Part 1 Coral Princess review, just back

[thelistmaker]

Just back from the Coral Panama Cruise Oct 16th sailing and while I’m trying to get my land legs back I thought I would try to compose my review. We, my DH, DD, and myself all agreed that we will never cruise again without a balcony. We booked a mini suite for the extra room for the three of us and we were very pleased. Our adult daughter has completed her first year of working in the real world and this was a celebration of that. We never felt crowded even with 2 girls’ stuff, even the bathroom and closet space. C709 if anyone is interested in specifics, loved the partial covered balcony and being Aft within steps of the Aft deck.

Now to hit the hot topics. The beds were just fine with egg crates added. However, the sofa bed is not acceptable for an adult to sleep on. We easily solved this problem for the second night by having our steward add a mattress to the top of the sofa mattress. Easy fix that my DD said was very comfortable. He removed it every morning and replaced it every evening as he prepared the beds.

 

I purchased coffee cards, I had a coupon book 2 for 1 thanks to a cruise critic member. We bought a couple of lattes and planned to use it mostly for brewed coffee, however, that was not always convenient and we ended up trying the coffee in Horizon and found it to be fine. I just put hot water in the mug first and then added ¾ coffee and liked it just fine. Now I have lots of punches left on 2 cards and I read today that they may quit allowing you to carry them over. Lesson learned. I also did the same thing with the iced tea, I added water first then the tea and thought it was just like home, well almost.

 

The food--first I must say that our last cruise was in 2002 on RCL and 7 previous cruises were on all the others, Carnival-Norwegian-Celebrity. Our DD had sailed on Carnival in 2008 and RCCL on 2009. This was our first cruise on Princess and I had great expectations based on all the notes here. Sorry, but we were all disappointed in the dining room food. It wasn’t all a bust but the overall review is no comparison to what we expected or what we had had on previous cruises. Now, that being said, in our many discussions on board the ship we all agreed that we could see many cost saving examples and wondered if our absence from cruising for 8 years and not seeing the small changes over time might be the reason that we were disappointed. Nothing, except the mussels on the last evening, was inedible and a few were quite good but probably none of the selections were a 5 out of 5 and most were a 3 out of 5. There are at least 6 entree choices each evening; fish, meat, chicken, vegetarian, and even home style but numerous nights none of the three of us were excited with any of the choices. The pasta selection was always good and most evenings I had this as my appetizer as the appetizer choices were not great most nights. The salads were fine and the soups were not good at all. The broth choice tasted the same almost every night and the cream soup offering was once again just OK- none of us ever finished it. We frequently passed around our choices to each other for sampling because we just thought we had made a bad selection but none of us ever said, “oh, yours is better I should have gotten this”. We all eat out frequently at everything from fast food to fine dining and I’m sure my expectations were just too high. I didn’t ruin the cruise for us but we never got excited about the evenings’ dinner.

 

Continuing on food and on a better note the Horizon buffet was the best we had ever experienced. The design with multiple areas so there was never a line waiting was beautiful. You are able to move in and out of each area and choice foods without waiting behind someone who takes forever just to dish up the mashed potatoes. The food was really good with lots of variety, hot food, cold food, bread, sandwiches, fruit, soup, made to order pasta. Always looked forward to lunch each day. Then there was always pizza and the grill for burgers and such, great French fries. The buffet was also great for breakfast, they had grits! We had room service several mornings which worked great on port days to save on time--always on time and hot. The club sandwich for lunch was perfect, no complaints.

 

Embarkation was so easy and we were surprised. We boarded at 1:15 and there were no lines at all, quick and painless. Then there was debarkation, well not so good. We carried off out luggage and expected to only gather in the Casino for minutes not an hour almost. I realize clearing the ship is a process that takes time but then get to the dock earlier and be ready to depart guests on time rather than save money in docking fees by waiting till debarkation time to tie up at the port. Oh well, luckily we were not pressed to get to the airport. But, only 2 customs agents for the US citizens seems ridiculous. Long line there, still no problem because we had time just frustrating. I do like hearing those agents say, “Welcome Home”, just makes you feel good inside.

 

I better go wash another load and put something away. This was just part 1, I have recommendations for great tours in Costa Rica and Jamaica. I’m happy to answer questions too if anyone is wanting specifics about the Coral or ports.

[MTJSR]

Thanks for taking the time to write and share your review. What's interesting to me and confirms what everyone mostly believes anyway is, the food is so very subjective. The majority of the time the reviewers like the dinning room food and are negative on the buffet food.

