Island Princess Cruise Reviews - Reviews

This is a great way to see Alaska.  We had a room with a balcony and I recommend this because you can sit in your room and look at the beautiful country on the days you are not in port.  They have a naturalist on board that discussed the points of interest as you pass by which added to the beauty of the land to know the history.  They broadcast his talks over the loud speaker and on the in-room TV.  The Island Princess is a nice ship with all the usual cruise ship amenities;  the exception to this is the entertainment was exceptional. Both the stage shows and the groups in the lounges were much better that other ships that I have been on.  This was our third trip to Alaska so we so we only took 2 excursions, but from our experience and talking to the people that we met the excursions offered by Princess are exceptional.  Dinner is always good but some nights the choices were not as robust as other cruises that I have taken.

My favorite part of the cruise was the fact the cruise ship could actually get very close to the glaciers. This made for great photo ops.  The tour guide was very informative about the entire area.  

The least part I liked was the entertainment.  It really needs to be better.  It's the worse entertainment of all the other cruise ships I have been on (5). Also, while trying to navigate my way around the casino with a walker became very frustrating as stools were blocking your way to go down the aisles. This led to my saying forget it and leaving because I could not get past people sitting at machines.  Beverage service in casino was slow. Most of the time the servers were at the bar talking to each other and not roaming the floor.  All I wanted was a bottle of water and it took 15 to 20 minutes before I could flag down a server.

Please put better signage out by all elevators - some of us are a little visually impaired with cataracts and the gold backing which is pretty and the black letters were just too small for us to see from a short distance, you had to walk up to the wall and read carefully to see what deck you should be going to.  Letters need to be larger. Better signage should also be in the cabin hallways, hanging up directing you to aft, starboard, elevators (under the exit signs) would be most helpful.  

All in all the trip was good.

Over all the trip was good. Except for the following

Princess Lodge in Fairbanks dinning room was not up to my standards either in food or service.

Princess Denali was beautiful, upon returning from tour we had 1 hr to find something to eat. Impossible not enough places to get food and they were all slammed.

As for the ship. Very clean and nice. Showers were the smallest I have ever seen.

The entertainment was poor. Only the first comedian and the last show were worth going to.

The food was not good. As was expressed by more than one other person not in our group. Selection in buffet was poor. And dinning room selection was so, so.

Asked for drawn butter and was told only on lobster night. We had a hard time getting seating for our group. We never really understood their system. First we were told no then another gentleman steeped in and told them to seat us a certain table. Perhaps they were just an untrained crew. While they were pleasant we fould the waiters on Royal Caribbean heads above them. Never been on ship where some sort of food was not available 24hrs.

We enjoyed all the excursions . The sea plane, riverboat in Fairbanks, the White Pass train ride were our favorites. Really not sure I would recommend Princess would tell them to look at other options.

This cruise is worth it for the views.  Alaska is breathtaking and the inside passage was the best choice.  Island Princess is a beautiful ship.  While other reviews complained about the addition of passengers after the dry dock, but our group did not notice any overcrowding.  In fact, I've sailed on much larger ships and felt very overcrowded.  The staff went out of their way to provide great service.  I did have a couple of issues with food safety and handling, but once the issues were brought to the attention of the staff, they were addressed immediately.

We had a terrific time on this cruise. Alaska was absolutely breathtaking and the Southbound/Northbound one-way trip allows you to see more places in less time. 

We booked an outer cabin with window, choosing to forego the balcony to spend more on top notch excursions. And they certainly were! While we certainly wouldn't have turned down a balcony, to enjoy the spectacular views from our own rooms even better, it was completely unnecessary. We noticed the balconies were often empty and the top decks were full, but still provided plenty of room to comfortably watch the glaciers and experiences the views and wildlife. 

Our favorite part of the cruise was the spending the day in the adults-only Sanctuary while in Glacier Bay National Park. An affordable price for reserved, spacious private seating and lounge, with blankets to keep you warm and meals and drinks served by your side all day long. We couldn't have felt more special and taken care of, and the other ~25 people who bought day passes were all wonderful to get to know, too. Be sure to visit the Sanctuary immediately upon boarding as the best seats and days will be quickly taken.

Our favorite excursion was the Heli, Hike & Rail combo in Skagway, AK. The company leading this expedition was top notch: professional, friendly, and informative. From the dock a quick shuttle bus drops your small group (we had 4 of us + guides) to the helicopter base. After your briefings you'll fly above the glaciers and mountain tops for 15 minutes before landing in the Tongass National Forest for a 4-5 mile round-trip hike along the raging Skagway River to a viewpoint of the Laughton glacier.

