Just Off Coral Northbound Voyage of the Glaciers

[quadman]

We cruised July 26 - August 2 on Coral Princess (Vancouver to Whittier) in a mini suite (C717). Here are a few quick thoughts:

• We are 51 and 49 with two daughters (13 and 10 years of age). We traveled with my brother and his family (two teenage sons), with eight total passengers. Overall, we loved the cruise!
  
• This was our first time on Princess after two cruises with RCI (Jewel in '06 and Independence '13, both in the Eastern Caribbean).
  
• Overall, we found Princess more sedate, with a slightly older crowd, but this might also be the difference between Alaska and the Caribbean.
  
• We almost booked RCI's Radiance but opted for Coral due to the itinerary (specifically, Glacier Bay).
  
• The Coral is a well laid-out ship with easy traffic flow and plenty of open deck space for viewing the magnificent Alaska scenery. We loved the public access area on Deck 10 (Caribe) aft, with lounge chairs in both covered and open locations. Virtually private most of the time and great for taking in Alaska's gorgeous scenery!
  
• Like all Princess ships, Coral has propulsion shafts instead of pod propulsion. Very reliable, but shafts tend to produce vibration. Our mini suite on the starboard side aft shook the entire cruise. We got used to it after a couple of nights, but it was noticeable.
  
• Our day in Glacier Bay was stunning. Not a cloud in the sky! Both Margerie and Johns Hopkins Glaciers calved for us. This experience really made our cruise.
  
• Similarly, our afternoon in College Fjord was superb, with broken clouds and no rain. Captain Fabio brought the Coral very close to Harvard Glacier and we witnessed some major calving.
  
• Our post embarkation day in and around Turnagain Arm (Alyeska and Anchorage) was sunny and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Simply perfect, with stunning scenery!
  
• The RCI ships we've sailed have much grander and more modern architecture (common areas, architecture, atria, dining rooms, corridors, and staterooms). Our first impression of Coral as compared to RCI Jewel (a similarly-sized ship) was that we felt closed in and cramped vs. open and light. However, Coral offers some excellent venues such as the Wheelhouse Bar (a large and perfectly comfortable spot) and the Princess Theater (good sightlines with no obstructions). The teak surfaces of the Promenade deck, along with the nicely padded lounge chairs, were nice as well.
  
• Overall, staff were helpful and professional, with a few exceptions. Less outgoing than what we have experienced on RCI, and no towel animals (which our daughters missed on this cruise). Our waiter, Diago from Goa, India, was excellent (highly professional, made solid menu recommendations, friendly, and with a wry sense of humor). Our cabin steward, Renato from the Philippines, was highly efficient and courteous, although again much more subdued than the stewards we've had on RCI.
  
• The Horizon Court was disappointing and always crowded. It's just too small to handle the crowd for breakfast and lunch. We much prefer the Windjammer on RCI with a true food station layout as opposed to a modified buffet queue design on Coral. One plus however was that the HC was very well staffed, with waiters bringing drink orders (much better than RCI's self-service approach when juggling plates of food and utensils).
  
• We opted for traditional dining and had a great table by a window in the Provence dining room. The ceiling is a bit low, but after the first night or two, we began to appreciate the space's cozy supper club-like ambience.
  
• Dinner menus were varied and offered at least 2-3 solid choices to suit each of our party's palates. Compared to RCI Jewel's Tides dining room, we thought the food quality at Provence was just a notch lower. RCI offers a narrow menu, but in our opinion we enjoyed the food better in general on Jewel. That said, the food on Coral was good, and we had no real issues with any dish except the fried chicken (offered one night only), which was just not well executed.
  
• We ate breakfast twice and lunch once in Provence and really enjoyed our meals there.
  
• Thanks to Cruise Critic, we learned about the Ultimate Ship Tour and were fortunate to book it as soon as we boarded the ship. We got to meet Captain Fabio and toured the Bridge, galleys, medical center, provisions department (cold and frozen storage), backstage of Princess Theater), anchor/mooring line area under the bow, print shop, photo shop, and laundry. This was 3.5 hours well spent that we will always remember and cherish fondly! Kudos to Princess for making this tour available.
  

Overall, we were very happy we chose Coral Princess as we wanted a Vancouver embarkation, an Anchorage area disembarkation, and a day in Glacier Bay. Princess did not disappoint. The Coral could use a thorough renovation, but she has good bones and a highly competent crew. We did miss the "wow factor" we were used to on RCI, but we were happy with Princess.

[ssawjo]

Great review, thank you.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for your review, the Coral and Island have have excellent promenade decks.

All Princess ships have props and no pods.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the info .

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[caribill]

Thanks for the review and comparisons.

 

Any thoughts about the on board entertainment? Destination lectures (not the sales pitch ones)?

