Coral Princess vs Norwegian Jade

[Ken the cruiser]

13 minutes ago, dmwnc1959 said:

If you can please link your live thread. Yes, I’m lazy and don’t want to go searching for it lol. 😁

Here are a couple of differences that come to mind.

 

1. You cannot use nonrefundable OBC to pay the $20 pp/day DSC (daily service charge) on an NCL cruise.

 

2. You need to make your restaurant reservations in advance, in both the applicable MDRs and specialty restaurants. If you don’t you may encounter long lines at the MDR you choose if you want to eat early. 
 

3. NCL may seem to be nickel and dining you with all of the “options” they offer. But if you do the math, they are usually pretty fair. For us we now book our NCL cruises with both FAS and FAS Plus, to get the extra benefits that come with the Plus option.

 

 

 

[Captain k]

Recently cruised on the Jade.  Long time Princess cruiser.  The Jade is a refurbished ship in great physical shape.  Food is good, especially in specialty restaurants.  Buffett a step down from Princess.  Better entertainment with live music on NCL. Only real issue is the bar above the pool is a smoking area.  

[dmwnc1959]

43 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Here are a couple of differences that come to mind.

 

1. You cannot use nonrefundable OBC to pay the $20 pp/day DSC (daily service charge) on an NCL cruise.

 

2. You need to make your restaurant reservations in advance, in both the applicable MDRs and specialty restaurants. If you don’t you may encounter long lines at the MDR you choose if you want to eat early. 
 

3. NCL may seem to be nickel and dining you with all of the “options” they offer. But if you do the math, they are usually pretty fair. For us we now book our NCL cruises with both FAS and FAS Plus, to get the extra benefits that come with the Plus option.

I’ve done a pricing breakdown with: NCL’s FAS benefits; adding the cost of the DSC ‘crew appreciation’ (based on what the reservation said it would be); their cruise insurance; and an additional 7-night specialty dining plan (that would give me 9 total); and it still came out to be about the same as the 16-night on Coral Princess. I do like the NCL $50 off each shore excursion. And I’m not sure the FAS Plus would be of much benefit since I’m a solo traveler and the ‘…for second guest’ additional benefits aren’t adding anything to my trip. 
 

And with all of the non-MDR complimentary dining options (especially love the idea of a 24/7 O’Sheehan’s) that Coral Princess lacks, Norwegian Jade is the clear winner.
 

But (gosh dang it!!!), there are aspects of the Coral Princess booking I like, i.e. the Ocean Now delivery, free room service, reserved theater seating for the production shows, and unlimited digital pictures package that comes with Princess Premier. 

[Ken the cruiser]

2 hours ago, dmwnc1959 said:

 

But (gosh dang it!!!), there are aspects of the Coral Princess booking I like, i.e. the Ocean Now delivery, free room service, reserved theater seating for the production shows, and unlimited digital pictures package that comes with Princess Premier. 

All for a nominal $80 more per day or $1,280 for a 16-day cruise. But you also get the daily gratuity charge, free beverage package, unlimited internet for 4 devices plus 2 specialty restaurant dinners and unlimited casual dining meals also included! You definitely have some tough decisions ahead! 😂

 

Either way you choose, you’re going to have a great cruise!!

[dmwnc1959]

3 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

You definitely have some tough decisions ahead! 😂

 

Either way you choose, you’re going to have a great cruise!!

After all of this in-depth research on the two ships and their itineraries, watching dozens of YouTube Panama Canal and ship tour videos, studying deck plans, buying maps and wall charts, countless hours of staring at Marine Traffic and the Panama Canal live cams, reading books, and all of this hemming and hawing, it’ll be July and I still won’t be able to make up my mind. 🤯 If I could afford both that would definitely take the cake. 🤣

[Ken the cruiser]

8 minutes ago, dmwnc1959 said:

After all of this in-depth research on the two ships and their itineraries, watching dozens of YouTube Panama Canal and ship tour videos, studying deck plans, buying maps and wall charts, countless hours of staring at Marine Traffic and the Panama Canal live cams, reading books, and all of this hemming and hawing, it’ll be July and I still won’t be able to make up my mind. 🤯 If I could afford both that would definitely take the cake. 🤣

