ColoradoMom!!

We had our first balcony ever on our Alaska Coral SB June 27 - July 4th this year.

We enjoyed it, but weren't out there as much as I thought we would be. When you are in port - you are out doing excursions. On our glacier days, we really loved the viewing from the "secret door" decks at the front. Also, it was a bit chilly on those days, so lounging around the balcony was not really in the cards. And since you are going in May......Chilly may be in your experience too.

You will have an amazing time - take the $$ and tour a bit around Alaska apart from your cruise. We only had a day in Anchorage - but loved driving down Turnagain Arm on our own. Wish we had done Kenai. Denali was just too far and too much $$ for us to include unfortunately.

Thank you SO much everyone. All of your responses are very helpful. I now think we may go to the dining room more than I had expected.

Allow me to encourage you to try the MDR. Once seated, you are served! I would imagine the Buffet would be harder to manage.

We were just on the Coral SB Alaska in July, and I felt comfortable in my choice of attire which only included a dress on formal night. I didn't wear jeans, but capri's , black pants, a very casual skirt - I think you will be fine! It is just so nice to sit and be served!

Awesome!! Take a bungee cord to wrap completely around the swinging balcony divider door. Worked great for us :)

Yes, the port side is given a slight edge in desirability.

The bank space across from E212 is nothing - just a wall.

The Princess theater is below, not above E212 - and we never heard anything.

Rebooking after final payment is much trickier. YMMV - according to who picks up the phone when you call. They would not rebook for us as they insisted the fare was for new bookings only. It was NOT listed that way, and I finally got a supervisor to agree with me. They offered additional OBC - $150 each. We took that instead of a free category upgrade since we were right next door to our friends. Also, be careful about losing any promotions from your original booking if you rebook.

Before we left, I could not tell if the OBC was refundable, and from what I gathered here on CC, it wasn't . However, when we boarded, it showed as refundable in our porfolio, and we did indeed get a check back 4 weeks after the cruise.

I was all set to not like the cabin, and I have to say I would rebook it again. Being lower to the water is great for viewing from the balcony, which was covered, the bed was super comfortable, the AC worked, and the shower pressure was GREAT - made up for the tiny, tiny shower space! (True of all regular balcony rooms, not just ours)

I was in 212 on the Emerald (deck 8) on the Coral SB Alaska June 25, 2018, and only felt a little movement the first night. This location is wayyy far forward. I was armed with my non-drowsy Dramamine and ginger pills and didn’t need them.

We booked this cabin on October 9, 2017. It was during the three for free promotion. We got free gratuities, $75 each OBC, and category upgrade, although I think that was a wash. It was one of the last two balconies next to each other as we traveled with friends and wanted to open the door in between the balconies.

We heard no noise from the princess theater below. I was concerned with being that far forward on the ship, but the Coral is so compact it didn’t seem far at all. As a matter fact it was awesome taking one flight down to the princess theater, or the closest elevator straight up to the Horizon Court. The “secret” viewing decks at the front of the ship on deck 10, and 11?? were awesome as well.

I am just going to throw this out there. I was surprised as our cruise drew closer, after final payment, how the price dropped. If I were to do it again and not be traveling with anyone but my husband , I may wait and book a last minute and be willing to take an interior cabin. We would have saved a lot of money .

We liked the Blue Horizon, just there July 4-6th, 2018

We went private with a company that is well known here on Cruise Critic called Chilkoot Charters.

https://chilkootcharters.com

Look them up on trip advisor for more info. As a matter of fact, trip advisor is great for any private excursions you may consider.

They have combination tours that offer the rail one way, and their mini bus the other. It's called Yukon Adventure.

We took the mini bus both ways ( it goes into the Yukon) since we had already spent some time on the rails, and have a narrow gauge RR here in Colorado, and wanted to save a little $$.

We enjoyed the small number of people, the many scenic stops, and our knowledgable driver Mike :) Emerald Lake, and Caribou Crossing were highlights. Going with a smaller group is really great! We had a lot of stops - Mike knew how to avoid the tour buses, take awesome pictures of us, and get back on and going!

I was also impressed in town with the National Parks Visitor Center:

https://www.nps.gov/klgo/planyourvisit/visitorcenter.htm

We just stumbled upon it by accident, and they had a great short film and little exhibits that add to your appreciation of the Klondike gold rush.

