Kids on Coral?

[soprano]

I've just spent several days reading every Coral Princess review I could find...and only read very few comments about the kids experience onboard. Does anyone have experience with kids onboard the Coral? Specifically, I see that there is only one kids room (and one for teens), and was wondering how the kids are divided - if they are. What were your kids ages, and how did they enjoy the voyage?

Our girls are 10,7 and 2, but we will also be traveling with cousins who are 10, 8, 6 and 5. We're sailing on the 10-day Panama canal in Feb '05. Not too concerned about the lack of other kids since we're bringing a whole kids program with us! So that is not the issue.

Thanks!

[pattie63]

Hi - we're just off the 1 April Coral Panama Canal with two boys (8 and 10). Our boys did not spend alot of time in the Kids Zone during the day (we enjoy their company) but they did want to go at night. First let me start by saying how excellent I thought the Kids Zone Staff was. They were mostly late 40's/early 50's women who really seemed to enjoy the kids and make them feel special. The Princess Pelicans are aged 3 -7 and they are in a separate room. the Princess Pirateers are aged 8 - 12 also have their own room. In addition, there is a Playstation Room that all children onboard the ship can use (although not when they are signed into the Kids Zone). My kids LOVE the kid's dinner that they had two nights. The entire Kids Zone was clean, bright and cheery (somewhere on line, there is a really good virtual tour of the area I'll post it if I can find it otherwise someone will know where it is). They have a separate kids only bathroom. Activites for the Pelicans (I've got the Patters in front of me) included t-shirt coloring, ice cream party, crafts, Simon Says, mini-olympics, Miami SeaQuarium, DiscoMania, Island Night, Freeze Dance Competition, walks around the deck, PJ Party, Basketball shootout, etc. For the Pirateers, they had Ping-Pong challenge, ice-cream, scavenger hunts (I was NOT thrilled that my 8 yo was roaming the ship with two 12 YO without my permission though), Playstation Hour, Mini-Olymipics, Brain teasers, DiscoMania, Backward PJ Party, Island Night, etc. At night, they had movies for the kids including Inspector Gadget 2, Finding Nemo, Good Boy, etc. One day they had a really good party in the Wheelhouse lounge with a magician, ballon making, ice-cream, stuffed animals, etc. Overall, my boys seemed to like the Kids Zone during the times when they were in attendance.

With respect to the Panama Canal itinerary itself, I think they would have preferred some more beach time. The loved climbing Dunns River Falls and tubing in Jamaica (book with Phil Lafayette!), sort of enjoyed our tour in Costa Rica with Oscar Brown (I really enjoyed it), enjoyed Sting Ray City in Grand Cayman (Captain Marvins) and like Cozumel (we rented a jeep and just drove ourselves around). They HATED the Rainforest Hike in Panama although the generally enjoy hiking.

I hope this helps.

Found the link for the virtual tour. Good views of the Kids ZOne areas

http://www.virtualtoursusa.com/coralprincess.htm

QE2 - 2000
Grand Princess - 2002
Coral Princess - 2004

[This message was edited by pattie63 on 04-26-04 at 07:10 PM.]

[soprano]

Thanks so much pattie63! I'm curious about the "Playstation Room"...is it supervised? I have a feeling that our 7 yo would like to use it frequently, but we wouldn't feel comfortable just leaving her there without a staff member present (and sitting and watching her play video games just doesn't sound like a great way to spend our vacation!).

[pattie63]

No, I never saw any supervision in the PlayStation Room except when it was scheduled as part of the Princess Pelicans daily activities. I definately would not allow my 9 yo in the room unsupervised 1) because he's not allowed to play video games on a family vacation (although I did break down and let them play for 1/2 hour one day) and 2) although the room it part of the Fun Zone area, it not restricted access and my son might wander off (not likely when given a choice of Playstation as an activity!!! (LOL). Since you are travelling with a group of kids you might feel comfortable if they went as a group and kept in contact via walkie-talkie. In any case, once you see the set up, you'll be able to decide what is right for your family.

QE2 - 2000
Grand Princess - 2002
Coral Princess - 2004