LIVE from the Coral: July 24, 2019. North to Alaska

[DBSDSS]

1 hour ago, PotatoBug said:

I don't know about sledding in Skagway but I talked to someone on Glacier Bay day who said their morning helicopter ride in Juneau was canceled, but that afternoon ones ran when the weather cleared up.

 

The information we had read about the zipline said no go-pros, and yet they let 2 people attach theirs to their helmets. You need both hands on the bar when you're zipping so you can't operate a camera then, but I took pictures from the platforms between ziplines using my phone. I left the DLSR behind on the ship because I didn't think it would be practical to take along.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

 We have a morning helicopter ride scheduled on 8Aug, and as of a couple of days ago, the excursion is still operating. Guess we have to wait until we get there to see if the excursion is still operating, then hope for good weather in the morning.

 

Don't have a go pro. Have a little 35M, will use that if I can fit it into my pockets, or my phone, to take pics from the platforms.   Tks again for the info, have a great rest of ur cruise.

[jus10cruise]

1 hour ago, DBSDSS said:

 

Thanks for the info.

 

 We have a morning helicopter ride scheduled on 8Aug, and as of a couple of days ago, the excursion is still operating. Guess we have to wait until we get there to see if the excursion is still operating, then hope for good weather in the morning.

 

Don't have a go pro. Have a little 35M, will use that if I can fit it into my pockets, or my phone, to take pics from the platforms.   Tks again for the info, have a great rest of ur cruise.

I had a morning helicopter excursion from Juneau last year. It was too foggy so they just pushed it back a couple hours (or you could cancel). After talking to them it seems to be frequent occurrence. Hopefully it'll work out for you!

[DBSDSS]

36 minutes ago, jus10cruise said:

I had a morning helicopter excursion from Juneau last year. It was too foggy so they just pushed it back a couple hours (or you could cancel). After talking to them it seems to be frequent occurrence. Hopefully it'll work out for you!

Tks, we have nothing else scheduled in Juneau, so we would push it back. Was ur tour thru Princess?

[PotatoBug]

Day 6 - July 29, 2019 - Glacier Bay

The ship was scheduled to arrive at Bartlett Cove, the entrance to Glacier Bay around 6 am, to pick our park rangers but I wouldn’t know because I was still asleep. When I did get up there was a light drizzle, but more alarmingly very low clouds hanging over the hills (and, presumably, the mountains behind them). At about 7 we went to the dining room for breakfast, and, unfortunately, our service was quite slow so we were starting to miss things happening outside of the ship. 

 

After breakfast we returned to our cabin and turned our tv to the channel with the narration and bridge cam. During breakfast the weather had changed dramatically. Instead of rain and low cloud ceiling, the sun had broken through and it was warm enough that I got rid of my layers down to a tshirt and jeans. 

 

We could see that we were approaching a glacier on the port side, so I grabbed my camera and went to the rear deck on Emerald (just steps from our cabin) but I couldn’t get a good port side view from there so I went down to the Promenade prot side. I thought it would be crowded but there was no problem getting a spot on the railing as we approached Marjorie Glacier. We spent the next hour or so parked several hundred metres from the glacier, with lots of small icebergs surrounding the ship.

 

While we were there I witnessed the glacier calving. I heard a lot crack, and then looked in the wrong direction at first so I only saw the end of the ice falling into the water. Marcia said she saw 2 or 3 calving incidents, but I only saw the one. The others may have happened when I was moving about the ship. When they eventually started spinning the ship I moved to the forward viewing deck on Baja, and then to our cabin’s balcony and the rear deck on Emerald.

 

After Marjorie Glacier we travelled back the way we had come and then up John Hopkins Inlet. We could not go all the way in to John Hopkins Glacier, though, because large ships aren’t allowed. The area near the glacier is protected for seals to have their pups so we stayed about 5 km away. The ranger doing the narration saw a seal pop her head up but I didn’t. They turned the ship around and we headed back to the Lamplugh Glacier which is at the entrance to John Hopkins Inlet. We spent 15 or 30 minutes parked in front of it before we started out way back out of Glacier Bay.

 

At South Marble Island we saw, from a distance of a couple of hundred metres, islands/rocks covered with Stellars sea lions. Some were sunning themselves, while others were playing in the water. From there we continued south. Marcia saw a humpback dive, but I missed it. A while later I saw a spout, then the back, of a humpback. One more spray, and it dove. I’m hoping my pictures caught it.

