Coral Princess Trip Report from Princess newbie with lots of photos

[arxcards]

19 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Free pizza above pool deck

Also free lunchtime pizza in Sabatini's

[arxcards]

Thanks for a great read. Being on the same cruise, it was nice to read a different perspective. I wanted to wait till we got home so that I could browse through the pics on a PC screen. Thanks for the beautiful pictures.

 

The weather wasn't particularly nice until Sunday night, but Eden did turn on a spectacular day.

 

For anyone having trouble with the functionality of the app, there are a couple of Princess guru's set up at a display stand opposite Effy's (near International cafe). They sell bling for your medallion, but they also solve any problems you may have.

 

From advice given earlier on the forum, I found the best way is that once aboard to logout of the app, then log back in via your name/DOB/Cabin number (instead of email/password). Barb had some issues with hers on our previous cruise, and one of the guru's solved it in a couple of minutes.

 

I agree that many of the balconies lack protection, but even those that have it lack privacy as well. We were midship on the same deck on the same side, had semi protection from above, but could see into dozens of balconies on the decks below - which also means they could see us too. They would be awesome spaces for sunny summer days, but aren't compatible with wet weather for sure.

 

Given that was 1st time Princess, are you looking towards #2, or returning to your previous brand(s)?

[grozzy1]

Here's a photo I took in Sydney recently which gives a good overview of the different balconies

[aussielozzie18]

7 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Thanks for a great read. Being on the same cruise, it was nice to read a different perspective. I wanted to wait till we got home so that I could browse through the pics on a PC screen. Thanks for the beautiful pictures.

 

The weather wasn't particularly nice until Sunday night, but Eden did turn on a spectacular day.

 

For anyone having trouble with the functionality of the app, there are a couple of Princess guru's set up at a display stand opposite Effy's (near International cafe). They sell bling for your medallion, but they also solve any problems you may have.

 

From advice given earlier on the forum, I found the best way is that once aboard to logout of the app, then log back in via your name/DOB/Cabin number (instead of email/password). Barb had some issues with hers on our previous cruise, and one of the guru's solved it in a couple of minutes.

 

I agree that many of the balconies lack protection, but even those that have it lack privacy as well. We were midship on the same deck on the same side, had semi protection from above, but could see into dozens of balconies on the decks below - which also means they could see us too. They would be awesome spaces for sunny summer days, but aren't compatible with wet weather for sure.

 

Given that was 1st time Princess, are you looking towards #2, or returning to your previous brand(s)?

Being new to the ship and a short cruise, I really struggled with orientation.  I actually only discovered that whole area that had the  International cafe, Effys, the photo displays and the desk selling the medallion trinkets - the night before we disembarked...

 

Many thanks for answering my questions before the cruise and for that valuable info you just provided.

 

in August 2020, we were due to do our first Princess cruise as a one way from Vancouver to Whittier then a road trip around Alaska.  That is back on the agenda.

 

I book for itinerary & price.  If Princess offered me an interesting itinerary and a decent price, I wouldn’t hesitate to book with Princess Australia again,

[arxcards]

16 minutes ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Being new to the ship and a short cruise, I really struggled with orientation.  I actually only discovered that whole area that had the  International cafe, Effys, the photo displays and the desk selling the medallion trinkets - the night before we disembarked...

 

Many thanks for answering my questions before the cruise and for that valuable info you just provided.

 

in August 2020, we were due to do our first Princess cruise as a one way from Vancouver to Whittier then a road trip around Alaska.  That is back on the agenda.

 

I book for itinerary & price.  If Princess offered me an interesting itinerary and a decent price, I wouldn’t hesitate to book with Princess Australia again,

Alaska is awesome. I hope you can find a nice itinerary and price.

 

I get the orientation bit. Princess flow is a bit different to others, and I guess it seems more natural to us based on similar layouts on their other ships. I guess International café was in our loop, as a walk by for coffees. 

