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Coral Princess Alaska 6/24-7/1 (plus pre and post-cruise shenanigans)

Beachiekeen

By Beachiekeen,
in Princess Cruises

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floridafamilyof5

floridafamilyof5

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THANK YOU! Was excited before about our upcoming Coral Princess Alaska cruise, but your review really has me anxious to go now! Great pictures and we are doing the seaplane excursion too in Juneau. Have to do some research on Emerald Lake as I'm not sure its included in our Skagway train excursion : (

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Beachiekeen

Beachiekeen

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THANK YOU! Was excited before about our upcoming Coral Princess Alaska cruise, but your review really has me anxious to go now! Great pictures and we are doing the seaplane excursion too in Juneau. Have to do some research on Emerald Lake as I'm not sure its included in our Skagway train excursion : (

 

All of the scenery is beautiful and the train is fun. If you don't make it this time, you'll just have to go again! :)

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floridafamilyof5

floridafamilyof5

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Questions: 1. What is the thermal suite? We have a mini club class suite on the Dophin Deck reserved. 2. Also how did the beverage package work - celebrating our 37th anniversary and a birthday on board. Should we buy drink card before boarding? Wh

Then we all sat together and set up the Princess at Sea messenger thingy so that we could all stay somewhat connected since none of us would have the internet package.

 

We left the ILs to get settled and went to make our free reservation for that evening at Bayou Café.

 

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We then went to see about getting our stickers for the thermal suite but everyone was still in a meeting at the spa so hubby and I went for a slice of pizza on the pool deck. I liked the pizza actually. Unfortunately I liked it so much that I ate a ton of it throughout the week! It was the best cruise ship pizza I've had.

 

We were never able to use the pool because it was too cold the entire cruise (although hubby did brave the hot tub one day) and the covered Lotus pool was a screaming madhouse of kids and adults everywhere so it was never peaceful. So no pool and hot tub on this cruise but at least we had the thermal suite.

 

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Hubby and I continued making the rounds checking out the Sanctuary and the fitness center.

 

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We decided against the Sanctuary and I couldn't see myself using it on an Alaskan cruise. And honestly, I was a little miffed that there was no free adults-only area. I decided that was a dealbreaker for me and wouldn't sail again on a Princess ship that didn't have one unless it was to Alaska again.

 

We met up with the ILs and made it to the spa to get our stickers and got a brief tour of the area. The poor spa girl was so sad when she realized we were suite guests and wouldn't be buying a thermal spa pass! The other spa lady didn't even wait until we were out the door to ask her if she sold a pass which I thought was a little unprofessional.

 

We continued our walk around and the ILs went to the pool grill to have hamburgers which they liked. It was pretty crowded up there. I was bummed we missed lunch in the MDR but pizza and hamburgers fit the bill.

 

Hubby and I had a drink at Crooners where we met our favorite waiter. We tried to sit in his section every night.

 

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Back to the room, Can-Knit had brought our champagne and the ILs had chocolate covered strawberries so we all had those.

 

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Beachiekeen

Beachiekeen

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Questions: 1. What is the thermal suite? We have a mini club class suite on the Dophin Deck reserved. 2. Also how did the beverage package work - celebrating our 37th anniversary and a birthday on board. Should we buy drink card before boarding? Wh

The thermal suite is the part of the spa you can buy a pass for--stone beds, sauna and lounge. But it is free for full suite guests which is why we had access to it.

 

We got the beverage package for free with our booking (Sip and Sail promo). We had never purchased it before. But if you decide it's worth it, you can purchase it when you board--trust me, they will be everywhere selling it!

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Longstockingpippi1

Longstockingpippi1

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Thanks for posting. My daughter and I will be cruising Alaska next summer on the Golden B2B and I enjoy reading about Princess/Alaska.

I am not able to view your pictures for some reason...something about updating my settings....IDK. But I read your TripAdvisor review and am able to view your pictures there. Very nice and can't wait till next year!!

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  • 2 weeks later...
AussieGypsie

AussieGypsie

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Thanks for the great review. Sailing on the Coral next May 2018. Made a list of what to pack..... looking for weather proof pants and will check out Chilkoot Charters. Pity about not seeing photos but I'll head to your Flickr album.

