Island Princess?

[The notsoold man&the SEA]

First time cruise critic, my family and i have booked a cruise to Hawaii sailing from LA 12/05/06 on the Island Princess, be interested in some info about the ship and the islands as we are Australian and it is our first time to the states.

 

cheers

Tony

[glormich]

Hi I am also Australian, you will love the Island she is lovely, we sailed in 2003 to Alaska with a group of 10 friends and had a wonderful time, we all stayed on different decks and different room cat. so if I can be some help let me know, glormich

[The notsoold man&the SEA]

Thanks for the responce,we are all very excited about our next cruise! I suppose is there a prefered deck to be on,and what side {P} or {S}:)

[Tom O.]

I am booked on that very same cruise leaving on 12/05/06. I have not done this cruise before, but I have heard there is very little difference between starboard and port. But some say that the port side is a little better for some views while in some ports.

I just put together a website describing some confusion in booking balconies on the Island Princess. There is also some photos. You might want to take a look:

http://mysite.verizon.net/res76zxu/princessbalconies/

[Missybud]

Tom, NICE JOB!!!

[The notsoold man&the SEA]

THANKS TOM, VERY MUCH APPRECIATED

[RvrCrzr]

I am booked on that very same cruise leaving on 12/05/06. I have not done this cruise before, but I have heard there is very little difference between starboard and port. But some say that the port side is a little better for some views while in some ports.

I just put together a website describing some confusion in booking balconies on the Island Princess. There is also some photos. You might want to take a look:

http://mysite.verizon.net/res76zxu/princessbalconies/

 

Tom...

Note:

I just stayed in B420 on the midship bumpout. All those cabins on the bumpout are covered by the balcony above. (even Aloha deck) They are covered right to the rails.

I can email a close up pic if you like.

[paint]

Wonderful job, Tom. We are sailing to Hawaii on Oct. 21 in mini D725. Interesting that these aft cabins are "highly desireable". We thought it looked good when we booked, even tho it is uncovered.

 

Tom W

[Tom O.]

Tom...

Note:

I just stayed in B420 on the midship bumpout. All those cabins on the bumpout are covered by the balcony above. (even Aloha deck) They are covered right to the rails.

I can email a close up pic if you like.

 

Thanks, I'll make that correction. But, I am not sure you are correct for the Aloha deck. I will examine my photos again tonight and make corrections.

[Tom O.]

Wonderful job, Tom. We are sailing to Hawaii on Oct. 21 in mini D725. Interesting that these aft cabins are "highly desireable". We thought it looked good when we booked, even tho it is uncovered.

 

Tom W

 

They are highly desireable because you have a huge panorama to view, not just one direction. This more than makes up for them being uncovered. Like I said on the site, there are many factors to consider, and some may be much more important than a roof.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Hi, Tony, I went on the 12/22/05 cruise. I posted a very long review earlier this month. Here's a link to it:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=285469

 

Hopefully, it will answer many of your questions. Can't help you with balcony cabins as we had an inside - midships (our choice).

 

I grew up in Los Angeles county in the part called the San Fernando Valley so maybe I can answer some of your questions about this city (except for hotels, etc. as I haven't stayed at any here).

 

Also if you click on the link below, you'll get to an even longer report but I do give a little info about the history of some of the ports. (I took out that stuff for cc review)

[The notsoold man&the SEA]

Tom we're booked in cab.A404 ,WHAT TO YOU THINK?Another [Q] typical sea conditions and weather for the month of December?

[Aloha Me]

Tom what a great thing to do for the rest of us using these ships. We will be in B431 on the Island in a couple of weeks and will report back if you want me to.

[The notsoold man&the SEA]

Hi PattyI read your report Dec.05 cruise; Wonderfull! If you would be kind ,to tell us what sought of weather we can expect in early december?What should we see in LA.I've got lots of questions Re: princess cruises for you

[Tom O.]

Tom...

Note:

I just stayed in B420 on the midship bumpout. All those cabins on the bumpout are covered by the balcony above. (even Aloha deck) They are covered right to the rails.

I can email a close up pic if you like.

 

You were absolutly right! I have made the corrections thanks for your help.

[maddea66]

Tony & Tom,

I started a roll call on Island Princess a while back and haven't had any replies. As you can see by my signature, we (myself and 22 other family/friends) are sailing on 12/5/06 as well--we have added three more people since I originally posted. I figured that we would be the only ones on the ship since no one has replied.

