Diamond/Sapphire vs Coral/Island

[packercruising]

We have not sailed Princess yet but have an Alaska Cruise/Tour offer that looks too good to pass up. We know the basics. Sapphire is larger then Coral and has somewhat larger cabins, more pools, etc. We would like your impressions of each ship plus the line itself from veteran Princess cruisers. Your chance to brag a little!:D

 

Thanks!

[Colo Cruiser]

We have not sailed Princess yet but have an Alaska Cruise/Tour offer that looks too good to pass up. We know the basics. Sapphire is larger then Coral and has somewhat larger cabins, more pools, etc. We would like your impressions of each ship plus the line itself from veteran Princess cruisers. Your chance to brag a little!:D

 

Thanks!

 

 

We have sailed all 4 numerous times.

 

Cabins are pretty much the same on all the 4 ships.

These 4 ships share much larger Promanade deck outside.

Don't care for the 4 seperate dining room setup on the Sapphire/Diamond.

 

Coral/Island are our favorites due to the passenger cap at 1980. :)

 

Love the "France" photo.

[packercruising]

Wow, 41 Princess cruises! Amazing! :) We lie the smaller also.

 

Thanks!

 

Jeff

[mr green]

Coral is our favourite ship, just the right size, with great theaters. Have been on Star Princess, too crowded for us. Coral is 91,000 tons, and only 1,970 passangers. She is a very 'happy ship'.

 

john

[JLDMED]

We LOVED the Diamond!

[shofer]

Coral is our favourite ship, just the right size, with great theaters. Have been on Star Princess, too crowded for us. Coral is 91,000 tons, and only 1,970 passangers. She is a very 'happy ship'.

 

I agree w/John about the Coral. This was our first Princess ship on our Panama Canal cruise and we loved the size. The Grand was too big for us.

 

The Sapphire/Diamond are newer builds w/an extra deck added but with about the same amount of common space as the Grand. The Coral actually has a larger space ratio per passenger than the others.

 

In Alaska, you will be taking excursions which will be much more crowded on the bigger ships. Also, you have to realize that these ports are actually very small towns that are overwhelmed by the number of cruise ship passengers when there are more than 2 ships in the harbor at a time. You might appreciate the space on the Coral after a day of fighting the masses on land. ;-)

[cindep]

Have cruised on both the Diamond and the Coral. We've booked the Island (sister to Coral) for our Alaska trip. Some people don't care for the itinerary as it leaves on a Monday, but that was part of the lure (besides the smaller ship) for us -- we'll be the only ship in port in Vancouver when we leave!

 

The last time we did Alaska was on the Star Princess and it was a great trip. But that was BEFORE Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and some of the other lines started sending more ships to Alaska in the summer. When we went it was primarily Princess and Holland America.

 

This will be my 16th Princess cruise ... and I'm looking forward to getting back on the "small ship" with all the "goodies" of the big ships!

[packercruising]

Good Comments! :)

 

Cindep when is your cruise booked? Our TA checked and we would be waitlisted for the dates we want (last wee of Aug or 1st wk of Sept). We want Port side and they have AB or BC available August 16 on the Island, but no AC.

[divepf]

in sep i am going to alaska on the diamond princess how is the ship this is my first time on princess with my brother and his friend

[cindep]

We leave Memorial Day (May 25) Northbound on the Island. Since we have such an early departure, i.e. May, we'll be heading toward the midnight sun.

 

We originally booked an AD, but Princess ran a great sale and we ended up in an AC guarantee. They "upgraded" us to an AB, but it was at the VERY front of the ship so I declined their upgrade. Evidently, Princess is busy shuffling people on this departure, because a couple of days later an AC became available close to our original AD cabin. Needless to say, I grabbed it and am very happy!!

 

Since your departure is later and has not yet had final payment, I would recommend going with a guarantee in whatever category interests you, i.e. balcony or mini-suite.

 

Since you're going later in the summer, you would probably prefer going Southbound, although I'm guess the Northbound cruises are more open on availability and pricing is slightly better.

[sunsetbeachgal]

We loved the Coral Princess and would highly recommend. Have never sailed on Diamond/Sapphire.

[Colo Cruiser]

The Sapphire/Diamond are newer builds w/an extra deck added but with about the same amount of common space as the Grand. The Coral actually has a larger space ratio per passenger than the others.

 

 

No extra deck on the Diamond/Sapphire,

Riviera deck is only on Caribbean/Emerald/Crown/Ruby.

[packercruising]

We leave Memorial Day (May 25) Northbound on the Island. Since we have such an early departure, i.e. May, we'll be heading toward the midnight sun.

 

We originally booked an AD, but Princess ran a great sale and we ended up in an AC guarantee. They "upgraded" us to an AB, but it was at the VERY front of the ship so I declined their upgrade. Evidently, Princess is busy shuffling people on this departure, because a couple of days later an AC became available close to our original AD cabin. Needless to say, I grabbed it and am very happy!!

 

Since your departure is later and has not yet had final payment, I would recommend going with a guarantee in whatever category interests you, i.e. balcony or mini-suite.

 

Since you're going later in the summer, you would probably prefer going Southbound, although I'm guess the Northbound cruises are more open on availability and pricing is slightly better.

 

Right, we would do tour first then cruise. We are probably going to book it tomorrow for the Island Princess.

 

Thanks for all the great info!