WDWDVC

We then loaded back in the van to head to the water. This is the boat we went out on

Shortly after getting on the boat I realized that I made a major err - I had forgotten to bring my telephoto lens. Consequently the following whale pictures are significantly cropped.

The original whale was joined by his buddy. They were in fairly shallow water lunge feeding.

We were joined by another boat from the same company.

In this last picture you can see the mist from a blow

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Oops, wasn't suppose to send yet!

Our guide started out reviewing the settings on our cameras and had us try different ways to take photos of vegetation.

This is devils's claw - nasty stuff to land in!

We then came to a waterfall

The final stop on the walking portion was at Mendenhall Glacier

Lupines

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Juneau - Tuesday, May 30th

We chose to do the smaller group photo safari and whale watch excursion through Princess. The first part was a nature walk on the "Trail of Time"

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Thanks for posting! We were on the Coral the 20-27! We are ready to do it again. I would love to see the Chihuly Gass in Seattle! BTW...love your user name! I get it!

I would too in a heartbeat - so much else to see and do! Were you the cruise with a lot of rain?

Sent from my iPad using Forums

How easy or difficult are the bathtubs in minisuites to get in and out of for taking a shower?

They are higher than a normal tub however there is a very sturdy towel bar to hold on to. I wasn't concerned about getting in, but the first time getting out did give me pause until I tried steadying myself to step out with the bar. Hope that helps! I imagine the shorter you are the harder it would be. My husband is a little over 6' so he didn't think anything of it.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

"I hope the above helps and thanks for sharing the writeup and the pictures. I was on the same sailing but different excursions so it's interesting to see what else was offered. You also got some beautiful pictures!"

Thanks! Most of what you said went right over my head regarding the videos ;p I was hoping there was an easy way to post a video going directly from the I-pad. I like how easy it is to access the photos and post and was hoping for an equally easy access for videos.

Glad to hear that you liked my pictures!

Does anyone know how to access your videos to post using an I-pad?

Sent from my iPad using Forums

More photos...

Once we got back to town we did a bit of walking around, but we ran out of time and needed to get back for all aboard at 1:30.

View of the Coral as we were heading back.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Ketchikan - Monday May 29th

The first of many wonderful, beautiful days!

I had been closely following the projected weather and was pleased to se the expected rain/ cloudy days being pushed out beyond our visit.

We didn't have any "must dos" in Ketchikan so our friends chose to do the Deadliest Catch excursion and we tagged along. Finding out what to do once we got ashore is my only real compliant about the cruise - and since it all worked out it really isn't much of one. There was no Princess person on shore to direct us where to go for the excursion. We picked a direction that looked the most promising and started walking. We finally found a person that worked at the port who confirmed we were walking the right direction. The boat we were going out on was moored next to the Norwegian Jewel, and when we got to the end of the walkway it looked like we needed to go down a ramp that lead to that ship. Found another person that confirmed we were going the right way - whew!

We went out on the Alusian Ballad

For me the highlight of the trip was seeing the bald eagles. They stopped at an area that is a roosting area for them and it was amazing! They threw out some fish that got them to fly out of the trees. There must have been around 40 of them. I took a video but I can't figure out how to post it - if I do I'll post it separately.

They fly so fast that even using sport mode they aren't totally in c

Focus.

We then cruised to an area where they have their pots set out.

Some of their stop were staged to guarantee they'd have something in their pots to show us.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Sunday - May 28th - sea day

Really not a lot to say about this day outside of the fact that it was a very enjoyable one. It might be heresy to say this, but I'm not a sea day person. Given that, this day was nice because there were things to see on each side of the ship rather than open ocean.

We spent quite a lot of time either on the promenade deck or our cabin on the balcony taking in the scenery.

We did spend some time taking advantage of the casino as well - or should I say they took advantage of me!

This was the first formal night and thanks to a head's up from reading the CC boards we had purchased the photo package for $99. Now that was a deal! We stopped at one of the stations they had set up to have our pictures taken. By the end of the cruise we had 25 photos so we made out like bandits in that one!

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Our travel day from Seattle went off without a hitch. Given that it was Saturday we waited at the border crossing for 30-40 minutes - seemed like forever! As I mentioned, we rented the car from Avis and they had a drop off in town a few blocks from the pier and they ran a shuttle so we didn't need to get a taxi. Once we at the pier we were directed here there and everywhere, or so it seemed. The only other ship leaving that day was a Holland America one. Glad we weren't on that one, as we passed their passengers sitting on folding chairs waiting for their turn to board.

