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Island Princess Hawaii Review?

DesrtDrmr

By DesrtDrmr,
in Princess Cruises

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cruisesusie

cruisesusie

Posted
Posted

Carolcha,

 

The balconies on Caribe deck are half covered, half exposed. Yes, people could look down on us and we could see the balconies below us, but it wasn't a problem at all. If you want privacy, the covered section of the balcony is the place to stay. Whenever we were on our balcony and I looked around, I rarely saw anyone using their balconies in the "neighborhood".

 

I'm trying to remember if we were able to see the islands when we anchored/docked. I know for sure that we saw Oahu when we docked and also Maui when we anchored. I'm not sure about the others. We were in C334.

 

Susan

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Elequieu

Elequieu

Posted
Posted

[i am wondering something, did they take away the normal time that you were suppose to be at the islands? So, even tho, you were disappointed about not being at the islands as long, you still maintain this was your best cruise so far

 

Yes, 3 hours from Hilo and 2 from Lahaina. This made it more about the ship than the islands. There was another ship docked at Lahaina making the dock area very congested. We had docked on the other side of the isthmus on two previous cruises making this the first time at Lahaina. If we do it again it will be a land vacation. We just enjoyed the whole cruise experience but one of our party had not been there before and was disappointed in the time spent at the islands. We were glad to have rented cars at Lahaina, Hilo and Kawai as we could head out of town quickly to the top spots: Iao Needle, Volcano Park and Princeville/Hanalei Bay, the latter which we had not seen before. Gorgeous.

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LARGIN

LARGIN

Posted
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The Warden,

 

I am on the 4/19/05 cruise and am also interested in scuba diving. Let me know what you find out and if you actually dive!

 

Have a GREAT cruise!!!!!!!

 

Jamie

Spingal.. We are on the same cruise.. Maybe we can hook up.. :D

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spingal

spingal

Posted
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Largin,

 

Absolutely!!! I will be traveling with my parents, sister and 4 year old niece. We are in D708 but may try to move cabins since it is an aft cabin and I don't sleep that great when I am at the back of the ship! :eek:

 

I can not wait for this cruise -- it will be my longest one yet!!! Man am I addicted or what!!!?! I JUST got off the Diamond yesterday and am already planning the Island cruise!!! :D

 

Jamie

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LARGIN

LARGIN

Posted
Posted
Largin,

 

Absolutely!!! I will be traveling with my parents, sister and 4 year old niece. We are in D708 but may try to move cabins since it is an aft cabin and I don't sleep that great when I am at the back of the ship! :eek:

 

I can not wait for this cruise -- it will be my longest one yet!!! Man am I addicted or what!!!?! I JUST got off the Diamond yesterday and am already planning the Island cruise!!! :D

 

Jamie

We will be forward in B229.. We were on the Coral aft in C715 last month and felt little movement and had no problem sleeping.. BTW, we have friends that live in Carlsbad.. Myrna and Jerry Jones.. By chance do you or your parents know them?
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dobie

dobie

Posted
Posted

Thanks so much for the review. We got off the Vision today, and I'm more than ready for our Island Princess cruise in March...Doris & Wayne, you drove to LA from here? We always fly. Do you think it is worth the drive considering the expense? Do you stay the night before?

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Elequieu

Elequieu

Posted
Posted
Thanks so much for the review. We got off the Vision today, and I'm more than ready for our Island Princess cruise in March...Doris & Wayne, you drove to LA from here? We always fly. Do you think it is worth the drive considering the expense? Do you stay the night before?

My son lives in San Gabriel so we always go early and stay with them. There were 3 of us this time so even cheaper.

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mike35

mike35

Posted
Posted
We have booked the Island Princess for March 20, 2005, will be on the Dophin deck D-631, does any one know if this balcony is covered?

Carol and I are booked on the same cruise. We live in Palm Springs and are looking forward to meeting you.

