Coral Princess review - 12/31/05 - 1/3/06

[senior lady]

It's been great reading all your reviews. We'll be on the Coral Princess in 3 1/2 mths. We're doing the repo cruise from Florida through the canal and up to Vancouver. 19 days of bliss!!!

 

Are there any hints you can give me. We're on Caribe deck, so looking forward to having a larger balcony.

 

Glad you had a good time. We love Princess and are looking forward to sailing with them again.:D

[mii]

Numbers what a great review. We did this cruise on Feb. 04 and I also agree with you on the Ocean to Ocean excursion of the Panama Canal and the Eco-tour in Costa Rica. It was two of the best excursions that we have ever taken. On the ocean excursion of the canal we went through the locks with a VERY LARGE freighter. Now that was something with us on a 200 passenger boat and this HUGE freight right behind us. Unbelievable.

 

We experienced the same things that you saw on the eco-excursion of the Tortugero Canals. Highly recommend this excursion.

 

Marilyn

[mringenoldus]

We are joining you in San Francisco. Will the Coral dock at Canada Place or Ballyntyne Pier?

 

We have typically debarked at Canada Place in the past.

[Cruiseteach]

Numbers- Thank you for one of the best reviews I've ever read on these boards! We are doing the same cruise on Mar. 4, and your review has heightened my excitement level several notches.

I envy you your upcoming cruise to the Galapogos. This is one of my dreams. I only wish Princess did this one.

[Numbers]

SF - Yes there is a charge for the Bayou Cafe -- I think its $20/person -- might be $15 (that may be for lunch -- they are open for lunch on sea days).

 

As far as the forward balconies, simply walk all the way forward on the Baja or Caribe deck (either starboard or port side -- doesn't matter, there are two sets of doors) and you'll come to a solid door marked something like "Staff Only" or something to that effect. Just go through and you'll find another set of doors about 5 feet farther -- go through that and you'll be outside.

 

As far as hints, I'm not sure I have any. A lot depends on what you want to know. If you have any specific questions, I'll be glad to give them a shot.

 

Unless something has substantially changed since last summer, all Princess ships (actually all the major lines other than RCCL) dock at Canada Place in Vancouver.

[mii]

We are joining you in San Francisco. Will the Coral dock at Canada Place or Ballyntyne Pier?

 

We have typically debarked at Canada Place in the past.

 

Maureen I am not Karen but you will dock at Canada Place. Only Royal Caribbean docks at Ballentyne pier.

 

Marilyn

[mringenoldus]

Thanks! I'm working on our transportation home and wanted to be sure where we docked.

[SF]

Numbers:

 

Thanks for letting us in on the "secret" doors! I'll be sure to check it out when we're onboard. Hopefully no one will stop us since it says "crew only".

 

Appreciate all the reviews you've posted. Really enjoyed reading them, thanks for taking the time to help us all out.

[Jimjam]

Hi NUMBERS,

 

I have been reading reviews for a long time and I must say that yours was the best ever..If you are not a professional writer, you should consider becoming one..THANKS MUCH !!!

[divadiverfl]

Leaving on the Feb 2nd cruise on her. Can't wait.

Did you guys go to the gym? How big is it. I have seen the tours on the net but sometimes they care smaller.:)

[billet]

We have just come off the cruise ending on 13 Jan. I am pondering on writing a book about our adventures, especially as my wife and I went with our mums (81 and 86).

 

The Coral Princess staff were brilliant and they continuously went the extra mile and beyond.

 

To answer the question about the gym. It has a considerable amount of equipment with treadmills, eliptical trainers, weights and a complete circuit of body building machines. There are two personal trainers who are very willing to offer advice and help you out. I went most mornings at 6:30 after a walk around the deck (2.8 laps to the mile). There were always people using the machines (from 6am - 10pm) but it was never crowded.

 

My wife and I now want to book another cruise for a rest!

[mmsoko]

At least write a synopsis for those of us yet to cruise on the Coral.

 

We love reading the reviews in anticipation.

 

 

Numbers: Thanks once again for taking the time to write your review.

[dsparku]

Where can I find info on ocean to ocean tour?

 

Dave

[mmsoko]

I'm under the impression that the new name is

"Panama Canal Experience by Boat"....you can find description on cruise personalizer under port "Panama"

[KAJOKG]

NUMBERS - Great review. We have taken the Coral Panama Canal cruise before, and I am so happy to hear that she is still in great condition. The Coral is my favorite ship and we sail on her again this April. So thanks so much for the report on the ship. I have a question regarding the Eco Tour in Limon. It sounds wonderful and we would like to take this excursion. We are seniors and I am recovering from a broken wrist. Should be okay by then, but I am very nervous about falling. Will this tour be okay for us? Is there any unusual avtivity or walking in rocky areas. We are active folks, and get around fine, but one fall has made me quite timid in uneven areas. What do you think? Would appreciate your opinion. Again, thanks for the lovely, informative review.

