My wife and I spent the better part of a year preparing for seeing and doing "the Canal", only to have the experience shattered by a tired, overcrowded shipboard experience and two wasted excursion opportunities for the most anticipated ports. If it were not for our time sharing  friendship with our ten person travel group, and the service of a several personable, and efficient, Princess staff members, the trip would have been a complete waste of time and money. 

The Island Princess itself was the biggest disappointment. We had sailed her on a trip to Alaska a couple of years back and had a great experience. This time was a  complete reversal. We were told once onboard, the ship had been re-fitted recently with additional cabins to add more than 200 people. From the talk around, and our later finding, that decision was a mistake. This addition apparently was done at the expense of deck space and public areas, and obviously for the benefit of shareholders and not the passengers. The increase number of passengers lead to the boarding process being slow (even with "express" passes), the public food services areas being crowded or congested at most times, slow or over-crowded elevators, the "anytime dining" option for the Bordeaux dining room being non-existent (five minutes into the after 8 AM, reservation window" only "before 5:30 or after 7:45" dining times were available), and (we, and others) being shut out of three nights of shows in the theater because of insufficient seating. The final straw was the "early, unassisted" dis-embarkment process taking almost 45 minutes from muster to stepping foot in the terminal. 

While the “recent Princess re-fit" was being done, however, little must have been done to other areas of the ship to spruce it up. There were areas with worn or stretched carpet, hallways that appeared dark and dated and even some sheets and towels being frayed, or slightly stained. It may well be time for the Island Princess to undergo a complete overhaul, and put on a cleaner, brighter, more up-to-date look in the very near future. Read more