Is the Coral Princess bow open on Glacier days?

[AtlantaCruiser72]

Are passengers ever allowed onto the Coral Princess’ bow on scenic cruising days like Glacier Bay?  Or are the side of the Bow well too high for decent viewing?  I know she has multiple other forward area for viewing but being on the bow is really sort of special. My previous 3 Alaska cruises were on Holland (twice) and Celebrity where this was allowed. 

[EDVM96]

7 hours ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

Are passengers ever allowed onto the Coral Princess’ bow on scenic cruising days like Glacier Bay? 

I've never seen a Princess ship which allows passengers at the (upper) bow area. It's crew-only.

On Grand Class ships, you can go to the front via the stairs from Promenade Deck 7 to 8.
But not on the Coral. Instead you can use the "secret" doors on deck 10 & 11 which lead to the front viewing decks.

 

[AtlantaCruiser72]

5 hours ago, EDVM96 said:

I've never seen a Princess ship which allows passengers at the (upper) bow area. It's crew-only.

On Grand Class ships, you can go to the front via the stairs from Promenade Deck 7 to 8.
But not on the Coral. Instead you can use the "secret" doors on deck 10 & 11 which lead to the front viewing decks.

 

 

Thanks @EDVM96 that is pretty much what I thought, I just wanted to verify from anyone with first hand experience on the Coral

[Thrak]

6 hours ago, EDVM96 said:

I've never seen a Princess ship which allows passengers at the (upper) bow area. It's crew-only.

On Grand Class ships, you can go to the front via the stairs from Promenade Deck 7 to 8.
But not on the Coral. Instead you can use the "secret" doors on deck 10 & 11 which lead to the front viewing decks.

 

 

Don't forget that these "secret" doors also exist on the AFT portion of the ship. The big difference is that the aft viewing decks have loungers and the forward viewing decks lack loungers. View of the aft viewing area on Baja (deck 11):

 

 

[Rick&Jeannie]

Just pull one of those loungers up to the front of the ship!  Simple solution!  (You *might* get some strange looks...) 😄

[PapaGoose]

We did an Alaska cruise on the Coral back in 2019. We had a mini suite on the 10th deck about 5 staterooms from the front. We often went through those “secret doors” to enjoy a beverage and view the scenery including a day at the glaciers. The railing actually had a ledge which held our drinks quite nicely! Rarely was it crowded up there and we could hear the “expert” sharing his glacial knowledge through nearby speakers. 
 

[AtlantaCruiser72]

2 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

Don't forget that these "secret" doors also exist on the AFT portion of the ship. The big difference is that the aft viewing decks have loungers and the forward viewing decks lack loungers. View of the aft viewing area on Baja (deck 11):

 

 

Im looking at one of the caribe deck rooms near the aft for this very reason 🤓

[Guest ldtr]

deleted - Cannot find pictures to confirm.

Edited August 3, 2023 by ldtr

[Tranquility Base]

I don’t know about Alaska, but today on Coral we had 5 hours of scenic cruising through Prince Christian Sound in Greenland.

I didn’t see anyone at the bow area.

[EDVM96]

17 minutes ago, Tranquility Base said:

I don’t know about Alaska, but today on Coral we had 5 hours of scenic cruising through Prince Christian Sound in Greenland.

I saw that on the bridge cam. Phantastic fjord cruising (with bad Greenland weather).  Anyway. 👍

Edited August 3, 2023 by EDVM96

[EDVM96]

3 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

 The big difference is that the aft viewing decks have loungers and the forward viewing decks lack loungers. 