Recommendations on improvements to the cruise ship include that the buffet food could have been more interesting, and offered better options, or even changing options. Instead we found it lacking. Additionally, the nightly entertainment seemed to be missing any main performance. Maybe they hadn't yet finished rehearsals, as we were the first of the season, but the only entertainment seemed to be comedians, sales pitches, and bar/lounge singers.  Would have been great to have seen bigger and better performances.

We were lucky to have incredible weather at our three Alaska port visits. Blue skies and warm allowed us to enjoy our excursions and shopping without foul-weather gear. The smaller ship size (2000 passengers) allows for a more personal experience without long lines and crowding. Being an Alaskan cruise it is colder, so layong by the pool in your Speedo is very questionable.  The food was fantastic and we had fun in the casino. The only downside would be the constant selling of photos, drinks and other items. You wamt to relax, but the push was exhausting. Offer one free shipboard photo and move on. Otherwise, we had a great time on the Island Princess and then we continued onto the 5-day land tour to Denali and Fairbanks. 

had a wonderful time visiting cruise ports and especially enjoyed the Panama Canal crossing. Not to be missed. The ships was spotless, food great, and service impeccable. Excursions were seamless, however the Nicaragua port was missed because of unsafe conditions for tenders. That was the only disappointing event.

Great cruise - they booked us an unbelievable cabin - location wise.  All arrangements were handled very professionally.  Island Princess was a good ship - very clean, good food and a lot of opportunities to make new friends.  Couldn't ask for a better experience.  We took advantage of the shore excursion

Upgraded from window to balcony then given 120 cruise dollars which allowed us to reserve two loungers on the top deck rear of the ship (called the sanctuary) all day while passing through the panama canal with food and drink service. Many other niceties also.

Another experience can be checked off my bucket list. What an amazing adventure. The ports of call were enlightening. The history of each country as told by our guides added another dimension to the culture of their countries.  Beauty every where, even in the poorest of areas. We enjoyed the excursions even though some were in the heat and humidity. I didn't think the transit through the Panama canal would be something that would be able to keep my attention for long. Let me say I couldn't stay inside for long. It is truly an awesome engineering feat. Every need was met or exceeded starting with our travel agent, Brian Dick, with , to all the staff on board our ship. I can't speak highly enough of this trip. If you take this cruise you will never regret it.

Princess misses the mark on this cruise!  They are only in Aruba for a few hours and in Nicaragua for an entire day.  Cartegena's Hop On Hop Off was the best bang for the buck but it was really hot and the bus is not air conditioned.  The canal was great and Chris Roberts, cruise port expert, was excellent as he talked us through the entire canal.  I wish we had had another port in the Caribbean and not so many sea days on the Pacific side.

The Island Princess having just been refurbished was an excellent ship for this trip, the size, condition and food was perfect.  We were quite disappointed in Aruba, what all the hype about this place is a mystery to us.  The remainder of the stops were all good.  Cabo is just a mirror image of Cancun, been there done that!.

The Canal trip took 9 hours and onboard commentator did an excellent job of explaining the facts.  Highly Recommend

All experience was pretty good. The ship personnel was very friendly, made you feel welcomed and cared. Everything was very clean: your cabin, decks, elevators, kitchen. Entertainment was not the first class, but looks like they tried to do their best: comedians, musicians all were funny and talented. It was good to find ping pong tables, pickle ball tennis and mini golf there.  The food was OK. I just do not know why they name the dishes in French manner, so it was difficult to understand what kind of product was it made of. Unfortunately at the end of second week many people get sick from some flu virus. My husband was among them. I do not think that this  was the cruise fault. But may be the medical had to warn people to be more careful, that there is some infection goes around...

Great cruise.  Would have rated excellent if the food in the dining room had been better.  Since Princess engaged Curtis Stone as their top chef, the menu selection and the preparation has not been up to the past.  We enjoy the dining room and prefer not to eat in the Horizon Court for dinner; however, sometimes, we were forced to do so.  The service in the dining room was outstanding.

We were disappointed that this itinerary did not include Panama City as a port of call.

