Coral Princess/Panama Canal - Tell me about it!

We are cruising on the Nov 28 - Dec 8 to the Panama Canal on the Coral Princess. We have never cruised on the Princess Lines, only Carnival. We are on the Aloha Deck, Cabin A519. We have early dining.

What advice do you have for us regarding the ship, excursions, dining, etc. How much clothing do you bring for the 10 day cruise? I have searched through the message boards but I haven't found much about the Coral Princess. I'm one to micro-plan so I truly appreciate any and all advice.

Thanks in advance!!!

First of all, Princess is a cut above Carnival. In all aspects. The first time we tried Princess we decided that there would be no more Carnival cruises. The Coral is a great ship. Food is terrific. Make sure to try the International Cafe. It is open 24 hours. The pizza is the best at sea. The buffet stays open continuously from 6am to 11 pm. The canal cruise is a fantastic cruise. Each port is terrific. Bring light clothing as it will be hot and humid. Make sure to go to all the port/enrichment lectures. They will enhance your experience. We took this cruise same time last year. We are still talking about it. I see you have a balcony, good choice. Any specific questions you have, I will be glad to try to answer.

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What advice do you have for us regarding the ship, excursions, dining, etc. How much clothing do you bring for the 10 day cruise? I have searched through the message boards but I haven't found much about the Coral Princess. I'm one to micro-plan so I truly appreciate any and all advice.

 

Thanks in advance!!!

We can offer this. We did the 15 day "ocean to ocean" this spring. The Coral is an excellent ship. Bring warm weather clothes as it is pretty warm (read hot) down there. On the "going thru the Canal day" make sure to be up early, like 6am or earlier. Make your way forward to the "super secret" forward viewing area on the Baja or Caribe decks. Wear comfortable clothes and SHOES (emphasis on comfortable footwear), bring some water and maybe a hat, and don't forget your camera gear. After watching the lock transit from there (one or two), make your way to the aft areas (same decks as I recall) for a different perspective. Also, try making it down to the Promenade somewhere during the lock transit just to see how close you are to the lock walls.

As far as anything else, check your Roll Call and the port reviews for ideas for excursions. The Caribbean portion of our cruise wasn't the best. Yours will probably have better options.

Just an FYI, I was the one most enthusiastic of doing the Panama Canal cruise. DW, not so much. After the cruise, she is in favor of doing again as she said it was more interesting than she would have ever thought (canal transit part especially).

Enjoy and let us know how you like the cruise.

We are cruising on the Nov 28 - Dec 8 to the Panama Canal on the Coral Princess. We have never cruised on the Princess Lines, only Carnival. We are on the Aloha Deck, Cabin A519. We have early dining.

 

What advice do you have for us regarding the ship, excursions, dining, etc. How much clothing do you bring for the 10 day cruise? I have searched through the message boards but I haven't found much about the Coral Princess. I'm one to micro-plan so I truly appreciate any and all advice.

 

Thanks in advance!!!

As others have stated bring hot weather clothing. Lots of sun screen, sun hat and sun glasses. Also bring bug spray if you intend to go into the rain forest. There is a self service laundry on your deck. If you don't want to mess with doing your own laundry a bag full of underwear, T's, shorts etc. will cost around $40/50. Cost is by the item.

Coral is a great ship.

Just off the Coral 2 days ago...Partial -Transit. It was our 1st time on Princess. We are Loyal to Royal (cruisers) but sailed Carnival last year. Never again! You will notice a huge difference from Carnival in many ways!

We felt more pampered on this cruise than even on RCCL! We had a mini-suite...couldn't imagine 10 days on a ship with only a hard chair to sit on in the cabin...loved the couch and bigger area, but it costs more of course.

What we loved about Princess....

chocolates on our pillows

A gift of a Princess tote bag (no gifts anymore on RCCL)

Water /iced tea stations everywhere

Beverages served every meal by staff in buffet area(a past luxury on RCCL)

Service everywhere was exemplary.

