LIVE: Geoherb's solo Island Princess cruise, June 4-14, 2024 (Halifax, Boston, Norfolk, Charleston)

[geoherb]

I’m sailing for the next 10 days on the Island Princess. I always recommend that people fly to the port at least the day before, but I did not follow my own advice for this cruise. I was up at 4 a.m. to catch a flight from Raleigh-Durham to LaGuardia. It was an uneventful flight, getting me to New York City around 8:30.

 

One thing I check before booking a flight the same day is what my options would be if the flight were delayed or canceled. There were five other American Airlines flights that could have gotten me to the port if my flight got canceled. I checked into flights that they had to Halifax as well in case they couldn’t have.

 

The Princess reps met me at the baggage claim. They seem more organized than they were two years ago. That was the time I had an even earlier flight that arrived at 7:30, but the first shuttle bus did not arrive until 1. I’m hoping this morning’s wait is only an hour if the reps can be believed. They said the first shuttle bus should be here at 10.

 

The itinerary for this cruise is great because we have a port alternating with a days at sea. We’ll be in Halifax on Thursday, Boston on Saturday, Norfolk on Monday, and Charleston on Wednesday before coming back to New York on Friday.

 

I’m hoping the internet on the ship will live up to Princess’s promise so I can do daily updates to this live thread.

[phabric]

Following along.  Enjoy your cruise. I have been on the Island and like the ship.

[geoherb]

3 minutes ago, phabric said:

Following along.  Enjoy your cruise. I have been on the Island and like the ship.

 

I've taken three cruises on the Island--one before the refurb and two in 2019. I enjoyed all three.

[LawDog61]

I have enjoyed your previous reports and look forward to this one.  Thanks for sharing.

[CruzinNoony]

Bon Voyage!  I will be following along with your adventures!

[geoherb]

The bus arrived a little before 10:30. There were 24 of us who had been waiting for it in the downstairs area. They loaded us on and then waited 15 minutes for another half dozen people to show up. Due to heavy traffic, it was about an hour for the bus to get to the pier. Then we had to wait for them to unload our luggage before getting off the bus. Since I had tagged my checked bag with the Princess luggage tag after retrieving it in LaGuardia, I was good to go. Some people had not done so and had to do it there at the pier.

 

Going through security and check-in was a breeze. I was on the ship in less than 10 minutes after getting inside the terminal. I’m not sure if they were making people who are not Elite wait at that time. The woman past the check-in kiosk did ask to see my medallion and welcomed me back as an Elite passenger and welcomed me to have refreshments if I wanted to before boarding. I skipped them and was on board right at noon. 

 

I went directly to the Bordeaux Dining Room for lunch since one of the crew members told me cabins would not be ready until 1. I had a nice shared table with two other solo travelers, a couple from Manhattan, and a couple from Florida. They said they had dropped off their carry-on bags in their cabins before going to the dining room.

 

The rumors about the dumbed-down wine list are true. They have a selection of wines by the glass for Plus package purchasers that shows just the variety of grapes. I tried the pinot noir and the merlot. I did not like the pinot noir. Whatever box brand they’re using for that one is not any good. The merlot was slightly better. I’ll have to try the other reds later to see if there’s an even better one for me.

 

My cabin is an inside on the Baja Deck. I was afraid it might have the dreaded bunks that jut out from the walls, but they are recessed into the ceiling instead. That’s great.

 

The internet speed is not looking very promising yet. One of the solos said he had heard it was better on the cruise before ours. It slowed down in Brooklyn. I hope that's the answer and that it gets better.

 

[geoherb]

My minibar items were all in the refrigerator: 4 Dewar's White Label scotch, 2 Smirnoff vodka, 2 New Amsterdam gin, and 2 each of Diet Coke, Perrier, Coke, tonic water, and Carlsberg pilsner. The beers are in cans instead of bottles.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

I am really looking forward to following along. Happy to hear that your flight got you there in time. Safe travels and enjoy your cruise!

[TM]

2 hours ago, geoherb said:

My minibar items were all in the refrigerator: 4 Dewar's White Label scotch, 2 Smirnoff vodka, 2 New Amsterdam gin, and 2 each of Diet Coke, Perrier, Coke, tonic water, and Carlsberg pilsner. The beers are in cans instead of bottles.

Had you somehow pre-ordered your mini-bar setup.  I've never had that beer in any of my setups>

[latebloomer56]

Following, we will be on the Island next year LA to NYC. Haven't sailed on this ship in 20+ years know much has changed. Enjoy your cruise.

[AZaTaz]

17 minutes ago, TM said:

Had you somehow pre-ordered your mini-bar setup.  I've never had that beer in any of my setups>

I have had bear in all of my mini bar setups since I reach Elite several years ago I thought it was standard. 

[TM]

32 minutes ago, AZaTaz said:

I have had bear in all of my mini bar setups since I reach Elite several years ago I thought it was standard. 

