ALASKA - Dawn vs Coral - Which one

[stromer]

I will be taking an Alaska cruise next June and wish to get the advice from members who have been on both the newer Coral/Island Princess and the older Dawn/Sun Princess. I have been on the older ships but not the newer.

The newer ships cost about $300 more per person. Is it worth paying the extra cost for the newer ships?

 

Reviews indicate the newer ships are nicer but not that much.

I recently went on the Celebrity Constellation. Is the Coral as nice as it is?

 

I liked the older ships and thought the Constellation was nicer since it was new and had more modern conveniences such as a larger gym, larger rooms and was smoother.

 

Thanks for any advice on this.

Rick

[Coral]

I have sailed both to Alaska and it is a very difficult question to answer.

 

Last year - the Coral Princess was $100 more than the Dawn and I wanted to try the newer ships. For me, the Coral class ship is the best that Princess has. The ship has all the conveniences of the Grand class but in a smaller, more comfortable size. The ship is very beautiful and is most likely compared to the Radiance class on RCCL. I have cruised Celebrity's Millennium (sister to Constellation) and though they are very simliar in size - it is difficult to compare the 2.

 

The big advantage the Coral Princess has over the Dawn is the large retractrable roof pool so you can swim in Alaska (Dawn doesn't have this). The negatives that some have mentioned about the Coral in Alaska is the blue windscreens on the top observation decks when viewing the glacier. I admit, this didn't affect me at all and I viewed the glaciers ond Deck 7 (Promendade). You can see the windshields in my pics.

 

Another positive for the Coral Princess is that the balconies are larger overall and if you are interested in a minisuite, they are affordable in Alaska. On the Dawn Princess - the balconies are smaller and while the minisuites are very large on the Dawn Princess (like Suites on the Coral), their are very few of them and they are very $$$$.

 

On the Dawn Princess - the main advantage of this ship is that there is a front viewing area that very few people know about. It is fantastic for glacier viewing. The Dawn is a very classy ship and I loved the 2 weeks I spent on the ship this summer. The interior of the Dawn Princess was in excellent condition this summer. The balconies are small on the Dawn but they are entirely private.

 

 

The decor on the Coral Princess is more modern while the Dawn is more traditional.

 

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I took many pics - hopefully this will help you:

 

dawn alaska

 

dawn princess

 

These are ship pictures -but from these links, you can click on Alaska pics.

[Druke I]

We have been on both the Sun Princess and the Coral Princess, and think both very nice ships.

 

For us, if we wanted a standard balcony cabin, we would probably go with Coral class, but if we wanted a mini-suite, definitely Sun class (the mini-suites on Sun class are as large as many full suites on other ships).

 

Hard choice, I think.

[CruiseAholic]

I've been on the Dawn (5 times), the Coral and her sister the Island. Love all of them, but I just like the Sun class (Dawn, Sun, Sea) a bit better.

 

Not all the options the others have in terms of dining, but still a great ship. Save the 300 for shore excursions!

[donna5]

Besides the extra viewing deck. Dawn and Sun have the sit down pizzeria, where you order a whole pizza, foccacia, and calzones. Small business ctr. for computers but do have laptops in atrium. Never had to wait in anytime dining.

 

The coral's plus is the covered pool(and hot tubs in that area). Better internet cafe near the middle of the ship. I would go with the best deal and itinerary.

[kkorman]

You can look through my picts as well as I did both this summer. I was on the Coral for 3 cruises and the Dawn for 5. Both are good. A very nivce thing about the Dawn itinerary is that you miss the busy port days because of the where they fall in the week. Ketchikan and Skagway can be overwhelming with 4 ships. Overall, they but are very good ships. Though, if given the 2 on even ground, I like the Coral better. That being said, I would not pay $300 more as the differences are not that great.

[melissa_bel]

Sorry about that.

[donnaw]

We loved the Dawn but we are not really pool people. If you enjoy the pool then I would definitely say the Coral since it was too cold for those that enjoyed the pool on the Dawn (not covered) until the very last day on the southbound.

[BJS]

Really like the Dawn Princess but loved the Island Princess. Biggest advantage we found of the Island/Coral over the Dawn/Sun is the balconys. The Dawn has the balcony cut from the hull thus no plexi-glass viewing below the railing and the opening above the railing is not full width of balcony. We found we have to stand for good views on the Dawn and if more than 2 people are on the balcony the limited viewing area is really a minus.