Live from Island Princess Alaska NB

[josetann]

I'll do a full review later so this will be short.

 

Embarkation: Boarded around 11-11:30am, line not too long. We were told we could take luggage to our rooms. Room E611 was not done (door still open), fridge was not stocked and commode was "dirty". We asked for fridge to stay unstocked, but it was stocked the next day anyway.

 

Commode would not flush, called, then went to front desk. It started to make some sound (water would enter it) but still no flush. Finally after calling again someone showed up at 11pm and fixed it. However, now it often doesn't flush right away but will 10-15 minutes later on its own.

 

Room E614 has the same commode issues, where you may try to flush but nothing happens until 10-15 minutes later.

 

Food quality is mediocre to bad. Milk for breakfast was bitter (wife's skim was fine). Service however is good to great.

 

Soda card was $29-something. Was written up as coffee card on receipt. Some kind of special.

 

We had to switch people around in our rooms. Went to front desk right after embarkation, was told it'd take effect around dinner. Next day we were told it'd take effect around noon. That afternoon my wife was told it was updated in the computer, she just needed a new card. It worked fine. Mom went next morning to get a new card, was told we needed a manager to change rooms. We explained that my wife got a new card the previous day, no go. I took Mom's card and said she lost her card and needed a new one. Lady was slightly rude (tone only) but we got the card which works fine.

 

Weather has been cloudy but otherwise nice. Getting back on the ship yesterday was easy, but today I was scared. I had my almost-2 year old and had he gotten loose, he could have slipped through the ropes on the gangwsy. I had to hold him a bit too tight, he cried but survived.

 

My mom is disappointed so far, but is still positive about the trip. Things aren't perfect but we're still having a great time. I'll post more if time allows. We're on the SB too.

[abbydancer2003]

We were on the repositioning cruise up from LA. We noticed the same issue with the toilet in both our cabin and the public restrooms. It was weird, but I think it's a shipwide thing.

 

Enjoy the rest of your trip!

[Pam in CA]

Sorry to hear about the toilet issues. I had the same problem one night on the Sapphire Princess, called the Pursar's Desk and was told someone would be there "right away." That was at 10PM. I waited until 11 and called again. Same response. I called again at Midnight, talked to someone else and was told it had been reported and someone would be there "soon." I waited until after 2AM before I gave up and turned out the light. About a half hour later, an enormous "whoosh!" sounded and woke me up. It sounded like it was going to suck up everything in the cabin. :) Toilet was then working fine but I was wide awake and pissed that they hadn't come. Found out the next day that there was a whole section of my deck with the same problem and it was a system suction valve or something. I wish they'd told me that when I called the 1st time (or the 2nd, or the 3rd).

[josetann]

Commode strikes again! I stayed in the room with baby while mom and wife ate dinner. Wife reported that food was so-so, but subsequent trip to bathroom painted a different story. After several minutes I heard words that I thought described what was going on in there, but turned out it was because the commode refused to flush again. Instead of a delayed flush, it simply gurgled. Called front desk at 8:17, repairman showed up at 8:22. Wife had instructed me to claim contents of commode if questioned. Luckily repairman only tried to flush, then worked on it outside the room, then it worked. I then instructed my wife to finish as soon as possible before it went out again.

 

At least the shower and sink work fine in case of a pee emergency.

[mytime53]

We were on the Island Princess in Feb. Although we truly enjoyed the trip, we too felt the food was not up to the standards of any cruiseline we've been on, including Princess'. And the other four people at our table agreed on that issue.

[dforeigner]

Bummer about the WC. Hope the rest of the cruise goes better for you.

[NeurosurgeryNP]

Wife had instructed me to claim contents of commode if questioned.

 

What a wifely thing to do! ;)

[Momma Mojito]

I think this topic could go on forever, no I didn't do it he did! No one ever ones to claim their own bodily functions. Hey we all do it!! Don't, we ? HaHa Please don't pee in the shower or sink. You were kidding weren't you? You have given all of us something to think about the next time we use the sink of shower.

Sorry to hear that the food isn't very good. What didn't you like about it?

