2021 world cruise itinerary is great. But what about the Island Princess??

[Coral]

Congrats on the booking. I also like smaller ships.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

Well the only Princess ship we have sail on was the Caribbean Princess 3 times. Next year our first two cruises are with Princess,  the SKY and the Island. The Island Princess which is the full Panama Canal cruise. We really did not want to do it because we figured it will be boring. The only reason we booked was because of wanting to cruise on the Island Princess. It usually does long cruises and not always able to book out of Florida. Which is where we live. So I always give reviews on any ship we have never cruised on before. So we cruise on it March 17, 2020 As for the Caribbean princess. It was a nice ship and comfortable. We like it. We never go on a ship expecting anything different except when we cruised on the Celebrity EDGE. That was a big mistake. Many love it, we did not.

[FiredogCruiser]

On 6/6/2019 at 12:17 PM, Funatabi said:

I am the OP, and I appreciate all the constructive feedback and suggestions.

 

Actually, I have to confess. I have already reserved the HAL 2020 Grand World Voyage departing Jan 2020, never having set foot onboard any HAL ship in my life. It was the HAL itinerary, size of ship (Amsterdam), and curiosity of cruising on HAL that made my decision to book. However, one of my bucket-list items is missing from the HAL cruise, a Panama-Canal transit.

 

And so my curiosity got the best of me, and I started looking to see what cruises are on offer for 2021. I checked numerous cruise lines of all categories. When I spotted the itinerary for the 2021 Princess WC the wheels in my head started spinning. It includes the Panama-Canal transit and ports new to me, without too many repeat ports with the HAL cruise.

I saw that the ship for the Princess WC is the Island, so I started reading reviews about it.
Some were downright negative and that is what prompted me to post my question here.  

 

Basically, the 2021 Princess WC itinerary is the biggest draw for me. In addition, the "relatively reasonable starting cost" enables me to at least get myself physically onboard at 1/3 the price of what it would cost me if I were to book the all-inclusive luxury lines. And for good or bad, at least the Island is a good fit for me personally because I like medium-sized ships.

 

I feel much better now because the overall feedback here has been more positive than I thought. And there are some valid negative points that I need to keep in mind.

 

After "sleeping on it" for a night, I contacted my travel agent the next morning to book it. The ball is in motion. I can't believe I am reserving this one too, months before I even go on the HAL 2020 cruise. I will keep a positive attitude and open mind about the Island and Princess Cruises,  remain enthusiastic, and look forward to another exciting adventure.

 

Thanks again for the valuable comments. Once I get things arranged, I will be moving over to the rollcall and "meeting" fellow cruisers in advance.

 

Just a thought for future consideration. We just came back from a partial transit on Princess. SIL & DW had researched, and we took an excursion that took us from the lake to the pacific on a smaller excursion vessel over to Panama City, and then we bussed back to meet the ship. It gave two entirely different perspectives, going through the first set of locks on the large cruse ship, then the remainder and cut on the smaller excursion vessel. Highly recommend doing it that way one time.

[Funatabi]

7 hours ago, FiredogCruiser said:

 

Just a thought for future consideration. We just came back from a partial transit on Princess. SIL & DW had researched, and we took an excursion that took us from the lake to the pacific on a smaller excursion vessel over to Panama City, and then we bussed back to meet the ship. It gave two entirely different perspectives, going through the first set of locks on the large cruse ship, then the remainder and cut on the smaller excursion vessel. Highly recommend doing it that way one time.

Thanks for the helpful tip. I also will look into doing something like that. This cruise is a full transit of the canal, so not sure if that will make a difference.

[CruiseRookieSteve]

On 6/5/2019 at 7:26 AM, jondfk said:

 

Here's a perfect example of how different folks form quite different opinions.  I doubt you'll find too many who rate Star as their favorite in the Princess fleet - but Firedog does - and I'm certain they are right . . . for them.  

 

To the OP I'd say, if this cruise fits your desires as to itinerary and budget - go for it and form your own opinion.  