We had time to walk around a bit in town, and felt we had gotten our time and money's worth in Skagway!

OK - I will jump in since I was on the Coral Princess Southbound Alaska June 27th - July 4th, 2018, and comment on formal nights.

I enjoy the MDR experience and didn't want to miss it. We had traditional early seating. My husband wore a dress shirt and tie, dress pants the first formal night, I wore a dress I would wear to a day wedding. On the second formal night he wore a button down dress shirt and dress pants, no tie. No jacket either night. I wore a navy blouse and skirt the second night. We were at a table of four with our friends.

I don't believe we were offensive to anyone, and fit right in. I am the type in these threads to tell you to chill, and most people don't dress up that much anymore. However, I must admit in all honesty that more people were dressed up than I expected. I am not saying more fancy dress/tuxes, but just the actual number of people who went a bit more formal than weekend wear surprised me a bit.

EDIT to comment that the buffet on the Coral was better than expected. I usually avoid the buffet, but was pleasantly surprised at breakfast and lunch. When we walked through later in the evening to grab some cookies, the dinner offerings looked good too.

OK - break out the popcorn and get ready for lots of advice!

Fortunately you are a seasoned cruiser - so you don't need advice on that part. Everyone will tell you to look carefully at port times - which is great advice!

I am going to limit my advice to just the DIY land portion (which is funny because we didn't really do it). BUT - there is so much to read on here about it, and it leaves me with the feeling that you are better off doing it yourself - especially since you are not a big fan of organized tours. We did one day south of Anchorage on our own, and wish we had more time on land before our cruise. Denali has such MIXED reviews on which tours you actually see wildlife - quality of accommodations - long bus rides. For many it is the one MUST see, others were disappointed .

Researching and planning is half the fun! My short answer would be do the land potion yourself and a 7 day one way cruise.

I don't know the brand, but a friend on the Island in April thought it was so bad that she encouraged me to bring my own on our June cruise on the Coral.

Even with my own shampoo, I thought my hair felt like coated straw. I wonder if it's the water treatment. I LOVED the water pressure though in my teeny tiny shower!

I know that Princess can't carry all types of soda. But I wish they would carry just a little more of a variety. For some one like me , who does not drink any type of alcohol, it would mean a lot to me to have more of a choice. I do carry on what I like to drink. Believe me, I would rather pay Princess per can, than to have to carry it on.

I also don't drink much, not a coffee or tea drinker either. It's all about the Diet Dr. Pepper for me! (not offered on board)

On our recent Alaska Cruise, I packed a small sturdy gym bag in my suitcase. I purchased two 6 packs of Diet DP in 12 oz bottles at the Walmart in Anchorage, put them in the gym bag with two sweatshirts to pad them, added a luggage tag and they were delivered to my room!

Carrying them on would have been tough since we did the 26 glacier cruise out of Whittier before boarding.

Just back from our SB Coral Princess June 27th - July 4th.

Yes, in a way we were glad hit some land by the time we got to Skagway into our trip.

Our day at Glacier Bay was unusually cold and foggy on the way in. Fortunately it cleared some for Margerie and Lamplugh. Hubbard was again was on a pretty grey day.

We did the 5 Glacier Taku Lodge/Floatplane trip and saw a bunch. We visited Portage Glacier on our extra day in Anchorage on a drive out to Turnagain Arm. So we saw a ton of glaciers.

But THE BEST decision we made was to do the 26 Glacier cruise in Whittier before boarding our actual cruise. It was our first exposure to Glaciers- so the WOW factor was in play, but we were able to get soooo much closer on that little excursion than one can on the cruise ship.

It was rainy and super grey when we got to Whittier that day, but as we made our way out on the boat, it cleared up. That was one of my favorite parts of our whole trip.

OP here- thanks! So, if I would like to disembark late, I still need to be out of my cabin by 8 or so, correct?

So I understand we will fill out paperwork requesting (or are we assigned??) a time to disembark. If we do NOT carry our luggage off, and we set our bags out the night before, are there new luggage tags with the color of our disembark group provided??

Coral - we disembark in Vancouver - not that it makes any difference.

Thanks!

And despite claims by the manufacturers, there are even less that are actually effective against noro. I've looked at the EPA list of effective agents against noro:

 

https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-04/documents/list_g_disinfectant_list_3_15_18.pdf

 

and I only recognize a couple of disinfecting wipes that are sold to consumers, some from Clorox, and some from Oxivir. However, you must make sure that the EPA registration number found on the EPA list matches the product you are buying, otherwise they can be selling a product that is similar but with a different formulation.

