Island Princess Cruise Reviews - Reviews

The staff for the most part were very friendly and respectful.  We had a very positive experience with our cabin steward that makes my whole trip worth the money.  His name was Danti and he will always be a hero for us.

We took this cruise at the last minute because we are taking this ship in March through the Panama Canal and it gave us the opportunity to get used to the ship. We really enjoyed the quick trip and the layout of the ship. The crew as always was great. This would be a five star event if it were not for the departure in San Francisco. The early passengers, who were mostly retuning to the ship to continue their journey, were not aware that they needed to complete their Customs Declaration form prior to leaving the ship. They were filling out their forms at the customs desk which caused a huge delay in departing the ship for those who followed. We ended up with over a two hour delay. We look forward to our Panama cruise in March.   

The itinerary was excellent and we saw everything we'd hoped to, even some whales in the distance. The train ride at Skagway up the White Pass was very exciting, only topped by the float plane excursion from Juneau. We flew low over ice-fields, glaciers and mountains. The Island Princess was a very comfortable ship and the restaurant arrangements good. Our only slight criticism was that when disembarking for excursions it was difficult to find a representative and to see which queue to join or where to go. On board there were some interesting talks from a wildlife expert, and other entertainment.

The sights and sounds of Alaska are always worth the trip. The buffet seems to have too much salmon. The drinks in la Patisserie were never made the same way twice, and not in a good way. Ordered tea based drink, got carbonated flavor water. They need to get this fixed. Often the linens were showing wear or stained. Not up to Princess standards.

Food in dining room, not bad, Crew members not bad,   However, there's a young lady at the Gurest Relations desk that was not very friendly, ignored me even though she was the agent closest to the Elite/Suites line and kept taking guests in the regular line first.   I finally spoke up and told her that wasn't she supposed to help me since I was in the Elite line.   So, she sends the guest in front of her back in line and tells me to come forward.   Even then, she didn't apologize nor was she very friendly with me!

Princess has gone even further downhill since last year.   We had gone on one of their land tours prior to getting on board.  Their first lodge, Mt. McKinley, delivered my hardcase Samsonite with the side handle broken; I figured it would be okay since I still had the top handle. And one corner of it was cracked about 11/2 inches.  However, delivery at the next lodge, Denali, the top handle was also broken.   I reported it to the front desk and they sent maintenance to fix both.  Maintenance tried to fix both but was unable to do so and in the process broke the metal piece on the handles which hooks the handles onto the suitcase.  Maintenance delivered my suitcase and said that they were unable to fix and had duct taped both handles to that we could at least have something to hang onto for the rest of the trip.

     Apparently the duct tape did not hold because when my luggage was delivered to our room onboard the Island Princess the handles had come apart again!      My fault that I did not do my research for the bus ride from Denali to Copper River lodge.   I did not know that it would take a 9-hour bus ride on unpaved road across a very isolated area of Alaska.   Not only was it unpaved but there were several areas along the way that they paved with huge potholes in it;  that caused me to have a sore neck and lower back for days.   The young bus driver was very nice but quite inexperienced.   After stopping for a little while, we started going again.   All of us on board started to smell a very strong burning odor and we saw thick gray-white smoke pass by both sides of the bus.  The driver then asks if we could smell something burning and all of us said 'Yes!!!'.   He pulls to the side and sees all that smoke coming from the back of the bus and tries to contact someone on his satellite phone.   Took a while, he finally contacts someone and that person tells him that he probably did not release his airbrakes properly and tells him how to do so once they cooled down.   On our way again, and it begins to rain.   Driver turns on wipers and so far, so good.   However, a few miles down the road, the wiper on the driver's side had fallen off and cannot find the screw.   He decides to take off the other wiper but does not have the tool to remove it so he starts asking us for something that we may have that would work.   No one has anything so that we had to wait 'til the rain let-up somewhat before driving on. 

     Princess always states onboard and in a letter given upon boarding, that washing your hands with soap and water for 20 sec. is so important to prevent illnesses and esp. norovirus.   The bus however, did not have soap,only hand sanitizer.   Eewww!!

