A few cruise questions....

[Tess2mommies]

Hi Everyone!

My SO and I just booked a 10 day Panama Canal Cruise on the Coral Princess, we've only been on the Golden Princess and I have a few questions...

We are currently booked in a category DD ocean view room on the Emerald Deck E733, it's at the AFT of the ship. I know it is great to have a balcony there, but is it nice to have an ocean view there? Should we call and say no upgrades or should we try to get a different room location on the Baja deck or upgrade to a balcony?

The Coral is a lot smaller than the Golden, will we miss the space?

What's the average age for cruisers on the Coral? My SO and I are in are early 20's and our previous cruise was just a 7 day, any huge difference? If it means anything we are sailing DEC 14 - 24

How is Embarkation on this ship?

Are their refrigerators in the room?

We might book an inside cabin for my SO's sisters, ages 14, 15 at the time of the cruise. Will they be bored?

I loved the Southern Caribbean and I actually wanted to do it again with a longer literary, however, the partner wanted to try something new. Will we be bored? I loved the port intensive Golden, although I admit, I was tired by day 5!

Any other Coral suggestions?

One more thing. I've never been to Florida. Should we stay a couple days post cruise and do something? What is there to do?

Thanks in advance...

[holidayathesea]

I can't help you out much, the only thing I have to say is whatever you decide to do about changing cabins or getting the sisters cabins is to act fast! These cruises book up fast around December!

[SoFloDeb]

We have never sailed the Coral, but from experience I would say that the cruises that fall right after Thanksgiving to right before Christmas do generate many seniors, particularly seniors from Florida. I'm not saying this in a "negative" manner, just stating what our experience has been.

 

I live in South Florida, and you might want to come down the day before so thatyou can relax after your flight and get in the low key frame of mind. Florida has tons of stuff to do, similar to any Caribbean Island - all water sports, fishing, sight seeing, a short trip to the Everglades with an airboat ride, water taxi on the Intercoastal to Las Olas or Beach Place or the Himmarshee District - all entertainment/dining areas.

 

Hope this helps a little. :)

[regnig]

The Coral is a beautiful ship and although it might be smaller than the Golden you will not notice a difference as she still has all the amenities of the larger (hold more passenger) ships. She is a favorite of many of us who sail frequently. While you will love the aft balcony while at sea do plan of either going up on deck forward to view part of the process of going through the locks. Being at the aft you will miss part of the process. If you really like your cabin selection by all means have your TA mark it "No Upgrade". Without that they might upgrade you to a cabin location you don't like and sometimes getting back to your original is impossible. You will probably notice the age difference onboard between a 7 day cruise and a 10 day cruise. Ten day cruises always draw an older crowd due to cost and time off from work. Should you change your plans because of this? NO! Unless you were planning of making life long friends with folks you meet on board you will have no trouble finding age appropriate things to do on board or at your port stops. Only you can answer about the 14 & 15 year old. Do check first though as I'm not certain Princess will let two teens under 18 stay in a cabin by themselves. You may need to shuffle the names on the reservations. Yes there are refrigerators in all the rooms. That time of year, or for some of use anytime, I would always recommend flying in at least a day in advance. Never risk missing the ship. We have never encountered a problem with embarkation on any Princess ship. All have been handled with easy and were very quick.

[mii]

All I can say is that you are sailing on my favorite ship. We have sailed her on the r/t transit on Panama Canal and am sailing her again next May for full transit through the canal. It is just the right size of 1950 passengers. You will love her.

 

Marilyn

[Tarheelbelle]

It is my favorite ship along with Dawn Princess. The ports on this cruise are great in my opinion. Lots to do in all of them. The canal and locks themselves are fascinating.

 

As to the aft cabin, I like forward cabins so I can't help you there. A balcony is nice to have and I would recommend it if you can swing it.

[WeBeGone]

Our first trip on Coral we had an oceanview on Emerald and it was just fine. We were out on deck at 5:30am for the Canal anyway. Our second Coral cruise we had a balcony and stayed in our bathrobes on our balcony drinking mimosas the whole way through the canal. My advice-stick with the cabin you have and use the $$ difference to do something fun in FL before or after the cruise. Since you're spending the $$ to come from CA, might as well get the most out of the long trip. You won't be bored on the ship nor would the teenagers. There's lots to do for every age. The rooms have refrigerators, and embarkation is a breeze. Go to the port of call to read all about the excusions. Make sure you do something in every port. It's worth the $$.

[Tess2mommies]

I think I confused everyone.

 

http://www.princess.com/ships/co/room/E733.html

We have a Aft Oceanview cabin, not a balcony.

 

We are looking for your opinion as to whether we should keep our Aft oceanview or upgrade to a balcony not at the Aft of the ship...

