A Newbie post about Island Jan 6

[BigGayBob]

We just got back from IP rt LA to HI this weekend. Here are a few comments from a newbie. This is our first cruise AND our first trip to Hawaii.

 

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.

[sunshine426]

RFLMLOL!!!!! Please tell me you are going to continue to post! You will give CWorld a run for his money!! Looking forward to a review on the rest of your cruise!!!:D

[Aloha Me]

Hey Bob great post. This one gives all of us gearing up for our Island Princess cruise a lot of hope after reading so much negativity. Silly question number 483 - Does the Island carry Pepsi or Coke products? Whichever...is decaffeinated available? I'm usually okay on shorter trips but this may be 15 days of separation from my favorite beverage and it could get ugly! It will also tell me what I have to squirrel away in my luggage.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Just coke products. And the cola is caffeinated only. I brought some diet Pepsi and Mountain Dew in the 24 oz bottles. In Honolulu, we purchased two-liter bottles and they fit too. We ended up taking off the little door inside the frig to give us more room.

[BigGayBob]

Coke products.

 

A good thing about the soda: My sister drinks alot of soda. I am not kidding when I say alot. And the crew in the casino, and the bingo automatically brought her the 55-gallon drum size of soda when she rolled her Cadillac into the room and flashed the coke-sticker. They have these monster 32 oz. soda glasses hidden away in some secret room below all the bars so don't be afraid to ask for one. Her super-duper scooter had a cupholder so they crew automatically brought her the economy size with no problems at all. The only problem she had was with the steward, from whom she had to hide her drinks or they would get sucked into wherever the room stewards put huge cups that passengers try to keep for their rooms.

 

Another note on her scooter. it was so big that it had blinkers. yes... blinkers...turn signals. and it beeped when she turned it on so that even the dumbest, deafest, blindedest, can't-see-a-normal-wheelchair, stand-in-the-way person got the hint and moved. I also noticed that after the engineers and the oompa-loompas fixed her Cadillac there was one less jet engine parked on the smoke-stack... coincidence??? or spare parts????

[Coolmama_1]

Great review! Love your sense of humor! I'm sure y'all had a great time!