Island Princess 2/20/06 Review

[VikingRob]

Warning, this is a long-wordy review, I hope you enjoy it and please feel free to ask any questions.

Overall this was a wonderful cruise, the ship was beautiful (just the right size), the staff was great, and there were enough activities to keep you busy and entertained without being overloaded. If you like sea days and are looking to relax this itinerary is great. Five days to relax on the ship, then five days to run around the islands, then 5 more days to relax before returning to reality. The only negative for this particular cruise was that the weather was a bit iffy (it did cause us to miss our port call in Nawiliwili), it never got really bad, it just was overcast most days, and quite cool on the return voyage. Another note, I would not recommend this cruise for children as I believe they would be rather bored (at least during the school year) as there were so few children on board, perhaps a dozen or so under 18.

I must comment on how well Princess showed its colors in response to help one of our tablemates in a time of need. Upon returning from Maui, they received notice that their daughter unexpectedly died. Princess waived all phone charges so they could maintain contact with their family, they made travel arrangements for them so they could return home directly from Hawaii, and when we were unable to make the next port due to weather (where they were planning to disembark so they could fly home) the Captain headed back towards Honolulu (at considerable expense) to meet with a tender so they could disembark and catch a plane home before heading the ship to Ensenada. The Captain, crew and Princess did a wonderful job in helping them in their time of personal crisis.

Our Cruise Director, Richard Joseph and his staff did a tremendous job supporting our Cruise Critic group. He planned a social get together on the way out to Hawaii for us all to meet. Then on the way back home, he planned an evening social, complete with champagne and canapés. He and several members of the staff socialized with us for the better part of an hour.

Embarkation: As many have said before, embarkation is a pain. The problem is that that there were only 2 security checkpoints open for 2000 passengers. I do not know if this is always this understaffed, or because there were 2 other ships in port with us. We arrived around 1pm and waited in line about 1 ½ hours before we could get through security. Once past security it was a breeze, we were in our cabin within about 15 minutes and our luggage made it to us within another 30 minutes.

Do not believe some of the horror stories you may have heard about the food, the food was just fine, and in many cases excellent. Breakfast in the Horizon Court was good; I especially loved the omelet and egg station for cook to order breakfasts. DW enjoyed the Horizon for lunch while I preferred the pizza by the pool – it was excellent. We both also liked the burgers from the grill also by the pool. Lunch in the dining room was also very good. We chose traditional 2nd seating, primarily because of the camaraderie of having tablemates, and ours were wonderful (as were or waiters Allan and Glenn). The 1st few nights I would say the food was just good, but after about the 4th night we all felt it was excellent. Check the dinner menu early each day, there were a few nights we did not like the selections (the 3rd sea day out and the 2nd sea day back). Those were great nights for the specialty restaurants; we thoroughly enjoyed both the Bayou and Sabatini’s. We slightly preferred the Bayou Café’s due to the steak & lobster and jazz music ambience.

The entertainment was very good and offered a wide variety. Do not miss Kevin Hughes; he is one of the funniest comedians we have ever seen. The production shows were very good, other acts we really enjoyed included Don Ware, Kenny Byrd, Duncan Tuck and Jonathan Stamp. Also do not miss Hawaii expert Bob Basso’s presentations; he had lots of great information and tips for getting the most out of the islands. Our Cruise Director, Richard, presented a lecture towards the end of the cruise on the cruising industry and a bit about his history; it was fascinating and should not be missed. One minor negative on the entertainment was that some evenings there were too good shows that were not well coordinated with the dinner seatings, thus you had to choose between the two.

The Islands:

At Hilo we took the Volcano Adventure Hiking Tour through the ship (this one filled up extremely fast so book it online if interested). The tour guide was excellent and the hike was beautiful. The guide tries to tailor the type of hike to the ability of the group, our group was a tad older, thus ours was not too extreme, but we still saw some very beautiful scenery. Do not expect to see active lava flows on this or any of the Princess tours. The only way to see any active lava would be through a private tour via an extremely strenuous hike due to the current conditions and there is likely not enough time in port for it.

In Kona we rented a car (a convertible) from Dollar. If you plan on renting a car here, rent it from Dollar (ahead of time) at the King Kamehameha Hotel at the end of the pier. All of the other rentals shuttled you back to the airport (about 20 minutes each way) and required you to have the car back before their last shuttle at 4pm. We walked off the tender and were driving out of the parking lot within 15 minutes. Plus they had a drop box for the keys so we could catch a later tender. We drove to the Puuhonua ‘O Honaunau National Park (Place of Refuge) for a nice tour in the morning. We then stopped for a great lunch in Kainaliu (just south of Kona) at the Aloha Angel Café, and then drove up north to visit some of the incredible resorts in Waikoloa. The Hilton Waikoloa was especially spectacular; it had its own lagoon, a dolphin pool and several nice swimming pools, just walk in like you own the place. On the way back we did some shopping for Kona Coffee and Macadamia Nuts to bring home.