 

My impression/comparison of most cruise food nowadays is like banquet food. Who ever really really loves banquet food anyway.:D

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks!

The buffet setup works for us too. ;)

[love2cruisegal]

Just back from the Coral Panama Cruise Oct 16th sailing and while I’m trying to get my land legs back I thought I would try to compose my review. We, my DH, DD, and myself all agreed that we will never cruise again without a balcony. We booked a mini suite for the extra room for the three of us and we were very pleased. Our adult daughter has completed her first year of working in the real world and this was a celebration of that. We never felt crowded even with 2 girls’ stuff, even the bathroom and closet space. C709 if anyone is interested in specifics, loved the partial covered balcony and being Aft within steps of the Aft deck.

Now to hit the hot topics. The beds were just fine with egg crates added. However, the sofa bed is not acceptable for an adult to sleep on. We easily solved this problem for the second night by having our steward add a mattress to the top of the sofa mattress. Easy fix that my DD said was very comfortable. He removed it every morning and replaced it every evening as he prepared the beds.

 

I purchased coffee cards, I had a coupon book 2 for 1 thanks to a cruise critic member. We bought a couple of lattes and planned to use it mostly for brewed coffee, however, that was not always convenient and we ended up trying the coffee in Horizon and found it to be fine. I just put hot water in the mug first and then added ¾ coffee and liked it just fine. Now I have lots of punches left on 2 cards and I read today that they may quit allowing you to carry them over. Lesson learned. I also did the same thing with the iced tea, I added water first then the tea and thought it was just like home, well almost.

 

The food--first I must say that our last cruise was in 2002 on RCL and 7 previous cruises were on all the others, Carnival-Norwegian-Celebrity. Our DD had sailed on Carnival in 2008 and RCCL on 2009. This was our first cruise on Princess and I had great expectations based on all the notes here. Sorry, but we were all disappointed in the dining room food. It wasn’t all a bust but the overall review is no comparison to what we expected or what we had had on previous cruises. Now, that being said, in our many discussions on board the ship we all agreed that we could see many cost saving examples and wondered if our absence from cruising for 8 years and not seeing the small changes over time might be the reason that we were disappointed. Nothing, except the mussels on the last evening, was inedible and a few were quite good but probably none of the selections were a 5 out of 5 and most were a 3 out of 5. There are at least 6 entree choices each evening; fish, meat, chicken, vegetarian, and even home style but numerous nights none of the three of us were excited with any of the choices. The pasta selection was always good and most evenings I had this as my appetizer as the appetizer choices were not great most nights. The salads were fine and the soups were not good at all. The broth choice tasted the same almost every night and the cream soup offering was once again just OK- none of us ever finished it. We frequently passed around our choices to each other for sampling because we just thought we had made a bad selection but none of us ever said, “oh, yours is better I should have gotten this”. We all eat out frequently at everything from fast food to fine dining and I’m sure my expectations were just too high. I didn’t ruin the cruise for us but we never got excited about the evenings’ dinner.

 

Continuing on food and on a better note the Horizon buffet was the best we had ever experienced. The design with multiple areas so there was never a line waiting was beautiful. You are able to move in and out of each area and choice foods without waiting behind someone who takes forever just to dish up the mashed potatoes. The food was really good with lots of variety, hot food, cold food, bread, sandwiches, fruit, soup, made to order pasta. Always looked forward to lunch each day. Then there was always pizza and the grill for burgers and such, great French fries. The buffet was also great for breakfast, they had grits! We had room service several mornings which worked great on port days to save on time--always on time and hot. The club sandwich for lunch was perfect, no complaints.

 

Embarkation was so easy and we were surprised. We boarded at 1:15 and there were no lines at all, quick and painless. Then there was debarkation, well not so good. We carried off out luggage and expected to only gather in the Casino for minutes not an hour almost. I realize clearing the ship is a process that takes time but then get to the dock earlier and be ready to depart guests on time rather than save money in docking fees by waiting till debarkation time to tie up at the port. Oh well, luckily we were not pressed to get to the airport. But, only 2 customs agents for the US citizens seems ridiculous. Long line there, still no problem because we had time just frustrating. I do like hearing those agents say, “Welcome Home”, just makes you feel good inside.

 

I better go wash another load and put something away. This was just part 1, I have recommendations for great tours in Costa Rica and Jamaica. I’m happy to answer questions too if anyone is wanting specifics about the Coral or ports.

