Just back from Coral to Vancouver re:whale incident

[1stcruze]

Not sure the actual story but I heard the rumor that our ship hit a whale & that the whole boat shuttered right after going under the golden gate & there was lots of blood & a helicopter, and so on..... I was in AD 503 which is the 1st bump out mid ship on the aloha deck, starboard, with a wrap around balcony facing the rear of the ship. I was out on our deck taking pictures of the golden gate as we went under & then lots of pictures after we went under it as well. You can clearly see the wake behind & next to the boat in my pics & none of them show any discoloration of water! In fact I even took pictures of the wake specifically during the time in question because it looked so neat with the golden gate in the background. I was out there the ENTIRE time staring back in awe at the bridge & never saw anything unusual. I can also say I felt no shutter whatsover, & noticed no helicopter circling behind. I did notice we had a cruise ship in front of us, and another behind us (also in the pics)so I would think the one behind us would've seen something had it been true. In addition, no one I spoke with on board knew anything about it (I heard about it from my mom when I called home to check on my kids). Seems fishy to me.... (-;

[comettgirl]

do you get to see your pictures? are they digital? can you post them on line?

 

p.s. thanks for the report.

 

Therese

[spongerob]

That would seem to be that, then. Thanks.

 

Completed:

Sea Princess, Royal Princess, Grand Princess (3X), Caribbean Princess, Golden Princess

Coming up:

Tahitian Princess Oct 14/04

Caribbean Princess redux 6/25/05

[kkorman]

In my second webshot link below I posted the picture I took. It is well zoomed in as this was well behind the ship and I added contrast to see the red better.

 

Next:Coral Princess 4/04; Dawn Princess 10/04

Photos: http://community.webshots.com/user/kkorman

http://community.webshots.com/user/kkorman1

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

[joanne1]

1stcruze - Different topic - we will be going on the Island on Wednesday and I was just wondering how you found your 3 day? How was the weather? was it rough? Entertainment? daily activities?

 

Thanks

 

Joanne

 

05/12/04 Island Princess

03/25/04 Island Princess

08/15/03 Majesty of the Sea (b to b)

03/26/03 Sun Princess

12/15/02 Grand Princess

[kkorman]

I was on the ship as well. The weather was fantastic from SF to Vancouver. Warm enough to lay out by the pool. It was significantly better than the 2 days from Cabo to SF in which there was the marine layer.

 

Next:Coral Princess 4/04; Dawn Princess 10/04

Photos: http://community.webshots.com/user/kkorman

http://community.webshots.com/user/kkorman1

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

 

[1stcruze]

Everything was incredible! The weather was beautiful, the room was spectacular, & the seas were smooth. Wish I could've stayed on through to Alaska!

[1stcruze]

Sorry, I just realized I didn't address all your questions. The entertainment was pretty good but not a lot of options. The first night they had a juggling comedian. Since it was really the only thing going on we checked him out and were pleasantly surprised. He was very funny and actually made juggling look exciting (no offense to any jugglers out there). Both my husband and I weren't to impressed by the princess dancers or the number they did before the juggling act. Im 29 & he's 34 and we both felt it was little to Ricky Martin/ teeny bopper show. However, maybe it was just us since most of the crowd were quite a bit older & seemed to enjoy them. After watching them we decided to skip the second night's entertainment which was a show called "DANCE" starring the princess dancers & singers. Other than that they played two movies, "something's gotta give" & "Fish", had an art auction, Bingo, & a dance party. The ship was a little over half capacity so it wasn't as lively as I had hoped but it was still a lot of fun! If you have any other questions I'd be happy to answer whatever I can.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by joanne1:

1stcruze - Different topic - we will be going on the Island on Wednesday and I was just wondering how you found your 3 day? How was the weather? was it rough? Entertainment? daily activities?

 

Thanks

 

Joanne

 

05/12/04 Island Princess

03/25/04 Island Princess

08/15/03 Majesty of the Sea (b to b)

03/26/03 Sun Princess

12/15/02 Grand Princess <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

[Kayla's Mom]

1st cruise -- dying to hear all about your trip and the Coral. Have you written a review??

 

Thanks.

 

RCCI Legend of the Seas to Alaska 8/02

NCL Star to Hawaii 04/04

[1stcruze]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by kkorman:

In my second webshot link below I posted the picture I took. It is well zoomed in as this was well behind the ship and I added contrast to see the red better.

 

Now I'm anxious to see my pictures developed! They are digital but I have no idea how to put them on the computer. If the blood didn't appear until we were that far away wouldn't it be unlikely that our ship had anything to do with it? I've heard people claiming that the whale was even flopping alongside our ship after it was struck! If anything happened my guess is it was a shark, and not our Coral.

 

Next:Coral Princess 4/04; Dawn Princess 10/04

Photos: http://community.webshots.com/user/kkorman

http://community.webshots.com/user/kkorman1

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<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

[woodofpine]

Whales are known to be hit by ships. I don't know how vulnerable they are overall, or if physically ill ones tend to get hit. Of course, a whale that succumbs to natural causes is also going to be a unseen obstacle to shipping.

 

In the same way submarines have been known to ignorantly destroy small surface craft that don't make a big enough radar/sonar signature. A periscope will go right through a civilian yatch. Subs have been known to drag over and under smaller fishing vessels that don't release their gear when they net a REAL Bigg'un!

[joanne1]

1stcruize & KKorman - Thanks for the info. I am sure that it will go by really fast. When I heard that your ship was only half full I thought maybe I would get an upgrade (inside, which I have never had before, but it's only for 3 days) Called Prince and they said that the Island is sold out. Darn!!

 

Joanne

 

05/12/04 Island Princess

03/25/04 Island Princess

08/15/03 Majesty of the Sea (b to b)

03/26/03 Sun Princess

12/15/02 Grand Princess

[kkorman]

My crew member friends told me that there were 1650 on board when all was said and done. There were 1950 on the Fort Lauderdale to SF.

 

THe entertainment was a bit mixed up on the last 2 days. I saw Dance on the first part of the trip and it was quite good. I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the Bayou Cafe. Vinny and her group are quite talented jazz singers and the the crew in there are very accomidating. I spent many of night there.

 

As for the livelyness of the crowd, the first 2 weeks were sedate compared to the last 2 days. Which was good, because I had a lot more interaction with the crew on board as they are closer to my age... 28. For a while I thought I was the youngest on board, but then I saw the 12 kids on the Canal sailing.

 

I will probably skip any review but this was the best of my 20 cruises. I would rate just about everything outstanding.

 

Next:Coral Princess 4/04; Dawn Princess 10/04

Photos: http://community.webshots.com/user/kkorman

http://community.webshots.com/user/kkorman1

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