In Honolulu we booked an early tour of the Arizona Memorial and Missouri through the ship, it was very efficient and had a very short wait, if you plan on going, go early. The ship docked adjacent to the Aloha Tower Marketplace, it had several nice shops and restaurants. We had a nice lunch at Gordon Biersch Brewery at the mall. In the evening we went to the luau at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel on Waikiki Beach. The hotel was beautiful and the luau, although not the most authentic was very enjoyable. They also have a wonderful patio bar along the beach. Not wanting to board too early, we enjoyed a drink at Hooter’s back at the pier (in the Aloha Tower Marketplace), it was fun seeing many of the crew there kicking back before boarding.

In Maui we also rented a car. We chose Enterprise in Kaanapali here primarily because they had a location a bit closer than the airport (shorter shuttle ride) at the Sheraton Maui Resort. Another plus to this location was that they too were open an hour later than those at the airport, plus it was just down from Whalers Village. This allowed us to again maximize our time as Whalers Village had several nice shops and 2 nice restaurants; we thoroughly enjoyed the Hula Grill, it was outdoors right on Kaanapali Beach, the food & drink were wonderful and they had a fantastic performer singing.

Unfortunately, due to sea conditions, we missed our port in Kauai. The Captain waited an hour or so to see if the situation improved (it didn’t). We had planned on the Hollywood in Hawaii – Movies & Waterfalls tour, this one did sell out early on-line if you are interested.

Ensenada: Due to our missing Nawiliwili, the ship adjusted its schedule and made it to Ensenada by 9:30 am to allow for another port day. Although not Hawaii, it did allow for some excursions and time to check out the city. We simply went into town for lunch and a short walk before returning to the ship.

Pre & Post Cruise:

Pre: We flew in to LAX the night before the cruise and rented a car from Hertz (returning it in Long Beach). We spent the night in Long Beach at the Westin (thank you Priceline). The hotel was wonderful, had a great view of the oceanfront, and it was very close to many restaurants and clubs. We enjoyed a great dinner at “Parker’s Lighthouse” in Shoreline Village overlooking the Queen Mary. For you wine drinkers, we found a great wine store in Long Beach called “Vin De Pays”, they specialize in inexpensive (most around $10) but good wines. We bought a case of various wines and champagnes for the cruise and all were very good. Even with the corkage fee, this saved us a lot of money and thoroughly enjoyed the wines. We returned the rental car around noon the day of our cruise, the local Hertz office is about a block and a half from the Westin, and caught a cab from the hotel to the pier in San Pedro (~$20).

Post: We took advantage of express checkout and carried our own bags off, we disembarked between 745 and 8am. We caught a cab to Long Beach for our Hertz car rental and we spent the night at the Hyatt in Beverly Hills to see how the other half lives (again thank you Priceline). We found a great place for breakfast, lunch or dinner if you are seafood fans called Gladstone’s (thanks to a Cruise Critic friend), it was on the coast up towards Malibu on Hwy 1 (Pacific Coast Hwy). We enjoyed breakfast there; the Crabcake Benedict was wonderful. We spent the rest of the day touring around Beverly Hills and Hollywood.

[Bucky3]

Really enjoyed your review. We did a similar cruise last fall and rented our cars in Kona and Lahaina at the same places. That sure saved time and worked out much better than previous trips where we were shuttled to and from the airport. Thanks for the memories!

[TorontoTL]

Thanks for posting your review of the Island Princess. I have been contemplating a Hawaii cruise for a while now. It sounds like it could be a wonderfull two week cruise. However, I'm not so sure about all of the sea days. It's good to hear how Princess handled that family's tragedy so well, go Princess!

[toddtami]

Thanks VikingRob for the great words. We are booked on this trip April 21st. Can you tell me if there is any type of on board luau? We have all our shore ex booked, but I am disappointed about not seeing a Luau. The only night we could do it is Honolulu, and I fear getting back to the ship on time. Royal Hawaiian only does Mondays, we are there Frdaiy. Paridise Cove, and Germaines seem far away. Any words of advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Tami

[GrammaZ]

Thanks Rob for your great review. You saved me from hours of putting mine together as our opinions are pretty much the same. Enjoyed meeting you and Kim and all our other CC buddies at both get togethers. Richard and his staff were just amazing to us and went far beyond the expected. I will add a few of our comments.