WOW - guess I didn't dig deep enough. Sadly on my last search I came across an interesting letter about the product I purchased:

https://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/2015/ucm453717.htm

Well darn! Guess I lost my psych advantage of thinking it works now too!I'll use it, but just wash, wash, wash - I do all the other great suggestions posted above as well.

And - yes, I use anti bacterial wipes on planes, TV remotes, etc. but NORO is a whole other animal unfortunately

I googled Noro a while ago to prepare for our upcoming trip.

There are very few products that will kill Noro.

I chose one and bought it off Amazon - but don't assume that your

Anti- bacterial wipes will have any impact on Noro

We just got back from Anchorage. Rent a car and drive to the wildlife conservation center. It is amazing! We were there for three hours. We took our time driving down and stopped at a few of the photo stops. The drive is breathtaking. On the way back we stopped at the alyeska Resort and had dinner at Seven Glaciers. Amazing meal. (But don't get the Alyeska dessert - everyone in my group who had it had stomach issues that night.)

 

We also took the trolley tour and really enjoyed it! https://anchoragetrolley.com/

 

Whenever we go to a new town we look for Ghost Tours - they are a fun way to see the city and learn some history. http://www.ghosttoursofanchorage.com/

 

We tried to go to earthquake park but the mosquitoes were too bad. Even with bug spray we got eaten alive. At times we had to cover our faces with scarfs so we could walk thru clouds of mosquitoes. Never again.

 

Kathy

This is the Turnagain Arm drive (that I mentioned above) that goes to the Wildlife Conservation Center - glad to hear it was great - we are so excited.

Tell me more about the mosquitoes - where else should we avoid ? I am a skeeter magnet.

I asked a similar question and got some great input:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2585121

For the record, we are taking a drive on Turnagain Arm. http://www.alaska.org/guide/turnagain-arm-drive

Also, someone mentioned getting a copy of the Milepost - which I did from my hometown library - it is an incredible resource.

Thanks for posting! I’m looking forward to the cruise review too!

Thanks for the great info!!

Bumping for more ...

Pooh - Let us know what you found out - hope it went well!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LZERKKX/ref=psdc_495314_t1_B0727WZM6R

This one is listed as NOT having a surge protector, and the one we bought for our upcoming cruise.

this one actually looks better:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0727WZM6R/ref=psdc_10967801_t1_B01M613XHY

My experience of price drop AFTER final payment:

Of course, it must be in the same category. I was lucky that the cabin offered was in the exact same location - just starboard instead of port.

The rep told me it was a sale fare, it was not. I asked her to look at it again. She said it is only for new bookings. I asked where the saw that (I asked very sweetly - the whole "gosh, I must be missing something, exactly where do you see that?") She said she had to talk to someone.

They would not rebook or refare. I was offered $150 pp OBC ($300 total for hubby and I in a BF balcony).

She said it was a mistake, that it should have been listed as a sale - but it wasn't, and still isn't almost 8 weeks later.

Rebooking and losing the prepaid Grats and $75 pp OBC on the original booking still would have been worth it. But I worked directly with Princess (no TA) and wasn't given that option.

EDIT: Just saw cdngirl's response - wish I had gotten that rep!!

My experience with 5:15 PM dining is that by the time you are seated, the menus are handed out, the orders are taken, the drinks are served, etc. -- that the entree does not arrive on the table until about 5:45 or 5:50 PM. On really popular nights in the dining room, when everyone tends to order "Princess favorites" like Goat Cheese Souffle, or Beef Wellington, or Lobster, it is more like 6:00 PM when the entree gets to the table. So, the seating time is different from the serving time. Just my experience. -- EBC

Thanks! I just want to make sure I can get there by 5:15. The 5:45 would have been easier. But there is just one day where it may be an issue. Perhaps I’ll have to try the buffet!

OP here . Thanks Everyone! This info is very helpful. Fishywood -that is quite an experience!

If I switched to Anytime, I would do it from the start - I know you cannot go back and forth.

I am thinking staying with my confirmed 5:45 ( 5:15 in reality) traditional dining may still be the best bet.

But I cannot express how much this extra info has helped! Many thanks! :)

Ohhh - Lakes 123 - see you on board