Live from the Coral - 11/20/07

[marlinmike]

Written on 11/21 about 2:30 while at an art auction.

Day one: Embarkation – We staying and the Hilton Beach Hotel on North Fortlauderdale Blvd. This hotel was new in January of this year and it is fabulous. The only thing woring is it is new, therefore the gift shop isn’t built yet so shopping for small things is about a mile away (like a quart of Orange Juice for my vodka). It doesn’t yet have a nice restaurant, but a Shula’s within walking distance. Very nice service, very nice location – going to stay there again in April. We asked for noon checkout and they said no problem and we had the concierge make reservations with VIP Limo for 4 of us and LOTS AND LOTS of luggage. She showed up in a Suburban and she wished she brought her trailer – but we made it. That give you an idea of when we got to the Port. While checking in the thing that took the longest was checking the box saying we didn’t have Noro. We were in our room by 12:30 and wondering what to do next.

After awhile some friends came over to see our room as we were in a Suite and they wanted to see the room. We then walked around as we haven’t been on a transcanal – many Grand Class. This ship is much different and I’m starting to like it.

Dinner in anytime Dining was nice as we got a reservation for 9 at 6:00. It was the sailaway dinner. I had the prime rib and seafood turnover type thing. It was excellent. After dinner he had it so we went to bed. Others in our group went to the casino, churchills, a couple of bars – but nothing to exciting.

Day two: started out with room service breakfast, as like I said, we had a suite so we could have a full breakfast on the balcony. Excellent food, excellent service, then it was off ot the pool to get some rays. We had lunch and the burger bar and pizza bar – SURPRISE, EH? Then, at 1:00 they had the pool games. This was funny, as I’ve never seen pool games with the youngest person had to ben in their mid 40’s. What a bunch of good sports as I woulnd’t never done it. I’m now sitting in a art auction – and nobody’s buying anything???? We made reservations for the Bayou tonight so I’ll let you know my opinion about that as I’ve been to Sterling’s on the Crown and CB and am a big fan of GOOD beef. I am saving Patters and Menus and will scan them when I get home.

One thing I’d like to say is Joanne and Mal – our thoughts are with you guys and we hope someday things will get better and we’ll be together doing this again. Dave and Julie – simply said, we wish you were here!

[circee]

THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR CORAL LIVE REPORT!! I'm looking forward to more installments as well as the patters and menu postings - Just in time for our 12/10/07 sailing:-)

[LARGIN]

Have a great cruise... The Coral is our favorite as is the Bayou.. If you run into a head waiter or Assistant Maitre D' by the name of Marious (pronounced Mar-ruus) say hello and tell him that Larry & Ginger will be on the Coral in May on a b2b2b Alaska and are looking forward to seeing him again..

[xavier]

Hey there MarlinMike,

thanks so much for your report. Are you in a PS or VS suite? WE are sailing in January in a VS suite and I was wondering about the furniture on the balcony. Is it teak or plastic. How do you like your suite?

[Colo Cruiser]

Enjoy the canal. :)

[mii]

Have a great cruise on the Coral. My very favorite ship of the fleet. We will also be on her next May to Alaska for a B2B2B. Yippee.

 

Marilyn

[loriva]

Thanks for the review so far and looking forward to more! Keep those menus and food reviews coming. We'll wave as you disembark and we embark on the 30th. Have a fabulous cruise.

[mamatrouble]

:D THANK YOU!! Its about time somewhere did a live from Coral..We also have a PS(C701) so need lots of details about the perks plz!!!! The balcony, the bathroom, anything...THX..Take of pictures also!!!:DWhat are you ordering from the regular menu...

Have a great cruise cause I'll see the Coral in April!!

[venusbello1]

Written on 11/21 about 2:30 while at an art auction.

Day one: Embarkation – We staying and the Hilton Beach Hotel on North Fortlauderdale Blvd. This hotel was new in January of this year and it is fabulous. The only thing woring is it is new, therefore the gift shop isn’t built yet so shopping for small things is about a mile away (like a quart of Orange Juice for my vodka). It doesn’t yet have a nice restaurant, but a Shula’s within walking distance. Very nice service, very nice location – going to stay there again in April. We asked for noon checkout and they said no problem and we had the concierge make reservations with VIP Limo for 4 of us and LOTS AND LOTS of luggage. She showed up in a Suburban and she wished she brought her trailer – but we made it. That give you an idea of when we got to the Port. While checking in the thing that took the longest was checking the box saying we didn’t have Noro. We were in our room by 12:30 and wondering what to do next.