I don’t know if this will help, but here’s my Live From thread from our Spring 2022 Panama Canal cruise on the Caribbean Princess in an aft-facing VS. One thing Princess does much better is provide quality lectures on their longer cruises. NCL rarely provides port talks let alone professional lectures. Again, you may want to speed through the thread by just looking at the pictures. 😁

 

 

 

[Kamfish642]

14 hours ago, SCX22 said:

The Coral will use the old locks.  The old locks are more interesting than the new locks.  Not sure which locks the Jade will use.  Also, Panama City is more interesting than Colon, which is a free trade zone with nothing to really to do but shop duty free.  Princess has cancelled Nicaragua, Guatemala, and El Salvador due to government unrest for the past few years.  Don't be surprised if Princess, down the road, nixes Puerto Quetzal from the itinerary.  April and Alaska don't mix.  It's still too cold because the ice has only begun to melt and most of the seasonal workers haven't arrived yet so many of the touristy things are still closed.

NCL Jade will also use older Panama locks.

[cr8tiv1]

It looks like the Jade is a better fit for you (anytime dining).  I was on the Coral from LA to Alaska (rt/Vancouver) and also through the canal.  I am not a buffet person.  I love sea days and MDR.  Princess does a fantastic job with Panama Canal.  Guest speakers are phenomenal.  "On the Bayou" production show is one of a kind.

 

Granted, IC is very very small.  No extra dining.  The did offer a pop up Alfredo's in Sabatinis (not sure this is still happening).  Plus all the other mentions for the Coral advantages.  But you have to love smaller ships.  

 

I am not a fan of NCL (one and done).  I have not been on the Jade.  

[wolfie11]

Coral Princess is one of my favorite ships, but I would be all over the Jade in this case because, well Alaska!  Late April is not too early if you aren’t into a lot of excursions.  The weather is usually fairly nice if somewhat cold, and there is snow on all the mountains.  It’s a beautiful time of year.  I am going up on May 2nd this year.

[dmwnc1959]

2 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

It looks like the Jade is a better fit for you (anytime dining).  I was on the Coral from LA to Alaska (rt/Vancouver) and also through the canal.  I am not a buffet person.  I love sea days and MDR.  Princess does a fantastic job with Panama Canal.  Guest speakers are phenomenal.  "On the Bayou" production show is one of a kind.

 

Granted, IC is very very small.  No extra dining.  The did offer a pop up Alfredo's in Sabatinis (not sure this is still happening).  Plus all the other mentions for the Coral advantages.  But you have to love smaller ships.  

 

I am not a fan of NCL (one and done).  I have not been on the Jade.  

My last Princess cruise was 14-nights on Royal Princess, so needless to say I’m spoiled for options when comparing that to Coral Princess.
 

I’m hoping against hope that the upcoming dry dock does something - ANYTHING - to improve the IC or add/expand the casual dining options. 

[dmwnc1959]

12 minutes ago, wolfie11 said:

Coral Princess is one of my favorite ships, but I would be all over the Jade in this case because, well Alaska!  Late April is not too early if you aren’t into a lot of excursions.  The weather is usually fairly nice if somewhat cold, and there is snow on all the mountains.  It’s a beautiful time of year.  I am going up on May 2nd this year.

The combination of the Panama Canal, two really great stops on Mexico’s Pacific coast, three more on the US west coast, and ALASKA really does check off a LOT of boxes! 
 

The SF-FLL itinerary on Coral Princess has three stops where I’d never even get off the ship, not that that’s a bad thing. But I am worried that spending 12 days out of 15 on the ship would be monotonous.  

[MacMadame]

 

8 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

The did offer a pop up Alfredo's in Sabatinis (not sure this is still happening). 

Recent cruisers on the Coral report that there is a popup casual dining option on sea days and it alternates between Alfredo's and Salty Dog Gastropub (not the same thing as the Salty Dog on the Lido deck). 

 

Hopefully, that will still be the case when dh and I cruise next Jan. 😄 

[dmwnc1959]

12 hours ago, MacMadame said:

 

Recent cruisers on the Coral report that there is a popup casual dining option on sea days and it alternates between Alfredo's and Salty Dog Gastropub (not the same thing as the Salty Dog on the Lido deck). 