Once on board the first order of business was dropping off our carry-on luggage in the stateroom. Our cabin steward was promptly by to introduce himself and make sure we didn't need anything. His name was Roland, never caught his last name - he was the nicest steward we've ever had. He always had a smile and welcome for us whenever he saw us. If I remember correctly, it was shortly after we boarded that they made an announcement that due to some mechanical work they were doing we were not going to be leaving at 4:30 and that it could take up to 4 hours more before we would be able to leave. We were at dinner when we sailed away so I don't know exactly what time we did depart. I did miss being up on deck for sail away though.

We spent the time between boarding and the muster drill to give our friends a tour of the ship. We were in B504 which is the backward facing mini-suite on the mid-ship bump out and they were in the forward facing one, B416. We really liked this location when we did the Panama Canal and we glad that we chose the same for this cruise.

There are so many things to like about the Coral - the size and ease of getting around being high on the list. We also like the fact that the buffet is at the front of the ship even though we didn't use it at all this trip. Our captain, Michele Tuvo, was a real gem! He spent a lot of time walking around the ship talking to passengers and made more announcements telling us what was going on than any other one we've had. At the end of each announcement he'd say "nevertheless bye-bye" which was picked up by the crew and passengers and you'd hear it said with him.

The Club Class dining was very enjoyable - we had great wait staff and the head waiter for our section was very personable. I don't know what the actual impact that section has on anytime dining as we usually do traditional dining. It was very pleasant to be able to get right in and seated. We usually ate somewhere between 6 and 7 and the section was always busy. It was also nice for breakfast so we went there every day as well.

Now on to the cruise...

We started planning for this cruise back in August of 2016. Since my husband and I were going to be on the Coral in late November, I didn't start "obsessing" about our Alaska cruise until January. We were traveling with another couple who hadn't cruised with Princess before and only once before several years ago on Carnival. We all decided to splurge and book Club Class minis. When we booked the AIBP was in effect which was a nice bonus.

By the beginning of May I started to worry that I'd built up my expectations so high that reality wouldn't live up to them. Wasted worrying as it was a wonderful adventure!

We originally planned on a three day land portion after the cruise, but fortunately our TA convinced us to do four so we could do the Tundra Wilderness tour rather than the Natural History one - so glad he did! But I'm getting ahead of myself...

We live in Georgia and made reservations to fly into Seattle the day before, get a rental car and drive to Vancouver Saturday morning. The cost of the rental car was steep given the one way and crossing the border into Canada. However, looking at the price of the shuttle times 4 we decided the convenience was worth it.

Our flight was leaving Savannah at 6:30 in the morning, which meant setting to alarm for 3:30! We got to the airport around 5:30 which should have been plenty of time - if it wasn't for TSA! The guy manning the x-ray didn't like something in my carry-on bag and pulled it to run it through again. Still didn't like it and set it aside for a manual check. At that time of the morning mud moves faster than they did! That adventure took a long time - so much so that I thought we were going to run up to the time they give away your seats. Meanwhile our friends were sitting on the plane wondering what they should do if we didn't show. Not nice to give someone heart palpitations at that time of the morning!

Thankfully our flights were uneventful and we arrived in Seattle shortly after noon. Easy pick up for our luggage and then it was on to the car rental place. We had debated on what kind of car to get for four people and luggage and decided on a mid-size SUV. After completing the paperwork we headed to the car and had a bit of a crisis. They gave us some sort of Jeep that maybe could have held two suitcases, but definitely not four! Fortunately they switched us out to a Ford Flex that ample room.

We stayed at a Hampton Inn about 3 blocks from the Space Needle, so after dropping off the suitcases that's where we headed. The weather was gorgeous and we had a great time checking out the views from the top.

Once we were done there we headed to the Chihuly exhibit and stopped at their cafe for something to eat. Very interesting collections of all sorts of "stuff" decorated the ceiling, walls and display cases in the tables.

After touring the glass exhibits we realized that our early morning (and three hour time difference) was catching up with us, so we headed back to the hotel for an early night.

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Thank you for the review! Really enjoyed it!

 

Did you talk to anyone that did a salmon fishing excursion? We are about to book but there's surprisingly little about them on CC.

 

We were on the same cruise and did speak to someone that went salmon fishing, though I don't know if it was through Princess or not. They caught a massive salmon that they had processed and sent home. They also had a smaller one that the chef prepared for their dinner All pictures were quite impressive!

Good to know - thanks!!

Just curious - is the casino open or closed most nights since we will be traveling close to land?

We did the British Isles cruise last year and I was surprised that the casino was closed 7 of the 12 days. Other than that nothing particularly stuck out as being unusual as to when things were closed so yes, shops would be closed during port times. Didn't use the bars so can't comment on that.