[quadman]

The onboard naturalist was excellent. She narrated portions of our days in Glacier Bay and the afternoon at College Fjord, and she presented a program or two in the theater and had desk hours on deck.

 

A National Park Service ranger boarded and narrated once we actually entered Glacier Bay, and she was very enthusiastic and informative.

 

We attended two of the dance/musical shows in the Princess Theater ("Dance" and "Motor City") and enjoyed them both. Nothing brand new, but the dancers and one of the female singers in particular were very good.

 

They have a new band named "Rhapsody" that performed each night in the Wheelhouse Bar. The guys are from Barbados and have about 200+ years' combined experience, many of it on Princess but in prior configurations. Rhapsody was formed in Feb 2014 and can play and sing virtually every musical style. Superb!

 

There was an impressionist that my brother saw and really enjoyed, and various movies played in both the Universe Lounge and on deck (Movies Under the Stars).

 

Overall, we thought the entertainment was solid.

[hollon]

Thanks for putting my mind to rest about the Coral/Alaska, I'm so use to rccl, that's all we sail, but planning a trip to Alaska/Coral next June, I kept going back and forth from Radiance to Coral, but didn't want to miss Glacier Bay, what cabin did you get and what excursions did you take - thanks again

[Coral]

Thanks for putting my mind to rest about the Coral/Alaska, I'm so use to rccl, that's all we sail, but planning a trip to Alaska/Coral next June, I kept going back and forth from Radiance to Coral, but didn't want to miss Glacier Bay, what cabin did you get and what excursions did you take - thanks again

 

You made the right decision. I did the Radiance and Coral both to Alaska a year apart. Princess does so much more in Alaska compared to RCCL (enrichment on the ship about Alaska - RCCL only did shopping lectures).

[Reader0108598]

We cruised July 26 - August 2 on Coral Princess (Vancouver to Whittier) in a mini suite (C717). Here are a few quick thoughts:

• We are 51 and 49 with two daughters (13 and 10 years of age). We traveled with my brother and his family (two teenage sons), with eight total passengers. Overall, we loved the cruise!
  
• This was our first time on Princess after two cruises with RCI (Jewel in '06 and Independence '13, both in the Eastern Caribbean).
  
• Overall, we found Princess more sedate, with a slightly older crowd, but this might also be the difference between Alaska and the Caribbean.
  
• We almost booked RCI's Radiance but opted for Coral due to the itinerary (specifically, Glacier Bay).
  
• The Coral is a well laid-out ship with easy traffic flow and plenty of open deck space for viewing the magnificent Alaska scenery. We loved the public access area on Deck 10 (Caribe) aft, with lounge chairs in both covered and open locations. Virtually private most of the time and great for taking in Alaska's gorgeous scenery!
  
• Like all Princess ships, Coral has propulsion shafts instead of pod propulsion. Very reliable, but shafts tend to produce vibration. Our mini suite on the starboard side aft shook the entire cruise. We got used to it after a couple of nights, but it was noticeable.
  
• Our day in Glacier Bay was stunning. Not a cloud in the sky! Both Margerie and Johns Hopkins Glaciers calved for us. This experience really made our cruise.
  
• Similarly, our afternoon in College Fjord was superb, with broken clouds and no rain. Captain Fabio brought the Coral very close to Harvard Glacier and we witnessed some major calving.
  
• Our post embarkation day in and around Turnagain Arm (Alyeska and Anchorage) was sunny and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Simply perfect, with stunning scenery!
  
• The RCI ships we've sailed have much grander and more modern architecture (common areas, architecture, atria, dining rooms, corridors, and staterooms). Our first impression of Coral as compared to RCI Jewel (a similarly-sized ship) was that we felt closed in and cramped vs. open and light. However, Coral offers some excellent venues such as the Wheelhouse Bar (a large and perfectly comfortable spot) and the Princess Theater (good sightlines with no obstructions). The teak surfaces of the Promenade deck, along with the nicely padded lounge chairs, were nice as well.
  
• Overall, staff were helpful and professional, with a few exceptions. Less outgoing than what we have experienced on RCI, and no towel animals (which our daughters missed on this cruise). Our waiter, Diago from Goa, India, was excellent (highly professional, made solid menu recommendations, friendly, and with a wry sense of humor). Our cabin steward, Renato from the Philippines, was highly efficient and courteous, although again much more subdued than the stewards we've had on RCI.
  
• The Horizon Court was disappointing and always crowded. It's just too small to handle the crowd for breakfast and lunch. We much prefer the Windjammer on RCI with a true food station layout as opposed to a modified buffet queue design on Coral. One plus however was that the HC was very well staffed, with waiters bringing drink orders (much better than RCI's self-service approach when juggling plates of food and utensils).
  
