Coral Princess Advice

[Top Cat]

Thinking about going on Coral Princess next November for the 12 night cruise partially into the Panama Canal. Any advice on the ship and the cruise itself would be greatly appreciated.

 

Previously been on Century and Costa Atlantica, if anyone is able to provide comparisons.

 

Thanks.

[terrierjohn]

Sorry can't give comparisons but this was our favourite cruise to date and the Coral is a super ship, just the right size, plenty of deck space and two great show venues as well as lots of other great bars and speciality restaurants.

[mii]

I have been on the Coral twice, both times on the partial through the canal and a full transit. As far as I am concerned the Coral is the best ship of the fleet. Not too big or not too small. Just the right size(1950 passengers). Do a search on the search engine and all sorts of information comes up about her. There is also a Live thread ongoing where Jotworkl is currently on her and doing a day by day of his trip.

 

Marilyn

[Charliesmom]

We were on the Island (Coral's sister) last spring to Hawaii and I LOVED that ship. It is just a bit larger than the Sun and the Dawn, but it has more public rooms and the same number of passengers, plus it has a covered pool for days that are less than splendid. They have a "Sanctuary" which has several small steam/aromatherapy rooms and some warm ceramic beds. If you like that sort of thing, it is a delight.

 

The passenger to crew ratio is very good and the crew is not stressed out, so the service is excellent.

 

Compared to the Century - I have not been on the Century, but have been on the Mercury. Princess wins hands down. The food was okay on the Mercury and the ship was absolutely spotless, but it is a very "elite" type of vessel. You are seated with other passengers in your room class and the service, while good is not particularly friendly. One thing I did NOT like at all about the Mercury, is that there are times when food is not available (except for room service). I like the Princess concept of food being there for you when you want it.

 

I can't speak for any Costa ships, but have been told that every announcement is done in several languages, which would drive me bonkers. Plus the food is very heavily skewed to pasta. If you love pasta and you love to hear announcements in many languages, it might work.

[two rabbits]

We have been on the Coral and loved it. As was mentioned before the size is just right for us. The Service and food were excellent. Have been on the Celebrity Summit a couple times and found the food and service were just as good, but the maintenance problems still persist on Celebrity.

[Kirsten T]

Century was our favorite ship until we tried Coral. Haven't seen Century since the refurbishment, but Coral is larger, younger and carries the same number of passengers. There are 2 specialty restaurants in addition to the main; Century now has one specialty but with a hefty surcharge (I believe it's twice the Princess surcharge for Sabatinis.) Overall, we liked Coral's buffet food and layout better, we like Personal Choice dining as we prefer a table for 2 and they're hard to come by on Century; we also like Coral's pool areas and pools (fresh water vs. Century's salt water pools) and larger whirlpools. Longer pool hours, too. We thought Century's food was perhaps a little better, except for Coral's seafood and pastas, and Italian ice creams which were outstanding. Dinner is more of an event on Century, with its grand restaurant, and it's more like going to a nice restaurant on Coral. The service on both ships was excellent. Passengers on Coral were about the same demographic as Century's; perhaps just a tad older, but just as agreeable. We always booked Sky Suites on Century and loved every minute, but we've been happy with a standard veranda cabin on Coral, getting 10 days for half the price we'd paid for 7 on Century. I think Galaxy still does the Canal route from Galveston but for less money, you'd probably be happy with Coral. It's a beautiful ship.

Cheers,

Kirsten