Coral Princess Trip Report from Princess newbie with lots of photos

[aussielozzie18]

So after being awake for the sail in, I headed to the Horizon Buffet for breakfast.  Then back to the Cabin for a bag full of layers of clothing and joined the 5 other cruisers who were waiting to disembark.  We were the first group of the Ship at 7.35am.  As you can see no-one behind me.

 

 

 

As you can see the visitors centre is right near the ship.  When the ship is in there are some markets and free shuttle buses put on by the local authorities to take you into the town centre. Photo below.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 10, 2022 by aussielozzie18

[aussielozzie18]

Well, it turns out the other four people were heading to an early whale watching cruise that departs two steps from the visitors centre and I was the only one heading into town.

The first shuttle bus had just turned up and I asked when they were due to depart and he kindly offered to take just me but I said thank you but no.  I will walk. Can you point me in the right direction.  He said you can go up that road or do the scenic zig zag route.  I asked if both were paved, he said yes and so the scenic zig zag route was my choice.  Yesterday, it was repeatedly stressed at the info session how hilly it is walking into town (hence the free shuttles). Town up the top of road in below photo.

 

 

 The zig zig walk is called Warrens Walk.  An short (less than 10min) walk,

 

 paved zig zag path filled with Aussie flowers that ends at the bottom of a pretty suburban street.

 

 

 

 

 There is a side dirt path that leads to a lookout with Aboriginal whaling info.

 

[aussielozzie18]

At the top of the residential street is the Killer Whale Museum.  I would have loved to have explored but I was way too early.

 

 

 

 

 

[aussielozzie18]

So the town centre has shops, IGA, cafes, atm, fishing shop. We were shown the exterior and interior  of each & every one the day before at the info session and they had all opened earlyish for a Sunday in anticipation of the Cruise visitors. Nice whale mural too.

 

Lots of mentions of whales,

 

including this cute residential letterbox.

 

 

Edited October 10, 2022 by aussielozzie18

[aussielozzie18]

Horn has just blown.  The Coral Princess is about to sail away from Eden back to Sydney.

 

To be continued….

 

 

[aussielozzie18]

From the town centre, I knew there was a walk to Aisling Beach with a kind of boardwalk (again from info session).  So followed my nose.  The walk was all downhill and lots of lookouts along the way although it only took about 10mins.

 

 

 

 

 

Saw a local go for a swim.  Afterwards asked him how the water temp was “Chilly!”

[aussielozzie18]

Across the road from the beach is a cemetery and further is a sporting field which has a boardwalk behind it around the lake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[aussielozzie18]

Hmmm..

 

More lookouts on the way back to the ship.

[NSWP]

Great pics.  That Aslings Beach and the boardwalk alongside are one of my favourite spots down there. Idyllic.  You did a bit of walking today and many thanks for the reports and photos.

Edited October 10, 2022 by NSWP

[aussielozzie18]

10 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Great pics.  That Aslings Beach and the boardwalk alongside are one of my favourite spots down there. Idyllic.  You did a bit of walking today and many thanks for the reports and photos.

Thank you. Beach looked really nice.   Haven’t been able to do walking laps on the outside deck since we left Sydney due to weather, so it was nice to stretch the legs outdoors this morning.

Edited October 10, 2022 by aussielozzie18

[aussielozzie18]

So got back to the ship and being a port day the entire crew were doing an emergency drill.  That was a bit daunting at first and I completely lost my sense of direction, walked the entire way forward on my deck when my cabin is only a few cabins from the rear.  Sigh.  Thankfully still had plenty of time to join tour.

 

 

 

[aussielozzie18]

You boarded the boat only a few steps from the visitors centre.  I booked this as soon as I realised Eden is known for Whales.  It was fully booked and we had 55 on board but once on board there was plenty of space for everyone.  I picked upstairs outside behind where the Captain sits because I knew it would act as a windbreaker which it did.  It was absolutely glorious on the water as we cruised right by the Coral Princess and within 10 mins on the water we saw our first mother & calf.  The first of many.

 

 

 

 

 

We saw approx 8 separate pairs of mother & her calf.  Tail flips, two amazing full body breaches and beautiful scenery (last photo doesn’t do it justice). It did get a bit bouncy but I don’t think anyone got seasick, certainly not upstairs. it got breezy,  I was glad for my two jackets one with a hood, at our furthest point. They served tea & coffee, biscuits, cheese & crackers after we had our fill of whale sightings. . Back at the wharf at 2pm.  It was an amazing whale watching experience. Worth every cent.  Highly recommend.

