Island Princess Review
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Rating by category
Additional details
We'd sailed on the last cruise of the Island Princess before its renovation in 2015. It was interesting to see what had happened.
Basically, Princess added a batch of cabins and eliminated the walk-around Promenade. The stern is now cabins. This was a loss. However, the ship badly needed work (my 2015 review was titled "Ship of Stinks and Sniffles"). The stinks caused by leaking plumbing are gone after the renovation, but the sniffles remain. Sitting in the elite departure lounge at the end of the cruise, there were coughs and sniffles on all sides (me, too). Spreading colds is probably unavoidable given the narrow confines of a cruise ship, but it's always a good idea to embark on a cruise with a good collection of cold remedies.
My comments are restricted to things that I think might be useful to others.
Cabin Review
This was a great stateroom. It is the same size as a balcony, except the space occupied by the balcony is inside, and there is a large window with an unobstructed view. As a result, the stateroom is spacious, more so than a regular balcony. Many Princess ships have the category, and it is worth considering. It is a lot less expensive than a balcony. The one time we might really have wanted a balcony was going through the Panama Canal, but the solution is simple: We paid $60 each for a day in the Sanctuary, which was a great place from which to observe progress through the canal.
The one thing that worried me was that it is above the Princess Theater. I am noise-sensitive. That was not a problem. Mind you, in the corridor outside the room the sound came through loud and clear, but inside the noise was at an acceptable level. I heard goings on during afternoon rehearsals and the evening shows, but those were usually done by 9:30. The occasional noise was an acceptable tradeoff for price and size.