My wife and I just completed a 15 day Panama Canal cruise, so here are my impressions:

The ship's crew worked extremely hard to keep all areas spotless. I was amazed how clean everything was during the entire trip. There was hardly a wait for anything, including dinner, shows, disembarking, etc. There's a lot of high tech features on the ship such as the beautiful theater which had a huge LED video screen and a drop-down stage area. Their sound and lighting system was best I've seen anywhere. The on-board wi-fi that allows you to see upcoming events as well as your invoice, all up-to-the-minute was very well done.  The cruise director and his staff I give high marks to.  They were allows pleasant and offer a wealth of info every morning on the "Wake Show" on the TV in each room. The entertainment on-board was top-notch.  I would have liked to see some interesting meetings/seminars such as life-time learning talks.  Trivia seemed to be the most prevalent afternoon activity as well as an almost daily art auction. The two main pool areas (one indoor, one outdoor), were well populated by guests.  They offered a Pizza, ice cream and hamburger grill that were nice options for a quick meal that ran all day long till around 9 or 10pm. The outdoor pool area had a super large LED video screen with amazing sound. Cabin room size was adequate, but showers are a little tight if you're over 200 lbs (fortunately, not my problem).  I'd rate the food about average.  Nothing exceptional in the main dining room or buffet area, just a lot of it. However, we enjoyed the Bayou Restaurant which had a top-of-the-line steak selection. We had a table of 8 at the Bayou and everyone raved about their meal. Sabitini's Restaurant was a different story. There the same eight diners gave it mixed reviews.  These specialty restaurants charge $25/person and is not a bad price to pay giving us an alternative to the regular dining room menu that started getting a bit boring.  My wife (63 years old) and I (65) met up with some very nice fellow travelers on the ship that were in our age group, but there were a large number of older people, many using wheelchairs, walkers and oxygen, that kind of made me feel like this ship was more geared for an older crowd (a lot older than me).  Next time, I think I'd rather look for a ship where the average age was a bit lower.  All-in-all a fun time with good memories.

The crossing of the Panama Canal was really a must to see once in a lifetime...a marvel of ingenuity!

However, the stop in Aruba was too short...back on the ship by 12.30 PM and then we had a very long day in ports that did not offer much: Like in Nicaragua...could have done without!

The dining was enjoyable and the desserts great!

Entertainment could have been more varied with not so much "one person" shows  All in all, a very attractive ship, great service and staff everywhere, would do it again!

was great to work with prior to our cruise. We loved seeing the Panama Canal & Aruba. Not so impressed with the ports/piers we stopped at. Every port was a different pier than what we were supposed to stop at except Aruba. Princess cruise staff while on ship were great, not so good when we went ashore at Jamaica, Costa Rica & we didn't get to go ashore in Panama unless we had an excursion booked because we were once again diverted to an alternate pier. We did however get off the ship at the pier to shop in a tent with local vendors, about 15 stalls. We did 2 excursions, one in Columbia, the other in Jamaica. Columbia we did a hop-on hop-off bus tour. Not sure what to expect but did get off at a beach & were immediately approached by locals trying to give us a massage or to rent their tent & chairs on the beach. We were not interested in any of this but they followed us the whole time we were there. After 30 to 45 minutes of this we left. Got on bus & off again for a guided walking tour. The guide was great & spoke very good English. Dunn's river falls in Jamaica was very very busy & we did not like the so-called beach after the falls. It was all rocks with chairs, no sand.  Could not even swim because the rocks were so bad & water was too shallow.  Once again we docked at a bad pier so no shopping in area, it was a cargo port. I give this a 3 star rating because of the conditions of the piers we docked at. 

We had a great experience from beginning to end. We thought that the food, activities and entertainment onboard ship were excellent! We also had fun on the shore excursions.

First Princess cruise. The ship and crew did a fine job. The entertainment was consistently good, especially one comedian. But the theater was too small and filled up early. The food was delicious and varied. We prefer self-serve soft-serve ice cream but the lines weren't terrible at the counter. The portions for entrees were very generous and the desserts were actually sweet which was delightful compared to so many cruises where the desserts look good but taste bland. 

Aruba--stick to the beaches, inland is dry and boring

Cartegena--the fort is impressive, the old town quaint and interesting

Panama--the canal is amazing, fort-not so much

Costa Rica--beautiful forests and canals, watched a sloth climb in slow-motion

Jamaica--beautiful, crazy lines for the tram/bobsled, climbing Dunn's River Falls was our favorite excursion activity.

Some of the stops were very short but we got to do what we wanted. Getting people to excursions has been better executed on other cruises. Be advised that the passengers were older with very few families, children, or teens. Kind of missed the younger folks but enjoyed the "experienced" group.

We had a wonderful time! Thank you Island Princess.

This cruise was very enjoyable.  It had nice ports and a lot of things to do while on ship  I thoroughly enjoyed this cruise, the staff and the guests.