First Cruise Aboard The Island Princess

This was our 1st cruise and overall it was very enjoyable. The voyage began in Fort Lauderdale, took us thru the Panama Canal and ended in Los Angeles. Our room was very comfortable with lots of storage. The food and the service were very good. The shows were entertaining and things were very well organized when it came to getting us on and off the ship. Watching movies under the stars was fun. The staff were very professional and attentive.

The aspects we least enjoyed:

- the constant vibration in our room from the ship's engines (Deck 11, room B737)

- the extras we had to pay (soda, bottled water, juice, classes in the gym, cover charge for specialty dining rooms). We felt "nickeled and dimed".

- two nights of rough seas (very uncomfortable and unsettling)

- the passengers were generally older than we are, so not too many onboard activities appealed to us (e.g. bingo, playing cards, art auctions)

- the daily sales pitches (ship's newspaper and announcements) to buy their jewelry and art.

- wait lines for "any time dining"

- crowds at the bars for "happy hour", service was slow (drinks were excellent)

- crowds at the theatre (had to line up early to get in, 30-40 minutes)

- not being able to walk the skip's outdoor decks for exercise purposes. The addition of over 100 rooms in 2015 means common spaces have been reduced and the upper decks are chopped up so you can't walk uninterrupted from one end of the ship to the other.

- broken equipment in the gym and no staff to report issues to.

- small shower, stained shower curtains that stick to you as you turn around in the shower