 

I kept scanning the seas with binoculars, but even when I spotted *something* by the time I got my camera I couldn’t find whatever it was again. Some people I talked to said they saw otters off the aft of the ship early in the morning.

 

Once we left Glacier Bay we travelled west down Cross Sound to the open North Pacific Ocean. The Captain came on warning us there would be slightly more movement to the ship and that extrememly sensitive people should prepare for that. The seas were actually quite calm; I’ve experienced far worse in the past.

 

While Marcia napped I went to to afternoon tea, and picked up the next puzzle for the High Seas Heist. There were two things going on that night that we wanted to do: the production show “Secret of Silk”, and “Captain Marvel” again. We decided on the early production show so we ate earlier than usual, around 5:30. It was the second formal night, so we changed for dinner and headed to the dining room. Fortunately, there was no line at all. Also fortunate was that service was much quicker for dinner than breakfast or lunch, so we finished in time to go back to our room to change to more comfortable clothers.

 

We then hustled over to the Princess Theatre for the 7:00 show. I had never seen that show, and learned later that it is only a year old across the fleet. It’s a very different sort of show, and includes the use of puppetry from Jim Henson’s company. We enjoyed it a lot, but heard grumbling from some people that it was too loud.

 

Following the show we returned to our room to watch Alaska go by from the balcony, and then downstairs to the Universe Lounge to watch the first part of “Captain Marvel”, the part we missed the night before in Skagway. I was so tired, though, that after ¾ of an hour I was nodding off so I called it a night. Marcia also decided to head back and go to bed.

 

Tomorrow is a sea day, with College Fjord in the evening.

[PotatoBug]

Day 7 - July 20, 2019 - College Fjord

I woke up much too early today, so rather than restlessly toss back and forth, I grabbed my tablet and went to the International Café for a tea and pastry while I tried to catch up on the days I was behind reporting. Normally, when I cruise with my wife our routine is I wake up first and go get her coffee from the IC. On this trip I had hardly been there at all. The crew member serving me told me a bit of news that won’t make her happy: they are discontinuing paper coffee cards in August and coffee cards, loaded on your ship ccount, will *only* be good for the cruise they are purchased on. If you’ve been hoarding cards at home, they’re about to become worthless.

 

The weather outside was lovely. A few clouds in the sky, but mostly sunny. The seas were calm and it looked like it was going to be a great day. And it *was*.

 

After an hour or so I returned to our cabin and found that Marcia was awake (and found out she has messaged me to bring her a pastry from the IC, but it never occurred to me to check my messages). We had breakfast in the dining room, and then hung out in our cabin watching the scenery … and starting that sad process of packing to leave the cruise.

 

At 10 there was a culinary demonstration in the Universe Lounge featuring the Maitre d’ and the Executive Chef. The Chef prepared a salmon dish, and then the head Pastry Chef prepared a tiramisu. After the demo we got to take a quick tour of the galley, and that dumped us into the dining room that was holding the outlet sale. Neither of us saw anything we wanted to we went back to our cabin again. At about 11:45 we went to the Bayou Café for the Pub Lunch. There is nothing on the main menu for the Pub Lunch for vegetarians so Marcia got a plate of fries … and she didn’t mind one bit. She LOVES her french fries!

 

After lunch we attended the Backstage Tour in the Princess Theatre. My wife and I had done this on the Coral nearly 5 years ago and it has changed quite a bit. Now it consists of a video presentation and then the Production Manager and the Cast Manager took questions from the audience for nearly half an hour. When the questions were done we were invited on stage to look around, and then we were led downstairs backstage to the dressing area, and then back to the stage where we could ask questions more one-to-one.

