Princess Cruises

GTS Island Princess

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Operator: Princess Cruise Lines
Year Built / Last Refurbished: 2003 / 2003
Length / Tonnage: 910 / 85,000
Number of Cabins / Passengers: 982 / 1,950
Officers / Crew: International / International
Operating Area: Alaska and Panama Canal

She entered service in July of 2003 and is the second of a new class of ships for Princess. She offers the same array of public room space as Princess' larger "Grand-class" ships but was specifically designed to fit through the Panama Canal, something her larger fleet mates cannot do. At 85,000 tons she is significantly smaller than the 109,000 ton Grand-class ships but actually offers more staterooms with private balconies.

Most of the public rooms are located on Plaza (5), Fiesta (6) and Promenade (7) decks and offer great views of the sea.

A tour of these decks begins forward on Plaza Deck (5) where the Bordeaux Dining Room, one of two main dining rooms on board is located. The Bordeaux features intimately designed seating areas and an elegant decor. The room seats 570 passengers at a time. Aft of the dining room is the Princess Plaze the heart of the ships four-deck atrium. The Passenger Service desk is located on the port side of the Plaza while La Patisserie is to starboard.La Patisserie is a nice place to relax over a cup of cappuccino or a freshly baked pastry.

Moving up to the Fiesta Deck (6), brings you to the second of the main dining rooms, the Provence Dining which seats 510. Moving aft from the dining room brings you to Calypso Cove, a shop featuring Princess logo wear, novelties and sundries. Meridian Bay, a Duty-free boutique offering a selection of fashion apparel, jewelry, accessories and formal wear is located across the way.

Continuing aft, you pass Facets jewelry and gift boutique which is actually housed in the Grand Casino. The Grand Casino is which is Princess' first city-themed casino, is designed to simulate look and feel of London, with special signage and themed slots.

Outside the casino is the 260-seat Explorers Lounge which is designed to evoke a sense of adventure and includes themes from the Far East and Africa. Entertainment includes cabaret acts, singers, magicians and comedians. This room also serves as a late-night disco.

The Photo Gallery which also offers digital photo services is located across from the lounge. The aft portion of the Fiesta deck houses the lower level of the 320 seat, Universe Lounge. The Universe Lounge is a multi-purpose room featuring three revolving stages, removable kitchen demo set and flexible seating to accommodate Princess production shows, movie screenings, classes and demonstrations. The room also includes television production studio capabilities.

Stairs on either side of the Universal Lounge lead up to Promenade Deck (7), and the upper level of the Universal Lounge. Just outside the lounge is the the 118-seat Bayou Café, a New Orleans-themed restaurant with a lively, casual atmosphere serves up traditional Cajun- and Creole-influenced food and live jazz. Featured meals include peel-and-eat shrimp, alligator ribs, gumbos and jambalaya with fresh seafood and traditional dried spice mixes.

Continuing forward along a narrow corridor brings you to another restaurant, the 108-seat Sabatini's. Sabatini's features Italian seafood specialties and other traditional favorites served in an authentic trattoria-like setting. Outside of Sabatini's is the Princess Fine Arts Gallery where passengers with money to spare can purchase high-quality reproductions as well as original works of art.

The Wedding Chapel is tucked in behind the art gallery and is used to support Princess' wedding-at-sea program and for renewal-of-vows ceremonies. The chapel features Internet "wedding cam" capabilities. The space is also available for meetings.

Mid-ships at the bottom of the atrium on the Promenade deck is Crooners. Crooners is designed to resemble a classic 1960s-style Las Vegas martini bar. Across the atrium is the Churchill Lounge, a cozy lounge for enjoying spirits and cigars.

Continuing forward brings you to the much larger 153-seat Wheelhouse Bar which is patterned after a private club. In the room the evening is a great place to meet for dancing or cocktails. It also features a small museum tracing P&O's maritime history and displays of nautical memorabilia. The forward portion of the Promenade deck houses the Princess Theater, a 688-seat Broadway-style theater with 36-foot proscenium arch. This is the largest entertainment venue on board the ship and is the home for the production shows.

Emerald Deck (8), consists primarily of passenger staterooms although the atrium rises up through the deck midships. The Internet Cafe is located in forward portion of the atrium area while the Card Room and the ships Library are located on either side aft. The Internet Cafe includes 10 computer stations featuring Internet access, word processing, printing capabilities and fax equipment. In addition to a nice assortment of books, the Library also offers CD's.

The next three decks, Dolphin (9), Caribe (10) and Baja (11) are dedicated exclusively to passenger accommodations.

