Coral Princess photo and video review

[gator582]

Norris, thank you SO much for your review and pics! Makes me even more anxious for our Coral cruise in August. :)

[ginnstars]

question about the santuary, Did they heat the pool in there since it was Alaska? How was the weather while sitting in the chairs? was it worth it for the week in Alaskan weather?

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report.

[Bimmer09]

question about the santuary, Did they heat the pool in there since it was Alaska? How was the weather while sitting in the chairs? was it worth it for the week in Alaskan weather?

 

I never set foot in any of the Coral pools but I believe the Sanctuary pool was heated as I saw vapor rising from it and the Sanctuary is all about pampering the guests. We had it to ourselves for 4 days when it drizzled and then the last two days were 70 plus degrees and people bought day passes and joined us. We moved to some loungers in the sun but still kept our shade ones as there was enough to go round.

 

I would advise to just book by the day/half day in Alaska based on the weather.

It's wasted when you are in port and have lengthy excursions. We have no regrets re the money spent as even in the drizzle we had privacy (2 of us and two stewards waiting on us on a large deck) and we had warm blankets and hot chocolate delivered to us at the snap of the finger. The four stewards who rotated shifts (one was Vaughn the Bayou waiter) were nice to talk to and very quiet when we were napping or reading. We had an aft wake view and some prime close-ups of the glaciers when the ship rotated.

 

For us the Sanctuary isn't a waste of money as we love the pampering, the comfy loungers and most of all the quiet and lack of crowding. We have booked it on all four cruises so far and are glad we did.

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

Carol loved the lecture-she's always up for enrichment when we travel and all that enriching worked up an appetite. Fortunately they were serving a British Pub Lunch in the Wheelhouse bar and the intitial rush was over so we were able to saunter in and get a table by a window as we didn't want to lose sight of the sea (ever).

 

The menu is short and so the food comes quickly. It had to be fish and chips and a Guinness for me and Carol had the chicken curry and chips. She thought the curry very tasty but rather mildly spiced but of course Princess can't risk over-spicing their Indian food as it might be overpowering and heart-attack inducing to a palate not used to it. Indian food is our favorite cuisine and when in a restaurant ordering I always ask for it to be "Indian Hot" which often causes a raised eye-brow and a smile from the waiter. We all have our own tastes and tolerance for fiery spices so Princess has to aim for something for everyone and they do it remarkably well in my opinion.

 

So a nice hearty lunch, a soothing, refreshing Guinness and it was time to visit the Sanctuary and relax and digest. Our loungers and stewards were waiting for us. We read and listened to some I Pod tunes.

 

We had entered into Yakutat Bay away from the restless sea and into calmer waters. When I stood up for a stretch I could see something interesting up ahead....

 



 

We moved further into the Bay surrounded by peaks laced with cold mists

 



 



 

"Hey, Carol....you might want to come see this...."

 



 

That got her up from the comfy lounger!

[Bimmer09]

We could feel it's chill from 5 miles away. It was drizzling so cameras and camcorder got drops of rain on them. I was switching from one to the other.

Kathy Slamp's voice came over the PA system...6 miles wide, 76 miles long.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bimmer09]

I went back to our cabin at one point to dry off the lenses and warm myself.

Our balcony was protected from the rain. The bridge wing was on the deck just above us.

 



 



 

 

The jagged contours of the glacier face

 

 



 

 

[Bimmer09]

The drizzle eased up. The Coral had come to within 8/10 of a mile and we could hear the gunshot sound of ice calving from the leading edge and splashing into the water. Mostly it was out of sight, around the bend where we would not go.

 



 



 



 



 

 

The ship gave us a generous two hours in front of the glacier, including the slow approach and rotated at the closest point so that everyone could get a good view without even having to leave their cabin- inside cabins not included.

Princess brings the scenery to you, something hotels on land can't accomplish.

I am sure some folks watched from the warmth of the buffet, enjoying a nice hot lunch or from a bar with a stiff drink in their hand. I know some watched from the gym while they peddaled furiously and some from a hot tub on deck.

We enjoyed the rich comfort of the ship all the more, having been cold and drizzled on for a couple of hours.

 

The photos can't capture the pin-drop quiet of the bay (when Kathy wasn't commenting).

 

We had got to see some calving when the ship turned so that the Sanctuary was facing the glacier and considered the week's membership to have paid for itself then and there. The hot chocolate was much appreciated too. The stewards-Miro from Macedonia and Laura from Mexico, who see this every week in the summer, were out there leaning on the railing, eyes fixed on the glacier.

[Drews_Cruise]

What a nice review!. I really miss the coral now.