 

 

 

Thanks for all the tips. Keep them coming! :)

[cherylandtk]

It looks to me like that public balcony area will be essentially isolated--if the money difference between that cabin (E733) and the "regular balcony" pays for the sisters' cabin, then I say stick with your aft oceanview. The only folks who will know about that public balcony will be few and far between, and will have to traipse down your hall to get there. Most pax on your level will have their own private balconies to use, and you will probably find hardly anyone using "your" balcony. That has been my experience for the hidden balconies on the Grand class ships, at least, although I must point out I have not been on this ship. (Perhaps someone who has been on this ship and knows what that area is really like can help out here)

 

Two things regarding the sisters:

1. The inside cabins near your location are limited, be sure to lock one in early, and specify "no upgrade" on both bookings.

2. As someone mentioned above, be aware that the booking will require one adult over 21 in each cabin, and cruise cards/door keys will be issued as booked. Requires a little manipulation at the Purser's desk to get a "spare" key to each room and those two people will have to keep the door key/charge card separate, so make sure they are the organized, responsible types. Also, as the sisters are minors, it will be wise, if not necessary, to have notarized documents from both parents allowing them to travel with you out of the country.

 

As others have said, if possible, we always go a day early just to not have the stress of worry about arriving at the ship before sailing. Coming all the way across the country, I definitely recommend you do that, especially during the winter holiday travel season. Maybe even two days then.

 

Nobody will be bored, there is just too much to explore and do and see on any Princess ship; holiday sailings tend to have more families, as well. Depends on when the winter break is around the country, too.

[Tess2mommies]

It looks to me like that public balcony area will be essentially isolated--if the money difference between that cabin (E733) and the "regular balcony" pays for the sisters' cabin, then I say stick with your aft oceanview. The only folks who will know about that public balcony will be few and far between, and will have to traipse down your hall to get there. Most pax on your level will have their own private balconies to use, and you will probably find hardly anyone using "your" balcony. That has been my experience for the hidden balconies on the Grand class ships, at least, although I must point out I have not been on this ship. (Perhaps someone who has been on this ship and knows what that area is really like can help out here)

 

Two things regarding the sisters:

1. The inside cabins near your location are limited, be sure to lock one in early, and specify "no upgrade" on both bookings.

2. As someone mentioned above, be aware that the booking will require one adult over 21 in each cabin, and cruise cards/door keys will be issued as booked. Requires a little manipulation at the Purser's desk to get a "spare" key to each room and those two people will have to keep the door key/charge card separate, so make sure they are the organized, responsible types. Also, as the sisters are minors, it will be wise, if not necessary, to have notarized documents from both parents allowing them to travel with you out of the country.

 

As others have said, if possible, we always go a day early just to not have the stress of worry about arriving at the ship before sailing. Coming all the way across the country, I definitely recommend you do that, especially during the winter holiday travel season. Maybe even two days then.

 

Nobody will be bored, there is just too much to explore and do and see on any Princess ship; holiday sailings tend to have more families, as well. Depends on when the winter break is around the country, too.

 

 

Thank you for the response!

 

Thank you so much for the info on our cabin. It seems good and I like the idea that although there is a public balcony, not many will use it and it will be ours. :D I will call princess and tell them no upgrades right now!

 

We have learned our lesson flying in the day of, even if we get there really early. We did this for San Juan, and they lost our luggage and it didn't catch us until day 2 of the cruise:eek: , so we are flying in early!

 

As far as my SO's sister's go, we aren't sure if we are going to take them or not. We will decide soon though and get a room booked for them if we decide to bring them.

 

Thanks again!

[Dreamer333]

What is an "SO"?

I know DH, DW, MIL, etc... but I don't think I've heard SO before!

[cherylandtk]

What is an "SO"?

I know DH, DW, MIL, etc... but I don't think I've heard SO before!

Significant Other

[WeBeGone]

It seems good and I like the idea that although there is a public balcony, not many will use it and it will be ours. QUOTE]

 

Please don't count on that. All the poublic spaces are heavily used during the canal passage. Believe me, that aft area is NOT a secret.

[bjboothman]

I'm iffy on that cabin. Depends on what it cost vs a standard balcony. I sailed on the Coral Panama Canal in April of 2004 and will be on it again with you on December 14-24. I've started a rollcall if you want to do a search on it.

 

Last April we had an inside on the Baja so we and a lot of other folks took advantage of the aft public balcony. On Emerald, there are quite a few rooms that are oceanviews, not balconies because of the tenders there. So, potentially quite a few folks who might use the aft deck. That's where we hung out on much of the canal transit. This time we booked a balcony, and as I was just checking again last night to find out if the prices have changed, there are not many balconies left on that sailing.

