Coral vs Island Princess

[wally8]

I plan on cruising a partial panama cruise next February and noticed that the cruise has quite a few cabins available. When I checked the Coral, sailing almost the same itinerary 2 days earlier, it had many more cabins sold. Is the Coral that much better than the Island? Just curious and probably won't change at this point. I have not sailed on either so my reference point is neutral.

 

Bob fr TX

[fishywood]

The most likely reason Island Princess has more vacant cabins is that she has 150+ more cabins than Coral Princess does. Cabins that were added a couple years ago at the expense of eliminating the Universe Lounge and most of the aft viewing areas and relocating the Fitness Center to the bowels of the ship.

 

Clicking on 'Island Princess' in the above 'See posts about:' menu will reveal lots more to read about why Island has fallen out of favor.

[azbirdmom]

The Coral still has aft viewing areas on many decks which makes it perfect for viewing the canal without crowding. On the Island there are cabins where those decks used to be, and they also took out the Universe Lounge for more cabins. So more people on the Island with less public space.

[antsp]

Princess managed to make the Island one of the best ships in there fleet to the one of the worst.

[tiessa]

I was on the Island and liked the ship very much. The staff as a whole was an entire different matter.

 

 

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[OCruisers]

QUOTE=antsp Princess managed to make the Island one of the best ships in there fleet to the one of the worst. QUOTE

 

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:( Sadly, this is true! :( .. :mad:

[Putterdude]

Its an interesting thing about the two sisters, and I confess that I have never been on the Island, that the Coral has always been regarded as the better on the Princess forum.

[ar1950]

Just off of the Coral, Panama full transit, a couple of weeks ago. So the Coral is my only experience. However, if I tried to imagine the extra cabins added and viewing areas gone like on the Island, I think that we would not have had as good of an experience overall. My vote would be to go on the Coral.

 

BTW, the crew was stellar on our cruise.

[jawhoffman]

If the dates and itinerary on the Island work for you, please don't hesitate to book her. We just returned for a northbound trip (May 11 out of Vancouver to Whittier) and we had a fantastic time!! The boat honestly never felt crowded to us and there was always plenty of space for us on any deck, including the "secret decks". The food was wonderful and the crew was AWESOME. I have no clue how anyone who has sailed (and I'm talking about since her dry dock) her could call her the worst ship in the fleet. We had an absolutely AMAZING time!!!

Edited May 22, 2016 by jawhoffman

[Heidi13]

Along with Diamond/Sapphire (best built ships) the Island and Coral were our favourite ships. The passenger/space ratio was the best.

 

Unfortunately Princess have ruined the Island by adding the extra cabins on Decks 12 and 14, but sadly this is just another typical example of how Princess is constantly reducing the quality and cramming in more people.

 

Exactly the same with the super Grands, where they added another deck of cabins (500 pax) to a similar hull and pax spaces.

 

If we returned to Princess, our preference would be Coral over Island.

[Bru92]

The added cabins have caused places like the Explorer Lounge and the Princess Theater to become very full, in fact, overflowing at times. There were also times where you couldn't find a table in the Horizon Court buffet.

[hel0013]

One secret we learned (and enjoyed) from this forum was the aft viewing area when we transited the canal on the Island Princess....

 

Sad this is no longer possible on that ship. :(

[shipfriend_max]

I have not been on one of those two ships, but after looking at the deck plans it's enough to know that I'd book CORAL PRINCESS!

 

In March 2015 Island got 200 additional staterooms in the aft area, the Universe Lounge was completely removed, the aft facing decks are eliminated, and the remaining parts at the stern are upon extra cost due to the Sanctuary.

More passengers and less public space.

 

So that's the reason why I'd sail Coral Princess! SHe still has the Universe Lounge, the aft facing decks and more public spaces.

[jawhoffman]

I hear what all you guys are saying but I'm telling you from personal experience (I just got off her) that she is not ruined. We never felt crowded, we never waiting in line for a table in the Horizon Court, we found seats every time we went to the theater (they scheduled On the Bayou for 3 show the night it played). If you have a cruise scheduled on the Island, please don't be afraid. We had a FANTASTIC time...honestly it was pretty near perfect!!!

[camofwilliamsburg]

HI Ar1950, How are you guys doing? We missed you on the last leg of the cruise. I vote for Coral as per Ar1950 vote. I could not image the extra cabins as the island Princess has. The Coral Princess was much different than the other PCL ships we have been on. It took some time to get use to it. I enjoy the set up of the other ships but did enjoy this ship very much. The crew was great. The anytime dining was easy if you got to the line around 7 pm. Those getting on line at 6 had to wait up to one hour with a pager.

[Thrak]

We did a 17 day full transit on Coral and greatly enjoyed the aft viewing area. We had an ocean view cabin that actually looked out onto that area. During the day nobody could see into our cabin even with the curtains open. (Trust me, I thoroughly checked that out!) At night we had the curtains closed but, in truth, there were very few who used that area at night. It was only a dozen or so steps from our cabin door and was essentially a giant semi-private balcony. We used it a lot for lounging and reading with a view of the wake.

 

We're sailing on Island in June and I'm guessing we will miss having that aft area available but, as we are cruising I'm sure we will manage somehow. :)

 

Given my choice I'm sure I would pick Coral over Island but...