 

Here is the link to it, if you want to chime in. See you on board, Deanna

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=260813

[Tom O.]

Tom we're booked in cab.A404 ,WHAT TO YOU THINK?Another [Q] typical sea conditions and weather for the month of December?

 

I think you will be perfectly happy with that room. Most like the privacy of a covered balcony, and you will have that. It is close to midships where there is supposed to be less fore and aft rocking. It is kind of high, where there is supposed to be more side to side rocking. But these ships are so huge I have never been able to tell that much difference from one part of the ship to another. The height may give you a better view while in port - easier to see over buildings near the ship. If you like looking at dolphins you will be farther from them do to the height.

[Desert Nurse]

I loved this cruise and would like to do it again. Here's a link to the Princess Patters from the 1/5/05 Island Princess Hawaii cruise: http://community.webshots.com/album/260089753XuXuki

 

And a link to my review of the Island Princess Hawaii 3/20/05: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=161568

 

And a link to the pictures from my cruise: http://community.webshots.com/album/319055099lzEdQn

__________________

[Cruisin' Chick]

We had many people from out of town on our roll call, including two couples of the UK and a Canadian party. I advised that Los Angeles can be quite unpredictable. Our rainy season is usually between November and March. Last year we had the second wettest season on record for this area. This year it's been pretty dry, except right now we have a tropical storm (Pineapple Express, they're called). Lots of rain and the drainage isn't great here so the streets and freeways tend to flood.

 

If you're staying by the coast (Santa Monica, Long Beach, Marina Del Rey), it'll be milder: maybe 60s/70s during the day, going down to 40s/50s at night. If you go more inland during wintertime, it's usually cooler (up where I live, we can have temps in the 30s in the early morning; the same for the upper deserts). If you get here after a rain, you may be able to see snow in the mountains. If the infamous Santa Ana Winds are blowing, we could get temps in the 80s.

 

For the Hawaii cruise, it may be overcast, in the 60s during the day for the first couple of days. The IP has a retractable roof over the Lotus Pool so you can still go swimming. When you are reaching the Ensenada area, it will start getting cool again. On our cruise, it was warm in Ensenada and in LA on January 5-6.

 

So I suggest bringing a coat (you may not need a heavy duty one...and leave any fur at home) and an umbrella. I took a couple of pullover sweaters but ended up not needing them. But a cardigan is good for inside the ship if you tend to get cold with air conditioning.

 

Seas may be rough too the first couple of days and the last couple of days. The Dec 6 cruise had calm seas going to Hawaii and really rough seas coming back. We had the rough seas going and calm seas coming back. I would suggest being prepared (ginger, Bonine, the patch, whatever). My hubby and daughter weren't affected at all, but I got a little woozy.

 

If you have any other questions, certainly feel free to ask. I'll try to check back. I'm sure you'll really enjoy this cruise.

[Cruisin' Chick]

As for sights in LA, some people take a city tour (celebrity homes, the "dead" tour, regular tour). there's the usual attractions: the Getty Museum in West LA (art museum), La Brea Tar Pits, Farmers Market (the last two in the Fairfax/Wilshire area), Beverly Hills/Rodeo Drive. Some people like to catch a taping of a TV show (talk shows such as Ellen Degeneres, Jay Leno).

 

If you're staying for a few days, there's Disneyland down in Anaheim, the Queen Mary in Long Beach. Also Venice Beach (not one of the safer areas but interesting).

 

the key is pinning down what you want to do to an area or two as LA is quite large and driving can be intimidating, esp. the freeway system.

 

Let me know if you're interested in a certain type of activity (shopping, amusement park, etc) and I'll try to help.

[flamomo]

Under the posting on this thread that starts out as "Jolly Roger", there are 2 more reviews of this cruise. One of them is mine from the 1/21/06 sailing. Jolly Roger's is from a different sailing.

Maybe reading the 2 reviews in this thread will give you folks more info.

We LOVED this cruise enough to have purchased open bookings so we can go again in 2008. Actually I would have preferred to just stay on the ship and go around again, but some unkind souls booked themselves into our cabin, so they made me leave the ship. :( Boo Hoo

[wwinfl91]

Here is a link to a web site I set up for our cruise on the Island Princess from LA to Hawaii and back in Oct 2004 that may give you some new information on both the ship and on the islands you will be visiting. There are pictures of the ship and islands as well as lots of links with information on what you can see on each island.

 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/islandprincess100604/

 

Have a great next cruise.