Island Princess

[Summerprincess]

We are booked on the Island Princess departing out of Rome Oct 31, 2021 to Greece and Israel. We are also booked on the Island Princess Summer 2022 to the Baltic. Both are about two weeks long. We are wondering if we could have feedback from those who don’t like Island Princess and those who do regarding your likes and dislikes. We have been on Coral Princess and loved that ship. Thank you in advance!

[StrawberryHill]

HI   The Coral Princess is our favorite  We have been on the Island once,  a 15 day thru the Panama Canal.  The Island has a bunch off added cabins in the  back ( dont pick one, they have very thin walls ) we have heard).  The gym is in the "basement" ( back of the ship on deck 6).  If you like using the treadmill, be prepared to stare at a blank wall.  It seems a bit more crowded on the ship also.  There are also less entertainment spaces.  the Universal Lounge in the back of the ship is gone. There is no International Café although the one on the Coral is small. We would not choose the Island again if we had a choice.  

 

[Steelers36]

25 minutes ago, Summerprincess said:

We are booked on the Island Princess departing out of Rome Oct 31, 2021 to Greece and Israel. We are also booked on the Island Princess Summer 2022 to the Baltic. Both are about two weeks long. We are wondering if we could have feedback from those who don’t like Island Princess and those who do regarding your likes and dislikes. We have been on Coral Princess and loved that ship. Thank you in advance!

I might ask why did you book it if not thinking will be satisfied being on it? 

 

We took ISLAND on a 60-night voyage around South America in Winter 2018.  It was one of our best-ever trips and would do most of it again (and plan to some day).  I will admit some trepidation about the ship due to its modifications and general unsatisfactory reviews due to those changes.  Yes, we missed the IC (but they had some elements of it).  We could still walk around the Promenade - with a short walk indoors to cross at the aft section.  Those who had AT dining we spoke to did not report any real problems in waiting for a table.  We did TD. 

 

The staff on board for that trip were amazing.  We had one of the best Captain's in the fleet for most of the journey (Captain Bye-Bye).  Our Head Waiter, Nelson, was amazing.  I called him HW Nelson because our waiter has the same first name.  The overall experience was great.  The ship had a lot of other changes and upgrades and we enjoyed the space.  We felt there was plenty of room to be around and do things with friends on sea days.  Although it would not be my first choice to put on any itinerary, we found it quite acceptable for this journey which was more about the experience than the ship. 

 

We are booked on three Med/Adriatic cruises in Fall 2022 on REGAL (B2B2B).  We then have a five day break at Rome port and go on ISLAND for two more weeks.  No problem to return to the ship for us.

 

[Thrak]

Don't like the Universe Lounge being gone. Don't like the lack of IC. Don't like heading aft and running into a wall instead of "the rest of the ship". Don't like not being able to walk the Promenade Deck all the way around the ship. Don't like the lack of wake views. Don't like the fact that the aft viewing decks on Baja and Caribe decks are no longer there. They were wonderful viewing areas and there were loungers back there that many didn't seem to know about. Don't like the loss of the rotating stage in Universe Lounge - On The Bayou was designed for that stage. Don't like the extra passengers combined with the loss of public space. Other than those things I don't have too much of an issue with Island Princess. I don't use the gym. If I did I would have a major issue with that as well.

 

Having said all that... if one doesn't know any different (has never sailed Island before the modifications and has never sailed Coral or perhaps doesn't know Coral and Island used to be the same) I can see many folks enjoying their cruise on Island Princess. Having sailed Coral a couple of times and then sailed Island I was extremely disappointed. I would say that, if you don't have any preconceived notions of what you "want" or "expect" from the ship you may well love a cruise on this ship. After all, the crew can make a huge difference. What was likely our favorite cruise ever and our least favorite cruise ever were both on the same ship. (Not Island Princess...)

[wowzz]

We fall into the passenger category identified by Thrak. We enjoyed our Panama transit on the Island, in that we had not been on her prior to the  changes. Yes, the need to cut through the rear cabins to do a full promenade walk was a pain, but not a deal breaker. We don't choose a ship based on evening entertainment,  so no revolving stage was of no consequence. And I couldn't care less about a gym.

The staff throughout were great. And the ship is not too big.

If the itinerary is what you want, I would say, book it.

 

[gkkapp]

 Summerprincess-

 

We are on the same cruise.  There is a Roll Call for the cruise at: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2715026-31-october-2021-island-princess-14-day-mediterranean-israel/  You might want to consider joining us.  

 

<<<Karen>>>

[Summerprincess]

Thank you Karen.  We will join the roll call!

[KreinKrunker]

We have spent 72 days on the Coral and Island (pre mutilation).  You can probably tell how we feel about the new Island.  Everything that we liked about Coral/Island was changed.  The viewing areas in the back of the ship are gone, replaced with cabins.  The gym with a view, replaced with cabins.  The Universe Lounge, replaced with cabins and an inside gym.  The walk around Promenade cut short, and replaced with, you guessed it cabins.  With probably the best passenger to public space ratio of the fleet, Island Princess went from 1970 passenger capacity to 2200, with less public space than before.  Have not been able to find the new ratio.  Plus, looking at the back of the new Island, it is plane ugly.  Try to find a picture of the ship viewed from the rear on Princess website or promotions.  Agreed that if you have not been on Coral, you will not know anything different when on the Island.  But, we would have to get a very good deal, think near free, to sail on the Island again.  

[nocl]

We also will not sail on the Island.  The loss of the Universal Lounge means that it has only two main entertainment venues (explorers and theater).  With the addition of 200 more passengers (the cabins added where the Universal Lounge used to be, as well as those added to the original gym location) that loss means that we found the entertainment venues to be more crowded and harder to get seats than on any other Princess cruise we have been on (over 40).  

 

In addition they moved the gym into a totally inside space where the Universal Lounge used to be.  This makes for a rather poorly ventilated location if you work use the gym.

 

As much as we love the Coral, we will not book any cruise on the Island.

 

The  good news is that the reaction to the Island's modifications has been so poor, that Princess canceled their plans to do the same to the Coral.

[tcdcruiser]

Someone asked for a Island Princess image.

[tcdcruiser]

And the Coral Princess

[PMGS247]

I only took a 4 day cruise on the Island and it's the first time on anything other than the Grand class.  While I came away from it still preferring the grand, I had no major complaints.  A good time was had by all.  The number of available covered balcony mini-suites was a nice change from the grand.

 

If I have to nitpick - a couple awkward features..most notably the lack of IC and the other thing that stood out to me is going across the Lido deck to get from the front elevator banks to the pool area and the rest of the lido amenities having to either cut through the spa or go outside around it.  Once I was used to it it was no big deal but it did stand out in my memory banks.

Edited February 13, 2021 by PMGS247