 

Thanks for your review. We will be on the Coral in Feb, full transit FLL to Acapulco. We were on her sister, Island to Alaska in 2008 and looking forward to Coral.

 

Anxious to hear your next review about your tours. Also did you stop at San Juan Del Sur and Huatulco?

[cruisingbarb]

love2cruisegal: We are also on the full transit from Florida to Acapulco leaving 2/23. Is that the one you're on? Have you joined the Princess roll call yet?

 

I note that you sailed on the Mariner of the Seas in February 2010. We also did the Mexican Rivera on the Mariner the week of February 21. Maybe we sailed together.

 

listmaker: Would love to know what you did in the ports, especially San Juan del Sur. I've got independent tours booked in Jamaica and Costa Rica but haven't decided on what to do in Nicaragua. Also, after going through the canal, was there anything to do that evening in Fuerte Armador?

[Cruise Junky]

Thanks we just booked Coral's spring panama canal itinerary, can't wait.

[Pam in CA]

Thanks for your review.

 

It's interesting how food is so subjective. I thought the food on the Coral last January and the Crown this past September was excellent... above average and better than HAL, and one of the things I looked forward to every night was the soup. LOVE the Princess homemade soups. Just goes to show. :)

[love2cruisegal]

love2cruisegal: We are also on the full transit from Florida to Acapulco leaving 2/23. Is that the one you're on? Have you joined the Princess roll call yet?

 

I note that you sailed on the Mariner of the Seas in February 2010. We also did the Mexican Rivera on the Mariner the week of February 21. Maybe we sailed together.

 

listmaker: Would love to know what you did in the ports, especially San Juan del Sur. I've got independent tours booked in Jamaica and Costa Rica but haven't decided on what to do in Nicaragua. Also, after going through the canal, was there anything to do that evening in Fuerte Armador?

 

Yes, we are on the 2/23 sailing. I plan to join the roll call but haven't yet.

 

Sorry but we did not sail together, we were on first week of Feb.

 

We don't have tours booked yet, but have been to Jamaica before, so not sure if anything - may do the Mystic Mountain or try zip lining. Our cruise does not stop at Fuerte Armador in the evening so no worry about any tour. They cancelled the stop a few months ago. I too would like to know about San Juan del Sur and Huatulco. What do you have booked in Jamaica and Costa Rica?

[caribill]

Then there was debarkation, well not so good. We carried off out luggage and expected to only gather in the Casino for minutes not an hour almost. I realize clearing the ship is a process that takes time but then get to the dock earlier and be ready to depart guests on time rather than save money in docking fees by waiting till debarkation time to tie up at the port. Oh well, luckily we were not pressed to get to the airport. But, only 2 customs agents for the US citizens seems ridiculous. Long line there, still no problem because we had time just frustrating.

 

If you reached the dock late, it was not to save docking fees. And if once you docked it took a while to have disembarkation start, it was most likely due to delays caused by immigration/customs personnel since you were not waiting for luggage to be offloaded.(I assume you were in a group assigned for those who carry off all their own luggage. This would be one of the earliests groups to get off the ship.)

[thelistmaker]

love2cruisegal and crusingbarb--in San Juan Del Sur we did not take any tour we just shopped on our own and had a great time. We took a cab for $3 to the next little town (can't remember the name right now). Lots of little shops and friendly people. In Nicaragua we also just walked around the port city. We did not want to do any of the tours because almost all of them involved a 2 hour bus ride each way and none of us wanted to do that. I tried to look before we left for something and didn't find much and ran out of time. The beach at the port is not good for swimming, it looks pretty but no one was on it and all the streams from town run into that beach area and it looked a little dirty. It would be great for just laying in the sun though. In Costa Rica we went to Adventure Park Hotel Vista Golfo for zip lining. SO AMAZING, we had 25 different lines over streams and waterfalls. In Jamaica we rode horses in the ocean. Great experience, I'll write more about these later. Unfortunately, the captain missed the turn to Colon in the rain (his words) and we did not get to go in there after the crossing. We are kinda bummed over that. I'll get to Part 2 with details this afternoon.

[Tikibird]

Nice to have feedback on this intinerary. In Huatulco, I booked the bird watching tour from Princess but I don't know what to do in San Juan Del Sur. I would love to see wild quetzals if they can be reached from the port on a day trip.

 

I see Princess now has a tour to Carara National Park but expensive at $180 pp! I think we will either rent a car or a taxi for that one.

 

We will probably do the Embera Village tour in Panama, it hasn't come on the cruise personalizer yet though.