Review: Coral Princess 12/8-18, 2016 (Long)

[CineGraphic]

The Coral is a lovely ship and the perfect size. It never felt crowded.

In the past, we’ve been on the Caribbean, Grand, Royal and Regal.

Due to it’s size, and quality of service, the Coral is our new favorite.

 

We arrived at Port Everglades, shortly after 11am. Check-in was a breeze, however embarkation was slightly hampered by the contract employees that work inside the pier.

Boarding had not yet started, and we were meeting friends who we were treating to a "Bon Voyage Experience".

The BVE includes early embarkation, usually right after wedding groups.

The first few contractors insisted that there was no such thing as early embarkation, and insisted that we would have to wait until everyone else had boarded.

Luckily, I found someone who knew what she was doing, and she sneaked us upstairs where our friends were waiting.

 

While in port, the entire ship was really hot. One of my friends literally soaked through his shirt.

Once all of the doors closed and we sailed away, things finally cooled down.

We enjoyed lunch in the main dining room, browsed the buffet and snacked on some pizza.

Our waiter wasn't sure why our friends were supposed to get free wine with lunch, so we had to show him the letter they received at check-in.

Our friends really enjoyed the "BVE”, and at 3pm, they picked-up their free embarkation photo and went ashore so we could get ready for the muster drill and our 4pm sail away.

 

We had a balcony, A324, right underneath the Lido deck. We were worried about the noise of dragging chairs early in the morning, so we brought ear plugs.

Yes, we needed them the first night, but after that, we got used to the background noise.

Our steward, Moore, was exceptional.

Special requests were met with a smile, even though he had a total of 18 cabins to deal with on a daily basis.

 

The seas were rougher than usual the first night, and there was quite a bit of racket making sleep tough.

When I got up in the morning and went out on our balcony, I found the source of the noise.

The partition between our balcony and the cabin next to ours had blown open and had been banging against the furniture all night.

I reported this to our steward, Moore, and he took care of it, wedging a folded up postcard into the jam.

 

For the first few days we ate breakfast at the buffet, since it was only one deck away from our cabin.

Honestly, I prefer the buffets on the Royal and Regal.

There was no smoked salmon at the buffet to go with your bagels and cream cheese unless you knew to ask for it.

It came out plated with capers and onions.

Hiding the salmon in the galley is clearly a cost-cutting move.

 

The staff at the International Cafe was excellent.

Our favorite barista, Ray, always knew what we wanted. He worked in the Explorer's Lounge as well as a bartender.

 

On the first morning, we were one of only 6 or 7 tables in the entire place and the waitstaff just stood there, never offering us anything to drink.

I finally got up and poured my own juice and coffee while they just watched me.

The service picked up as we went along.

We did however find that breakfast in the main dining room was much more civilized, and salmon was clearly on the menu.

 

Practically every time you dine in the buffet, you will be approached by someone walking around pushing the latest wine tasting or crab shack.

I don’t mind them having a table set up outside the buffet or a flyer in my mailbox, but let me enjoy my meal in peace.

 

We had Anytime Dining, and the first night, the line was ridiculous.

At a Cruise Critic Meet and Greet the next day, the F&B manager explained that this is typical for a first night as nobody really knows what dining room they are supposed to be in, and that the lines would get shorter as the cruise went along.

To avoid the lines, we would grab a later snack at the buffet and head to the dining room around 7:45.

We were not going to spend our vacation waiting in lines, and made the best of it.

 

Service in the MDR was good most of the time, but we did have one really creepy waiter who would continue to grind pepper after you noted that you had enough, and insisted that my wife’s soufflé needed 3 more spoonfuls of vanilla sauce after she tried to stop him.

His younger assistant was a much better waiter.

 

Our best meal of the trip was in the Bayou Cafe. ($29 cover charge)

My wife’s filet was huge, she couldn’t even finish it, and my lamb chops, which were a special, melted in my mouth.

Our waiter brought us a sampler of all of the side dishes, none were great. The dirty rice was dry.

 

We also dined at Sabatini’s.

My wife loved her lobster 3-ways, but my veal chop was disappointing.

I would have sent it back, but I was singing in the Voice of the Ocean finals that night and had to be backstage to get ready for the show.

 

Entertainment is always subjective.

There’s a new show called, “Encore” which is opera themed.

Many people enjoyed the featured soprano, however her solo show a few days before was awful.

I saw many people walk out as she talked about herself non-stop and guzzled a huge bottle of water between songs.

 

Vocal impressionist, Karen Grainger was very funny, and enjoyable.

 

The production show, “On the Bayou” was well done, with strong performances.

 

Novelty pianist Tom Franek was just ok in my book. Playing the piano with your hands behind your back is something my friends did in high school.

 

The party band, “Purple Haze” was well liked. The played all over the ship, and had everyone dancing during their evening gigs in the Explorer’s Lounge.