Plus - the rear decks are rain protected and much larger than those at the front. It was my favorite spot when having an obstructed view cabin in 2011. The front decks can get really crowded. And wet. 😁

[Thrak]

2 hours ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

Im looking at one of the caribe deck rooms near the aft for this very reason 🤓

 

If you look at the picture I posted of the aft Baja area the window closest to the starboard door is our favorite cabin. It's an Ocean View but we use that large aft area as our balcony. It's generally not very much used and we often have it to ourselves. I've tried to see into the cabin through the window during the day when just the sheers are closed and even pressing my face to the window I can't see in. At night we close the blackout curtains. Obviously there is the same cabin on the Port side of the ship. There have been times in the evening when we were getting ready for dinner and we would take a drink out on that aft viewing area. We've had it all to ourselves as we watched dolphins playing in the wake. Absolutely love that area and the OV is less expensive than a balcony.

Edited August 3, 2023 by Thrak

[Coral]

I think there are 2 small decks on the bow that they let us on in Alaska several years ago. You had to go through doors that said "for crew only" but the room stewards told us we could go outside. It was right under the bridge.

 

It is really windy - dress for cold.

Edited August 3, 2023 by Coral

[Bpmsmith]

Very windy and cold!

Edited August 3, 2023 by Bpmsmith
adding second photo

[AtlantaCruiser72]

@Thrak I looked at the cost for those "secret" aft oceanviews but we are trying to stretch budget as far as possible to use spending $$ for side tours.  We are going to do the Connoisseur tour but will do an inside on cruise portion, hence the desire to be close to those aft terraces 🙂

[AtlantaCruiser72]

1 hour ago, Coral said:

I think there are 2 small decks on the bow that they let us on in Alaska several years ago. You had to go through doors that said "for crew only" but the room stewards told us we could go outside. It was right under the bridge.

 

It is really windy - dress for cold.

 

I experienced that on the front decks on the Amsterdam and Noordam before, but when we went down on the bow the wind was far less funny enough.  Good thing is Coral has those lovely aft terraces open to all!

[Coral]

13 hours ago, EDVM96 said:

 Instead you can use the "secret" doors on deck 10 & 11 which lead to the front viewing decks.

 

Those are the decks. I couldn't remember which ones!

[RD64]

If you want the bow - as in right on the bow - Holland America is the way to go.

[AtlantaCruiser72]

3 hours ago, RD64 said:

If you want the bow - as in right on the bow - Holland America is the way to go.

Agree 100% and if they had a comparable land package offering at a competitive price that is whom we would be sailing with. And before anyone chimes in that you can do the land portion DIY, yes we could, but we prefer not to. 

[Coral]

9 hours ago, RD64 said:

If you want the bow - as in right on the bow - Holland America is the way to go.

While I agree on this, I would let itinerary drive my first factor in deciding line/ship.

 

I believe the Radiance class ships also open the bow. 

Edited August 4, 2023 by Coral

[capriccio]

14 hours ago, EDVM96 said:

Plus - the rear decks are rain protected and much larger than those at the front. It was my favorite spot when having an obstructed view cabin in 2011. The front decks can get really crowded. And wet. 😁

The rear decks are not all the same size.  On Dolphin it is very narrow - standing room only whereas on Caribe there are loungers similar to the picture of Baja deck above.  I've never been on the others so I don't know if the Dolphin deck is a one off or if there are other narrow ones.

[EDVM96]

10 minutes ago, capriccio said:

The rear decks are not all the same size.  On Dolphin it is very narrow - standing room only whereas on Caribe there are loungers similar to the picture of Baja deck above.  I've never been on the others so I don't know if the Dolphin deck is a one off or if there are other narrow ones.

That's right.


Emerald Deck 8 and Dolphin 9 are pretty narrow.
Caribe 10 & Baja 11 have more space and the loungers.
The view from Aloha 12 is behind glass (Sanctuary Pool area)

[capriccio]

16 minutes ago, EDVM96 said:

That's right.


Emerald Deck 8 and Dolphin 9 are pretty narrow.
Caribe 10 & Baja 11 have more space and the loungers.
The view from Aloha 12 is behind glass (Sanctuary Pool area)

Great picture! 

[EDVM96]

7 minutes ago, capriccio said:

Great picture! 

Yes. It's not my picture tho, I just found it here in the forum.