Just off the Coral 18th-28th

[Muscleshop]

Some rough sea in the beginning, and since this was our first time on a ship of lesser stature, the rolls/sways were quite a bit more than we were used to. Didn't bother us much but may others were uneasy..I.E. queezy......lol

 

Everything was decent, not stellar. The food in the main dining rooms was below the level were are used to on Princess ship(s).....but nothing I would throw out. Especially disappointed in the Christmas Dinner menu....it was very bland.....and menus later in the week were better.

 

Two things of serious note, both located at the very least to one particular section of the ship. If more widespread we were not aware, but certainly possible. The rear, port side of the ship, on the Caribe deck had SERIOUS issues with the AC not working properly. from C728-C628 (at a minimum) had maintenance in their rooms many times trying to fix the issues. They "claimed" to have fix them, but out of 10 days...our AC only really worked one day. One of the rooms, I think C716 (or maybe C712) had something outside their room flood the hallway carpet. I'm assuming it was the AC unit??? We did also notice drastic swings in temperature in different parts of the ship at times, but not sure if it was a constant thing in those areas. We also had family in C727 (starboard side) that said they had issues with the AC as well but not to the same extent we did.

 

The second issue was with the hot water in the rooms, or I should say, LACK of hot water on many occasions. I know for sure the we had problems in C720 & C722. I'm also fairly certain that room C728 (HolidayCruising's room) had hot water issues too.

 

Other than those two main issues, the cruise was just ordinary for us. Not stellar, not bad.

[pablo222]

The second issue was with the hot water in the rooms, or I should say, LACK of hot water on many occasions.

 

I was on coral a few weeks ago. One morning, I was just about

to step into the shower, when the water stopped completely.

 

I felt I was lucky, as I wasn't yet soapy.

 

After a few minutes, the water returned.

 

Not having a lot of confidence, I filled the sink with

"emergency rinse" water, and continued.

[dorisis]

We were on the Coral the cruise prior to the 18th and had no problems on D deck.temperatures varied from one area of the ship to another, but that seems normal for most ships.

[wilfros]

Thank you so much for your post.

 

I would like to hear more from you about the cruise. What did you think of the entertainment, ship layout, ports etc etc.

 

I hail from the era when hot water was always an issue on board a ship and thus you needed to shower by 4pm for the evening events or take your chances. Same with the air conditioning, it was always breaking somewhere. As a matter of fact our last princess cruise (Golden to Hawaii) our toilet was not working for more than half the trip. I lieu of having cabin facilities we would have to visit the public facilities either on the upper or lower public decks.

 

This could have been a deal breaker for us if we chose to allow it, but instead, we reported the issue and moved on. Hawaii ended up being one of our best trips so far.

 

I don't want to diminish your complaint but I notice how you just report the issue and not exaggerate it. With an attitude like that I would love to hear you thought about the other aspects of the cruise we will be on in just 10 days.

 

Thanks, I look forward to your reply.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Could you post the Patters from your cruise? Thanks!

[Muscleshop]

Thank you so much for your post.

 

I would like to hear more from you about the cruise. What did you think of the entertainment, ship layout, ports etc etc.

 

I don't want to diminish your complaint but I notice how you just report the issue and not exaggerate it. With an attitude like that I would love to hear you thought about the other aspects of the cruise we will be on in just 10 days.

 

Thanks, I look forward to your reply.

 

The Coral is the smallest ship we have been on, and there was a bit of "adjusting" we had to do.... we skirted a couple of storms an the waves were a little rough the first couple of days. Being a smaller ship than we were used to the rolls/sways were a bit more pronounced.....lol

 

As for entertainment, hmmm... Princess is NEVER going to be known for it's top notch acts..and we don't expect them to, as they do other things at a higher level which we do want and expect. They had the usual things, comedian/illusionist/et al. The one thing we were kind of miffed at was the choices for MUTS (Movies Under the Stars) for this cruise itinerary. We do enjoy this particular feature very much and were disappointed. This was a holiday (Christmas) cruise...and they showed only a couple of holiday themed movies. Worse than that, they replaced the movies with "concerts" for many of the nights....