[world_traveler_et]

The drizzle eased up. The Coral had come to within 8/10 of a mile and we could hear the gunshot sound of ice calving from the leading edge and splashing into the water. Mostly it was out of sight, around the bend where we would not go.

 



 



 



 



 

 

The ship gave us a generous two hours in front of the glacier, including the slow approach and rotated at the closest point so that everyone could get a good view without even having to leave their cabin- inside cabins not included.

Princess brings the scenery to you, something hotels on land can't accomplish.

I am sure some folks watched from the warmth of the buffet, enjoying a nice hot lunch or from a bar with a stiff drink in their hand. I know some watched from the gym while they peddaled furiously and some from a hot tub on deck.

We enjoyed the rich comfort of the ship all the more, having been cold and drizzled on for a couple of hours.

 

The photos can't capture the pin-drop quiet of the bay (when Kathy wasn't commenting).

 

We had got to see some calving when the ship turned so that the Sanctuary was facing the glacier and considered the week's membership to have paid for itself then and there. The hot chocolate was much appreciated too. The stewards-Miro from Macedonia and Laura from Mexico, who see this every week in the summer, were out there leaning on the railing, eyes fixed on the glacier.

 

Norris,

Your photographs of the glaciers are breath taking--did you do anything special with your camera settings to capture the beautiful blues of the glaciers? What kind of camera were you using for your trip? If it was a DSLR did you use any filters?

 

I can't wait for you update posts of your trip!

[Bimmer09]

Norris,

Your photographs of the glaciers are breath taking--did you do anything special with your camera settings to capture the beautiful blues of the glaciers? What kind of camera were you using for your trip? If it was a DSLR did you use any filters?

 

I can't wait for you update posts of your trip!

 

The camera had no filters and was a Canon SS880. The glaciers are that blue just by themselves and need no help. I have since upgraded to a Canon DSLR-Eos Rebel T3i but haven't used it in Alaska (yet!)

 

Norris

[ntvsdgrl]

The camera had no filters and was a Canon SS880. The glaciers are that blue just by themselves and need no help. I have since upgraded to a Canon DSLR-Eos Rebel T3i but haven't used it in Alaska (yet!)

 

Norris

 

Norris, how do you put the images in your post instead of doing them as attachments?

[Bimmer09]

Norris, how do you put the images in your post instead of doing them as attachments?

 

I upload all my camera pics to Picasa where every digital photo I have ever taken is stored. I pick out the ones I want to use for the narration and upload them to the web where I see them in Google Plus Photos. There are all displayed on my screen so I don't have to do a slideshow.

 

The one I want to upload to fit the text I click on to make it bigger so that it is the only photo I am seeing. Then I have a beer. I right click (even tho I don't have a mouse) and options appear...I choose "Copy web address" and then switch back to my CC reply screen where I am writing.

 

In the box where you write the CCtext there is a icon of a Mountain which opens up the screen to attach a photo. I get rid of the "http" that is there and paste the web address in and hit "OK" and that web address shows up under the text I have just written. Then, like the text, I use the icon for "center" so that everything lines up vertically.

 

Et voila!

 

CC has a TEST FORUM where you can practice doing this.

 

When uploading the pics from Picasa to the web I choose "original size" as the photo shows up big but not huge- eating up all the margins. I like a white frame.

 

I prefer embedding the photo to posting a link to Flickr or such where people have to leave the page, go through a menu and then start a slideshow. I am not a slideshow fan as such. I like to read the text and see the photos all at once.

 

Hope this helps....if not get back to me.

 

Best wishes,

Norris

[ntvsdgrl]

I upload all my camera pics to Picasa where every digital photo I have ever taken is stored. I pick out the ones I want to use for the narration and upload them to the web where I see them in Google Plus Photos. There are all displayed on my screen so I don't have to do a slideshow.

 

The one I want to upload to fit the text I click on to make it bigger so that it is the only photo I am seeing. Then I have a beer. I right click (even tho I don't have a mouse) and options appear...I choose "Copy web address" and then switch back to my CC reply screen where I am writing.

 

In the box where you write the CCtext there is a icon of a Mountain which opens up the screen to attach a photo. I get rid of the "http" that is there and paste the web address in and hit "OK" and that web address shows up under the text I have just written. Then, like the text, I use the icon for "center" so that everything lines up vertically.

 

Et voila!

 

CC has a TEST FORUM where you can practice doing this.

 

When uploading the pics from Picasa to the web I choose "original size" as the photo shows up big but not huge- eating up all the margins. I like a white frame.

