What will Island Princess look like after May 2015?

[Kineticoh20]

Am I seeing some kind of optical illusion? Look at the picture again of the stern Lido deck. There is 5 suites. We have L721 booked for our upcoming Med cruise. Count the cabins left to right, the last being 721 it looks like it is half the size of 722 on the aft portion.

[ahracer]

We were married on the aft baha deck in 2003. Whenever we would sail on the Island we would go back there and stand in the same spot we took our vows.....sad it is gone at least we have the pictures:)

Edited May 21, 2015 by ahracer

[Roses2]

We do not share the gloom and doom scenario for the Island Princess. We were on the March/April TA just prior to her 45 day retrofit. The ship sailed at capacity. During the 17 day cruise the Universe Lounge was closed. It made no appreciable difference in the enjoyment of the cruise, to us at least.

 

Our very first cruise was on the Island Princess. We also did a full Panama Canal transit on her. All three of our cruises were excellent and the Island is among our favorite ships.

 

Before the retrofit there only were 16 full suites on the ship. That is not nearly enough to support current demand. The addition of more full suites certainly was a needed addition to satisfy demand.

 

The Island and Coral hulls are virtually the same length as the Grand Class ships. The Panamax hulls are not as wide. It appears Princess faced the choice of selling and replacing the Island and Coral on the basis of competitive profitability or modifying them to bring them up to meet current needs.

 

We may be in the minority but we are glad they kept both ships and upgraded them.

Edited May 21, 2015 by Roses2
Typo256

[dmwnc1959]

For those tracking Island Princess on Marine Traffic and awaiting her arrival into Venice tomorrow, here is a webcam that she'll pass by as she heads down the Canale di San Marco en route to the cruise ship terminal. The webcam normally updates every few seconds....

 

http://www.ismar.cnr.it/infrastrutture/piattaforma-acqua-alta/webcam/webcam-bacino-s.-marco

 

:D

[Ronnieslady]

At the end of Caribe Deck on the deck plans its showing a large open area, and at the end of Dolphin Deck one of those undisclosed 'white spaces'.

 

:D

 

 

 

 

 

This depends on if you want that much desired wake view, or a view off the side. Sure you may still see the wake in one of those aft-corner cabins, but...

 

Oh, and those aft balconies look completely recessed, so not much sun.

 

;)

 

 

 

 

Suites A728 and A729. They look to be uncovered balconies too?

 

:cool:

 

 

 

 

 

According to the new deck plans, and by looking at that picture, it does look like it.

 

:confused:.

 

Yes, suites A728 & A729 do seem to be uncovered. Just the opposite of what Princess told me.:confused: They also told me they would have a steel hull. We can clearly see they are the blue glass. She had me on hold a long time checking with the structural dept. I don't mind the wait if the info is accurate. I guess they don't care. I guess this is a great example of why we don't need to call them. You guys seem to care more than they do & you are not even getting paid. Sorry for the misinformation I posted a day or 2 ago, regarding this.

Sure hope they are reading this.

Grace

[Cruzin-K]

We havw one of the new aft blconies (B741) for a December Panama canal cruise. Looking forward to seeing sme pictures soon

 

Hopefully I'll have the same cabin (or the one next to it) for my Panama Canal cruise in 2017. My TA will try to get it for me tomorrow when bookings open. I'm also looking forward to reports from people staying back there.

[Thumper69]

Am I seeing some kind of optical illusion? Look at the picture again of the stern Lido deck. There is 5 suites. We have L721 booked for our upcoming Med cruise. Count the cabins left to right, the last being 721 it looks like it is half the size of 722 on the aft portion.

 

I was thinking the same thing but I think that is an optical illusion. I'm sure you'll have a wonderful cruise and enjoy the suite. I would love to see some images of the inside, if you can I'd appreciate it.