After awhile some friends came over to see our room as we were in a Suite and they wanted to see the room. We then walked around as we haven’t been on a transcanal – many Grand Class. This ship is much different and I’m starting to like it.

Dinner in anytime Dining was nice as we got a reservation for 9 at 6:00. It was the sailaway dinner. I had the prime rib and seafood turnover type thing. It was excellent. After dinner he had it so we went to bed. Others in our group went to the casino, churchills, a couple of bars – but nothing to exciting.

 

Day two: started out with room service breakfast, as like I said, we had a suite so we could have a full breakfast on the balcony. Excellent food, excellent service, then it was off ot the pool to get some rays. We had lunch and the burger bar and pizza bar – SURPRISE, EH? Then, at 1:00 they had the pool games. This was funny, as I’ve never seen pool games with the youngest person had to ben in their mid 40’s. What a bunch of good sports as I woulnd’t never done it. I’m now sitting in a art auction – and nobody’s buying anything???? We made reservations for the Bayou tonight so I’ll let you know my opinion about that as I’ve been to Sterling’s on the Crown and CB and am a big fan of GOOD beef. I am saving Patters and Menus and will scan them when I get home.

One thing I’d like to say is Joanne and Mal – our thoughts are with you guys and we hope someday things will get better and we’ll be together doing this again. Dave and Julie – simply said, we wish you were here!

 

Total thanks for you post! Loriva and I (and many others) will be embarking on your disembarkation day! We are very excited! I'm sure Loriva and I will play it forward with the information your are sharing so bring it on:D

 

By the way, tell Cindy (werenew2cruising(?) that I shared her video with our 11/30 group and they all loved it! What amazing time and effort! Tell her it's a keeper on my computer!

 

If you have anytime dining, try to sit in Jose's section and then tell him that Mia from Arizona said "Hi" He's an awesome waiter!

 

No matter, have a fabulous time and keep us posted--you're awesome to do this for future cruisers!

 

Wishing you lovely weather and safe sails,

VB1

[Polar Bear]

Marlinmike...menu's and platters would be greatly appreciated..we sail on the Coral in April...full transit to Vancouver....we are looking for the menu for the Bayou Cafe..sounds like you are have a great time:D ......Happy Thanksgiving.

[whale-watcher]

Hey there MarlinMike,

thanks so much for your report. Are you in a PS or VS suite? WE are sailing in January in a VS suite and I was wondering about the furniture on the balcony. Is it teak or plastic. How do you like your suite?

It was a fire-proof resin when we were in a VS in January:

[FryGirl]

marlinmike

 

I look forward to reading your post each day please keep them up.

I will be on the Coral in Jan 2008.

 

FryGirl

[Carl2860]

Cano not wait to have these dogs touch the ramp to the ship in Vancouver next May. I see postings from Mii and LARGIN who are on really going at it with a B2B on her "wish I had thought of that".

 

I really wish I had the time to sail her out of FT Lauderdale on April 25 all the way around. Maybe next year.

 

Hope you are having a great time and looking foward to the "rest of the story".

[venusbello1]

This is such a fabulous cruise and ship that he may never find time to check in again! I don't blame him... this is my third time on this cruise in less than 12 months!:eek:

 

Mike--I'm sure you're having a wonderful time... take care of the her (the Coral), cuz Loriva and I will be boarding next week! We're very excited!

 

For all of you who have never been, you're in for a treat!

 

Take care,

VB1

[marlinmike]

Written on 11/22/07 at various times of the day: Last night we had dinner for 5 at the Bayou Café. This restaurant is superb in every way. The service was excellent, the food was excellent – everything was very enjoyable. We all had a “sampler” of the appetizers, which included aligator ribs, shrimp, and a couple other enjoyable things. I had a filet and lobster tail. The steak was tender, juicey and cooked just right. It made the steak I had at Shula’s taste like something I bought at Kruger’s. The lobster tail was about an 8 or 9 oz Brazilian tail. Very white, juicey, tender tail and a sweetness all it’s own. Lori had the catfish (which we all tried a piece of) and it was excellent also.

