Cruise-Mas Through the Panama Canal- Live from the Coral Princess- 12-17-15

[socaljo]

Yippee!! Thanks Tracie-Lynn! We just booked the march 24, full transit on the Island for our 30th anniversary. I've been crawling the pages trying to read anything and everything about the canal experience! Can't wait to sail along with you! Thanks for taking the time to make my day! :D

[golfb4cruzing]

Just booked this trip today for next October. Can't wait to follow the trip. Sorry to hear about your Mom. I worry every time we go away cause my Mom won't go on a ship.

[TracieABD]

December 17, 2015

 

Embarkation Day!

 

We loved our hotel in Fort Lauderdale, but it was finally time to head to the ship. We called for our Uber (which is very prevalent in this neck of the woods) and we were off. We were to embark at Pier 2. By the time we got to port (around 11:20) the crowds were already there. We managed to get through security pretty quickly, and as I walked, I filled out the health form. Obviously, I did not complete enough of it, as we were stopped abruptly by a very "assertive" woman who for the life of her could not grasp that we had preferred boarding. We finally managed to get past her and into the check out line. The preferred line was just a bit shorter than the other line.

 

We finally checked in, and just as we were finishing, our son called and said he arrived. We decided to wait for him as he cleared security and the check in line. I really wanted to do that because of my "situation". Upon check in, I told that guy at the desk that Max's travel companion would not be checking in. He asked, "So, Delores is not sailing with us today?" We said "no" and offered no explanation. We got Max squared away and that was it. We have monitored his credit card, but there have been no charges that would indicate a single suppliment. I think that is it. It was a lot of worry for very little event. And I am really grateful.

 

We waited as long to board as we ever had, because we did not get on with the Preferred guests. We finally made it onto the ship around 12:40. I asked the first guy we met which dining room was open for lunch, and he said none and proceeded to point us in the direction of the buffet. Um... nope. Not gonna happen. I am just not a buffet person. No offense to anyone who is, it is just not my thing.

 

I asked another person who said the MDR on Deck 6. And viola! There was lunch. And the menu has been expanded again. My husband and son had the bay shrimp and avocado and I had the antipasto. Max had salmon (and both my husband and he declared it delicious), DH had a burger, and I had the beef- which was a little chewy, but good. We finished with some ice cream.

 

We then waited to chat with the Maitre d' regarding our table. I am not a huge fan of sharing any way, but this is not the cruise. It has been such a challenging year, and I just can't answer the million questions and keep up the pretenses. We are at a tiny round four-top, which will work perfectly for the three of us.

 

After our visit, I sent DH to Max's room and I set about to unpack and organize. I cannot unpack with anyone else in the room. I just need to spread out and do my thing. If I am distracted by conversation, I will forget where I put stuff.

 

In the middle of unpacking, we had the "mustard drill". Our muster station is the Princess Theater which was packed. They did a nice job of organizing up so that pandomonium did not ensue. The only hiccups were the recorded message stopped then completely restarted. This was met with lots of audience participation in the form of moaning and groaning. The other notable incident was the toddler who squawked the entire time and jumped on the seat. SMH.

 

We are in side-by-side mini suites on the Dolphin deck. We had been on the list for a suite for a long time, but never got higher than number 3. We are really grateful to have as much real estate as we do. We have met our cabin steward and he seems stressed and over-worked. We only had five items on our "must have list" and he was able to fill it really quickly, but we have yet to see him smile. He is all business all the time.

 

I booked the Thermal Suite which is small but lovely. I also attempted to book the Sanctuary. They will let you book single days in advance. I sort of dilly-dallied (yep, I just said dilly-dally--- which officially makes be a big old dork) and could only get the 24th and the 26th for half days. I asked to be on a waiting list for other slots and the Serenity Captain looked at me as though I were a bit strange, but said "Sure". I am pretty sure that will net me nothing.