 

The ports: This particular cruise had some shorter port times than normal, but it's the only cruise everybody's schedule lined up with. Aruba was great but touristy for the time we spent there. We really liked Cartagena much more than we expected, especially Old Town. However, do not go to the "dungeons" it's a worthless tourist trap IMO. Also, they try to charge everyone to use the bathroom ($1). I've heard the arguments for and against.... but I stand by my statement.... "I'm NOT paying anyone do do something that is under natural law..." being 6'4" and a powerlifter.... I didn't have much problem with "going" anywhere I wanted without being charged. That said, others in our party decided to pay vs/ letting me get involved....lol

 

The Canal was very cool, but we did not do any excursions. I did however havea front row/center spot on the forward "secret" Caribe deck. I used my video camera to film about 1 hour's worth of time entering the canalway and then moved around the ship to film us actually going thru the locks. Colon is absolutely WORTHLESS IMO. The 2 1/2 hours we had there was nothing more than letting us off to see a strip of shops that all carried the exact same things....and inflated prices. Costa Rica was great, but don't plan on doing any relaxing swimming right off most of the beaches. The waves are quite rough, normally, and many beaches have strong undercurrents. I had fun in the water, but our 4yr old & 2 yr old were relegated to a very short distance into the water. I actually planned a private excursion to Cahuita and it's National Park, which is about 40 minutes south of Limon. It was good to get away from everyone else on the ship and do something different. It wasn't very busy and plenty of restaurants/places once we got there. Easy to haggle with the private taxi companies... we took 8 people roundtrip (with a guide) for $130 + tips.

 

Ocho Rios was much more built up than in the recent past...but I'm not a big fan of Jamaica. Still too many "characters" and bad areas for me to feel comfortable taking my family around. Other (singel adults) in our party had plenty of fun though :) I would have rather gone to the Grand Caymans which most of the other partial itineraries go to...but maybe another time.

 

We were fine with the layout of the ship, but were constantly amused that the International Café is basically an extension of the Casino...lol The are a few half walls separating the two. The Horizon Court buffet is one the Lido (14th) deck at the very front of the ship...and has huge windows all around the front, so it was neat to sit there and watch things while eating.

 

I found it odd how early some of the places on the ship closed, as even on other Princess ships they were open longer. The "grille" close to the pool that serves hamburgers/brats/grilled chicken... closed at 9pm. The pizza spot closed at 10pm. Not sure why this was, but maybe a of combination of: less people on a smaller ship, the ship, itinerary, etc??? I just know those spots were definitely open later on the Crown this past April.

 

The food was just so-so. It was not bad, but it was not stellar either. I think the biggest problem were the menu's themselves. They were lackluster, especially on Christmas, and they had better menu choices on almost every other day which was surprising. We had much better food in the main dining rooms aboard the Crown in April 2013. The Bayou Café/Steakhouse was decent, but we were disappointed with Sabatini's. Odd because we really like Sabatini's on the Crown. The buffet was the buffet. You can always find things you really like, and things that you look at and think "WTH?"

 

** Decks 9,10 and 11 (Dolphin Caribe, Baja respectively) have huge public balconies on the rear of the ship. And there was hardly anyone ever out there, and could almost be considered a private oasis. It was a HUGE score for us, since we were only a few cabins away from it. There were 12 loungers on the Caribe one...and at most 4 of them were ever used at one time (and all of them were being used by our group at the time). This totally negated the need for my mother to spend money on the Sanctuary. **

 

The staff on the ship was extremely pleasant and helpful. I don't recall a single instance of walking by a crew member without them acknowledging me/us...and usually with a polite greeting. We certainly did notice a reduction in the number of staff in certain areas though (from what we are used to). This was especially evident in the pool areas, as there were not many servers available.

Edited January 2, 2014 by Muscleshop

[Bimmer09]

Thanks for the Coral review. She was my first Princess experience (Alaska 2011)

The Canal trip is on my bucket list for the time I can take more than a 7 day cruise.

 

I would be interested if you could elaborate more on Ocho Rios as I haven't been there in almost 30 years. What were your experiences outside the dock gates?

 

Thanks again,

Norris

[Pam in CA]

The Coral is the smallest ship we have been on, and there was a bit of "adjusting" we had to do....

