Island Princess Review
Rating by category
Additional details
We enjoyed a cruisetour to Anchorage, Denali, and the inside passage on the Coral Princess in 2013. This time, we chose a cruisetour to Fairbanks, Denali, and the inside passage on the Island Princess. We enjoyed the tour. Princess does a great job of providing lodging, transportation, and luggage handling for the land portion of the trip. I’ve written a detailed trip report of both the land and cruise portions of the trip on Trip Advisor. The report is at the following location:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g28923-i349-k9772852-Trip_Report_Jul_19_Aug_3_Fairbanks_Denali_Inside_Passage-Alaska.html
Overall, we enjoyed the cruise on the Island Princess, but the ship did suffer by comparison to the Coral Princess. We missed the aft decks for enjoying sail-away and sunsets. We missed being able to walk all the way around the ship on the Promenade Deck. Happily, the atrium was just as glitzy and attractive as we expected.
Cabin Review
Balcony
Cabin: We booked a cabin with a premium balcony this time. The cabin was the same as the normal balcony cabin – queen bed, two bedside tables, TV, mini-refrigerator, desk and chair. The closet space was plenty for two, and the shelf unit was handy. The safe is not large, but it has enough space for wallets, camera, binoculars, cell phones, passports, and small purse. Our cabin Steward, Chet, took great care of us and our cabin.
Balcony: We were glad to have the premium balcony. The covered area of the balcony was the same size as the total balcony on the regular balcony room. What we gained on the premium balcony was extended, uncovered space. The balcony width was the same, but the depth of the balcony from sliding door to railing seemed twice as large. We enjoyed the larger balcony so much that we spent more time on the balcony for this cruise. Of course, on a cold day when the ship is moving, it can be cold on the balcony, but when the ship is sitting in a bay for viewing of the glaciers, the balcony is ideal.
Bath: The bath in the balcony rooms is small but acceptable. I can see why others are complaining about the soap and shampoo dispensers that have been mounted on the shower wall. Since the shower is only 24” by 30”, it’s easy to keep bumping arms and elbows on the dispensers. If we take a future cruise, we may seriously consider paying more for a mini-suite.