12/28 Coral Princess review

[Linda the Book Lover]

llund - Since you enjoyed this cabin on your first Princess cruise I thought why not continue the "first Princess cruise" tradition and choose the same cabin! The DH and I can't wait to enjoy the pushed put cabin! Thanks again for your review :D

[llund]

Have fun. What is nice about the pushed out section is that you don't have a lot of people walking by. It was so quite! I hope your experience is a good as ours. I will look for your review when you get back.

[Bill511]

David was very busy alot of his staff was down with the noro virus, including Peter who is his assistant. I understand what is it to say no, but maybe he did not receive your message. I would have been there if I knew there was a party. To let you know which passenger I was Im the guy in the Mr Coral Princess comp that had to do the sumo wrestling the lighter hair man

[thepocketrockett]

We were on the December 10th Coral Princess sailing. Please be aware that on the trip with Oscar Brown (and not him himself one of his people) we did not stop all day for food. other problems too. Zip lining is wonderful but you should book directly with Almonds and Coral who are extremely professional. Sorry, we did have fruit at Almonds and Coral after we went Ziplining.

 

[

QUOTE=Blue Eyes]llund, one more question....

 

We are leaving 1/17 on Coral and have a tour booked with Oscar. You mentioned you did not have time to eat at the restaurant. Did you not eat all day? The reason is that I have to eat and if there is not time to stop and eat, I'm wondering if I should just book a zip-line directly with Almonds and Coral.

 

We were on the Sun last Jan., and there was lots of Norwalk there too. It bothered me to hear people at dis-embarkation talking about how they were sick, but they were not going to stay in their cabins :mad: . That just helps it spread...

[llund]

Bill...I missed the Mr. Coral Princess contest. Sorry I didn't see you and know you as we would have been there to cheer you on. One of our cc members,Kirby, won the Princess idol contest and we went to see him.

 

Pocketrocket...did you go to the restaurant that Oscar took us to? We probably could have had some food there but some in our group had early dinner seating and did not want to eat late in the afternoon. We had time when we got back to the pier to look in the shops so I know we would have had time to eat. Keep in mind that it is a long drive to Almonds and Coral. With Oscar, we made other stops which made the trip enjoyable. I suppose we could have asked him not to stop at the Banana plantation and it would have given us time for lunch. We also spent a lot of time at Almonds and Coral looking in their gift shop, etc. There were 16 of us on the trip. Oscar did bring drinks with him. For anyone interested in booking with Oscar, I would recommend that you discuss exactly what you would like to do. I think he will customize his trips accordingly. It may be best to go straight to Almonds and Coral and then see what you would like to do afterwards. My highlight was holding the monkey!

[Bill511]

Didnt you get the video of the cruise?

[llund]

No I did not buy it. I know we are on it. We were sitting with our group of 8 by the pool on our first day. I was wearing a red shirt, since it was the day of our cc get together. We were waving at the camera.

 

When all of us on the cc roll call got together to meet, gymswim (Bill) came up with the idea of asking Princess to put together a party for the cc group (as RCCL does). At that time he had a list of 14 people. He went to check about it and was told to write a note and it would be handed to David. He gave David both my cabin number and his. When he hadn't heard, he went up to David and asked him about it. David told him that he spoke to me, which was not true. He was told that we needed 25 people for Princess to put a party together. Now that we are back and on these threads, we would have had 25 people if we all connected. What bothered me the most was that David lied about talking with me. It was not very smart for a cruise director to lie, especially knowing that we all post on cruise critic. Anyway, I am sorry I missed meeting you and your family,Bill

[MJEasley]

I wish I knew this many cc members were on board. The CD would have put together a party for us if we had 25 people, but Bill told him there were 14. MJ Easley, where were you sitting? We were the round table in the corner with 8 of us. Miguel was really nice but the last two nights on board we got the feeling that something was bothering him. Did you get that same feeling? MJ and lil...I am sorry we did not meet you. Linda, you will have a great time. Let me know if you have any questions. I started planning a year before our trip, so it never is too early.

 

Hi, we were the table of 4 Mom, Son, Daughter and Daughter-in-law. Miquel was having problems with the table for 2 next to us - light bulb incident - and the long table trying to squeeze people in and coming to dinner constantly late. We would just sit and watch how the people were treating him and were embarrassed for him and Nick.

[llund]

I know which one you were talking about. I did not realize he was having a problem. There was one table of 2 that only had someone there one night-for a birthday and we never saw them again. We were sitting at the round table in the corner, by the window. There were 8 of us and we were all friends. We did kid around with Miguel a lot but the last two nights he seemed upset about something. What happened with the lightbulb? These guys work too hard to be treated unkindly! I guess we were having too much fun with our group to notice what was going on around us. Which table tried to squeeze others in? Was that the one with the big group behind you (not near the window, but near the half wall). He was very good at suggesting which dish to order. Nick was so cute too. He was helping my friend with her digital camera showing her things she did not know about the camera. One of our friends celebrated their 40th anniversary one night. On the Carribbean night, we went to Sabitinis so you didn't see us there.

[jonesmen]

There are 13 of us traveling together. What are the table sizes/configurations? I'm assuming we'll need two tables, and then rotate who sits with whom. We have traditional early seating.