 

Embarcation from FLL is normally very smooth - I haven't had any problems in the past. Yes, all rooms have refrigerators.

 

I don't know what to advise about the age of the passengers. From my experience in taking this particular cruise and in sailing the week prior to Christmas, I'm going to say that you will find far more seniors than you did on the Golden, because of the length of the cruise, the destination, and the fact that most younger people who may have kids will sail the following week to take advantage of the Christmas holiday. I'm not trying to talk you out of anything, but do go knowing that 20-somethings will likely be a small minority on this cruise, if history can predict the future.

 

The Coral is the perfect size for the number of passengers. It doesn't feel like a small ship, and never felt crowded to me.

 

Will the sisters be bored? Well, if someone offered me a trip to hang out in the sun for 10 days in December - I think I could find a way to make it interesting :) .

[Tess2mommies]

Hmm... What should we do? :confused:

 

I know if we book a balcony, i'll never want to do back to an ocean view and we are only in our early 20's and we have a lot of living to do.

 

On the other hand, we like the idea of being at the Aft of the ship, although we did enjoy being towards the Aft last cruise port side and we were able to see all the ports we stopped at and that was nice.

 

I have no idea what to do now?

 

How's the weather in December on a panama sailing?

 

~~ I know it's bad business to discuss prices on this board ~~

 

But i'll do it anyway, so I can get more advice.

 

We booked direct through princess. We've had horrible experiences booking with online travel agents and the travel agents in my town are not good, princess beats their prices.

 

Having said that. We paid in the $1400 - $1600 per person range for this 10 day sailing, almost double that our Ocean view on the Golden.

 

So, we can keep our cabin at the price we have it at now.

 

Transfer it to an online travel agency that we previously used and HATED and save about $150 per person

 

Or

 

We can Transfer the booking to an online travel agency that we previously used and HATED but upgrade to a balcony or oceanview mini suite for the same price we are paying on princess. But if we do that, we have the risk of getting hooked on a balcony or mini suite and I'll never go back :eek: , so by the time I turn 25 I'll expect a mini suite or higher, but if I did that I couldn't afford to go cruising every year.

 

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions....

 

Someone please help me regain my sanity.:p

[BJS]

Only you can decide what is most important to you. Many people would rather be on an open deck for the canal transit and others, us included, would rather enjoy breakfast and the transit from our own balcony.

 

There is a possiblity that you won't want an ocean view or inside after having a balcony - happened to us but others felt it wasn't worth the extra money.

 

December weather can be beautiful or you could have a great deal of rain at that time of year. It will be warm and you could have some hot weather especially around Panama.

 

If you will be disappointed to not have many others your age I'd choose a holiday, spring break, or summer cruise. For some people being the only ones, except for the young cruise staff, in the night clubs geard to the "younger" crowd at night was very disappointing. Prices for Thanksgiving and Dec. cruises prior to Christmas/New Years cruises are low and there are not many children or young people so us "old" people like to book these cruises. (can't say it will be that way for your cruise) The atmosphere is certainly different on the entire ship with a younger rather than an older crowd.

[bjboothman]

There are a zillion good online agencies, so another option is to transfer your booking to a different online agency that you don't hate, whether you can save money on your current room or upgrade to a different room. Yep, I suspect you could have a balcony for that price, but the prices may have gone up since I booked 6 weeks ago - I don't know. I used an online TA I had used before.

 

I can't tell you what to do - only you know that, but sometimes we get balconies, sometimes we get insides, and when we took my teenaged daughter with us we got a mini suite on the Grand. Sure, I would love to have a balcony every time, but since I can cruise twice as often if I only get a balcony half the time, I can live with it. I mean, we'd all love to be spoiled, but sometimes real life slaps us in the face, doesn't it?

 

Good luck, whatever you decide.

[Ask4Jay]

Haven't been on your ship, but we had an aft-looking balcony on the Norwegian Sun on Deck 8. How wonderful to have your own private outside area with solid walls between you and your neighbors.

 

You are never on the "wrong" side of the ship. You will be able to look left and right, wherever the action is. On a side-balcony you can look straight forward of aft along the side of the ship, but in the rear, because of the rounded stern, you can even look forward a little.

 

And if you really want to see where you are going, you still have the bridge cam on the TV.

 

True, you will not be in the center of the action, if that is what you like. To us it does not matter, we need the exercise anyhow, and (at 70) we are fit enough not to NEED elevators.

We are booked on the Norwegian Jewel's Trans Atlantic trip Sep 4 from Dover to New York, and we rebooked from a port-side balcony to an aft-facing balcony. It took some patience, but to us it is worth the effort. Only way to go. Enjoy.