Secrets that we should know about the Coral

[hugger]

We're sailing on the Coral Princess the 5th of Oct to the Panama Canal.

Would love to hear from past Coral cruiser's regarding tips, advise, secrets etc.

THANKS

[LARGIN]

Walk all the way aft and find the secret balconies

[katmash]

That's a great tip. Does anyone have any more?

[MaryPoppinz]

Walk all the way forward on Baja and Caribe decks beyond the Crew Only doors and watch from the bow. You are permitted to access this area during the canal transit.

 

I don't know how "secret" it is, but try out Bayou Cafe.

 

Get up before dawn on the morning of the transit and check out the traffic jam after you enter the breakwater. I couldn't believe how many ships were queuing up!

 

Order the Ultimate Balcony Breakfast ($25) and share it with another couple -- there's enough for four. They'll deliver it in the cabin, if you don't have a balcony or just want to eat it in bed.

 

The library is a nice indoor spot to watch the canal operations, if it gets humid watching from outdoors.

 

I don't know how "secret" this is, either, but Costa Rica is a terrific country. Maximize your time there with a great private tour. Enjoy!

[hugger]

We will certainly check out the forward and aft deck area's.

We are doing the O2O in Panma so will not be able to enjoy the Ult. Breakfast. I figure I'll be up early to watch the transit - I stayed up all night about 20 yrs ago while transiting the Suez Canal - I am so looking forward to seeing the Panama Canal. What time do you think we should get up???

I am going to do the Canal Tour in Costa Rica the rest of our gang is going white water rafting - I wanted to see more of the country that I've heard such wonderful things about.

[Another Cruise]

Every day around 3 or 3:30 they set up an ice cream bar in the Horizon cafe. They have 2-3 different kinds of ice cream (which they make on board) and toppings. It is free, and as the cruise goes on, the line will get longer for ice cream.There is an ice cream bar on board, but there is a charge. Every bar will have a set on menus for the day on display. You can see the lunch, dinner and dessert menus. Bayou Cafe and Sabatini's are both great -- sometimes the dining room isn't. When the captain says he is leaving at 5, he means 5, not a minute later!! Don't be late getting back. All shows with Princess singers and dancers are worth going to. There is some kiind of "special buffet" set up every day during lunch, but it isn't announced. We just discovered that today 11 days into a 15 day cruise. Today it is sushi. Don't take the Princess shuttles from the airport. More on this later--we had people who sat on buses for over 4hours. 2 hours at the pier in order to control number boarding!

[Texcruise]

Another Cruise: We have been enjoying your posts while you have been on the Coral. We will be crusing on the Coral in January. You mentioned the "special buffet", is this in Horizon Court? Thanks for your tips!

 

Gail

[Iamthesea]

I also wanted to know where this "buffet" is set up? How about the 3:00 ice cream bar...is it announced?

 

We are doing the O2O in Panma

Hugger - What is 020? I don't understand why you cannot do the Ultimate Breakfast. We are going to have breakfast on our balcony why we watch the transit.

[MaryPoppinz]

The specialty buffet (ie: sushi) is in Horizon Court, with all the other buffet choices.

 

There won't be an announcement about the ice cream or any other meals. Just go to Horizon Court around 3:30 or so. All the ice cream is made on board, and the flavors are often very original, and it's really good ice cream.

 

There is also a sandwich bar in Horizon Court around the same time, and while you will need food like a whole in the head at 3:30, it is kind of a refreshing change from some of the heavy, sauced, hot meals you end up eating so much of on a cruise. They also do such a good job with bread and it makes a good-tasting sandwich, and they'll make you a 1/2 sandwich if you don't really want a meal between lunch and dinner.

[Iamthesea]

There won't be an announcement about the ice cream or any other meals. Just go to Horizon Court around 3:30 or so.

Will it not be listed in the Platter? I have a bad memory and need to highlight. :D

 

I told DH about the ice cream buffet beginning at 3:30, and he asked "I can still get the soft serve all other times of the day...right?" I told him "no" and that the only available ice cream was for sale at the ice cream bar. He replied:

 

"NO soft serve ice cream

NO lemonade

NO free hot chocolate

NO daily account information on the TV

NO comfortable furniture on the balcony

NO full room service breakfast"..."Now, remind me again of why we are cruising with Princess!"

 

I just rolled my eyes at him. :rolleyes:

[MaryPoppinz]

It may be printed in the Patter with the times for dining room meals, buffet, room service, etc. -- I really don't recall, but there isn't an announcement. It's pretty hard to forget to eat on a cruise. :)

 

The ice cream is so superior to soft-serve that he will not miss soft serve.

[Iamthesea]

Oh, I know it will be good, but DH likes to have a little soft serve right after he eats lunch in the buffet. On sea days, that's going to be before 3:30.

[RDR]

And how about that Key Lime pie..... ummmm so good.

[Iamthesea]

Where, when and how? I LOVE Key Lime Pie! :D

[hugger]

Ready to just veg out tonight - we leave in the morning to drive to Ft Lauderdale.

Spent the day getting a massage - manicure and pedicure!

 

O2O stands for Ocean to Ocean excursion.

