Coral Princess Alaska SB 7/1/15 JUST BOOKED!!

[Latitude Adjustment]

Our first Princess cruise and our first trip to Alaska was just booked today! We are very excited and booked a premium balcony room on the Caribe deck, portside C524. I believe this balcony is partially covered and partially uncovered from my research on this forum, hopefully someone can confirm this fact. Now, we need to begin the process of a brief pre-cruise land tour which we will most likely do ourselves. Really really excited and it is a trip to celebrate our 20th anniversary which occurs this fall. From my research a lot of travelers loved the Coral and would sail on her again and again. Hope others chime in and I will continue to search this site for more information.

[onefine89]

Don't know much about the Coral Princess.......bu welcome to Princess and your first cruise....and in Alaska! You'll love it and wish you had more time to see the amazing area. We did a 14-day Voyage of the Glaciers on the Sapphire and it was great! We also had a last minute deal that we couldn't pass on and sounds like you got a great deal also!

 

Be sure to get ahold of the "The Alaska Cruise Companion" book that should be sold on board for about $18.99......a great guide for your cruise that is 293 glossy pages of pictures and narratives of the sights you'll see!

 

Enjoy your Alaskan adventure!

___________________

Here's a brief summary of the Cruise Companion:

 

We purchased "The Alaska Cruise Companion – A Naturalist's Guide to the Inside Passage" by Rachel Cartwright ($18.99) on board the Sapphire Princess in 2012 (2012 edition). It's a 293 page book with all high gloss pages and fantastic pictures of the sights. A paper map comes with the book that is folded inside.

 

The book follows your Princess cruise route from your “sail-away” from Vancouver, BC all the way up to Whittier, AK with all the stops in between and special view points along the way (whale sighting locations). The Map (20” x 22”) covers the general route as mentioned (front side), and, specifically Tracy Arm, Glacier Bay, Yakutat Bay/Hubbard Glacier, and Prince William Sound on into Whittier (back side). Glossy one-page maps are also within the book's pages.....you can follow your cruise from Whittier back to Vancouver also!

 

Chapter One – Alaska, the Greatland

Chapter Two – Cruising the Waters of British Columbia

Chapter Three – Welcome to Ketchikan

Chapter Four – Juneau, Alaska's Capital

Chapter Five – Skagway, Gateway to the Klondike

Chapter Six – Glorious Glaciers: Cruising Alaska's Wilderness Bays

Chapter Seven – Alaska'a Heartland

Chapter Eight – The Road Ahead

 

There's numerous pages with pictures and narratives on wildlife (marine & terrestrial) and plant life that could be sighted along your cruise route.

The Cruise Companion is well worth the purchase and loaded with information/pictures about Alaska.

[TracieABD]

Congratulations! You are correct about your balcony...

 

Happy anniversary to you and yours!

[Latitude Adjustment]

Congratulations! You are correct about your balcony...

 

Happy anniversary to you and yours!

 

Thanks for confirming my research and appreciate the well wishes!

[Latitude Adjustment]

Don't know much about the Coral Princess.......bu welcome to Princess and your first cruise....and in Alaska! You'll love it and wish you had more time to see the amazing area. We did a 14-day Voyage of the Glaciers on the Sapphire and it was great! We also had a last minute deal that we couldn't pass on and sounds like you got a great deal also!

 

Be sure to get ahold of the "The Alaska Cruise Companion" book that should be sold on board for about $18.99......a great guide for your cruise that is 293 glossy pages of pictures and narratives of the sights you'll see!

 

Enjoy your Alaskan adventure!

___________________

Here's a brief summary of the Cruise Companion:

 

We purchased "The Alaska Cruise Companion – A Naturalist's Guide to the Inside Passage" by Rachel Cartwright ($18.99) on board the Sapphire Princess in 2012 (2012 edition). It's a 293 page book with all high gloss pages and fantastic pictures of the sights. A paper map comes with the book that is folded inside.

 

The book follows your Princess cruise route from your “sail-away” from Vancouver, BC all the way up to Whittier, AK with all the stops in between and special view points along the way (whale sighting locations). The Map (20” x 22”) covers the general route as mentioned (front side), and, specifically Tracy Arm, Glacier Bay, Yakutat Bay/Hubbard Glacier, and Prince William Sound on into Whittier (back side). Glossy one-page maps are also within the book's pages.....you can follow your cruise from Whittier back to Vancouver also!

 

Chapter One – Alaska, the Greatland

Chapter Two – Cruising the Waters of British Columbia

Chapter Three – Welcome to Ketchikan

Chapter Four – Juneau, Alaska's Capital

Chapter Five – Skagway, Gateway to the Klondike

Chapter Six – Glorious Glaciers: Cruising Alaska's Wilderness Bays

Chapter Seven – Alaska'a Heartland

Chapter Eight – The Road Ahead

 

There's numerous pages with pictures and narratives on wildlife (marine & terrestrial) and plant life that could be sighted along your cruise route.

