Whimsy

Are the safes on the Coral key pad or swipe?

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I'm getting ready to sail on the Coral. I'll try to notice if the serve it differently when ordered as an appetizer vs an entree. It's the only time I eat fettuccine. No where else compares.

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I would be much happier with the mid ship Baja cabin than the forward Riviera cabin.

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Just back yesterday and I have scanned in all the daily patters. There is also a couple of pictures of the MDR menus. Hard to get a clear shot of those through the glass display. I also added the bar menu from Crooner's.

 

This itinerary departs on a Friday for 11 days, and both formal nights were on Saturday. The second Friday was Italian night. The second formal night was lobster tail & prawns. The last night is when they had the baked Alaska.

 

On Wednesday, the canal transit day, all of the dining in both MDR's were open seating and they were also not accepting reservations for either specialty restaurants. This was due to the varied times everyone would be return from the excursions that evening.

 

Here is a link to the photo's and if there is a problem, let me know.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/105038869@N03/

 

David

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! This is a big help! I look forward to reading every bit!

Glad to hear you had a wonderful cruise. We get on the 15th as well. I can't wait!

I really can't see any reason why someone would use them these days. Princess may accept them but have fun trying to use them elsewhere. They are pretty much an anachronism these days.

Our credit union provides them at no cost. If I use an ATM I get hit with fees. I can cash them at the purser's desk and have cash for the islands. You raise a valid point that many places do not take them anymore but at least if I can cash them on board I am good and have a little security if something happens to them.

Yes, we cashed them last week on the Sapphire.

Thank you!

Does Princess still accept travelers checks on board?

Thank you very much. I finally found a cleaners in the area that is going to get it done for me with time to spare. persistence paid off in searching. :)

Does Coral Princess have a dry cleaners on board? I have a dress that I meant to have dry cleaned before we cruise. I live in a small area and the cleaner is telling me it will take 2-3 weeks to send it away to have it dry cleaned. The dress is not heavily beaded, it has some appliques and a little bit of beading. In the past I have read where people have sent things to the cleaners on the ship. Can anyone with a similar experience give me some feedback please.

All drinks have a high profit margin whether you buy them on land or at sea. Figure out the cost of a bottle of alcohol, divide it by the number of shots in the bottle and how many shots in your drink and a the nickel of fountain soda or the 50 cents worth of juice. A draft beer from a barrel, a case of bottled beer cost and what you can sell one for. You do not have to have to drink alcohol, figure out the cost of a soda or glass of tea and look at the charge on your bill at a restaurant. Of course you could cook the dinner for less at home too but it's all part of the package of dining out.

Just depends on if you have cruised before and can take a look at your bar bill and figure out which ways works best for you.

For myself it would not be a savings because we just don't consume that much in one day and if we did it would take us 2 days to recover before attempting it again. :o

On the other hand if you are someone that can start the day with a few bloody Mary's or mimosas, move on to some drinks in the afternoon by the pool, a cocktail before dinner, wine with dinner, a cocktail during a show and a few drinks while dancing or listening to music than yes, you will find a savings.

Just curious if anyone has the latest pricing to do the math. Let's say this was a day for me:

Morning: 1 mimosa

Lunch: Margarita

Afternoon by the pool: 2 Pina Coladas

Pre dinner: Martini

Dinner: 1 Glass of wine

Show: Coffee with Baileys

Dancing: 2 rum and cokes

Let's add 2 cans of soda to the day as well.

Anyone have a guestimate on what this would cost?

Bottom line, If you have cruised before and saved your bill the best thing would be to take a look at your drink expenses, add it up, divide it by the days and do the math. Is it a good deal for some, yes. Good deal for everyone, no.

Thank you for the spread sheet. I think this is going to be a lot of fun!

Thank you for all the useful information. I would like a copy of this spread sheet too. bartony3 at yahoo dot com

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Shorter cruisers, 7 days or less, younger crowd. Longer cruisers, older crowd.

Which ship are you sailing?

Thank you for the review!

I'm not sure about Dollar but Budget has a location near the port that we have used in the past. Very easy to drop the car there and take the shuttle to the port.

Awesome upgrade! What a wonderful surprise!