 

At 2:15 was the trivia contest I considered my best chance at winning: Beatles trivia! I’ve been a huge Beatles fan, having grown up with an older sister who was the key demographic for the band at the time. The first album I owned was Sgt Pepper. This contest was literally in my wheelhouse (and was being held in the Wheelhouse Bar). There were 15 or 16 trivia questions about the band (“Who was the oldest Beatle?”), and then 20 or so “name that song” questions; a total of 37 questions. We swapped answers sheets with another team, as usual. The crew member asking the questions (DJ Robbie) went through the answers, but had the wrong answer to 2 questions. He was convinced by the audience that the title of one of the songs was “And Your Bird Can Sing” and not whatever title he had (which was not the title of ANY Beatle song). But annoyingly he wouldn’t change his other wrong answer (“What was the Beatles last album to be recorded?”). The right answer is Abbey Road but he insisted it was Let It Be (which was the last album to be released). Anyway, the correct answers were totalled and I had 32 of 37, but another team had 33. I’ll never know if that wrong answer made a difference, but I figure anyone who had that many right probably also knew Abbey Road was the last recorded.

 

We started back to our cabin, but I stopped to look at some 2-for-$20 t-shirts while Marcia continued to the IC. I caught up with her there; she had a chai tea latté and a pastry. I looked at her and said “I guess you don’t want to go to afternoon tea.” She obviously wasn’t interested so I went alone.

 

After tea I went back to the cabin and continued packing and sorting through all the paper you accumulate over the course of a cruise. We had barely started when the captain announced (*in the cabin*) that there was a humpback whale breeching off the starboard side. I grabbed the camera and zoom lens, and Marcia got the binoculars. The whale slapped its tail on the surface of the water several times and then we could see it raising its fins in the air. I'm not sure exactly what was going on, and hopefully once I see my pictures on a larger screen it will make more sense.

 

We quickly finished our packing and put our luggage out in the hall.

 

A naturalist/park ranger had boarded mid-afternoon and she spotted many otters in the water, on both sides of the ship. I got lots of pictures of those, too. She then described the scientific expedition that had named the many glaciers of College Fjord after American universities and colleges. Women’s colleges were on one side (port as you enter the fjord) and men’s on the other. Most of the glaciers have receded to the point that they don’t touch the water any more, but the most impressive of all does. Harvard Glacier, and the end of the fjord, is “healthy” and not receding. It is an impressive sight, miles wide and filling the water with icebergs (most of which are small enough to not be a concern; the small ones are called growlers). Apparently you can often see seals on the larger icebergs, but not today. We were lucky though; there was a relatively small amount of ice in the water so we were able to approach closer than any ship all season. We stopped about one and a quarter miles away.

 

The captain turned the ship so the starboard side faced the glacier for several minutes, and then turned it so the port side faced. We witnessed several calving incidents, and with any luck when I review my videos I see that I caught some of them. It is impressive to hear a large “crack” sound, then see the ice fall, and then the loud sound of the actual calving hits you a few seconds later. 

 

Our viewing done, the Captain turned the ship to head back out of College Fjord. It was now nearly 8pm, but you would never have guessed with how bright it was. However, the sun was going behind the mountains on our side so the viewing from our cabin was getting tough because of the shadows. We decided to go to the dining room and see how bad the lines were.

 

And there were no lines at all. They weren’t sure whether to start a new large table because there was no knowing how long it would take to fill since there was literally no one behind us. They seated us at a table for 2, and we saw people slowly trickling into the dining room after. After had ordered and were chatting about our day, Marcia spotted the Italian family I had kayaked with enter and get seated. I went over to say hello, and while I was talking to them the Head Waiter asked if they were the family from Sardinia. The Maitre d’ is from Sardinia and the news about the family had filtered up to him. He had a special table for them, and a special meal! So I said farewell and went back to join Marcia at our not-nearly-as-special-table LOL

 

Princess lets you celebrate birthdays and anniversaries on board if they are within a month. My birthday is Aug 30 so I had my special birthday dessert (which has changed a bit over the years, getting more decorative). Earlier in dinner they held the Baked Alaska Parade, but neither of us was interested in that. I did order some rhubarb ice cream (yummy), though, in addition to the chocolate deliciousness of the birthday “cake”.

 

When we were done we chatted a bit longer (Marcia wondered what is my favourite place I’ve visited), and then we went to say “ciao” to the Italian family. We exchanged email addresses; I was interested in the pictures Andrea had taken on our kayak excursion. And they offered to host us if we’re ever in Sardinia.

 

Finally we retired to the room, tired and ready to sleep. It was well past 10 and still nearly as bright as an early evening. At 11 I took a picture of the twilight scene and used some of my carefully hoarded internet minutes to post it on social media LOL. And then it was time for bed.

 

Tomorrow would be disembarkation day. 

