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Spikesgirl

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    Sailing on the Coral Princess for the first time

    in Princess Cruises

    Posted

    14 hours ago, stki said:

    We have sailed on the Coral 3 times, since cruising resumed in Australia in June this year.

     

    We wanted to test out our cabin for the 2023 World cruise from Sydney

     

    We loved the size of the ship, plenty of places to relax, and a walk around Promenade deck is  excellent.  No smoking is allowed inside at all

     

    Staff have been wonderful and so happy to be back at work

     

    The Coral is going to be based in Australia indefinitely, so if you want to sail on her, you will have to come Downunder 🙂

     

    Cheers

     

    Tanya

    Well, it helps that our son and his SO are in Melbourne now.  At least we will have an excuse to sail her.  Thanks and I'm so looking forward to our cruise.

     

    Sailing on the Coral Princess for the first time

    in Princess Cruises

    Posted

    15 hours ago, hobbyfarmer2 said:

    Sailed Coral on Panama cruise in Jan 2019 for 15 days.  Loved the ship.  Great viewing from multiple decks, wrap around single level promenade, dancing every night in the Wheelhouse bar, and enrichment lectures in the theatre.  Great trip.

    It sounds like we will have no trouble keeping busy on board.  :DD

     

    Thanks!

    Sailing on the Coral Princess for the first time

    in Princess Cruises

    Posted

    15 hours ago, NSWP said:

    Whilst Coral is in Australia, as per government regulations there is no smoking inside the ship, not even in the Churchill smoking lounge.  A couple of designated deck areas for the smokers. So a smoke free environment within the ship, suits me as am a non smoker.  I am just off Coral in Sydney.

    That is great news!

     

    • Like 1

    Sailing on the Coral Princess for the first time

    in Princess Cruises

    Posted

    1 hour ago, paradiselivin1 said:

    We've sailed on the Coral 3 times which (I hope) indicates that we are quite fond of this ship. Two cruises to Alaska and the last one around the horn of South America which included Antarctica. We loved the feel of the ship; the multiple viewing areas forward and the size which was comfortable but not cramped. I like some of the options on the newer ships but always have a fondness for this older baby. Will cruise on her again, given the chance..enjoy!

    I'm hoping that we will enjoy her.  We are used to a much smaller ship, but I'm starting to get excited about sailing on the Coral.  Thank you for the positive reinforcement

    Sailing on the Coral Princess for the first time

    in Princess Cruises

    Posted

    21 hours ago, nini said:

    After all of the comments, I realized that I did not mention the fantastic "Blue Bayou" show and the lovely aft viewing decks. Per my research and @Thrak's information, we booked E736 so we also had easy access to these aft decks. And yes, we were able to touch the walls of the locks.

    I walked the full Promenade deck many times.

    IC next to the smoky casino- YUK!

    I don't usually go to the IC, so no worries there.  We're midship, so I'm hoping it will be easy access for everything.

     

    Thanks!

    Sailing on the Coral Princess for the first time

    in Princess Cruises

    Posted

    11 hours ago, KYBOB said:

    I have sailed on the Coral twice; did the Panama Canal and a B2B in Alaska. To me it was the best ship for both itineraries. Also love the small size can you get on and off ease. I have a recent experience on the Caribbean Princess where we were in line 40 min. just to get back on. To keep everyone in line entertained a guy played the bag pipes. On the Royal (I remember the first one, that was a spectacular ship) we were an hour late leaving port once due to the number of people in line to get back on.  We have sailed on just about all the Princess ships with the exception of a couple of the newer ones, the new Sky and Majestic. We like the smaller ships but we started cruising when the passenger count was in the hundreds and you got to know people. Now you are lucky if you see the same person twice the entire cruise. And to us the Coral is one we gladly sail again it seems like home. 

    Bigger isn't always better.  We've always favored the smaller ships, so I'm hoping we will find a home on the Coral

    Sailing on the Coral Princess for the first time

    in Princess Cruises

    Posted

    14 hours ago, andlep said:

           I had a fantastic cruise on this beautiful ship last month. Can confirm that the ship never feels crowded and the crew are great. Even though she is getting on in years, she is well maintained and a pleasure to sail on.  

            There are a lot of informative posts in the Australia & New Zealanders thread about this ship. Here is a recent report with lots of photos, and another good live report from September here.

    Thank you so much for the links!  I will check them out.  I was lukewarm about this cruise and now I'm excited.  😄

    Sailing on the Coral Princess for the first time

    in Princess Cruises

    Posted

    14 hours ago, Thrak said:

     

    Coral Princess is a Panamax ship which means it can sail the old locks of the Panama Canal. It would be a huge mistake to get rid of the ship. Other than Coral, Island Princess is the only ship Princess has that can sail the old locks. Island Princess used to be the same as Coral (although without an International Cafe) but they butchered the ship to add a bunch more cabins while taking away public space. It was a truly moronic move by Princess.