• We opted for traditional dining and had a great table by a window in the Provence dining room. The ceiling is a bit low, but after the first night or two, we began to appreciate the space's cozy supper club-like ambience.
  
• Dinner menus were varied and offered at least 2-3 solid choices to suit each of our party's palates. Compared to RCI Jewel's Tides dining room, we thought the food quality at Provence was just a notch lower. RCI offers a narrow menu, but in our opinion we enjoyed the food better in general on Jewel. That said, the food on Coral was good, and we had no real issues with any dish except the fried chicken (offered one night only), which was just not well executed.
  
• We ate breakfast twice and lunch once in Provence and really enjoyed our meals there.
  
• Thanks to Cruise Critic, we learned about the Ultimate Ship Tour and were fortunate to book it as soon as we boarded the ship. We got to meet Captain Fabio and toured the Bridge, galleys, medical center, provisions department (cold and frozen storage), backstage of Princess Theater), anchor/mooring line area under the bow, print shop, photo shop, and laundry. This was 3.5 hours well spent that we will always remember and cherish fondly! Kudos to Princess for making this tour available.
  

Overall, we were very happy we chose Coral Princess as we wanted a Vancouver embarkation, an Anchorage area disembarkation, and a day in Glacier Bay. Princess did not disappoint. The Coral could use a thorough renovation, but she has good bones and a highly competent crew. We did miss the "wow factor" we were used to on RCI, but we were happy with Princess.

 

 

 

Great review :) Can you please tell us how it went in Anchorage. I am thinking of staying a night in Anchroage and flying out the following morning but do not know all the logistics yet.

 

 

Any help would be great!!!

 

Thank you Reader

Edited August 5, 2014 by Reader0108598

[hollon]

You made the right decision. I did the Radiance and Coral both to Alaska a year apart. Princess does so much more in Alaska compared to RCCL (enrichment on the ship about Alaska - RCCL only did shopping lectures).

 

Thanks so much, really does put my mind as ease

[lovevacadays]

Great review and comparison.

[Coral]

Thanks so much, really does put my mind as ease

 

I did the Radiance in 2002 and Coral in 2003. I thought the ships were pretty equivalent back then. I don't know how well RCCL (or Princess) for that matter has kept up on maintenance on the ship.

 

RCCL definitely has the glamor in the dining room and their buffet layout was much better than Princess. Though, on our cruise, the buffet temps seem to be off so I didn't utilize it much. On the other side, I am not a fan of buffets and can't rave about Princess's either (their layout isn't the best and the food isn't that great IMO there).

 

RCCL didn't have a naturalist. I hear it is still spotty if they have one or not. Princess had an excellent naturalist on the Coral back then but since then, I have had great naturalists and not so good naturalists on Princess.

 

Princess does go to GB. They also have 2 glacier days on their NB and SB routes. This is important as on my Radiance cruise, we were iced out of Hubbard glacier and missed our only glacier day. Glacier By is never missed so if it is your one and only time to Alaska, you will see a great glacier.

 

If you can make it to see Libby Riddles, try to. Otherwise, catch her on a replay on TV. She comes at the end of the day in Juneau and due to excursions, it is easy to miss her. She was the first female to win the Iditarod. Great speaker for all ages.

[hollon]

I did the Radiance in 2002 and Coral in 2003. I thought the ships were pretty equivalent back then. I don't know how well RCCL (or Princess) for that matter has kept up on maintenance on the ship.

 

RCCL definitely has the glamor in the dining room and their buffet layout was much better than Princess. Though, on our cruise, the buffet temps seem to be off so I didn't utilize it much. On the other side, I am not a fan of buffets and can't rave about Princess's either (their layout isn't the best and the food isn't that great IMO there).

 

RCCL didn't have a naturalist. I hear it is still spotty if they have one or not. Princess had an excellent naturalist on the Coral back then but since then, I have had great naturalists and not so good naturalists on Princess.

 

Princess does go to GB. They also have 2 glacier days on their NB and SB routes. This is important as on my Radiance cruise, we were iced out of Hubbard glacier and missed our only glacier day. Glacier By is never missed so if it is your one and only time to Alaska, you will see a great glacier.

 

If you can make it to see Libby Riddles, try to. Otherwise, catch her on a replay on TV. She comes at the end of the day in Juneau and due to excursions, it is easy to miss her. She was the first female to win the Iditarod. Great speaker for all ages.

Thanks, I've been on Alaska and MISSED Libby Riddles, I was so disappointed! Our excursions were great though! One thing I do hate, is Princess's layout of ships, I kept running into deadends - I didn't of course study the deck plan. It's my sister's ONLY trip to Alaska so that's why Princess... The only thing I'm worried about is she is handicapped/sorta and I get lost in our local mall :( so keep going to deadends won't be fun - thanks - what time does Libby start her lecture?