[geoherb]

Thanks for the great report. I have a couple of coffee cards to give away since we won't be able to use them in August. I took them with me on my Island Princess cruises in June/July, but I only used a few punches since I wasn't sure if I could convince DH to take a cruise in August after he finishes up his current work contract. I couldn't. We're going in September instead.

[PotatoBug]

Day 8 - July 31, 2019 - Disembarkation/Anchorage

The day dawned with the sun shining, and a few puffy clouds in the sky. We rose in the morning and headed to the dining room shortly before 7, with a stop at the IC to use up punches that would soon become worthless. We were seated at a table for 8, and one couple was getting a little antsy; they were to be disembarking in 15 minutes for their train to Denali! When their food arrived they wolfed it down and bolted from the dining room. The rest of us were able eat more calmly LOL

 

The young couple next to me have a friend who used to live in Anchorage and had sent them many suggestions of things to do, see, or eat. They let me get a copy of the “downtown, no car” options.

 

We returned to our cabin to finish our last minute packing, fill out the “atta boys” for a couple of crew members, and we headed for the Platinum lounge in the Wheelhouse Bar. Our other option was that “Orange 2” was meeting in the Universe Lounge. We arrived at the Wheelhouse with about 10 minutes to go until our group was scheduled. When we were called a crew member was leading us to the gangway via the elevator (down one floor) so we took the stairs, and that put us at the front of our group exiting the ship (and the bulk of Orange 2 was making their way from the aft Universe Lounge). This came in handy because that meant we were the first to board our bus to Anchorage. I wanted to grab a front seat but those are reserved for people with limited mobility, so we took the 2nd row. One set of front row seats, behind the driver, remained open as the bus filled and one woman was looking for seats for her and her young (5ish) son but children aren’t allowed in the front row. We offered to take the front row and give them our seats; we had scored the front row after all.

 

The bus now full, we pulled out to go wait at the tunnel. There is a single lane tunnel that links Whittier to the highway to Anchorage (or anywhere else), so we had a wait of about 20 minutes for traffic coming to Whittier before they reversed the direction of traffic flow. The tunnel is well-lit inside so we didn’t get the total darkness that’s so common in tunnels. After a couple of miles we emerged on the other side to the sight of mountains, glaciers, waterfalls, and Turnagain Arm. Turnagain Arm was so named when Captain Cook’s ship got stranded in the glacial silt at low tide and had to wait for high tide to be able to turn around and leave.

 

Our driver/guide told us to be on the lookout for humpbacks and belugas but we saw nothing but birds, and gorgeous scenery.

 

After an hour and a half we were at the visitor’s center in Anchorage. We checked to make sure our bags had made it safely, and gathered them all together. We left them in the visitor center while we did a little exploring downtown. We called our hotel to see if it would be possible to check in early, but they said to call back at 1; it was 10:30 at that point. So we did a lot of window shopping, making note of places to return to the next day before our flight in the late afternoon, then got some lunch at Humpy’s (a bar and grill), and then more window shopping (including at the relatively new mall built downtown where Marcia checked out iPads at the Apple store).

 

We heard some live music and went to check it out; it was a one-man blues band. He was using an electric piano for the rhythm section and playing an electric guitar. He was surprisingly good! Nearby was Wild Scoops ice cream and we kept an eye on the line. When there was a short enough line we went over to check it out, and each got a cone; it was very good!

 

Finally, it was nearing time to check into our hotel, so we collected our bags at the visitor center and walked a few blocks east to the Ramada. We checked in, found two nice queen sized beds in the room (which was a relief after the tiny singles on the ship) and I laid down on my bed. I fell asleep almost immediately, and awoke an hour later. We mulled over our dinner options and neither of us was energetic enough to walk back to the downtown core so we picked a nearby outdoor spot.

 

After dinner we returned to our room and just relaxed. I also spent some quality time with a lacrosse ball trying to roll out the tightness in my legs. Sunset wasn’t until 10:40 so we fell asleep with the curtains drawn as tightly as possible.

 

Tomorrow we fly home at 4:25 in the afternoon.

[GettingMyShipTogether]

16 hours ago, geoherb said:

Thanks for the great report. I have a couple of coffee cards to give away since we won't be able to use them in August. I took them with me on my Island Princess cruises in June/July, but I only used a few punches since I wasn't sure if I could convince DH to take a cruise in August after he finishes up his current work contract. I couldn't. We're going in September instead.

