Opinions on Coral Princess

[julieh]

Having sailed on the Sea/Sun and Dawn Princess I am now considering the Coral. Anyone been on the Coral that can compare it to one of the other sun class ships? Have seen the dvd and its looks great but would like to hear what other people think please.

 

Julieh

[doven]

I have not been on other ships, but we just got off the Coral and it was absolutely fabulous. When reading other reviews, you will note that it is a most popular ship!

[Tarheelbelle]

Having sailed on the Sea/Sun and Dawn Princess I am now considering the Coral. Anyone been on the Coral that can compare it to one of the other sun class ships? Have seen the dvd and its looks great but would like to hear what other people think please.

 

Julieh

I have been on the Sun, Sea, and Dawn also as well as the Grand. And Have now sailed twice on the Coral---Panama Canal in 11/04 and Alaska northbound earlier this month. Before I sailed on the Coral, the Dawn was my favorite, but I love the Coral! Elegant, spacious, and well appointed. I was in minisuite Baja 210 for the Panama cruise and minisuite Caribe 221 for Alaska. Do you have specific questions?

[rochnd]

Having sailed on the Sea/Sun and Dawn Princess I am now considering the Coral. Anyone been on the Coral that can compare it to one of the other sun class ships? Have seen the dvd and its looks great but would like to hear what other people think please.

 

Julieh

 

We were on the sister ship, Island Princess for a 15 day cruise to Hawaii in April 2005. Ship was beautiful, service very nice (except for the assnt. matri d' :mad:) and even with all that size there was lots of room. We really liked the buffet, which is located forward near the top deck. Wow, what a great view! Food was great too. We'd go again in a heart beat!:)

[cattman]

Ah! My favorite(cruise) subject -

 

If you like the Sun class, you will LOVE the Coral. Princess has taken the best features of the Sun and Grand class ships and combined them to create these ships - dubbed the "Baby Grands" by Princess.

Princess actually moved against the trend by creating a ship with the same passenger capacity as the Sun class, with roughly 20% more space(great for the passenger, not so great for the bottom line - which is probably why Princess scuttled plans for more sister ships)...

Larger cabins and balconies, with a much better cabin layout. Great atrium pool.

Beautiful spa. Very affable crew.

My only criticism would be too many windscreens on outside decks, a real bummer on a scenery - intensive itinerary like Alaska, so get a balcony.

 

My Alaska cruises on the Coral and Island were the best 3 of 12 cruises with Princess, and I will be sailing the Coral from YVR to LA again this coming September(Won a freebie), and again from fll to LA next Spring.

 

As far as I'm concerned, these are the perfect Princess ships... I highly recommend either(or both!).

 

i know these ships really well... any questions, just ask...

[Iamthesea]

Have seen the dvd and its looks great but would like to hear what other people think please.

Where did you get a DVD of the Coral?

 

doven - Are you going to give a review...photos?

[Druke I]

Cattman's analysis above is "very on". Coral is a beautiful ship, and does combine best features of Sun and Grand classes.

 

Unfortunately, Princess is causing confusion when they lump Coral & Island into the Sun Class on their website.

 

Coral & Island are truly a different class ship - different hulls, different superstructures, and built in different shipyards.

[doven]

IAM - I would love to give you pics but I'm not very computer literate. I will be glad to answer any questions that anyone has. Or if you'd really like a review, I can do that, too. Wish I could help out with the pics - needless to say, we have at least 200!!!

[cattman]

Unfortunately, Princess is causing confusion when they lump Coral & Island into the Sun Class on their website.

 

Yeah, I hear ya... Their website designer told me it was to keep confusion to a minimum, as Princess has found that most fans of the C & I are fans of the Sun class, so it makes sense to lump 'em together to help Sun fans who want to sail a new ship...

They do the same with the Grand and Super Grands... and they too are very different ships.