 

I prefer embedding the photo to posting a link to Flickr or such where people have to leave the page, go through a menu and then start a slideshow. I am not a slideshow fan as such. I like to read the text and see the photos all at once.

 

Hope this helps....if not get back to me.

 

Best wishes,

Norris

 

Thank you. I did what you did but once I was on Google plus, I was able to right click on the photo, hit copy and then paste into the body of my thread instead of using the url. Here's a photo (screen shot) from when Coral was in Glacier Bay today. I think I spotted a whale.

 

Thanks for letting me know about Picasa. It will help when I do my "live from" when I'm on the Coral in August.

 

Thank you for your help!

 

[cdngrl]

the glacier pictures are stunning! the purple of the mountains, and that blue! wow, just wow.

[Keith1010]

Wonderful photos and review.

 

Keith

[Bimmer09]

A few more shots of the Hubbard before we set off down the bay en route to tomorrow's stop-Glacier Bay.

 



 



 



 



 



 

We began to realize just what a great adventure we had signed-up for.....

Tonight (Sunday) we were going to have dinner in an Italian restaurant, followed by a live show.

 

When we wake on Monday morning we will be heading into Glacier Bay.

Tuesday we will be kayaking on Bennett Lake in British Columbia, followed by a downhill (mountain) train ride back to Skagway.

Wednesday we will be landing by helicopter on Taku Glacier, Juneau, followed 30 minutes later by whale watching in Auck Bay.

Thursday we will fly over Misty Fjord in Ketchikan before sailing off to Vancouver, a city we were familiar with but wanted to know more.

 

In between all those new and exciting experiences we would be eating and relaxing, enjoying the beautiful public rooms on the ship and the company of fellow passengers.

 

We were very happy with our choice of Princess and the Coral.

 

More to follow....much later when we go inside the ship and see some of the public rooms.

[Bimmer09]

I had mentioned the traditional Princess Pub Lunch in the Wheelhouse Bar so here is a photo of that room which appears on many of the Princess ships.

The room is used for some lectures (e.g. Navigation), was the venue for the Pop Choir rehearsals where passengers form a choir under the direction of a singing member of the Cruise Staff and rehearse with a recorded backing track for a performance in the Piazza on the last sea day. In the late afternoon there was a pianist in there playing standards and in the evening dancing on a polished wooden floor to a very good lounge singer with a piano trio with swing. I love the decor.

 



 

Entrance to Bayou Cafe

 



 

Crooners A Martini lounge found on many of the PCL ships where in the evenings there is a pianist/singer. I am not really a cocktail person but the smoking lounge was nearby and I went here to get my first beer before I knew they would stop by Churchill's regularly.

 



 

After our glacier watching in Yakutat Bay at the feet of the Mighty Hubbard Glacier we warmed up again and looked forward to the prospect of a nice dinner. It was Formal Night and we hadn't packed fancy duds so we were giving the portraits and champagne waterfall a miss. We had booked a window table for two in Sabatini's, a specialty restaurant I had read good things about on this board. After that there was a show called Motor City in the Princess Theater.

 

More to come, later in the day after an 80 mile drive to my Sanctuary on land...

[Bimmer09]

We ate here twice on the Formal Nights and enjoyed the calm and the stellar service and food. Neither of us are fond of big heaping plates of pasta smothered in tomato sauce. I think what we lean towards is called Northern Italian which is maybe more refined and less "hearty". Although it is a big room on each of the ships we have sailed (Coral, Crown,Diamond and Ruby) it is never full. This may be due to the cost (it was $20 then) and the fact that the MDR (Main Dining Room) serves up pretty good food, although we hadn't eaten there yet.

 

Italian music plays softly adding to the atmosphere. The waitstaff is impeccably dressed and professional. Our waitress was Julia from Ukraine and was so efficient and friendly that we asked for her again on our 2nd night there.

 

They seated us by the window which on this ship looks out on Promenade deck

at a table meant for 6.

 



 



 

Our table-the furthest one.

 



 



 

[Bimmer09]

I am going to break one of my Cardinal rules here and post photos which didn't come out as I wanted them to-just not lit well enough and a bit shaky at times

but I will blame it on the bottle of wine (Pinot Grigio) I bought in Sabatini's. It was the familiar Santa Margharita and it cost $41 plus 15% gratuity. I could access it later at any restaurant on the ship although each time it arrived it had less wine in it than before...evaporation maybe?

 

So here are some of the dishes, starting with my calamari...

 



 



 

Between courses we had yummy breadsticks to munch on and of course some crusty bread with oil and vinegar. Princess has a fantastic bakery department

and they may have had to put on an extra shift just to keep up with my bread consumption.