 

The cruise director was Corey Moir.

He’s has a great personality and sense of humor. He was not aloof or M.I.A, as was the case with others.

His supporting staff was also great, especially a funny young man, Benjamin.

 

Our first port was Aruba, and we have been there before so we just walked around town for a bit, did a bit of shopping and hunted down some free wi-fi.

 

The next day we stopped in Cartagena Columbia.

It was 98 degrees with 95 percent humidity.

We found someone selling tours in front of the port, 3 hours for $20 each on an air conditioned bus, including a cold drink. (water, soda or beer)

Everyone likes to label the street vendors as being aggressive, and I have to disagree, there were just too many of them.

A polite “no thank you” or “no gracias” was all I needed to say.

Our guide warned us before hand that the jewelry was fake as were the Cuban cigars.

 

The next day was our partial transit of the Panama Canal. We watched everything from our balcony and then moved to the Promenade deck.

Once through the 3 locks, the ship drops anchor in the lake and those going on excursions, are taken away on tenders.

The ship then goes through all 3 locks again. That’s when we moved to the front of the ship.

There were no crowds to deal with. We had great views of everything.

The ship docks at Colon Panama, and those that were on excursions could now re-board.

We strolled a few blocks, to see what the shops had to offer, and ended up in a grocery store where I bought some sodas to bring on board.

All of the stores in every port are happy to accept US dollars.

 

Limon, Costa Rica was our next stop, and my favorite, thanks to the folks at SYL Travel.

I recommend their 6 in 1 tour. Our driver, Ana and our Guide Roxana treated us as if we were friends of the family, not cattle.

 

Grand Cayman was next, and we had a wonderful visit to the Cayman Spirits Co. Distillery, where we sampled rum all morning.

Tendering was quick and painless. Princess chartered two large local boats to help speed up the process.

 

Disembarkation was fast and easy. We were in the first walk-off group at 7:30am, carrying our own luggage, so there was no line for Customs/Immigration.

 

This was our first 10 day sailing and it was very relaxing.

I certainly hope that 7 day sailings won't seem too short in the future, as I already have 2 booked.

 

 

 

[JF - retired RRT]

Nice review.

Thanks for the tip about SYL tours.

[jasbo49]

Thanks for the extensive review.

 

I'm glad to see Corey Moir is now a full-fledged cruise director. We had him as an assistant CD on our September Regal transatlantic, and he was a real pleasure. He led the Princess Pop Choir and was the best director I've seen.

 

Jim

[easyboy]

Smoked salmon is available daily. It is however served alternately with smoked mackerel in the buffet but can be given when asked like you did. Glad you had it for your bagel. Thanks for the feedback.

[CineGraphic]

Smoked salmon is available daily. It is however served alternately with smoked mackerel in the buffet but can be given when asked like you did. Glad you had it for your bagel. Thanks for the feedback.

 

Sorry, but smoked salmon/lox was NEVER to be found at the buffet during breakfast at the Horizon Court on the Coral.

You had to ask for it, and they brought it out, plated from the galley.

[easyboy]

Your experience is more recent so I stand corrected. Thanks for the update.

[nanatutu]

Sorry, but smoked salmon/lox was NEVER to be found at the buffet during breakfast at the Horizon Court on the Coral.

You had to ask for it, and they brought it out, plated from the galley.

 

I found the same thing on our last RCI cruise. Smoked salmon\lox was never available on the buffet. All I had to do was ask and they brought it out from the galley every morning. The only reason I can of think of why they do it this way is so people don't take a pound of it at a time. ☺

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[VacationISmyFAVORITEword]

Do you recommend the early or late seating to BE ON time for the shows?

We love the shows.

If we take the 8:00 seating, will we be finished to see the show after??

I saw on some PATTERS that on some evenings there is only one show playing at 9:00. Please let me know your suggestions.

Thanks

[CineGraphic]

Do you recommend the early or late seating to BE ON time for the shows?

We love the shows.

If we take the 8:00 seating, will we be finished to see the show after??

I saw on some PATTERS that on some evenings there is only one show playing at 9:00. Please let me know your suggestions.

Thanks

 

We did anytime dining, so it's hard to say, but we usually ended up at the late show.

 

I highly recommend the crew talent show on the last night, it's nice to see those who are normally working so hard, have some fun.

[RotaryMike]

thanx for the review and info. I've read really good reviews of Corey Moir, and hope he is still on board for at least another month.

We are on the Coral this month, i've read thru Patters that were posted from an October sailing, and was wondering if you might have - and be willing/able to post them.

I'm curious if most activities are scheduled on the same days/times from one trip to the next? Mike in CT

[mvaughn11]

Thanks for the review! We've been on Regal and Caribbean but not Coral. We go on Alaskan cruise on the Coral Princess this summer. Thanks for the info!