Therese S.

I never post reviews for that very reason. Thank you again for your review, I enjoyed following along.

Thank you to Iijost and geoherb for your responses to my question regarding the international cafe. Wish princess would take out the prime real estate used for photos and create a true full service IC. Photos could be digital views on your stateroom tv or on the princess app then print up the one you choose.

We found the same! Booked March 13, 2026 on the Island Princess the last week of December and there might have been maybe 3 or 4 inside cabins to choose from. I thought we made our booking soon after release of the itinerary so was surprised and disappointed at the choices available. We also went with Guarantee Inside. Today I counted up 11 inside cabins available, so they are releasing more. My hopes is we are able to bid on a higher category as we get closer. I don’t like this new program of you chose your own cabin and pay a little more. just in case a princess rep reads these posts “Bring Back the Coffee Card” 😃

Thank you for the live from the Island Princess, I’m enjoying your daily updates. Can you please confirm whether or not there’s some sort of International Cafe? I’ve read posts that says there’s a small one (forget where) but others say no. If not, where do you get Lattes, other speciality coffees, etc and the extra good almond croissants?

Thank you so much for this info. The CTRL key works and you do have to click on the new tab. Ive been checking every day for the up close Hubbard glacier tour for our 22 day Alaska cruise and today it became available. Following your instructions I was able to book two spots. I've read here that this particular excursion sells out very fast, so yes thank you again.

Thanks for the history on how/when Coral ended up with an IC but the Island did not. I will really miss it on our 54 day Tahiti.New Zealand.Australia cruise in 2026

I always thought the Coral and Island Princess were sister ships. Did the Coral always have an International Cafe and the Island did not? Or did the Island lose its dedicated IC after the aft cabins were added? Almond Croissants are my favorite and Princess makes some of the best. For those ships without an IC can you get the almond croissants in the buffet area? I'm hoping during the next Island Princess dry-dock that they add the international cafe. Is a photo gallery even needed on ships anymore? I hate seeing all the pictures displayed knowing most will be destroyed, seems better to have digital viewing. Maybe one could be added there

I too prefer paper napkins and assumed they burned paper waste, hate the slick cloth napkins to wipe my fingers. We tend to grab a handful of paper napkins from the IC cafe each time we get coffee and sometimes take with us to the buffet.

Thanks a bunch...now I know what to look for. How far in advance of your June 2024 cruise did it show up to book? And if you dont mind me asking how much? Our cruise is June 2025, I'm probably looking for it to show up too soon

Is the Hubbard glacier small boat a Princess excursion? Would you find it listed under the day you cruise the Glacier? We're taking the 22 day Ultimate Alaska cruise June 2025 and Ive been waiting and checking to see if something like this shows up but so far no luck.

Thanks for the tip. I did take a look at whatsinport and it's very similar to the information that used to be here on cruise critic. Now to learn about New Zealand, Australia and some South Pacific ports.

Thank you, happy someone else remembers it. The wording destination is better than ports of call and I also would print the guides and take with me. The info was so helpful in my early days of cruising. Now I have two cruises coming up that have ports Ive never been to and want to start learning about them. It’s strange that cruise critic would drop such helpful information.

20 years ago I discovered Cruise Critic and have loved it since for all sorts of information. Maybe I'm mistaken but wasn't there at one time a section where you could research ports written by staff(?) not fellow cruisers with information on ports of call such as language and currency used at port, customs, what sites not to miss, ease of getting around, top ten things not to miss, a simple map, etc. I have been searching for this information all over this site, but no luck. Maybe it was another cruise information website, but seems like it was CC. Does anyone else remember this or am I going crazy?

