Coral Princess photo and video review

[Bimmer09]

 

Snow-mover to keep the rail lines clear from the deluge in winter...

 



 



 

[Bimmer09]

Back on the ship Carol was up and about and we hit the Provence for a belly-bustin' breakfast. There would be no food on our excursion. Up in the cabin I took some photographs....

 

 



 



 

 

[Bimmer09]

Coming up- kayaking on Bennett Lake B.C and a down-the-mountain train ride.

 

Norris

[gator582]

Woo Hoo, can't wait!!

[Bimmer09]

Woo Hoo, can't wait!!

 

Gator- love the enthusiasm. Wait no more.

 

Ship excursions work this way (this being our first and a learning experience like everything on the Coral): your excursion has a number...say 220. You leave the ship and walk to the dock entrance where the security line is and pass through. You see people in bright clothes holding up signs bearing numbers...there's 220....go over and give your name and then wait for everyone on that tour to join.

 

The dock "gates"

 



 

In our case there were only 8 people and we had a 50 seater coach to take us up over the mountains and into Canada (BC). For this reason we had to have our passports with us. It rained until we passed through the border at Frasier where a Customs Official stuck his head in the door of the bus and eyeballed us holding up our passports. Pass through!

 

A short distance away we came to a beautiful lake ringed by mountains-Bennett lake and were met off the bus by our kayak team, led by Brad. They had a truck in the back of which were skirts to wear to seal up the seats of the kayak from water getting in and sinking the craft. They were young, fun, patient Canadians with senses of humor a lot drier than we would be for it was windy and choppy on the lake. The rain had stopped or been left behind and so it was a pleasant mid 60's there. There was a safety brief and waivers to sign.

 

The other 6 pax had previous kayaking experience. I had done it once on a calm lagoon (Chancanab, near Cozumel) in a single seater but this kayak was a two person where the aft person had to steer with their feet. This was me.

It was tough as my knees had to brace against the sides of the kayak continuously to gain leverage on the two very stiff pedals, each of which was attached by wire to the rudder. It was a workout. We also had to paddle to move agains the wind. It was however an exhilarating "fist in the air, high 5" kind of experience and one we would do again.

 

An hour on the water in a place of great beauty with a physical workout.

 

We did get splashed of course. I had my camcorder and camera in my cam bag but couldn't risk using them while moving. Only when we stopped in a more sheltered part of the lake could we take photos or have Brad take them for us from his stationary kayak. My Passport got a little damp but recovered.

 

 

 



 

[Bimmer09]

 

Brad- our guide and photographer.

 



 

Bennett Lake

 



 

Back on land the wind had died down and the sun was shining as we waited maybe 10 minutes for the train. We tipped the crew handsomely for a safe and fun adventure.

[Bimmer09]

I'll continue with some photographs from our excursion and after those will turn down the lights, make some popcorn and run the Youtube movie of our train ride back to Skagway...sound like a plan? It will be a 7 minute clip but in 720p, not the 1080p it was shot in as Youtube don't offer me 1080p to upload.

 

Still- it will give you an idea whether you'd like to take the train or not.

 

Norris, in a sunny garden in Michigan, far from the sea.

[melody hounddog]

I'll continue with some photographs from our excursion and after those will turn down the lights, make some popcorn and run the Youtube movie of our train ride back to Skagway...sound like a plan? It will be a 7 minute clip but in 720p, not the 1080p it was shot in as Youtube don't offer me 1080p to upload.

 

Still- it will give you an idea whether you'd like to take the train or not.

 

Norris, in a sunny garden in Michigan, far from the sea.

 

Sounds like a great plan! We did the train in Skagway and loved it!!!

[Caribensun]

Thank you so much for sharing! Coral Princess is on my bucket list. Love your photos and review, nice to see the Golden next to the Coral. What did you do in Juneau? Sounds like the train should be a "must do" in Skagway.

[Bimmer09]

Thank you so much for sharing! Coral Princess is on my bucket list. Love your photos and review, nice to see the Golden next to the Coral. What did you do in Juneau? Sounds like the train should be a "must do" in Skagway.

 

Juneau will be a helicopter landing on Taku Glacier (photos and video) and then a whale-watching trip with Harv n' Marv (photos and video (maybe)

 

At this rate Juneau will probably be written on Monday.

 

Keep tuning in....if the post is on page 1 it means something has been written (or replied to)

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

Now for the first time we could say we were going HOME to the Coral. We had a 100 minute train ride back down to Skagway. The last car-the caboose-was reserved for our party of 8 and we were excited to take this ride as we (a) love trains, especially steam trains, but this was pulled by a couple of diesel engines and (b) it was going through the mountains from Canada back into the USA where we could get our stomachs filled!

 

One last look at Bennett Lake and then we were off....

 

 

[Bimmer09]

 



 



 

[Bimmer09]

 



 



 

Most of the trip back I was on the footplate shooting video and enjoying the bracing, misty air. The train came back down into Skagway and pulled into the station as opposed to the pier as there were no more excursions leaving.

