More by luck than anything else, our trip coincides with the 21st birthday of our ship, the Island Princess. Which is a great excuse for a party.
After dinner this evening, there is a large birthday celebration on Deck 5 which is pretty cool. Thousands of guests and crew have crammed into the central plaza to sing Happy Birthday, eat cake and to celebrate heritage of Princess Cruise’s third oldest ship (in the current fleet).
As usual, the chefs have outdone themselves, creating an enormous birthday cake and a replica of the ship – also in cake. It’s an astonishing spectacle. Some guests complain that the food on Princess Cruises is pretty average, but we are always thrilled by the sheer creativity of the kitchen team.
So in celebration of 21 years plying the seven seas, here’s some facts and general geekery about Island:
- This is the second Princess ship to bear the name Island Princess. The first changed hands many times before finally being scrapped in 2014.
- The current iteration of Island Princess was ordered way back in 1999 at a cost of USD $330 million and started her first voyage on 12th July 2003.
- Much smaller than her newer sisters, Island Princess has a maximum guest capacity of 2,214, and a crew of 900 keep us comfortable.
- At ‘just’ 91,627 GT, Island is the smallest ship in the fleet by more than 15,000 tonnes.
- Island is one of two Coral Class ships in the Princess fleet. She and sister ship Coral Princess are the only ones small enough to travel through the ‘old’ Panama Canal locks.
- Like most other cruise ships, there is no deck 13.
- Island was built in at the Chantiers de l’Atlantique yard in France. Since then, all Princess ships have been built in either Italy or Japan.
- When she was launched, Island Princess was fitted with two faux gas turbines. They looked like jet engines strapped to the sides of the funnel.
- Originally intended to ply the profitable Caribbean routes, Island Princess has a retractable glass roof over the Lotus pool on Deck 14. We have never seen it open!
- Island first arrived in Europe in 2015. Since then she has undertaken several world cruises of 110 days or more.
After serving hundreds of thousands of guests and circumnavigating the globe several times, Island Princess is showing her age. You can see the wrinkles and dents if you look hard enough – but that’s part of her charm. She’s a well-loved ship with an outstanding crew who more than make up for the lack of glitz found on her bigger, younger sisters. There’s a laidback, fun vibe that the newer ships lack – and that’s what keeps pulling us back to Island.
Happy birthday old girl – we hope you see many more. And just in case she is reaching the end of her Princess tenure, book your own Island Princess cruise soon.
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