 

Other than the weather, which we can complain about forever, this was one of our best cruises. The Island is a great ship, just the right size. We booked a BA category balcony and had cabin C515 on starboard side. Just perfect. Loved the larger balcony. We requested a lounge for the balcony and it was there upon our return after dinner the first night. Eggcrate mattress pad on bed as requested in advance. No sun (if there had been any) on the way over but had a few hours on the way back. Moderate motion on the ship, but not excessive. After dinner on Hilo night we went up to our balcony and watched the volcano erupt. We were quite far away but did definately see red lava spouting out.

 

We stayed the night before the cruise at the Sheraton Gateway, very close to LAX. Shuttled over around 10:30. We used Princess transfers both ways and they worked really slick. Had to wait about an hour going to San Pedro as the first shuttle didn't leave until around noon. Super people to deal with at the transfer point. As Rob said the line was about an hour wait, with only one or two persons on security. But once through that we were on ship within 10 or 15 minutes and luggage was in the cabin about an hour later. Lots of Britians and Canadians on this cruise and as Rob said very few children, which were perfectly behaved.

 

One thing I did on this cruise which I have never done before is take advantage of the spa and all it provides. I am hooked forever. Watch the Patters for specials and take advantage of them. The value coupon books they leave in your cabin can also save you a bit of money. I had the seaweed wrap (wonderful) and an amazing facial. Best back massage I have ever had. They are very good salespeople and succeeded in having me buy product so they had a good day. One program they offer is $99 for a week of the Spa Sanctuary. It is basically the steam rooms, sauna, mist showers and these amazing lounges that are ceramic and heat up. Like laying on a total body heating pad. I have issues with my muscles and after soaking in the hot tub I would go and lay on these things. Talk about total relaxation. I didn't do the whole cruise offer but just paid $14 a day on the days I wanted to use the spa room. Will do that again. The hot pools in the covered pool area are the hottest, with the one on the starboard side perhaps slightly hotter though the jets didn't work half the time.

 

In Hilo we did our only ship excursion, the Botanical Gardens. Very enjoyable but quite rushed. Didn't rent a car here as it was only half a day.

 

We rented the convertible in Honolulu and couldn't put the roof down it was so cold, so that was a bit of a downer. Really enjoyed the Royal Hawaiian luau, as Rob and Kim. We rented through Thrifty and it worked very well. Shuttle both ways. We drove around the island, stopping at Byodo-In Temple west side of the island. Re-creation of a Japanese temple. Amazingly beautiful. The koi in the ponds are phenomenal. We used Thrifty for all but one rental in Maui, where we used National. Rob is right in Kona, use Dollar. Taking the shuttle out to the airport for Thrifty and others is wasting about an hour of time. Join the Blue Chip program at Thrifty. It saves you time as well.

 

We took wine to dinner every evening and were charged the corkage most nights. Think they missed three or so. Didn't charge us in the Bayou. We were disappointed with the Bayou. Probably our choices, found everything too fried and greasy. Heard very favourable reports from others, especially if you wanted beef. Room service menu still allows you to order litres bottles of many varieties of liquor. Brought our own in plastic bottles in our checked luggage and had no problem whatsoever. Security was all hand done at each port, to my knowledge not looking for liquor, but for volcano rock. Can't take it home. Did not see any wine or liquor confiscated.

 

Hilo was the only port where you could purchase fresh leis at the port. Beautiful ones for $8. They lasted about three days putting them in the fridge. Also arrangements for your room for $10. Take advantage as you won't see them again at the port. Princess does them on board (room arrangements), but for twice the price. Come to think of it, there were a couple of vendors in Maui, but didn't check out the prices as I had my leis from the luau in Honolulu.

 

Coffee is still horrible. I took my one cup Bodum coffee press and made my own every morning. Just took it down to Horizon with coffee in it and added my boiling water. Worked really slick. At least got one good cup a day. Had a double shot expresso latte with Baileys one morning, that was the best one by far.

 

Entertainment was excellent, but as Rob said, scheduling was difficult when you had late seating. Many times you had to go to the 7:00 show or there were no other options if you wanted to dance before dinner. The string quartet was very good and enjoyed their show in the Universe Lounge one evening. And Kevin Hughes was so funny. Great selection of new movies on our cruise, took in a couple of them on the days it was too chilly to sit outside. Took advantage of a few dance lessons, quite fun when the ship was moving.