You do know that the Coral is longer than the Grand-class ships, right? And, she has as many decks as most. However, she's narrower due to sailing through the current Panama Canal and has a lot fewer passengers. What did you need to adjust to? That she's narrower? Fewer passengers? Just curious. Edited January 3, 2014 by Pam in CA

[Host Jazzbeau]

You do know that the Coral is longer than the Grand-class ships, right? And, she has as many decks as most. However, she's narrower due to sailing through the current Panama Canal and has a lot fewer passengers. What did you need to adjust to? That she's narrower? Fewer passengers? Just curious.

 

The biggest adjustment I had to make on Coral was not getting lost constantly. Nice clear layout.

[jbn87]

We have been on 26 cruises but have been on European cruises for the last 5 years. The ports in Cartagena, Columbia, Limon, Costa Rica, and Aruba can you still get off the ship and hire a driver, either cab or van, at the port. We have found in the past that they are much cheaper that the cruise tours. We were surprised that Princess will not let you off the ship in Panama (Gutan Lake) if you do not take a tour.

Has anyone sailed this itinerary in the last couple of months?

Thank you.

[Pam in CA]

We have been on 26 cruises but have been on European cruises for the last 5 years. The ports in Cartagena, Columbia, Limon, Costa Rica, and Aruba can you still get off the ship and hire a driver, either cab or van, at the port. We have found in the past that they are much cheaper that the cruise tours. We were surprised that Princess will not let you off the ship in Panama (Gutan Lake) if you do not take a tour.

Not the last couple of months but the itinerary doesn't change much, if at all. Yes, you can get off the ship and hire a driver. Not sure about Colombia (it's not Columbia) or Costa Rica but the flat charge in Aruba is $45/hour. In Colombia, I strongly recommend an independent tour with Lee Miles, an American in Cartegena. He's known as "Mr. Emerald" and yes, you go to his shop, but his tours are top notch and reasonable. If you're looking for emerald jewelry in Cartegena, you can be sure you're getting the best at a reasonable price at his shop. I was surprised at how much better the quality was than the places Princess or someone else might take you. http://www.destinationcartagena.com/privatetours/

 

So far as I know, all cruise lines that stop and disembark passengers in Gatun Lake do it only for those on ship tours, no independents. It could be legal or insurance reasons, it could be that only a certain number of people are allowed in the landing area, I don't know. But I do know that you can't take an independent tour from Gatun Lake, no matter which cruise line.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the info ...

[Muscleshop]

You do know that the Coral is longer than the Grand-class ships, right? And, she has as many decks as most. However, she's narrower due to sailing through the current Panama Canal and has a lot fewer passengers. What did you need to adjust to? That she's narrower? Fewer passengers? Just curious.

 

It not being as stable in rough(er) waters as larger, newer (technology) ships. I'm just assuming, since there are too many variables to count....lol There were just more rolls/sways than any previous ship we've been on. If it were just in the open seas I wouldn't assume as much this way but it started as soon as we disembarked :)

[Pam in CA]

It not being as stable in rough(er) waters as larger, newer (technology) ships. I'm just assuming, since there are too many variables to count....lol There were just more rolls/sways than any previous ship we've been on. If it were just in the open seas I wouldn't assume as much this way but it started as soon as we disembarked :)

You're right. there are too many variables such as wind speed and direction, wave height, speed and direction, current speed and direction, and ship speed and direction to be able to judge one ship that's as long and high as another but narrower. Technology has less to do with it than ship design. Stabilizers can do just so much with side-to-side motion.

[sjmbruce]

 

 

Costa Rica was great, but don't plan on doing any relaxing swimming right off most of the beaches. The waves are quite rough, normally, and many beaches have strong undercurrents. I had fun in the water, but our 4yr old & 2 yr old were relegated to a very short distance into the water. I actually planned a private excursion to Cahuita and it's National Park, which is about 40 minutes south of Limon. It was good to get away from everyone else on the ship and do something different. It wasn't very busy and plenty of restaurants/places once we got there. Easy to haggle with the private taxi companies... we took 8 people roundtrip (with a guide) for $130 + tips.

 

 

 

You went to Cahuita? Could you please share a little more information? I so wanted to go there last year but couldn't find any current information. Instead, I went to the Jaguar Rescue Center, which was amazing, but I have been curious about Cahuita since then. Thanks!