 

Hopefully, that will still be the case when dh and I cruise next Jan. 😄 

It will be very interesting to see what happens during her 3-week drydock period in Sept-Oct, and then after she’s back stateside resuming Panama Canal transits mid-November. I do wish Princess Cruises would come out and tell us what they’re going to be doing other than just ‘normal maintenance and upkeep’. I have half a mind to write them and beg for information. My final payment is due early October and I’ll have to quite literally ‘jump ship’ for Norwegian Jade (which at this point is very highly likely) if there’s no new casual dining expansion on Coral Princess. 

[MacMadame]

9 minutes ago, dmwnc1959 said:

It will be very interesting to see what happens during her 3-week drydock period in Sept-Oct, and then after she’s back stateside resuming Panama Canal transits mid-November.

I completely agree!

 

My hope is that they expand casual dining. Now that they charge for it, adding more casual dining is an income generator. It would also make Premium more attractive as it has unlimited casual dining. So I see a lot of good reasons to do it. This assumes the space requirements can be worked out.

 

It looks like you have good reasons to switch to NCL besides casual dining though. For me, my FLL to SF cruise on Princess is perfect. It's not too many days off work and the itinerary includes all the stops I want to make. It also means only one flight instead of two because of where we live. Plus I don't care that much about casual dining. It's only an issue because there are 8 sea days so some variety would be helpful.

[dmwnc1959]

1 hour ago, MacMadame said:

I completely agree!

 

My hope is that they expand casual dining. Now that they charge for it, adding more casual dining is an income generator. It would also make Premium more attractive as it has unlimited casual dining. So I see a lot of good reasons to do it. This assumes the space requirements can be worked out.

 

It looks like you have good reasons to switch to NCL besides casual dining though. For me, my FLL to SF cruise on Princess is perfect. It's not too many days off work and the itinerary includes all the stops I want to make. It also means only one flight instead of two because of where we live. Plus I don't care that much about casual dining. It's only an issue because there are 8 sea days so some variety would be helpful.

I think if the Norwegian Jade had padded steamer chairs on the promenade deck I’d have already cancelled my Coral Princess booking. But I keep visualizing myself sitting on those amazing looking chairs for days and days just staring out from the teak, sheltered, wide promenade deck at the open ocean watching the sunrises and sunsets, and using the app ordering from the Ocean Now delivery. I know that’s just a little thing, and one amenity out of the many, but it’s just a dream I keep seeing in my mind’s eye ever since I booked that cruise. 
 

These screenshots from my favorite Coral Princess ship tour on YouTube by ‘Visit With Us (Rich and Helen)’…

Edited February 13 by dmwnc1959

[Tranquility Base]

45 minutes ago, dmwnc1959 said:

But I keep visualizing myself sitting on those amazing looking chairs for days and days just staring out from the teak, sheltered, wide promenade deck at the open ocean watching the sunrises and sunsets, and using the app ordering from the Ocean Now delivery.

I would check on the Aussie forum to see if they have been returned.

In June last year whilst in Dubai those loungers were replaced with chairs.

[wolfie11]

1 hour ago, Tranquility Base said:

I would check on the Aussie forum to see if they have been returned.

In June last year whilst in Dubai those loungers were replaced with chairs.

I was on Crown last summer and the padded chairs were replaced with plastic resin ones.  I’d love to have even the wood chairs back.

[wolfie11]

3 hours ago, dmwnc1959 said:

It will be very interesting to see what happens during her 3-week drydock period in Sept-Oct, and then after she’s back stateside resuming Panama Canal transits mid-November. I do wish Princess Cruises would come out and tell us what they’re going to be doing other than just ‘normal maintenance and upkeep’. I have half a mind to write them and beg for information. My final payment is due early October and I’ll have to quite literally ‘jump ship’ for Norwegian Jade (which at this point is very highly likely) if there’s no new casual dining expansion on Coral Princess. 

My fear is that, as she’s the second oldest ship in the fleet after Grand and carries the least number of passengers she may be sold off soon.  Cruise lines are building bigger and bigger ships and there’s no place in the fleet for the old ones. I still miss Pacific Princess. 😩

[dmwnc1959]

17 minutes ago, wolfie11 said:

My fear is that, as she’s the second oldest ship in the fleet after Grand and carries the least number of passengers she may be sold off soon.  Cruise lines are building bigger and bigger ships and there’s no place in the fleet for the old ones. I still miss Pacific Princess. 😩

I’m thinking that with her small size, in more-or-less a niche market of being able to transit the original Panama Canal locks and go on extended world voyages, Princess Cruises will keep her around for another 5 years. With the 3-week drydock this fall it may be a testament that they appreciate her value and size to their cruising market. They would more than likely sell off Grand Princess before they’d sell Coral Princess. 

