Just back from Coral Princess Dec. 10 - 20

[larstick]

any idea when Generoso will return to the Coral? How about any tours you took that you can recommend.

[mringenoldus]

Is zip - lining an activity anyone could do? My relatives are going in the Spring but are in their mid-70's (but quite active)

[oneknee]

The most physical part was the initial climb. As long as they would be able to climb several (100 approx.) steep steps to the canopy, the zipping is easy! There is no other way to the canopy though....

[ronl]

who was th cruise director?going the 27th 0f Jan

[oneknee]

who was th cruise director?going the 27th 0f Jan

 

 

I believe his name is David Cole. Not that great.

[CMHF]

I didn't take any Malaria Pills when I was on the Coral 10/31, however I feel the heavy dose of quinine from all the Tanquery & Tonics I drank would have the same effect.:D

Harvey

[thepocketrockett]

Hey Pat and Kristin. Just wanted to say hi. Thought people would want to know that although the zip lining in Costa Rica was fantastic (probably a high point during the cruise) that they should just go ahead and book through Almonds and Coral who were very professional. Please, please, please save yourselves some money and forget about going with Oscar Brown. Although I sent several e-mails to Oscar and received some back from him when we arrived he had no idea who we were and had to call his office to ask his sister if she knew us. Then he quickly left us with a young woman who, although very nice, was extremely unknowledgeable about Costa Rica. The tour took so long that we had to cancel part of it. Fortunately we hadn't paid anything beforehand so we wound up paying $30 for the tour. Just go ahead and go the Almonds and Coral website and book it directly. The cruise itself was wonderful. We met terrific people and the staff on the ship was 110% better than on the Grand which we sailed on a year ago October. We had a mini suite on the Dolphin deck which was very nice but be forewarned that the balcony gives you no privacy while the cabins above us were all at least partially covered. People on Caribe deck 11 could look right down onto our balcony. We had traditional dining late seating and the two couples at our table were terrific. I have nothing against older people but the average age on the ship was around 70. It seems that young people (of which we are not) don't ususally opt for a 10 day cruise and the Panama Canal seems to be a destination which older people are more apt to take. The ports were very nice. Booked with Coral Breeze in Belize which was another bust. When we arrived they claimed there weren't enough people and that we would have to wait until they filled up. Three couples wound up going to the water taxi terminal and taking a water taxi about 1 hour off shore to Caulker Caye. Beautiful water for snorkling and great place to hang out for a few hours. I would suggest that if your going to take shore excursions you do it through the ship bearing in mind of course that it can become quite costly. I booked all our excursions privately and not one was good except of course the zip lining in Costa Rica which you can book direct. Sorry this is so long but I could go on forever. The ship is terrific and I can't wait to go back. Hope you guys got home O.K. We spent four hours in Ft. Lauderdale airport since the runways into La Guardia were closed down due to high winds. It was 11 degrees when we arrived and me with no coat or gloves. It's hard making the adjustment but I guess all good things must end :confused: Both Cory and I wish you both a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

[barryw1111]

We too were on the 12/10 sailing of the Coral Princess along with 11 of our friends. WE had a wonderful time but were dissappointed with this Princess cruise. We have not sailed on Princess for a number of years, we are Platinum members, but recall the food and service being much better in the past. Is this the influence of being taken over by Carnival? We found the food to be just "ok", nothing to rave about, except for Sabitini's and Bayou Cafe. We also found the service to be poor. Our cabin stewart was one fo the worst we have ever had. I can't tell you how many times we had to ask for things and how many times my wife and I were left only one towel. Did he think we would share?? We were on baja 355, his name was Angelito. My wife swears that she will never again let the tips be automatically added to our account.

One of our traveling companions asked him for more cups or glasses and was told that he would have to call room service to get them. We dined late seating and rarely made it to a show as aour server "Joey" was very very sloooow.

We are also somewhat disenchanted with being nickled and dimed to death for this and that. We were turned off by the fact that so many onboard activities cost extra, i.e. yoga, pilates, computer training, photo courses, etc. Anything to make more money I guess!!

Oh well, despite these criticisms, I would still prefer to be on board.

 

Barry

[thepocketrockett]

Don't know why any doctor would recommend Malaria pills or any shots when going to the ports we visited on the Coral Princess. Even zip lining through the canopy of Costa Rica would seem to not warrant an anti malarial prophalactic(sp?). Best thing to drink is bottled water from the ship or beer which is always safe and good. Even though we all had fresh fruit at the end of the zip lining and punch no one, to my knowledge became ill. Please correct me if I'm wrong. We even had a woman of 70 who at the last moment decided to do the trip and loved it. Just one more thing about the Lotus Spa - while it was really pretty the treatments were extremely expensive. Even on port days the treatments were $99 or more. On non-port days that figure went from $150 to about $175. I had a manicure which cost $28 excluding the tip on Sunday and I have to go for another one tomorrow. I also heard some of the staff trying to sell expensive products to the customers. I found it irritating and don't think the staff is that good. The spas on the Princess ships are run by employees of a company out of London called Steiner's. I did have a very nice mini massage out by the pool which cost $1 per minute. The $15 it cost me was well worth it. One of the ladies from the spa was trying to give me a consultation and actually called me one morning at 8:00. Occasionally I like to sleep late (like 9:00 or 10:00) and found her a little pushy and declined the offer.