Sure hope the rest of your cruise improves for you and am waiting to hear your review, (good or bad). By the way ,if you get a chance to hear "Phoenix Rising" play in the Wheehouse Bar can you let me know what you thought of them. Please tell them Gene and JoAnn said Hi Thanks

[Colo Cruiser]

Sounds like a terrible trip. :o

[ginagirl]

WE just completed a 19 days sailing on the Island and thought the food was the worst we have ever experience on any cruise line, including Princess. Without a doubt, the beef served had to be purchased from Mexico. It was just so awful. The pizza was like hard cardboard which couldn't even be cut with a knife......not to mention the horribe sauce and absence of cheese. The lamb chops were the gamiest, most disgusting lambchops we have ever had. One night in desperation I ordered the cheese and macaroni entree, thinking how bad could they make that. Wrong!!! When it came, I could literally stand up my silverware in the middle of the dish. The desserts were the worst. I don't think they used any sugar at all in any of them. If you wanted a sweet flavor, you had no choice but to order sugarfree desserts. Hamburgers were disgusting and always burnt. Goodness, I could go on forever, but truly will say one more Princess experience like that and it will be our last. BTW, sailed the Diamond this February, and the food was wonderful.

[califgary]

Ok Lets hope all of this changes and FAST! We're on the 18 day Panama cruise in September and there better be a big change in cooks!!!

sorry your experience isnt all it should be.

[LarryF]

We're on the Island this Monday and hope things get better especially the toilets! Foods not much of an issue for us as we eat in the buffet most nights anyway as we like to spend as much time on deck as possible in Alaska.

 

What I'm more interested in hearing about is the weather and your Alaska experience. It appears from the forecast that you all have had some great weather with temps in the high 50's and low 60's and mostly sunny skies! What did you all do in Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway (today). Has the the scenery been magnificent? Have you seen eagles, whales, other wildlife? Do you have a good naturalist on board? You will be cruising through Glacier Bay tomorrow College Fjords on Sunday. Both were so incredible last year, I hope you all get a good calving show in Glacier Bay!

 

Sorry about the food and toilet issue, but hope you can turn that lemon into lemondade.

 

By the way, we are having a meet and greet party with our cruise critic group on the SB trip you're on. It's in the Wheelhouse Lounge at 2 pm on Tuesday May 27. Be sure to join us!

 

Hope the food improves and the toilettes start sucking away!:D

 

Larry

[Momma Mojito]

WE just completed a 19 days sailing on the Island and thought the food was the worst we have ever experience on any cruise line, including Princess. Without a doubt, the beef served had to be purchased from Mexico. It was just so awful. The pizza was like hard cardboard which couldn't even be cut with a knife......not to mention the horribe sauce and absence of cheese. The lamb chops were the gamiest, most disgusting lambchops we have ever had. One night in desperation I ordered the cheese and macaroni entree, thinking how bad could they make that. Wrong!!! When it came, I could literally stand up my silverware in the middle of the dish. The desserts were the worst. I don't think they used any sugar at all in any of them. If you wanted a sweet flavor, you had no choice but to order sugarfree desserts. Hamburgers were disgusting and always burnt. Goodness, I could go on forever, but truly will say one more Princess experience like that and it will be our last. BTW, sailed the Diamond this February, and the food was wonderful.

Since you are not the first person to say the food was awful, I hope this is not a way to cut some expenses with Princess.

Did you put all of this down on your comment card, and I wonder how long it will take Princess to resond back to you.

[mytime53]

Since you are not the first person to say the food was awful, I hope this is not a way to cut some expenses with Princess.

Did you put all of this down on your comment card, and I wonder how long it will take Princess to resond back to you.

 

I put it down on the comment card in March. It's the first time we ever thought cruise food wasn't top notch. As Ginagirl says, the desserts were terrible...no flavor basically, and no difference night to night (15 day cruise). I do look forward to desserts on a cruise since I try to stay away from them otherwise. It certainly didn't ruin the trip, but I wasn't expecting to be disappointed in them. The best dessert we had the entire trip was strawberry shortcake, which wasn't even on the menu, but our waiter brought to us special (noticing that none of us was ever finishing dessert, decided to try to tempt us, I guess). I was hoping (for other people's sake) that the chef (or at least the pastry chef) would have been changed out by the time the Island cruised Alaska. Doesn't sound like it.

[josetann]

Still posting from phone, so I can't make long replies.

 

Our trip is far from terrible. We're on a cruise in Alaska! We're having a great time.

 

Weather in Ketchikan and Juneau was chilly and cloudy but not raining at all. Ketchikan we shopped, Juneau we went to Mendenhall Glacier ($14 roundtrip). Today in Skagway we rented a car and used Murray's Guide to go up to Emerald Lake. Temps in the sixties, I took my son's long-sleeve shirt off and put on short-sleeves. Emerald Lake is not frozen over, but many places still had snow on the ground.