Edited May 22, 2016 by Thrak

[diane.in.ny]

We have sailed both the Coral and the Island. We did the Panama Canal with the Coral and I can tell you that I was NOT happy about the blue colored glass around the upper decks. Not very conducive to taking pictures. I had to find a place where the panels did not meet and get my camera through the open space. Other than that enjoyed the ship.

 

We sailed the Island in Alaska and took a lot of advantage of our balcony cabin when cruising the glaciers. We also sailed her in the Mediterranean in October.

 

While we enjoyed both ships, I missed the walk around Promenade on the Island and, if you wanted a seat for a show, you had to get there early.

 

That all being said, we will be sailing the Island, doing the Panama Canal again. After doing a lot of port intensive cruising, we wanted something that wasn't. We were looking for a cruise where we could just stay on board the whole sailing if we wanted, and the PC repeat itinerary plus a fantastic price clinched it for us.

 

So obviously have no problem sailing the Island vs Coral Princess.

[tiessa]

We have sailed both the Coral and the Island. We did the Panama Canal with the Coral and I can tell you that I was NOT happy about the blue colored glass around the upper decks. Not very conducive to taking pictures. I had to find a place where the panels did not meet and get my camera through the open space. Other than that enjoyed the ship.

 

 

 

We sailed the Island in Alaska and took a lot of advantage of our balcony cabin when cruising the glaciers. We also sailed her in the Mediterranean in October.

 

 

 

While we enjoyed both ships, I missed the walk around Promenade on the Island and, if you wanted a seat for a show, you had to get there early.

 

 

 

That all being said, we will be sailing the Island, doing the Panama Canal again. After doing a lot of port intensive cruising, we wanted something that wasn't. We were looking for a cruise where we could just stay on board the whole sailing if we wanted, and the PC repeat itinerary plus a fantastic price clinched it for us.

 

 

 

So obviously have no problem sailing the Island vs Coral Princess.

 

 

 

Staying onboard is a great idea. We were on the Island earlier this year and booked the excursion to continue thru the other locks which was a disaster. It was after dark when we went thru them. We were late getting to the canal so lost our place in line for the ferry. Instead of telling us, Princess just sent us on a 5 hour bus ride to nowhere to eat up the waiting time and then thru the canal in the dark. The next day we were late to port and they screwed excursions up again but we knew what to expect so just cancelled. Planning to take no excursions is a good idea. Princess does not seem to be organized enough for them.

 

On another topic, dinner lines were a little long but theater lines were ridiculous and many never got in. We saw the one we wanted to and tried one other night. That was it. The ship didn't seem crowded. They made the theater too small and are just unorganized.

 

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Edited May 22, 2016 by tiessa

[diane.in.ny]

Staying onboard is a great idea. We were on the Island earlier this year and booked the excursion to continue thru the other locks which was a disaster. It was after dark when we went thru them. We were late getting to the canal so lost our place in line for the ferry. Instead of telling us, Princess just sent us on a 5 hour bus ride to nowhere to eat up the waiting time and then thru the canal in the dark. The next day we were late to port and they screwed excursions up again but we knew what to expect so just cancelled. Planning to take no excursions is a good idea. Princess does not seem to be organized enough for them.

 

On another topic, dinner lines were a little long but theater lines were ridiculous and many never got in. We saw the one we wanted to and tried one other night. That was it. The ship didn't seem crowded. They made the theater too small and are just unorganized.

 

 

Interesting about the excursions. We don't usually take many ship excursions. Only did one on our Med cruise and ditto on the Alaska cruise.

 

As for dinner, we like traditional dining so lines are not a problem

 

But I agree with you about the theater. If you want to get in and get a seat, we found you had to go about 30 minutes before show time.

[MGnut]

I hear what all you guys are saying but I'm telling you from personal experience (I just got off her) that she is not ruined. We never felt crowded, we never waiting in line for a table in the Horizon Court, we found seats every time we went to the theater (they scheduled On the Bayou for 3 show the night it played). If you have a cruise scheduled on the Island, please don't be afraid. We had a FANTASTIC time...honestly it was pretty near perfect!!!

 

I agree! We were on the re-positioning cruise through the canal in April/early May and had no issues. We did not feel any more crowded than when on the grand/super grand ships. The only time we had waiting lines was at 5:15, before the traditional MDR opened. If we showed up at about 5:20 or so the wait was minimal. We didn't do Anytime Dining, so that was likely different. (Edit - I take that back - we did have to wait in line to get into the Captain's Circle P/E/S party - but that is normally expected) We never had a problem finding table space in the Horizon court - maybe we were before or after the rush-times, but it was never an issue.

 

For the shows - if we showed up about 15 minutes early, there was always seating.

 

And the crew were always pleasant and helpful.

 

I'd have no problem sailing the Island again (2 cruises pre-rebuild, 1 after)

Edited May 22, 2016 by MGnut

[ar1950]

We have sailed both the Coral and the Island. We did the Panama Canal with the Coral and I can tell you that I was NOT happy about the blue colored glass around the upper decks. Not very conducive to taking pictures. I had to find a place where the panels did not meet and get my camera through the open space.

.....................

 

I take it that you were not aware of the "super-secret" viewing areas forward on the Baja and Caribe decks? Great areas to observe, take photos and watch the Canal go by. No blue glass obstructions and not too crowded. In fact on the Baja deck area was where the naturalist on our cruise was doing his commentary from.

 

Hint: Check those "crew only" doors next time to see if they are open any time you have an itinerary that involves scenery (ie: Alaska, Panama).