Anyone here currently on Coral Princess?

[dmwnc1959]

Was hoping you could confirm the type of chairs/loungers on wider parts of the Promenade Deck, if they are just regular wooden sitting chairs or the steamer-type padded loungers? 
 

Also, there have been some reports that on sea days they are currently offering a pop-up casual dining option (Alfredo’s and Salty Dog Gastropub). Any other new casual dining choices? I have the Princess Premier package and trying to figure out if the ‘unlimited’ is worth it. 
 

Any help is greatly appreciated!!! 

[arxcards]

Alfredos on each sea day lunch in Sabbatinis.

Salty Dog in an area of the buffet, not sure of frequency or hours. Will be back aboard on 26th. Will check on deck chairs then if you don't get an answer sooner.

 

Your unlimited is somewhat limited.

[OzKiwiJJ]

20 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Alfredos on each sea day lunch in Sabbatinis.

Salty Dog in an area of the buffet, not sure of frequency or hours. Will be back aboard on 26th. Will check on deck chairs then if you don't get an answer sooner.

 

Your unlimited is somewhat limited.

I thought they were doing Salty Dog in the Bayou restaurant.

[valantine80]

On Coral in January Salty Dog was in Bayou restaurant.

Chairs on Promenade deck are wooden slats, comfortable enough. Loungers are not padded. 

 

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I thought they were doing Salty Dog in the Bayou restaurant.

Cool, it must have been crab shack or something that was in the buffet - not included as a "casual" eatery.

 

Was Salty dog just sea days as well? We will only get one sea day later this month, and it will be tough to pick which one to dine at 😉 

All the current plus and premier will be loading-up for that day. 

[dmwnc1959]

Here’s a screenshot from a YouTube video of the promenade deck chairs @valantine80 mentioned aren’t padded.
 

@arxcards If possible next time you are on the ship can you please grab a couple pictures of the wooden slat chairs and loungers etc. that are all on the promenade deck. 

As of now I’m booked on her for 16-nights for a Panama Canal cruise and was very much looking forward to those chairs. 😁

[arxcards]

3 minutes ago, dmwnc1959 said:

Here’s a screenshot from a YouTube video of the promenade deck chairs @valantine80 mentioned aren’t padded.
 

@arxcards If possible next time you are on the ship can you please grab a couple pictures of the wooden slat chairs and loungers etc. that are all on the promenade deck. 

As of now I’m booked on her for 16-nights for a Panama Canal cruise and was very much looking forward to those chairs. 😁

Yes, will do. 

Alas though, the ship has a drydock between now & your cruise and anything is possible by then.

[dmwnc1959]

2 hours ago, arxcards said:

Alfredos on each sea day lunch in Sabbatinis.

Salty Dog in an area of the buffet, not sure of frequency or hours. Will be back aboard on 26th. Will check on deck chairs then if you don't get an answer sooner.

 

Your unlimited is somewhat limited.

That’s beginning to come more and more to light.
 

And I’m very much looking forward to seeing what they’re changing during the drydock. I’ve actually sent off an email to Princess Cruises Customer Relations to see if they can please (I did a little groveling and begging) give more details (or point me in the right direction as to who can tell me) what’s going to happen during that 3-week period. I’m really hoping they add to or enhance the casual dining options.

 

Edited February 14 by dmwnc1959

[dmwnc1959]

45 minutes ago, valantine80 said:

On Coral in January Salty Dog was in Bayou restaurant.

Now I’m going to have to find a menu. Your confirmations have peaked my interest @OzKiwiJJ

Edited February 14 by dmwnc1959

[joejoe 59]

50 minutes ago, dmwnc1959 said:

Here’s a screenshot from a YouTube video of the promenade deck chairs @valantine80 mentioned aren’t padded.
 

@arxcards If possible next time you are on the ship can you please grab a couple pictures of the wooden slat chairs and loungers etc. that are all on the promenade deck. 

As of now I’m booked on her for 16-nights for a Panama Canal cruise and was very much looking forward to those chairs. 😁

Hi we got off Coral last Monday.  The chairs in your photo are definitely no longer there. They had upright slat chairs with a matching coffee table between, I found them quite comfortable. 

