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Coral Feb.23-March 9 LIVE "Panama-or-Bust"

goat rancher

By goat rancher,
in Princess Cruises

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mii

mii

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Thank you very much Goat Rancher. It is too bad you were on the wrong bus so to speak but hopefully you had a great excursion. We are doing the exact same one next month on the Coral. I have been reading your reviews very thoroughly and I appreciate any insight on what you do. This will be our 2nd full transit but first time to Cartegena, Nicaguara and Quatamala. I appreciate your review and thanks again.

 

Marilyn

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goat rancher

goat rancher

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Yes, the Filadelphia Coffee excursion was GREAT, even if we didn't get to stop in Antigua...

Was too tired to post yesterday, so this is yesterday's report

HUATULCO:

Pretty hot and humid when we got off the ship, but a nice breeze came up. We went on the Customs and Traditions tour..they took us up into the hills in vans (a nice change from the buses on our other tours) on dirt roads. We had split a big chocolate sundae before we went because we figured we weren't going to a lunch on this tour (tour 12-4:30)...MISTAKE...Not only because of the calories (:eek:) but also because they fed us at nearly ALL the stops...tamales, cactus burritos, local juices, tamarind......They showed tortilla making, cactus farm, brick making, basket weaving (I never took that underwater basketweaving class they offered back in college--lol--so this was very interesting). They offered some of their ware for sale at very reasonable prices...we got some really nice baskets. We got back to the dock about 5 minutes before we were supposed to board..so we had to run by the shops and just yell "Do you sell shot glasses" as we passed (I collect them)...The ship was a little late leaving, since people were all getting in relatively late. The tour was a very nice one and we had a great time...a lot of people just walked around the shops at this port or went to the beach..just depends on your interest.

TODAY is a SEA DAY....they will be doing the "ON DECK FOR THE CURE" walk, although with the shape I'm in it won't be a "run for the cure" or even a "walk for the cure"...it may be a "crawl for the cure":p

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cruiserjanet

cruiserjanet

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Hi there. We had a nice, relaxing day in Huatulco yesterday. We didn't take any tours but walked around the port. It was a beautiful, sunny day. Last night we had dinner at Bayou Cafe with George & Liz and westaussie (Ian and Vera). It was a very nice dinner. I had the prawns and DH had the porterhouse steak. He said it was one of the best steaks he had ever had. We both had the gator ribs for an appetizer. I didn't actually realize what the ribs were until I got them. I thought it was a different way of preparing baby back ribs so they called them gator ribs. :rolleyes: I went ahead and ate them and they were quite tasty. I'm still shuddering with the fact that I actually ate alligator. Today is a much calmer day at sea and it is nice and sunny. I will be participating in the On Deck for the Cure walk this time (I usually just get the hat) since I am now 5 years cancer free and just finished my medication two weeks before the cruise.

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CruisinLow

CruisinLow

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Hi there. We had a nice, relaxing day in Huatulco yesterday. We didn't take any tours but walked around the port. It was a beautiful, sunny day. Last night we had dinner at Bayou Cafe with George & Liz and westaussie (Ian and Vera). It was a very nice dinner. I had the prawns and DH had the porterhouse steak. He said it was one of the best steaks he had ever had. We both had the gator ribs for an appetizer. I didn't actually realize what the ribs were until I got them. I thought it was a different way of preparing baby back ribs so they called them gator ribs. :rolleyes: I went ahead and ate them and they were quite tasty. I'm still shuddering with the fact that I actually ate alligator. Today is a much calmer day at sea and it is nice and sunny. I will be participating in the On Deck for the Cure walk this time (I usually just get the hat) since I am now 5 years cancer free and just finished my medication two weeks before the cruise.

 

 

 

Janet,

Congratulations on being cancer free. And good for you for doing the Walk for a Cure. It is a great cause.

and thanks for keeping us up to date on what what on during your cruise.

We will be getting boarding the Coral on April 12 with Marilyn who has also posted here.

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cruiserjanet

cruiserjanet

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How about posting names of the Maitre D' and Head Waiters.. Thanks

 

The Maitre d' is Elia Tinonin. Don't know about the head waiters.

 

I saw the Captain this morning and he said today is probably our last day of sunny weather, then the temps will drop starting later this afternoon/evening as we pass Cabo San Lucas. The sea is very calm right now and there are clouds out but the sun is starting to peak through. It looks like it will be a very nice day. But, as far as I'm concerned, any day is a nice day when I'm on a cruise ship.:D BTW, I haven't heard anything about norovirus still being on this ship. It's still clean and I only know of one person who is sick but she has the flu and NOT the norovirus. Another person has a cold but again, NO NOROVIRUS. We are leaving a clean ship for those who are coming after us.

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mii

mii

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I also want to give my thanks to Goat rancher and CruiserJanet on the reviews. I learned a lot for my trip next month. I have been through the canal before but Guatamala and Nicaguara I have not. So thank you very much.

 

Marilyn

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Travelfor4

Travelfor4

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thanks for the great reviews!!! We are scheduled to go in December which is about when you mentioned the coral will go in drydock. Would they sell cruises then pull the boat out of the water? Is it possible we might not be going? Any insight would be great... thanks:confused:

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OCruisers

OCruisers

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I also want to give my thanks to Goat rancher and CruiserJanet on the reviews. I learned a lot for my trip next month. I have been through the canal before but Guatamala and Nicaguara I have not. So thank you very much.

 

Marilyn

 

:) Exactly the SAME with us! Many thanks to Goat Rancher and CruiserJanet!

