DougMacP Posted February 25, 2016 #1 Share Posted February 25, 2016 I have an upcoming cruise on the Island and have been reading the reviews and posts about how they stuffed a bunch of extra cabins on her....taking away part of the promenade deck (hate that) and rear lounge (sort of hate that). Looking at the Princess Website..... Lists the Island with 2,214 lower berths Coral at 2,000 lower berths. What you would expect if cabins were added to the Island, right? This is where it gets interesting. Because according to Princess the Coral has more cabins 1,000 than the Island 987. The biggest difference is the Coral has more outside cabins. So if Princess jammed more cabins on the Island to make more money....why haven't they don't that to the Coral?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishywood Posted February 25, 2016 #2 Share Posted February 25, 2016 (edited) Double-occupancy capacity of both Coral and Island was 1,970 passengers (thus ca. 985 cabins) when first launched. Coral was the first to slightly add capacity to reach the 2,000 pax/1,000 cabins it has currently. Island suffered a much larger refit reaching 2,214 double-occupancy capacity. So the fact that Island is still listed as having the same 987 (sic) cabins as when built should be obvious as an error on the website. As for Coral: she was originally scheduled for a six week drydock eight months after Island's was done. Which presumes the plans were the same--until said drydock was shortened to a standard two weeks. Not only were all those extra cabins not added but the plans to add Curtis Stone's SHARE restaurant to Coral were scuttled at the last minute. So hopefully Princess learned from their mistakes with Island--and please do not give them even the remotest hint that you wish that fate for Coral. Edited February 25, 2016 by fishywood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunsetbeachgal Posted February 25, 2016 #3 Share Posted February 25, 2016 Agree Fishywood. The Coral is just fine as is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colo Cruiser Posted February 25, 2016 #4 Share Posted February 25, 2016 200 plus more pax on the Island and no changes made to dining facilities to take/handle the difference. 1 large 2 level entertainment venue removed altogether! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vickie_bernie Posted February 25, 2016 #5 Share Posted February 25, 2016 perfect timing... I just was interviewed on Cruise Radio talking about this exact issue. We were on the Island in the Fall for a month and sadly it does impact the public venues, especially dining venues. Vickie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DougMacP Posted February 25, 2016 Author #6 Share Posted February 25, 2016 Just have to hope the cruise doesn't sell out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunsetbeachgal Posted February 25, 2016 #7 Share Posted February 25, 2016 (edited) And in spite of adding more passengers and taking away and/or relocating some of the ships features, to not even add an International Cafe' shows that absolutely nothing was done for the benefit and enjoyment of the passengers. Edited February 25, 2016 by sunsetbeachgal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingsgirl Posted February 25, 2016 #8 Share Posted February 25, 2016 Isn't Coral having another dry-dock next year? There are deck plans on the website that show now and later next year. Could changes be coming next year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colo Cruiser Posted February 25, 2016 #9 Share Posted February 25, 2016 Isn't Coral having another dry-dock next year? There are deck plans on the website that show now and later next year. Could changes be coming next year? No..... if you look at every ship that you pull up deck plans for it shows the same 3 dates. They are changing around the cabin 2 letter designations. So no physical changes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingsgirl Posted February 25, 2016 #10 Share Posted February 25, 2016 No..... if you look at every ship that you pull up deck plans for it shows the same 3 dates.They are changing around the cabin 2 letter designations. So no physical changes. Thanks so much for sharing that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiessa Posted February 26, 2016 #11 Share Posted February 26, 2016 Was on the Island at the end of January. A crew member who seemed to be in the know was complaining about what a mess they had made of the Island and they still had plans to do the same to the Coral saying Princess had learned nothing. There is no IC. They did not enlarge the dining rooms and the theater was built to only hold 600. If you wanted to see shows you had to line up 30-45 minutes early in a line that stretched past midship so many never got in even with 2 shows. The worst effect was that the work load increased on the crew and it definitely showed. They were unhappy in general and downright surly and rude in some cases. You never want to hear crew and Elite guests complaining about the cruise line but it was fairly common. I'd never sailed Princess and was not disappointed by the changes since I had no expectations. It was the worst cruise I've ever taken. Hopefully Princess does not create these problems on the Coral but it sounded like the changes were delayed not canceled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jawhoffman Posted February 26, 2016 #12 Share Posted February 26, 2016 I read in another thread from someone who was just on Island that they added a third show. Hopefully that will help alot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gopherpharm Posted February 26, 2016 #13 Share Posted February 26, 2016 perfect timing... I just was interviewed on Cruise Radio talking about this exact issue. We were on the Island in the Fall for a month and sadly it does impact the public venues, especially dining venues. Vickie I just listened to you this morning! Glad our forst time on Princess is on Coral! