On the Island Princess in on a round trip from Vancouver to Alaska I found there were things I liked about the ship and some I did not. We sailed on the Coral, the sister ship, a couple of years ago and were told the two ships would go into refit, the Island first. I think it may have been feedback from that refit that has had the company keep the Coral the way it was. There is no longer a second small theatre on the ship, having replaced it with cabins and also putting the gym down on the floor. I do like the gym on ships, but not so much this one as the room has no windows and was warm and stuffy. In fact, I only went there twice. There is no longer an International Cafe and the Patisserie has replaced it. The process for ordering and getting your coffee was not efficient … you were better off finding a seat if you could and then ordering from a server. As well the pastries were not too good and there was no other food like there was in the old cafe. I was looking forward to walking the promenade deck, but they were doing some work on it and had areas blocked off. Sabatinnis was good and we enjoyed a meal there. There is no Crown Grill and it has been replaced by a Cajun spot. We had planned to go there, but heard others reviews that were not positive and so decided to abandon that idea. I did like some of the new layout for casual sitting with chairs in pairs looking out to the ocean on one of the decks. Elite/Platinum appetizers were in one of the lounges and it was nicely laid out with chairs easy to get for our group of 4. I wish there was a Vines on the ship, but it was not on before and they did not add it, so not really a complaint related to the refit. When we tendered the first day, they had the men’s washrooms closed on two floors and that was a bit of an issue. We did not complain, but I am sure some did as on the next tender day you could walk through the body scanner to go to the washroom . The room was nice and the ship seemed to be in good shape. To watch a show, you needed to get there early to be ensured a seat, but I see reports of this on other ships as well. Food in the MDR was really very good. The layout of the buffet was easy to use and they have put in some stations so lines are not too long.

Cheers … Bob