Just off the Coral

[carbour404]

Wow! We have been on two other Princess cruises as well as RCCL, NCL and Celebrity. We found the staff to be wonderful, the food was great and the entertainment better than any other cruise. We did eat at Sabatinis, it was good but not worth the $20 extra charge. The Bayou Cafe was not very good. The food and service in the dining room was great, so next time I think we would skip the other restaurants. Neither was very busy so I think our feelings are shared by others. Reservations are not needed at either.
Our room was wonderful. We were in C519 just behind the bump out. Our balcony was big. On arrival I asked our room steward for a lounge chair which easily fit with the two chairs and the table that were already there. We also asked for an egg crate bad for the bed and wine glasses.We stopped in Ft. Lauderdale and bought wine to bring on board. We had wine in our cabin and brought a glass of wine to dinner. I gave Enrique $10 up front and I feel it was money well spent. He was wonderful throughout our trip.
The Martini specials in Crooners were $4 and were very good. They really aren't martinis but do come in a martini glass.
Naturally there were a few negatives but the good far outweighed them. It would be hard not to enjoy yourself on this ship.

If anyone has any questions I'll be happy to try to answer them.

[JeannetteC]

Thanks for your positive review. I'm looking forward to cruising on the Coral on June 26 from Whittier to Vancouver. Right now, I'm in cabin C641. It's further aft than your cabin and a little smaller. I'm pondering whether I should upgrade to your class for another $400. On the other hand, we're taking so many Alaska excursion, maybe I'll just put the money towards those!

[am57]

thanks for the review, we are cruising on the Coral on May 29 Southbound, Alaska cruise. this is our cruise and really hope we will love the ship. I have two teen age girls and hope they will not be bored. any other feedback so I can past on to my daughters

[mbw1024]

What is it about the Bayou that you didn't like?


Coral, October 2004

[JacquieP]

Our impression of the Bayou Cafe was that the service was extremely slow, as in over an hour's wait between the appetizer and the entree.

[Mezzaluna]

Thanks for the information! We're sailing southbound from Whittier to Vancouver on the Coral on July 10 and will keep your report in mind.

[randyat1001]

Great review Carbour, We sailed the same trip we share his opinions. The crew was as good as any we have experienced and Sabatinis while good was tooo much food and took so long we were half asleep by the last course and the dining room fare was excellent!!!! We were in B212 and it was a very nice size with a smaller balcony that had room for the 2 chairs and table. The balcony offers a uncrowded wonderful view of the canal transit. Also the forward decks on Aloha and baja and caribe were great for the canal view and uncrowded, another great CC tip.
Room service was super we did breakfast 3-4 mornings and they would deliver anything you wrote in. The pools and hot tubs were never full and no chair hogs!!!
Embark and disembark were veryy smooth and it was a great welcome back to Princess and we took advantage of the $100 dollar deposit for future cruise with shipboard credit

[cruiser2004]

Carbour,

Thanks for the informative review. We are doing a B2B on the Coral to Alaska on May 8 and wondered what the few negatives that you encountered were. Glad to hear about embarkation being easy. Last year we were on HAL and embarkation took over three hours.

Suzanne

[carbour404]

I'm sure there are plenty of activities for teens on board the Coral. We had very few kids
on our trip but were told that this week there were going to be over 300.
We thought the service in the Bayou was lacking. The food was just ok, I had gator ribs, as an appitizer and they were not very good, and came with a big pile of french fries. The soup was pretty watery and not great. I had cat fish which was good but very thin, maybe 1/4" thick and coated with cornbread, and came with another big pile of french fries. If I wanted french fries I could have gone to the grill and saved $10.
Overall there were so few negatives they are hardly worth talking about. One of the women we were with on the last night said that the skewer that they used in the martinis to hold the olives was made of wood and added a wooden taste to her drink. We laughed and said if that was her only complaint she must have had a great cruise. She agreed and said that she had.
There was a long line for the Purser's desk on the last day. The internet cafe cost too much.
Really I guess you could find many more faults, but only if you look. Just remember to enjoy yourself and look for the positives, and there are many.