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Beachiekeen

Beachiekeen

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Thanks for the great review. Sailing on the Coral next May 2018. Made a list of what to pack..... looking for weather proof pants and will check out Chilkoot Charters. Pity about not seeing photos but I'll head to your Flickr album.

Thanks! You will love Alaska and the Coral!

 

I loved having rain gear, I was so glad I brought it. Basically be prepared for anything! :)

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  • 2 weeks later...
Ski Mom Great Review Rare

Ski Mom

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Thanks! You will love Alaska and the Coral!

 

I loved having rain gear, I was so glad I brought it. Basically be prepared for anything! :)

Dear Beachiekeen,

I really enjoyed reading all about your Alaskan cruise. I really appreciated your packing tips because I am a chronic over packer! I will be doing the same cruise next July only Southbound from Anchorage. I am seriously considering adding a pre cruise trip to Seward via the Alaskan RR. from Anchorage. I am glad to hear you enjoyed the 6hr Kenai fjords national park boat tour as well.Thank you so much for your detailed descriptions of all the tours you took as well?

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Beachiekeen

Beachiekeen

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I was really excited about this review but it looks like the photo links are all broken, I'm hoping you can fix it so I can see the great photos along with your excellent commentary!

Yeah it's a bummer that I used Photobucket like the day before they ended free third-party hosting. I thought about redoing it but figured that would be overkill. There is a link to my Flickr album in my signature to see my pictures.

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Beachiekeen

Beachiekeen

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Dear Beachiekeen,

I really enjoyed reading all about your Alaskan cruise. I really appreciated your packing tips because I am a chronic over packer! I will be doing the same cruise next July only Southbound from Anchorage. I am seriously considering adding a pre cruise trip to Seward via the Alaskan RR. from Anchorage. I am glad to hear you enjoyed the 6hr Kenai fjords national park boat tour as well.Thank you so much for your detailed descriptions of all the tours you took as well?

.

 

We really enjoyed our time in Seward and everything we did there. It was a wonderful vacation and I already want to do it again! Maybe we will do the SB next time. Enjoy your cruise!

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Ski Mom Great Review Rare

Ski Mom

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Thanks! You will love Alaska and the Coral!

 

I loved having rain gear, I was so glad I brought it. Basically be prepared for anything! :)

 

.

 

We really enjoyed our time in Seward and everything we did there. It was a wonderful vacation and I already want to do it again! Maybe we will do the SB next time. Enjoy your cruise!

 

Can I ask you if you had any trouble finding seating on the Kenai fjords tour boat? I am debating between that tour company and Major Marine tours. The only difference is Major Marine has reseve seating and a buffet which I'm not really interested in because I'd like to have dinner in town. But I do have mobility issues and reseve seating may be a plus for me.

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Beachiekeen

Beachiekeen

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Can I ask you if you had any trouble finding seating on the Kenai fjords tour boat? I am debating between that tour company and Major Marine tours. The only difference is Major Marine has reseve seating and a buffet which I'm not really interested in because I'd like to have dinner in town. But I do have mobility issues and reseve seating may be a plus for me.

 

The bottom deck filled up fast. We literally got the very last window seat. The upper deck is uncovered. I wanted to go with MM but they serve salmon and some of my family was afraid of seasickness (no one had any) and didn't want to smell it cooking. Plus like you, we weren't interested in the meal.

 

My FIL stayed inside the whole time. If you want to be sure of an inside seat, you will need to be there early. Or possibly email them and see if they can accommodate you and allow you to board first. The bathrooms are outside also if that matters.

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  • 4 weeks later...
Steelers0854 "Live from...." Rare

Steelers0854

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This is how her pics are showing for me. Anyone have any idea why or how to fix it? I don't use photobucket. 86378812dc40609ddde3f3696dbfb3fa.jpg

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

 

The only thing you can do is go to her photobucket page and look at them there. They changed their policies about a month ago and now you have to pay to link your photos and have them display on third party sites like CC.

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Beachiekeen

Beachiekeen

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This is how her pics are showing for me. Anyone have any idea why or how to fix it? I don't use photobucket. 86378812dc40609ddde3f3696dbfb3fa.jpg

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Yeah sorry, Photobucket changed their policy like a week after I posted my review! :( I thought about redoing it but figured it was overkill. Feel free to look at my Flickr album the PP posted. :)

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