 

We made it to dinner, and the service was slow and laboured, but the food was great. I had broth with pasta, a salad, and the leek and ricotta tarts. We had hazelnut souffle for dessert. DH returned to the room and Max and I walked around the ship for a couple of hours. I will share more on my impressions of this class of ships in the days to come.

 

And now we are sailing! Far, far away. And the seas are calm. And I am getting very, very sleepy...

 

Thanks for getting on board.

More tomorrow-

Tracie-Lynn :)

[Colo Cruiser]

Night!

[js4rq]

Nighty-nite!

[MGnut]

HI Friends-

 

So I have debated wildly on whether or not to do a Live From for this cruise. I almost always write one, and it is a mostly joyful experience, but this cruise is a little different. I am not sure if I can be fun or funny. I just want to warn you up front.

 

Tracie-Lynn

 

Tracie-Lynn, I'm sorry you lost your mother and friend, And I hope this cruise brings you some closure.

 

I will be following along with you. We will be doing an 18 day FLL to Vancouver transit on the Island in late April, '16, and look forward to your comments and observations.

 

Bon Voyage!

[TracieABD]

December 18, 2015

 

C Day! (Not an A Day, B Day, certainly not D Day, but wonderful fabulous C Day!!!)

 

Good morning, friends-

 

It is a lovely morning aboard the Coral Princess! I woke really early, very excited to start my day on board. Sadly, the rest of my teeny tiny crew did not feel the same way... So I got up and walked around the Promenade Deck with four of my new BFFs. I have really fallen into a general state of disrepair lately, so I am out the "just trying". Hopefully, I can get a little of my exercise mojo back--- I have the time on this cruise to do just that. But for right now, I am slower than a herd of turtles stampeding through peanut butter-- and just about as graceful. Oh well, you gotta start somewhere...

 

Interesting tidbit about my mom- we received notification that her credit card was declined and she needed to produce an alternate form of payment at the PSD. Um... OK. I went down, and they were most gracious about the whole thing. They let me know that she was not even in the system any longer. Hopefully, this will be the end of it. I will have my son to continue to check his credit card for any charges, but I think that this is it. Mystery solved.

 

After my death march around the Promenade, I grabbed a couple of coffees for Bradley and myself and headed back to the room. DH was moving slowly, so I headed down to the MDR all by myself. I had a fruit plate (no apples--- very, very allergic) and a tiny bowl of oatmeal and 2 slices of bacon. It was exactly what I ordered in the exact portion sizes. The Maitre d' stopped by to chat for about 10 minutes about our table at dinner (I love!) and the Meet and Greet. He is declined the invitation as in a day that lasts from 6 am to after midnight, he gets one 2 hour break-- which coinside with our M&G. I apologized profusely, but I get it. It's a cruise. Everybody needs a nap!!! And in the middle DH decided to join me, but did not eat. I think he was saving himself for Pub Lunch/ Alfredos.

 

We had each picked out a couple of items from the gift shops, and we went to pay for them. He bought a very nice shirt and I purchased an all inclusive make-up kit. I travel quite frequently and it is exactly what I need for my carry on bag. I like that Princess has a number of them to choose from-- Clinque, Estee Lauder, Chanel, Lancome. I selected the one that I wanted and headed off to the Thermal Suite to "read" (ha! that is Tracie code for nap). I like the TS on the ship as it looks really different from the other TSs, but it is small. I am also amazed at how many people feel it is just fine to have a really loud and really personal conversation in this environment which is all of 250 square feet. Seriously, I am not all that interested in Jason and his new wife's disagreement at dinner last night... in spite of that, I now know alllllllllll about it!

 

I packed it in to return to the room, shower and become presentable for the day. Did you catch that line above about lunch at Pub/ Alfredo's? Yep. That was us. We ate two lunches. Both were great. I am going to have to work way harder at pacing myself.

