Island Princess Review - Alaska Cruisetour

[missy44]

Hi Everyone, We have just finished our Island Princess Alaska Cruisetour. We had a fabulous time and are now Princess believers. The Island Princess is a beautiful ship. I can not think of one complaint. The food was great the service impeccable. We had a mini-suite. I think this is a must for the Alaska trip. The weather was not always cooperating and it was great to sit on the balcony during the glacier viewing days and move into the room to warm up at our leisure. If anyone has any questions I would be glad to answer them.:) :) :)

[tobacco girl]

Hi there,

 

We also were on the Island Princess for the inside passage.

 

What was your favourite part of your trip? Best excurison? Favourite foods/resteraunt? Show? Scenery ? Town ? Photos?

 

 

For me:

The glaziers, and the snow covered mountains( scenery) are tied with the whales and wildlife. I guess you could say I 'm in love with Alasaka.

 

Excursions:

-kayaking with the snow covered mountains all around.. Whittier

-photo safari.. Skagway ??

-snorkelling..Ketchikan

-mules( 4 wheelers..Jueau?

-whale watching,juneu

 

I enjoyed the foggy mornings in Ketchikan the best...all the town i thought were too touristy for me

 

 

Photos

-the glaziers, and the whales from the photo safari

 

Resteraunt

-I loved the Bayou the best..but then I love cajun and seafood

-Sabatini's was lovely, but just tooooo much

 

I loved the pizza's too,

 

 

gotta go, flo

[fatcattravel]

We enjoyed our cruise also however our experience at the Bayou was terrible!

 

It took 20 minutes to acknowledge us for drinks and than longer for those who didn't order from the Bar.

My mom's food came out terrible and we had to watch her eat as we were long finished! The waiter said oh only 5 minutes to fix your food. (How can you prepare a filet in 5 minutes?)

 

Our waiter hovered the whole time, I felt like he was checking to make sure we chewed our food enough times.

 

Come to find out the night we went was the night they served crab legs in the dining room so when I went to the Purser to tell him about our problems and if we could at least be credited the cover charge. He took my room number and said, I will tell the maitre d to make sure you have crab legs tomorrow night.

 

Of course we did not get them...This was the first time cruising for my parents so they were really disappointed that they had to Pay for service they did not receive.

 

So I do hope Princess reads the posts because they didn't listen to me when they could have fixed the problem.

 

Sorry about the venting but I want to warn others that just because you pay doesn't mean you get better service. It was not busy at all the night we went.

 

We even asked them if they had problems in the kitchen and they said no.

 

:mad:

[LARGIN]

We had the same problem with the Bayou on our Coral Princess Alaska. The service and food there was not up to previous times at the Bayou..

[Colo Cruiser]

Guess I will see in 44 days. :cool:

[llou85]

Do the refrigerators have a small freezer compartment?

 

Thanks

[sunsetbeachgal]

Thanks for your review...we were on the Coral (sister ship to Island) in June and did a cruisetour and loved it as well.

 

We felt that although the steak at the Bayou on the Coral was excellent, the appetizers & side dishes really weren't all that great. Our service was fine. The Bayou is definitely, in our opinion, not anywhere close in quality, atmosphere, food, etc to the Sterling Steakhouse on the Emerald.

[Colo Cruiser]

We felt that although the steak at the Bayou on the Coral was excellent, the appetizers & side dishes really weren't all that great. Our service was fine. The Bayou is definitely, in our opinion, not anywhere close in quality, atmosphere, food, etc to the Sterling Steakhouse on the Emerald.

 

 

The Emerald has a Crown Grill?? Not a Sterlings and yes it is far superior to any other alternative restaurant on Princess IMHO. ;)

[Quenby]

On some of the ships the minutes from the internet packages are now interchangeable between the Cafe's terminals and personal laptops. Can you tell me if that is the case on the Island? I'm debating whether to take my laptop with me on the Island on Sept 25th. Thanks. :cool:

[sunsetbeachgal]

Dear Colo Cruiser,

 

Caught me...I had forgotten the correct name of the steak restaurant on the Emerald...but I did not forget how wonderful the meal was-we enjoyed it so much we ate there two times on a 10 day cruise. I agree with you-the best alternative dining restaurant that we have experienced.

 

Next poster-if you don't get the answer about your laptop, try posting question on the Alaska board. Sorry, I did not take a laptop so can't comment

[gc1]

I understand the Island Princess now has the Sanctuary. How is it utilized on Alasa cruises/ I have used it on Caribbean cruises and enjoyed it very much. Do they provide warm blankets?

[BeMellow]

What do you recommend for clothing? Are jeans, jacket and gloves enough to keep warm on the boat?

Any other suggestions would be appreciated!

[fatcattravel]

I packed very light considering a two week vacation for two with one suitcase and two backpacks!

I packed two sleevleless turtlenecks, longsleeve shirt to go over if needed, two jeans, long underwear(wore outside because we didn't have a balcony so we stayed outside longer. ) Took hooded sweatshirt and my jacket was a vest/hooded windbreaker)

 

Take comfortable walking shoes. For the cruise at dinner time, I had the slinky pants black and brown that could roll up very small along with a couple of similar tops that don't wrinkle. My husband took along two pairs of fishing pants that zip off to become shorts, and the same type of shirts as far as layering goes.

 

I did laundry 3 times because we took a land tour. It wasn't bad because everyone respected the time limit and I never had to wait for someone to take their clothes out of the machines!

:o

[Looloobelle]

Hi Missy- I am in the midst of planning an Alaskan tour for June 2009 with TA on the Island Princess. I would love to hear about your experience. What deck/cabin did you have? I've been on Baja and loved it, but TA is quoting me Emerald deck since it's less expensive. Or Dolphin/Aloha for mini suites w/balcony. Did you take the land tour? Basically what did you like/dislike or would do different on this cruise? Thank you so much!