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vickie_bernie Posted February 26, 2016 #14 Share Posted February 26, 2016 I just listened to you this morning! Glad our forst time on Princess is on Coral! thanks for listening.... like i said in the interview I would sail on the island again but would probably be my last choice. Vickie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wowzz Posted February 26, 2016 #15 Share Posted February 26, 2016 Yet other reviews subsequent to the re-fit have said that there was no evidence of any problems with the additional pax. Most complaints seem to be coming from those who have not sailed on the Island post re-fit. Go figure. Tiessa seems to be in a minority of one - no one else has posted a similar disparaging review. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiessa Posted February 27, 2016 #16 Share Posted February 27, 2016 There are a lot more reviews at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2127734. You will find many of the same complaints I mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caribill Posted February 27, 2016 #17 Share Posted February 27, 2016 Yet other reviews subsequent to the re-fit have said that there was no evidence of any problems with the additional pax. Most complaints seem to be coming from those who have not sailed on the Island post re-fit. Go figure. Those in traditional dining would see no change as there will be no additional passengers lined up for that dining room. Those in anytime may or may not see longer lines depending on when the mix of passengers on that voyage decide what time they want to eat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wowzz Posted February 27, 2016 #18 Share Posted February 27, 2016 (edited) But this review http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2287571&highlight=island+princess gives a totally different, and very complimentary viewpoint. Edited February 27, 2016 by wowzz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiessa Posted February 27, 2016 #19 Share Posted February 27, 2016 But this reviewhttp://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2287571&highlight=island+princess gives a totally different, and very complimentary viewpoint. I hope everyone's experience is different than ours! I wouldn't wish anyone a cruise like we had! I just shared our experience. People must take every review for what it's worth. I wish everyone happy cruising! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ggprincess2004 Posted February 27, 2016 #20 Share Posted February 27, 2016 Princess did indeed learn from their mistake with Island, and cancelled plans to add additional berths to the Coral. With the Island, not only did they loose public space, not increase dining options, and destroy the Promenade deck, they didn't increase berths for crew, so there we not additional cabin stewards or wait staff to handle the increased passenger load. Coral will remain herself, with the aft lounge, wrapping Promenade deck - thank goodness. She is a joy to sail on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colo Cruiser Posted February 27, 2016 #21 Share Posted February 27, 2016 Yet other reviews subsequent to the re-fit have said that there was no evidence of any problems with the additional pax. Most complaints seem to be coming from those who have not sailed on the Island post re-fit. Go figure.Tiessa seems to be in a minority of one - no one else has posted a similar disparaging review. Really? Its in my review from Nov. Lines out into the atrium from 4:30-8:30. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wowzz Posted February 27, 2016 #22 Share Posted February 27, 2016 Really?Its in my review from Nov. Lines out into the atrium from 4:30-8:30. :( Fortunately we do not eat dinner before 21:00 so we should have no pronlems on our next cruise. I can understand the issues with the extra pax, but I would not have thought that an additional 200 would cause such queues. Is it not more likely that cruises with a large percentage of US pax, who are known to be early eaters, is the root cause of the problem. Cruises with a higher percentage of European pax, who will be wanting to eat later, would ensure a more gradual flow through the dining rooms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colo Cruiser Posted February 28, 2016 #23 Share Posted February 28, 2016 Fortunately we do not eat dinner before 21:00 so we should have no pronlems on our next cruise.I can understand the issues with the extra pax, but I would not have thought that an additional 200 would cause such queues. Is it not more likely that cruises with a large percentage of US pax, who are known to be early eaters, is the root cause of the problem. Cruises with a higher percentage of European pax, who will be wanting to eat later, would ensure a more gradual flow through the dining rooms. Well that was the opposite on our Med cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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