2 questions North or south bound Alaska-Coral or Royal

[HopeO]

Does it make a difference in which direction the ship travels?  Also, not sure which ship is better. We just did a panama canal cruise on the island princess and the showers were extremely small. Wondering if they are the same on the coral.

Thanks

[paul929207]

The Coral and the Island are sister ship's. Showers will be the same size.

[Coral]

The Coral and Island are no longer sister ships (Coral is better) but the bathrooms are the same. The Island Princess has been negatively modified.

 

I hope to never do Alaska on the Royal Princess. It has limited outside viewing areas. I would go with Coral Princess.

 

I like both North and South bound for different reasons. 

Edited November 6, 2018 by Coral

[HopeO]

What are the different reasons? It may help me in making my devision.

 

Thanks

[Colo Cruiser]

We would choose the Coral.

[Coral]

10 minutes ago, HopeO said:

What are the different reasons? It may help me in making my devision.

 

Thanks

If you go North - you have more time in Juneau and can do Tracy Arm excursion through AdventureBound (all day excursion - excellent viewing, reasonable price for Alaska). The scenery gets better as you go. You see College Fiords which can be beautiful on a gorgeous day, sort of blah on other days, sometimes blocked.  You get Glacier Bay.

 

If you go Southbound, you get both Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier. Glacier Bay is always a given for ships - it maybe has been missed once in many years, Hubbard is not. Hubbard glacier is massive and amazing if you can get close to it but ships can often skip it due to ice conditions. Sometimes ships don't get to it half the year. Shorter time in Juneau - you are unable to do AdventureBound Alaska to Tracy Arm (my favorite excursion). Scenery starts out amazing and decreases the closer you get to Vancouver.

 

Both good and I have done both many times. I prefer NorthBound due to AdventureBound private shore excursion.

Edited November 6, 2018 by Coral

[HopeO]

Thanks so much. Just told my husband that he will have a hard time bending  over to wash his feet again. He is well over 6 ft. 

 

 

 

[Essiesmom]

Book a mini suite and you get a tub/shower.  EM

[Thrak]

Coral Princess. Period. If you book a balcony you will find that your husband has to sit totally sideways on Royal Princess. Tiny balconies. For you, Royal will have a better shower as there is a small ledge on which to rest your foot when shaving your legs. To me it wouldn't be worth the change in ships. Coral has soooooooooo much better viewing areas.

 

As for North vs South: If it's just a cruise I don't know if it matters that much. If it's a land tour I definitely want the land portion first with the cruise afterward.

 

Full disclosure: I haven't sailed on Royal Princess. I love Coral Princess. (Sailing 19 days on her very soon.)

[vmom]

I’ve sailed on both ships 2times. For Alaska go with the Coral.  The Royal has limited outside viewing areas and Alaska is all about the scenery.

[kitkat343]

We did the northbound because we had to (we had a land tour afterwards and sailed in late-May, arriving in Denali in early June.  In order to be there when the buses were running in Denali we had to sail northbound.  It is usually a bit cheaper, since most people prefer southbound to get the longer flight to Anchorage and the more grueling land tour out of the way, since being on the ship is a little more relaxing.  We were quite happy with sailing northbound, as the scenery and stops kept getting nicer as the trip continued.  

 

We also sailed on the Coral Princess to Alaska, and later to the Panama Canal.  Its quite a lovely but older ship, and has lots of good viewing areas.  I've read on the forums that since it is a panamax ship it is narrower and can get closer to the glaciers than a larger ship (I don't actually know enough about ships to confirm if this is true).  But the Royal is much newer, and will have more amenities.  I'd choose the Coral princess for the viewing areas, but it truly is your call based upon what you'd prefer.

 

Also, please bear in mind the the ports in Alaska are tiny, and we were able to book excursions independently and save money and at least 8 years ago we could walk to the excursions from where we docked.  Our favorite excursions were taking a helicopter to a dogsled park on the top of a mountain (Temsco runs the cruise line excursion and you can book directly with them.  They recommend booking in Skagway, not Juneau since the weather is a bit more stable there.  Also, they told me to book as early as possible since they will try to squeeze you in later if your original time slot is cancelled due to weather, although we did sail in the shoulder season and they may be booked solid in later June.  Our other favorite excursion was the Bering Sea tour, in which you learn all about crabbing, which was fascinating.  Have a great trip!

[Wishing on a star]

 

North or South bound???

We chose Southbound, on the CORAL !

 

If you would be able to book the excursion to see Tracy Arm Fjord. (Adventure Bound)  either from Juneau or disembarking the ship onto the tour boat AT the fjord... That is one reason to book the Northbound.

 

If you would like to also see Hubbard Glacier (conditions permitting) or to take a pre -cruise boat tour of PWS and College Fjord. (there are a couple of good operators) Then those would be reasons to choose the Southbound.

 

Happy Planning!

[antsp]

As far a choosing a ship, the worst possible ship to go to Alaska on with a Princess is a Royal class.  

[knbcruisers]

We loved the Coral for Alaska and Panama, have no experience on the Royal.  Coral has the added bonus of extra large balconies (9 ft x9ft) on some of the Caribe deck cabins.   Depending on when you book, some of these cabins are coded BD which is priced as a standard balcony not a premium, and a very good value.  We had C317 for Panama and it was perfect ( can t help you with the shower problem).  

[voljeep]

11 hours ago, Coral said:

If you go North - you have more time in Juneau and can do Tracy Arm excursion through AdventureBound (all day excursion - excellent viewing, reasonable price for Alaska). The scenery gets better as you go. You see College Fiords which can be beautiful on a gorgeous day, sort of blah on other days, sometimes blocked.  You get Glacier Bay.