 

At the station we saw these two guys-a local tour operator and a hapless tourist, setting off on a hike. I hope the tourist wasn't a Coral passenger as the ship was sailing at 8 p.m and if you are not at the pier on time it will leave without you.

 



 

Coming up next- train video link

[Bimmer09]

 

Hopefully this works...

[melody hounddog]

Wonderful video! Thanks for sharing.

 

I like the shot where you can see the front part of the train.

[gator582]

 

Hopefully this works...

OH MY GOSH! That video was awesome. Some had said that was "just another train ride," and don't bother with the trip. I think not, the views were magical. I will have to reconsider my excursion. ;)

 

I sure appreciate that you are taking the time to post highlights of your trip. :) BTW, I like your accent!

[gator582]

If you do the train trip and don't go kayaking, what else can you do?

[dforeigner]

Thank you for taking time to write a review and share your pictures with us.

[ar1950]

Thanks for posting the pictures and the video. Just like when we did the train ride almost 6 years ago. Same weather conditions as well.:)

[Bimmer09]

If you do the train trip and don't go kayaking, what else can you do?

 

The kayak excursion is coach out and then joining an already loaded train back-

there are train-only trips out to Carcross and maybe other places. You'll see in the video the train also stops to pick up hikers at one point.

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

Back on the Coral after a great day out.

 



 



 

Celebrity Infinity was the first ship to set sail. We were last.

 

 

Sightseeing helicopters were returning home, hopefully with no Infinity passengers aboard!

 

We were looking forward to dinner in the Bordeaux and had called the dine line at 8 a.m to reserve a table for two. Tonight would be Italian night.

 

There were still many parts of the Coral we hadn't gotten around to enjoying- e.g. The International Lounge, a two-deck theater where they show movies and have other events and the other movie venue MUTS....Movies Under the Stars up on the pool deck. I had passed through it on the first couple of nights but each time it had been raining and only a few hardy souls were there, around the edges where there is an overhang, huddled under their blankets. The picture quality and sound are stellar. I am sure both venues will pop up in photos later on. The photos are grouped by day on my computer and I am using maybe 30% of them in this review.

[Bimmer09]

The rock graffiti in Skagway, painted by ship's crew over the years since maybe the 1920's. This is just a small section as it is quite long and high.

Ship names forgotten and familiar. No longer permissible.

 

 



 

 

Once underway back down the channel and bound for Juneau we had dinner.

 

No window seats available so we took what was offered as long as it was a two-top. The tables are close together and we found ourselves talking to a wonderful Russian couple, Elena and Uri. They had cruised a lot and Elena kept us entertained with her sharp wit.

 



 

 



 



 



 

Tomorrow was Juneau and our first excursion started at 8 a.m. The second would start 30 minutes after the first returned us to the ship. Tight schedule!

I had bought a second camcorder battery before leaving Chicago and put it on to charge before going to bed as I felt it would be a busy day with the camcorder.

 

Another great night's sleep on the Coral followed before the alarm said it was 5 o'clock.

[gator582]

What were your dinners? Look delicious.

[cdngrl]

the video is great fun! I love that you were in the caboose and could see to the front of the train going around the corners. i'm also a big fan of tunnels. thank you!

[Bimmer09]

Wednesday morning and I was up with the lark, er-make that seagull, so that I could indulge in my favorite cruising activity....watching the ship sail into port.

 

There were already two ships tied-up in port: Holland America's Oosterdam and the smaller Zaandam. We would make a wide turn and berth in front of the Oosterdam, facing the cluster of oil storage tanks familiar from the Princess ships' web cams in this port.

 



 



 

 

It was during the delicate process of easing slowly into our berth that I saw a humpback whale surface about 80 feet from the ship. The water would have been shallow here so he didn't take a tail-up dive. Didn't have the camera at the ready as I was sipping coffee.

 

Juneau is only accessible from the water or the air so you will see a lot of these taking off and landing....

 



 

We would have a busy morning-after breakfast in the Provence we had to meet our tour on the pier at 8 a.m. This was the Helicopter to Taku Glacier tour which cost $600 for the two of us. It would return us to the Coral at 10 a.m and then we had to meet the Harv n Marv mini-bus on the pier at 10.30.

Over-scheduled and we won't cut it so close in the future.

 

It was drizzling but there is some cover on the pier and benches to sit on while you wait for your tour bus.

 

Our mini-bus said Era Helicopters and was on time. It drove us through the city to a bridge where we crossed over the channel to the less-populated side of the city and there down to the heliport by the water's edge. There would be five of us plus pilot Steve on our flight. One was an Australian man, traveling solo on his first Alaskan cruise. Carol had been to Australia several times as her mother had lived there for some years, so the two had a chat up on the glacier once the rotors stopped turning.

 

Before flying we had to get some ice boots to put on so that we wouldn't slip when we got out to walk on the glacier.