[trvllin1]

Now that we have seen the exterior shots and pretty much agree that the design is a disaster, I'm holding my breath for pictures of the redesigned interior. I can't imagine a fitness center with no windows! And I still want to know where/how they plan to manage dining for all the additional guests. And I'm pretty sure the hack job on the library will make me cry! I think there was still some uncertainty about whether an IC was to be added, if it is, that might mollify me a *little* bit. I hope they are happy with the results as I think very few of the passengers will be.

[dmwnc1959]

A couple of more images of Island Princess, these at a different angle and leading credence to the earlier observations that maybe the Lido Deck aft-facing suites (L722 and L721) do not wrap-around, whereas the side-facing Aloha Deck aft suites (A726 and A727) do, both contrary to what the deck plans show. I also brought forward the other images previously posted:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are the decks annotated...

 

(Credit all images to Marjan Stropnik)

Edited May 21, 2015 by dmwnc1959

[shipfriend_max]

That does not look nice at all!! :eek:

 

Shame about the previously beautiful sip... :(

[dmwnc1959]

Yes, suites A728 & A729 do seem to be uncovered. Just the opposite of what Princess told me.:confused: They also told me they would have a steel hull. We can clearly see they are the blue glass. She had me on hold a long time checking with the structural dept. I don't mind the wait if the info is accurate. I guess they don't care. I guess this is a great example of why we don't need to call them. You guys seem to care more than they do & you are not even getting paid. Sorry for the misinformation I posted a day or 2 ago, regarding this.

Sure hope they are reading this.

Grace

 

Imagine that. I've posted all of these images as an FYI service, and I'm not even booked on the ship. At all.

 

:D

 

 

We do not share the gloom and doom scenario for the Island Princess. We were on the March/April TA just prior to her 45 day retrofit. The ship sailed at capacity. During the 17 day cruise the Universe Lounge was closed. It made no appreciable difference in the enjoyment of the cruise, to us at least.

 

 

I think the concern is not so much the removal of the Universe Lounge, but adding 220+ additional passengers, and how that is going to affect the remaining venues and dining. That is what may have made an appreciable difference in the enjoyment of your cruise, not just the closure of the Universe Lounge. Only time will tell.

 

;)

 

 

That does not look nice at all!! :eek:

 

Shame about the previously beautiful sip... :(

 

 

It's like I said earlier: aesthetics matter, to a point. With all of the monies invested in the refit/rebuild you would think they could have afforded the construction of a 'builders model' to visual the outcome. Sometimes those are so much better than a 3D rendering on a computer screen.

 

;)

[Bazz100]

She is now on her fourth circuit, doing a large loop. When is she due in Venice?

[dmwnc1959]

She is now on her fourth circuit, doing a large loop. When is she due in Venice?

 

 

Her status on Marine Traffic shows an ETA Venice at 4pm (1600) UTC May 21 2015. That's roughly 6pm local time in Venice, 12pm EST, and 9am PDT. The arrival time on Marine Traffic usually indicates when she arrives at the entrance to the port, not docked pier side. I also get alerts from Marine Traffic and will try to grab a few images of her from this webcam which she'll pass by as she heads down the Canale di San Marco en route to the cruise ship terminal. The webcam normally updates every few seconds....

 

http://www.ismar.cnr.it/infrastrutture/piattaforma-acqua-alta/webcam/webcam-bacino-s.-marco

 

:D

[Bazz100]

She won't have time to do another loop if the 16.00 is to be met. Expect to see her breaking out westerly and head for Venice at the top of the loop maybe?

[dmwnc1959]

She won't have time to do another loop if the 16.00 is to be met. Expect to see her breaking out westerly and head for Venice at the top of the loop maybe?

 

 

Her current speed is showing as 16.7 knots; at that speed it places her two hours from the port entrance should she head that way now. Given that she isn't supposed to be there for another four hours, she'll probably make an abbreviated loop (or drop speed by half) before heading towards Venice.