Thanks for the great review and all the information! We're going on the same cruise on the 18th!

 

I have a question, on the last port, which I believe requires a tender, do you recall if they use their standard lifeboats or a bigger vessel? I use a lightweight scooter to get around, I just wanted to prepare myself if I am able to roll on board or if my partner will have to carry the scooter on board. Thanks in advance!

We were also on that cruise - our last stop was Jamaica which didn't require a tender. They do rotate between there and Grand Cayman, which might require a tender.

I loved the Coral too! I thought the ship was easy to navigate around and felt right at home after the first day. This was the first Princess ship we'd been on that had the buffet at the front of the ship rather than the back and enjoyed it the few times we went there. For breakfast we either went to the main dining room or used the International Cafe. We also had early seating for dinner, so only used the buffet a couple of times for a light snack went we got back from our excursions.

We did the "Highlights of Cartagena" excursion and thought it was only mediocre, and it didn't end up quite like the detailed description. We initially had planned on doing an excursion in Panama but opted to stay on the ship. In hindsight I think we made a wise decision. When we did the first transit through the locks we did our viewing from either our balcony or the Promenade deck. For the return we took advantage of their opening the viewing area at the front of Baja deck without the morning crowds. Then we hoofed it to the back of the ship to take of advantage of the rear viewing area where you get a better view of the locks moving. In Costa Rica we also did the sloth sanctuary tour and for Jamaica we rode the aerial tram to the top of the mountain.

I was impressed with the speed of the boarding and disembarking the ship - benefit of a smaller ship I imagine. The major "complaint" I had about the trip was the short times we were in port. I had read the itinerary and knew what the arrival and departure times were, but actuality seemed briefer - probably due to the distances we had to travel between ports but they felt rushed. I also realized that I'm not a great "sea day" person - our prior cruises didn't have that many.

Obviously this is a very popular cruise as we spoke to several people that had done it more than once previously. We even talked to two couples that were doing it B2B!

Between a trip to Epcot for the Food & Wine Festival and three days without internet thanks to Matthew, I got woefully behind. Thanks for taking the time to share your grand adventure with us!!

For just a few minutes of time I was able to save $65! That will definitely pay for 6-7 glasses of wine with dinner. (all excursions for our Panama Canal partial were on sale).

So glad to find your report! While I'm waiting for you to get back to "work" on it, I went and looked at your report from the Ocean Princess in 2014. We were on the ship a month after you doing Athens to Rome. We got off in Rome and did a land tour around Italy and met back up with our friends when the ship got to Venice. What a difference a month makes! Our weather in Venice was horrid as it was during the flooding season. I waited at the Grand Canal for the ship to sail in and the fog was so heavy you could barely make it out!

Sorry to see that a lot of your photos from that trip are "no longer available", but glad to see the ones I did and your lovely shots of the ship. I loved the Ocean and was sorry when it was sold. Just a month later and we had a different captain - ours was Tim Stringer.

Looking forward to hearing all about it as this is next on my "want" list after the two cruises we have booked, unfortunately not until 2018. Did you see puffins the last time - I want to see puffins... :)

We did the transfer from Victoria to Southampton June 1st for our British Isles cruise and thought that it was a real mess. There were few Princess people around to give you directions on what to do where. Basically there was one line to drop off your luggage, another to actually get checked in and get your color coded card for what bus you'll be on, and another to get on the bus. The area is very small and people were completely confused and milling around like deer in the headlights. Passengers that had either already gone through it or had done it before were doing the explaining to others not Princess people!

As a qualification I should say that we usually get to the ship on our own and the only other time we've used the cruise line transfer was from an airport and it was easy. I expected the same and went into this blind, my bad as I hadn't asked about what to expect. Being forewarned and proactive you should be fine, but I'd check out other options!

I'm looking at doing an Alaskan cruise next year on the Coral and am looking at the available staterooms trying to decide where I want to be. On my last cruise my balcony was uncovered and I hadn't really thought about that one way or another. For Alaska however I'd like some help - given the chance of having rainy days do I want to look for a covered balcony? Or does it matter?? Thanks in advance for your help!

We sailed on this ship in June doing the British Isles cruise. We hadn't sailed on the CP before so had nothing to compare it to. We did talk to people that have cruised on it before and they said that it was definitely showing its age. That said, we had a great time and had no problems with our cabin, bathroom, or public areas. We didn't like the breakfast buffet and after the first three days we didn't go back. For us the food was mediocre, tepid and flavorless. The rest of the time we went to the IC instead, which worked fine for us as we aren't big breakfast eaters. I think more than anything the crew members can make or break the experience and all the staff we met were wonderful.