 

Disembarkation was a breeze, probably because we were the only ship docking on the 7th. We had a 11:40 flight, which gave me great concern after reading all the negatives about disembarkation on the boards. We were green one, which is the third category called and were off the ship by 8:30 and at the airport by 9:30, using the Princess transfer again. Princess, in my opinion, could not have handled it any better. Luggage was arranged properly, no difficulty finding ours and the porter system was very efficient. At the airport we didn't have any ones left for the cart machine so found a porter. He took us past the very long lineup, got our luggage tags and then took our bags for security. He lucked out with a double tip as my husband paid him not knowing I already had, but in the long run it was worth it. He saved us about half an hour in time.

 

All in all a marvelous cruise. Many memories. With the crappy weather, it did make the cruise seem longer and by the end DH was anxious to get home. If we had been able to sit outside more on the sea days I don't think there would have been a problem. There were probably about a dozen of us CC who got together a couple of times, but it was great acknowledging each other on the ship and on tours. Thanks to all who gave us their opinions and tips. Couldn't have arranged this wonderful vacation without you all. Until next time,

 

Glenda

[sleeky]

Did you see many whales from the ship? I'm not sure whether to book a watching trip or to just hope that we see some.

Anyway, its just under 1 year til we go, so plenty of time to decide

Thanks

Kay

[Pam in CA]

Thanks for a great review! We're on the next cruise, on the 22nd. :)

[VikingRob]

Todd and Tammy, If you are worried about getting back to the ship Princess does offer 1 tour at the Polynesion Cultural Center with a luau. It is said to be the most authentic luau on the island. It is a long tour, from noon till 1030, but since it is booked through the ship they won't leave without you

[VikingRob]

We saw whales from the ship entering and leaving both Hilo and Kona (plus dolphins leaving Maui). We also saw whales from McGregor Point (from land at mile marker 9 south of Lahaina) in Maui. Those who did take the whale watching tours did get a much closer view of them, we would likely take one next time. If you do plan on watching them from the ship or land bring a good set of binoculars.

[vermontvoyager]

Hi VikingRob...I liked your review.

I wanted to find out from you ,how you liked your Princess cruise to your Mariner cruise?

My wife and I were looking at 2 cruises...The Crown Princess and the other Serenade of the Seas.

We loved Mariner and we were wondering how your experience on Princess compared to your experience on Mariner ? Would you choose one over the other ?

Thanks, Bob:)

[VikingRob]

We loved both ships. If I were to take our kids again, it would be Mariner hands down; without kids we slightly preferred the Island Princess.

 

We love kids, but we were looking to get away and relax, there were almost no kids on the Island. The Island was an older crowd, thus the activities were a bit more laid back, formal nights were a bit more formal. The Island had less activities, but still had more than enough for us to do. We enjoyed the food on both, perhaps slightly better on the Island, especially when you consider they had to have 15 different menus. We preferred the variety of shows more on the Island, although the Mariner timed them better. We also seamed to spend less money on board the Island: no charge for the burgers, they allowed us to bring our own wine & champagne on board, and we could still get a bottle of liquor delivered to our room.

 

I really do not think you can go wrong on either ship, if your goal is to relax and not go 100 miles an hour all the time I would take the Island Princess. If you were looking to be more active and don't mind several hundred kids enjoy the Mariner.

[vermontvoyager]

Thanks VikingRob...I think we were leaning towards the Crown Princess anyway.

The Crown Princess is a new ship and they are $560 lower than Serenade and the CP room is larger also.

 

We were on the Mariner with our 2 teen boys and everything was good. We went in October during school so, there was not a lot of kids on the ship as there would be during vacation times.

Bob:)

[cruzr4vr]

VikingRob: Thanks for the great review. My husband and I are going on the Island Princess 4/21/06 (the same cruise as Tami and Todd) I have 2 questions - about what time were the dancers on board for a show in Honolulu? and was there an internet pricing package for wireless access or do we have to pay by the minute? Thanks again for the great review.

[VikingRob]

The childeren dancers did 2 shows one at 7:00pm and one at 8:45pm. We missed them as we were still on shore, but heard that they were wonderful.

 

As far as internet, through the ship was $10.50 for 30 minutes, but it is painfully slow, it took almost 5 minutes just to sign and open my email. One suggestion is that there are internet cafes in every port, most were either free or extremely cheap and were lightning quick.

[RvrCrzr]

I was getting off ISLAND PRINCESS when you were getting on.

Sorry to hear you missed KAUAI, it was one of our favorite stops.

 

We also had Duncan Tuck and Kevin Hughes on our ship. I liked Kevin so much, I bought his DVD.

 

Nice review.

[Tom O.]