 

As for wildlife, we saw a bald eagle in the distance in Juneau, and someone pointed out wild goats which I couldn't see. Today (Skagway, but we were somewhere in the Yukon on Hwy 98) there was a bear on the side of the road. We stopped and rolled down the windows to take pics, but stayed in gear in case it headed our way (it did).

 

 

Food is still bland. Best tasting chocolate dessert on the ship is from the room steward at night. Disappointing, but we didn't come to Alaska for the food.

[ginagirl]

Yes, I certainly did note our dissatisfaction with the cuisine on the comment card. And yes, we don't cruise specifically for the food; however, when you pay for a 19 day cruise in a minisuite, is it too much to expect acceptable and pleasurable dining experiences??? Perhaps, our wonderful cruise on the Diamond in February has spoiled us, but since many of the passengers on the Island were complaining also, it leads me to believe that our evaluation was definitely not flawed.

[Lorraine Marie]

The Island was just in wet dock. Have you noticed improvements in carpeting and bedding? I'm so sorry to hear about the food and the WC problems. I hope by the time you read this post they are both much better. We are sailing on July 21 SB....we are considering skipping formal nights. Since your review of the food is so bad we just may do so and eat at the buffet. Keep your post coming; they are very informative.

[Rick Niles]

We were on the 3 day before this and yes there is new carpet all over the place and they were still doing some while we were sailing....Never noticed the beds, it was fine for me....

 

As for the food, I must not be that picky as the food was good....My steak one night was a little tuff but I eat it Medium well. There were 4 in our group and we ate in the Dinning room 5 times and were always happy right from appies to dessert...This was our 4th Princess cruise and I was very happy with it.

 

Rick

[fatcattravel]

I will be on the same sailing! What are the shore excursions you have planned so far? Trying to narrow our list down. We have booked with Michele at Island Wings in Ketchican and in Juneau Whale Watching with Captain Larry.

[fatcattravel]

oops se reply below. I thought I hit your name

[Lorraine Marie]

We decided to book with ship's excursion in Juneau... Best of Juneau. It includes whale watching mend. glacier, and salmon bake. My husband is doing "Deadliest Catch" tour in Ketchikan. I'm still trying to decide. We are doing a 5 day land tour before the cruise so we will decide more while on ship. Not sure if we want to do more train travel or not. We're still awaiting our cabin aassignment... getting a bit anxious. Glad to speak with someone else who is on board with us. BTW We're from Upstate NY.

[fatcattravel]

:) I am from North Carolina

We decided to book with ship's excursion in Juneau... Best of Juneau. It includes whale watching mend. glacier, and salmon bake. My husband is doing "Deadliest Catch" tour in Ketchikan. I'm still trying to decide. We are doing a 5 day land tour before the cruise so we will decide more while on ship. Not sure if we want to do more train travel or not. We're still awaiting our cabin aassignment... getting a bit anxious. Glad to speak with someone else who is on board with us. BTW We're from Upstate NY.

[sunvalley cruisers]

LarryF--hope you will post as you cruise as well. I'd love to hear how it goes, we have less than a month before our Southbound on the Island.

[josetann]

Commodes seem to be working for the moment.

 

Weather's been great. It was clear yesterday, not a cloud in the sky. Today had a few clouds but still nice and sunny. I could see otters playing around iceburgs, a bald eagle on an iceburgs, and a black bear on the shore. Supposedly there were lots of sea lions too that I couldn't see.

 

As far as excursions, none have been through the ship. Ketchikan we just shopped. Juneau we went to Mendenhall Glacier. Skagway we rented a car. Tomorrow in Whittier we're renting another car to Anchorage. We're not trying to cram too much in at any port since we're doubling up on them.

 

Ship does look nice, but I did notice a loose floor panel on deck 8 heading to the back balconey area. I would think that wouldn't escape a dry-dock. Other than that no complaints about the ship.

[josetann]

On the SB now. We continue to have great weather. Short sleeve weather in Skagway. We've had great weather on all our trips save one. Embarkation was horrible, we didn't receive our new cards the night before (but my son and Mom did). Asked at front desk before debarkation for our cards, was told we'd get them when we boarded. We show up a bit after 7PM and are told that we need to get new cards on the ship. A crew member accompanies us since we can't actually board without our new cards. It takes over 20 minutes with an unhappy baby until we can fully board the ship.

 

One thing that has improved is the food. They must have restocked their spices at Wal-Mart. Food has gone up a few notches and is now between mediocre and good. Service is a bit more sporadic but still good.