The Aloha Deck (12) consists mostly of passenger cabins but the aft portion also houses a number of rooms designed for the younger set. These include the Pelican's Pool - a dedicated children's pool, and the Off Limits Teen Center with special activities for young adults ages 13-17 including video games and teen disco. The Fun Zone caters to the younger Princess Pirateers (ages 8-12) while the Pelican's Playhouse is geared towards ages 2-7. Youth Center staff host a daily schedule of age-specific activities.

Moving up to the Lido Deck (14) brings you to the 386-seat Horizon Court 24-hour restaurant. This casual dining restaurant is perched above the bridge and offers dramatic views over the ship's bow. For many passengers this is the preferred spot for breakfast and lunch which are presented buffet A full-service bistro menu offered from 10:30 pm to 4:30 am. Also features an intimate entertainment area with dance floor.

Just outside is the Princess Pizza where you can get freshly made pizza by the slice. The Lido Bar is located next to the pizzeria.

Two swimming pools, the larger lido pool and the smaller Lotus pool occupy most of the midship portion of the Lido Deck. The Lotus Pool is covered by a retractable glass magradome and features a swim-against-the-current pool capability. There are whirlpools adjacent to each pool.

Moving inside brings you to the Lotus Spa which is a Balinese-themed health spa and salon featuring Asian-inspired treatments, sauna and massage, plus thermal suite, steam room, relaxation area and hair salon. Aft of the spa is the Fitness Center which features ocean-views and a nice assortment of exercise equipment, weights and an variety of classes, including yoga, Pilates, pulse cycling and KickBoXpress.

Those looking for something a bit more sedate may find it one deck up on the Sun Deck (15) which features a features a nine-hole putting course, as well as two computer simulators which allow passengers to "virtually" tee-off at some of the world's most famous courses. The Grill is also located up here and features hot dogs, hamburgers and other traditional grill favorites.

Moving up to the final deck, the Sports Deck (16) brings you to a small Splash Pool which is located forward and Center Court sports court with space for spectator seating.

The ship offers a variety of dining options with two main dining rooms that seat more than 500 passengers at a time. With the introduction of Personal Choice dining the service has dropped off a bit compared to the more traditional two-seating approach, as most passengers are served by different personnel each evening. Food on board is good, not great. It seems more and more of the staff are working for tips nowadays so at times the service can become intrusive and it becomes difficult to just enjoy your meal.

Dinner in the alternative restaurants is a bit more refined - although not without risk. One of our fellow passengers on the Grand Princess (Island Princess fleet mate) described a dinner at Sabatini’s - the Italian restaurant - where service started out awful, but mid-dinner the waiter appeared to give up, and they were assigned a new one. He turned out to be excellent - all the way down to singing and recommending courses from the menu. During meals at Sabatini's diners are sometimes encouraged to leave between courses and stretch or walk around a bit if they want. There was a fifteen dollar charge per person for Sabatini's.

The other alternative restaurant is the Bayou Café, the only New Orleans-style restaurant at sea, featuring traditional Cajun and Creole specialties and live jazz. The quality of the food here is not quite as good as the Italian dishes in Sabatini's. If you have to choose between the two, opt for Sabatini's.

There is a 24-hour dining restaurant the Horizon Court which has beautiful floor to ceiling windows with the gorgeous view of the ocean. The overall service here is is very good.

Of the 982 cabins on board, 879 are outside and 735 of those have balconies. In a typical outside cabin with a balcony you will find a nice use of wood, mirrors, fabrics and soft colors give it a homey feeling. Using every nook and cranny, there is just enough storage space for a 7 night cruise. There’s also some wasted space under the TV, between the TV and refrigerator, which could accommodate a good size shelf or small cabinets. The Sony TV’s have front cable plug-ins to make it easy to view videos you tape and/or pictures taken from a digital camera.

The 192 Mini-suites feature queen-size bed, separate sitting area with sofa bed, private balcony, two televisions, bathroom with tub and shower and complimentary waffle-weave robes. The 16 Suites include the same amenities plus, large private balcony, walk-in closet, bathroom with whirlpool tub and wet bar.

You'll meet all kinds here....multi repeaters, partiers, families, the young and old, the wealthy and the not so.

Island Princess' spends her summers in Alaska and the rest of the year alternating between Hawaii and the Panama Canal.

If I had a direct line to the heads of Princess Cruises, I'd shout "Come on guys.....you have an nice fleet of ships. Come to think of it, we like almost all your ships....but please, oh please, tone down the Turkish bazaar feeling. We're not all shopaholics, and I can't believe the resultant ill will you are creating among your passengers is worth the few extra dollars you're making by hounding us to buy 'til we're numb." That's my ONLY major complaint with Princess....and it's the ONLY reason I cannot assign their ships higher ratings. The food on the Island Princess is good, the service can be very good and the atmosphere is lovely. So if you are a stronger person than I, and can pay no mind to the endless barrage of on board merchandising, I think you'll have a wonderful cruise on the Island Princess.