Island Princess Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Good cruise, overall, except that Princess decided to substitute a stop in Ensenada for a stop in Nicaragua, due civil to unrest in Managua, which is about 300 miles from del Sur.

Terrible - poor entertainment, poor internet, poor casino, lack of activities, very unprofessional cruise activities directors. Based upon this cruise I would not take a Princess Cruise again even if it was free. The outbreak of Nuero Virus on the ship did not help not to mention it cost me an additional $250 in medical fees through no fault of mine as we were perfect healthy when we boarded the ship.

The best part was being on this beautifully decorated ship for Christmas. Our Captain Michael Tavor also made this cruise better than others we have taken. His personality and friendliness, his personal concern about every passenger set a standard that other ship captains should follow. It was a pleasure to hear him and see him all over the ship !

The Island Princess was lovely. We enjoyed the Captain, crew, and other travelers. 15 days went by very quickly. The voice of Danial Oliver was wonderful. We listen to him often. This was a great cruise and we really had a fun time. We are looking forward to cruising with Princess again.

This was our first Princess cruise, we really liked the service and attention to detail of the crew and service personnel. The excursions we took were good, the excursion staff on board were very helpful and honest!

Great cruise except for the way they handled getting off for some of the tours & the disembarkation. This needs to be fixed. They also charged $2 for a .50 cent bottle of water. Gratuities will also cost you $27 per couple per day. The shows were outstanding & the cruise director was one of the best we have seen. The Panama Canal was fantastic & why we took this cruise. Internet price was high.

Enjoyed the Cruise. Will do the same cruise again sometime. Easy to get away for a 3 night cruise. Airfare was a great price so I could go and enjoy Vancouver for the first time. Beautiful place ready to see it again.

Overall cruise was a great experience, the ship could have had more amenities or been more modern, but the staff and service was great and Alaska speaks for itself, just beautiful scenery.

Had an amazing time and wish it was longer! It rained a lot but it really didn't matter. The views and people were great! Everything I expected! The crew on the island princess was amazing!! Very professional and very nice ppl. Natalie the cruise directors assistant was amazing and deserves cruise director!!

Our first cruise, I was very skeptical, I didn't want to leave the ship. Food was bountiful and great, mush to do, and Alaska is amazing!!! We participated in many activities, never felt bored. The naturalist on board was excellent, very down to earth, who really seemed to enjoy teaching us.

Overall, this was a very good cruise to Alaska. I enjoyed meeting new people, seeing some beautiful scenery, and learning a lot! I would recommend Princess to anyone looking to cruise to Alaska, as an affordable choice.

Highly recommend a cruise to Alaska on the Island Princess. The Northbound route from Vancouver to Whittier was a good selection with increasingly more picturesque glaciers as we sailed north.

If you want to go to Alaska and see some beautiful scenery a cruise is a great way to go. Do your research so you see what you want. Timing is everything for weather and seeing wildlife. I am not a seasoned cruiser so I cannot speak for which is best but Princess did live up to their expectations.

The cruse updated us to a better cabin to start. The room was a handicap room which was a larger room. The first night we took a shower and had water all over the floor. We reported it and two man came with a machine sucked up the water and said hair was clogging up the drain. They fixed  that but there was a awful smell in the room , after 4 days of dealing with the not so nice plumber they corrected the problem , the fixed the problem , after dealing with that we were given a small compensation, but we had to deal with the smell. of something he could have fixed in four days, the deck supervisor finally showed up on the fourth

day to smell it for himself (poor response

Overall the cruise was very nice and lived up to our expectations

We enjoyed seeing the purity of the Alaska Inside Passage.  Alaska and Canada were very beautiful.  Port visits were much enjoyed, but Juneau and Ketchikan ports were not long enough, and we felt like we were rushed.  The price of the excursions purchased on the ship were expensive.  We did research and were able to find less expensive excursions that we felt were very enjoyable.  Be aware that the Saxman Totem Poles in Ketchikan take about 15 minutes to see, and you can not enter the main structure.  If you don't go with the ship, it costs $5 to see enter the area with the Totem Poles. We rented a car for a long day in Skagway, and it cost us about $165.  We drove to Whitehorse, Canada and enjoyed the beautiful scenery of Yukon Pass and the Summit.  This was much less expensive than the two of us taking the train excursion. 