[dmwnc1959]

24 minutes ago, joejoe 59 said:

Hi we got off Coral last Monday.  The chairs in your photo are definitely no longer there. They had upright slat chairs with a matching coffee table between, I found them quite comfortable. 

That’s making me sad. However, the alternative sounds nice, and a place to put a drink instead of laying it on the deck. But those loungers, how nice would that have been. 😎

[Aus Traveller]

21 minutes ago, dmwnc1959 said:

That’s making me sad. However, the alternative sounds nice, and a place to put a drink instead of laying it on the deck. But those loungers, how nice would that have been. 😎

The loungers were replaced in June last year during the world cruise when the ship called into Singapore.

[OzKiwiJJ]

3 hours ago, arxcards said:

Cool, it must have been crab shack or something that was in the buffet - not included as a "casual" eatery.

 

Was Salty dog just sea days as well? We will only get one sea day later this month, and it will be tough to pick which one to dine at 😉 

All the current plus and premier will be loading-up for that day. 

From what I've heard they alternate between the two on sea days so if you only have one sea day you won't have a choice.

[arxcards]

5 hours ago, dmwnc1959 said:

That’s beginning to come more and more to light.
 

And I’m very much looking forward to seeing what they’re changing during the drydock. I’ve actually sent off an email to Princess Cruises Customer Relations to see if they can please (I did a little groveling and begging) give more details (or point me in the right direction as to who can tell me) what’s going to happen during that 3-week period. I’m really hoping they add to or enhance the casual dining options.

 

I am not aware of any changes to the layout of the public areas. I can't think of a ship I would rather do a Panama Canal cruise on than Coral Princess, but her & Island don't fit with this concocted "casual restaurant" idea. The unfortunate part is that you can't have a "casual" dinner as a pop-up in a specialty restaurant. There is also no gelato as a "casual" option like many of the newer ships, so that would be a nice addition if they chose to do something about it. 

 

Coral is a bit tired, and a bit overdue for some TLC, which as far as I can tell is mostly engineering and a refresh of existing hotel areas. Grand Princess aside, it isn't normally part of Princess' MO to make major hotel changes during drydock. The other Princess exception is the addition of more cabins - lets hope they aren't turning Coral's deckplan to match Island's.

[dmwnc1959]

3 hours ago, arxcards said:

I am not aware of any changes to the layout of the public areas. I can't think of a ship I would rather do a Panama Canal cruise on than Coral Princess, but her & Island don't fit with this concocted "casual restaurant" idea. The unfortunate part is that you can't have a "casual" dinner as a pop-up in a specialty restaurant. There is also no gelato as a "casual" option like many of the newer ships, so that would be a nice addition if they chose to do something about it. 

 

Coral is a bit tired, and a bit overdue for some TLC, which as far as I can tell is mostly engineering and a refresh of existing hotel areas. Grand Princess aside, it isn't normally part of Princess' MO to make major hotel changes during drydock. The other Princess exception is the addition of more cabins - lets hope they aren't turning Coral's deckplan to match Island's.

I would think the uproar received and PR disaster Princess Cruises went through from that disaster would be enough to kill the idea of turning her into another Island Princess. 
 

I’m curious as to what makes you say “The unfortunate part is that you can't have a "casual" dinner as a pop-up in a specialty restaurant.” Is it that awkward for the venue and staff? 
 

Coral Princess was my first choice for going through the Panama Canal, that is until I found a superb itinerary on Norwegian Jewel that goes from Tampa, Florida to Whittier, Alaska. It’s turning out that the lack of casual dining options on the former is pushing me toward the latter. 
 

🙂

Edited February 14 by dmwnc1959

[dmwnc1959]

7 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

The loungers were replaced in June last year during the world cruise when the ship called into Singapore.

That’s a real shame, too. It would be nice to see them come back, but having been replaced that recently sounds like a more permanent setting. 

[arxcards]

7 hours ago, dmwnc1959 said:

 

I’m curious as to what makes you say “The unfortunate part is that you can't have a "casual" dinner as a pop-up in a specialty restaurant.” Is it that awkward for the venue and staff? 
 

🙂

At lunch on sea days, a casual Alfredo's exists in Sabatini's. For dinner, Sabatini's reverts to being a specialty restaurant. Likewise for Salty Dog at lunch, Bayou for dinner. No way they could successfully co-exist. Perhaps if there is little demand in dinner bookings, they could change-it up on certain nights. On shorter cruises down here, Bayou & Sabatini's are pretty much sold-out before embarkation. The other thing with premier is that there are numbers of passengers with two specialty dinners.

