Gerald Altman
Age: 82
Occupation:Retired
Number of Cruises: 24+
Cruise Line: Princess
Ship: Island Princess
Sailing Date: May 6th, 2006
Itinerary: Alaska
The Good:
The food, the room steward (very helpful and friendly), the general appearance
of the ship, inside and out.
The Bad:
The main theater is a huge facility with many seats, but with only two narrow
aisles. I would hate to be in the middle of a show and a general alarm is
sounded. It would result in a stampede with many fatalities, aside from a great
danger to many handicapped cruise guests.
Miserable tender service where the ship had to be anchored. They used only two
tenders for a ship with 2000 passengers.
On every cruise I have taken, the captain and his senior staff presented
themselves on formal nights. Not on this cruise! Cocktails served on formal
evenings were tiny and weak.
The Ugly:
The Purser's Office. There was general indifference, ranging from minor matters
such as not informing guests that they could get daily news bulletins delivered
to their cabins to serious failings, such as the way they sabotaged the
disembarkation of the travel group I was in. The cruise line had made airline
reservations for the group for a mere 2 1/2 hours after landing, but would not
let us off the ship for an hour (despite promises that we would be among the
first to exit the ship), then by failing to provide transportation to the
airport, forcing us to take taxis that would not accept our transportation
vouchers. This resulted in missing our flight from Vancouver to Los Angeles, and
a resulting wait of 7 to 10 hours before getting a flight out. This was
compounded by the cruise line management's stonewalling when they were informed
of this fiasco; to this date they have not contacted anyone among the 30 people
in this group about compensation for taxi fares or anything else.
I cannot speak for the other 28 of us, but my wife and I have resolved that this
first Princess Lines cruise will be our last.