Island Princess Problems

[Yehootu]

1 hour ago, beg3yrs said:

Anyway, I was born in Honolulu (it was a territory then) and spent the first two years of my life there. Too bad I don't remember much. Even took my first "cruise" on some old ocean liner heading back to San Francisco when my naval officer dad was transferred to Massachusetts. Talk about a change in the weather!

My birth certificate has my place of birth as The Trust Territory of Hawaii. My Mom came to Hawaii on the Lurline on a 6 month nurse contract and instead stayed the next 70 yrs.

[Crystabel]

13 minutes ago, Yehootu said:

My birth certificate has my place of birth as The Trust Territory of Hawaii. My Mom came to Hawaii on the Lurline on a 6 month nurse contract and instead stayed the next 70 yrs.

I was four or five years old when we went to the harbor in LA to see the Lurline off to Hawaii. Back then, we could stand dock side to watch her leave. It was so exciting with the passengers throwing hundreds of streamers as they shoved off. It was then that I decided I wanted to cruise. 

[beg3yrs]

1 hour ago, Yehootu said:

My birth certificate has my place of birth as The Trust Territory of Hawaii. My Mom came to Hawaii on the Lurline on a 6 month nurse contract and instead stayed the next 70 yrs.

Wow. I believe it was the Lurline I sailed as a toddler from Honolulu to CONUS back in the late 50s. Somewhere in one of my mother's old scrapbooks are the original passage tickets.

[JGmf]

I just wanted to report back regarding the condition of the Island Princess and share general thoughts.  I was on the last sailing of the ship (10-day med cruise, Aug 25-Sep 4), prior to the 21 day dry dock deep into September 2024.

 

Overall, I personally saw no major issues with operations or functionality of the ship. 

 

We had no issues with HVAC or water in our mini-suite unlike our friends who did have HVAC troubles in their room.  I heard others complain about the same.  In the public spaces, the only thing that I saw wasn't functioning were 2 of the 3 ice dispensers in the buffet. That's it.

 

Reading this thread I was worried about this trip; and my concerns were largely unfounded.  The staff is exceptional and the ship, yes, doesn't have the features of the newer ones, but did a fine job handling the full load of passengers.  I especially liked the size and depth of the Lido deck pool and the bar set-up (and excellent bartenders) in Good Spirits.

 

I discussed with any number of staff what they'd be doing in dry dock, and from what I was told, among other things, they are replacing carpet throughout the ship, reconfiguring the casino, and will be working on HVAC and plumbing.  The staff isn't thrilled about the dry dock, as they stay on to do support work and help handle the hordes of workers and tradespeople blitzing the ship in Palermo. 

 

Would I sail on Island again?  Yes, if driven by itinerary.....but all else being equal, I missed the larger ship, specifically the larger atrium, Bellini bar, the International Cafe, the larger casino, the availability of casual dining, the Retreat Pool, and the Wakeview bar.

 

[Esprit]

My SIL is currently on the ship and recorded this. Furniture is being refurbished apparently but he only deals with the Audio/Visual stuff and all the technical wizardry that goes with it.

[muffydawg]

@JGmf Thank you so very much for sharing your observations! DH and I will be on the October 5 voyage and look forward to experiencing not only her upgrades but also a smaller-ish ship for the itinerary.

[beg3yrs]

A crew friend of ours is also on the Island Princess right now. He sent a WhatsApp this morning and said there are 1,500 workers on board all over the ship. Didn't give any details as to what they're doing though.

[Esprit]

11 hours ago, beg3yrs said:

A crew friend of ours is also on the Island Princess right now. He sent a WhatsApp this morning and said there are 1,500 workers on board all over the ship. Didn't give any details as to what they're doing though.

There are so many contractors on board my SIL is having to share a guest cabin with a colleague!

[WisCruiser2]

So, no adding a small International Cafe during this...? Not enough to cancel our Greenland cruise next August, although we will miss a good morning coffee! Nice to hear there will be some refurbishment of carpeting and furniture along with HVAC and plumbing. 

[tml1230]

On 9/10/2024 at 1:02 PM, JGmf said:

I just wanted to report back regarding the condition of the Island Princess and share general thoughts.  I was on the last sailing of the ship (10-day med cruise, Aug 25-Sep 4), prior to the 21 day dry dock deep into September 2024.

 

Overall, I personally saw no major issues with operations or functionality of the ship. 

 

We had no issues with HVAC or water in our mini-suite unlike our friends who did have HVAC troubles in their room.  I heard others complain about the same.  In the public spaces, the only thing that I saw wasn't functioning were 2 of the 3 ice dispensers in the buffet. That's it.

 

Reading this thread I was worried about this trip; and my concerns were largely unfounded.  The staff is exceptional and the ship, yes, doesn't have the features of the newer ones, but did a fine job handling the full load of passengers.  I especially liked the size and depth of the Lido deck pool and the bar set-up (and excellent bartenders) in Good Spirits.

 

I discussed with any number of staff what they'd be doing in dry dock, and from what I was told, among other things, they are replacing carpet throughout the ship, reconfiguring the casino, and will be working on HVAC and plumbing.  The staff isn't thrilled about the dry dock, as they stay on to do support work and help handle the hordes of workers and tradespeople blitzing the ship in Palermo. 

 

Would I sail on Island again?  Yes, if driven by itinerary.....but all else being equal, I missed the larger ship, specifically the larger atrium, Bellini bar, the International Cafe, the larger casino, the availability of casual dining, the Retreat Pool, and the Wakeview bar.

 

 

On 9/10/2024 at 4:54 PM, beg3yrs said:

A crew friend of ours is also on the Island Princess right now. He sent a WhatsApp this morning and said there are 1,500 workers on board all over the ship. Didn't give any details as to what they're doing though.

