Newbie notes on Island Jan 6th

[BigGayBob]

Was on IP rt LA to HI and just got back this weekend. This was our first cruise AND first trip to Hawaii and it was great. 15 days. A few notes follow in regards to the trip.

 

THE SHOWERS. Ok I’m big. But I’m not so big that I have ever had a problem bathing before in my life. The shower in our balcony cabin represents the first occurrence of this to me…. Ever….. It was so tiny that even were I to soap the walls, get in, and spin, I would not clean well. The shower head is a convenient 6+ feet above the floor, meaning that my hair and shoulders were pleasantly moistened by the shower, but there are other parts of me that are under my shoulders that needed water too. The first few days were a trial of ingenuity in which I discovered some unique and thoughtful ways to clean myself. I won’t spoil the adventure for the rest of you other-than-small passengers but my bathing victory involved the hand sink, a shovel, 15 feet of copper tubing, a soldering iron, ¾ roll of duct tape, a colander, 4 towels, a short stick, and a set of silver soup spoons (don’t ask about the spoons, ok… I wont tell you)

 

THE SERVICE: I travelled with some old folks and some handicap folks. And I have never been more happy with the service and assistance that they received. There was always someone available to carry their piled up plates from the buffet for them. They had absolutely no trouble with the tenders or ports. There even was a shore excursion that everyone THOUGHT would be ok for handicap, but at the last minute wasn’t…. So guess what… They refunded it! That is cool of them. Also, my sister rented this huge Cadillac of a buggy to carry her around the ship. Well on day 3 they somehow broke it. It was stuck and just blinked lights at her. She was sure that here cruise was virtually over. But the engineers from the ship’s nether-regions sent up a crew of oompa-loompas and carted the Cadillac off to some Captain Nemo Laboratory on deck one and within 12 hours they had overhauled her buggy to be as good as new. It had a blown solenoid and some bad fuses and was low a quart of oil. They fixed it all for free and got her back mobile again. This was the most amazing and generous thing I have ever imagined receiving from the crew and that literally saved the cruise for my sister. The buggy even seemed to gain some horsepower from whatever they did. If you were on this cruise you surely saw the Cadillac buzzing around with my sister in control and my paraplegic BIL hanging onto the back of her with a cane.

 

THE FOOD: Excellent. I remember seeing a lot of posts about mediocre food, and I think I know how that happens. The first few days of the cruise, even the first week, we were stunned with the high quality of the cuisine. And then as the cruse moved on I was less and less taken aback by the prettiness and greatness of the vittles. Mind you, the quality never decreased, but I was starting to get spoiled by the scrumptiousness. So from now on, whenever I see a post about food being bleh or no-good, I will remember how spoiled I got and how the perfect-ness of the eats wore off as I cruised …and ate… .more and more.

[ssantow]

 

THE SHOWERS. Ok I’m big. But I’m not so big that I have ever had a problem bathing before in my life.

 

You must never have spent time in an RV traveling across the country. We do spend a lot of time in our RV and even though it is big (35 foot with three slides) the showers is small. Yes you have to adapt, but just be thankfull it was only for 15 days.

 

Glad to hear others having as good a time on the Island Princess as we did.

 

Stan

 

[VikingRob]

Thanks for the info. We are on then Feb 20th cruise to Hawaii and it is good to hear about how well you were treated! We can't wait!! We are lucky enough to be able to afford the mini suite, which has a bigger shower, because it is also a bathtub (the main reason we book the mini suite, my DH is also 6'4"!). Now, I have no idea how anybody could take a bath in it, but it does let you have the ability to turn around more easily.

Kim

[Pam in CA]

Bob... glad to hear you had a great time and that the food was excellent. Can't wait to cruise on her in March.

 

Kim... you might consider a cruise on the Regal Princess -- ALL of her cabins have showers that are tub-sized. No need to book a suite. :)

[Colo Cruiser]

Rotflmao. :d

[suziehmkr]

Loved your sense of humor! Glad you had a good cruise. I had forgotten to mention the shower in my quick replay of our cruise. I am 5'2" and about 125# and even I found the shower to be a challenge! Oh my! it sure was a challenge!! Like ssantow says - good thing it was only 15 days - and got to enjoy the showers in the spa one day! I have NEVER been in a shower that small. I kept reading this on the reviews and wondering how it could be that small.... well, I got my answer! LOL

[Immebsmom]

OMG that was soooo funny!!! You made water come out my nose!!!

 

Glad to know my folks have a handicapped stateroom for my mom. I know the shower head is 'moveable' in there. If things get too bad, I can drop in on there room and make sure the areas below my shoulders get washed a couple of times during the cruise!:eek: