Island or Coral for full transit of Panama Canal?

[silverwillow]

I vaguely recall some discussion on the boards about one of the Princess ships being spoiled by a dry dock and I'm not sure if it was the Island or Coral?

 

We are considering a Panama Canal for our next cruise and have had to cancel two cruisers due to my husband changing jobs. Apparently it's not kosher to run off on holidays straight away! :rolleyes::p

 

We live down under so it will be a big flight so we will try and tack on a Caribbean cruise and/or a stay in Florida.

 

Which ship should we choose? Any tips for when the best time to go is? We won't be able to leave the country until at least September but I am eager to get something booked to stave off the cruise blues. I disembarked from the Sun Princess this morning and for the first time since I started cruising I haven't got another booked. :eek:

[paul929207]

I haven't been on it, but it is the Island that people do not like the changes.

[TracieABD]

I would go with the Coral...

[silverwillow]

Thanks, yeah I did think it was one of them. What is the problem with the Island?

[TracieABD]

Thanks, yeah I did think it was one of them. What is the problem with the Island?

 

They did an overhaul to add more suites in the aft of the ship. When they did this, it ended the continuity of the Prominade Deck and also removed the aft two story club.

[lrockwitt]

We did a partial transit on the Island a year ago and were very happy. We are doing a full transit B2B on the island in 2 weeks again. I thought the ship was very nice and even doing a 60 days on her to South America. No problems

 

 

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Edited January 5, 2017 by lrockwitt

[silverwillow]

Oh no that doesn't sound good at all. I will look at the Coral as we love walking around deck 7.

[Eagle_and_hawk]

We would go with the Coral. With those changes in the Island, there is less common area in the back, no wrap around promenade deck and 200-250 more passengers than before the dry dock.

[TriumphGuy]

We did a partial transit last year on the Coral. Loved that ship, and the promenade deck is continuous around the ship, no longer so on the Island.

Also, one of the best things we liked about the Coral was the aft decks where you could watch the wake and lounge. Was never very crowded, and also made for great viewing when transiting the canal.

[skynight]

Coral for sure. The Island and Coral were sister ships when built, but the Island has undergone major negative changes which:

Added over 200 passengers

Removed the Universe Show Lounge

Removed many of the upper deck viewing areas

Removed the 360 degree promenade

Moved the fitness and spa area to inside deck 7

 

The Coral still has:

The Universe Show Lounge

The upper deck viewing areas

The 360 degree promenade

A beautiful aft spa and fitness center on deck 14

200 less passengers with more space per passenger

The Coral also has the International Cafe which the Island does not have.

Edited January 5, 2017 by sknight

[sunsetbeachgal]

You will need to decide if you are doing a full or partial Canal transit and that decision will most likely decide which ship, normally one ship does partial and one does full

 

 

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Edited January 5, 2017 by sunsetbeachgal

[CineGraphic]

The Coral is a very special ship.

Believe me, if Princess thought that the changes they made on the Island were good, they would have done the same to the Coral.

Instead, they realized that they made a mistake and left the Coral alone.

[peacefulOR]

We went through the same comparison and chose the Coral, then researched some more and chose the Caribe deck. Leaving LA 01/05/2018 for full trans-canal. I've been to Central America many times and find it way too hot to go later in the year, hence a January sailing. Good luck on your choice; we used to do the Anchorage, AK to Miami flights and know it's a LONG flight.

[Thrak]

CORAL. Have sailed them both. Absolutely no contest.

Edited January 5, 2017 by Thrak

[RSF Cruiser]

Just got off the Island on a full transit - had done a full transit on the Coral five years ago. Either ship would be fine. If you like aft cabins, you can get them only on the Island. We stayed in a Vista Suite A729 and loved it. I will be posting a full review of the cabin, since many people complained about vibrations in the Island's aft suites. Bottom line about the vibrations is: aft cabins have more vibrations than mid ship cabins, as do cabins the higher up in the ship you go. The vibrations and movement we felt on the Aloha deck aft suite were no more than any other ship we've been on. The vibrations and rocking lull u to sleep...

 

The ship was full and did not seem crowded at all - we went to the late shows and there was plenty of seating for everyone, even at just a few minutes before show time. I have no idea how crowded it was for the early show.

[TLCOhio]

Just got off the Island on a full transit - had done a full transit on the Coral five years ago. Either ship would be fine. If you like aft cabins, you can get them only on the Island. We stayed in a Vista Suite A729 and loved it. I will be posting a full review of the cabin, since many people complained about vibrations in the Island's aft suites. Bottom line about the vibrations is: aft cabins have more vibrations than mid ship cabins, as do cabins the higher up in the ship you go. The vibrations and movement we felt on the Aloha deck aft suite were no more than any other ship we've been on. The vibrations and rocking lull u to sleep... The ship was full and did not seem crowded at all - we went to the late shows and there was plenty of seating for everyone, even at just a few minutes before show time. I have no idea how crowded it was for the early show.

 

Appreciate this above recent update from their experiences on the Island Princess. Getting ready in late February to be doing a 15-day Ft. Lauderdale to San Francisco sailing that goes through the Panama Canal and will give us our first visits in Colombia, Central American and Mexico. Plus, seeing the musical “Hamilton” in the Golden Gate City after the end of our cruise.

 

This will be our first sailing with Princess. Have previously done two cruises on the Celebrity Solstice, plus six other cruises on smaller, luxury lines. For us, we were more focused on traveling with some high school friends of my wife, plus the chance to do the canal, try another cruise line, get food value for this cruise, etc. I am sure we will "survive" whether or not things have been changed from the original design of this ship. Sounds like certain aspects might be a little better on the Coral, but I assume that things, overall, will work well on the Island Princess, too. Right?

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 165,654 views for this posting.

[Thrak]

Please note that aft balconies are closed off during canal transit as the lines are attached aft (as well as forward of course). It is a safety issue. We found that the public for and aft viewing decks on Baja and Caribe on Coral Princess were wonderful places during the transit and the naturalist set up on one of them forward and did his broadcast from there. When not actually broadcasting over the ship's system he was very friendly and answered questions from anybody who asked. The aft public viewing areas on those two decks no longer exist on Island Princess as they are now private balconies.

 

Note: We were on a full transit. I don't know how the aft balconies are handled during a partial transit.

[UpcountryTravelers]

Coral, beyond question. Many more venues to watch what is going on. (The main reason for the Coral cruise (full transit) we booked for later this year.)

[Colo Cruiser]

With the added cabins and over 200 additional passengers and NO additional dining venues added we saw lines for AT dining stretch into the atrium and wrap around the stairs every night.

 

If you have the chance to book the Coral do it........ it's a no brainer.

[KBS1607]

I've only done Coral but we loved our full transit cruise.

[wowzz]

With the added cabins and over 200 additional passengers and NO additional dining venues added we saw lines for AT dining stretch into the atrium and wrap around the stairs every night.

 

If you have the chance to book the Coral do it........ it's a no brainer.

Well, that is not the experience I had on the Island. Only had to wait once (15minutes) for ATD. Just made sure to avoid eating at the unbelievably early time of 17:30.

 

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[deborahjo]

Loved the Coral when we took her to Alaska in 2015. Just big enough to feel cozy.

 

 

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[Colo Cruiser]

Well, that is not the experience I had on the Island. Only had to wait once (15minutes) for ATD. Just made sure to avoid eating at the unbelievably early time of 17:30.

 

 

The lines we saw lasted from 5p to 8:30 every night. :rolleyes:

[MargoK]

Sounds like booking the Coral for Christmas/New Year 2017/2018 full transit was the best decision for us.

 

Now I am nervous about travelling from New Zealand to Fort Lauderdale! :eek: Getting home from LA won't be so bad.

 

Not wanting to 'hijack' this thread, we would appreciate thoughts on this trips with me being in a wheelchair (powered)

[mevs904]

We had a wonderful Alaska cruise on the Coral n August 2015. Loved the ship and have booked a future Panama Canal cruise (partial) on the Coral. Based on the reports of the renovations on the Island we have no interest in sailing on her.