Many thanks to both of you for your recent reports and updates. we board in 2 months and your information helps! 

[bermudawoman8]

I really hope they get the air conditioning to work well in all the cabins and areas of the ship.  We were on from 7/5 to 8/5 in a balcony on the Aloha deck.  When we boarded in NYC we thought the cabin was a little warm but figured it would cool down.  Of course it did because then we were in cooler areas (Canada, Greenland, Iceland, etc.). But it started warming up daily as we arrived in Portugal, Spain and Morocco.  We complained a few times about the temp in the cabin and they made small attempts to fix it but they really didn't.  We asked several times to have a fan we could use in the cabin - we had seen some in the hallways - but they never did bring one.  Have now decided to always sail with a thermometer to prove the temp of the cabin and a small fan we can hang by the AC unit. We wondered how it would be for the people after us who were boarding in Barcelona and only having hot ports. 

[PacnGoNow]

On 9/10/2024 at 1:10 PM, Esprit said:

My SIL is currently on the ship and recorded this. Furniture is being refurbished apparently but he only deals with the Audio/Visual stuff and all the technical wizardry that goes with it.

Does yr SIL know if reconfiguring the casino, will include adding an IC, like the Coral?  TIA

[Mara4166]

On 8/30/2024 at 7:35 PM, BobTroll said:

I prefer smaller ships, so I would think twice, before booking a cruise on any of the Royal class ships.  And you wouldn't be able to tempt me aboard Sky or Sun Princess.

Can I ask what is wrong with the Sky Princess when you would at least consider the other Royal class ships?  We have 3 cruises booked on her over the next 3 years.  Most reviews tent to be positive.
 

I then agree with you on the Sun (and the Star Princess - sphere class).  It would have to be a perfect itinerary and price for me to want to go on either of those ships.

[Esprit]

2 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

Does yr SIL know if reconfiguring the casino, will include adding an IC, like the Coral?  TIA

Sorry, but he has no idea. He’s only interested in getting the techie stuff to work and then demonstrate to the AV crew how to program it up and fault diagnose issues.

[JGmf]

4 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

Does yr SIL know if reconfiguring the casino, will include adding an IC, like the Coral?  TIA

 

I assume you are speculating whether the casino-adjacent bar could/would be revamped to be the dedicated International Cafe.  That would be interesting, but I'm wondering out loud how drink service would be impacted in the casino.  Two weeks ago that casino bar couldn't keep up with the tiny casino, so redirecting drink orders to some other bar would likely exacerbate the problems. 

 

As for the casino, what the senior staff in the casino told me was that they are going to rearrange the cash game poker table with the machines, other tables, and the craps table....along with carpet replacement.

[PacnGoNow]

24 minutes ago, JGmf said:

 

I assume you are speculating whether the casino-adjacent bar could/would be revamped to be the dedicated International Cafe.  That would be interesting, but I'm wondering out loud how drink service would be impacted in the casino.  Two weeks ago that casino bar couldn't keep up with the tiny casino, so redirecting drink orders to some other bar would likely exacerbate the problems. 

 

As for the casino, what the senior staff in the casino told me was that they are going to rearrange the cash game poker table with the machines, other tables, and the craps table....along with carpet replacement.

I can’t remember where the casino bar was located on the Coral.  But, the Coral, a sister ship to Island, was redesigned in dry dock, several years ago, pre covid, to have a IC right next to the casino.  Small IC, but nice enough, we enjoyed it in 2020, until the pause hit!

 

Just wondered if they were considering the same for the Island.  Probably not, as it’s not a money maker, like the Casino is.  
 

Would be nice though.  JMO

 

 

[beg3yrs]

If there was any kind of reconfiguration for the Island Princess during this dry dock, I would think that when asking the web-site for a deck plan, it would be asking you for before or after a specific date. I don't hold out any hope for an IC at this point.

[Therese S.]

 

Im hoping they will add an international cafe in the space used for all the photos.  Cant people view their photos on their stateroom TV's and have printed up the ones they want to buy?   I always hate when I walk by and see section after section of photos that you know are just going to be destroyed.  Why take up valuable space and waste paper?  And if you have the plus or premier package dont you get a disk with all your photos on it?  I stopped buying photos years ago, especially the formal ones. Might buy a port photo here or there but thats even getting rare for us. 

 

[PacnGoNow]

4 hours ago, Therese S. said:

 

 

Im hoping they will add an international cafe in the space used for all the photos.  Cant people view their photos on their stateroom TV's and have printed up the ones they want to buy?   I always hate when I walk by and see section after section of photos that you know are just going to be destroyed.  Why take up valuable space and waste paper?  And if you have the plus or premier package dont you get a disk with all your photos on it?  I stopped buying photos years ago, especially the formal ones. Might buy a port photo here or there but thats even getting rare for us. 

 

That’s what I’ve always thought too!  The Princess Shops also is a great space right there.

Yes, you can see your photos on the TV or the App, they just need a small desk, like Ocean Front and call it Ocean Photos.  🤔
 

I’m sure every square foot of space has to be a money maker and that’s the reason they have not added an IC.  Because most folks have purchased a package.  

[beg3yrs]

12 hours ago, Therese S. said:

 

 

Im hoping they will add an international cafe in the space used for all the photos.  Cant people view their photos on their stateroom TV's and have printed up the ones they want to buy?   I always hate when I walk by and see section after section of photos that you know are just going to be destroyed.  Why take up valuable space and waste paper?  And if you have the plus or premier package dont you get a disk with all your photos on it?  I stopped buying photos years ago, especially the formal ones. Might buy a port photo here or there but thats even getting rare for us. 

 

•  

Don't get your hopes too high. I've observed that all the ICs on other ships have room behind them for food storage and preparation.

[1498sg]

Did they remove Churchills?