[dmwnc1959]

On 2/13/2024 at 4:14 PM, Tranquility Base said:

I would check on the Aussie forum to see if they have been returned.

In June last year whilst in Dubai those loungers were replaced with chairs.

This posted over on the Aussie and NZ Cruisers Forum by @arxcards currently on the ship. 
 

[arxcards]

On 2/14/2024 at 10:08 AM, dmwnc1959 said:

I’m thinking that with her small size, in more-or-less a niche market of being able to transit the original Panama Canal locks and go on extended world voyages, Princess Cruises will keep her around for another 5 years. With the 3-week drydock this fall it may be a testament that they appreciate her value and size to their cruising market. They would more than likely sell off Grand Princess before they’d sell Coral Princess. 

I would agree. In committing to a 3 week drydock, they have plans for at least the scheduled itineraries. We would be happy if you no longer want her in the US doing Panama & Alaska. Princess can send Coral back any time they like.

 

For us, Coral is an easy choice vs NCL in Australia. Local currency wins vs $US, but that is different when Coral returns to $US late this year.

 

We are enjoying Coral at present. For us, she is a comfortable ship with way too much good food and drink.

Edited February 28 by arxcards

[MJC]

We have been on a sister ship of both the Coral and the Jade;  we sailed the Island and the Gem. For us, the size and variety of venues of the Gem felt like a Princess Grand class ship. We were quite comfortable on her and if we decide to sail on NCL again, that is the class ship we would choose as being most Princess-like to us. We are not so interested in lots of bells and whistles like water slides etc.

 

While we liked our cruise on the Island just fine (mostly the great itinerary), it has its issues and we would have preferred the Coral, being the original ship design with more public space (it has a lot of devoted fans). I would jump on the Coral in a heartbeat if it had a better itinerary, but I prefer the second one with more ports. As someone else mentioned, keep in mind that Acapulco and San Juan del Sur have been nixed from many itineraries this year. SJdS was nixed from ours this coming April and we do not have a replacement port, just another sea day. Something to keep in mind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dmwnc1959]

3 minutes ago, MJC said:

As someone else mentioned, keep in mind that Acapulco and San Juan del Sur have been nixed from many itineraries this year. SJdS was nixed from ours this coming April and we do not have a replacement port, just another sea day. Something to keep in mind.

Trust me, they could cancel every single port of call between California and the Panama Canal (or vice versa) and I would be happy. The stops you’ve mentioned are just ‘enjoy an empty ship’ day for me. I’d much rather be sitting on a sheltered deck chair somewhere reading a good book than spending 2 to 3 hours roundtrip on a tour bus. Puerto Vallarta and to a lesser degree Cabo San Lucas are really about the only ones that interest me. There are maps of the two different itineraries I’m considering back on Post #1 of this thread, let me know what you think? 

[walkingsoon]

This is a really easy choice, dmwnc1959. You can't go wrong - pick either and enjoy your choice with no regrets. They're both great ships.

 

"My fear is that, as she’s the second oldest ship in the fleet after Grand and carries the least number of passengers she may be sold off soon.  Cruise lines are building bigger and bigger ships and there’s no place in the fleet for the old ones. I still miss Pacific Princess. 😩"

Wolfie11 - Not all cruise lines are going bigger and bigger, just the mass market lines. Higher fares, but some lines have been recently putting really nice small ships on the water and others are keeping the older ones alive. Perhaps it's time to check out Azamara Onward. Sadly, when NCL and Princess finish aging out all their ships with <3k passengers, I'll probably be done with them. Too bad, but life goes on.  I'm curious to see what HAL will do.

 

Walkingsoon

[MagnoliaBlossom]

On 2/12/2024 at 5:51 AM, dmwnc1959 said:

 Norwegian Jade only has glassed-in top decks, but they do open the bow for the Panama Canal. 

We sailed the PC twice on the Pearl, sister  ship to Jade, and they did open the bow, and had put out chairs and had a coffee station set up on both passages.

Edited February 28 by MagnoliaBlossom