It's now been renamed I can't think of the new name right now.

I'll try to post from the cruise if I get a decent internet connection.

[sunprincess]

Bon Voyage Hugger :cool:

 

One the Coral's greatest "secrets" is the Maitre D - Generoso Mazzone.

Sadly, he is away on vacation for your cruise.

Godwin Castelino is one of the Head Waiters - he's awesome too.

 

Be sure to check out Bayou Cafe - they usually have a great band playing. Stop by the bar for a pre-dinner cocktail. Can also be a nice break from the dining room.

 

Travel Safe & Enjoy :)

[hugger]

Just a quick not to say that we had a Wonderful cruise.

Our dining room staff was terrific once I spoke with the dining hot line and asked for a fun table :)

It took us 5 nights before we found our home then it was awesome.

 

They didn't have entertainment in the Bayou most evening's - it was on the schedule but they cancelled it before we got there. TO many older folks on this cruise. The entertainment and night life were lacking for sure.

The CD was Lee Childer's he just isn't what we are used to - he was also leaving the ship on Saturday with us. Not sure what the situation was as he'd just gotten on a couple of weeks prior. We only had one entertainer that was worth writing about -- Donny Abrahams was FABULOUS.

I may be spelling his last name a bit wrong. I need to look up the names and spellings and report back. Haven't had time with unpacking etc

 

As usual the cruise was wonderful and went by to quickly - we LOVED the Coral.

[Cruiseteach]

Hugger- I would love to hear from you about the shore excursions you did. My friend and I are getting together the day after tomorrow to make some decisions for our 3-06 cruise. I posted with a request for this info, but only one person has replied. :(

[hugger]

Hugger- I would love to hear from you about the shore excursions you did. My friend and I are getting together the day after tomorrow to make some decisions for our 3-06 cruise. I posted with a request for this info, but only one person has replied. :(

 

We booked our excursions through Princess on this trip - normally we do them on our own. However, with this being our frist time to Costa Rica and Panama did them through the ship.

 

We did the Panama Canal by boat (used to be Ocean2Ocean) it was awesome.

DH and rest of our group did the Reventazon River Class II rafting in Costa Rica and loved it = I just received some pic's from one member in our group today - if you'd like to see them send me your email and I'll forward them to you.

I also did the Countryside, Eco-Cruise, and Plantation tour in Costa Rica - it was one of my all time favorite tour's. Saw a lot of wildlife - including 2 species of monkey's in the wild. SO COOL!!!

 

Four of our group did the Mountain biking tour in Ocho Rio's said it was a nightmare - very dangerous - people got hurt on it. Terrible road!!!

[Denisern2]

Do you know who the fitness guys are on this ship? Should be listed on the patters under the exercise classes. Thank you:rolleyes:

[hugger]

thread for further info and details

 

Panama Canal by Boat excursion

 

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I highly recommend this tour - it is long and HOT - so worth it though.

If you want to get up close to the locks and see how things work this is the tour for you.

 

I will say that we found Panama to be filthy. However, the canal is such an incredilbe sight that you over look all of this.

It is a long ride about 11/2 hrs to get to the point where you pick up the smaller ship. They have guides that give you a tour enroute. By the way just prior to getting on the buses they have restrooms that are clean. And, when you get to the ship they have restrooms that are fine to use prior to getting on the smaller vessel. The restrooms on the smaller ship are not good - they were backed up on our trip. What a mess!

It is an older ship they said it was 70's vintage I would have thought older.

However, it was clean (other than restrooms) and seaworthy.

They serve a boxed lunch of turkey on a knotted sub roll and a muffin. I found it to be just fine. They are great about having water and soda available throughout the day all of this is included in your tour price.

The people who work on the ship are not the best - other than the narative that is given. However, the people that work for the motorcoach company are FABULOUS and they take good care of you on the smaller ship as well.

 

If you are taking a cruise that does just the partial canal transit I would recommend that you take this excursion. I would also recommend that you do some research prior to going on the cruise in regard to the Panama Canal. One book that is highly recommened (but long) is the Path between the Sea's by David McCullough and/or the Nova video A Man, A Plan, A Canal. They do play this video onboard for you to watch or you may be able to get it at your local library. The history on the Canal is so interesting and I enjoyed our trip more because I had some knowledge of the background on it.

My SIL's parents our lecturer's onboard ships and they recommend this book and video. Wouldn't that be a great job to have!

 

The return trip once you get off the smaller vessel is about an hour and 10 minutes. Once again they have restrooms where you disembark the ship prior to getting on the bus.

 

Take binocular's and camera's for this excursion.

We had a beautiful sunny day - often it rains so you may want to be prepared for that. We watched the transit standing at the rail in the very front of ship - it was just incredible to see. They do have shade area's and chairs to use as well.

if there are any other questions I can answer about this excursion let me know

[hugger]

Do you know who the fitness guys are on this ship? Should be listed on the patters under the exercise classes. Thank you:rolleyes:

 

 

I'm so upset I had kept all of my patter's so that I could answer questions for all of you - I can seem to put my hand on them at this time though :(

I hope I am just over looking them and that they are not gone.