Coral Princess vs. Captain Cook

[gcrackr]

We are considering these two lines for 2008. Anyone have info on:

How does the food compare to the big cruise lines: Princess, HAL, RCCL, etc. It appears that Coral Princess is always buffet, and Cook is a-la-carte for dinner. True?

Does the ship sail at night and also day?

How many snorkel oppportunities are there each day?

Are the fish and coral very different in each of the locations the ships stop?

Are there mostly divers on board, or a good mix with snorkelers?

 

Any other highlights of your trip would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

[OHCruisinDad]

We are considering these two lines for 2008. Anyone have info on:

How does the food compare to the big cruise lines: Princess, HAL, RCCL, etc. It appears that Coral Princess is always buffet, and Cook is a-la-carte for dinner. True?

Does the ship sail at night and also day?

How many snorkel oppportunities are there each day?

Are the fish and coral very different in each of the locations the ships stop?

Are there mostly divers on board, or a good mix with snorkelers?

 

Any other highlights of your trip would be appreciated.

 

Thanks

 

 

I realize your post was August 2007 but I thought I would respond anyway as we just cruised with Coral Princess at the end of June. I didn't get the full details but it appears that Coral Princess and Captain Cook have either merged their Reef cruises or have an arrangement that the reef cruises are now operated by Coral Princess Cruises. The Coral Sea News daily sheets had both cruise line's logos on them.

 

To answer your questions-

The food is buffet style but we found it to be quite good with a varied menu and several choices at each meal. Soups and desserts were served by the staff but everything else was buffet. It wasn't a big deal as the ship's capacity is 46 and we only had 32 on-board during our cruise.

 

The ship anchors each night and sails during the day as needed. Snorkeling is available each day. We were typically moored on the reef for three hours or longer and we were ashore for beach diving and snorkleing for several hours when on Pelorus Island. All gear including short wetsuits is provided but we always take our own masks and snorkels. They have an intro to diving program and regular diving for certified divers, The reef areas we visited were different as we were on the outer reef and then island fringe reefs.

 

Our 32 were well mixed with maybe 10 divers and 16 or so snorkelers. We had three families with the youngest around 7 or so and one couple in their upper 80's. While they didn't dive or snorkel, they enjoyed the glass bottom boat and marine biologist and they seemed to have a wonderful time onboard. It was a very mixed group of passengers which made it a very interesting trip.

 

I would definately go on the CPII again. I'll be posting a detailed review in the near future.