15-Day Cruise Around Alaska and British Columbia Aboard the ISLAND PRINCESS

I've been cruising for years on several different lines, though I wouldn't call myself a "regular cruiser." This was a repositioning cruise on Island Princess: four nights, three days, Vancouver to LA.

Context: I'm a 62-year-old male, first time aboard Princess. Sailed solo as a restorative little getaway after some draining work obligations. I went in with low expectations and, honestly? Most were met, with a few failing to rise to even those minimal standards. Please take this in the tone intended: If your biggest complaints in life are about a mid-level cruise, your life is pretty good. None of this is "THIS WAS HORRIBLE!!!" It's more like "M'eh. Not great. Not terrible. Probably won't do it again." And this is why….

Embarkation / Disembarkation: I don't think this is really a Princess issue so much as Canada Place. Staff was efficient and lines moved, but they were LONG and the terminal was insanely crowded, probably because Canada Place was processing three ships at once (two Princess, one Holland). Long and tedious, but nothing unusually bad. Muster was remarkably easy. And disembarkation in LA? Probably the easiest, fastest I've ever experienced.

Cabin: I specifically chose the last cabin portside on Deck 8, for its curved balcony with 260-degree views to the side and aft. And it was lovely. Private, quiet, clean, and probably the best balcony on board short of the suites. Shower had nicely hot water, excellent pressure, and proper drainage. Bedding was clean, soft and supremely comfortable.

But the bed itself? Awful. Way too soft, sagging, and the middle, where the two mattresses come together, might as well have had no in-fill at all. It gave me lower back issues in what was otherwise a very nice space.

Food and Dining: This is where things really fell short. Buffet was exactly what you'd expect: decent choices, all of it mid. Main Dining Room: M'eh. Lukewarm to almost cold soups, dried, overcooked fish, cafeteria-level mains, cold bread. Fine for what it was.

The specialty restaurants, though, are what really got to me. Both carry a $55 surcharge, and both had additional "upgrades." "Yeah, we sold ourselves to you as a premium steakhouse, but you want the good stuff? Another 20 bucks on top of the 55 you already paid. You want the 'better' fish? Another 20 there, too. Thanks."

At the Crown Grille, I ordered a medium-rare porterhouse. Out came the thinnest piece of meat I've ever seen presented as a porterhouse, gray on the outside and almost purple-red raw in the middle. I sent it back. It wasn't replaced. The same cut came back, still gray, hotter and a little less raw. It had very clearly been nuked, not re-fired, and it was simply not good. The rest of the meal went about the same. In the main dining room I wouldn't have cared, but this is a "specialty" restaurant they market as upscale, and honestly? It wasn't even close. And the server didn't seem to care.

Sabatini's: same upcharges, same issues. The "Salumi e Formaggi Misti"? The same sandwich meats from the buffet, plated with some cheese. Veal marsala? Lukewarm and bland. Tiramisu? Served with a goopy sauce for a silly "at-the-table" presentation that left it soggy, wet, and just – well – not great.

Bars: Not infuriating, just annoying and stupid. I had Princess Premier. I wanted a Piña Colada with a Kahlúa float, commonly called a "sandcastle." Nope. That's two shots; can't do it. I'd already watched another guest argue about a "double," so I didn't bother pointing out that it's not a double per se but an actual drink. Instead, I learned the workaround: You can't go back to the same bar for seven minutes between drinks, so I bought the Piña Colada at the Lido Deck bar (14), carried it up the stairs to the Sun Deck (15), left it on a table, ordered the Kahlúa straight from the Sun Deck bar, then went back to the table and combined the two. Voilà! A sandcastle. The dumbest thing ever, especially when you're paying for Premier, but again, an eye-rolling "whatever." Bartenders, by the way, seemed particularly disinterested in their jobs and just didn't seem to care about much of anything.

Service: Princess has an "anywhere" service that lets you order items delivered to wherever you are on the ship, tracked through their medallions (a feature both intriguing and, if you think about it, a little disconcerting). It's great when it works. But it doesn't.

Ordered a cocktail on the Lido deck. App went from "order placed" to "being prepared" to "on the way" to "delivered." Never got it. I cut them some slack; the deck was crowded and anything could have happened. Later I ordered a bathrobe to the room. Same status updates, same "Delivered." Never got it. I had to go to guest services to make sure I wouldn't be charged for "stealing" it. Guest services, dismissive and unapologetic, had another one sent. That one arrived.

Room service: I ordered two coffees with breakfast, one regular, one decaf. One regular arrived; no decaf. When I pointed it out, the delivery person first told me I hadn't ordered the decaf, then, once I had him check the order sheet, he admitted (again without apology) that I had, and said he'd be back with it. Yep. You guessed it. Never came.

Overall: There were other issues too, with maintenance, the spa, the shows, but this is long enough. If you compare it to a hotel, it's definitely not the Ritz or the Four Seasons, but it's not a Motel 6 either. It's sort of like a Super 8 franchised to a family who cuts costs by skipping the soap and letting the towels go threadbare. It all boils down to "M'eh. It's fine. It's just not what it pretends to be." Go in with low expectations and know that even those might not be met. But hey, it's a nice balcony over a beautiful blue ocean with some restorative peace and quiet. Just don't expect what they pretend to offer. You won't get it.