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judynorth

judynorth

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thanks for the great reviews!!! We are scheduled to go in December which is about when you mentioned the coral will go in drydock. Would they sell cruises then pull the boat out of the water? Is it possible we might not be going? Any insight would be great... thanks:confused:

 

Drydock is usually for just a couple of weeks. I imagine the exact dates are already scheduled so no cruises would be scheduled for those dates. You could go to the Princess website and see what dates cruises are scheduled and you will probably see that a couple of weeks show nothing. Drydock time!

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CruisinLow

CruisinLow

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Goat Rancher and Janet,

It may be too late for you to answer this but the following came from a cruiser on our Canal cruise in April:

 

"I've concerned about keeping my business running while I'm gone. I know that internet should be available. Does anyone know if I can plug my headphones into their computors to listen to corporate presentations? As I recall Carnival didn't have headphone plugs."

Do you have any insight into that so I can pass it along to him?

Thanks

 

 

 

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caribill

caribill

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"I've concerned about keeping my business running while I'm gone. I know that internet should be available. Does anyone know if I can plug my headphones into their computors to listen to corporate presentations? As I recall Carnival didn't have headphone plugs."

 

Do you have any insight into that so I can pass it along to him?

 

 

Since the connection is at best equivalent to dial-up speed, streaming audio may not work too well.

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goat rancher

goat rancher

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Hi.....We're home.....

This trip is one of those we would highly recommend...we learned so much and we saw so much...AND the current crew on the Coral are just amazingly nice...we talked a LOT to staff members and it was unanimous that they consider their ship a very HAPPY one...

Folks I hope future cruisers will meet...

The captain (Bilton), head chef (Jeremy Snowden), maitre'd (Elia Tinonen)..and the cruise director (Frank Castiglione) were the most personable group we have ever sailed with......

Ali (sp.), who plays the caribbean drum in the lobby most days---absolutely amazing..

If you are lucky enough to get Marlo and Ryan as your waiters (we were at Table 105 Provence)...or Jimmy as your Cabin Steward (we were in starboard aft portion of Dolphin deck), you will have "done well"...

Also look for Francisco, one of the food and beverage dept. heads...very friendly, informative guy...he is currently supervising breakfast at Sabatini's (for suites), but you'll see him all over.....

and Eduardo, another waiter.......oh and so many more that I can't remember...now, Aruba may advertise itself as "One Happy Island", but I must say the Coral could advertise itself as "One Happy Ship"....

DISEMBARKATION:

very organized, but we were delayed over an hour on the ship today because of some security issue onland.....

 

Re: computers onboard....I know that you could download your pictures onto it from your digital camera so you could look at them while onboard, but I don't think you could upload anything special from offsite...we didn't do anything beyond going to regular websites (airline etc) for info....no teleconference ability as far as I know.

The computers did go "down" a few times during the cruise, but I'd assume that is fairly normal depending on the satellites.......

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judynorth

judynorth

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I totally agree with you about the Coral. We thought that she was "One Happy Ship" when we sailed her to Alaska in 2005 and were so happy that she kept her personality over the years for our recent PC cruise. Almost everyone who works on the ship greeted us any time that we passed them in the corridors. Our cabin steward, Troy, was great. We were on Emerald, forward (E224).

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mii

mii

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Goat Rancher thank you for sharing your review with us. Now you mentioned Jimmie as your cabin steward. We had a Jimmy last June on the Coral and we were on the Dolphin portside way aft. I am just wondering if it is the same Jimmy or another Jimmie as I know they have 6-8 months contracts but if it was the same one he was one of the best we have ever had.

 

Marilyn

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mii

mii

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Goat Rancher, i forgot to ask on the dining room menus did you notice that if the Coral had "comfort food". As I understand it is fairly new to the line and some ships have it. It is supposed to for example, meatloaf, fried chicken, fish & chips. Just curiouos.

 

Marilyn

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judynorth

judynorth

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Goat Rancher, i forgot to ask on the dining room menus did you notice that if the Coral had "comfort food". As I understand it is fairly new to the line and some ships have it. It is supposed to for example, meatloaf, fried chicken, fish & chips. Just curiouos.

 

Marilyn

 

We were just on the Coral and, yes, they did have a "comfort food" item on the menu each night. The only one that I can remember is turkey and all the trimmings the last night. That isn't new though. I remember it from previous Princess cruises.

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goat rancher

goat rancher

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oh my....we just found out WHY we were delayed on debarkation. Seems there was a reported sexual assault on the ship...employee vs. passenger, which occurred somewhere between Huatulco and LA. They put the fellow on house arrest and were met by FBI etc. here in LA...I think they handled it very well...It would have been much more disturbing for us to end the cruise on THAT note with THAT news vs. just thinking we were delayed by dock paperwork. I feel bad for the Coral crew, as they must feel horrible that this went on..and also for the passenger involved, for whatever occurred..but it hasn't done ANYTHING to change my mind about the Coral and her crew, or in Princess in general.

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cruiserjanet

cruiserjanet

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We had a fabulous cruise and, while this alleged sexual assault is extremely sad, it does not put a damper on what a wonderful cruise this indeed was. We don't know the details of what may or may not have happened. We could definitely speculate but I have to applaud Princess for keeping it so quiet and not upsetting the passengers. We never heard anything about it until we got home this afternoon. By the time we left the ship, we only saw port police. I don't feel unsafe on a cruise ship and will keep sailing on Princess for as long as I can economically and financially do so.

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