[caribill]

One thing I do hate, is Princess's layout of ships, I kept running into deadends

 

There is really only 1 dead end (and it is not on the Coral) and it involves deck 6 aft where the traditional dining room is on Grand Class and later ships.

 

The only way to get to the deck 6 aft dining room is via the deck 6 aft elevators/stairs. In other words, if you are mid-ships or forward on decks 5 or 6 you must go up to deck 7, walk to the aft and then go down one deck.

 

Similarly, if you are on the aft elevators/stairs and want to go to decks 5 or 6 mid-ship (where the Atrium is) or forward, you cannot go to deck 6 aft first. You just go to deck 7 and walk forward.

[quadman]

Great review :) Can you please tell us how it went in Anchorage. I am thinking of staying a night in Anchroage and flying out the following morning but do not know all the logistics yet.

 

 

Any help would be great!!!

 

Thank you Reader

 

Reader - Sorry for my slow reply as I've been away on business the past week. We had a great day of touring in the general Anchorage region with gorgeous, sunny, 75 degree weather on August 2. The Coral Princess actually arrived at Whittier around midnight Friday night / Saturday morning (August 1-2). We departed the ship around 8:30 am for the tour named "Turnagain Arm, Wildlife Conservation Center & Tram - WH1-100". This is the 6-hour version of this tour, not the 8-hour version.

 

Our checked luggage was routed to the Princess Hospitality Center in downtown Anchorage. We boarded a coach around 8:45 am and drove through the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, through gorgeous mountain scenery. The first stop was the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, a very nice facility that featured moose, a porcupine, and a couple of impressive Alaskan Brown Bears in a creative, open habitat.

 

Next was a visit to Alyeska Resort, where we rode the gondola to the top. What a stunning view!

 

Then we visited the Potter Marsh Bird Sanctuary, a preserved wetland area just on the fringe of Anchorage. Relaxing, if a bit noisy (it's located adjacent to the main highway to Anchorage).

 

We ended up at the Princess Hospitality Center, which is really a room that Princess rents at the convention center. We picked up our checked bags and piled into a couple of taxis that took us a few blocks to our hotel, the Sheraton Anchorage. This was quite a comfortable accommodation, although its location is a couple of blocks away from the main downtown retail cluster.

 

We slept in on Sunday morning and departed Anchorage airport at 4:00 pm.

 

Depending on what types of tours and activities you personally prefer, I think you can have an enjoyable time by staying for a night in Anchorage at the end of your cruise. My family were glad we did so.

 

I would recommend staying a

Turnagain Arm, Wildlife Conservation Center & Tram

 

WH1-100 | Anchorage (Whittier), Alaska

[Reader0108598]

Reader - Sorry for my slow reply as I've been away on business the past week. We had a great day of touring in the general Anchorage region with gorgeous, sunny, 75 degree weather on August 2. The Coral Princess actually arrived at Whittier around midnight Friday night / Saturday morning (August 1-2). We departed the ship around 8:30 am for the tour named "Turnagain Arm, Wildlife Conservation Center & Tram - WH1-100". This is the 6-hour version of this tour, not the 8-hour version.

 

Our checked luggage was routed to the Princess Hospitality Center in downtown Anchorage. We boarded a coach around 8:45 am and drove through the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, through gorgeous mountain scenery. The first stop was the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, a very nice facility that featured moose, a porcupine, and a couple of impressive Alaskan Brown Bears in a creative, open habitat.

 

Next was a visit to Alyeska Resort, where we rode the gondola to the top. What a stunning view!

 

Then we visited the Potter Marsh Bird Sanctuary, a preserved wetland area just on the fringe of Anchorage. Relaxing, if a bit noisy (it's located adjacent to the main highway to Anchorage).

 

We ended up at the Princess Hospitality Center, which is really a room that Princess rents at the convention center. We picked up our checked bags and piled into a couple of taxis that took us a few blocks to our hotel, the Sheraton Anchorage. This was quite a comfortable accommodation, although its location is a couple of blocks away from the main downtown retail cluster.

 

We slept in on Sunday morning and departed Anchorage airport at 4:00 pm.

 

Depending on what types of tours and activities you personally prefer, I think you can have an enjoyable time by staying for a night in Anchorage at the end of your cruise. My family were glad we did so.

 

I would recommend staying a

Turnagain Arm, Wildlife Conservation Center & Tram

 

WH1-100 | Anchorage (Whittier), Alaska

 

Quadman

Thanks so much for your reply :)

 

We ended up just hanging out in anchorage because we were a bit tierd, a great day no less .Easey to get around and we had a shuttle to the airport in the morning which was great except for the arguing couple in the van with us :( ...lol

 

Thanks again for taking the time to reply!

Reader