 

[Bimmer09]

I can pretty much eat my own weight (155lbs) in shrimp and if there is such a thing as reincarnation I want to come back as something that swims along with its' mouth open eating shrimp...maybe a whale or such.

 

Here are some who may have been out for a leisurely swim one day, minding their own business when they saw something that looked like a net. "Hey-what's that thing? Maybe we should go and get a closer look...."

 

Now they were on my plate-destination stomach.

 



 

Steak and white beans,poorly photographed

 



 

And-before the inevitable double espresso and Sambuca- a tasty dessert

 

 



 

After the fine meal the waitress, Julia, must have seen me sucking the tablecloth where I had spilled a little sauce from the steak and didn't want to miss a morsel, as she went into the kitchen and came back out with the chef who asked how we liked our meal. A nice personal touch and we liked it a lot.

I mentioned how we would be back later in the week and how happy we would be if we could have our favorite pasta dish which we make at home-spaghetti ala carbonara and he was game to make it for us. Another nice touch!

 

After a walk on deck we saw Motor City and after such a long time since my last cruise (to Venezuela on the Carnival Celebration back in 1990 (?)) I was very impressed by the sound and lighting and the slick production. Fast-moving, all singing, all dancing, propelled by a superb punchy band. Brett Siborne the CD was MC and was witty and professional.

 

Tomorrow-Monday, we would be in Glacier Bay, a place not every cruise line can send their ships into, with the promise of more glaciers to marvel at.

I read that the snow that falls at the start of the Hubbard...11,000 feet up in the mountains takes about 400 years, as ice, to travel the 76 miles to the sea, where it falls off to delight cruise ship passengers just like us. So don't let me hear anyone complaining when it snows! Skiers will know what I mean.

[melody hounddog]

Thank you for the food photos!

[yukongold]

Really great photos...thanks for posting them. I liked the one of you and Polar Bear!:D

[Bimmer09]

Monday was Glacier Bay day, our 2nd sea day but we wouldn't be in front of the glaciers until around 2pm so I got up late at 7 a.m. and together we had our first MDR meal-breakfast in the Provence Dining Room. This was not our dining room for dinner-we had Anytime Dining and were assigned to Bordeaux Dining Room. We prefer ATD for the flexibility.

 

We learned a valuable lesson here...we asked for a table by a window and were led across the room to a table by the window...for 8, 6 of whom were already seated. I didn't want to embarrass anyone,particularly, us by declining the table and so we joined the group. Of course they were nice people-a couple were even from a town near Chicago so we had an easy conversation but we really don't like animated and noisy breakfasts-we like to ease gently and quietly into the day.

 

The lesson learned was to always ask for a table for two ONLY, even if it means waiting.

 

Good breakfast though and I established a future standing order for oatmeal and then pancakes and bacon or ham.

 

As we were carrying a notebook laptop we had gone to the Internet room to buy a package of minutes so that Carol could read her Bloomberg and check e mail.

It was here were met the only unhelpful and surly Coral crew member who was stationed in this room but who often disappeared.

 

We didn't need his help per se but there were others there who did as they were less computer-savvy as they hadn't used them during their working years and his response to "how do I....?" was to hand them a FAQ sheet and say curtly "read this". I named him in our post-cruise survey.

 

Alas the Internet was very slow and Carol's patience was tested but it wasn't the end of the World.

 

Otherwise the crew were friendly and smiling. They greeted me as I walked through the ship in the early hours even though they were vacuuming or polishing brass rails.

 

We were in the mouth of the bay

 

 

 



 



 

Wandering through the Piazza that late morning I came upon a crowd watching one of the bartenders juggling cocktail shakers and pouring multiple Martinis

-always something going on in the Piazza. Then I stumbled upon a Pop Choir rehearsal in the Wheelhouse Bar.

 

Carol wanted to avoid the buffet crowd for lunch (something she has managed to do ever since) so we went back to the Provence and got a window table for two ONLY. I didn't ask for my bottle of wine as it was too early in the day.

 

I started with soup and then gnocchi which was excellent, followed by roast lamb

 



 

Carol, among other delights, had lox and bagels

 



 

At the end of the meal, sipping coffee, I looked towards the windows on the far side of the dining room and noticed there was nothing but white filling the window- Glacier!! We finished our meal, grabbed the cameras and headed up on deck.

[Bimmer09]

 



 



 



 

No rain! No rain! Hooray!

 

Note typo...it is Margerie Glacier, not Marjorie.

Edited May 30, 2013 by Bimmer09
Typo