     We used the same bus going from Copper River lodge to Valdez, which was a 31/2 ride.   Bus stunk and was not cleaned from the ride down to Copper River!!!!

     A couple days before getting off ship, we were given paperwork to fill and return asking us for our plans after getting off.   Since we had bought transfers from Whittier to Anchorage airport and our flight was at 12;30pm (Princess agent had confirmed that any flight after the noon hour would be fine) I went to Guest Relations and told them that I wanted to be on the 815 am bus since they had informed me that it would take approx. 11/2 hours to get there.   Night before, we were issued transfers for the 9:15am bus.   So the morning of disembarking,  I asked 2 other agents who were helping with disembarkation whether I would make our flight on time.   Both said that if they assigned us that time, they knew what they were doing.   Fine!   When we boarded the bus, the driver asks for flight schedules and I made sure that he heard that our flights leave at 12:30pm.   He said that he would try to get us there as fast as possible and also said that we were cutting it so close.   Alaska Air told us that if we did not check in 1 hour before our flight, we would not be able to get on.   The bus got us to the airport by 11:20 am but we couldn't check in until we had our checked luggage with us.   The bus driver however, did not tell us where Princess had delivered it earlier.   Alaska agent said to walk quickly to the far end of the terminal and it may be in a holding room there.   Ran there, found our 2 suitcases and got to the Alaska counter exactly on time--11:30am!!!  Stressful all the way 'til the gate!!!    We don't understand why Princess even bothers asking us our plans if they completely ignore what we tell them!!!!

We booked an OV (obstructed view) room and got upgraded to a regular full ocean view room! I visited my friend's balcony cabin and our bathroom is larger than theirs! Our room is at the tail end of the ship so I think it's a remodeled room.

Pros: Close to fitness room and Explorer bar and far from the restaurants (which helps with exercises after voracious eating).

Cons: Since we are at the aft of the ship, engine and anchor noises are more noticeable. At night is no problem since we're usually dead tired. But if you want to have some quiet time during the day, you may not like the noises.

The restaurants are all excellent. We chose anytime eating since the excursion stops vary a lot. We travelled with a large group of 20 and sometimes they cannot accommodate us.

We enjoyed our Alaska cruise and the Island Princess.  We had spent 7 independent days touring Alaska by rental car so it was very relaxing to leave the details to the Island Princess.  I enjoyed the 2 sea days at the start of the cruise touring Hubbard Glacier and Glacier Bay...but then came 3 hectic days in ports. Fun but tiring and the evening activities after port days seemed diminished.

I would recommend this cruise to everyone seeking a scenic, exciting journey!  The staff was wonderful and attentive. Our waiters made great recommendations for dining selections. The steward kept our cabin clean and well stocked with linen.  Crewmembers always said, "Hello, madame ".  It didn't matter if they were busy at work or not. Fellow cruisers where friendly and happy to share their experiences.  Gteat variety of land excursions.

We enjoyed the land tour and cruise.  Alaska is beautiful.  The food was delicious and service was great.  Every one was so considerate and helpful  Service in dining room was excellent.  Our servers, Charles and Leila, number 10 went over and beyond serving us.  Arnold Soriano was waiter some nights anfd he was great too.  Ready to travel again!  

Doc Reynolds, our travel agent with WTH did an excellent job.  We are so thankful for all his help.   Thanks for a great week.

Barbara

 good stops, enjoyed the excursions

food was disappointing - we were in Alaska, I expected salmon on the menu every night. it was once and it wasn't very good

trip was mostly spent on cruising will little to see at stops.  in general we stopped at ports that were gateways to the gold fields but I didn't get any sense of what it took or the path taken.  guess this was the wrong trip fro what I was looking for.

second time that we cruise to Alaska and with Princess.  We can say we have seen the two faces of Alaska.  Two years ago in july the sun was out on the glacier with an amazing experience.  White mounds of ice crushing into the water.. This time in august the ice was almost black, with overcasted sky and

cloudy.   But we had a terrific time anyway!!