 

One thought though, if you're still having reservations, might be to look for a short trip on Island before your payment deadline for the world cruise.  Doing so would undoubtedly help you decide whether the state of the ship suits your expectations.  And hey, you get another cruise as part of your "research" 😉. 

That is what we are doing. We are already booked on the 111 Day cruise around the world in January 2021, but have booked a 6 day cruise in September this year to try it out. We tried to book a balcony stateroom as close to the cabin we have for the 111 day cruise, but Princess upgraded us for free to a Mini-Suite just today! How could I turn down the upgrade? I'll get to learn the ship on my 6 day cruise, but not learn much about the balcony cabin that we have for the 111 day cruise.

 

[South Bay SueB]

We took the 2015 WC on the Pacific Princess and it was wonderful.  The only thing I would have changed -- and it's something I haven't yet seen mentioned -- was the enrichment lectures.  We both tend to enjoy many but not all of these on any cruise and had anticipated some pretty interesting ones on an 111 cruise that features 2 sea days for every port day.  NOT.  There were fewer lecturers than anticipated and many were mediocre at best.  A couple of speakers were quite good.  It was surprisingly disappointing, although don't for a second think it ruined the trip for us!  And the worst of it is that it's just about impossible to get any information about who the on board speakers will be.  I imagine they are booked shortly before sailing and that there's a significant chance of last minute changes, but if anyone is aware of a cruise line that's more forthcoming on this topic, I'd sure like to hear from you.

[BarbinMich]

On 6/14/2019 at 7:04 PM, South Bay SueB said:

We took the 2015 WC on the Pacific Princess and it was wonderful.  The only thing I would have changed -- and it's something I haven't yet seen mentioned -- was the enrichment lectures.  We both tend to enjoy many but not all of these on any cruise and had anticipated some pretty interesting ones on an 111 cruise that features 2 sea days for every port day.  NOT.  There were fewer lecturers than anticipated and many were mediocre at best.  A couple of speakers were quite good.  It was surprisingly disappointing, although don't for a second think it ruined the trip for us!  And the worst of it is that it's just about impossible to get any information about who the on board speakers will be.  I imagine they are booked shortly before sailing and that there's a significant chance of last minute changes, but if anyone is aware of a cruise line that's more forthcoming on this topic, I'd sure like to hear from you.

I'm a bit "late to the party" here, but I just learned yesterday that the Island was doing a WC.  Enrichment lectures have always been important to us on the many transatlantic cruises we've done and usually we have not bee disappointed.  Hopefully, Princess will "come through" with good lecturers on this World Cruise!

[FiredogCruiser]

On 7/26/2019 at 11:32 AM, BarbinMich said:

I'm a bit "late to the party" here, but I just learned yesterday that the Island was doing a WC.  Enrichment lectures have always been important to us on the many transatlantic cruises we've done and usually we have not bee disappointed.  Hopefully, Princess will "come through" with good lecturers on this World Cruise!

We have always found the Princess Enrichment lectures to be top notch. As a result if we are planning a 'bucket list' destination cruise (Hawaii, Panama Canal, etc.) we always look to Princess first. Just as we look to Carnival if we are looking for a fun get away, (Bahamas, San Juan, etc.) or HA for a theme cruise (John Bingham marathon cruise). In my opinion, each line has its own strengths that can set it apart from the others. Naturally ones opinion is subjective, but having a criteria from which to base ones opinion I find leads to less disappointment by unrealized expectations.

[BarbinMich]

5 hours ago, FiredogCruiser said:

We have always found the Princess Enrichment lectures to be top notch. As a result if we are planning a 'bucket list' destination cruise (Hawaii, Panama Canal, etc.) we always look to Princess first. Just as we look to Carnival if we are looking for a fun get away, (Bahamas, San Juan, etc.) or HA for a theme cruise (John Bingham marathon cruise). In my opinion, each line has its own strengths that can set it apart from the others. Naturally ones opinion is subjective, but having a criteria from which to base ones opinion I find leads to less disappointment by unrealized expectations.

I think we agree.  I neglected to mention in my other post that all but 1 of our TAs has been on Princess.  We've done on HAL (2017) and they had 2 or 3 lecturers.

Edited July 29, 2019 by BarbinMich