[mii]

NUMBERS - Great review. We have taken the Coral Panama Canal cruise before, and I am so happy to hear that she is still in great condition. The Coral is my favorite ship and we sail on her again this April. So thanks so much for the report on the ship. I have a question regarding the Eco Tour in Limon. It sounds wonderful and we would like to take this excursion. We are seniors and I am recovering from a broken wrist. Should be okay by then, but I am very nervous about falling. Will this tour be okay for us? Is there any unusual avtivity or walking in rocky areas. We are active folks, and get around fine, but one fall has made me quite timid in uneven areas. What do you think? Would appreciate your opinion. Again, thanks for the lovely, informative review.

 

Hi: I am not Numbers but I have also taken the Eco tour in Limon of the Tortuguero Canal and the tour will be just fine. There is no unusual activiity or walkin in rocky area. You ride a bus to the canal, step in the boat, ride the canals etc. There is a stop where they serve a drink and assorted fruits and the bank of the canal is a small slope but was not a problem at least for us. That tour was one of the highlights of the cruise as well as the Panama Canal. Have a great cruise.

 

Marilyn

[Numbers]

Agreed. I don't remember anything that would be a problem. Go and enjoy!

[KAJOKG]

Marilyn and Numbers -- Thanks so much for your replies. I'm going to the Cruise Personalizer now and book the excursion.

[mii]

Marilyn and Numbers -- Thanks so much for your replies. I'm going to the Cruise Personalizer now and book the excursion.

 

Hi KAJOKG: You will not regret that excursion. Like I said it was one of the highlights of our cruise. Now that I put my word on the line I sure hope you love it as much as my DH and I did.:D Now with that said I hope you realize that there is no guarantee that you will see as much wildlife as we did. I think also the Princess shore excursion says that too. For your sake I do hope you do see the animals. By the way we did the a.m. excursion.

 

Marilyn

[cruiser-be-me]

We are on the 2/12 sailing and I wondered if there were any theme nights? None were mentioned in our docs or your wonderful review...

 

We are so excited now we are making our packing checklist and counting the days til we fly out of Anchorage and hit the sunshine in FLL.

 

Thanks!

 

Joni

[KAJOKG]

Hi KAJOKG: You will not regret that excursion. Like I said it was one of the highlights of our cruise. Now that I put my word on the line I sure hope you love it as much as my DH and I did.:D Now with that said I hope you realize that there is no guarantee that you will see as much wildlife as we did. I think also the Princess shore excursion says that too. For your sake I do hope you do see the animals. By the way we did the a.m. excursion.

 

Marilyn

Don't fret, Marilyn. I won't hold you to your explanation. I did book the early excursion. Better to see wildlife in the early hours.

[Cruiseteach]

I'm beginning to wish I'd booked this excursion instead of the arial tram one. Am I going to be sorry?

[mii]

I'm beginning to wish I'd booked this excursion instead of the arial tram one. Am I going to be sorry?

 

Cruiseteach: Hey you might enjoy the tram ride. But if you wish to change your excursion and depending on when you are going you can cancel that excursion and sign up for the canal one. Or you change it on the ship just slow long that you do it 24 hours in advance. Check the Princess Patter(newletter) each day and see when the last date you can cancel. But you might enjoy the tram ride. And beside it will give you another excuse to go again on that cruise.:D

 

Marilyn

[Numbers]

Cruiseteach - FYI - I'm pretty sure there is a combo tour that includes both the ariel tram and the canal tour (along with something else, I think). Obviously, more $$ and more time, but you might want to check it out. This combo tour sold out on our trip, so you should consider checking out the cruise personalizer sooner rather than later if you are interested. Also, if you haven't already, you might want to check out the Costa Rica port of call boards -- they have a lot of good info on the relative merits of various tours. Ultimately, though, only you know what you'll enjoy the most.

 

Joni- There was an island night -- guess I forgot to mention it. That was the only ship wide theme night -- some of the lounges had music geared to 50s, 60s, 70s, country, that sort of stuff and invited guests to dress the part. Keep in mind that we were on a holiday sailing that included Christmas and New Year's, so they might do other things that we didn't on a non-holiday trip.

[ez9876]

Hey Numbers - We were on that same cruise. Like you, we had problems with pool towels. After writing to Princess, they told me that "pool Attendents" no longer work on the ship! Funny how there were workers that had "pool Attendents" on their shirts. Some days we never had pool towels, we ended up using towels from the bathroom.

 

We were in a mini, A416. Like you, we had our daughter. Too old for Off Limits but too young for the casino. She got bored quickly due to lack of activities for her age group.

 

We had Personal Choice dining - never again. After waiting upwards of two hours, we could of had been in the second seating of Traditional dining without worrying about where to sit.

 

Dress codes in the dining rooms (Personal Choice) was a joke too. On formal nights, we saw jeans, tee shirts, etc. When I questioned the Matre de, I was told, "whatever pleases the customer."

 

The list goes on and on.

 

We have written to Princess and their response was "we feel we addressed the issues" without ever addressing my ten page letter. Will we do Princess again? No - I felt like I was dealing with Carnival - only paying more for less.