Island Princess, just how bad is it? new cabins on aft? which to avoid?

[Jimbo]

Okay give me the low down presently how bad the Island Princess is or is not?

 

Looking at Alaska, which aft facing cabin's, decks to avoid.............has the vibrations issues been resolved? or is it still an issue.

 

Overall rest of the ship's condition?

 

Jimbo:)

[paul929207]

We sailed her for b2b Panama Canal cruises a year ago and had a wonderful cruise

[RSF Cruiser]

We stayed in one of the new, aft facing suites on the Aloha level, and we loved our cabin! It's new, bright, well designed, and has a huge balcony. It's our favorite cabin on any cruise we've been on, and we've been on a lot of cruises. In general, if vibrations are a concern for you, a mid-ship cabin on one of the middle decks will have the lowest amount of vibration. Meaning, if you stay in an aft cabin, you will have more vibration than in a mid-cabin. That said, the vibration level on on Island is the same as any other aft cabin we've been in, and it was not a problem for us. There's more when you are going into port or traveling at a higher speed, but it's never been a problem for us. We absolutely love aft facing cabins and watching the wake.

[Jimbo]

We stayed in one of the new, aft facing suites on the Aloha level, and we loved our cabin! It's new, bright, well designed, and has a huge balcony. It's our favorite cabin on any cruise we've been on, and we've been on a lot of cruises. In general, if vibrations are a concern for you, a mid-ship cabin on one of the middle decks will have the lowest amount of vibration. Meaning, if you stay in an aft cabin, you will have more vibration than in a mid-cabin. That said, the vibration level on on Island is the same as any other aft cabin we've been in, and it was not a problem for us. There's more when you are going into port or traveling at a higher speed, but it's never been a problem for us. We absolutely love aft facing cabins and watching the wake.

 

So it sounds like you didn't have a corner cabin/balcony so you must have been in either Malta or Monaco. Read an review earlier that once the ship came out of the retro fit they had some really bad vibration on the aft in these new cabins, sound like they have corrected that somewhat I guess from your report.

 

Jimbo:):)

[RSF Cruiser]

We were on the Island Dec/Jan 2016-17 for a full Panama Canal transit. I was worried about all of the negative reviews about the vibrations in the aft cabins. I can't remember the cabin number or name, but it was one of the two center aft cabins on Aloha. The vibrations were the same as any cruise - no worse no better. All I could figure out is maybe the vibrations were fixed, the people complaining had never been in an aft cabin before, or the vibrations were worse lower down in the ship. All I can say is the Island is our favorite ship because of how wonderful the aft cabin was! I rarely eat in the Horizon Court, but I liked the layout on the Island. I did miss the International Cafe, but that was not a deal breaker - and the cabin more than made up for it.

[Cobraman]

We were on board last year for a 19 day R/T Panama Canal visit out of San Pedro. We were in A726, one of the new corner suites. It was perfect from a canal observation standpoint, we had both an aft view and a port side view from the wrap around balcony. The vibration issues are being monitored, with complaints (and lack thereof) logged and reviewed. We found the cabin experienced a bit more vibration than other aft suites on other ships, but not enough that we would avoid the cabin in the future. We were told the vibration issues are more prevelant on cabins forward of the aft ones. We met the passengers staying in the starboard/aft suite on the opposite corner, they complained so much they were provided another cabin to sleep in since their complaints centered around vibrations when we were traveling at full speed, keeping them awake. As I said, we had no such issues, just a bit of vibration we found quite tolerable.

[Jimbo]

We were on board last year for a 19 day R/T Panama Canal visit out of San Pedro. We were in A726, one of the new corner suites. It was perfect from a canal observation standpoint, we had both an aft view and a port side view from the wrap around balcony. The vibration issues are being monitored, with complaints (and lack thereof) logged and reviewed. We found the cabin experienced a bit more vibration than other aft suites on other ships, but not enough that we would avoid the cabin in the future. We were told the vibration issues are more prevelant on cabins forward of the aft ones. We met the passengers staying in the starboard/aft suite on the opposite corner, they complained so much they were provided another cabin to sleep in since their complaints centered around vibrations when we were traveling at full speed, keeping them awake. As I said, we had no such issues, just a bit of vibration we found quite tolerable.

