What will Island Princess look like after May 2015?

[Ronnieslady]

Hi Sandy,

 

After studying the deck plans and pictures at great length, this is what I've come up with (not to scale), and I've brought forward the suite pictures in the next post after this one for ease of access to compare...

 

 

Wow Dave, you did a great job on the layout. All I can say is Princess needs to hire you really bad.

 

Are those end cabins on the Emerald & Dolphin decks covered or partial covered?????

Also what is the center aft. space on the Promenade deck.???? Looks too small to be public space.

 

Thanks for so much work Dave,

Grace

[UpcountryTravelers]

To sum, it looks like Island Princess will no longer be my favorite ship, because the "uncrowded" no longer applies. SO......only Coral Princess and Ocean Princess remain on my "favorites" list. Sad to see.

[dmwnc1959]

Wow Dave, you did a great job on the layout. All I can say is Princess needs to hire you really bad.

 

Are those end cabins on the Emerald & Dolphin decks covered or partial covered?????

Also what is the center aft. space on the Promenade deck.???? Looks too small to be public space.

 

Thanks for so much work Dave,

Grace

 

 

Since the Promenade Deck use to wrap around and that space was more or less an open deck or part of the old Universe Lounge back-stage areas, one can only assume that now with the added cabins any 'blank' space is going to be used as either equipment storage, linen/supply storage, or a crew access space.

 

As for the end-balconies on Emerald and Dolphin Decks, they appear to be covered:

 

 

 

[dmwnc1959]

To sum, it looks like Island Princess will no longer be my favorite ship, because the "uncrowded" no longer applies. SO......only Coral Princess and Ocean Princess remain on my "favorites" list. Sad to see.

 

 

Doesn't Coral Princess get the same refit next year, and isn't Ocean Princess being sold? You're in trouble now! :eek:;)

 

:D

[Colo Cruiser]

Yes! Its all coming to an end. :o

[rtlk]

The bean counters are winning and we the loyal customers are losing, its sad... :eek::(

[houndlover]

To sum, it looks like Island Princess will no longer be my favorite ship, because the "uncrowded" no longer applies. SO......only Coral Princess and Ocean Princess remain on my "favorites" list. Sad to see.

 

I am on the Island now and it doesn't feel any more crowded than my previous four cruises on her. The Horizon Court redesign is great, and there is still an aft viewing deck on Emerald. My brother is in one of the aft ocean views and is calling the open deck his private balcony because no one is ever out there. Much ado about nothing as far as this refit IMHO, YMMV.

[IECalCruiser]

I am on the Island now and it doesn't feel any more crowded than my previous four cruises on her. The Horizon Court redesign is great, and there is still an aft viewing deck on Emerald. My brother is in one of the aft ocean views and is calling the open deck his private balcony because no one is ever out there. Much ado about nothing as far as this refit IMHO, YMMV.

Nice to get feedback from someone onboard. Did they add the International Cafe?

[icat2000]

I am on the Island now and it doesn't feel any more crowded than my previous four cruises on her. The Horizon Court redesign is great, and there is still an aft viewing deck on Emerald. My brother is in one of the aft ocean views and is calling the open deck his private balcony because no one is ever out there. Much ado about nothing as far as this refit IMHO, YMMV.

Thanks for your feedback. Sometimes people cry wolf early without actually experiencing it.

Edited May 26, 2015 by icat2000

[dmwnc1959]

So, we're just three days into the very first post-refit cruise and proclaiming the entire overhaul a complete success? Yeah, right. Let's give it some time, and a few more (dozens of) reviews, before we start cutting the cake. It'll be interesting to hear from more than just one person.

 

:rolleyes:

Edited May 26, 2015 by dmwnc1959

[Astro Flyer]

So, we're just three days into the very first post-refit cruise and proclaiming the entire overhaul a complete success? Yeah, right. Let's give it some time, and a few more (dozens of) reviews, before we start cutting the cake. It'll be interesting to hear from more than just one person.

 

:rolleyes:

 

No kidding! :rolleyes:

 

The Horizon Court was great improvement on the Coral when it was refurbished a couple of years ago & now that improvement is also on the Island. The Coral had an IC even if it wasn't as good as those in the Piazza on other ships but if the Island has none that's no improvement.

 

A three day "review" is a good start however nothing definitive & not much specific info. There's not much info about what they have actually experienced beyond saying that it's "much ado about nothing as far as this refit". As you said Dave, only time & many more reviews will give us a better idea of the full affects of the changes made to the Island.

 

I hope that overall it's still a great ship but I'll have to read many more reviews to convince me that is true.

Edited May 26, 2015 by Astro Flyer

[IECalCruiser]

So, we're just three days into the very first post-refit cruise and proclaiming the entire overhaul a complete success? Yeah, right. Let's give it some time, and a few more (dozens of) reviews, before we start cutting the cake. It'll be interesting to hear from more than just one person.

 

:rolleyes:

I agree that it was only one post but at least it wasn't negative. There was also a post from the TA when the Universe Lounge was closed but still little impact. It will be good to get the impressions of many more people.

[dmwnc1959]

I agree that it was only one post but at least it wasn't negative. There was also a post from the TA when the Universe Lounge was closed but still little impact. It will be good to get the impressions of many more people.

 

 

I agree that it's good to start getting feedback, but the one from the T/A didn't include the extra 200+ passengers from the additional 110 cabins. Since every cruise is different, and everyone experiences (and tolerates) the affects of 'crowd control' differently, it may take this entire Mediterranean season to come to any decent conclusion on how the conversion impacts the various entertainment and dining venues in Island Princess. It's a 'wait and see' game now.

