Spikesgirl

2 hours ago, mnocket said:

I love the Sanctuary on the Coral.  It was great every day, but outstanding for the Panama Canal transit.

Fun!  I might have to check the Sanctuary out.  We did the Panama Canal on the Pacific and it was great fun.

Thanks!

2 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Add me to the list of "I love the Coral".  I do not care for the larger Royal Class ships. Yes, it is odd that the IC is next to the smaller casino.  I usually do not sit and eat there.  

 

She has new Ocean View rooms next to the casino.

She has a walk around Promenade (very important).

She has "On the Bayou" (best production show in the fleet).

She has few passengers and more public spaces.

Some of her bump out balconies are larger.

 

Since they sold the Golden, the Coral and the. Grand are the only ships left that I really enjoy.

 

 

Here's hoping they hold onto the Coral for a while, then.  😄  It would just be my luck to like her and have them sell it.

3 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

We liked the Coral, but it felt small to us. You might enjoy it more if you like smaller ships.  The IC was added on in dry dock and it is small, but we liked it. Just didn’t like that it was right outside the casino.  
 

We only got to be OB for 14 days out of our 32 day cruise, due to the pause in March 2020.  We were in the middle of

South America.  
 

I wouldn’t hesitate to sail on her again.  Depends on the itinerary for us.

 

 

 

 

We loved the smaller ships, so I'm hoping this isn't too much of a shocker for us.  Someone else mentioned about the IC, but I've always avoided them.  Hopefully the WiFi won't be too iffy in the cabins.

It had been fortunate that the Pacific sailed where we wanted to go.  I'm sure going to miss her.

3 hours ago, Kay S said:

I love the Coral.  It is not so small you will notice any difference between it and Grand ships.  One odd thing is International Cafe.  The added it later, and it sits next to the Casino.  The front facing buffet is great, and the windows weren't dirty on any of my trips.

Small is what we love, so I'm hoping it won't come as too big a change for us.  We're old and don't handle change as well as we used to.  😄   I've never been to the International Cafe - I'm hoping the Wifi is tolerable in the cabins to avoid it.  

Thanks so much for all your information.  I'm quite looking forward to it.  

3 hours ago, nini said:

We sailed on the Coral in January 2018 for the full transit Panama Canal itinerary. We have been on the Golden (3 times), the Grand, the Emerald, the Regal, and the Crown. We absolutely loved the Regal and the Golden. We also liked the Crown. We were not crazy about the Emerald mainly due to the strange vibe of the crew (recently in May). Sadly, the Golden has been sold... we would gladly sail on the Regal and Grand again.

So, the Coral will never be our favorite ship- it seemed small and the design just was not to our liking. The buffet is on the front of the ship. The windows were typically dirty and foggy- it was so humid on this itinerary so we could rarely if at all see out. We did have a fantastic lecturer and commentator onboard doing talks of the Panama Canal. On transit day, he spoke for 10 hours straight with fantastic information.

We adore the small ships and are sad that Princess sold them off.  Interesting about the buffet being at the front of the ship. I'm glad that you at least had a good lecturer.

Thanks

This will be our 19th cruise with Princess and nearly all of them have been on their small ships (exception was the Grand).   I would love to hear from the folks who have sailed aboard The Coral what their best and worse experiences have been with this ship.

Thanks!  

Thanks!  it's nice to hear something positive about Princess for a change!

On 8/28/2022 at 9:21 PM, goldengirl said:

 I will be o.the cruise during Halloween do  people dress up for halloween

We dressed up for Halloween on our last cruise(2018) (on the now-retired Pacific Priness) and it was such a hoot.  The dining room staff dressed and there were huge displays throughout the ship.  There was a costume party, it was quite the night.  

We just spoke with our rep and she moved our final payment date to Jan. 22.  Much better.

On 6/3/2021 at 1:12 PM, Crystal Rich said:

I just booked my first Viking Ocean cruise for December, 2022.  The booking was made on May 31, 2021 and a deposit was made on that date.  I find it most unusual that Viking wants the final payment to be made by June 30, 2021…..18 months before sailing.  Any comments from frequent Viking customers?  Thank you in advance for giving me some feedback on this.

Thanks you for asking this.  We just got a "your Final Payment is Due" for our Nov 2022 cruise.  It was a bit of a shocker and they were not the least willing to change the due date.  We are currently debating as to whether or not we are going to let go of the cruise or not.  Since we didn't do research prior to this and discovered this propensity of Viking's, there's not much we can do.  At least it's nice to know we weren't the only ones surprised by this.

On 1/8/2021 at 5:12 AM, nbsjcruiser said:

Thanks all for the suggestions folks. Did a little research last night and looked at a few videos on youtube and I think that my first impression of Orkney hasn't changed. Its still a place I want to see so we decided to change the booking. Now we just have to hope the vaccines actually work and things are back to something resembling normal by 2022.

We went to the Orkneys and had planned a land tour there based upon our brief visit.  It was a lovely place and I could not have been more impressed with the tour or all that we saw.  Thankfully, it was a rainy day and we pretty much had every stop to ourselves.  We would (and will) go back in a heartbeat when we can!