I agree with Negn…it all depends on how large and open the wound is. My husband recently received IV antibiotics for 2 days to combat a nasty hot abscess just below the elbow. In the end he needed surgery and then more IV antibiotics. Was left with a 2 inch open gaping wound to heal and I became wound nurse. Kaiser sent us/me home with my own kit of scissors, tweezers, syringe to spray wound cleaner inside the wound, sterile pads, saline solution, gloves, tape,collagen and packing strips for the packing which was every 12 hours then changed to every 2 days as it heals. After my original hesitation, I found the wound cleaning and packing to be pretty simple. I did take a photo each time the bandage was changed to watch for any major changes. It’s been almost a month now and wound is almost closed, probably another week of packing left. I would say if your partner is up to being a wound nurse, and the wound is healing nicely and you have all the supplies, to go for it. But, I would stay out of pools, hot tubs and the ocean which could impact the enjoyment of your cruise.

you're feelings on a long cruise make me nervous! We’re booked on the 54 day March 2026 on the Island and worried it might be too long. The longest cruise we’ve been on was a 28 day and loved it. I get it about the same CD jokes as they become familiar after a while. Were there a lot of sea days between ports on your 63 day? And perhaps that made it feel too long? We’ve also been on the Island twice, once in 2006 (loved it) the full walk around promenade and then again in 2016 after the back was chopped up and cabins added. The Universal lounge was really missed for more options in entertainment. I would have preferred a different ship for our 54 day but it goes where I want to go.

I’ve really enjoyed your Live and all your photos, especially your walking tour photos of PV and Cabo, thank you. We hope to do this same cruise in October. A tip for the swollen feet and ankles. I used to experience the same, also including swollen hands. Once I stopped drinking the ships water where I could Ive noticed a big difference. We pre-order multiple 12 packs of water depending on the length of the cruise. What a difference that has made. It has really helped! You can never avoid all the salt thats in the food and yes the water is desalinated, but we drink a lot of bottled water in our cabin and it has helped offset all the salt.

I noticed the same on the 11 day Mexican Riviera cruises out of San Francisco on The Ruby. Starting basic inside fare for October 2024 is $817 while the same cruise in January 2025 is $677. Im guessing it’s the weather. I love cruising in the fall versus January. Im holding out for a last minute price drop or special rates for California residents.

I just don't get why Princess has not added an International Cafe to the same location where its located on Coral Princess, Deck 6 near the Photo Gallery. Other than IP losing the Universal lounge with the addition of more cabins, aren't these two sister ships? Back in 2016 on a Panama Canal cruise on the Island, we were told at the Captains party that they hoped to add one, but that was 7 years ago! With the push towards packages, maybe one will be added in the next refurbishment. One thing I do remember is not buying one coffee during the 19 days onboard because I didn't know where to purchase my morning Latte. If the Island had a mini international cafe set up, it was not easily noticeable.

Oh... Princess does charge the credit card on file and if no logerr interested you have to go to the excursions desk to have charges removed. On our recent California Coastal cruise, we were wait listed for the Getty museum/Santa Monica tour. Didn't know we made the cut until we got on board and saw our tickets and was very happy about it.

Ive been on multiple waitlisted excursions. Ive been notified by email that I cleared the list and time to pay up and also had to wait until onboard to discover we cleared the list. In those cases we didn't know until we saw the tour tickets on the cabin desk upon boarding.

The INCREASE went through! I just checked a 33 day cruise for this fall that I plan to cancel and internet is now $12.50 for platinum/elite. So glad I purchased internet last week for my 22 day and 54 day cruises at the rate of $7.50 with a total overall savings of $380

Yes see post #91 and why would Princess let us know? For those booking standard fare they can catch us unaware and get more $$$. This is why I love Cruise Critic! I learn more here than from my own TA who is currently escorting a Hawaiian cruise.

You are so right! but Princess will never get me to purchases any of the packages. Packages are still in Princess favor and always will be and I can’t justify the cost. As long as I can pre-purchase water, soda and alcohol Im good. And if they take that away I have other ways 🙂 I am also looking at other cruise lines now that another poster has described how easy it is to take Amtrak from Sacramento to San Diego.

Take another look at your 2026 cruise as I was just able to book/pay for internet on our March 2026 cruise at the current rate.

Thank you to the original OP for this information. I was able to purchase internet at the rate of $7.50 per day (platinum level) for our June 2025 22 day Alaska cruise and went ahead and prepaid daily tips in case they also go up. Was not able to purchase internet for our 54 day South Pacific cruise in March 2026. App says “No Plans Available to Purchase”. Maybe its just too far out date wise.