The Cruise Companion is well worth the purchase and loaded with information/pictures about Alaska.

 

Mike, the book sounds awesome and probably worth getting as keepsake coffee table book, thanks for the tip.

[Colo Cruiser]

Our first Princess cruise and our first trip to Alaska was just booked today! We are very excited and booked a premium balcony room on the Caribe deck, portside C524. I believe this balcony is partially covered and partially uncovered from my research on this forum, hopefully someone can confirm this fact. Now, we need to begin the process of a brief pre-cruise land tour which we will most likely do ourselves. Really really excited and it is a trip to celebrate our 20th anniversary which occurs this fall. From my research a lot of travelers loved the Coral and would sail on her again and again. Hope others chime in and I will continue to search this site for more information.

 

We have sailed on the Coral/Island Princess many times.

Love them.

 

Check out this site....

 

http://mysite.verizon.net/res76zxu/princessbalconies/index.html

Edited June 30, 2014 by Colo Cruiser

[Bimmer09]

Alaska SB great choice! I loved sailing out of Whittier as the light was fading...very quiet and atmospheric with mists draping the mountains.

 

Coral Princess the perfect fit. Wonderful ship.

 

Any thoughts on excursions you'd like to do?

 

Norris

[Thrak]

Our first Princess cruise and our first trip to Alaska was just booked today! We are very excited and booked a premium balcony room on the Caribe deck, portside C524. I believe this balcony is partially covered and partially uncovered from my research on this forum, hopefully someone can confirm this fact. Now, we need to begin the process of a brief pre-cruise land tour which we will most likely do ourselves. Really really excited and it is a trip to celebrate our 20th anniversary which occurs this fall. From my research a lot of travelers loved the Coral and would sail on her again and again. Hope others chime in and I will continue to search this site for more information.

 

I am starting (today) to look into this very thing. We want to either take a Panama Canal full transit or else an Alaskan cruisetour. I looked into the PC cruise and it's almost completely booked (the only one out of SF). Need to look into the Alaska cruise now but the land tour part is going to be a bit odd to figure out. They offer so many different land tours that sound the same but are booked with different numbers and prices. I'll have to pull out the cruise atlas and see if I can figure out the differences.

 

Congrats on your first Princess cruise. We did Alaska (without a land tour) on Sea Princess a few years ago and absolutely loved it. We did the inside passage with Glacier Bay. We want to do the same thing this time but as a one way home rather than a round trip.

 

Congratulations on your anniversary. I remember hitting 20 years but that was 22 years ago. :)

[BroncoLvrs]

I concur with the other posters...the Coral and Island are WONDERFUL ships!

 

If you have a chance the 6 Hr Catamaran tour through the Kenai Fjords National Park is AMAZING! It goes out of Seward (we used Major Marine Tours) and the variety of wildlife you see is great. We saw orca pods (even a baby), humpbacks, otters, sea lions, seals, puffins, black bears, mountain goats and more...it was one of the highlights of our trip.

 

Enjoy your cruise...Alaska is breathtaking!

[caribill]

They offer so many different land tours that sound the same but are booked with different numbers and prices. I'll have to pull out the cruise atlas and see if I can figure out the differences.

 

 

When we did a land tour, we spent two nights at each Princess lodge on the tour. That worked very well. We felt that any one night stay meant more time traveling than seeing.

 

So, I would look for the tours which offer two nights at each lodge. In our case we did a six day (night) tour that went to three lodges.

[Eileen G]

We just did an Alaska cruise on the Coral in May and we really loved it. You picked the perfect ship for Alaska. We also did a few days precruise in Anchorage on our own. I don't know if you read my review but here is the link.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2047429

[Latitude Adjustment]

Alaska SB great choice! I loved sailing out of Whittier as the light was fading...very quiet and atmospheric with mists draping the mountains.

 

Coral Princess the perfect fit. Wonderful ship.

 

Any thoughts on excursions you'd like to do?

 

Norris

 

Norris, sounds like a great ship, hoping obviously for good weather but no matter we will truly enjoy our time there. I have not yet done my homework on the excursions but will soon focus on that, just glad to get the balcony cabin in place and go from there.

[Latitude Adjustment]

I am starting (today) to look into this very thing. We want to either take a Panama Canal full transit or else an Alaskan cruisetour. I looked into the PC cruise and it's almost completely booked (the only one out of SF). Need to look into the Alaska cruise now but the land tour part is going to be a bit odd to figure out. They offer so many different land tours that sound the same but are booked with different numbers and prices. I'll have to pull out the cruise atlas and see if I can figure out the differences.

 

Congrats on your first Princess cruise. We did Alaska (without a land tour) on Sea Princess a few years ago and absolutely loved it. We did the inside passage with Glacier Bay. We want to do the same thing this time but as a one way home rather than a round trip.

