of the other ships we have sailed on, and there have been many. We ate mostly in the formal dining room, for their "Anytime" services. But one of the biggest problems was, as people have mentioned, that Princess added a large number of passengers (we heard 100-140!), without expanding the public areas, such as the dining rooms! If we had known this, we wouuld have signed up for the "Traditional" dining, where the passengers can pick a definite time and have theirtables ready for them. There were times when we had to wait a half hour or more, to be seated, and then the service, while friendly and professional, was quite slow. We missed some shows because of this, which was distressing. Many passengers were upset by this, and I imagine the reviews will not be very good.

The other problem was the shower space. We had a balcony room on Deck 10, arranged by our agent, and while the room space was O.K. (not as large as some we've had, but adequate), the shower was tiny! We are relatively thin people, but I don't know how people who are either tall (my husband is about 6') or stocky could even fit in the shower! The bathroom space was also small, but at least there was enough room to move a little, but the shower was totally inadequate! Another bad review for that, I'm sure.

The cruise itself was nice, although several of the stops were way too short. For example, in Aruba, we went on a tour (ostrich farm etc. -- just O.K.), but we left around noon, I think, so we had absolutely no time to shop, which would have been fun. In general, if I had known all these things, I think we would have chosen a different line/ship. This was a partial trip through the canal, which was enough for me, and we did a tour to see Panama City and the Milleflores lock, which was interesting. The entertainment was also good.

We met some great people and had a very nice time with them. Bob and Adrienne, if you're reading this--thanks for everything! Great time!

 

 

Thanks for the comments! :)

[twocats]

Thanks for your comments, good advice. I am going on the Island Princess in Sept. Of course I have been reading everything. Along with comments I appreciate suggestions how to manage the negative things about the Island. We definitely will stick with out set dinner rather than try Anytime Dining.

[Greymeowsr]

Well that was certainly interesting reading. While those who sailed on the "original" ship are obviously not pleased, I expect that those who have not sailed the ship before also will not have a negative time as a result of the changes. We human beings actually adapt fairly well to change. Besides folks, thinking about the millions of cruise ship sailings, we could probably count the bad ones with our 10 fingers. For me there is simply no vacation that beats a cruise (though if you read the reviews on the interwebs, it's very funny to see a 1 just below a 5 evaluation on the same cruise.) A cruise is what you make it, and if you don't have fun don't do it again. OK, now my poor, feeble brain is tired. Only 300 days left before my next trip to Valhala.

[Bernbun29]

Words truly spoken, we will be on the Island in April and I sailed on her about 5 years ago and am looking very forward to this cruise.

[4x4bob]

We also sailed on the Island Princess before the change.

 

After reading the comments of those who have sailed after the change we are very happy that we sailed when we did.

 

In the future we will be selecting other ships to go out on.

 

Bob