 

I do have some thoughts about the ship... It is really, really different from other Princess ships I have sailed on-- especially the Royal and Grand class ships. It does feel smaller and at certain vantage points, you can stand in one spot and see the ocean from both the port and starboard sides. I like that. I like the location of the International Cafe, as it is out of the Atrium fray and you can actually find a seat on most occasions. The dining room is lovely and spaced well. However, our mini is showing definite signs of wear... particularly the bathroom. Even in the tub, I had a dalliance with the shower curtain that in any other instance I would have demanded from that it buy me dinner and take me to a movie first! I think we have become a little spoiled in suites... Uh oh! Even with that, it is lovely to be on board and very, very distracted. It is also to have fun "discovering" a new class of ships.

 

I am off to our Meet and Greet! I hope it is well attended. They are always so much more fun that way! Let's see what officers show up, too!

 

Thanks for hanging out with me this morning!

More later-

Tracie-Lynn :)

[hm9912]

Tracie Lynn

 

I'm following your blog and wish I was going again

 

We did this trip two years ago and loved it.

Sorry for the loss of your mom

 

Enjoy

 

 

 

 

Howard

[sunsetbeachgal]

Hi Tracie-Lynn,

 

What a fun review, thank you!

 

Could you please tell me more about the IC on the Coral, I understand it is smaller than the ones on the bigger ships, but does it have the same food items? Also, is Alfredos pizza only or does it have the additional menu items that the ones on Regal and Royal have?

 

Thanks and enjoy the rest of your cruise and thanks for taking us along!

[Northender]

I am enjoying sailing with you and yours. We will be on the Coral in April for PC and looking forward to the cruise.:)

 

Where did you stay in Fort Lauderdale? We will be staying at the Embassy Suites and wonder if the Casablanca restaurant is nearby.

 

I am especially interested in your excursions.

 

Thanks

[violetcat911]

So I am here with a girlfriend. I lost my sweetheart last December :( Pushing forward and have a wonderful time. Just cruising right now as we have not gone to any ports. This is my first holiday cruise but I knew for sure that I did not want to be home for Christmas this year. We had to meet and great and met quite a few of us on the roll call. I was a hit with my name......if you were there you will understand :) Had a great time closing down a bar last night and up and off to finding fun spots today at sea.

Check in tomorrow,

Penny

[TracieABD]

Hi Tracie-Lynn,

 

What a fun review, thank you!

 

Could you please tell me more about the IC on the Coral, I understand it is smaller than the ones on the bigger ships, but does it have the same food items? Also, is Alfredos pizza only or does it have the additional menu items that the ones on Regal and Royal have?

 

Thanks and enjoy the rest of your cruise and thanks for taking us along!

 

The IC is smaller, and seems to have about 50% of the display space, so there is probably around 50% of the standard offerings. Today they had the Thai Beef salad, the Chinese chopped salad, and a shrimp and fennel salad.

 

Alfredo's in Sabatinis has only the pizza offerings.

 

Thanks!

[TracieABD]

I am enjoying sailing with you and yours. We will be on the Coral in April for PC and looking forward to the cruise.:)

 

Where did you stay in Fort Lauderdale? We will be staying at the Embassy Suites and wonder if the Casablanca restaurant is nearby.

 

I am especially interested in your excursions.

 

Thanks

 

We stayed at the Ritz-Carlton. I am not sure where the Embassy Suites are located, but it would be well worth an Uber ride to go to Casablanca!

[TracieABD]

So I am here with a girlfriend. I lost my sweetheart last December :( Pushing forward and have a wonderful time. Just cruising right now as we have not gone to any ports. This is my first holiday cruise but I knew for sure that I did not want to be home for Christmas this year. We had to meet and great and met quite a few of us on the roll call. I was a hit with my name......if you were there you will understand :) Had a great time closing down a bar last night and up and off to finding fun spots today at sea.

Check in tomorrow,

Penny

 

It was great to meet you, Penny. I loved getting to kow you a bit!