 

Mike

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wwinfl91

wwinfl91

Posted
Posted

Here's one I tried to post seperately but it failed so I will try attaching it to this thread and see if it works.

 

HI all,

 

This is going to be a relatively short review of our recent cruise on the Island Princess. We flew out to LA from Orlando on the morning of the cruise, Oct 6 and used Princess transportation to get from the airport to the ship. After a relatively short wait, probably about an hour total, we were able to board the ship. We had pre-registered on the Internet and I guess that helped some.

 

Once we got aboard the ship we were faced with another line so that the ship's photographers could take their first pictures of this cruise's passengers. I could have actually done without this "opportunity" but we able then to proceed to our cabin, a verandah cabin on the Baha deck. The cabin was nice with a decent sized covered balcony and an extremely small bathroom with an even smaller shower. We had a queen sized bed but I would recommend asking for mattress pads (similar to the ones used in hospitals) be installed on your bed as the mattresses and the pillows were both extremely hard, almost to the point of being uncomfortable. The cabin had an easy to use safe as well as a refigerator that was empty so you could put your own refreshments in it.

 

After unpacking our carry on luggage we went up to the Horizon Court for some lunch. Because of the lines we decided to make do with Pizza which was actually very good and a cold beer.

 

The ship filled rapidly and at 5 PM we pulled away from the dock to begin our trip to Hawaii. The cruise had 3 formal nights for dinner, luckily the first wasn't one of them. We had PC (Personal Choice) dining which allowed us to eat anytime between 5:30 and 10 PM in the Bordeaux dining room on the 5th floor. We never had any really long waits for dinner. We ate by ourselves at a table for 2 several nights, other nights we ate we people we had met on Cruise Critic and other nights we just joined a table for 6, 8 or 10. The food was pretty good with a wide variety of menus. Neither of us had much problem finding something to eat each night.

 

We ate some breakfasts and lunchs in the Horizon Court buffet style. Other times we ate lunch at the Grill which served hamburgers, cheeseburgers, hotdogs, etc or stopped for pizza at the Pizza bar. They had 3 different types of pizzas each day with 2 types, sausage and margerita, always available.

 

We left port on a Wednesday and were scheduled to arrive in Hilo Hawaii on Monday Oct 11 around 11 AM (we actually arrived a little after 10 AM). We took a ship's tour to Halemaumau volcano crater and were able to get some good pictures of it and the surrounding park areas. The tour included a stop at a lava tube we were able to walk through. We left the ship around 11:30 AM and got back to the ship a little before 5 PM. Unfortunately we had clouds and rain in the afternoon so our departure at around 6:15 PM in the evening was made into rain, clouds and mist and didn't allow any opportunities for pictures.

 

Our next stop was to be in Kona Hawaii. We had the captain's welcoming party the evening we left Hilo as well as our first formal dinner. We arrived in Kona a little after 7 AM and anchored where we would be tendered into the town. Here again we had signed up for a ship sponsored tour to visit the highlights of Kona which included a stop at the Place of Refuge as well as one at the Painted Church. All in all it was a well run tour that we enjoyed and were able to get some pictures to remind us about what we saw. We sailed from Kona about 5:45 PM with much better weather than the day before.

 

The ship proceeded to it's next stop Nawiliwili Kauai and arrived a little before 8 AM where we docked for this stop. We had a ships tour again this time to the Waimea Canyon, called the Grand Canyon of the Pacific and the Wailua River for a visit to the Fern Grotto. We also visited Spouting Horn Park on the coast to see a blowhole. The tour was an all day affair that included a stop for lunch at one of the local resorts. The ship set sail for its next stop around 6:15 PM.

 

We arrived at Honolulu Oahu and docked near the Aloha tower by 7:45 AM. We again took a ships tour to the Arizona Monument and the battleship Missouri. It was quite an experience and well worth spending the time and money to see and experience. The ship was staying in port this evening until 11 PM so after we returned from our tour around 3 PM and had some lunch and got cleaned up, we wandered around downtown Honolulu and took some pictures before returning to the ship for dinner. The ship sailed at 11 PM and left behind a beautiful and interesting city.