[NSWP]

4 hours ago, arxcards said:

Also free lunchtime pizza in Sabatini's

I sat up on the deck one night and had a speshul pizza with a couple of glasses of 🍷. Nobody else there.

[arxcards]

On 10/10/2022 at 6:11 PM, cheznandy said:

Thanks for all the photo's. What a beautiful port stop Eden is......and those whales!!

Yes, those tables for two, you can't even move in and out.

The ones we had you could move around. 

 

A bit more space and privacy would be ideal, but they wouldn't have enough space to fit them all in. While there is a gap between tables, at least it allows you to order and eat at your own pace without considering if the adjacent table is ready to order.

 

P&O has that wriggle around to the back of the table version which offers a bit more privacy - but from ugly perspex screens.

[MMDown Under]

6 hours ago, arxcards said:

The ones we had you could move around. 

 

A bit more space and privacy would be ideal, but they wouldn't have enough space to fit them all in. While there is a gap between tables, at least it allows you to order and eat at your own pace without considering if the adjacent table is ready to order.

 

P&O has that wriggle around to the back of the table version which offers a bit more privacy - but from ugly perspex screens.

Sounds horrible.  A table for two, when you don't really have room for tables for two.  

[MMDown Under]

8 hours ago, NSWP said:

I sat up on the deck one night and had a speshul pizza with a couple of glasses of 🍷. Nobody else there.

That's my idea of a special place to eat for one!

[MMDown Under]

12 hours ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Being new to the ship and a short cruise, I really struggled with orientation.  I actually only discovered that whole area that had the  International cafe, Effys, the photo displays and the desk selling the medallion trinkets - the night before we disembarked...

 

Many thanks for answering my questions before the cruise and for that valuable info you just provided.

 

in August 2020, we were due to do our first Princess cruise as a one way from Vancouver to Whittier then a road trip around Alaska.  That is back on the agenda.

 

I book for itinerary & price.  If Princess offered me an interesting itinerary and a decent price, I wouldn’t hesitate to book with Princess Australia again,

At present, interesting itineraries are lacking on Australian cruises.  We travelled around Alaska on the Alaskan Marine Highway which visits small interesting places on small ferries.  Then we rented a car in Anchorage followed by a truck camper.  We had the national parks to ourselves for free because it was beginning of off season.  We loved touring Alaska and I'd love to do it again.  Locals were very friendly down to earth like Australians.  

[aussielozzie18]

2 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

We travelled around Alaska on the Alaskan Marine Highway which visits small interesting places on small ferries.  Then we rented a car in Anchorage followed by a truck camper.  We had the national parks to ourselves for free because it was beginning of off season.  We loved touring Alaska and I'd love to do it again.  Locals were very friendly down to earth like Australians.  

Sounds wonderful.  Look forward to doing it ourselves in 2024.

[aussielozzie18]

8 hours ago, arxcards said:

 

 

A bit more space and privacy would be ideal, but they wouldn't have enough space to fit them all in. While there is a gap between tables, at least it allows you to order and eat at your own pace without considering if the adjacent table is ready to order.

 

 

The problem with being a solo diner is the waitstaff bring out your food too quickly (this has occurred on other lines too).  Because you are not chatting, you finish your dish quicker.  I now know to ask the waiters to give me a break between serving each course.

Holland America (Noordam) had nice gaps between private tables  in the area I was seated on the first two nights.  Rest of the cruise was spent on a table of four with another couple.

[NSWP]

Oh deary me, in the dining rooms, tables for 1, tables for 2, why do we need them? Surely you go cruising to meet people? Get rid of the 1 and 2 tops as the Americans call them if there is no space for them. They are anti social anyway in my opinion.

 

Standby for incoming, lol.

 

[NSWP]

3 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

That's my idea of a special place to eat for one!

Not really it was formal night, I dont do those anymore. Eating alone is not fun.

[MMDown Under]

29 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Not really it was formal night, I dont do those anymore. Eating alone is not fun.