[WISH84]

We have monitored his credit card, but there have been no charges that would indicate a single suppliment. I think that is it. It was a lot of worry for very little event. And I am really grateful.

 

;) Glad that worked out Tracie. So happy that is something you don't have to worry about.

 

Loving your review so far. Your past reviews are inspiration for the few I do. Keep up the good work.

 

I know Mom is with you.. and enjoying every bit of this as well. She must have been a very special woman. Hugs to you and your family.

 

Can't wait to read your next post!

[Aislinncursala]

Thank you this is great. Want to go on this cruise this spring if possible. You are inspiring me further.

[TracieABD]

December 18, 2015 Part 2

Formal Night

 

Hi friends-

 

We had a little Meet and Greet snafu, which did not put a damper on our fun one bit! At two o'clock, as directed by the event planner's email, we converged upon the Wheelhouse. There we chatted, introduced ourselves, told stories, and even had a gift exchange. We did not, however, have a bar that was open. As I was (sneaking out) leaving the M&G, I walked by Crooners and there was a sign out that said it was "Closed for a Private Event: Cruise Critic Meet & Greet". Not really sure how that happened. Right at that moment the Hotel Manager chanced by and he decided it was much easier to move a sign than 40 people. He was very gracious, and I believe a good time was had by most. I was actually a little surprised that we had as many as we did, because our roll call was pretty quiet. I am not sure if we even exceeded 200 posts. Anywho- It was fun to put faces to names/ handles!

 

Then I had to take a little nap. It was required. I am pretty sure if I looked it up in the patter it said "Tracie takes a nap 3:00 pm. And so I did.

 

It was formal night tonight. Everyone was pretty spiffy looking. I saw a couple of tuxes and a lot of suits. I also saw a lot of sparkly dresses. Dinner was the 50th Anniversary meal. I actually love this dinner. It is the night of the Norman Love super yummy raspberry dessert thingy. So delicious! Also, our servers have picked up a bit of speed.

 

And now I am back in the room. The boys have gone off to smoke a cigar and quaff a scotch (or something like that). I am in my jammies (YES- kind blog followers- THE lucky jammies of January 2015 cruise in the Caribbean. Still jammies. Still lucky! --I know, because I am on a cruise-- they work like a charm!). I am going to read a bit and call it a day.

 

Lovely dreams to all-

More later-

Tracie-Lynn :)

[WISH84]

 

Lovely dreams to all-

 

More later-

 

Tracie-Lynn :)

 

 

Good night Tracie.. Have a great day tomorrow!

[Jetswdo]

First of all sorry for your loss! Hope this cruise is wonderful for your family.

 

By any chance do you know if Alfredo's pizza is open on embarkation day besides the dining room on deck 6? That would be our first choice, otherwise we will head straight to the dining room.

 

How much is the charge for half day in sanctuary? We are trying to decide if it is worth it for us to do that- just need to be in the shade- We will first check out the indoor pool and see if that works out--

 

Are there a lot of kids on your sailing?

[TracieABD]

December 19, 2015

Somewhere out at sea-- Sea Day Part Two

 

Good morning, friends-

 

Last night's 'good night' was a big old false alarm. My DH came back from his cigar adventure, and there was no way I could let him crawl into bed smelling like that! So I made him walk the plank, um I mean deck for an hour to air him out a bit. Of course, I walked with him... just to make sure he stayed out of trouble.

 

When we got back, we watched Ant Man- for which I am still confused. In case you have not figured it out, I am a simple girl. Sci-Fi just confuses me. I will stick to Frozen and Despicable Me and the like. I am just like that.

 

We moved the clocks ahead an hour. Boo. And still woke up early. Boo. We decided to go to the MDR this morning for breakfast and were subjected to the world's most cheerful server. Before coffee (or B.C. as I like to refer to it) cheerful is no bueno. Once the caffeine start to kick in, I actually found her to be very informative and charming. What a difference a latte makes! A "latte" difference! Ha! I made a funny!

