Coral Princess - Just finished Northbound Alaska!

[300dtc]

Hi there fellow cruise critics! We just got back from a wonderful 7 day Alaska cruise on the Coral Princess. I really wanted to do a review, but am completely swamped at work...so does anyone have any questions I can answer and I'll try to elaborate around my answers...we did go to Vancouver, BC for 3 days prior to the cruise and had a great time. We used the HOHO trolley and got to see a lot of the places that I wanted to see. Stanley park is beautiful! Our weather was great, Vancouver is very temperate and and the weather was super in Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway. It was sunny and in the mid-60's. Didn't get cold until Glacier Bay and College Fjord. So how can i help anyone?:)

[RoobyDoo]

Welcome back! I'm glad you had a great trip.

 

For the 3-day pre-cruise time in Vancouver: was this the Princess pre-cruise package that they offer? Or did you arrange this on your own (separate from Princess)? I booked the Princess pre-cruise 3-day package (prior to a Connoisseur cruise and land tour in July). So if you similarly had the Princess pre-cruise tour, I might have some questions about it. Thanks!

[Travel_Maven]

Welcome back! We are leaving for the Northbound on the Coral in 2 weeks. I'm curious about the condition of the ship? How was your cabin and what did you think of the food? Also curious...was there still any snow on the mountains? I know it's been unusually warm there this spring. Thanks!

[mariakitty]

I would love to know more about the new Alaska-themed menus in the MDR. What types of seafood were added?

 

Glad you had a wonderful cruise :-)

Maria

[Big Wally 1]

Welcome home. It would be nice to see any patters.

[Frogemax]

I too am going on the Coral later in the year and am interested in her condition etc before her refurb next spring

[300dtc]

Hi RoobyDoo, in Vancouver we did our own tour not thru Princess. Travel Maven, the ship isn't in bad shape.. There are a lot of places in great shape but some of the carpeting is worn and our cabin had some wear to the balcony area.. The atrium was in great shape as were a lot of the ship, I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the library and we liked the wheelhouse bar too. Very old fashioned and beautiful wood and furnishings. Mariakitty, we had escargot, scallops, fish tacos, calamari, king crab, haddock, prawns, lobster, pasta with clams etc it was a seafood lovers dream! Sorry Big Wally I tossed them on board but if you had some specific questions I might remember[emoji4]

[Colo Cruiser]

Glad you had a great cruise. :)

[SOCALS]

Hi there fellow cruise critics! We just got back from a wonderful 7 day Alaska cruise on the Coral Princess. I really wanted to do a review, but am completely swamped at work...so does anyone have any questions I can answer and I'll try to elaborate around my answers...we did go to Vancouver, BC for 3 days prior to the cruise and had a great time. We used the HOHO trolley and got to see a lot of the places that I wanted to see. Stanley park is beautiful! Our weather was great, Vancouver is very temperate and and the weather was super in Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway. It was sunny and in the mid-60's. Didn't get cold until Glacier Bay and College Fjord. So how can i help anyone?:)

 

Which North to Alaska event did you guys get on Coral? Discovery Channel Deadliest Catch, Libby Riddles - Iditarod Champion, or Lumberjacks? Thanks in advance and sailing Coral Southbound in August. :D

[300dtc]

We had Libby riddles and the Lumberjacks .. Didn't see either but we enjoyed the naturalist Mark Harris on board.

[SMLpair]

Hi 300dtc. We will be on the Coral Princess northbound in 2 weeks. Is there any need to pack short sleeves, capris, or sandals? Thanks for offering to answer our questions.

[300dtc]

Hi SMLpair.. We had unbelievable weather. It was warm in all 3 ports I had on boyfriend jeans that roll at the bottom in Ketchican and short sleeve t shirt and was a little warm.. In Juneau wore jeans and a t shirt and has a jacket for the whale watch we were on.. DH never even put his jacket on that day we went back to the ship and dropped off our jackets and ate a late lunch and went back to town and it was pretty warm. In Skagway we went up to the Yukon Territory and again jeans and t shirt.. Drizzled a little bit but then the sun came out it was a beautiful day. Glacier bay and college fjord were cold outside.. If you are sitting outside you would definitely need a coat and long pants but I saw people bundled up like they were going to the artic circle! Onboard the ship I wore capris 2 evenings and dressy 3/4 length sleeves tops and was fine.. Of course if you were spending time outside you would have needed a coat. Took a pair of shorts but never wore them. Hope this helps and of course you never know what the weather will do..

[300dtc]

Oh and I wore dressy sandals every nite onboard and either tennis shoes or my Merrills while in port

[hllwdcruiser]

Thank you for your review! Your advice on clothes is very much appreciated especially since we are leaving this Friday.

 

I've read that there is very little snow in AK this year because of the unusually warm spring - is this true and how did it affect the scenery?

 

If you could do the trip again, now that it is behind you, what changes would you have made? Is there anything you wish you hadn't done or anything that you wish you had?