Dinner tonight was the Caribbean dinner with entrée’s of Linguine and Black Mussles, Flying Fish, Seafood Potpourri, Lamb Shank and Rack of Pork. That is why we ate at the Bayou as we’re not big fans of the Caribbean Dinner. We then went to see Greg Mooreland in the Universal Lounge at 10:30 pm. He is a magician/comedian – fortunately his comedian skills were better than his magical skills as I’m not a fan of magical shows. Altogether, he was good though.

Today we had breakfast at the Horizon Buffet and about ½ way through breakfast my wife and I looked at each other and said “why?”. There are a lot of old people on this cruise and everything is like slooooww mmooooottttiooooonnnnnn. Now, if you can imagine the Horizon Court on Reds you’d wonder why you’re putting up with this when you have a full breakfast menu to order from to be served on your deck (suite perk). We did a pinky swear on that and that was that!

The sea today was a little rougher and youj could tell things were warming up. Once we got past Cuba the swell got more like a swell, instead of a chop and people were swaying more. Nobody in our group was bothered by it though.

At 5:00 today we had a cabin party and went through a bunch of food, booze and good times. We broke it up about 6:30 in time to get primped up for the first formal. We had a reservation for the 11 of us at 8:15. I ordered corsages and boutineres for all and we all looked dapper. Thanksgiving nights dinner was Gnocchi di Zucca Gialla Profumati al Tartufo Bianco (some sort of pillow of potato thing), Halibut, Jumbo Shrimps, Tom Turkey and Tournedos of Black Angus Beef. The turkey was excellent! Tomorrow – Aruba!

I’ll see if I can get some of the questions answered next time, but the ports and excursions are coming and don’t know when I’ll ge the time from.

[cigal]

Hey Marlin Mike,

 

Please, please, please, MarlinMike, put several people out of their misery. Do you have this on the Coral? If so, try to find out what the heck it is. If you do, you will be a hero with the lady from East Berlin. :D

 

We just got back from a great cruise on the Crown Princess and I am wondering what the switch is on the desk (we had a minisuite)? The switch can be moved back and forth and had a red or green light, and it looked kinda like an infrared thing like on the end of a remote.

 

Anyone know?

 

Here is a really bad pic of it. I didn't have a closeup pic of the desk so i had to zoom in on it from a room shot.

 

 

See this thread for more details:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=655818

 

Thanks,

cigal

:p :D

[mamatrouble]

Written on 11/22/07 at various times of the day: Last night we had dinner for 5 at the Bayou Café. This restaurant is superb in every way. The service was excellent, the food was excellent – everything was very enjoyable. We all had a “sampler” of the appetizers, which included aligator ribs, shrimp, and a couple other enjoyable things. I had a filet and lobster tail. The steak was tender, juicey and cooked just right. It made the steak I had at Shula’s taste like something I bought at Kruger’s.

Today we had breakfast at the Horizon Buffet and about ½ way through breakfast my wife and I looked at each other and said “why?”. There are a lot of old people on this cruise and everything is like slooooww mmooooottttiooooonnnnnn. Now, if you can imagine the Horizon Court on Reds you’d wonder why you’re putting up with this when you have a full breakfast menu to order from to be served on your deck (suite perk).

At 5:00 today we had a cabin party and went through a bunch of food, booze and good times. We broke it up about 6:30 in time to get primped up for the first formal. We had a reservation for the 11 of us at 8:15. I ordered corsages and boutineres for all and we all looked dapper.... Tomorrow – Aruba

 

The food all sounds soooo good!!! Yes I agree why stand in line for buffet if you can have anything you want and have in on your balcony!!! Did you have to wait long for your breaksfast to arrive after ordering???and the party you did ,did you order the food the day before or the same day. Did you order though room service or something else.???

 

Anxious to hear abourt Aruba since its such a strange stop ...

Can't wait to hear about everything, Keep up the great work!!!!

THANKS

[whale-watcher]

The food all sounds soooo good!!! Yes I agree why stand in line for buffet if you can have anything you want and have in on your balcony!!! Did you have to wait long for your breaksfast to arrive after ordering???and the party you did ,did you order the food the day before or the same day. Did you order though room service or something else.???

 

Anxious to hear abourt Aruba since its such a strange stop ...

Can't wait to hear about everything, Keep up the great work!!!!

THANKS

In January at least, we simply filled out a card the night before, and full breakfast was delivered to our suite at the time we specified (there were several time slots to choose from, and they delivered right on time every day). We thought this was the BEST perk, especially on port days!