 

I had my fruit plate (no apples- blue is just not my colour), oatmeal, and bacon. I really wished they had Cream of Wheat (or COW as we call it in our house). We are transplanted Yankees, living south of the Mason-Dixon line and we love COW. Only in the South, they refer to Cream of Wheat as "Yankee grits". For years and years, I would dig into that first bite of grits and think "Yum, Cream of Wheat" and at first blush my palate would scream- "NO!" It took me a good decade and a half -- and a lot of cheese-- to get used to grits. Hmmm... not even the same grain.

 

We climbed a bunch of stairs to the Deck 14 to see what days the Crab Shack would be offered. I do not indulge in seafood, but my DH and son do. They are going to go on the 23rd, as it is Italian night. My fav and my DH's least fav. I may have already "flirted' -um, talked my way into a double portion of that yummy Penne Arribiata! Tonight, we are going to give the Bayou Cafe and Steakhouse a whirl. I will report back on our findings.

 

And now I am snuggled into one of the super comfy, oversized arm chairs in the Library. The Coral has a wonderful library. It is big and windowed, and has super comfy oversized arm chairs-- oh. and lots of books too. I wish all Princess ships had this feature.

 

I guess I will go and put on my shoes and trek around the Deck some. I have to do something to counteract all of this eating. Yesterday, I managed to put 20K steps up on my pedometer, which was around 9.5 miles. I better get to getting if I want to match that today. Also, I have yet to step foot into an elevator. I would love to make this my very first "elevator free" cruise ever. Here's hoping.

 

Want to go for a walk around the wonderful Promenade Deck with me???

More later-

Tracie-Lynn :)

[TracieABD]

First of all sorry for your loss! Hope this cruise is wonderful for your family.

 

By any chance do you know if Alfredo's pizza is open on embarkation day besides the dining room on deck 6? That would be our first choice, otherwise we will head straight to the dining room.

 

How much is the charge for half day in sanctuary? We are trying to decide if it is worth it for us to do that- just need to be in the shade- We will first check out the indoor pool and see if that works out--

 

Are there a lot of kids on your sailing?

 

Hi and thank you-

I am not sure if Alfredo's is open on embarkation day.

The charge for a half day in the Sanctuary is $20 pp. There are two decks. The upper deck is sunny and the lower deck is shady. There is also a pool that is dedicated to the Sanctuary guests only. This is the first time I have seen this.

 

There do not seem to be a lot of kids on this sailing. It started on the 17th, and most kids are still in school then.

 

TL

[Coral]

Hi and thank you-

I am not sure if Alfredo's is open on embarkation day.

The charge for a half day in the Sanctuary is $20 pp. There are two decks. The upper deck is sunny and the lower deck is shady. There is also a pool that is dedicated to the Sanctuary guests only. This is the first time I have seen this.

 

There do not seem to be a lot of kids on this sailing. It started on the 17th, and most kids are still in school then.

 

TL

 

Tracie - is that the far aft pool? If so, that pool is sort of useless as a pool.

 

Enjoying your reports!

[vino100]

Thanks Tracie for doing this "live " report. We are on the April 15 th cruise to the Panama. My husband enjoys an occasional cigar and was wondering if there is a cigar lounge ? Keep enjoying your cruise. :D

[Colo Cruiser]

Tracie - is that the far aft pool? If so, that pool is sort of useless as a pool.

 

Enjoying your reports!

 

 

Yes its the aft little round one.

Edited December 19, 2015 by Colo Cruiser

[sunsetbeachgal]

Love your newsy reports! Can't wait to hear how the Bayou steakhouse is!

 

What deck is your cabin on? I think you said you were in a mini suite? Is the balcony covered or uncovered? We are currently in a balcony and there are quite a few minis available on our sailing on Dolphin Deck, so want to have my ducks In a row if up sells are offered!

Edited December 19, 2015 by sunsetbeachgal