 

;)

[step_out]

I am on a Med itinerary on the Island, this August. I've been following this (and similar threads) very closely for sometime.

 

As far as Princess goes, I have only previously been on the Regal. My main concern which many have raised, is the extra strain on dining with the increased capacity. Given I'll be on the Island through the northern hemisphere summer holidays, I fear this may be the biggest impact of all changes.

 

Still, I'm looking forward to the cruise either way and also look forward to hearing more from the people that have seen the retro-fit, first hand!

[RickEk]

I agree that it's good to start getting feedback, but the one from the T/A didn't include the extra 200+ passengers from the additional 110 cabins. Since every cruise is different, and everyone experiences (and tolerates) the affects of 'crowd control' differently, it may take this entire Mediterranean season to come to any decent conclusion on how the conversion impacts the various entertainment and dining venues in Island Princess. It's a 'wait and see' game now.

 

;)

 

One thing that I think that bears repeating is that Princess has severely limited upper berths on Island Princess, so if they're not selling as many upper berths, then 200+ people might (I do say might) not make much of an impact.

[dmwnc1959]

One thing that I think that bears repeating is that Princess has severely limited upper berths on Island Princess, so if they're not selling as many upper berths, then 200+ people might (I do say might) not make much of an impact.

 

 

I'm not sure I understand: 200+ people is still 200+ people whether they're booked double or quad occupancy? :confused:

 

But I'm sure not all of them will be eating in the MDR - some may eat in the buffet, their suite, or just get a pizza and hot dog topside.

 

And maybe you're right, maybe it won't make much of an impact. Just like some of the other ships in the fleet, it'll depend on what weather the ship is cruising in, its itinerary, and demographics of the passengers. Lots of variables.

 

:D

[caribill]

One thing that I think that bears repeating is that Princess has severely limited upper berths on Island Princess, so if they're not selling as many upper berths, then 200+ people might (I do say might) not make much of an impact.

 

I am not sure where the information is that says the booking of upper births are being limited, but even if true, most of the time many of them are unused anyway. They are mostly used in summer when more families are traveling with children.

[Bazz100]

One thing that I think that bears repeating is that Princess has severely limited upper berths on Island Princess, so if they're not selling as many upper berths, then 200+ people might (I do say might) not make much of an impact.

 

Can you post the URL to where Princess has posted the information about reducing the upper berths, I would be really interested to read that?

[mysaddlebred000]

We may not get many answers here regarding some of the new suites and other changes because the majority of people cruising do not belong to CC. I have mentioned CC to many people while on cruises and most have never heard of it. There are many older people who really don't care about social media and think many forums like this are just a waste of their time.

[wowzz]

When looking at the Island deck plans on the Princess site, you are now asked if you are sailing before or after May 11th 2016. Can anyone tell me what changes are being planned that will impact post May 11th?

Edited May 26, 2015 by wowzz

[jpj39]

The bean counters are winning and we the loyal customers are losing, its sad... :eek::(

NO THE SHAREHOLDERS ARE WINNING :o

[Astro Flyer]

When looking at the Island deck plans on the Princess site, you are now asked if you are sailing before or after May 11th 2016. Can anyone tell me what changes are being planned that will impact post May 11th?

 

It's merely a re-categorization of some cabin categories such as changing "obstructed" cabins which have no obstruction to more expensive "unobstructed" categories.

 

Obviously I haven't checked every ships' deck plans to do a side-by-side comparison however the changes are most likely to increase pricing.

[Astro Flyer]

NO THE SHAREHOLDERS ARE WINNING :o

 

Being a minimal shareholder (to get OBC ;)), I would prefer the old Island Princess instead of the possibility that my shares value would increase on paper a couple of pennies.

 

And based on the recent sales brochure I received there is less demand resulting in lower prices which cannot make bean counters nor shareholders happy. Whether lower prices are the norm on the Island or not, I doubt if any of us know for certain however it is true for these advertised cruises.

 

I recently received a sales brochure in the mail which included 2015 transatlantic cruises. A 31 day cruise (Rome to Ft Lauderdale) on the Island cost $500 less for an inside cabin than a Regal 23 day cruise (Berlin to NYC). Thus 8 extra days on the Island cost $500 less than on the Regal. :eek:

 

I doubt if that's what the bean counters nor shareholders had in mind after spending a lot of money to remodel the Island Princess & is possibly due to a lack interest in the new & not improved Island Princess. Only time will tell if the investment to change the Island was a wise decision however based on this one example it may not have been money well spent.

Edited May 26, 2015 by Astro Flyer

[TorontoTL]

I can understand what they did to the Island and plan to do with the Coral based on what was happening in Venice. I see that they would want to optimize the ship and ensure sufficient capacity and money. I too am a shareholder.

 

However, as a passenger, I would have preferred that they didn't eliminate common areas and features on the ship while adding passengers.

[waltd]

Frank I think if Princess actually remodeled or added to the public areas maybe things would be different with the Island. But to me they just added cabins that only affect a few. They actually took away from the public areas. No IC to look forward to. Although I will be glad to see what they did with the Horizon Court but that's not much. I think most people now a days what to cruise on the latest and greatest so Princess can ask for more when it comes to the Royal and Regal. Old timers like me still like the smaller ships, but not too small :), and if the price and itinerary are right I will not hesitate to sail the Island again. :)

 

Joe