 

:D

[jpj39]

That does not look nice at all!! :eek:

 

Shame about the previously beautiful sip... :(

 

BEAUTY IS IN THE EYES OF THE BEHOLDER

we have heard from the naysayers , now lets hear what the actual cruisers of the Island Princess have to say about the refit. :rolleyes:

looks like the island princess Mediterrean bookings are prety much sold out. apparently the refit didn't hurt the bookings :D

[dmwnc1959]

She is finishing up her 5th complete loop; this must be the post-refit sea trials I had mentioned earlier. The Marine Traffic app for iPhone has a feature where you can watch her 'move' over her past course for the last 24 hours (or so) and during two of the loops, at the bottom of the loop, she did a high speed run - once at 16kts and the other at 20kts, into the turn.

 

[dmwnc1959]

BEAUTY IS IN THE EYES OF THE BEHOLDER

we have heard from the naysayers , now lets hear what the actual cruisers of the Island Princess have to say about the refit. :rolleyes:

looks like the island princess Mediterrean bookings are prety much sold out. a

apparently the refit didn't hurt the bookings :D

 

 

Island Princess is one of the very few Princess Cruises ships in the Mediterranean, so sure the bookings are going to be tight. But that's certainly not an accurate measurement, as cancellations could have been countered by new bookings; those who see the changes, don't like them, and have cancelled, countered by those who don't know about the refit or how the experience will be affected and are still booked.

 

And there is a difference between beauty and function (ship-board experience). We have already seen that the aesthetics of her stern have been drastically altered. What we will learn shortly is how the 200+ additional passengers and reduction of a main showroom affect the ships various functions.

 

As for 'beauty is in the eyes of the beholder', a reminder in this before-and-after image...

 

Edited May 21, 2015 by dmwnc1959

[Kennykat]

I think the Panama Canal cruises is one of the areas where the new design will be felt. The aft catwalks were a great place to watch the locks work and were used by a LOT of people when we were on her in January this year. This great view is going to be greatly limited. The view from Dolphin deck at the lock level was truly spectacular as we could watch the locks fill and empty. K

[RickEk]

One thing that has not been mentioned, is that upper berths have been severely restricted... probably because of lifeboat space. So they may have added 200+ lower berth passengers, but that number will be partially offset by the restriction on upper berth passengers.

[Colo Cruiser]

BEAUTY IS IN THE EYES OF THE BEHOLDER

we have heard from the naysayers , now lets hear what the actual cruisers of the Island Princess have to say about the refit. :rolleyes:

looks like the island princess Mediterrean bookings are prety much sold out. apparently the refit didn't hurt the bookings :D

]

 

 

Why would the 25 or so here on CC have any effect on bookings???? :confused:

 

Princess cruises sell out consistently anyway. 99% of passengers don't even know about any changes. :rolleyes:

Edited May 21, 2015 by Colo Cruiser

[Bazz100]

Well she is just commencing the northerly leg of her fifth loop so she could still be on for 16.00 UTC in Venice just about. I didn't think she would have time for a fifth loop but was forgetting we are on British Summer Time now not UTC, doh!

 

As for beauty being in the eye of the beholder, I don't think she is a contender for "rear of the year" anymore, LOL.

[dmwnc1959]

It looks like, by her Marine Traffic location and speed, that she's running a couple hours behind her scheduled ETA. I work midnight shifts so I'm going to bed. Hopefully someone who knows how can get a few screen grabs from the webcam and post them (and not using a thumbnail size image either). ;)

 

:D

[dmwnc1959]

Well she is just commencing the northerly leg of her fifth loop so she could still be on for 16.00 UTC in Venice just about. I didn't think she would have time for a fifth loop but was forgetting we are on British Summer Time now not UTC, doh!

 

As for beauty being in the eye of the beholder, I don't think she is a contender for "rear of the year" anymore, LOL.

 

 

According to Marine Traffic she is 45nm from the port entrance. At full speed it'll take about 2hrs.

 

;)

[Bazz100]

She will be late in then Dave. I haven't figured out why my screen captures are only posting thumbnail size on this forum, the originals are normal size. What am I doing wrong?