This was actually a cruisetour. Off the Beaten Path beginning in Fairbanks, AK ending in Vancouver. To sum it up in a few words: beyond what we imagined, planned, or expected! Interior Alaska is a beautiful vast wilderness and Princess is a well oiled machine. Worth every minute and dime we spent.

The lodges were all beautiful in their own way & getting there was half the fun. Train, buses, & catamaran were all enjoyable and journeys in their own right. Transportation by Princess was seamless. Guests coming and going from all different directions whether starting their cruisetour or ending their cruisetour.

The most frustrating was the Princess app on land. On land, the app makes you feel like the red-headed step-child. Provides no help whatsoever! For the cruise, it's a fantastic tool and will keep you on schedule. Once the cruisetour starts, even if doing land first, the app will not allow you to do anything or change anything on your own. It locks you out and the land portion doesn't appear to record your booked excursions. If you tour late in the season, excursion vendors tend to reduce staff and offer fewer tours. Don't wait to book it! We learned the hard way since the lodges were not able to get in contact with the next lodge timely due to their busyness.

The Island was just the right size. Not too small and not too big. The size allowed us to get closer to Marjorie Glacier than most larger ships. Our room steward was very attentive and although it was nearing the end of the season, we were treated like it was the first week. We enjoyed every single meal in the main dining room. We did the Bourdeaux so we could change dining times based on our activities. We never waited longer than 5 minutes to be seated. The popular bar was the Wheelhouse which featured several bands each night. The comedian had 2 shows near the end of the cruise which was fabulous. The shows in the main theatre were enjoyable but not over the top or of Disney/Broadway caliber. That is one area where Princess could improve a bit. But this tour was Alaska and glacier focused so maybe this or the size of the ship were a factor. It's only our second cruise with Princess. They offered several naturalist talks and a focused theme, "North to Alaska".

Overall, we were very satisfied & the entire trip was enjoyable. The staff at the lodges, the drivers, the cruise staff, etc. were all fabulous.

We had the best weather for the land portion and seeing Hubbard and Glacier Bay but after that it was normal Alaska drizzly chilly cloudy weather. We didn't book excursions for the ports since we had already been to those before and we wanted to play it by ear and stay in the port or on the ship. We enjoyed doing activities in the ports which were not popular excursions. We did a scavenger hunt from the Klondike Gold Rush Park in Skagway, walked to the Taku fountain and checked for tide pools in Juneau, and walked to the fish ladder and hatchery in Ketchikan. We also focused on trying local foods like spruce ale & cookies, smoked salmon spread, sourdough, king crab, and salmon donuts. We saw plenty of wildlife both on land and from our cruise balcony. And Glacier Bay is a must! Be flexible, dress for anything, and let the journey happen!

We sailed on the Island Princess for 7 nights, LA to Vancouver. This was our 14th cruise on Princess. We bid to upgrade and got a mini suite. We booked transportation from the ship to Seattle airport. We purchased the Princess Plus package.

We found the Island Princess very charming. It seems every cruise line and every individual ship has it’s own identity and personality. Yes it’s old and probably in need of refurbishment but the positives for us greatly outweigh the negatives.

The positives for us start with the fact it is smaller and has far less passengers. We did not have any problems getting around the ship or nor did we have any problems getting good seating and any venue on the ship. The ships number of elevators are about the same as the larger Princess ships. We hardly ever had to wait for an elevator.

The ship’s crew were some of the best we ever cruised with. We had the same table, dining time and wait staff. Our wait staff knew us well after the first two days. When they saw us come in, they already had our drink orders ready.

Dining on the Island Princess was very nice but we only used the main dining room. The food was good to excellent. Some of their standard options are pretty good and I had the French Onion soup every day. With the Princess Plus package the specialty restaurants are not included so on a few nights I ordered steak and lobster in the main dining room for a surcharge for $25 and it was well worth the price. I was able to use my onboard credits. We were very pleased with the food overall including the buffet. The pizza is better than an excellent rating and I highly recommend the pizza, that in itself is worth five stars. The WORST food is the room service food. (We found this to be true on all 9 Princess ships we have sailed on).

Mentioning the on board credits, Princess is very generous. We each get the booking credit and I get the veteran and stock holder credits. This is a great credit for us and by purchasing a package we usually have ZERO dollars to pay after the cruise minus any shopping purchases.

Our cabin steward was also outstanding. We did not see much of him but everything was always done. He knew his job well.

We traveled with our Service Dog. The ship’s crew that has this responsibility were also very good. They had a relief area set up for us and it was always clean and sanitary. Kudos to the ship. We had a lot of very positive experiences.

Now the negative, the thermostat did not work properly. We asked to have it fixed and the maintenance crew arrived quickly and took care of the problem. The thermostat failed again after a few days and we asked to have it repaired. They arrived quickly and fixed it and it was fine for the rest of the cruise.