Island Princess needs a paint job

[jmkennett]

Watching the Island Princess sail out of PE on the webcam. While not a big concern in my life, the area around the port side anchor is a big rusty mess. Not good advertising for Princess! First impressions are everything. The Eurodam, Oasis, Constellation, and Carnival Freedom all looked great sailing away. The IP had the image that the care is along the lines of a cargo ship. If I hadn't been on Princesss before, I may have chosen another line. A few gallons of paint go a long way and they had plenty of time today to touch it up. Looks bad!

[CRLess]

I noticed that too!

[sunshine100]

we just got off coral princess on March 27th and a bunch of us thought that she needed some paint, too! we blamed it on going through the panama canal???:rolleyes:

[nasa1974]

Didn't the Island have an upgrade last year?

[Reader0108598]

I noticed that too!

 

 

I said the same thing to my husband!

[highheel girl]

Funny that you mention that but we have noticed many of their ships lately have hull paint issues.

There was a time when they were out painting the hull all the time but we hardly ever see them on our cruises anymore.

When we were on the Emerald in 2010 we saw the Royal docked behind us in Barbados and the anchor/bow area looked horrid.

 

No excuse for this. :mad:

[clmom]

Watching the Island Princess sail out of PE on the webcam. While not a big concern in my life, the area around the port side anchor is a big rusty mess. Not good advertising for Princess! First impressions are everything. The Eurodam, Oasis, Constellation, and Carnival Freedom all looked great sailing away. The IP had the image that the care is along the lines of a cargo ship. If I hadn't been on Princesss before, I may have chosen another line. A few gallons of paint go a long way and they had plenty of time today to touch it up. Looks bad!

We were on the Island in January and said the same thing...."whoa..this ship needs some paint!"

[littlesteelo]

That is actually rust which has dripped down from the anchor, and most would clean off without actually painting it.

Looking at this photo here: taken on March 26th, it looks like it has been pretty bad for a while. They could do with getting the pressure washers out. That's what they were doing on Independence of the Seas when I sailed. They were washing all the marine growth off just above the waterline.

[Psychedout]

We got off the Island on the 28th, yes shee needs a paint job and upgrades.

 

Hugh

[rdsqrl]

Funny that you mention that but we have noticed many of their ships lately have hull paint issues.

There was a time when they were out painting the hull all the time but we hardly ever see them on our cruises anymore.

When we were on the Emerald in 2010 we saw the Royal docked behind us in Barbados and the anchor/bow area looked horrid.

 

No excuse for this. :mad:

Paint adds weight. Not really sure, but if they're not out touching up the hull as often as before, that could be one reason.

[gbphatcat]

Watching the Island Princess sail out of PE on the webcam. While not a big concern in my life, the area around the port side anchor is a big rusty mess. Not good advertising for Princess! First impressions are everything. The Eurodam, Oasis, Constellation, and Carnival Freedom all looked great sailing away. The IP had the image that the care is along the lines of a cargo ship. If I hadn't been on Princesss before, I may have chosen another line. A few gallons of paint go a long way and they had plenty of time today to touch it up. Looks bad!

i was thinking the same thing what a rust bucket lol:)

[Loonbeam]

I remember someone on the Island saying that the Canal itinerary is particularly hard on the ships maintenance wise. Something about the salt/fresh water, heavy rains, and something else. They may just be waiting at this point to clean her up before she heads to AK.

 

The inside and all the balconies were in fine condition and I can't think of any upgrades she needs.

[PescadoAmarillo]

Paint adds weight. Not really sure, but if they're not out touching up the hull as often as before, that could be one reason.

I just 45 minutes ago brought home 5 gallons of it from a paint store, and I can attest to this!!

[NewPennCruiser]

This will be her last Canal transit of the season so we'll have to see if she gets a touch up once she hits California. I noticed it a month or so ago watching the PE webcam so it will be interesting to see if they do anything before Alaska.

 

We will be on her southbound cruise out of Whittier on May 30th.

 

Dave

[Mocha'shuman]

I remember someone on the Island saying that the Canal itinerary is particularly hard on the ships maintenance wise. Something about the salt/fresh water, heavy rains, and something else. They may just be waiting at this point to clean her up before she heads to AK.

 

The inside and all the balconies were in fine condition and I can't think of any upgrades she needs.

 

I'm happy to read that she is in good shape inside since I'm going on my first cruise on her on May 16 - Vancouver inside passage.:D

 

Fern

Edited April 27, 2012 by Mocha'shuman

[PurrSusan]

This will be her last Canal transit of the season so we'll have to see if she gets a touch up once she hits California. I noticed it a month or so ago watching the PE webcam so it will be interesting to see if they do anything before Alaska.

 

We will be on her southbound cruise out of Whittier on May 30th.

 

Dave

 

Dave: We'll be on Island on May 30th too!! We have a great rollcall going on the Alaska South Bound 05/30/12 thread if you would like to join in :) I hope Island will be looking good for this cruise. This will be our first Princess cruise so I know we'll be comparing Island with other cruise lines' ships we've previously sailed on. See you onboard!