Edited October 10, 2022 by aussielozzie18

[NSWP]

Glad you enjoyed the Cat Balou, done it a few times, here is your boat...

 

[MMDown Under]

14 minutes ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Thank you. Beach looked really nice.   Haven’t been able to do walking laps on the outside deck since we left Sydney due to weather, so it was nice to stretch the legs outdoors this morning.

Did you see Ursulas Weekly Wanders blog on the Walk you went on?  Certainly a lovely part of NSW.

 

7 minutes ago, aussielozzie18 said:

You boarded the boat only a few steps from the visitors centre.  I booked this as soon as I realised Eden is known for Whales.  It was fully booked and we had 55 on board but once on board there was plenty of space for everyone.  I picked upstairs outside behind where the Captain sits because I knew it would act as a windbreaker which it did.  It was absolutely glorious on the water as we cruised right by the Coral Princess and within 10 mins on the water we saw our first mother & calf.  The first of many.

 

 

 

 

We saw approx 8 separate pairs of mother & her calf.  Tail flips, two amazing full body breaches and beautiful scenery.  It did get a bit bouncy but I don’t think anyone got seasick, certainly not upstairs and it got breezy.  I was glad for my two jackets at our furthest point. They served tea & coffee, biscuits, cheese & crackers. Back at the wharf at 2pm.  It was an amazing whale watching experience. Worth every cent.  Highly recommend.

Wow 8 pars of mothers and calves.  How lucky were you!! plus a beautiful walk.  Sounds like a perfect day!

[aussielozzie18]

Came back on board and the pool was finally full of cruisers. Pools and some of the spas were netted off due to the weather on the trip down.  Below photos taken on boarding day Sydney.

 

.  

 

 

 

[aussielozzie18]

2 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Glad you enjoyed the Cat Balou, done it a few times, here is your boat...

 

Info session staff member said he had done it 4 times and seen whales every time.  Yep upstairs outdoor seats were where I sat.

[MMDown Under]

4 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Glad you enjoyed the Cat Balou, done it a few times, here is your boat...

 

how far from your place Les ?

[aussielozzie18]

3 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

Did you see Ursulas Weekly Wanders blog on the Walk you went on?  Certainly a lovely part of NSW.

 

Wow 8 pars of mothers and calves.  How lucky were you!! plus a beautiful walk.  Sounds like a perfect day!

Very very lucky! No idea re the blog - just info from the info session.  Would love to drive down and do a day walk here with DH.

[aussielozzie18]

 

 

 

[aussielozzie18]

Ok. Going to keep going til the 4G dies…

So, back to first night on board.  Discovered my balcony has no cover and can be seen from those on the walking track above.  Thankfully I didn’t plan to dance naked on the balcony and since I am not with DH no  marital activity was planned so privacy wasn’t an issue but it did mean I needed an umbrella as we sailed out of Sydney in the rain and I have no couch in the cabin, so I brought in one of the deck chairs but even though I wiped it down, I still got a drenched pants when I sat down.  See, overpacking is designed for these moments….

 

Dinner

Dine my way at 5.20pm.  Yes, kiddie hour.  One of the limits of a late booking.  I booked all 3 nights at the same time.  I don’t actually mind eating early so it wasn’t a big deal.  And the restaurant was only 50% occupied.  Requested table for one.  No problemo.  Although it’s not really a private table for two when they are spaced ONE INCH apart from each other.

 

So first night, I was on table if two but seated solo with an empty table of two TWO INCHES next to me and a very quiet couple on the other private table of two TWOINCHES away from the middle table.   The waiters were perfunctory and the food was meh.

 

Entree was the roasted pineapple honeydew (meh)

 

 

 

Main was cafeteria level

 

Dessert was nice but the chocolate on top was bitter.

 

Dessert drink was awful.  Didn’t finish.  Monte Choco bad choice for $15.50.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[aussielozzie18]

I requested a physical copy of the   Princess event listing via the app.  That I received.

[aussielozzie18]

Here is day 1

 

 

 

[aussielozzie18]

Today

 

 

 

[aussielozzie18]

Because I am a newbie and AFT I frequently got lost initially so I noticed peoples cabin doors…,

 

Mum had a notice board with msgs & jokes.

[cheznandy]

Thanks for all the photo's. What a beautiful port stop Eden is......and those whales!!

Yes, those tables for two, you can't even move in and out.