 

 

So it seems A726 is tolerable then, just still stay clear of the starboard side of the aft of the ship. Was the vibration you felt like a humming sound or could you actually see a glass vibrate off the end tables? Was the vibration constant or did it like come and go?

 

Considering and aft corner on Island and Royal......might just have to book both and decide even later to see if vibration issue on Island can be fixed for good, or if it's just a build wrong issue that can't be fixed.

 

Sounds like as bad as that one corner is they should not even try to sell that cabin and show it as available on their web site? Take it out of inventory.

 

Jimbo:)

[Lanz]

We were on the Island to Alaska 2016, Cabin C728, very worried about all the negative reviews. Surprise, surprise, one of the best cabins we ever stayed in with minimal vibration. We loved the Island.....no worries.

[Jimbo]

We were on the Island to Alaska 2016, Cabin C728, very worried about all the negative reviews. Surprise, surprise, one of the best cabins we ever stayed in with minimal vibration. We loved the Island.....no worries.

 

Thanks for reporting, A728 is on the port side of the wake facing cabins. Seems other half of the back of the Aloha deck is the problem.

 

 

Jimbo:)

[OCruisers]

While we liked Island before the changes, she's still a good ship and we enjoyed sailing on her. :)

[bbum]

We were also in A726 corner Vista Suite on the Island, and took it as an upsell, on a 21 day full Panama transit, and were a bit worried from all the negative reviews, but after stepping foot in the suite we put those to rest. It is a fantastic suite. It is by far the nicest suite we have had on Princess. Loved the wrap around balcony, although we didn't use the side part much. There was some quite noticeable vibration when docking in port, but other than that the vibration didn't bother us a bit. I would book this suite again in a heartbeat. We also found the Island to be a very well run ship with a very happy staff, keeping in mind this was in April 2017. We didn't have any trouble getting seats at the late shows in the theater. I can't comment on any time dinning as we had traditional. We never felt overcrowded in the public areas, as some people have commented, but perhaps that was just us.

[Jimbo]

We were also in A726 corner Vista Suite on the Island, and took it as an upsell, on a 21 day full Panama transit, and were a bit worried from all the negative reviews, but after stepping foot in the suite we put those to rest. It is a fantastic suite. It is by far the nicest suite we have had on Princess. Loved the wrap around balcony, although we didn't use the side part much. There was some quite noticeable vibration when docking in port, but other than that the vibration didn't bother us a bit. I would book this suite again in a heartbeat. We also found the Island to be a very well run ship with a very happy staff, keeping in mind this was in April 2017. We didn't have any trouble getting seats at the late shows in the theater. I can't comment on any time dinning as we had traditional. We never felt overcrowded in the public areas, as some people have commented, but perhaps that was just us.

 

Thanks for your review, that sure does help. We have stayed in quite a few aft cabins also and know how a ship will vibrate alot when they put on the side thusters when docking. Have no issues with that, just don't want to wind up on the floor because the vibrations are so bad it throws us out of the bed every night.

 

Jimbo:)

[Jimbo]

Just booked a corner aft on Island for the summer of 2019..........for $ 2.00.................so I guess I have time to debate on this further. Whether to take Island Princess or Royal Princess to Alaska.

 

Jimbo:)

[Kineticoh20]

Just booked a corner aft on Island for the summer of 2019..........for $ 2.00.................so I guess I have time to debate on this further. Whether to take Island Princess or Royal Princess to Alaska.

 

Jimbo:)

 

We were in L721 the Almalfi suite on the Island and loved it. It is a unique cabin an unlike all other penthouses or Vistas. There is 40 feetof balcony, three sliders. Side and rear balconies we really enjoyed it especially during sail away in Venice.