 

If you go Southbound, you get both Glacier Bay and Hubbard Glacier. Glacier Bay is always a given for ships - it maybe has been missed once in many years, Hubbard is not. Hubbard glacier is massive and amazing if you can get close to it but ships can often skip it due to ice conditions. Sometimes ships don't get to it half the year. Shorter time in Juneau - you are unable to do AdventureBound Alaska to Tracy Arm (my favorite excursion). Scenery starts out amazing and decreases the closer you get to Vancouver.

 

Both good and I have done both many times. I prefer NorthBound due to AdventureBound private shore excursion.

what would be the best 'time of the year' to do the cruise 'and' the 8 day land tour ?

[UpcountryTravelers]

Definitely do Coral.  The forward facing buffet (think morning coffee with awesome scenery) alone is worth it.  Plus bigger balconies from which to enjoy the passage of the most beautiful views on this planet!!

 

[zalusky]

If I was doing a cruisetour I would pick southbound as I prefer to do the land stuff first and relax on the ship second before going home.

[claudiniusmaximus]

I had the same choice to make between Royal and Coral - based on advice on these forums and looking at lots of pics and vids online/YouTube etc I opted for the Coral. 

 

For me, it was about the viewing areas. On Royal the only viewing areas really are on the very top decks and they are mostly obscured by blue glass. On coral you have the promenade deck for viewing as well as forward and aft viewing spots plus most of the upper decks the blue glass is only waist high or so. For Alaska that seemed more important than the sparkly newness of the Royal. 

 

(Ps we don’t sail until next June  but am v happy with our choice). 

Edited November 6, 2018 by claudiniusmaximus

[HopeO]

Thank you for all the wonderful suggestions. This seemed to be so easy when cruising the carribean. Now to find a decent airfare. Has anyone used the Princess Web for airfare?

I too plan on traveling  in early June. Am doing my homework early this year as our panama canal cruise was rather  last minute and the we paid dearly for airfare.

[Coral]

10 hours ago, voljeep said:

what would be the best 'time of the year' to do the cruise 'and' the 8 day land tour ?

You will want to do research on this. It really depends on your interests.

 

May/June is traditionally dryer (less rain). September has potential for the worst weather though this year it was great. Mid-End July and beyond is good for salmon running and better chances of seeing bears and bear tours operate at this time. If you want to land on a glacier and go dog sledding - you will want to do this before mid-August or even before depending on snow left on glacier. If you are going to Denali - you will want to go after June 1.  

 

Grab Alaska by Cruiseship book by Anne Vipond.

 

The Alaska board is pretty good.

[knbcruisers]

6 hours ago, HopeO said:

Thank you for all the wonderful suggestions. This seemed to be so easy when cruising the carribean. Now to find a decent airfare. Has anyone used the Princess Web for airfare?

I too plan on traveling  in early June. Am doing my homework early this year as our panama canal cruise was rather  last minute and the we paid dearly for airfare.

I priced it a million different ways, and checked/compared prices every few days, and ended up best booking on our own.  You need to do your research and any flexibility helps.   Many people here on the boards say that Princess Air is very competitive in pricing.    I don't know your home airport, but I was able to get great pricing because we departed from Tampa and flew back into Orlando.  We are about half way between so I shop both airports.  Also, keep in mind that on a one way trip you are flying to different destinations.  We had US Air  outbound Tampa to Vancouver, then Sun Country  on the return from Anchorage to Orlando.  

We traveled middle of June and except for not seeing bears like you would later in the season, had an awesome trip, and blessed with amazing weather over 12 days

(7 day northbound, and DIY land tour:  3 nights Denali,  1 night Aleyska Resort) .  School & high school football schedules limit us to June for trips more than a week.   DH talks about going back for extended stay in the RV frequently, its the first thing he is doing when he retires (i think he'll go with or without me 😉)

The Alaska board and the reviews are extremely helpful. I signed up on line with the Alaska tourism websites for the various areas, and got a lot of good info from them promptly in the mail.     

[john watson]

On 11/6/2018 at 1:10 AM, Coral said:

The Coral and Island are no longer sister ships (Coral is better) but the bathrooms are the same. The Island Princess has been negatively modified.

 

 

 

Are you suggesting that if you had a sister and she had a negative modification that you would no longer regard her as your sister?

 

Regards John

[mexicobob]

On ‎11‎/‎6‎/‎2018 at 12:09 PM, zalusky said:

If I was doing a cruisetour I would pick southbound as I prefer to do the land stuff first and relax on the ship second before going home.

Totally agree.

[jennybenny]

On 11/5/2018 at 4:51 PM, HopeO said:

Does it make a difference in which direction the ship travels?  Also, not sure which ship is better. We just did a panama canal cruise on the island princess and the showers were extremely small. Wondering if they are the same on the coral.

Thanks

We would pick Coral Southbound.  Here's why.... We do not like doing anything but go home after a cruise.  That means any add on days would need to be at the start of the cruise.   We did Alaska on the Coral years ago and loved it.  We had a week in Alaska with our rental car, we did a Princess Lodge too (you can book them without a tour).  It was great!  My favorite ship is Royal Princess, but the viewing areas are limited.  When we did our cruise we had an inside room and it was still an amazing vacation. We enjoyed all the public viewing spaces.  I still think we will do a balcony next time and I would still pick Coral over Royal for Alaska.  I might swing for a Club Class mini if we can afford it so we don't have to worry about TD being too early/too late or ATD dining wait times. 

Whatever you decide I'm sure you will love it!

[Coral]

1 hour ago, john watson said:

 

Are you suggesting that if you had a sister and she had a negative modification that you would no longer regard her as your sister?

 

Regards John

If intentional negative modification - yes, something like that. They were twins at one point.