[300dtc]

Thank you for your review! Your advice on clothes is very much appreciated especially since we are leaving this Friday.

 

I've read that there is very little snow in AK this year because of the unusually warm spring - is this true and how did it affect the scenery?

 

If you could do the trip again, now that it is behind you, what changes would you have made? Is there anything you wish you hadn't done or anything that you wish you had?

 

The mountains still had caps of snow, it was very green though, hiking to Nugget Falls at the Mendenhall Glacier, I really wished i had worn shorts, it was hot! But that was the day we were on a whale watch with Juneau Whale Watch (they did a great job), and it would have been a little too cool on the water with shorts. When you get to glacier bay, there is more snow, but the lower elevations are green. Since it was our first time to Alaska, we thought it was all very beautiful, and really had nothing to compare it to...

Now what changes...in Skagway, the trip to Emerald Lake was ok...the lake is very interesting to see and we saw some very cool glaciers and waterfalls on the way. But to me, Carcross was a terrible rip off. We had to eat lunch there, or starve and got some sandwiches from a local bakery, 7.25 for a turkey and swiss that was mostly lettuce on white bread. They were charging Canadian dollars but wouldn't convert from US dollars and gave canadian dollars as change, even though lots of people in front of us also paid in US dollars. That place and the gelato store also said that their credit card machines weren't working...so we had no choice but to pay with cash. I didn't have any more CAN dollars left because we tried to use it all in Vancouver before we left, and I never thought to save some for our short trip back into the Yukon. We spent about 1 and 1/2 hours there sitting on a bench, there really was nothing to see. So i would probably change that tour, although when we got back our guide took us to a waterfall right outside of town and we did get to see the graveyard where "soapy" smith is buried.

But that is probably the only thing i would do differently...have a great time!

[uttu]

Glad you had a great trip!

 

I am wondering what the price of pictures on board was? The ones they take. Were there any packages or any deals going on we should wait for? We always buy some pictures so wanted to be prepared.

 

Did you use aft viewing areas? Were they accessible and advantageous?

[300dtc]

Never went to aft viewing areas I think a 8x10 was $39 didn't really check further although there was a really nice pic that would have been great but couldn't make myself spend the money.. Forgot to mention one of the best things about the whole cruise. We booked a ocean view and were upgraded at check in to a balcony, I couldn't believe it!! It was great for enjoying the scenery!

[vcinmd]

Thank you for the helpful post. What type of dining did you use? Did you have a seating time or did you use anytime? What was your experience like? Many thanks

[300dtc]

Hi! You are welcome[emoji4] we used anytime dining and ate in the main dining room every evening but 1 and on the night we went to the specialty Italian restaurant. We usually ate after 6:30 or 7 and never really had much of a wait maybe 5 or 10 minutes on 2 nights. We always got a table for 2 but lots of times ended up talking to the people at the table next to us anyway. The food in Sabatinis was really good and we really enjoyed it. We had a reservation for 8 but went at 7:30 and had no problem being seated. The food in the main dining room was sometimes great sometimes ok but always better than if I had to cook[emoji6]

[knbcruisers]

The combo photos that they take at embarkation and at each port were $19.99, this got you a 3x5, 4x6 and key chain size photo

[Colo Cruiser]

The mountains still had caps of snow, it was very green though, hiking to Nugget Falls at the Mendenhall Glacier, I really wished i had worn shorts, it was hot! But that was the day we were on a whale watch with Juneau Whale Watch (they did a great job), and it would have been a little too cool on the water with shorts. When you get to glacier bay, there is more snow, but the lower elevations are green. Since it was our first time to Alaska, we thought it was all very beautiful, and really had nothing to compare it to...

Now what changes...in Skagway, the trip to Emerald Lake was ok...the lake is very interesting to see and we saw some very cool glaciers and waterfalls on the way. But to me, Carcross was a terrible rip off. We had to eat lunch there, or starve and got some sandwiches from a local bakery, 7.25 for a turkey and swiss that was mostly lettuce on white bread. They were charging Canadian dollars but wouldn't convert from US dollars and gave canadian dollars as change, even though lots of people in front of us also paid in US dollars. That place and the gelato store also said that their credit card machines weren't working...so we had no choice but to pay with cash. I didn't have any more CAN dollars left because we tried to use it all in Vancouver before we left, and I never thought to save some for our short trip back into the Yukon. We spent about 1 and 1/2 hours there sitting on a bench, there really was nothing to see. So i would probably change that tour, although when we got back our guide took us to a waterfall right outside of town and we did get to see the graveyard where "soapy" smith is buried.

But that is probably the only thing i would do differently...have a great time!

 

Sounds like a setup! :(

 

We just rented a car drove up and back. So I could say we did it.

[lucy1311lb]

Thanks so much for all the info. I will be on the Coral Princess for a northbound Alaska cruise, but not until next June, 2016. It's going to be a Christmas surprise gift for my husband so I can't even discuss it with him for another five months.