Tour the Ship on a “Day at Sea” – On the Road with Don and Paula

Today is one of our “Days at Sea”. These are very relaxing (if you want it that way) or very busy/hectic if you want to run from one activity to another. There is something on board for everyone, as smattering of events here will illustrate:

Tai Chi, Bible Study, Sudoku, Zumba, Arts and Crafts, Port Destination Lectures, Bridge Lessons and playing, Poker, Bean Bag Toss, Trivia, Movies, Lecture Series (Nautical Themed), Friends of Bill, Bob, (and a host of others), Line Dancing, Ballroom Dance Instruction, Afternoon Tea, and on and on….

That’s the stuff during the day.

The nighttime is filled with all sorts of entertainment options!

So, for today’s post I thought that I would give you a tour of the ship. If you’ve been on cruises before, all of this will be familiar to you. If you’ve also been one of the new Mega-Ships like Royal Caribbean’s’ Oasis of the Seas, this will seem retro to you. If you’ve never been on a Cruise Ship before well…. what’s stopping you! Come aboard!

The Island Princess is about twenty years old, and its last refurbishment was about four years ago. As you may imagine, the wear and tear on something that is inhabited by two thousand people, on the high seas, every day of the year, can be significant. Hence the periodic refurbishing every few years. Eventually she will be sold to either the scrappers or another second-tier cruise line and continue her life under a new name.

But for now, Princess has done a marvelous job of keeping her spic and span and has invested a boatload 😊 of money in keeping her updated with the latest technology. For those of you who remember the post about the Wi-Fi and us being able to “stay in touch” you will be happy that everything that I reported earlier is true. The connectivity at sea is pretty good! And, that Medallion thing works nicely also. In fact, this morning when I was roaming the ship to get the photos for this post, little did I know that Paula had woke up and was walking, tracking me on her phone trying to catch up with me… she did so very nicely!

So, without further ado, a quick photo tour of the Island Princess.

This is the aptly named *Horizon Court*. It is the ‘morning til late’ eatery on board. There is a Port and Starboard side for serving, each of which has the same offerings, and their hours vary with the times and needs of the days. This is small part of it facing forward, the rest of the tables run fore and aft on both side of the ship, taking up almost a third of the length.

This is the Starboard side getting ready to open at 8AM. The Port side has been open for a while.

Venturing outside by the main pool you will see that there are covered options as well as full sun. Under here there is also a glass wall that keeps the wind under control while still being able to see the ocean.

Same place, you can see the underneath part on either side. The top is obviously full sun and also has some clear windscreens all around it. Here you can also see the large screen used for movies and other events such as football, etc. At night for the movies, the lounge chairs are re-fitted with large mattress type coverings and blankets are also provided.

This is part of the indoor pool area. It has a retractable roof and is more suited for adults and a more relaxing experience. The music in here is that Asian/Meditation type that keeps the passengers from throwing each other overboard.

This is the most important part of the ship and is guarded 24 hours a day against Pirates and other Villains of the Sea. It is the Ice Cream Dispensary!

On a par with the Ice Cream venue, here we see *Amuleto,* the equally important Patisserie and Dessert Bar. It is located at the front of *Horizon Court*.

The Cental Plaza is the heart of the ship. Rising through four decks, most of the important services and many of the bars and entertainment venues are located here.

Another view, looking up to the higher decks.

Here are the obligatory glass elevators that one of the three kids that are aboard has taken over as the Elevator Operator.

Here is one of the Medallion Interactive Boards that are all over the ship. This one is displaying a timeline for the day, by the hour, listing all of the activities. All you need to do is swipe it, like your phone. Or you can touch your Medallion to that little blue circle on the right and your personal stuff can be displayed where you can see your dinner reservations, etc.

This is one of the larger venues, The Wheelhouse Lounge, obviously Nautically themed as you will see the next few photos.

Just off of that Central Plaza, this is the *Crooners Lounge*, another music venue, where you can hear me nightly when the Open Mic part starts up. I’m at my best after I’ve had a few Scotch and Sodas!

The *Princess Theatre*, where all of the production shows and other nightly entertainers, such as comedians, singers, magicians, et al perform at 7: 30 and 9:00 PM

These are the Evil Elevators which do an amazing job of reminding you of just how many pounds you’ve gained in such a short period of time.

Now we are going to head Aft and see *The Sanctuary*. A definitely NO KIDS area. It’s quite nice as you will see….

Those are private cabanas off to the left that can be reserved for a period of time.

Looking down on *The Sanctuary* from a deck above

Private massage area of *The Sanctuary* overlooking the water.

Note arrow… This is where I am petitioning to be lashed to in the event that we get into a good storm! Google *“Irving Johnson/ around Cape Horn in a hurricane on the Peking”* He had a movie camera up in the masthead with him during this storm. He is my hero!

Well, that concludes our tour of the Island Princess. I hope that A.) You were able to thrash your way through it, and B.) you actually enjoyed it! Stay tuned for more Life on the High Seas with Paula and Don as future episodes become available. We hope that the Network will not cancel us at least til we get home!

12 replies on “Tour the Ship on a “Day at Sea””

Don – my mind is blown by all you showed!! and everything is so shiny and clean!

That it is Kathy! They’re always polishing something! They really try and take care of everything!

They should have the
Circus(fun-house)mirrors
in the elevators..

We’re all fat enough!

Beautiful ship, thank you for the tour.
They have really evolved since my mom and I cruised in the 1980’s.

Indubitably! But in some cases, not necessarily for the better!

When in the world did you take those photos? 5 AM? There’s nobody in them! They look like cruise ship brochure photos! I can’t believe how fancy it looks. Does the Ice Cream Dispensary have hard and soft serve? High butterfat, low air content?

The day is half over by 5 am!
No… no hard ice cream, but I can see that your days at the Chatterbox were not wasted! Your grip of what makes a quality ice cream is exemplary!

If they’re not going to have hard IC, they better have some pretty awesome toppings to make up for it! 😉

🙂

From the selfie, I see you’re carrying your phone and laptop. Also, you seem bundled up… what’s the temperature at sea? You must be cruising near the equator (?).
Great pictures and ship. Enjoy!

Thanks Domingo! That was early morning, about 80° 🙂

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