Review of Island Princess LA to Hawaii

[Franknca]

Bob-

I didn't see any tables that would accomodate 9. I think 6 was the largest.

 

We had a table of 11 on the 12/20/04 Island Princess cruise.

Frank-in-CA

[Franknca]

I agree, the cruise director staff on this ship were incredible. I wrote them up at the end of the cruise for staff recofnition. Sam, Juan, Tim, Jeremy.

They kept smiling when many passengers just kept complaining!

They were great!

 

The staff was great but the cruise director himself was the worst I've ever experienced. I will use the evening of the champagne waterfall to demonstrate Mr. Joseph’s attitude. The Maitre d’, Giorgio Pisano asked people numerous times not to sit on the first 4 steps in the atrium for safety reasons. Mr. Joseph, who was chattering on the microphone all the while, was asked by a passenger to make an announcement to reinforce Mr. Pisano’s request. Mr. Joseph refused, stating that he was “only there to entertain”.

 

He seemed to have the staff do everything. I can see delegating but IMO, he went overboard except when he wanted to be in the spotlight.

Frank-in-CA

[cruisingfreak]

Wondering which decks have covered or 1/2 covered balconies? Looking to book the 15 day Hawaii in October and think it better to have some shade.

 

Aloha & Baja Deck, are fully covered.

 

Caribe ( which we were on ) was half covered.

 

Dolphin is fully exposed.

 

 

Minette

[cruisingfreak]

I didn't see any tables that would accomodate 9.

 

 

We were at a table for 10, on the Dec. 20, 2004 cruise.

 

 

Minette

[dazee8]

I agree with you Frank about the cruise director, Rich Josephs. Not at all that dynamic or professional when it came to handling true situations which he could have made a difference like the champagne waterfall.

[suzyluvs2cruise]

Aloha & Baja Deck, are fully covered.

 

Caribe ( which we were on ) was half covered.

 

Dolphin is fully exposed.

 

 

Minette

 

Found out that not all mini's on BAJA are covered (even though Princess says they are)....there are some that are under the officer's quarters....B202 - B219 that are not covered....there is open space between the most forward cabin on Aloha....A209 and A214 to the bridge.

 

Check out this pic on Webshots that another Cruise Critic member provided.

 

http://community.webshots.com/photo/133994435dSjcGc

[suzyluvs2cruise]

Hope this helps....

 

Coral Princess and Island Princess are identical twins.

 

can help you by listing wich balconies on Coral Princess are fully covered or not...

 

A209-310; A416-504; A624-722 uncovered

A311-425 and A506-623 covered

 

B205-217; B701-737 uncovered

B218-309; B416-633 partially covered

B311- 427; B622-645 covered

 

C205-231; C705-726 covered

C232-703 partially covered

C727-728 uncovered

 

D206-309; D418-502; D624-724 covered

D311-417; D503-623; D725-726 uncovered

 

E207-310; 624-737 covered

 

Thanks for the information......decided to change from B216 and B218 to C229 and C231. We prefer a covered balcony.....especially on such a long cruise.

[DMorris]

You are very welcome... glad I could help.

 

Thanks for the info on table size... good to know they have tables for 10... we will be a group of 10.

[kryos]

We went to breakfast and came back to our room to find the steward already making up the room for the next cruise. He completley ignored us. My 10 year daughter tried to say goodbye and he turned his back on her. He obviously saw the Gratuity refund that was printed on our statment and must had assumed I had them removed, not realizintg my mom was paying for them. His attitude to us was so uncalled for. I tried to talk to him and he was throwing pillows down on the bed and acting rude. Thats what you get when you try to do something nice.

Personally ... if that had happened to me ... I would have not only removed all gratuities from my bill, but asked my party to do the same. That behavior is inexcusable! True, there is a culture difference and maybe many of the room stewards come from a different background and are not used to the same etiquette and customs that many travelers practice, but they sure as hell know how to practice common courtesy. Believe me, they receive thorough training before embarking that teaches them those things.

 

1. He had no business reading your statement even if it was laying out on the bed. That is private and he should have had enough sense to ignore it when he saw it sitting there.

 

2. Frankly, you really owe him no explanation as to why you removed the tips. Had he wanted to ask for one, there were acceptable ways of doing that. For example, "I couldn't help noticing your statement as it was laying on the bed, and I notice you chose to omit gratuities ... do you mind very much if I ask you in what ways my service failed to please you?"