[Jimbo]

We were in L721 the Almalfi suite on the Island and loved it. It is a unique cabin an unlike all other penthouses or Vistas. There is 40 feetof balcony, three sliders. Side and rear balconies we really enjoyed it especially during sail away in Venice.

 

Not sure I like how you can't go from side balcony to the aft balcony without going through cabin on deck 14, 12 is not like that.Weird design.

 

Jimbo:)

[Kineticoh20]

Not sure I like how you can't go from side balcony to the aft balcony without going through cabin on deck 14, 12 is not like that.Weird design.

 

Jimbo:)

 

Your right, I thought the same thing. I was told it was a structural issue. Still a great cabin.

[Myles Standoffish]

We took the 60-day South American cruise, Jan - Mar. Cabin P537 could not be cooled to our satisfaction, even after numerous adjustments by maintenance. There was quite a bit of racket from ships engines and pumps, but they did not interfere with sleep. The worst thing was the smell in the hall, just outside our door. I would describe it as rotting rhino intestines. We complained to no avail. I think it was one of many known but ignored problems with ship's plumbing.

[SoCalTraveler]

DO NOT STAY IN THE NEW CABINS!

 

We did a Panama Canal cruise in April 2107 in Cabin C731 (a corner balcony). We had a great cruise EXCEPT for the cabin, which the customer relations manager (who joined the ship the day we boarded) said was officially described in the notes he inherited as a "noisy cabin." It's in quotation marks because it's a direct quote. We've been in aft cabins before. We like aft cabins. We know there is vibration. It is not the vibration that gets you (although it does prevent our Apple iWatches from fully recharging.) It is the rattles. And prior guests had done all sorts of things, including wedging a bottle opener into the ceiling fixture to eliminate the rattles. Some of the rattles are unachored wires and pipes in the walls so the problem is basically incurable. And, as you will read in our review, there were days where we had no refrigerator (I carry medicine which must be refrigerated) and where we had no hot water and had to use the spa for showers.

 

Try this link:

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=583865

 

As I noted, Princess provided a very significant credit on the ship, coupled with the promise that the customer service manager (and not some random employee) would call us when we got home. When we arrived home, we had to chase down Princess to speak to a lower level employee, who insisted, after review, that no one at Hq was going to speak to us further. We did get a FCC, which we promptly applied to a cruise.

 

Would we sail on the Island Princess again? Yes. Would we take a cabin in the new section? Never. You can't sleep and you don't have hot water.

Edited April 6, 2018 by SoCalTraveler
spelling error.

[laughing husky]

So it sounds like you didn't have a corner cabin/balcony so you must have been in either Malta or Monaco. Read an review earlier that once the ship came out of the retro fit they had some really bad vibration on the aft in these new cabins, sound like they have corrected that somewhat I guess from your report.

 

Jimbo:):)

 

I was in an aft suite right after it refitted with them....We loved them, and felt no more vibration than in any other ship....That said, the corner suite next to us...which was gorgeous, did have some vibration...it also had 2 closets and 2 balconies...I would assume they have fixed them since this was awhile ago...

....

[Mom2labs]

So it seems A726 is tolerable then, just still stay clear of the starboard side of the aft of the ship. Was the vibration you felt like a humming sound or could you actually see a glass vibrate off the end tables? Was the vibration constant or did it like come and go?

 

Considering and aft corner on Island and Royal......might just have to book both and decide even later to see if vibration issue on Island can be fixed for good, or if it's just a build wrong issue that can't be fixed.

 

Sounds like as bad as that one corner is they should not even try to sell that cabin and show it as available on their web site? Take it out of inventory.

 

Jimbo:)

 

Hey there, we were on Adventure with you in Feb! We just booked Royal for Alaska in 2019. Looked at aft but went for the CC mini suite all the way forward. Usually love aft but kept getting mixed signals on soot on Royal.