May 11, 2022. LA to FLL via Panama Canal. Island Princess
Day 1 May 11
You now board by assigned group. Makes sense to me.
Very few porters with their carts outside the cruise terminal building
Was required to show papers or Princess medallion in order to enter the terminal building.
Check in podium girl didn’t look at date on Covid test. Only looked for the word “negative.”
Princess was said to be telling travelers that they could bring their test kit to the dock for the witness.
No gangway pictures were offered. That’s a relief.
Boarding xray inspection was fast and non eventful.
It appeared that most passengers were infrequent cruisers and heavy set.
Right after boarding all ship electric power went off for a few minutes.
A long line was observed at the passenger services desk.
Observed that part of the aft port Emerald deck hallway had been blocked with Do Not Enter Covid area.
My medallion fob was unrecognized by the cabin entry computer.
No more muster drill. Just a cabin video and a 30 second come and go from your muster station.
Captain delayed departure for late food loading. He said he would have to leave at 5:15 no matter what.
Sabitini’s dinner was excellent. Liguor purchased came with LA tax and of course “mandatory tips.”
“Welcome aboard show” was just a brief hello from the female cruise director and a smutty comedian.
In the cabin the sink water was light brown and water was not hot.
Shower hot/cold valve was sort of stuck but I knew how to overcome that.
Shower temp was luke warm and water was not brown. In time the temp should get warmer.
The price for ship Internet goes up two days before the cruise.
Medallion net is VERY buggy but full time Internet is nice but pricy.
Day two is formal night. Geeze.
When I tried to use the cabin phone it wouldn’t dial anything without a “code.” Fixed later.
Captain’s Circle is now called the “Loyalty Desk and Events”
No evidence yet of any super elite on board cabin credit.
Here’s the big surprise. Few passengers are wearing masks. Anywhere.
Day 2 May 12
Self serve has pretty much been eliminated in Horizon Court.
Hawaiian shirts are allowed in the dining rooms on formal night.
Very demanding passengers checking in at the dinner podium.
Anytime dining somewhat being replaced with a reservation system.
The dancing show dancers were top notch. Singers not so much.
Stobes in the dancing show were often aimed at the audience.
Blasting sound in the dancing show. This is normal for Princess.
At the end of the dancing show the lame Cruise Director called for blood donations.
Second clock change on back to back sea days.
Day 3 May 13
My dinner table last night all agreed that the random audience choice for stage volunteers chosen by the comedian was a setup. The volunteers knew their complicated parts perfectly. We think that they practiced ahead of time.
More than a few library shelves are empty.
Passing trivia papers for grading is no longer done.
Ship diverted to a Cabo tender for medical evacuation.
Just realized that free Internet calling works perfectly on my T-Mobile iPhone.
Observed food being carried into the Do Not Enter Covid area.
Future Cruise agent has access to their version of the Polar booking system. They see things that you cannot see on the Princess public web site.
Captain’s Circle rep didn’t know about the now deleted superelite OBC benefit.
Elite laundry is 2 day turnaround
The cutoff for the Captain’s lunch on this cruise is 399 days. The Captain’s Circle rep had to change the date after it was announced. Hmmm.
No International Cafe on the Island Princess.
No working bridge camera on this ship.
Room service sandwich was small. Salad comes without dressing.
This old ship has been ridden very hard and put away wet.
Medallion Net (Internet) disconnects occasionally mostly slow/
Empty next door corner cabin balcony has most of its (new) glass covered with shipping plastic. That sure makes me wonder what happened to the former glass barrier.
Day 4 - May 14 Puerto Vallarta
Finally after 4 days of asking,we got hot water in the shower.
Very Sadly - Our AC at maximum cold setting could only cool the room to 80 degrees. That’s beyond horrible. I politely warned passenger services if this wasn’t fixed pronto I would be carrying my pillow and blanket and sleeping on the cool floor of the atrium. The 8th deck supervisor Angel looked at my little clock/temperature gauge, took some notes, and that was it. It’s no wonder a customer service rep told me that the Island Princess is the worst ship in the Princess fleet. I completely agree.
White socks and briefs are coming back from the Princess laundry with a yellow tint.
MedallionNet app continues to be a buggy diaster.
Finally the trade of the mini bar for coffee card credits, after four days of promising, was fixed in our account.
Buggy cabin phone started ringing this afternoon saying “Fire Alarm.” Then I got a call from the bridge asking if there was a cabin fire. I said there is absolutely no fire. Bridge said fine but after the hang up the phone kept ringing saying “Fire Alarm” so I unplugged the phone and that was that.
On the first night we bought an expensive, as in $50 ($41 plus mandatory tip and LA tax) bottle of wine in Sabatini’s with their promise that the wine would be stored in the ship’s wine locker. In the dining room tonight we asked for our bottle. Well you probably know what I’m about to say. The bottle was lost by Princess. After showing them proof of my account charge for the wine they went bottle by bottle through the wine locker and found it. Geeze.
I noticed several guys in the dining room wearing cut off shorts and a T-Shirt. I didn’t say breakfast or lunch, I said dinner.
Speaking of dinner, we observed that making a reservation results in longer standing in line than just showing up. At least that was our direct experience.
In port cities like Puerto Vallarta beware of vendors across the dock parking lot doing bait and switch. Happened to us.
When we were at the Puerto Vallarta Walmart I should have bought a box fan to move the hot air around in our cabin. Like I said. It should now become common knowledge that the Island Princess is the worst ship in the Princess fleet.
