Questions about sailing the Coral

[jestme]

My family and I are going on the Coral on 5/22 to Alaska. Any info any past Coral cruisers could share would be greatly appreciated. Thanks - Mary Ellen

[regnig]

Mary Ellen you will love the Coral. She is sleek and not nearly as large as the Grand class. We sailed on her through the canal and really enjoyed ourselves. If you have any specific questions just post them and someone will be sure to answer them. Enjoy your cruise. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img]

Crown '93,Star '94, Regal '95,
Sun '96, Crown '97, Dawn '98,
Dawn '99, Sun 2000, Dawn '01,
Grand '02, Coral '03,Star 6/28/03, Sun 3/10/04, Star 02/27/05

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=FF0000&cdt=2005;2;27;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img] Star Princess Sailing

[Coral]

The Coral Princess is my favorite ship so far [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img] I was on the Coral last year for Alaska - here are some pics:

[url="http://homepage.mac.com/tlassek/PhotoAlbum15.html#"]Coral Princess ship pics[/url]

[url="http://homepage.mac.com/tlassek/PhotoAlbum16.html"]Alaska pics[/url]


At the top of the page, you can move between albums - there are a few more Alaska albums. Hope you have as great of time as I did on the ship.

[jestme]

Thank You - I'll keep checking each day until 2 weeks from today I fly away for my great Alaskan adventure!!! Mary Ellen

[Jack1963]

Hi Mary Ellen.

We were on the Coral last month. Here is a link to a posting I did about it, with some specific info about the ship. Hope it helps.

[url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=887097554&m=106102051"]Coral Princess Info[/url]

[meemeec]

Hi..
Just got off the Coral yesterday.
Ask away...it's still fresh in my mind.
Great ship, great staff, great cruise!

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=ff00ff&cdt=2004;4;21;16;59;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
4/21/04 Coral Princess Panama Canal

[JCH]

meemeec....

I'm going on the same cruise in 2005 that you just did, will you be doing a review?

Sky Princess - 1997 West Coastal
Sea Princess - 2001 Western Caribbean
Sea Princess - 2002 Alaska

Reposition Cruise - Transcanal
Coral Princess April 27, 2005
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=ff0000&cdt=2005;4;27;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]

[meemeec]

Hi, again
There are many great reviews already on this site about the Coral Princess. I couldn't really add too much more except to add my name to a long list of very satisfied customers. We had exceptional service everywhere we went on the ship and were amazed that every one of the employees gave a greeting.
We had no complaints and loved the entire trip expecially the crossing in the Panama Canal. This crossing was the main reason we booked the cruise and we weren't disappointed. We had the very last cabin on Dolphin and it proved to be the "catbird" seat as far as watching all the activites during the crossing of the Miraflores section of the locks. During the Gatun locks portion the front had better views but we found it so crowded that we went back to our cabin and enjoyed it from there. We went to lunch that day in the Bayou Cafe and we had a lovely window table and had the restaurant to ourselves. We had a lovely peaceful lunch with spectacular views of the Gaillard Cut as we passed through. What luck!!
I envy your upcoming trip....I'd do this one again in a heartbeat!!!
Questions?....Ask away.

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=ff00ff&cdt=2004;4;21;16;59;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
4/21/04 Coral Princess Panama Canal

[JCH]

Just a few,

Was the cruise to capacity? Was the crew excellent as on the normal sailings, or different because of the repositioning? What was the average age of passengers? Many kids on this cruise?

Sky Princess - 1997 West Coastal
Sea Princess - 2001 Western Caribbean
Sea Princess - 2002 Alaska

Reposition Cruise - Transcanal
Coral Princess April 27, 2005
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=ff0000&cdt=2005;4;27;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]

[meemeec]

Hello, JCH
I understand the ship was very near capacity and the crowd was predominately an older group. That is to be expected on the longer cruises during the school year. We had very few children and if I had to guess a number I would have to say about 10 or 12.
We did have a few young honeymoon couples, as well.
As far as the crew goes I have nothing but raves. They were outstanding in every way and our service all over the ship was above and beyond our expectations. This was our third Princess ship and though the service was excellent on our other cruises this one topped them all. I have particular praise for Brian Price, the cruise director, and his staff. How they kept up their energy levels is a mystery to me but they never failed to be warm, funny and extrememly curteous. The crew in the dining rooms consisted of many individuals from Eastern Europe such as Hungary, Poland, Romania and Czech. The Maitre 'D and head waiters were mostly Italian and Portugese. Met quite a few crew members from South Africa, as well. All friendly and delightful to talk with. We sure had our favorites and will miss their company. To my knowlege, there were no special reassignments due to the repositioning. All were on their regular contract schedules.

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=ff00ff&cdt=2004;4;21;16;59;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
4/21/04 Coral Princess Panama Canal

[JCH]

Thank you so much for your answers. My cruise in 2005 will be for our 25th wedding anniversity and I want it to be the best time with my honey away from home. Thanks again meemeec for your time to answer my questions.

JCH

Sky Princess - 1997 West Coastal
Sea Princess - 2001 Western Caribbean
Sea Princess - 2002 Alaska

Reposition Cruise - Transcanal
Coral Princess April 27, 2005
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=ff0000&cdt=2005;4;27;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]

[meemeec]

JCH
You are very welcome. We have a thread ongoing from before our cruise if you'd like to stop by there and have a look at all of our feedback from the cruise.
[url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?q=Y&a=tpc&s=927093444&f=4763056957&m=3743017327&p=5"]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?q=Y&a=tpc&s=927093444&f=4763056957&m=3743017327&p=5[/url]

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=ff00ff&cdt=2004;4;21;16;59;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
4/21/04 Coral Princess Panama Canal

[JCH]

meemeec, I'll will go and check it out.
JCH

Sky Princess - 1997 West Coastal
Sea Princess - 2001 Western Caribbean
Sea Princess - 2002 Alaska

Reposition Cruise - Transcanal
Coral Princess April 27, 2005
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=ff0000&cdt=2005;4;27;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]

[CaribbeanIsland]

I loved the Coral Princess - my favorite ship.