Another reviewer, on the same cruise as the above two reviewers, had a terrible time. She took her small children with her and had nothing but bad things say. One of her biggest complaints was having to pay $2 for a glass of apple juice for her kids. I find it amazing how two different people will rate the same cruise. I can't imagine bringing small children on a voyage that included 10 sea days. Viking Rob and GrammaZ did their homework here, knew what expect and had a great time, despite missing a port. I guess being informed is always better than ignorance.

Thanks for the reviews, I am going on the same cruise next December!

[VikingRob]

Absolutely agree with the homework bit. Thanks to all you fellow Cruise Critic folks - we were well informed up front and had no real suprises, the cruise met or exceeded our every expectation.

[Cruisin' Chick]

re onboard luaus: there isn't any, but an Island Party one night. Ours (the 12/22 cruise) was just after we left Hilo; was supposed to start about 9ish but had to wait for everyone to finish watching the lava show. It's on the Lido deck with the CD trying to teach everyone how to do a hula dance.

[cruzr4vr]

VikingRob - thanks for the information on the dancers and the internet. I see you're from Green Bay and you feel safe using the screen name VikingRob. Our family is biggggg GB Packer fans. Husband and kids went to fanfest last year and were going to go this year but tickets became available last week and it was just too short a notice.

[VikingRob]

Trust me, there are not many Viking fans in Green Bay, but it does make football season a bit more lively around here. On our cruise there was a group of Packer fans travelling together, on the last night they all dressed in their Packer gear for dinner, complete with green & gold leis. You will love the cruise, enjoy.

[Terryjo416]

Thought I'd add my two cents about the Feb20 cruise.

VikingRob gave a great revue, and we surely agree with his opinions. We did a few things differently.

In Hilo we took the VNP tour. Enjoyed it thoroughly.

In Kona we decided to do our own tour of the city as it was my birthday, and wanted to take it slow and easy.

In Honolulu we did the Polynesian Cultural Centre tour. It was a very full day, but we loved every minute of it. From the bus ride to the site, to the delightful entertainment that finished the evening. The food at the luau was pretty good also. Lots of choices, and plenty of food.

In Maui we were fortunate enough to have friends vacationing on the island who picked us up at the pier. We spent the day at their hotel, the Kanapaali Beach Resort. What a gorgeous place, right next to the Whalers. We had lunch at the Rusty Harpoon. And DH played bodysurfer in the crashing waves.

Although we missed the island of Kauai and the tour we booked, it didn't really bother either of us. We were tired from the previous four days of fun and used the extra sea day to rest up for the drive back to Canada.

 

As for the food onboard, we had no problems. I don't eat beef or seafood, but always had plenty of other choices. We had personal choice dining and enjoyed not having to be at the table at any given time. We also never had to wait for a table in the Bordeaux dining room.

We ate dinner in the Bayou Cafe on my bday and it was scrumptious. The music was wonderful also.

 

Our room steward, William, was wonderful. Couldn't do enough for us. We were in C234 on Caribe deck, and really enjoyed our time on the balcony. Saw whales every day that we were near the islands. In Hilo, two whales breached the water right beside our balcony, you could see into their blowholes. What an experience.

 

Don't miss Kevin Hughes. He is absolutely hilarious. We listened to his CD on the way home. It was just as funny the second time as we remembered his facial expressions on stage.

 

The CD did a bangup job with our CC get togethers. Really appreciated his help in arranging things.

As well, it was good to finally meet all you folks that were chatting on the roll call before sailing.

 

It's hard to believe that we have been home for three days already (we drove home via Las Vegas and Denver).

 

Hope all you lucky folks that are getting ready to sail have as good a time as we did. Remember, it's a vacation, so relax. It'll be back to reality soon enough.

 

Happy cruising.

Jo

[capngroovy]

Did you see many whales from the ship? I'm not sure whether to book a watching trip or to just hope that we see some.

Anyway, its just under 1 year til we go, so plenty of time to decide

Thanks

Kay

 

I was on the cruise prior to this thread and can tell you we saw plenty of whales. In the crossing we saw a couple pods of dolphins, but four out of the five days at the islands we had no problem spotting plumes and flukes, at the very least. Maui afforded the most spectacular show. Only Honolulu was without.

 

Of course, any of the boat-related tours will put you closer (our closest encounters came on the Zodiac snorkeling tour).

[hardel]

Is it possible to rent a car when you dock in Honolulu and Hilo? Or should you make reservations before the cruise. And, I heard once that ukulele lessons were offered on the cruise. Should I bring my ukulele?? Thanks, we sail on April 20.

[VikingRob]

There is always the possibility that you can get a car, but I would not take the risk. We rented all out cars in advance. They do offer ukulele lessons at least a couple of times. They also have many ukuleles on board for those who want to take the lessons, so you don't have to take yours, unless you want to. Kim