    I don't understand Princess at times.  It's not always about how many cabins you can cram onto the ship.  I know that's why they got rid of the smaller ships (Tahitian, Ocean and Pacific). Even though they charged more for sailing on them, I guess it wasn't enough.  Sigh

    • Like 1

    Sailing on the Coral Princess for the first time

    in Princess Cruises

    Posted

    13 minutes ago, cruisingrob21 said:

    We really enjoy the Coral.  The double "large" show lounge is nice with the Princess theater forward and the Universe Lounge aft.  Also, aft on Emerald to Baja deck are some really nice aft viewing decks.  The ship is similar to the Island (but better since the island got a pretty bad refit a while back)

     

    The wide promenade is well regarded on this ship - the only other ones with one this nice is the Sapphire and Diamond which is nearly as wide in several spots.  The Island, the sister to the Coral, lost her wrap around promenade during a refit a few years back.

     

    We also really liked the dedicated card room and library on deck 8 - funny to say but the Coral has the tallest atrium in the fleet, although it's not as impressive as the Piazza styled atriums on the other ships.

     

    Topside, the buffet is forward which is different from the rest of the fleet, the covered pool is nice and rare among princess ships now.  Additionally, while the layout is similar to grand class ships on lower decks, there are only 2 dining rooms and all cabins on deck 5 are midship or aft because the dining rooms are forward from the atrium.

     

    It's my favorite ship in the fleet still after so many years but it doesnt seem like she will return to the west coast anytime soon so my cruise in 2019 might be my last time sailing on her 😓

    Thank you for all this great information!  I think we are going to have fun wandering the ship.  We sailed on the small ship (670 passengers) exclusively and are used to not having many dining options or entertainment choices.  It sounds like this will offer both.  

     

    Thanks to you and other Coral passengers, I'm quite excited about this upcoming trip.  I only hope she will come back to the west coast one day.

     

    Fingers crossed that she comes back 

    Sailing on the Coral Princess for the first time

    in Princess Cruises

    Posted

    17 minutes ago, Thrak said:

    We have sailed on Coral Princess twice. The only thing I don't particularly care for is the layout of the central Atrium. It has weird stairs in the middle and just doesn't feel "roomy" to me. Other than that (which really isn't a big deal) I love the ship.

     

    We most often sail in balcony cabins but, on Coral Princess, we book B731 which is an Ocean View. We absolutely love the cabin. It's only a few steps to the aft viewing deck which is not used much. It's like having a huge balcony that is very often not used by anybody else. I tried looking in the window during the day but, with the sheer drapes pulled, I couldn't see into the cabin even when I pressed my face to the glass. At night we pull the heavy curtain for privacy.

     

    Below is a picture of the aft deck. The window nearest the door is our cabin. (There is a similar cabin on the port side of the ship.) We have spent some great times out on this deck having an evening drink while  watching dolphins play in the wake. It's "almost" like having a huge balcony all to ourselves since most people don't realize this area exists.

     

    We would be happy to sail on this ship any time. I agree with others here that On The Bayou is the best show Princess has and it is designed specifically to make use of the unusual rotating stage. I love seeing people's faces when the show starts. Unless one has seen the show before the beginning is a real surprise. 😃

     

    image.jpeg.b03718e8d782d96060a03ca08cd37dba.jpeg

    Wow!  What a 'balcony'!  :DD   We haven't seen "On the Bayou" at all, so we will check it out.  Thank you for all your help and for the photo!  

    Sailing on the Coral Princess for the first time

    in Princess Cruises

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Cruzinnana47 said:

    We loved the Coral when we sailed on her in 2008 for our anniversary and 1st Panama Canal cruise (full transit).  The small size suited us just fine, and we enjoyed walking on the full promenade deck.  One feature that we really liked immensely was the aft viewing area on our deck (Baja--11).  We discovered it was a great place to observe the operation of the locks from an aft vantage point, after being outside on several much more crowded areas of the ship.    We stayed out there for the later part of the transit with the added benefits of shade and lounge chairs.

     

     

    Sounds like fun.  We're in PNG, so no locks, but I'm sure there will still be lots of beautiful ocean to see.  

     

    Thank you!

    Sailing on the Coral Princess for the first time

    in Princess Cruises

    Posted

    2 hours ago, akeasley said:

    I sailed on the Coral in 2015 and thought it was wonderful...love smaller ships. Would highly suggest seeing On the Bayou if it is still being performed!

    Ooo, A show I haven't seen 14 times.  😄  For us, she's a big ship (the Pacific only had 670 passengers).  I'm looking forward to having a few more options.

     

    Thanks!

    • Like 1

    Sailing on the Coral Princess for the first time

    in Princess Cruises

    Posted

    3 hours ago, blizzard44ca said:

    Coral has a full walk around promenade (all on one level) and several forward and aft facing public decks.  It was built as a panamax, so can still use the old locks. I prefer the forward facing buffet, as the views are nicer than aft.

    I would not hesitate to book the Coral, particularly if there is any scenic cruising involved. Please send her back from Australia!

    I will see what we can do for you!  😄  Thanks for all your great information.

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