 

Our last stop in the Islands was at Lahaina Maui where we anchored and tendered into the city. We had signed up for another ships tour this time to Haleakala crater. This required a bus ride across the island and then up the side of the crater to the 9000 foot level of the mountain. We really lucked out and had a beautiful clear day so we got what we feel are great pictures of the interior of the crater. Evidently this only happens around 50% of the time and many times clouds totally block the view after the long ride to the tourists disappointment. This was one of the highlights of the trip and we feel is one of the must see places on Maui. We sailed from Maui a little after 6:15 PM after one of the best sunsets of the cruise.

 

We next had 4 more excellent days at sea before we got to Ensenada Mexico only to find the port was closed so we missed our 4 hour's there. We arrived in LA the next morning very early in the morning. The first groups of passengers began leaving the ship at 7:30 AM. After getting off the ship, the port was very poorly organized for people to pick up luggage and this resulted in a lot of very unhappy passengers. It is ashame the last thing many people will remember about the cruise is the bad experience they had getting their luggage for their trip home.

 

We had a late flight so we rented a car at the airport and did a little sightseeing in areas near to the airport, Venice, San Monica, etc. We caught our red-eye home at 10:30 PM and finally arrived back home in Orlando on Friday Oct 22 at 6:15 AM in the morning.

 

All in all the cruise was all we expected it to be. The food, entertainment, ship, and the stops in the Island all lived up to our expectations. This was our second Princess cruise and we have signed up while on the cruise for another one over the next couple of years.

 

Hope this gives you a brief idea of how the cruise was.

 

Have a great next cruise.

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spingal

spingal

Posted
Posted

Largin,

 

I checked and no one in the family knows your friends -- now wouldn't that have been a small world!! Where exactly do they live in Carlsbad?

 

Wwinfl91,

 

GREAT INFORMATION and REVIEW!! Many thanks for posting!!! :D

 

Jamie

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TBetti

TBetti

Posted
Posted

Mikebrill, Would also like to meet you on the cruise, Mary & I are from Rodeo, CA., looking forward to this cruise. We have been on Carnival at least 6 times, so we decided to change. Have no idea how princess will be, but is should be very relaxing with all of the sea days.

 

Talk to you soon,

 

Tom:cool:

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LARGIN

LARGIN

Posted
Posted
Largin,

 

I checked and no one in the family knows your friends -- now wouldn't that have been a small world!! Where exactly do they live in Carlsbad?

 

Wwinfl91,

 

GREAT INFORMATION and REVIEW!! Many thanks for posting!!! :D

 

Jamie

On Sequoia Avenue I think

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  • 2 weeks later...
Elequieu

Elequieu

Posted
Posted
Largin,

 

Absolutely!!! I will be traveling with my parents, sister and 4 year old niece. We are in D708 but may try to move cabins since it is an aft cabin and I don't sleep that great when I am at the back of the ship! :eek:

 

We were in B629 in Sept and felt virtually no movement so I think you have nothing to worry about.

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emsapb

emsapb

Posted
Posted

We are booked on the 2/18/05 Island Princess to Hawaii. We have category AA mini suite B228 on the Baja deck. Does anyone know if the balcony is covered? Also, we chose personnel choice dining for the first time. Any hints on this dining cooice.

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LARGIN

LARGIN

Posted
Posted
We are booked on the 2/18/05 Island Princess to Hawaii. We have category AA mini suite B228 on the Baja deck. Does anyone know if the balcony is covered? Also, we chose personnel choice dining for the first time. Any hints on this dining cooice.

I will be in B229 on the April 19th sailing. Since the room and location is identical to yours except on the other side of the ship, I would appreciate any info you can provide..

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