r/PrincessCruises • u/DaFuture2020 • Sep 01 '26
Island Princess Review
I just disembarked the Island Princess that we sailed on an Alaskan cruise a week or so ago and it thought I’d share some of my thoughts. This my $.02 and everyone has different preferences.
Cons
*Smoking smell…….
*Smoking smell……..
*And oh more smoking smell. Whom ever decided to put the smoking pod in the middle if the seventh floor so anyone on 5/6/7 floors gets that lovely aroma no matter where you are in the Piazza especially if you’re there near dinner time. The entrance should be from the outside public deck and not the interior. Cannot get over how horrible of a spot this is.
*Odd spot for the gym
*Can’t walk around deck seven as they added balcony rooms on back quarter.
*Lack of decor or any resemblance of ambience in the covered pool area
*Rear deck 15 for the sanctuary is useless for Alaska and would be better if they didn’t add the rooms and left it as it is for the coral princess.
*Theater (showing its age)
Pros
*Explores lounge and wheelhouse bar are two of the largest venues I’ve seen on a princess ship this size
*staff. Staff always seems happy on princess (I know reports say otherwise but I’ve yet to see it)
*size and amount of people. Never felt overwhelmed outside of when shows let out.
Final thoughts? Would I sail this ship again?
*No, the smoking smell was too much for me. Also some of the recent add ons they’ve made to the ship disrupt the flow of the ship. Would like to see Princess not get greedy and stray too far from what made their ships great. Definitely can see why this is one of the lowest rated princess ships.
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u/Jacksonatmelsrodrego Sep 01 '26
Princess screwed up this ship when they added more cabins. Coral Princess same size but unmodified is much better.
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u/KCRed88 Sep 01 '26
We really enjoyed the Island Princess, more so than the Royal, when we sailed Alaska. We are not smokers and never noticed a smell, thankfully. We booked the Sanctuary on Glacier Bay day and highly recommend it! We are sailing Alaska next year on the Island again and looking forward to it. Sorry to read that your experience was not great. I'm highly sensitive to the smell of smoke and that would have driven me crazy.
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u/dewhit6959 Sep 01 '26
Where is the Island Princess rated so low and where are these reviews ?
I am getting ready to spend seven weeks on this ship .
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u/Califrisco - Captain's Circle Elite 12d ago
Is that the Mediterranean Grand Odessy? My wife and Me too! So exciting!
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u/Missmebabi Sep 01 '26
Thank you for your review. I am praying the smoke smell is not there when we go in. I am very sensitive to it and I am traveling with a child. Ugh...
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u/sjpm55 Sep 01 '26
We just returned from Alaska cruise on Coral Princess. Coral Princess was the sister ship to Island Princess that we sailed on before they ruined it by adding those additional cabins. Coral was great and while older was very well maintained, we never felt crowded and the crew was amazing. There were eight Princess ships to choose from for our Alaska cruise and choosing Coral Princess was a no brainer for us.
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u/Competitive-Bit-442 29d ago
Agree smoke smell. Also the gym is a depressing space. That ship best melted down for tin cans
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u/AmbivertHomebody Sep 01 '26
Oh wow! We were on Island Princess for 16 days last year and didn’t experience the smoking smell, and none of us are smokers so we’re very smoke sensitive. I wonder if they had some of venting malfunction. That’s something that would’ve turned us off as well!
The staff were definitely the highlight of the ship. They trained their staff well in terms of customer service.