[mr green]

Both theaters on the Coral are fantastic, far better than the Dawn or Sun. Coral has twenty more passengers, but is some 14,000 tons larger. All 'entertainment', is on two decks, with straight walking on the starboard side. Beautiful ship. So saying, my next cruise is on the Sea. john

 

P.S Don't book aft, you will have too many long walks to eat. :) mg

[Mike2131]

Cattman's analysis above is "very on". Coral is a beautiful ship, and does combine best features of Sun and Grand classes.

 

Unfortunately, Princess is causing confusion when they lump Coral & Island into the Sun Class on their website.

 

Coral & Island are truly a different class ship - different hulls, different superstructures, and built in different shipyards.

 

I agree. I enjoyed the Dawn, but the Coral is a different class of vessel. She offers improvements across the board - cabins, dining, entertainment venues, etc. In addition, she is 109' longer and 15,000 tons larger (92,000 vs. 77,000) while carrying the same number of passengers (1,970 vs. 1,950). All in all, the Coral is a beautiful ship.

[julieh]

Thanks to all for your replies. I got the dvd on my Med cruise and it has all the fleet on it. You have convinced me to try it. We are looking to book Alaska and that was the ship I wanted to go on.

 

Julieh

[DrivesLikeMario]

Next to the Radiance of the Seas, this is our favorite ship. We've been on smaller ships and much larger ships, but the Coral's size is perfect. It has everything on it you'd expect from a ship and just the right passenger ratio.

 

People seem to dress up more on Princess compared to our HAL, RCI and Carnival cruises and the Coral was no exception.

 

The atrium is really, really beautiful. It's small, but elegant.

 

One tip: Our tablemates (2 couples) had cabins in the stern of the ship (D250-ish area) and felt a lot of movement in 3' seas, so I would recommend a mid-ship location. We had 2 minis mid-ship and hardly felt a thing and I really notice motion (it doesn't bother me, but I notice it - must come from living in shakey So. Cal. :D ). Get a midship and it'll be smooth sailing.

[sunprincess]

Julie, great choice with the Coral. I know you will love the ship :)

[Coral]

The Coral Princess is also my favorite (I like it better then Sun Class and Radiance RCCL class) - here are some pics of the ship:

 

Coral pics

 

It is the best ship of any line that I have been on.

[LARGIN]

My favorite of all Princess ships.. Great ship, great crew..

[NorcalGuy]

I think one big plus is the Coral (and Island) has is a beautiful indoor heated pool with retractable roof. There is also a nice second level area with table and chairs. Especially nice on cooler days/cruises. Could mean the difference between swimming or no swimming on a cruise such as Alaska.

[Suzanne123]

Coral - Those are some fabulous pictures! Thanks so much for posting them.

[ablum]

Hi

 

Has anyone stayed in a mini suite on Caribe deck?

 

Could you describe cabin and balcony we have booked C706. Soooo excited

 

 

Thanks

[antsp]

is the inside pool on coral/ island adults only

[KAJOKG]

We have sailed on both the Island and the Coral. Our favorite ships, by far. Although both are the same, for some reason we enjoyed the Coral more. It was probably our mood or the time of year, or whatever since both ships are the same. I have not met anyone who has not liked either of these ships. You won't be sorry if you choose the Coral!

[tootiesmom]

Thanks for posting some pix of the Coral. We are hoping to sail the Coral next June in Alaska.

 

tootiesmom

[julieh]

Coral thanks so much for the pictures it really does look great.

 

Julie

[Tarheelbelle]

is the inside pool on coral/ island adults only

Yes it is adults only on Coral.

[Tarheelbelle]

Hi

 

Has anyone stayed in a mini suite on Caribe deck?

 

Could you describe cabin and balcony we have booked C706. Soooo excited

 

 

Thanks

Yes, I was in C221 earlier this month in Alaska---starboard minisuite near the front of the ship. It was great---covered large balcony with large table and 3 chairs; the cabin has a large sofa and a chair and small coffeetable and 2 tvs and of course a small refrigerator; the bathroom is fairly large with a full-length tub. Nice size closets and a small safe big enough for jewelry/wallets, etc.

Have a great cruise!