A Day on the Island Princess

Working in the food industry has it perks. There are food shows, chef competitions, fundrasiers and customer appreciation events. My colleague works with cruise ship sales, and from time to time, our company gets invited to events. In August, we were invited by the Cruise Industry Association of BC to attend a luncheon hosted by the Island Princess. The luncheon was a fundraiser for the Mission to Seafarers, which provides help and support to the women and men who work at the port. It was for a good cause, and I have never been on a Princess ship so I jumped at the opportunity to do go.

The luncheon took place on the Island Princess. The Island Princess is a beautiful ship with a very elegant feel and classic look. It is slightly smaller than the Carnival Valor, the first ship we cruised on, or about half the size of the Oasis of the Seas. It was a small ship, but a cozy ship. Unfortunately, this luncheon took place about two months ago and since then I have gone on a cruise (!) so my memory is a bit fuzzy.

Embarkation went smoothly. Even though the procedures are the same (security, etc), it felt a little bit different going onto the ship with a Visitor's pass. Once we were on the ship, we were ushered into the Wheelhouse Bar for (non-alcoholic) drinks. We sat for a while before we were escorted to the dining room for our lunch. We walked through the beautiful atrium; I loved the classic look and the marble floors (below, right). I also took a quick peek in the casino (bottom, right)!

We had lunch in the dining room (above left), which was closed off to the cruise passengers for the meal. I ordered the all-time Princess favourite, fettuccine alfredo in a crisp parmesan basket. It was so delicious I ate the entire basket! For my entree, I ordered the trout amandine. It was a tad bit too sweet for me. For dessert, I had a milky chocolate-hazelnut souffle.  

After our meal, we were given some time to explore the ship before disembarkation. The indoor pool area is gorgeous. It smelled amazing. It was very zen and peaceful. I've never seen this Asian theme on any of the eight ships I've been on, so I was pleasantly surprised.

We headed up onto the deck to take a look at the outdoor pool as well. At this time, it was starting to get busy as the passengers who were actually going on a cruise on the Island Princess were starting to embark.

I love, love, love these lounge chairs with the plaid blankets. It gets cold cruising in the Pacific so the blankets are perfect. Also, the chairs are angled perfectly for a great ocean view in this particular corner - can you imagine watching the sunset on the deck wrapped up in your blanket with a cup of hot chocolate? Heaven!

Before we headed back down to disembark, we took a quick peek at the buffet as well. The dessert bar was huge, but it was very busy so I didn't get a chance to take any pictures. I grabbed a tart to go, and it was time for us to leave the ship.

Needless to say, a Princess cruise from Vancouver is now on my bucket list... one day! My colleague and I ended up being the last ones of the group to leave the ship. It was a wonderful experience and I'm so thankful I was able to experience this!

* Please note this event was a fundraiser. My workplace paid for our attendance.