[thepocketrockett]

Barry - We too had Joey as a waiter and Jeffrey as his assistant. We were at the late seating table 189. I'm wondering if you were at the table right behind us which seemed to have a rather large contingency. I disagree about Joey. We had hardly any problems with him but perhaps it was because we were three couples. One night Joey forgot two of my courses but was quick to make it up. It wasn't the greatest food in the world but I felt it was very decent and our waiters and Thomas who supervised them was always bringing over extra food. This is our second Coral cruise and we found this cruise to be heads above what we had on the Grand. We were on Dolphin deck cabin 330 and Martin, our steward, left us four big towels every day and brought our robes and anything else we needed very quickly. We had several bottles of wine and a bottle of champagne delivered to our cabin from friends and Martin was quick to bring us a corkscrew and room service brought us wine glasses almost immediately. I think perhaps the steward you get is the luck of the draw.

[llund]

I hope we have better luck than you did, Barry. We are leaving Tues and are on the Baja deck-502. We have a large party of 8 with late traditional dining and really hope to make the shows. We have never had a problem in the past making shows after late seating. Guess we can always change to PC dining, but after hearing about the matre 'd there, I am not so sure!

[oneknee]

I guess we were spared flight agony on the return because the flight down was so horrible!!! Glad to hear you both made it home safely, albeit cold. I have to agree with thepocketrocket about booking directly with almonds and corals. They were very professional, and I am sure you do not have to jump start their van to continue with your excursions as you did with Oscar.

 

We could not have had better service on this cruise! We were in a mini (D705) which has a covered balcony and was very private. Our steward Thamanoon, was amazing. He seemed to learn our habits immediately, got us our robes and down pillows, and was always there when we needed him. (a few times, he even gave us extra pool towels w/o us asking!)

 

We found the food to be plentiful, but were disappointed in the buffet. It took forever to get thru the line!!!!! And all the tables in horizon court were taken all of the time. I do think it has more to do with passenger demographics though, and we knew what we were getting into.

 

We selected PC dining, but sat at the same table except for the nights at Bayou and Sabatini's (both outstanding) and received a+ service from Aniko and Gary at table 94a. I was disappointed in the Matre D' staff who found it difficult to manage the reservation process throughout the cruise.

 

We met some awesome folks on this cruise, and would like to wish them all a great holiday and New Year. One of the huge positives I took were the great group of people that we were able to find in the crowd. I tried to send a PM, but you are not accepting, so please send an email to me @ pjfarr1@hotmail.com. I am presently downloading from the digital camera, and hope to have pictures up soon. Actually, when Kristin does it, because I seem to lose intelligence when working with computers. I also managed to come down with a nasty flu this afternoon, must be the return to reality....

 

We had an excellent time! Cannot wait to cruise again! I would recommend this cruise without reservation..

[oneknee]

I have nothing against older people but the average age on the ship was around 70. It seems that young people (of which we are not) don't ususally opt for a 10 day cruise and the Panama Canal seems to be a destination which older people are more apt to take.

 

 

You both were completely in the YOUNG category on that cruise!!!!!!!!

[thepocketrockett]

Hey oneknee - thank you for noticing;)

[soprano]

Don't know why any doctor would recommend Malaria pills or any shots when going to the ports we visited on the Coral Princess. Even zip lining through the canopy of Costa Rica would seem to not warrant an anti malarial prophalactic(sp?). Best thing to drink is bottled water from the ship or beer which is always safe and good. Even though we all had fresh fruit at the end of the zip lining and punch no one, to my knowledge became ill. Please correct me if I'm wrong. We even had a woman of 70 who at the last moment decided to do the trip and loved it.

 

Malaria is transmitted by mosquito bites, not by what you eat or drink. And yes, Malaria is endemic in Central America. (This is a major health problem, killing about 1 million people each year.) As a physician, I certainly go along with the CDC recommendations to take prophylaxis for Malaria when traveling to endemic areas. All it takes is one bite by one mosquito. You can get more information on the CDC website:

 

http://www.cdc.gov/travel

 

As for food-borne illness, I would recommend that everyone be current on their Hepatitis A vaccine. It is also a good idea to watch what you eat in developing countries.