 

3. Ignoring your child was the ultimate slight. For that reason alone, I wouldn't have given him a dime! You don't take you anger out on an innocent child who only wants to be friendly and who genuinely feels she made a friend on the voyage. He could have at least said a friendly goodbye to her even if he chose to turn his back on you.

 

If I were you, I would have mentioned his attitude at the purser's desk. He knows enough from his training and experience to realize that behavior is uncalled for.

 

Just my opinion ...

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[Taters]

bobbymcgee:

 

Thanks so much for the review. I also had a great time on board Island Princess for this sailing, despite some unruly kids and a couple of other issues. I am like you - I prefer those days at sea! When 9 pm would roll around, I'd have to ask myself where the day had gone! LOL

 

BTW - We rented a car and drove around the island of Oahu to the North Shore then back down through the middle of the island and back into Honolulu. You stated that it rained all day long in Honolulu... We found some of the most beautiful weather outside of town! Gorgeous afternoon! While we were driving back into Honolulu at about 7 pm, it started raining again. It was absolutely pouring when we boarded IP that night at about 8:30.

 

Once again, thanks for your review!

 

Taters

[Lynda90]

Can anyone who had a fully exposed balcony comment on how it was? We are booked on the Dolphin deck which is exposed. Is it really bad or did you even notice it to the point of never booking one again? On my cruise to Mexico I didn't notice it too much. If this question has already been answered on this thread, I apoligize. Didn't have time to read the entire thing.

 

Thanks!

[Mr.Lucky]

We were on the Dolphin Deck (D327), it was completely exposed and I was out on the balcony for various periods of time everyday. We always get a balcony and this was the first one uncovered.......I didn't see much of a difference.

It's a long cruise and most passenger were busy on the ship and not on their balconies.

Coming and going from the ports was really the only time a large number of people were on their balconies and they were doing the same thing I was......taking pictures of the Islands.

[1cruiselvr]

I didn't know someone else could pay your gratuities. I thought it went on your cabin bill, no other options other than to have them removed. How does one person pay for another cabin's tips? Happy Sailing!

[paradise4ever]

THe weather around Oahu changes with each turn. Waikiki usually gets more sprinkles then the rest of the island. I have found that it could pour for awhile and then the sun comes out and instantly dries everything. Kanaohe usually has the best weather. Touring around the island is a great experience and if possible I will do that. There is really so much to see and the beaches on the North Shore are great.

[Franknca]

Can anyone who had a fully exposed balcony comment on how it was? We are booked on the Dolphin deck which is exposed. Is it really bad or did you even notice it to the point of never booking one again? On my cruise to Mexico I didn't notice it too much. If this question has already been answered on this thread, I apoligize. Didn't have time to read the entire thing.

 

Thanks!

 

We were in Dolphin 405. The only time I had a problem with it not being covered was as we waited to leave San Pedro and some ashes drifted down from above. Other than that, it seemed the sun was on the other side of the ship and it didn't seem to affect us. Having said that, I'd probably prefer some coverage if I wanted to be out there when it rained.

Frank-in-CA

[bdjam]

1. He had no business reading your statement even if it was laying out on the bed. That is private and he should have had enough sense to ignore it when he saw it sitting there.

The steward didn’t have to read the statement to know that the gratuity was removed from the room account…they are told when a stateroom removes the gratuity from their account.

[LARGIN]

The steward didn’t have to read the statement to know that the gratuity was removed from the room account…they are told when a stateroom removes the gratuity from their account.

 

I agree and in the eyes of his superiors, the room steward must not have done an "Excellent" job.

[bdjam]

I agree and in the eyes of his superiors, the room steward must not have done an "Excellent" job.

Right-o…the steward’s concern for keeping his job might have had him a bit preoccupied…hence the perceived snub to the child.

 

Of course that’s all speculation… :D

[SharB]

Wow! I don't understand the lack of communication with your steward. Would it have been too difficult to let him know your plans before he was told by the Purser's Desk that you removed his tip? No matter what your mother paid him, it still came across and extremely poor service on his record. Maybe you omitted telling us that the Purser's Desk was aware that the steward was being paid by your mom? If so, then I'm sure the PD forgot and it was straightened out later. If it came across as a poor job - what a nice Christmas present for him. Especially since these guys have approx 9 more months before they see their family (at least that was the case on the Diamond that we just cruised on)

 

Shar

[dazee8]

The staff was great but the cruise director himself was the worst I've ever experienced. I will use the evening of the champagne waterfall to demonstrate Mr. Joseph’s attitude. The Maitre d’, Giorgio Pisano asked people numerous times not to sit on the first 4 steps in the atrium for safety reasons. Mr. Joseph, who was chattering on the microphone all the while, was asked by a passenger to make an announcement to reinforce Mr. Pisano’s request. Mr. Joseph refused, stating that he was “only there to entertain”.

