ISLAND PRINCESS
Let me start this review with positives: Princess has the embarkation and disembarkation process down to the nth degree. There was a problem this time because of an outbreak of Noro Virus the cruise prior to ours, and embarkation was delayed by several hours to give the crew an opportunity to sanitize the ship. We had been notified of this the day before by our travel agent, and were prepared. We were bussed by Princess representatives at the airport to a local Los Angeles hotel where a buffet lunch was available. Alas, we were one of the lucky ones as later arrivals were dispatched to a different hotel and were offered only coffee & cookies during their four to five hour wait to board ship.
We had extraordinary measures placed in effect the first week of the cruise: we were not allowed to handle any common serving pieces at the buffet and in the dining rooms; rather, we were served everything by gloved attendants. If you wanted salt or pepper, for example, you had to ask for it to be served on your food. Rolls and breads were placed on your plate with tongs. Hand sanitizers were mandatory when entering the dining rooms and were also dispensed by the gloved crew. It worked because our voyage was, if not noro free, at least not epidemic. And these precautions were relaxed during the latter half of our cruise.