A few cruises ago I was in the same dilemma. Book a 10:20 non stop flight for a reasonable costs or book one with stops (I'm a nervous flier so I hate going up and down any more than I have to) or pay the high fee for the later non stop flight.

I debated and debated the 10:20 because we have never had a problem coming back in late on any of our cruises but there is always that first time. A medical emergency, man overboard and have to search...lot's of things could happen and we could be late. The non stop flight was a LOT more later in the day so I booked the other flight and just told myself I would have to take an extra "calm me down" pill. I was very relieved later when Southwest dropped the price of the later non stop flight and we were able to change to that flight for about the same fare. We rented a car and just had a leisurely day in Fort Lauderdale.

Lo and behold our ship arrived back with no problems being late BUT there was an issue with extra security checks at the airport due to a box bomb or something right before we returned. We had the longest line for scanning I ever encountered and it was later in the day. I can only imagine what the lines were like earlier with a lot more cruise passengers at the airport. That could of made us late for flight so I was really relieved it worked out.

I understand wanting to be frugal but sometimes the money you save is just not worth the stress. Why end a wonderful cruise with a "Hurry up, don't want to miss that flight, rush, rush, rush".

Thank you for very much for the review. I really enjoyed it. It was very nice to know that you had a good trip. It will be our first time on the Coral and I just keep reading wonderful things about her getting us more excited.

Do you remember if there was horse races on the ship?

You might want to pack your own insulated cup to have it by the pool.

Thank you for all the responses.

I see nothing on the tour other than sold out, no waitlist option. Good information to know in the future. As always, members here are very helpful.

I will check when we board. I wonder if the excursion is not offered for that day and they just have it as sold out instead of removing it from the menu. Just a thought.

If an excursion is sold out online do they still have limited availability to book once on board?

Let me clarify first that I am NOT on a cruise ship. I am just getting over with what we think was a bout of Noro and there is no way I would of ever been able to wander around a cruise ship as ill as I was. The reason we "think" it was Noro is it's been diagnosed around our schools and community and I have the same symptoms. Friends and family are in health care and no, I wasn't tested but the symptoms pretty much match. (Just wanting to settle that before THAT debate starts.)

There is NO WAY I could of wandered around a cruise ship. I couldn't wander around my own home, I was so ill. I stayed in my bedroom, close to my bathroom the whole time. I was on my own basically the first 19 hours. I literally got sick the minute my husband walked out the door to work and then had to work a double due to weather and his relief not coming in. My daughter dropped in on me that evening and I told her to GET OUT, I didn't want her catching what I had. I tried to wipe anything I touched down with Lysol wipes as best I could. So far, knock wood, no one has come down with it but they are not over the incubation period. Even days past the physical illness I feel tired and worn out.

I did a little reading when I could, trying to protect my family from coming down. What I learned is there could be a carrier who has no symptoms and that is one way of spreading. I also could of been giving off germs before I actually became sick which I had no way of knowing. I woke up fine that morning and at 1:30 I was incredibly ill. I pray I never come down with this on a cruise as I was completely miserable in the comforts of my own home, let alone on a rocking ship. (shudders)

We have been there twice and had a wonderful time both times.

First time we hung out at Margaritaville all day. The water by the beach was too cold and we ended up at the swim up bar all day and had a great time and made friends with some other passengers.

If you like to snorkel we did an excursion with 2 other couples from our roll call one time with Blue Water Divers. It was wonderful! They took us to two snorkel spots and the second one was amazing with color. It was one of our favorite snorkel spots to date. We then spent the rest of the time at Margaritaville again.

I always chuckle about that day because we stayed very late as the ship is right there. An officer came with some Princess employees and the employees started picking up stray towels. He came by our table and offered to take ours back to the ship. I joked and told him that I didn't want to give it to him because my Patters always told me not to give my towels to anyone on the islands offering to take them back to the ship. The officer overheard and started laughing with me.

There are several shops in the area. You can rent golf carts I believe and drive around the island. Other passengers talk about walking up the beach aways to a little beach bar called Jack's Shack. I haven't been there yet, but the posts I have read give it some great reviews.

I have found the pools to be cold too. If they can easily heat them up then why wouldn't they?