No constant pushing to buy drinks in the pool area

Few kids on this cruise...b/c time of year & length of cruise. Had 1500 on Carnival last year! UGH!

Adult-only pools!

Rules enforced...our tablemate was turned away wearing shorts to dinner in MDR

Few announcements over loud-speaker

Other guests were generally very considerate of others...not rude as we have experienced on other lines....maybe due to the older age group...but we noticed a huge difference!

Someone mentioned the International Café...we could not even stand to be in there b/c of the cigarette smoke drifting from the casino next door. Didn't like that. So that was disappointing.

The cruise was great...we enjoyed our excursions , all booked through Princess and they did a nice job with organizing them. Had some major hiccups on the Canal & Lock Transit Tour, but it wasn't Princess' fault. Overall we never felt crowded on the Coral. Always pool chairs available, plenty of elevators, and when walking through the ship during the day, many times we were the only ones in that area. The theatre would get packed out for certain shows....and that took us by surprise. We had late dinner seating and when we would arrive for the 9:45 shows, it was difficult to find a seat sometimes. I think what was happening was that anytime diners(which our server told us had skyrocketed in numbers) were taking the seats that traditionally would have been there for late diners. When we had to go to shows before dinner, they weren't packed out. Seemed like everybody waited til later.

WE definitely will cruise Princess again. They seem to have some interesting itineraries that are not offered by other lines.

Feel free to ask questions.

Additional clothing/tour info....

Clothing...2 formal nights and yes, people did dress up. We brought clothes for 8 other dinners. However if I was just sitting with my husband, I would have worn the same outfits twice...LOL But our tablemates did wear outfits twice...who really cares? It was a lot to bring and I probably wouldn't do that again! Bring cool clothing for the excursions....yes, HOT & humid. Most everyone wore shorts & T-shirts...too hot for long pants! Most of us were pretty sweaty a lot of the time when out & about. Never saw the first insect or mosquito even in the rain forest. Didn't use our insect repellent. If you are walking in the rainforest...wear closed shoes...snakes are around. I used a wide brim hat for Cartegena...we did a lot of walking in the sun, otherwise used a sun-visor for other tours. We always brought bottled water off the ship with us. They wouldn't allow food taken off...even pre-packaged stuff. That became a problem since our canal tour included a lunch and because of unexpected delays, we didn't eat til 3pm...and breakfast had been at 7am!! We shouldn't have listened and brought our trail mix with us! Never saw them check bags, but they can. We should have taken the risk. Our canal tour did provide all the bottled water and soda we wanted, so hydration wasn't a problem. The Cartegena tour gave us 1 bottle water. And the Costa Rica tour gave us water/lemonade at the end.

Thanks. This is helpful! Has anyone done the ziplining or the white water rafting? We will just stay on the boat at Colon during the transit, but are looking for fun things during the other ports. We have walked through through the rain forests already on another cruise. We were looking at the sailing cruise at Columbia, and one of the beach ones at Aruba. But we are very open to suggestions.

BopRN.

Welcome to Princess. Thanks for all the info. We do this trip in 8 days. We will bring some sort of snack (prepackaged, non fruit) off the ship because of diabetes concerns. They haven't said anything in the past so hopefully a nonissue this time as well.

We've been on the Coral twice, once for a partial panama canal and loved it. On C deck go all the way forward on Canal morning..early...the doors that are usually closed will be open and you can get an unobstructed view of the canal. I could not believe how many people just went up to the buffet and watched from there through the glass...

What did you do in Aruba? We are there for just a short time and I don't want to be rushing back to the boat. I've read that someone walked to the shopping area. We've looked at the excursion where you spend 1.5 hours at a beach. I know I want to do something because we'll have been on the boat for 2 sea days. I don't want to be stuck in a bus for 3 hours, I'm too hyper for that. Thanks in advance!

Thank you for all the great information; it's much appreciated!!!