I've always had 2 beers in each of my setups.  But it's typically been a low end beer such as Dos XX

[bjinouno]

I am going to be following along this way I can seem like I have a 21 day vacation instead of only 11 lol unfortunately this is without any of the service and good food

[johnlcruise]

Following. As I will be getting on her in less than three weeks.

[geoherb]

It has been five years since I sailed on the Island. It might take a day or two to get used to the layout. I went to the sail-away party then headed down to the Promenade Deck to see us leave Brooklyn. I enjoyed a hurricane for my sail-away beverage. Our friend's are tastier, but this one was pretty good. 

[geoherb]

6 hours ago, TM said:

Had you somehow pre-ordered your mini-bar setup.  I've never had that beer in any of my setups>

 

This was the default selection that they delivered. Since I have Plus on this cruise, I probably won't bother to change them out. I'll just take home the mini bottles of liquor and leave the rest or give it away.

[geoherb]

5 hours ago, AZaTaz said:

I have had bear in all of my mini bar setups since I reach Elite several years ago I thought it was standard. 

 

I've always had two beers, but the default brand before has been Dos Equis. 

[geoherb]

Here are photos of the Patter for tomorrow, our first day at sea, and the Captain's Circle events schedule for Elites.

[geoherb]

And here's a photo of the senior officers on the ship:

 

[EllieinNJ]

Also following.  Thinking about booking for next year.

[susancruzs]

Following along, I'm doing the Quebec/FLL on the Emerald in October.  Thanks for posting! 

 

I'm doing Plus, haven't cruised since 2019 so was curious about the wine talk I've read!

[dreams_of_travel]

19 hours ago, geoherb said:

My minibar items were all in the refrigerator: 4 Dewar's White Label scotch, 2 Smirnoff vodka, 2 New Amsterdam gin, and 2 each of Diet Coke, Perrier, Coke, tonic water, and Carlsberg pilsner. The beers are in cans instead of bottles.

I'm so glad you posted this b/c it never occurred to me to look in the fridge for my minibar set up. LOL!  Usually the tiny bottles of alcohol are set out on the tray with the glasses.  I got the same set up and two still water bottles. 

 

Same re: bunks in my inside cabin in the ceiling. I've not experienced the ones that jut out from the wall. I guess that is a good thing based on your comment. 

 

I've not been on this ship before, but I'm enjoying the coziness of it so far. 

[WNCtourist]

A Hurricane upon embarkation is a worthy tradition! Enjoying your reports!

[arizonaperson]

@geoherb

I am enjoying reading your Live from the Island Princess- a true Live,nice.

Sounds like a great itinerary.

[geoherb]

We lost an hour last night to get us ready for Halifax tomorrow. I had gone to bed early after a long day. I attended the solo and single travelers meeting and the LGBT one. Both were well attended. In the past, they've always had a host the first night to help everyone get acquainted. They didn't last night. The musicians playing in the Wheelhouse Bar were too loud for the solo and singles group. They ended up moving to the chapel. 

 

I attended the Platinum and Elite event beforehand. They had a nice selection of food. The chicken marsala and the seared tuna were my favorites. I ate dinner in the Bordeaux Dining Room at a shared table with two couples and a solo traveler. He's been on the ship since Fort Lauderdale. He has special dietary restrictions and had already placed his order. I got to see tonight's menu early--although it's also now posted on the app today.

 

Breakfast for me is almost always in the dining room. I had one of my standard orders: melon and pineapple followed by smoked salmon with sliced avocado on rye toast. Everything was great. I walked several laps of the Promenade Deck. I love that it's a wide deck with real wood. There's just something classy about that compared to the synthetic planks they have on the newer ships.

 

I was going to join one of the couples for trivia, but they already had a team of six. I invited one of the guys from last night's meeting to join me. We had a respectable showing of 18 points. The winning team had 20--and it wasn't the ones who ditched me. They had 19.

 

The Bayou Cafe and Steakhouse became the Salty Dog Gastro Pub today for lunch. Sabatini's became Alfredo's Pizzeria. One crew member said they would do that every sea day. Another said they were just going to do it a couple of times. I'm not sure which one was right. I decided to try the Salty Dog since I have never done it before. Two casual meals are included with Plus, so today's lunch will be one of mine.

Most of it was very good. The website version of the menu isn't up to date. The new menu has two groupings: the grilled cheese and soup combo, the wild mushroom saute, and the charred asparagus are in the first group. Passengers choose one item from them. The second group consists of the fried chicken sandwich, spicy short ribs, hamburger, lobster mac and cheese, short rib poutine, and calamari frites. Choose one item from that group. The desserts are strawberries and cream, chocolate and bourbon pot de creme, coffee and doughnuts, and lemon posset with pistachio crunch.

 

I thought the cheese fondue sauce that comes with the complimentary breadsticks was a little too thin. The wild mushroom saute turned out to be a salad with a few mushrooms and a panko-crusted fried poached egg topped with a slice of truffle. It was a little bland and could have used more of the mushrooms. The beef short ribs were not very spicy, but they had very good flavor (with strips of orange zest, mashed sweet potatoes, and sauteed spinach) and were very tender. The chocolate and bourbon pot de creme was very rich.