We just got off the Island Princess sailing from Los Angeles to Vancouver. Service overall, with one exception (see below) was fabulous. We were on the Royal Princess in January and are booked for Australia in December with a Cruisetour. If we had not booked Australia prior to this cruise, we would have definitely considered another cruise line. The Royal was such a completely different experience and this is not due to size.
The Maitre d's in the dining room are only interested in catering to the Club Members and have no difficulty ignoring the remaining passengers. This was heard constantly throughout our cruise, on shore excursions, at the bars, in the Horizon Court.... Not nice at all!!!!!
It was as if there were two classes of passengers. There was one occasion where the Maitre d' came over to the table beside ours and apologized for the place they were in as "their table" had been given away. It suddenly made us feel as if we were in a horrible place in the dining room.
We had room with a balcony.
Overall, the ship is quite lovely. Carpets are obviously quite new and fresh. Staterooms are very shabby. Carpets stained and corners lifting around edges. Toilets old and frankly, disgusting. The entertainment system is outdated. No movies or television on demand and limited tv stations.
We took the Bon Appetit and Wine Tasting Excursion. Nina was our guide. She was knowledgeable, friendly and made the entire experience wonderful.
We took a wine tasting cruise of Sonoma with the cruise line. A fabulous excursion. A wonderful day. We absolutely love it. Simply glorious.
Beautiful day to walk. Not much in the the town. Quaint. Weather was perfect to walk along the water. We had a nice day but not much doing there.
Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. Best day of the trip.
We were told to go for lunch at Red Fish Blue Fish. We waited in line for about 15 minutes and boy oh boy was it worth the wait. We understand why Trip Advisor and many others recommend this place. I had the halibut fish and chips and my husband had the world famous "Tuna Tacone". We would both go back to Victoria just for that. SO WORTH IT!!!