We're doing a partial transit next March. Could you tell me what days you had your two formal nights? I'm trying to figure out which nights to celebrate a couple birthdays for our group.

Thanks!

What did you do in Aruba? We are there for just a short time and I don't want to be rushing back to the boat. I've read that someone walked to the shopping area. We've looked at the excursion where you spend 1.5 hours at a beach. I know I want to do something because we'll have been on the boat for 2 sea days. I don't want to be stuck in a bus for 3 hours, I'm too hyper for that. Thanks in advance!

In Aruba we just walked off the ship and into town and then on through town to a small beach. I had Balashi beer while my wife enjoyed the water. :) Please note that, if you buy tee shirts from the vendors in town, you should get them larger than you think you will need as they will shrink. Also don't be surprised to find that Balashi beer (have to try the local brew!) comes in tiny little 8 oz. bottles for about $4.50 US each. :eek:

We did a 17 day full transit from SF to FLL and never saw even one mosquito - not even when we did a rainforest canopy excursion in Costa Rica. We wore shorts ashore as it was very hot and humid everywhere.

In Colombia (please note proper spelling) we booked a tour with Dora from http://cartagenatour.com/ There were 8 of us in the van - all from our roll call thread. Dora was great and, in addition to lots of info and a great tour, she kept most of the vendors away. The vendors in Cartagena were crazy! If you've ever thought you were inundated by vendors in Mexico you haven't seen anything. Our group booked early so we actually had Dora for our guide rather than one of her employees.

As others have said, a hat, sunscreen, and sunglasses are highly recommended. We never even used our bug spray. Water is also highly recommended although our tours booked through Princess provided water and other drinks as well as lunch. (Dora's tour did not provide lunch but was well worth the cost and I don't hesitate to recommend her.)

The Coral is a great ship for the PC transit with all the open viewing areas in the front of the ship. As you will read elsewhere, search for the hidden balconies to get a great view during the transit without trying to take pictures through the blue glass. The main thing is to be up top where you can go from one side of the ship to the other.

It's our favorite ship and did the partial transit twice.

The Coral is a great ship for the PC transit with all the open viewing areas in the front of the ship. As you will read elsewhere, search for the hidden balconies to get a great view during the transit without trying to take pictures through the blue glass. The main thing is to be up top where you can go from one side of the ship to the other.

 

It's our favorite ship and did the partial transit twice.

Both Baja and Caribe have the viewing decks both fore and aft. Don't overlook the aft viewing areas. The naturalist will be on one of the forward viewing balconies giving the commentary from there. Feel free to ask him anything you like.

Panama is only about 8 degrees off the equator...it's HOT and HUMID...VERY HOT! You will want to roam about the ship during your passage thru the canal....there are views everywhere, and it's different from the top deck to the promenade deck...ROAM!!!

Go inside every so often...did I mention hot freaking HOT it is? It's HOT! Just saying! Don't keep you balcony door open...lots of flying bugs....keep the doors closed!

Both Baja and Caribe have the viewing decks both fore and aft. Don't overlook the aft viewing areas. The naturalist will be on one of the forward viewing balconies giving the commentary from there. Feel free to ask him anything you like.

Can you hear the Naturalist on the forward Baja and Carib deck spots?

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We have done the Panama Canal ( full canal) on the Coral our favorite ship, twice and want to do it again. Bot times while in Aruba went horseback riding loved that also.

We did the cruise in the spring. The biggest thing is to get off of your balcony. Walk all around the ship and go from top to bottom. Look out all sides.

Since we were on a partial transit, we took the excursion that took a smaller boat through the locks at the other end of the canal. That was much more interesting than the cruise ship in the lock. The small ship shared a lock with a car carrier from Japan and 2 other small ships.

Doing the partial transit in December...... We have early seating for Dinner at 5:30. How does Princess handle dinner on days that our escusrion arrives after our assigned dinner time? Is the buffet or specialty dining our only option?

