Island Princess Questions

[ho]

We will be leaving this Saturday on the Island and I was hopping someone might be able to answer a couple of questions. I was on her last April and I know there was a bar where you can purchase a bottle of scotch to take back to your cabin. The price was higher then the duty free shop but still quite reasonable. Does anyone know which bar it is? There are several of us who are making a little wager on the Kentucky Derby and would like to watch it in one of the lounges. Does anyone know which ones have TV's. I was thinking the crooners lounge might but was not sure. Thanks for the help.

 

Ho

[tbenson81]

Good luck finding the derby on any tv on the Island. The derby is carried by NBC and unfortunately the Island is lacking with their coverage of major sporting events. The only channel they really have is ESPN.There are not tvs that I remember in Crooners, your best bet is probably in the Explorers Lounge next to the casino. Sometimes they will broadcast the major events in here. They had the World Series on here last fallGood luck to you - I had to jump off the ship last October and high tail it to a local bar in Kauai so I could watch the Notre Dame USC game that was broadcated on NBC. Hopefuly you have better luck!Tony

[ho]

I know what you mean. I was on the Caribbean last October and there were several of us that wanted to watch some college football and keep up to date with the scores. I figured since we would still be in port in Ft. Lauderdale we would be able to pick up the local stations but that was not the case, as you say only some Spanish ESPN with soccer. Someone in the group had one of those 2 inch battery TV's that was able to get the local stations. We had about 10 guys around that little TV at the bar. I love Princess but they sure don't do much for sports fans. Hopefully they will carry the Derby but knowing Princess, I won't count on it.

 

Ho

[critterchick]

Ho, you don't need to worry about where to buy a bottle of liquor - you're not winning that wager!:D

 

Tony, how was your trip other than the dearth of sports? I remember the beating you took last year.

[mamag]

I do not know if you will get the Kentucky Derby but, we did get the Super Bowl in February on the Island Princess. It was shown in the Universe Lounge on 3 VERY large screens.

[ssantow]

If all else fails in getting your liquor you can order it from room service. It generally takes less than an hour for delivery and it will be charged to your onboard account.

[tbenson81]

Thanks for asking Jean - I have stayed pretty low key here since last years verbal assault.

 

The cruise was awesome and the Island Princess is a great ship. The new wife and I had a great time!

 

This year we learned our lesson though and scheduled our next cruise in late August where no major sporting events occur. We leave right after the PGA championship and return just in time for fooball season!

 

Tony

[Pam in CA]

We were on the Island Princess to/from Hawaii in March and they had all of the NCAA Final 4, Semi-Final and Final basketball games. You could watch them either on the TV in the cabin or in Universe Lounge.

 

I'd say that there was much more U.S. TV programming on our Island cruise than I've seen on previous cruises.

[Cruisin' Chick]

A few of the major college football bowl games were beamed into the Explorers and Universe lounges (depending on the importance of the game) on the IP. Princess needs to arrange (and buy) the satellite feed for any network show.

 

Even if Princess does arrange for a sporting event from one of the networks, there's not a guarantee that there will be reception. Someone at our dining table said the reception for the Orange Bowl came in and off as we were in the middle of the Pacific still.

[ho]

Thanks for all the information.

 

I can understand reception problems when you are in the middle of the ocean but the time I am talking about last year is before the ship set sail in Fort Lauderdale. The Derby will be this Saturday, again before the ship leaves port in L.A. All they have to do is have a couple of TV's not hooked up to their system and just plug them in. That is how we were able to pick up the football games on the mini battery operated TV. The ESPN station we had on the Caribbean Princess last September showed the same soccer game in Spanish from the time we got on the ship until the time we departed the following Saturday. Like I said before Princess is by far my favorite line but they lack way behind when it comes to sporting events. Both RCL and Celebrity have local TV station when you are in port where you can at least watch the games that are on the local stations instead of a month old soccer game .

 

I guess I will bring my on scotch. The only thing I see on the room service menu are those mini 375mm bottles that you have to get with soda water, no single malt. It says on the Princess web site that they sell full bottles at certain bars but when I called them to see which one no one knows. I am fairly certain is was the bar down by the future cruise sales office but I don't want to take a chance that they no longer offer this service. That is one of my main reasons to cruise, being able to sit on the balcony and drink a good scotch.

 

Ho

[MarMac]

I'm on the Island in Feb 2007 and I've been watching these boards carefully regarding the purchase of liquor. Like you ho the one thing I'm looking forward to is a balcony and some scotch.

 

Please post and let us know if and where you were able to purchase a good scotch.

 

Thanks...

 

Mary

[ho]

You got it Mary. We balcony scotch drinkers need to stick together.;) I will post it under the heading. "SCOTCH ON THE ISLAND"

 

Ho out

[critterchick]

Tony, I'm glad you had a good time and congratulations! Good idea to book around the important events!

 

Dick, I think Princess still offers a large selection of scotches by the bottle, they just don't sell them ahead of time. I'm hopeful that I can find my Grey Goose onboard. If not, I'll have enough to tide me over until San Francisco, and I know where the Trader Joe's there is. See you Saturday!

[ho]

Hi Jean,

 

I will be bringing a little scotch myself but if they don't have any on the ship to buy for your cabin I will be following you to the Trader Joe. I look forward to seeing you and Don on Saturday. Are you going to try and join us in Crooners for the race?

 

Dick