 

Is it uncouth of me to say I'd be happy to take them off your hands & reimburse shipping if you don't find anyone local to give them to? We are going on the same trip last week of Aug. 😃 

[GettingMyShipTogether]

59 minutes ago, PotatoBug said:

Day 8 - July 31, 2019 - Disembarkation/Anchorage

The day dawned with the sun shining, and a few puffy clouds in the sky. We rose in the morning and headed to the dining room shortly before 7, with a stop at the IC to use up punches that would soon become worthless. We were seated at a table for 8, and one couple was getting a little antsy; they were to be disembarking in 15 minutes for their train to Denali! When their food arrived they wolfed it down and bolted from the dining room. The rest of us were able eat more calmly LOL

 

The young couple next to me have a friend who used to live in Anchorage and had sent them many suggestions of things to do, see, or eat. They let me get a copy of the “downtown, no car” options.

 

We returned to our cabin to finish our last minute packing, fill out the “atta boys” for a couple of crew members, and we headed for the Platinum lounge in the Wheelhouse Bar. Our other option was that “Orange 2” was meeting in the Universe Lounge. We arrived at the Wheelhouse with about 10 minutes to go until our group was scheduled. When we were called a crew member was leading us to the gangway via the elevator (down one floor) so we took the stairs, and that put us at the front of our group exiting the ship (and the bulk of Orange 2 was making their way from the aft Universe Lounge). This came in handy because that meant we were the first to board our bus to Anchorage. I wanted to grab a front seat but those are reserved for people with limited mobility, so we took the 2nd row. One set of front row seats, behind the driver, remained open as the bus filled and one woman was looking for seats for her and her young (5ish) son but children aren’t allowed in the front row. We offered to take the front row and give them our seats; we had scored the front row after all.

 

The bus now full, we pulled out to go wait at the tunnel. There is a single lane tunnel that links Whittier to the highway to Anchorage (or anywhere else), so we had a wait of about 20 minutes for traffic coming to Whittier before they reversed the direction of traffic flow. The tunnel is well-lit inside so we didn’t get the total darkness that’s so common in tunnels. After a couple of miles we emerged on the other side to the sight of mountains, glaciers, waterfalls, and Turnagain Arm. Turnagain Arm was so named when Captain Cook’s ship got stranded in the glacial silt at low tide and had to wait for high tide to be able to turn around and leave.

 

Our driver/guide told us to be on the lookout for humpbacks and belugas but we saw nothing but birds, and gorgeous scenery.

 

After an hour and a half we were at the visitor’s center in Anchorage. We checked to make sure our bags had made it safely, and gathered them all together. We left them in the visitor center while we did a little exploring downtown. We called our hotel to see if it would be possible to check in early, but they said to call back at 1; it was 10:30 at that point. So we did a lot of window shopping, making note of places to return to the next day before our flight in the late afternoon, then got some lunch at Humpy’s (a bar and grill), and then more window shopping (including at the relatively new mall built downtown where Marcia checked out iPads at the Apple store).

 

We heard some live music and went to check it out; it was a one-man blues band. He was using an electric piano for the rhythm section and playing an electric guitar. He was surprisingly good! Nearby was Wild Scoops ice cream and we kept an eye on the line. When there was a short enough line we went over to check it out, and each got a cone; it was very good!

 

Finally, it was nearing time to check into our hotel, so we collected our bags at the visitor center and walked a few blocks east to the Ramada. We checked in, found two nice queen sized beds in the room (which was a relief after the tiny singles on the ship) and I laid down on my bed. I fell asleep almost immediately, and awoke an hour later. We mulled over our dinner options and neither of us was energetic enough to walk back to the downtown core so we picked a nearby outdoor spot.

 

After dinner we returned to our room and just relaxed. I also spent some quality time with a lacrosse ball trying to roll out the tightness in my legs. Sunset wasn’t until 10:40 so we fell asleep with the curtains drawn as tightly as possible.

 

Tomorrow we fly home at 4:25 in the afternoon.

 

 

Thank you so much for the detailed report, we're going on the exact same itinerary in 3 weeks and have been trying to figure out some of the port details etc. Super helpful, we're hoping to hike a lot too. Sounds like a great time was had all around, have a safe trip back!  