Starting to plan and prepare for an early 2017, 15-day cruise doing the Panama Canal, Ft. Lauderdale to San Francisco sailing on the Island Princess. This would be our first time BOTH for using Princess and to be visiting Columbia, Panama Canal, Central America, Mexico, etc.

Lots of helpful items have been shared here. Will copy and save many highlights on my laptop trip file. Keep up the great sharing!! Yes, will be prepared for the heat and getting a break from the cold Midwest this winter.

Any special tips for first-timers doing Princess after two cruises on Celebrity Solstice-class ship and six cruises on smaller, more luxury ships??

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 158,385 views for this posting.

Doing the partial transit in December...... We have early seating for Dinner at 5:30. How does Princess handle dinner on days that our escusrion arrives after our assigned dinner time? Is the buffet or specialty dining our only option?

The only time our excursion lasted past dinner was on the Panama Canal and transit locks excursion.We ran into unexpected delays and both dinner groups missed their traditional seating. We never got to eat lunch until 3 PM on the ferry boat. When we got back on the ship, we were so exhausted, sweaty, and the idea of going to get dressed even for Anytime Dining was more than we could imagine. So basically 300 of us converged on the buffet at one time. Not our idea of a nice dinner, but we didn't go hungry for sure. And there's always pizza and the grill was open with hamburgers and hotdogs and chicken breasts. Princess did a nice job of handling all of us hitting them up at one time.

Never sailed Princess. Always a celebrity customer. Thinking of Coral for a panama canal cruise. Would like to know people's opinion on mini suites specifically difference in club class and regular. I have read the scant information on the website but value what posters say. Thanks

We have an excursion on Canal Day. How long are we actually in the locks before getting into the Lake and then off for our excursion? We will need to monitor our time at different viewing spots and then be prepared to go ashore.

Thanks

We have an excursion on Canal Day. How long are we actually in the locks before getting into the Lake and then off for our excursion? We will need to monitor our time at different viewing spots and then be prepared to go ashore.

 

Thanks

They keep you informed starting the eve before. We expected to get up by 5am and start going thru the locks by 6 and off the ship about 8:00 according to posts here... But our ship (Coral) was assigned an 8:30 transit time (by port authorities, I guess). We were told that info the eve before. So we could expect to vacate the ship for excursions at 10:30. For each excursion group, you are assigned a time and meeting place and you are given that info via the Patter the eve before. Between 8:30 & 10:30, we gathered on the fwd deck 10 or 11 to see the beginning of the transit through the locks. (It's hot and sunny...wear a hat or sun visor) Many folks were there but not packed solid, and it is narrated overhead ship-wide. Many folks went up on the Lido deck, etc. and other places on the ship. Once we were part way through, we left the viewing area as did others...it is a slow process...and went and ate breakfast where we could still see the ship going through the locks. By 10ish, we gathered our things and headed to our assigned station. So I guess you could say it took about 90 minutes until we were in the lake. That is a rough estimate b/c I really didn't track the exact timing. People say not to stay on your balcony if you have one. I agree, however it was amazing to see from our balcony how little space there is between the ship and the wall. Hope this info is helpful.

Lots of great info in this thread - thanks all for providing your thoughts!

We're doing the partial transit on the Coral for Xmas this year (myself, husband, 2 boys - 9 and 13, in a mini-suite, my MIL has an inside cabin down the hall from us). We're so excited and this list will help us with packing!

Kinda bummed b/c one of the reasons we chose the itinerary (besides the canal of course) was to see sloths in Costa Rica. The sanctuary is closed, so we're hoping our excursion through the rain forest lets us see some in the wild. We're planning on snorkeling in Aruba, an aviary in Colombia, sting rays in Grand Caymans. And of course the usual enjoying the ship! This will be my 4th cruise, 3rd for our oldest, 2nd for the youngest, and 3rd for my MIL (she did another line one her last one and didn't enjoy it as much as the one we all did on Princess to see Alaska back in 2005).

Thanks again original poster for starting this - I also didn't find much trying to query on Coral.