This was our fourth cruise overall and the second with Princess. The full Canal Transit was our main reason for going, which left few options in our choice of ship. Complaints have been made here about the Island Princess, but on the whole we found her quite enjoyable. She is a bit aged, that´s true, but still elegant and comfortable.

The Island is considerably smaller than Sapphire Princess, which we used on the Grand Asia Tour of 2015. This made it easier to find our way around but also created a crowded feeling from time to time. This must have two main reasons: 1. The addition of cabins/passengers and the closing of public areas made in the last overhaul. 2. The faulty system of Anytime dining ("Sometime dining…?").

The Atrium, the Theatre and the whole aft part of the ship suffered most from this crowdedness. In the canal transit, the lack of good viewpoints from the aft was particularly evident as almost all open decks there have been replaced by private balconies. The closing of the International Café in the Atrium is also regrettable. The replacement bar/café down there, ”La Patisserie”, enabled use of our coffee cards, but offered only occasional sandwiches and no gluten free choices (despite several requests; we had to go up in the Horizon to get any pastries at all with our coffee). Read more