Sounded a better location than squashed next to another table for one or two!

The advantage of large tables is you can't hear the other half of the table anyway, but you have lots of space between passengers.  It only works if you can sit on the same table every night, as you meet the nicest well travelled interesting people.  

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, NSWP said:

Not really it was formal night, I dont do those anymore. Eating alone is not fun.

I agree that eating alone isn't fun. I like going to the MDR but my husband only goes for dinner. With P&O, the proximity of the tables for two was great. At least I had the chance of having someone close enough to chat to. On our last P&O cruise, they weren't putting people at share tables. If you arrived in the dining room alone, you were seated alone.

[MMDown Under]

1 hour ago, Aus Traveller said:

I agree that eating alone isn't fun. I like going to the MDR but my husband only goes for dinner. With P&O, the proximity of the tables for two was great. At least I had the chance of having someone close enough to chat to. On our last P&O cruise, they weren't putting people at share tables. If you arrived in the dining room alone, you were seated alone.

Even if you asked to sit at a share table?  If that was the case I'd make a friend outside before I went in! 

[OzKiwiJJ]

22 hours ago, NSWP said:

For future reference Caribe deck balconies are big, mine C333 was half the size of the cabin. Half covered too which was handy.

The Dolphin deck balconies are big too but most of them are not covered, only a dozen or so each side aft.

[aussielozzie18]

Princess were happy to put me on a share table and kept offering one at the restaurant entrance.  So even though I booked a private table it wasn’t a problem to join a share table at the last minute if I wanted to (for dining early at 5.20pm at least).

[OzKiwiJJ]

21 hours ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

That's good to know. I've booked a couple of Princess cruises recently for 2023 and 2024 - trying to work out which balconies are not covered became too confusing. SIze of balcony was something I assumed came with the cabin grade but maybe that's not right? I noticed that there was always availability on Dolphin deck so that's where I booked (the booking system seemed pretty keen for me to be there!). I hope I haven't been sold a pup.

 

You can check it out here:

 

https://www.cruisedeckplans.com/Princess/odell/res76zxu/princessbalconies/index.html

 

Coral is a bit different to the other ships as balcony size etc can vary on each deck. It's not one rule fits all.

[aussielozzie18]

4 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

The Dolphin deck balconies are big too but most of them are not covered, only a dozen or so each side aft.

Sounds like you really need to do your research before booking if you want a standard balcony cabin with cover on the Coral Princess

[OzKiwiJJ]

11 hours ago, arxcards said:

The ones we had you could move around. 

 

A bit more space and privacy would be ideal, but they wouldn't have enough space to fit them all in. While there is a gap between tables, at least it allows you to order and eat at your own pace without considering if the adjacent table is ready to order.

 

P&O has that wriggle around to the back of the table version which offers a bit more privacy - but from ugly perspex screens.

Coral seems to have a higher percentage of two seater tables than other Princess ships I've been on. I think they may have swapped out some six seater tables and replaced them with two two-seaters close together. We actually like those tables - they are served as separate tables as the two tables fill at different times but there is the opportunity to chat with the people on the other table. In other words you get the advantages of a shared table but without the slower service disadvantage. We met a lovely couple last night and ended up chatting for a couple of hours.

Edited October 12, 2022 by OzKiwiJJ

[OzKiwiJJ]

21 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

The Coral Princess deck plans show that some cabins on Caribe deck have big balconies but others don't.

The balconies on the mid-ships bump are tiny, especially the curved ones at each end of the bump.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Just now, aussielozzie18 said:

Sounds like you really need to do your research before booking if you want a standard balcony cabin with cover on the Coral Princess

Yes, very much so.

[MMDown Under]

45 minutes ago, aussielozzie18 said:

Princess were happy to put me on a share table and kept offering one at the restaurant entrance.  So even though I booked a private table it wasn’t a problem to join a share table at the last minute if I wanted to (for dining early at 5.20pm at least).

That is good to have a choice.