[PotatoBug]

9 hours ago, GettingMyShipTogether said:

 

 

Thank you so much for the detailed report, we're going on the exact same itinerary in 3 weeks and have been trying to figure out some of the port details etc. Super helpful, we're hoping to hike a lot too. Sounds like a great time was had all around, have a safe trip back!  

I'm glad you enjoyed it. If you have any questions just let me know.

[geoherb]

9 hours ago, GettingMyShipTogether said:

 

Is it uncouth of me to say I'd be happy to take them off your hands & reimburse shipping if you don't find anyone local to give them to? We are going on the same trip last week of Aug. 😃 

 

Send me your address: geoherb1 at hotmail dot com

[GettingMyShipTogether]

thank you, @geoherb! 🙌

 

@PotatoBug

i do have a few questions 😃 

 

1) we're debating between east glacier trail & west glacier trail (self guided) at mendenhall....  did you talk to anyone who did the west trail on their own and any feedback based on their experience? i'm reading it's not too difficult if you're used to hiking and it's really difficult and dangerous (guessing from people less used to hiking?)

 

2) i've read a couple of things about a show on board with an opera singer, is that the same as secret of silk or a different one?

 

3) is it worth bringing binoculars if i have a good zoom on my camera (that I can basically view through as well) - worried about exactly what you mentioned of not being able to switch from one to the other fast enough...

 

thanks!!!

 

[geoherb]

I didn't talk to anyone who hiked the east trail, but I talked to the naturalist, who did the hike to the former ice caves. He did it with a group of friends. The show with the opera singer is Encore. It's much better than The Secret Silk. And I think it's definitely worth bringing binoculars too. 

[PotatoBug]

20 hours ago, GettingMyShipTogether said:

thank you, @geoherb! 🙌

 

@PotatoBug

i do have a few questions 😃 

 

1) we're debating between east glacier trail & west glacier trail (self guided) at mendenhall....  did you talk to anyone who did the west trail on their own and any feedback based on their experience? i'm reading it's not too difficult if you're used to hiking and it's really difficult and dangerous (guessing from people less used to hiking?)

 

2) i've read a couple of things about a show on board with an opera singer, is that the same as secret of silk or a different one?

 

3) is it worth bringing binoculars if i have a good zoom on my camera (that I can basically view through as well) - worried about exactly what you mentioned of not being able to switch from one to the other fast enough...

 

thanks!!!

 

 

1) I'm not sure what the west trail is, unless it's the one they took on my daughter's 8 hour hike. She said it was a bit of an ordeal, but a lot of that was just the pace they set in order to get to the glacier. Even at that it took over 2.5 hours to get to the ice.

My understanding is that the hikes out of the center are fairly easy and level. We saw lots of people at the base of the falls.

2) encore is the show with the guest soprano. We preferred Secret of Silk, personally.

3) bring both a zoom and binoculars. My daughter and I often worked in tandem with her finding things with the binoculars so I could take pictures with the zoom.

Edited August 4, 2019 by PotatoBug

[GettingMyShipTogether]

30 minutes ago, PotatoBug said:

 

1) I'm not sure what the west trail is, unless it's the one they took on my daughter's 8 hour hike. She said it was a bit of an ordeal, but a lot of that was just the pace they set in order to get to the glacier. Even at that it took over 2.5 hours to get to the ice.

My understanding is that the hikes out of the center are fairly easy and level. We saw lots of people at the base of the falls.

2) encore is the show with the guest soprano. We preferred Secret of Silk, personally.

3) bring both a zoom and binoculars. My daughter and I often worked in tandem with her finding things with the binoculars so I could take pictures with the zoom.

 

 

Awesome,  thank you. Sounds like she did the west trail. We may just make the call that day based on weather. Good idea on working together spotting wildlife etc, thanks!

[nursemommy7578]

Awesome!  Which cabin were you in?

[PotatoBug]

43 minutes ago, nursemommy7578 said:

Awesome!  Which cabin were you in?

E735.
Fully covered, deep balcony. Just steps from the aft viewing deck. It's over the Universe Lounge so occasionally there was some noise from there but it never bothered our sleep.

[nursemommy7578]

Thank you!  Do you have any pictures?  

