Island Princess E737 did we make a mistake?

[Mt Lassen]

We have booked a Panama Canal full transit next year on the Island Princess. This will be our 17th cruise, but first on Princess. I have read several reviews and several negative comments on CC about the conditions on the Island Princess after the recent refit. We chose E737 because on our last canal transit we had an aft cabin in a similar location. We found that the aft cabins where we were able to see both behind and to the side of the ship provided a great view of the canal. My concern is not so much with the cabin location, but with what appears to be over crowding in the onboard venues caused by the additional cabins that were added during the refit. We could switch to the Coral Princess, but we liked the idea of ending in San Francisco rather than Los Angeles. Any input is appreciated.

 

Thanks

[Colo Cruiser]

We have booked a Panama Canal full transit next year on the Island Princess. This will be our 17th cruise, but first on Princess. I have read several reviews and several negative comments on CC about the conditions on the Island Princess after the recent refit. We chose E737 because on our last canal transit we had an aft cabin in a similar location. We found that the aft cabins where we were able to see both behind and to the side of the ship provided a great view of the canal. My concern is not so much with the cabin location, but with what appears to be over crowding in the onboard venues caused by the additional cabins that were added during the refit. We could switch to the Coral Princess, but we liked the idea of ending in San Francisco rather than Los Angeles. Any input is appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

 

We have sailed both in the last 3 months, if it were me and I had the chance to book the Coral I would. :)

[lrockwitt]

We just got off the Island Princess last week and did not find any over crowding anywhere on the ship. We did a partial transit and booked a B2B full transit next January again on the Island Princess. We had an awesome time.[emoji3][emoji3][emoji3][emoji3]

 

 

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Edited January 29, 2016 by lrockwitt

[Colo Cruiser]

I will add on the Island in Nov that there were major issues with AT dining. There was a line every night starting at 5 that went into the atrium and lasted until about 8:30. There are now 200 plus extra people onboard.

I felt so bad for the headwaiter at the door.

 

1 less large 2 level show lounge.

1/3 of the Promenade deck is gone.

All aft viewing areas except 1 are gone.

 

No new space was added or any current space modified to handle these extra passengers. :(

[lrockwitt]

True there was a long line for anytime dining each night, but we do traditional dining no lines.

 

 

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[2pbears]

I will add on the Island in Nov that there were major issues with AT dining. There was a line every night starting at 5 that went into the atrium and lasted until about 8:30. There are now 200 plus extra people onboard.

I felt so bad for the headwaiter at the door.

 

1 less large 2 level show lounge.

1/3 of the Promenade deck is gone.

All aft viewing areas except 1 are gone.

 

No new space was added or any current space modified to handle these extra passengers. :(

 

We have booked the Island for a Panama Canal cruise in February, 2017. We have chosen Any Time Dining on all of our previous Princess cruises but because of comments like the above combined with our very bad experience with ATD on the Island before her makeover, we have switched to Traditional Dining for this cruise.

[2pbears]

By the Way, Mt Lassen, we drove up to Red Bluff a couple of weeks ago and the views of the snow covered mountain were prettier than we have seen for several years. Thank goodness for El Nino! :)

[Colo Cruiser]

We have booked the Island for a Panama Canal cruise in February, 2017. We have chosen Any Time Dining on all of our previous Princess cruises but because of comments like the above combined with our very bad experience with ATD on the Island before her makeover, we have switched to Traditional Dining for this cruise.

 

Good idea.

 

We were spared because we eat late. ;)

[justafem]

By the Way, Mt Lassen, we drove up to Red Bluff a couple of weeks ago and the views of the snow covered mountain were prettier than we have seen for several years. Thank goodness for El Nino! :)

 

I'm only about 30 miles north of Red Bluff, Redding here!

[WmFCoyote]

If there is any choice, I would never sail on the Island again. We did the TA from Venice in November and all I could remember was the crowed public areas. They did not make a good move when they butchered the Island Princess.

[EDDY0827]

I'm only about 30 miles north of Red Bluff, Redding here!

I'm in Shasta Lake, close enough!