 

He seemed to have the staff do everything. I can see delegating but IMO, he went overboard except when he wanted to be in the spotlight.

Frank-in-CA

 

Frank,

Below is a message that Richard Joseph, the cruise director on the Island Princess, posted today on his take of our cruise and the children with dealt with. I believe it supports what you said above in his own words.

 

"The Christmas cruise was a one-off for us in regards to the issue of children. We have about 30 kids on the ship usually and run a full and energetic program for them. I have received no complaint regarding kid's behavior with the exception of the Christmas cruise. For me to comment further on this hot topic would be inappropriate as I am not an official company spokesman and my posts on this board are not as such, only a way for me to say hi and keep in touch with past & future friends. In regards though to the comment made regarding "The Captain & Crew doing nothing about the problems with the kids" this is the farthest from the truth." --- Richard Joseph

[Franknca]

Frank,

Below is a message that Richard Joseph, the cruise director on the Island Princess, posted today on his take of our cruise and the children with dealt with. I believe it supports what you said above in his own words.

 

"The Christmas cruise was a one-off for us in regards to the issue of children. We have about 30 kids on the ship usually and run a full and energetic program for them. I have received no complaint regarding kid's behavior with the exception of the Christmas cruise. For me to comment further on this hot topic would be inappropriate as I am not an official company spokesman and my posts on this board are not as such, only a way for me to say hi and keep in touch with past & future friends. In regards though to the comment made regarding "The Captain & Crew doing nothing about the problems with the kids" this is the farthest from the truth." --- Richard Joseph

 

Which forum did he post that on? He makes my point - when there is only 30 kids on board, there are no problems because they have enough facilities to handle them. When they have 280 and over half are teens, Princess has to know there will be problems. I will repeat my contention that if Princess allows that many on board, they also have a responsibility to provide some kind of outlet for them even if it takes some revenue from a bar that is turned into a teen hangout. Especially when they charge about double the going rate for this holiday cruise.

Frank-in-CA

[dazee8]

Which forum did he post that on? He makes my point - when there is only 30 kids on board, there are no problems because they have enough facilities to handle them. When they have 280 and over half are teens, Princess has to know there will be problems. I will repeat my contention that if Princess allows that many on board, they also have a responsibility to provide some kind of outlet for them even if it takes some revenue from a bar that is turned into a teen hangout. Especially when they charge about double the going rate for this holiday cruise.

Frank-in-CA

 

Frank the thread is called "Island Princess Cruise Director?" here is the link:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=2814648#post2814648

[MamaTene]

Same situtation regarding tips happened on recent RCCL cruise for friends of ours. They misunderstood the auto tipping and thought nothing else was required..just that tips would go on their acct..didnt understand that passenger FIRST had to go to purser and sign up for auto tip. So of course, the room attendant, dining staff etc see no auto tip and no envelope with cash for them on last day and you could tell by look on their face that they were upset. Room attendant had been given "advance" tip of like $10 twice during the 10 day cruise but that was it..luckily I was able to explain situation to the friends and they ran all over ship morning of disembarkation looking for our wait staff and room steward to make it right...

[Franknca]

Same situtation regarding tips happened on recent RCCL cruise for friends of ours. They misunderstood the auto tipping and thought nothing else was required..just that tips would go on their acct..didnt understand that passenger FIRST had to go to purser and sign up for auto tip. So of course, the room attendant, dining staff etc see no auto tip and no envelope with cash for them on last day and you could tell by look on their face that they were upset. Room attendant had been given "advance" tip of like $10 twice during the 10 day cruise but that was it..luckily I was able to explain situation to the friends and they ran all over ship morning of disembarkation looking for our wait staff and room steward to make it right...

 

That's why I don't mind the automatic posting but being able to remove or change it as I deem applicable. I've never had a situation where I changed it but I do add to the amounts for very good service.

 

BTW, since this was a holiday cruise and these people were working and missing their families at home, I gave each of them a Christmas card with 2 MCI phone cards on Christmas Eve - room steward, waiter, asst waiter and head waiter. They really appreciated being thought of. (Didn't hurt the service we got either.) I also gave a phone card to each counselor in the kid's area and that was 12 there. Those people were speechless. (G) I thought it would be nice if they could call home for Christmas as we'd be in port on Christmas day.

Frank-in-CA