We have recently returned from our cruise on the Island Princess from Los Angeles through Panama Canal to Miami.
We had persuaded our friends to join us, whom had not cruised before.
We booked it all through Bolsover Travel.
WELL, 2 days into our cruise we felt we had made a terrific mistake.
The cruise was nothing like we had ever been on before!! There was no ‘sail away’ no ships sirens etc when we left port; we were late setting off; our luggage had been damaged; complementary drinks were charged; the entertainment left a lot to be desired (until the second week); the drinks package we had booked was diluted from bags ( we had expected Coke etc from tins/bottles ……..these were available at extra price); ‘around every corner’ there was someone/thing asking for money; the band playing around the pool was so noisy we had to move on several occassions plus it was the same songs they sang; the sprinkler in our room discharged itself and wet our bed, we were promised a new mattress, but the mattress was turned over; we went into a port to visit and no-one was allowed to disembark because of the weather (understandable), but surely, the Captain would have known this before we arrived at the port and prevented everyone from being disappointed.
Some ports we arrived at and by the time we had disembarked we had 3 hours to see anything or go snorkeling etc.
this was owing to ‘bottle necks’ caused by the ship’s photography staff trying to take photographs of passengers disembarking( Maybe it would have been better to have taken the photographs when returning???) My husband and friend fell asleep whilst waiting in the theatre to disembark at one port; the wi-fi that we had expected to be able to use (at an extra cost) was very expensive and slow.
We were invited to the ‘Captain’s Circle’ which was a self congratulations to the ship and the crew, PLUS, a big ‘sale’ of the new ship that is shortly to be commissioned.
Some evenings the bars closed early because there was no-one about (except us) and if we had wanted another drink then we would have had to have it ‘room service’….at extra cost! The staff had gone to a lot of effort to make wonderful chocolate Easter Eggs which were proudly displayed in the Atrium and in the dining rooms.
They were excellent.
BUT, after Easter, they were all smashed to pieces (with some adult passengers jumping and standing on them) then the chocolate was ground up and fed to the sea! I found this quite obnoxious.
Surely, some other means of celebrating Easter could be designed to prevent such a waste of energy, resources and food.
On a positive note; The ship’s staff were absolutely fantastic.
Nothing was too much bother and they were always polite, entertaining and good fun to be with.
The food was excellent both in the restaurants and in the self-service.
The ‘under the stars movie’ was exceptional.
We have returned exhausted and do not feel that we have been on a holiday.
We did enjoy the canal and our time at sea, but would have enjoyed a little longer in our other ports of call.
This hasn’t put us off doing another cruise, but not with this company.
