Coral Princess review... finally !

[AlainBob]

We were on the Coral Princess last January (Panama canal cruise R/T from Fort Lauderdale).

 

As soon as we were back home, I wrote my review for all to see... except that it took almost 6 months to be posted... :confused: I've just received an email saying that my review is finally there in the "review" section !

 

So, here it is: My Coral Princess review !

 

Any comments or questions are welcome !

 

Alain R.

[Psee]

Very nice review!

 

 

Thanks!:)

[AlainBob]

Thanks ! Glad you like it !

:)

[spongerob]

Well done. Merci.

[sue d. miller]

Great review, Alain!! Thanks!! :)

[mii]

We did the same cruise as you except that it was in Feb. Brought back some great memories. Great review.

 

 

Marilyn

[Flacrusrs]

Great review, Alain, thank you. We are soaking up every bit of info we can about the Coral and the Panama Canal.

[Druke I]

Very well done review - thanks.

 

We did a short Left Coast repositioning on the Coral Princess, May 03, and enjoyed the ship very much. Both my wife and I think that the Coral class ship a much more manageable size than the huge Grand class ships.

 

Michael

[AlainBob]

Druke I said:

I think that the Coral class ship a much more manageable size than the huge Grand class ships.

We have never been on any of the Grand class ships... But we were abble to see the Grand in Fort Lauderdale the day prior our last cruise and I saw a tv show wich featured the Grand Princess...

 

I agree with you and I don't really know if I will sail on her some day. Ships with more than 2,000 pax on board are too big for me...

 

A comment I regularly receive when I show my videos and pics of our cruises is: "It seems that you are almost alone on those ships... It doesn't seem to be a crowded ship..." ... and that's the kind of comment I like to receive ! :p

 

--------------------------------

Thx to every one who like my review...

 

Alain R.

[Deloresgardella]

Thanks Alain for the great review. We will be on the Coral Princess in April, for an 15 day epositioning cruise from Ft Lauderdale to S.F. We have reserved an inside cabin, is there a good place to sit for observation while going through the canal. This is one cruise that I have always wanted to take. In May of this year took the Regal from S.F round trip to Alaska. Loved it.

Delores

[AlainBob]

Deloresgardella said...

is there a good place to sit for observation while going through the canal.

Well, every outside deck is a great place to look at the canal...

 

- Sports deck (deck 16) forward, where you'll find the splash pool, is a great place to be when you approach the canal. You are way up on the ship and you have a great view of the upcoming locks... The same applies to the Sun deck (deck 15).

 

- Then, when you're inside the locks, don't hesitate to go somewhere else... Personnaly, I went to the Promenade deck (deck 7). When the lock is "empty" (I mean, when the water is at the lowest point), the Promenade deck is at level with the walkway of the canal. You have the impression that you can just walk off the ship or that you can touch one of the mules that keeps the ship in the middle of the lock... Funny feeling...

 

- Then, I suggest you go to an inside public area on decks 5 or 6, like "La patisserie" (deck 5) or the corridor in front of the Explorer's lounge (deck 6)... When you look outside at the windows, all you see is a concrete wall and you'll see that it is VERY close ... You think that the ship will hit the wall... Another funny feeling...

 

- Also, when the ship is in the locks, you can go to the aft (decks 12, 14, 15 and 16)... You have a great view of where the ship is coming from.

 

So, as you can see, there are many places you can go and have a great experience of the canal. Since you have an hour and a half to two hours inside the locks you have plenty of time to go around the ship...

 

Have a great cruise !

 

Alain R.

[nannyny]

What a great review! and wonderful "tips". I am so looking forward to being on board April 2005.

[mappa2]

alain - on sea days, were there enough pool chairs etc.?

the coral seems to have a pretty good space to passenger ratio.

do you recall which lounges had dance music?

 

 

thanks for your review

 

larry

[RDR]

On the review..."Dining:

 

We were on the traditional first sitting option. Our waiter (Ricardo, from Mexico) and our junior waiter (Frankie, from Italy) were great. Especially Frankie. Ricardo was, at first, a bit shy and we didn't know why... Finally, he told us that it was his first cruise as a waiter (he was junior waiter for 11 years with Princess). Frankie gave us very good advice on wine selection (Italian, of course !!!) and we are sure that he should get a promotion to be a waiter very soon. By comparing with previous cruises we had with Princess, we found that the waiters (not only Ricardo, but others too), were pushing us to finish our meal as soon as possible. We talked with other passengers and they felt the same way..."

 

I'd just like to point out that the information provided by some crew members may be embelished at times. I'm sure Princess would not like this, but I expect that crew members do not see a problem with it. We were on the Coral Princess through the canal in September 2003 and we had a waiter by the name of "Ricardo" from Mexico, and he had been a junior waiter for 11 years and it was his first cruise as a waiter. Now I realize that Ricardo is a fairly common name, but the circumstances overall might should cause one to be somewaht skeptical of some things that crew members say.

[AlainBob]

alain - on sea days, were there enough pool chairs etc.?

the coral seems to have a pretty good space to passenger ratio.

do you recall which lounges had dance music?

 

 

thanks for your review

 

larry

We didn't have any problems with pool chairs. We were 2 couples and we were always able to find 4 chairs together.

 

As for lounges with dance music... I'm not the "dancer type"... but looking at the Princess Patters I bring home, I can tell you that the Explorer's lounge and the Weelhouse bar are good places for dancing...

 

Alain R.

[AlainBob]

I'd just like to point out that the information provided by some crew members may be embelished at times. I'm sure Princess would not like this, but I expect that crew members do not see a problem with it. We were on the Coral Princess through the canal in September 2003 and we had a waiter by the name of "Ricardo" from Mexico, and he had been a junior waiter for 11 years and it was his first cruise as a waiter. Now I realize that Ricardo is a fairly common name, but the circumstances overall might should cause one to be somewaht skeptical of some things that crew members say.

Hhhmmmm ! Good point RDR... I have never tought of that...

[khuff7]

Great review AlainBob. We will be on the Coral in December and I can not wait!

[keukamom2]

Did the ship depart and return to the same place in Fort Lauderdale? We are driving and I have heard that it docks at different locations.

Thanks

[AlainBob]

Did the ship depart and return to the same place in Fort Lauderdale? We are driving and I have heard that it docks at different locations.

Thanks

When we did our cruise, yes. The ship was at pier #2 in Port Everglades at the start and arrival.

 

Sometimes, when there are 2 Princess ships at the same time in Port Everglades, they will use pier #2 and pier #19. Just look at the cruise calendar you can find at the end of any Princess brochures and search for your cruise dates (depart and arrival). If you see 2 ships at the same date in Fort Lauderdale, Princess will use the 2 piers. I don't know if this is always the case but I think they will use pier #2 for the bigger ships (Grand class) and pier #19 for "smaller" ships (Sun class or Regal class).

 

You can have more information about port Everglades (including maps) at:

Port Everglades info

 

So, it is possible that the ship can be at different docks...

 

Hope this help !

 

Alain R.