[llund]

You probably will need 2 tables. I think there were some tables for 10 but it would be tighter if there were any more. You may want a table of 6 and of 7 next to each other.

[MJEasley]

llund, the trouble table was table for 6 between you (the round table and us in the back cubicle) they got the champage and cheese tray the last night and still hadn't received their entrees when they brought the baked Alaska out. The light bulb thing was the 2nd formal night there was a table for 2 right next to us in the back. The little light bulb in the ceiling over their was out and the man had requested it be replaced 2 nights in a row and I guess Miguel forgot. So everyone is coming in all dressed up and Miguel is up on the chair trying to get a light bulb from somewhere else to replace the bulb over their table. He couldn't get the light bulb out so the couple refused to be seated and stormed out. It takes all kinds Marilyn

[llund]

Now I know what was going on. I knew that Miguel did not seem happy on the second formal night. Is it really up to him to change the light? I would think that a maintainance person would be there. I did not realize that they went storming. Guess I was in my own little world. I did realize that the table next to us had their entrees late on the last night, but did not know why. Were they also the table that was trying to squeeze people in? I saw Miguel and Nick over at that table a lot but thought they were just getting along well with that table. Little did I know! I notice that the one night that table did not show up, Miguel and Nick were much more relaxed. Guess they gave them a problem. Too bad we did not meet each other....you never made it to our cc roll call. It would have been fun. Maybe some other cruise!

[MJEasley]

Thanks I was brand new to this board before I left. I did see a man with a cruise critic tee shirt on but didn't put two & two together. Were you celebrating your birthday on the 1st as I was or someone else in your group?

[hugger]

Can someone tell me in more detail about the O2O tour. I didn't realize that it was such a long trip to the smaller ship and then SO LONG to get back.

Do you make any other stops along the way. Is there a stop for restrooms?

What are the roads and the transportation like?

We were so looking forward to this tour = Now we're rethinking what we may want to do in Panama.

[hugger]

We would love to do the zipline tour as well. Wondering how STRONG and physically fit you need to be to participate in this tour.

[llund]

On the 1st, they brought a cake to our table for an anniversary. One of our friends were taking the cruise to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. Actually, their anniversary was later in the month and they were going to take the Coral at a later date. Then they found out that the rest of us were going on this date and decided to book with us instead. I do remember them bringing a cake to your table the same night.

 

Hugger...I enjoyed the Ocean to Ocean but there were others who felt it was too long. The ride from the ship to the boat is about 45 minutes. The boat has rest rooms and you get a boxed lunch-turkey sandwich, chips and muffin. They had water and sodas on board (all included). If it is a nice day, you can just relax on the boat while going through the rest of the canal. It was pretty humid when we went. There is an inside that has air conditioning and you can cool off in there. You go all the way to the Pacific and see the Bridge of the Americas. Then, you get off, have a quick tour of Panama City and drive about 2 hours back to the ship. We did have time to do some shopping at the shops on the pier and the marketplace at the pier. It is up to you. As I said, I enjoyed it but many did not (I ready the book "Path Between the Seas" which is probably why I enjoyed the canal a lot). Ziplining is not a problem at all. You don't have to be in excellent shape or physically strong. I was worried about stopping too soon and having to pull myself in. It wasn't a problem at all. Plus, you have 2 guides with you at all times who are there to help. It sounds and looks scarier than it actually is.

[Linda the Book Lover]

So much to do and not enough time! I am torn between the arial tramway/Torugero Canal tour and ziplining that sounds fun. I am of a "certain age" and not very strong. I talked my poor DH into Helmet Diving in Bermuda last year but I don't think I will talk him into the ziplining :) Is there a way for us each to do something and still be able to meet up after for a quick bite and lunch? I know it's a year away but I love the excitment of planning and looking at pictures. It's part of my poor addiction! :D

[llund]

Linda...contact Oscar and ask him what he suggests. Ziplining was not hard at all-but if you don't think you could do it, I have heard wonderful things about the canal. The restaurant with the view looks wonderful and the food sure looked good. Oscar should be able to put something together for you. I would get to him as soon as possible because he is in demand.

 

MJ...I was telling my husband what you have said about the other tables. He did know that something was going on with the table between us and that they were giving some problems to Miguel. He did not know about the lightbulb though.

[kenanne]

We are booking the Coral for Jan 2006 and would like a balcony in the mid-ship push out section. Was it noisy that close to the stairs and elevators?

The review was great. Thank you

[MJEasley]

We are booking the Coral for Jan 2006 and would like a balcony in the mid-ship push out section. Was it noisy that close to the stairs and elevators?

The review was great. Thank you

 

Hello kenann, no there was no noise from the stairs or elevators. It was a perfect location for going to and from pools and buffet just up two flights so you didn't have to wait for the elevators all the time and there was no long walk back to your cabin. We were in Baja 519.

[Linda the Book Lover]

kenanne - llund sold us on the pushed out cabin when she said you could not hear people walking by and the balcony was nice. We booked the same cabin llund had Baja 502 for April 2006.

[llund]

One of the couples we were going with had a chance to book a room two away from us and were worried about elevator noise. It was so quiet where we were. The pushed out section is great and you don't hear anybody walking by or any noise from the stairs or elevator. We never even heard anybody next door. Linda, you will really like the location.