Island Princess

[davekathy]

We are considering taking the 9 Day Pacific Coastal Cruise on the Island Princess 6 May 2006. Ports; Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Sitka, Ketchikan, Victoria, and Van Couver. Any comments about the ship and the weather the time of year for those ports would be greatly appreciated.

[robertew]

Sounds like a great trip! We still need to do Alaska! I have pix of Island Princess at the link below. Enjoyed the ship a bunch. Great time on her through Panama partial transit. 10 day cruise was perfect length, or 9 days would be great too!!!

[bdjam]

Search on this board for the Island Princess 4/19 sailing - you'll find a lot of information and links to reviews. Great ship.

[sashas_mom]

This sounds like a great cruise to me. In fact, I'm not familiar with it where did you find this itinerary?

 

We were on the Island to Hawaii. Great ship, you'll love it. I lived near Santa Barbara and it is beautiful. Victoria was one of my all time favorite vacations, although it wasn't a cruise, it's a beautiful place. And everyone raves about Alaska (we are going in June). Have a wonderful cruise.

 

Please let me know how to find this cruise.

 

Thanks.

sasha'smom

[davekathy]

Sasha'smom, I found the Cruise on buycruises.com.

[jplewis]

There are a lot of us already on a roll call for the May 6 Island cruise. I just happened to find it one day. It was originally a 7 day. You might as well join us. I think the weather could go any way. I just plan to take clothes to layer. The price was good and we got a balcony so I'm planning on a great time.

Patsy

[critterchick]

Please join us! We have a great roll call going, with lots of Cruise Critic folks onboard.

 

We have done several coastal cruises on Princess and just love them. The weather can be a little overcast or bright and sunny. In May on the Diamond repo the sea was as smooth as glass for the first time in 3 years. Temps were mild and it was just a wonderful trip. We had some rocky weather on our first Star Princess repo, but it was still a terrific cruise.

[fntsysprtswidow]

So glad I saw this! We're booked on this cruise. We took the Island southbound from Anchorage last June. Loved the ship! Loved Alaska! Need to see more! This itinerary included Sitka, which our last cruise didn't. Rain doesn't bother me. However, I do get seasick. Does anyone know if this itinerary might have rougher seas. Just need to be prepared. Now I'm off to try and find the May 6th CC thread!

[saddlebred]

We were on another ship up the same itinerary you are going on at the same time of year and the weather for us was gorgeous - you know weather can be fickle, but all the natives up the coast of Alaska we spoke to said this was a glorious time to visit. We loved the trip - one of our favorites. Enjoy

[Tinknock50]

I am booked on this cruise too. I found it on Smartcruiser.com, who actually had amazingly lower rates than the other online agencies.

I got one of those BA cabins with the half covered / half open balcony.

 

I didn't see this itinerary listed at first because I was looking at Alaska cruises. This one is generally listed as "Pacific Coastal".

[JGR01]

Also booked on this repo cruise .. its itinerary seems to have changed several times this past summer ... adding/deleting some Alaska. I think it will be a great Cruise!

 

I will suggest however anyone wanting to stay post cruise in Van Couver NOT stay near the waterfront (the Fairmont or the PanPacific which are at one of the two piers) as they are building a Convention Center into the water right there in the heart of Vancouver .. and last summer were driving pilings into the waterfront! NOISY! Plus the sea-planes take off from the same area .. so it is pound-pound-pound and WHRRRRR a lot of the weekdays I was there. [ended up doing tooo much shopping in GasTown to escape the noise!]

[critterchick]

We've done the northbound coastal route 3 times. The first two, we had a bit of a bumpy ride north of Santa Barbara (we had to skip our tender stop in Monterey), but this past May the sea was like glass, so it's unpredictable. We're rooting for a repeat of 2005, though.

[davekathy]

Any good hotel recommendations in Vancouver for a one night Post Cruise stay for the 15 of May? We do not plan on renting a car. I guess a hotel that offers an Air Port shuttle would be nice. What is there to do or see in Vancouver without a car?

[jplewis]

Those of you that have just booked come on over to our roll call. Just look for Island Princess Repo Cruise - May 6, 2006.

Vancouver is a great city to walk around town without a car. The Robson St. area is pretty good. Not too far from anything.

There is a water taxi that takes you across to a nice area with shops and restaurants.

We'll look for ya'll on the roll call board.

Patsy

[fntsysprtswidow]

Our TA booked us a room at the Sheraton Wall Centre in Vancouver for May 15th following the cruise. Has anyone any experience with this hotel? Also, how far is it from Stanley Park? Is it in walking distance?

[davekathy]

To all that responed to my questions, thank you. But howerver we missed the ship, so to speak for this cruise. All categories we are interested in are booked plus there now is a wait list for the Traditional 1st seating. That's what we prefer. I'm going to book (in the morning) the 7 Day Mexican Riviera Cruise on the Sapphire Princess, 29 April 2006. The Sapphire Princess looks very nice. We've done the Mexican Riveria before and enjoyed it. I can get a good rate for an outside cabin. We decided at the last minute to book a cruise for 2006. We have our 2007 Cruise already booked. Enjoy your cruise.

[moondoggy8]

Looking forward to this one, it has a lot to offer. 5 of us in all. Gary

[Tinknock50]

Looking forward to this one, it has a lot to offer. 5 of us in all. Gary

 

Hey Gary,

Did you check into the roll call for this cruise?

[bunky144]

Stayed at the Sheraton Wall Centre in Vancouver, after our repositioning cruise on Princess last year, great hotel, wonderful view, the trolley stopped right outside the hotel, very reasonable city tour, of/off shuttle, many sights to see, Stanely Park, China town........etc. Starbucks on sight. Enjoy!