 

Congratulations on your anniversary. I remember hitting 20 years but that was 22 years ago. :)

 

Yeah, still just getting into the land tour stuff, no way to visit Alaska without doing a few days ahead of time. Thanks for the kind thoughts, 20 years for us is this fall and this is the big trip we are doing to celebrate.

[Latitude Adjustment]

I concur with the other posters...the Coral and Island are WONDERFUL ships!

 

If you have a chance the 6 Hr Catamaran tour through the Kenai Fjords National Park is AMAZING! It goes out of Seward (we used Major Marine Tours) and the variety of wildlife you see is great. We saw orca pods (even a baby), humpbacks, otters, sea lions, seals, puffins, black bears, mountain goats and more...it was one of the highlights of our trip.

 

Enjoy your cruise...Alaska is breathtaking!

 

I will definitely check this out, thanks!

[Latitude Adjustment]

Caribill, I think you are correct, 2 nights each is the way to go for each hotel stay.

 

Eileen-thanks for the info, no I have not yet read your tour but will definitely do so. Time for some note taking!

[Thrak]

Well... Last night my wife decided she wanted to do the 17 day Panama Canal transit out of SF so I guess the Alaskan cruisetour is on hold for now. At least she made up her mind. :)

[Momma Mojito]

Well... Last night my wife decided she wanted to do the 17 day Panama Canal transit out of SF so I guess the Alaskan cruisetour is on hold for now. At least she made up her mind. :)

 

You will love it!! We did the 15 day Panama cruise ..FT Lauderdale to L.A. for the second time this May on the Coral. and could do it again. Loved the Coral, in fact she is our favorite Princess ship.

[barbierahrah]

We were just on the Coral in May also. Goodness -- just realized your cruise is a whole year away! We loved the Coral -- a smaller ship than say the Ruby, so not as many shops, etc. but nicer to be able to run in to folks you've met each day on the ship. Also, getting on and off each day seemed so much quicker and easier. Dining rooms and public areas were lovely, and several different lounges and areas for entertainment and relaxing. Personally, I don't think you can beat the landtours that Princess offers -- very economical when you figure it out compared to on your own, and they coordinate it all perfectly and it's very organized. I was amazed. It is confusing at first to decide which landtour to book. We did a TA4 and cruised first and landtoured after. Since food is pretty much on your own once on land, I figured it was a good time to conserve and start my diet! We left from Vancouver and ended up in Whittier. Our TA4 took a train (included in our cost) to McKinley lodge for one nite. The train actually ended in Talkeetna where you had options to book a jet boat or rafting, fishing, flight excursions,etc. After that, it was a 1 hr. bus ride (included in our cost) to the McKinley lodge. There's not much there, except a few walking trails. The next day we took the bus to Denali Lodge (about 2.5 hrs.) for 1 nite. Optional tours are also available there, and there are numerous shops and eating places across the road, but also a couple of good restaurants right at the lodge. The grounds and views at both McKinley and Denali were lovely. The next day was a natural history tour of Denali via bus, which was included in our cost. It was a beautiful tour, and we saw moose and a grizzly! The bad thing was the tour left at 6 AM!!!!! That afternoon we took a bus (included in the cost) to Fairbanks, making a stop or two along the way. We were at the Bear Lodge in Fairbanks, which was OK, but if there had to be a low point of the trip, that was it. The next day was the Gold Dredge tour and Riverboat Cruise (both included in our cost) and those were both very well worth it. The final day (our plane left at 2 PM) we had time to walk through a bird santuary/preserve next to the hotel before taking the shuttle (included in our cost) to the airport. As I said, I think by the time you figure in transportation and hotel and tour costs, I doubt you could do all we did for less cost. As far as the port stops -- Ketchikan is quite small and you're not there very long. Juneau is larger, and there were places to book tours when you got off the boat. Skagway was EXTREMELY small, and we had prebooked a private tour co. to take a small bus (25 passenger) up to the Yukon, have lunch, see Husky puppies and a wildlife museum (quite small of course, but interesting) and then take the train down the mtn. It was pricey but absolutely fantastic. I believe you cabin is portside, which I think is best for Glacier Bay and College Fjord. Good luck and enjoy!

[cnd crsr]

Hi Latitude Attitudes,

 

Congrats on your 20th anniversary and first Coral Princess cruise! We will be joining you (our first time on the Coral and our 50th anniversary). We will have to set up a thread on the Roll Call.

[shredie]

You will love it!! We did the 15 day Panama cruise ..FT Lauderdale to L.A. for the second time this May on the Coral. and could do it again. Loved the Coral, in fact she is our favorite Princess ship.

 

We did this in the fall of last year. It was one of the best cruises we ever took. The ports are fascinating. The Coral is just beautiful. The process of the locks at the canal was so interesting. You'll not regret the choice.