 

IF the pop-up was in a designated area of the buffet, at least it could serve both lunch & dinner - but that isn't currently done.

[dmwnc1959]

53 minutes ago, arxcards said:

IF the pop-up was in a designated area of the buffet, at least it could serve both lunch & dinner - but that isn't currently done.

I’m guessing the only reason it’s done in the specialty dining venue itself and not in the buffet is to retain some resemblance of ambiance and being ‘special’? I remember doing the Crab Shack on Royal Princess when it first came out and it just seemed like an extension of the buffet with brown paper table covers. There wasn’t anything really special about the atmosphere. 

[arxcards]

5 hours ago, dmwnc1959 said:

I’m guessing the only reason it’s done in the specialty dining venue itself and not in the buffet is to retain some resemblance of ambiance and being ‘special’? I remember doing the Crab Shack on Royal Princess when it first came out and it just seemed like an extension of the buffet with brown paper table covers. There wasn’t anything really special about the atmosphere. 

True, but without a dedicated space on Coral Princess, "casual dining" is likely to be a lunch only experience. No Vines to get the charcuterie board, no gelato to get unlimited gelato (if you really wanted it). Just 2 x pop-ups for lunch on sea days, and all the ice cream and sprinkles you can eat at Swirls.

[dmwnc1959]

On 2/13/2024 at 6:58 PM, arxcards said:

Alfredos on each sea day lunch in Sabbatinis.

Salty Dog in an area of the buffet, not sure of frequency or hours. Will be back aboard on 26th. Will check on deck chairs then if you don't get an answer sooner.

 

Your unlimited is somewhat limited.

Looking forward to any new updates on the Specialty Dining pop-ups and promenade deck chairs (oooh, pictures too please! 😁). If you’re -also able to take some pictures of the current menus from Alfredo’s and Salty Dog it would be greatly appreciated! I’m guessing that the menus really don’t change much between her Down Under deployments to that of the Panama Canal season. Have a great cruise!!!

[arxcards]

2 hours ago, dmwnc1959 said:

Looking forward to any new updates on the Specialty Dining pop-ups and promenade deck chairs (oooh, pictures too please! 😁). If you’re -also able to take some pictures of the current menus from Alfredo’s and Salty Dog it would be greatly appreciated! I’m guessing that the menus really don’t change much between her Down Under deployments to that of the Panama Canal season. Have a great cruise!!!

Our only sea day today, and there is the usual Alfredo’s pop-up in Sabatini's. There is nothing new about it, except the cover charge for anyone without a package. On a shorty, I doubt we will see Salty Dog, but will see if I can get hold of a menu.

[dmwnc1959]

17 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Our only sea day today, and there is the usual Alfredo’s pop-up in Sabatini's. There is nothing new about it, except the cover charge for anyone without a package. On a shorty, I doubt we will see Salty Dog, but will see if I can get hold of a menu.

THANK YOU! For the past few weeks I’ve been following Coral Princess on Marine Traffic, she sure cut it close to land on your sail-away. Those short cruises look fantastic! Wish we had similar coastal cruises here that didn’t require going to a distant foreign port. 
 

 

 

Edited February 26 by dmwnc1959

[Aus Traveller]

The reasons that the Coral went close to land are -

1. Moreton Bay is relatively shallow with a clearly marked shipping lane. It goes fairly close to Moreton Island near the Tangaloma Resort.

2. After leaving the Bay, ships keep close to the coast as far as Mooloolaba because that is where the marine pilot leaves the ship.

[arxcards]

The short cruises allow Princess the flexibility of selling longer cruises from multiple ports, with the short offerings filling the gap. 

 

Yes, that route through Moreton Bay is the shipping lane to the Point Cartwright pilot station. It is still a long way to navigate north away from the next southern port, but it is also way too shallow to navigate between North Stradbroke & Moreton Islands.

[arxcards]

Drum roll, the deck chairs confirmed, of which most already had mentioned. Prom deck, port side:

 

 

if you get there early and lay along it, you can be 100% reclined and in need of a chiropractor in the next port 😉