[slowpoke58]

Thanks for the report on your cruise on the Coral Princess so far. Looking foward to reading it as you have time to put it on. We will be on the Coral starting Dec. 10th and this will be our first time on any Princess ships.

 

slowpoke58

 

Emerald Seas 79'

Sun Viking 83'

Carnival Ecstasy 94'

Navigator of the Seas 98'

Jewel of the Seas 1-07

[RM]

Thanks so much for your report. We too are sailing on the 30th with Loriva and VB and are sooo looking forward to it!

[marlinmike]

11/23 – 5:00 pm ARUBA time.

Xavier – don’t know if it’s a VS or PS and really don’t know if there’s a difference. I really have a big deck (got the award amongst our group for having the biggest deck :-) and there is four chairs and two tables on it. The furniture is plastic and quite comfortable. The deck is covered so it would be hard to have any sunbathing furniture on it. If we did, however, I’m sure Jimmy, our cabin steward, would get it for us.

As far as perks go Mamatrouble, you can get a list of them in other postings on CC. The ones I like the best I’ve already talked about – the laundry, the internet access and the full menu room service.

We awoke this morning to sunny skies alongside in Aruba. We ordered some breakfast and got dressed while it was being delivered. We then disembarked, which was no waiting as there were two gangways and stood around and waited in an air conditioned building. Our excursion then walked a couple hundred yards to the catamaran whereby we sailed along the coast for about 45 minutes, dropped anchor and did some snorkling. We then loaded up, drove another 20 to a shipwreck, hooked up to a fix anchorline and snorkeled again. I didn’t get in this time as with all this eating, partying, drinking, event attending, etc, etc, etc (you know what I mean) my gas tank was nearing empty. I could see there was a fair amount of current and didn’t feel like fighting it. So, I just got started on the rum punch and all was good (actually had one cup of punch, then asked for a rum & coke – which they did). Once everyone was back aboard we hoisted sails and sailed most of the way back to the ship. Mary & I went to the restaurant for served lunch and returned to the cabin to get caught up on zzzzzz’s. It’s sunny right now, about 81 degrees and we’re about 15 nautical miles off the northern most point of Coumbia.

Tonight’s menu includes Fettucine in a Sweet Lobster Ragout, Filet of cod fish with a Fennel Pernod Sauce, Frog legs Provencale (heard they taste like chicken :-), Crispy Duck a l’Orange and Grilled Sirloing Steak Au Poivre. Don’t know this may be a night to go to Bayou’s again or go to the Always Available, which include Sirloin Steak, Beef Filet Trouredos, Chicken (there’s a heck of a lot or words in the title of this one – but it’s still Chicken) or Alaskan Silver Salmon. So many decisions to make……..

[Iceberg2]

We will be on the Coral in January. Have you heard any comments of folks who will be going on the Veragua Rain Forest LIO-205 from Princess in Costa Rica .Its a new place, the price is high and was wondering if it is worth the time and money. So far, there have not been any reviews. Glad to be reading your "live" reports. Hope you have the rest of a wonderful cruise.

Thanks, Iceberg2.

[venusbello1]

I thought you would be far too busy to check in--thanks for all of the information!

 

Keep us posted... I hope a lot of us on the 11/30 will be able to play it forward!

 

Take care and keep it all good--it sounds fabulous!

 

VB1

[loriva]

Great info MarlinMike--really helps in figuring out those alternative dining decisions!

 

Hope you continue to have a GREAT cruise!

[slowpoke58]

Tonight’s menu includes Fettucine in a Sweet Lobster Ragout, Filet of cod fish with a Fennel Pernod Sauce, Frog legs Provencale (heard they taste like chicken :-), Crispy Duck a l’Orange and Grilled Sirloing Steak Au Poivre. Don’t know this may be a night to go to Bayou’s again or go to the Always Available, which include Sirloin Steak, Beef Filet Trouredos, Chicken (there’s a heck of a lot or words in the title of this one – but it’s still Chicken) or Alaskan Silver Salmon. So many decisions to make……..

I thought the menu was the same the traditional dinning and the anytime dinning? We will be sailing on the Coral on Dec. 10th.

Emerald Seas 79'

Sun Viking 83'

Carnival Ecstasy 94'

Navigator of the Seas 98'

Jewel of the Seas 1-07'

 

Slowpoke48