This was my favorite vacation in recent memory. I was so relaxed, and there were plenty of interesting things to do.  I enjoyed the naturalist lectures, the sled dog talk, the shows, the Sudoku and Trivia challenges, the excursions, the stretch and abs classes, and the pools.  The Island Princess is a glorious ship, with an alert, friendly, and helpful staff.  The wait staff in the dining room was superb, and the menu choices and presentations were out of this world.  Fabulous buffets too.  The included excursions in Denali and Fairbanks were perfect and gave us thorough and fascinating introductions to the state and its history.  Princess is expert at moving great numbers of people in a very organized way, without making us feel like sheep.  I felt that we were all treated with respect and courtesy at all times.  

Our land and cruise tour thru Princess on the Island Princess was excellent. Alaska is breath taking. The snow on top of the Mountains and the tree, never saw so many trees lush and green. The tour directors for the cruise were all very knowlagble and pointed out sites and explained everything. Princesses staff was also terrific and our room steward was also great.

Nice ship. Better than expected dining experience except for the the specialty restaurant - Sabatini - very mediocre. I will not recommend this restaurant to my friends. It is perhaps marginally better than the dining room food.

Service overall was excellent but I did not like the constant "selling"/sales pitch. 

Recommend a high end sushi restaurant on the ship - a healthy option - I would have been happy to pay the extra.

The gym was too small and no view unlike the other ships I've been on - dissapointing.

My wife and I had an incredible experience on our Alaska cruise. The service the staff of  Princess Cruise was exceptional and polite. The shows was very good and entertaining. The excursion was well organized and very exciting. The food was very good, but speciality restaurant was not as good as expected. The ship was very clean . We would definitely take this trip again. Overall, we truly enjoyed our cruising experience. Anyone looking to take a cruise to Alaska will truly enjoyed this cruise and incredible experience. 

The cruise portion of the trip was wonderful.  However, the land tour was not.

We had a lot of problems with the excursions that were solely the fault of Princess. We were unable to find anyone that would help solve the excursion problem.  The accommodations at the Denali  & Mt McKinley lodge were poor.,    The rooms needs immediate refurbishing.  Beds had old bedspreads & blankets & the carpeting was spotted.  If I had seen the room first I never would have stayed.  Bathroom was clean, but again old.  Sink area very small no  place to put toiletries.    

We are not fond of cruising, but we have no complaints about the Island Princess with 2200 passengers.  It was redecorated May 2015 and was very well kept and clean. The food was fantastic- such variety with an abundance of fruit, veggies, meats, fresh breads and desserts to gain 6 pounds on!  The crew of 900 were attentive and friendly.

We were up close to only one glacier, which calved into the sea...Margery Glacier was very beautiful.  We took the train and bus combo through Frontier Tours in Skagway, which we would highly recommend. 

We were not satisfied with the 10 day land cruise package. 

The tours provided little interest and for sure lacked of any wildlife.  The scenery at times is nice but doesn't take your breath away.  Accommodations are simple but adequate prices are high. 

The balcony cabin on the Island Princess was ample and had good storage. Service was adequate but not at the level we have seen in other cruises.  Nothing particularly impressive with the food at the buffet or the restaurant.  The specialty restaurant Sabattine was worth the extra charge. 

We got the impression that when the ship was designed they forgot about a casino and a gym. The casino is the size of a mid size living room and the gym is indoors with no windows looking out.   Not what you expect in a modern ocean linner 

The one outstanding portion was the shows. In particular On The Bayou very well done.  

No hot water in the shower. 

Old linens. 

Develp terrible allergy and wanted to charge me for a doctor because they only have medical services 4 hrs a day. Had to call my family doctor to prescribe me, the allergy was pretty bad.

The entire ship smells like cigar. People smoke insidr the Churchill room that in in the center of the ship, so cigar smokes goes/smell travels through ship ventilation, library which was next to my room smells so bad, pure cigar. Gave me a headache the entire trip.