[MaryPoppinz]

It's also my favorite ship, even though I have also been on Island Princess. You'll really enjoy this trip! [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

[b]"I'm gonna book myself on that Princess Cruise." [/b]
-- [i]Fox Mulder, X-Files 'Three Words'[/i]

[KAJOKG]

MaryPoppinz -- What's the difference between the Coral and Island? We sailed on the Island last Nov. and will sail on the Coral in Oct. I thought ships were the same.

KATY

NCL NORWAY - 2000
GOLDEN PRINCESS - 2001
GOLDEN PRINCESS - 2002
HAL NOORDAM - 2002
HAL VOLENDAM - 2003
ISLAND PRINCESS - NOV. 2003
HAL VOLENDAM - JAN. 2004
CORAL PRINCESS - OCT. 2004

[kkorman]

I was on the sailing with Meemeec and agree with her analysis. The crew was truly outstanding on board. The best overall on any cruise I have been on. The crowd was older... for the first few days I thought I was the youngest at 28, but then ran into a few others. And the cruise staff did an excellent job of finding activities for the 9 seas day we had on the sailing from FL to Van. From what I heard about the number of passengers on-bard, was that there were 1950 from FL-SF and the 1600 from SF-Van. As you would expect, a completely different crowd for the 2 days to Vancouver. I would still be on the ship now if they did not make me get off yesterday due to it being full.

jestme,I am thinking of sailing again on the Coral this month, so I may see you onboard.

KAJOKG, there is no difference between the Coral and the Princess.

Anything furter, ask away. I may do a quick review, but seems pointless because everything was beyond my expectations.

Next:Coral Princess 4/04; Dawn Princess 10/04
Photos: [url="http://community.webshots.com/user/kkorman"]http://community.webshots.com/user/kkorman[/url]
[url="http://community.webshots.com/user/kkorman1"]http://community.webshots.com/user/kkorman1[/url]
Conquest 12/03 -New Years, Norwegian Sky b2b 12/03, Carnival Pride 06/03, Star Princess 03/03, Norwegian Star 07/02,Voyager of the Seas 06/01, Ecstasy 12/00, Exporer of the Seas 11/00, Zaandam 08/00, Destiny 04/00, Nordic Empress 08/99, Rhapsody of the Seas 04/98, Sensation 12/96, Legend of the Seas 8/96, Imagination 8/95, Jubilee 3/92, Sovereign of the Seas 10/88

[twocats]

I am still a little confused regarding the time spent in Panama canal. According to the Princess site there are many tours available during the time you were there and yours was a repositioning cruise also. But it was mentioned that one could not leave the ship. The intinary has been removed from the site so I can't compare to next years repositioning trip. Again, could this be because it is a: repositioning cruise, full transit? Do partial transit cruises allow you to take part on these tours. Sorry to be so dense, hope one of you can help?
Meemeec - I haven't heard any wild sobbing while in Clayton recently, so you must be doing OK being home lol.
Carole

until we sail away....Panama Canal
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=4169e1&cdt=2005;4;27;17;0;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]

[Genessa]

we did a repositioning in 2002 and there were no tours during the time we were in the canal because it was a full transit.

There were tours once you reached Panama City, but this was evening of a long day and very rainy, so we skipped them.

[KAJOKG]

There are tours available only on the partial transit cruises. They anchor in Gatun Lake and those on excursions are tendered in to shore. Then the ship turns around and goes back through Gatun Locks and docks in Colon or the other pier(I don't remember the name of the town). The folks on excursions are bussed back to the ship's pier around5 p.m.

KATY

NCL NORWAY - 2000
GOLDEN PRINCESS - 2001
GOLDEN PRINCESS - 2002
HAL NOORDAM - 2002
HAL VOLENDAM - 2003
ISLAND PRINCESS - NOV. 2003
HAL VOLENDAM - JAN. 2004
CORAL PRINCESS - OCT. 2004

[JoniPoni]

Hi Mary Ellen,
I have just returned home from our cruise on the Coral. It was WONDERFUL and I loved it! [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif[/img]

An unexpected bonus was the weather!!! We were in tee shirts and never wore the heavy stuff we packed. (although we did not take any kayaking or whale watching tours either, which with the wind/sea factor would be chillier) I called hubby from Juneau and he was complaining that weather at home included snow, rain, 80 mph winds etc and I hated to tell him I was standing on the dock in a tee shirt. (but of course I did! [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

The itinerary is excellent ... not too port intensive leaving ample time for lots of beautiful scenery. The glaciers were amazing and we had two days of them .... better than most cruises.

Food was great ... we had PC dining as the traditional was filled up but we really liked it. We never made a reservation and never had to wait for a table. Maybe a short line (4-5 couples) but they were being seated right away.

We very much enjoyed the shows, too. Very well done. We couldn't figure out how they could dance like that without panting, let alone sing, too!

We loved the Coral ... nice sized ship and not the crush of people & lines as I hear complaints about the mega ships. GREAT staff.

Any more specific questions, ask away! Now ... I have to turn myself in to Weight Watchers. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_frown.gif[/img]

[jestme]

Thanks all for the Coral info - I'm counting the minutes!!! For those of you just back I'm hoping for good weather and any more info would be appreciated - Fri. is the last day this week I can check. Mary Ellen