Our room service was very good, and overall, staff on the ship were very helpful. The only complaint I had about our room was that the shower curtain was about 1 inch too short, and every time we showered the bathroom floor got very wet.  

It was sometimes unpleasant on the ship due to the large crowds.  Prior to departing for Ports, there were so many people trying to eat breakfast, there was literally NO place to sit.  We would have to wander around with our plate of food until someone left a table.  We had to grab the table before it was cleared so no one else would beat us too it.  The buffet food was OK, but the restaurant food was much better quality. 

The visit to Hubbard Glacier was not as enjoyable as we expected, as we stayed a far distance from the Glacier.  There was another large cruise ship ahead of us, that got much closer to Hubbard Glacier.  We were told by the ship "Naturalist" over the loud speaker that we were going to get closer to the glacier, but we never did.  

For the first week of June, the weather was still cold for most of the trip.  We had a lot of wind and rain, so be prepared for the weather.  Dress in layers so you can enjoy the outdoor portion of the cruise. Take a rain poncho and umbrella just in case.  

We loved the cruise. Only part we didn't care for was not having any phone service the whole time. We had a family emergency just before boarding and couldn't call home to check on things and neither could the ship. Could have paid for internet for way too much but according to most of the people we met on ship that did purchase minutes there were numerous problems from it not working to running their minutes off is first hour because of lack of instructions. Crew for the most part were very helpful but had  a hard time understanding heavy accents at times.

We booked a suite and the amenities that come with it were superb. Out Stewart was very attentive. We also booked The Sanctuary area for at sea days, Glacier Bay, and College Fjord. I would highly recommend this as well. No jockeying to see the view and the attendants were wonderful. 

What I would say needs improvement is the laundry services. We sent in laundry and dry cleaning on Sunday for same day service and we did not receive it back until Wednesday.... hardly same day service.... It would've been one thing if they were simply backed up but two brand new tops that we're purchased prior to the cruise and only worn once were returned pilled. It was upsetting to say the least. 

Overall the good vastly outweighed the bad. The weather was fabulous with absolutely no rain at any point along the way. Alaska is simply gorgeous! 

The Alaska scenery is the only thing that saved this cruise.  Princess was a huge disappointment.  Our trio for 4 totaled  $12,000 including excursions and airfare.  The first night a room steward removed an expensive personal item from our room  and stated that it was trash and we had thrown it away.  They were not even courteous enough to move this person away from our rooms so we spent the remainder of our trip cleaning and straightening our own rooms.  The food was mediocre at best and was never hot.  I have cruised many times on multiple cruise lines including: Carnival, NCL, and Royal Caribbean.  This cruise line was the most disappointing by far.  I would recommend Alaska, but on Holland America or another cruise line.

Very nice ship, clean and all staff very friendly.  Our cabin Steward, Jojan, was awesome!  Excursions were great, especially the seaplane to the Lodge.  We did have a few times when at sea that the activities were not really our type of event so spent time at a bar or in the cabin. Definitely recommend Balcony rooms for the Alaska cruise, you see a lot of glaciers and marine life right off your own balcony and do not have to run topside when something is spotted.  We enjoyed Mark the Marine Life naturalist.  There were a few areas of food waste that could be addressed by the cruise line.  Baskets of bread for a small table just goes to waste.  Ask first if people want the bread before you bring it. Unless you are a heavy drinker everyday, the drink package is not advised.  Very expensive unless you drink at least 8-9 per day.  Overall, we had a great time and are looking for our next destination.  

Favorite - Train excursion on White Pass Train from Skagway was very scenic.

Needs improvement - Food quality; has deteriorated from previous Princess cruise of few years ago; entertainment had high points and some mediocre (the musical performances of Encore and Bayou Nights was very good while the Billy Joel impersonator was pathetic.)

Completely unacceptable - The disembarkation process in Vancouver was a failure. We (along with others) missed our flights. From the time we got off the ship until we boarded the Princess arranged transfers (busses) was over 90 minutes - just standing in line.