[rkacruiser]

Thank you PotatoBug for an interesting and good report.  You disembarked on the day I embarked for my first cruise on Coral Princess.  I was very pleased with most of the aspects of my cruise and have posted on CC that I think Coral Princess is the perfect ship for Alaska cruise as compared to Royal Princess and Island Princess.

 

I enjoy the late sitting dining time frame.  Service and cuisine were excellent.  My Head Waiter was active and attentive; Michael was the best that I have had on any cruise line in recent years.

 

Unfortunately, you experienced more rain than we did.  Each day our weather was better than one would expect with the Gulf of Alaska being a mirror for much of the day.

 

You didn't mention anything about service in the lounges.  I patronized IC and Crooner's the most and the staff in each venue were very welcoming, helpful, and attentive.  My Cabin Stewardess (Toffee from Thailand) did an excellent job.  I ordered Room Service for breakfast 4x and a late lunch once (a delicious Club Sandwich).  Breakfast usually arrived slightly earlier than I had requested and my lunch was to be delivered in 20 minutes and it was!  The Horizon Court's food offerings pale in comparison to what is offered in the MDR, both in selection as well as preparation/taste.  (Hard to explain, but as an example, there was a qualitative and size difference in the croissants served in the Horizon Court and in the MDR.)  Like the Horizon Court/Bistro on Royal Princess during prime meal time, it is too small to accommodate the guests who want to find a table unless one wants to sit out in the cold, aft of the Restaurant.

 

Like yours, my cruise was a very good one and I would choose to sail on Coral Princess again in the future.

 

Thanks again for your review!

Edited August 18, 2019 by rkacruiser

[GettingMyShipTogether]

We're getting ready for our turn and the weather forecasts are not looking good. Any tips in maximizing the trip in the rain?

 

Same thing happened on our last cold westher vacation, gad a good time in crummy weather anyway though 🙂

 

Thanks!

[PotatoBug]

On 8/18/2019 at 7:19 AM, nursemommy7578 said:

Thank you!  Do you have any pictures?  

 

Not of the interior; it was just a basic balcony cabin layout.
I do have exterior pictures, if that's what you're looking for.

[nursemommy7578]

Yes please. Whatever you have. Please email me marinagail@hotmail.com

[rkacruiser]

21 hours ago, GettingMyShipTogether said:

We're getting ready for our turn and the weather forecasts are not looking good. Any tips in maximizing the trip in the rain?

 

Same thing happened on our last cold westher vacation, gad a good time in crummy weather anyway though 🙂

 

Thanks!

 

The only day when my cruise (Northbound this Summer on the Westerdam) experienced significant rain was in Ketchikan.  All day rain of varying intensity and quite cool;  if one has a good rain poncho or waterproof rain jacket and umbrella, simply "go with the flow".  If one becomes drenched to one's underwear (as I have been), when one returns to the ship, strip, take a warm shower, and add the experience to your memories of that Port.

 

On my Coral Princess Southbound cruise, the weather was as good as it could possibly have been.

 

I hope the weather forecast for your cruise is incorrect.    

 

 

[GettingMyShipTogether]

16 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

The only day when my cruise (Northbound this Summer on the Westerdam) experienced significant rain was in Ketchikan.  All day rain of varying intensity and quite cool;  if one has a good rain poncho or waterproof rain jacket and umbrella, simply "go with the flow".  If one becomes drenched to one's underwear (as I have been), when one returns to the ship, strip, take a warm shower, and add the experience to your memories of that Port.

 

On my Coral Princess Southbound cruise, the weather was as good as it could possibly have been.

 

I hope the weather forecast for your cruise is incorrect.    

 

 

good advice 🙂 we're ready to roll with the punches. 😄

[GettingMyShipTogether]

On 8/19/2019 at 4:30 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

The only day when my cruise (Northbound this Summer on the Westerdam) experienced significant rain was in Ketchikan.  All day rain of varying intensity and quite cool;  if one has a good rain poncho or waterproof rain jacket and umbrella, simply "go with the flow".  If one becomes drenched to one's underwear (as I have been), when one returns to the ship, strip, take a warm shower, and add the experience to your memories of that Port.

 

On my Coral Princess Southbound cruise, the weather was as good as it could possibly have been.

 

I hope the weather forecast for your cruise is incorrect.    

 

 

@rkacruiser your good wishes worked...the weather improved every day as we traveled north. thanks again for your advice 😃