On 1/7/2021 at 1:06 PM, Ombud said:

I went to Skara Brae in Orkney. Must see for any archeology buffs

And so many other sites to see.  We had such fun 'discovering' the past

According to a CNN article:

21 hours ago, CaliforniaDon said:

Our Alaska cruise was aborted a month and a half ago, but still shows up as an upcoming cruise in 52 days (as of today)  I feel like I saw that there were delays cleaning up the web listings (and returning our Future Cruise Deposits to our accounts) - but  it seems like enough time has gone by.  Are others in the same boat?  (Yes, I know, I just couldn't help it!)

We were supposed to leave on our Alaska cruise this past Tuesday and it wasn't until that day that our cruise was 'cancelled' and our FCC/On board were given back to us.   

35 minutes ago, Relaxedfun said:

               Great information!  It sounds very appealing to me.  Thanks for the info from the Sacramento area.

Hey, from one local to another, she is a great ship with a great crew.  Give her a chance, you won't be disappointed.

1 hour ago, Relaxedfun said:

Hi friends, Can you tell me why the Pacific Princess is your favorite?  I am gathering information for when I do get to cruise again.  Thanks

The ship has 650 passengers and that gives you the advantage of getting to know your shipmates and the Princess staff.  despite it not having any of the bells and whistles of the bigger ships, she has a style and elegance that harkens back to the glorious days of cruising.  Being a smaller ship, she can get closer to destinations, too.  We docked a mile from the Heritage while the Grand had to dock a two-hour bus ride away.  She is, all in all, a great little ship.

We still have a cruise scheduled for June 3rd (Alaska).  Until Princess tells us it's cancelled, it's our next cruise and I will get on the Pacific Princess (our favorite ship in the fleet) and happily cruise.  There's no way this will stop me from cruising, barring ill health, of course. 

Let's all just stay positive, healthy and focused upon the prize of that next embarkation.

My hat is off to Princess for their response to all of this and to answer your question, yes, I will book another cruise with Princess without a moment's hesitation.  We are Princess for life.

5 minutes ago, Justalone said:

Most likely you will be fine.  Not 60+, no underlying health issues like HBP, diabetes, heart, lung, kidney or lung disease.  No compromised immune system.

Enjoy your cruise.  Safe travels.👍

I am over 60, but have none of the other issues, nor does my husband.  

Thanks!  I hope you will enjoy your next cruise, too.  Be safe!

I am very proud to call myself a Princess person.  I think what they did took guts and they will lead the industry by example.  Our cruise is set for June 3rd and I hope it's still a go, but if not, then I know it will be because Princess thinks it best.  I'm sorry that you lost out on your cruise.

Thank you for a helpful and positive post.  We will be sailing on her in June and can't wait to get back 'home.'  I hope that you will continue to heal and that things will look up for you.  

My husband was wondering who is the Maître d and the head captain in the main dining room these days.

I hope you have nothing but smooth sailing ahead for you! 

If they were so fearful, then they should have stayed home.  As far as I can tell, it's not mandatory to take a cruise and certainly they were aware of the problem beforehand.

I can't believe the lengths people will go for money...

6 hours ago, Steelers0854 said:

This was probably when it was served in the Parmesan cheese basket but that’s a topic for a whole other thread!  😉. They do have an amazing fettuccine Alfredo. 

They sure do!  The best I've tasted!

23 minutes ago, loge23 said:

Nice idea, Steelers0854!

There have been many great moments, moments that last forever, that have occurred on Princess ships.

We're just off a 28 day LA-Hawaii-Tahiti-LA run on the Emerald that produced a few more. Funny how the trip seems a blur when you just get off, but the moments slowly come back to you over time - or is that just old age?!

But the the best, as many other things in life, was the first one. That entire cruise, in 1992 for me (my wife goes back even further to the Sitmar days), on the old classic Star Princess was one great moment. We sailed from Venice to Rome, into the Black Sea and Odessa, Yalta, and Istanbul in addition to several of the Greek Islands. Pure magic.

One moment does continue to stand out and is the basis for so many great moments over the years: It was in a lounge/caviar bar on the Star. There was a waiter there named Bong. I ordered a martini one night and the night after, Bong greeted me by name and asked if I would like a martini, extra dry, straight up with olive - just as I ordered it the night before for the first time onboard. I felt like a star! 

I often wonder what became of Bong and I'm reminded of him every time a bartender or waiter/waitress on Princess greets me to this day. The staff and crew of Princess are what brings me back - they are wonderful people who do a very hard job graciously and with heart. Yes, there's a few less so once in awhile, but overall it's the great service that stands out.

 

 

 

What a great post. I remember my hubby asking for a Crocker Ricky - a creation by a friend of ours and he taught the library barkeeper (Simon) how to make it.  Every night after that, there was a Crocker Ricky waiting at our table for him.  When he was off, he still came up and made the drink for my hubby.  What a great memory that was and I'd forgotten all about it until I read this.  So, thanks!!

20 hours ago, donaldsc said:

TripAdvisor gives it a good rating.

 

DON

Oh, okay. Thanks.