[Loonbeam]

They were redoing all the outside astroturf/decking while we were on board back in Oct. Other than that, routine maintenance was all that wa needed.

 

I'm happy to read that she is in good shape inside since I'm going on my first cruise on her on May 16 - Vancouver inside passage.:D

 

Fern

[Pam in CA]

The Eurodam, Oasis, Constellation, and Carnival Freedom all looked great sailing away.

Last I heard, the Eurodam, Oasis, etc. don't sail regularly through the Panama Canal. There are perhaps two feet of clearance on either side between the Island and the concrete sides of the Canal, not to mention the metal cables and tractors pulling the ship through. All it takes is one small scratch to become rusted in that environment. These scratches and scrapes are what happens when sailing through the Canal and have nothing to do with the condition of the ship in general. Edited April 28, 2012 by Pam in CA

[littlesteelo]

Last I heard, the Eurodam, Oasis, etc. don't sail regularly through the Panama Canal. There are perhaps two feet of clearance on either side between the Island and the concrete sides of the Canal, not to mention the metal cables and tractors pulling the ship through. All it takes is one small scratch to become rusted in that environment. These scratches and scrapes are what happens when sailing through the Canal and have nothing to do with the condition of the ship in general.

 

Going through the canal will not affect the rusting anchor area. The rust in question is a result of lazy maintenance. Then again, you can't paint the ship when going through the canal, so that may also be the issue. They still should have done it in Port Everglades though.

Edited April 28, 2012 by littlesteelo

[Loonbeam]

One thing I noticed is that turnaround on that ship is SHORT, compared to some others. I would be surprised if they had time.

 

I also wonder if you can do heavier painting/powerwashing at a berth for environmental reasons (I don't mean touch ups, I haven't seen but this seems more significant.)

 

Going through the canal will not affect the rusting anchor area. The rust in question is a result of lazy maintenance. Then again, you can't paint the ship when going through the canal, so that may also be the issue. They still should have done it in Port Everglades though.

[A&L_Ont]

I remember someone on the Island saying that the Canal itinerary is particularly hard on the ships maintenance wise. Something about the salt/fresh water, heavy rains, and something else. They may just be waiting at this point to clean her up before she heads to AK.

 

The inside and all the balconies were in fine condition and I can't think of any upgrades she needs.

 

We did a partial on the Island in January and noticed the rust issue. We also notice the crusty layer of salt over everything on the balcony such as chairs tables etc... And this was with a PHS. Even the glass balconys were coated with salt. Not once during the 10 day cruise did washing of balconies occur. This has always happened on any 7 day cruise we have been on.

 

We guess that they do not wash the balconys and furniture because of the extreme air moisture levels as well as the ocean salt water spray. Whenever we went out on the balcony the chair cushions were damp enough to wet your pants or shorts. Also the last 3 days of sailing it is so windy and wavy that moisture was always present on balcony and we were on deck 9.

 

Hopefully for Alaska they will get the Island and Coral painted up when they are in a climate that is easier to do maintenance on the ship. We did see them doing painting is Costa Rica or Cartagena.

 

Andrew

[Loonbeam]

There was a little salt when we cruised but that was a few months prior to you. But I agree, on that route I think continuous washing is just a losing battle and waste of water other than keeping the decks clean. We didn't have the wet chair issue unless it rained though, higher up on Baha deck (with a covered balcony)

 

But seriously, when Fort Lauderdale is the LEAST humid port on the run, that's Damp...

 

We did a partial on the Island in January and noticed the rust issue. We also notice the crusty layer of salt over everything on the balcony such as chairs tables etc... And this was with a PHS. Even the glass balconys were coated with salt. Not once during the 10 day cruise did washing of balconies occur. This has always happened on any 7 day cruise we have been on.

 

We guess that they do not wash the balconys and furniture because of the extreme air moisture levels as well as the ocean salt water spray. Whenever we went out on the balcony the chair cushions were damp enough to wet your pants or shorts. Also the last 3 days of sailing it is so windy and wavy that moisture was always present on balcony and we were on deck 9.

 

Hopefully for Alaska they will get the Island and Coral painted up when they are in a climate that is easier to do maintenance on the ship. We did see them doing painting is Costa Rica or Cartagena.

 

Andrew

[PathfinderEss]

Watching the Island Princess sail out of PE on the webcam. While not a big concern in my life, the area around the port side anchor is a big rusty mess. Not good advertising for Princess! First impressions are everything. The Eurodam, Oasis, Constellation, and Carnival Freedom all looked great sailing away. The IP had the image that the care is along the lines of a cargo ship. If I hadn't been on Princesss before, I may have chosen another line. A few gallons of paint go a long way and they had plenty of time today to touch it up. Looks bad!

Yes she could use some paint, and some horns:D

[DougandEric]

Be aware the many ports have restrictions against ships performing maintenance while in port - this includes painting due to environment concerns. While at sea, it's not safe or practical to paint certain areas of the hull. :)

[dunc]

I just watched the island princess arriving in aruba! and the rust is terrible.