lovely_serenity

I’m on the Coral right now going through the Panama Canal. Did the lantour from Whittier to Vancouver several years ago on this ship. Miss the Crown Grill but had dinner in Bayou last night. Hubs had the gator ribs appetizer, said they were good but I didn’t like the texture. Way too much food, I did have a baked potato and we each had a lobster tail. Next time we would split the lobster tail and forget the side dishes and biscuits. I had the Carpetbaggers Trinity steak, medium rare; it was over cooked on one end (not bad enough to send back) and perfect on the other end. I’m on the Baja deck, doing some laundry; there are chaise lounges on the aft deck, perfect for waiting for your laundry to finish. If you have any questions, let me know.

Good to know, thank you! (Do you know if hypothetically I literally eat half of a steak, could I ask to have the remainder of my meal sent to my room or no?)

we love the Crown Grill, no CG on Coral, looking at menu at Bayou... not that appealing, do have a free dinner, so am wondering if we can order steak without spices, my dh can't eat spicy foods.

Yeah, my parents went to CG on their last Princess Cruise and had nothing but good things to say about it. We were a little disappointed to hear that it doesn’t exist on the Coral, but I’m glad to hear they use the same CG meat for steaks at the Bayou

I have tried them all and the filet mignon is the better steak in my opinion. It is thicker which makes for a more tender steak. It has no bone, fat or other inedible bits.

 

We also liked the Cajun dishes offered.

I always get my steaks medium rare, so not overly raw, but I find that due to the baseball shape of fillet mignons, they become a tad too rare for my liking (though I don’t like my steaks to be medium either). I usually prefer flatter steaks, so in your opinion of the two flatter cuts of steak, which was the yummier that you tried? (Also is the fillet mignon the Carpetbagger’s Trinity Smothered Filet of Beef? Because I don’t see any listing of filet mignon in particular on their menu?) Also, how are the Gator ribs? They seem interesting!

If you enjoy music, try to go to the Bayou Café when a combo is playing. We had a great meal on Island Princess (Coral's sister ship) at the Bayou when a fantastic jazz combo composed of various members of the orchestra and other bands on board joined forces to play during dinner. 'Twas great....

Good to know, thank you! ^^

The Coral is our favorite ship and our first choice when looking for a cruise. We have done the Panama Canal twice & just this past September, the South bound in Alaska. The hidden decks are nice for the scenic cruising, although may be a bit cool in May. Our weather was wet & rainy, but it is Alaska :-)

 

 

 

We like the Bayou Cafe for dinner and try to eat there at least once. I have a couple of reviews with pictures in our signature that may be of help.

 

 

 

Enjoy your cruise!

Thank you for the information! I will definitely check out your photos! Thanks :)

We are going on the May 16th southbound from Whittier! When is yours? I hope you will have a wonderful review for me to enjoy! ; )

Oh darn! You’re getting on the ship as we disembark! & Haha I will try my best!

We did 17 days on Coral and found that the aft viewing area on Baja deck was usually deserted or only had a few people there and there were maybe 8 or 10 loungers on the deck. We made good use of that area. :D

Good to know, thanks!!

So happy to see another one of your reviews coming up in May! I always love your pictures and your food ratings! Your photography is amazing! I will be following this thread as we are also going to Alaska on the Coral Princess in May and I am curious to find tips too! We have been on the Caribbean Princess, but not Coral.

Haha thank you so much ^^. I’m surprised anyone remembers me since I’ve been away so long! (Which sailing? Maybe we’re going on the same one!)

Our favorite things about the Coral Princess are eating a dinner in the Bayou Cafe and watching the "On The Bayou" show in the Universe Lounge located on decks 6 and 7 at the stern of the ship.

I believe we are indeed going to have one dinner in the Bayou Cafe! I’ve heard good things about it. I looked at some menus online, do you think the New York Strip or the Porterhouse would be a better choice of their steaks?

Aft decks on the Coral are public, with Carib deck having a nice group of lounge chairs which offer great panoramic viewing, which is a treat for Alaska cruising. I think the Coral still has a game room on deck 8, which has big windows for nice protected viewing. Promanade deck (7) on the Coral is nice, allowing a full walk-around the ship.

 

Coral is our favorite chip - have a terrific cruise!

Good to know, thanks! :)

You will love the Coral! I recommend the International Cafe as a great meet-up spot for your group. On most Princess ships the IC is located in the Atrium, so it can be hard to find a table when there is entertainment going on. But on Coral it is tucked in next to the casino, so a bit off the beaten track, which makes it more of a quiet place to chill out for a while.

 

The food at the IC is great - lots of delectable desserts, yummy salads and sandwiches, breakfast parfaits and more. No charge for food, but the coffee and tea at IC does cost extra; however, it is significantly better quality than what is served in the MDR or buffet. A coffee card (around $35) gets you unlimited brewed coffee and premium Mighty Leaf tea, as well as 15 punches for specialty drinks such as cappuccinos.

 

You can pick out your treats, then settle into your table and a waiter will come to take your drink order (actually, although we always had coffee, I expect the waiters also would serve alcohol or soda from the casino bar).

 

 

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That’s awesome! Thanks for letting me know!

Hi!

This is going to be my first cruise in almost 4 years, so I am very excited! I've been to Alaska 4 times before (so I don't need any advice in this department ;p), and I've sailed on Princess once prior (but I was literally 9 yrs old and it was a 3 night cruise, so it barely counts). I will be sailing this coming May 2018! I will be going with my parents and one of my best friends.

I'd like to make the most out of my trip and have as much fun as I can, so I was wondering whether anyone had some fun tips for me about enjoying this ship! (ex. any hidden/secret/not highly known areas around the ship that's awesome, where are some little known places I can find food/snacks at odd hours, what are some must-do's when enjoying a Princess sailing/Coral Princess in particular?). Any and all advice would be super helpful and much appreciated, thanks in advance! <3

Nice review Kathi! I've enjoyed my previous HAL sailings in general. Would definitely do it again.

(Haha needed to find one of your threads to respond to you since your comment on my thread disappeared as my thread just got closed)

But yeah, this is basically my first time back here in like a year! University +part time job is super time consuming, I'm dying to go on a cruise again. :loudcry: Nice to hear from you!

Hi Sarah.

My husband and I are cruising Alaska on the Wonder in Sep. of 2018 to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. We have previously sailed on the Dream and Fantasy. While excited to experience the views and wildlife in Alaska, we were a bit concerned about sailing on one of the smaller ships and sailing Disney without our kids. Your trip report has been incredible and has answered so many questions I have about this ship and itinerary. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Wow I hope you two have a fantastic time! I'm really glad this was helpful for you :D!

this has been extremely helpful, esp the food descriptions and navigator schedules

I'm very happy to hear that! :)

Thanks for all the great posts and pictures. We go next month so I love reading and seeing the cruise. How was getting off on the last day and heading back to your parking at the airport?

No problem, thanks for reading! :) Oh, nice! Have lots of fun!! The last day, getting off was very smooth and quick, and we had no problem getting to Waterfront and back to YVR ^^

Thank you for the GREAT photos Sarah.

It's making me very excited to sail Disney .

 

It's also making me VERY hungry even though it's only 8 in the morning. ;)

 

 

How much was the dessert making demonstration ? (I figured there was a charge since hey served wine)

 

Thanks!

Haha it's my pleasure ;)

LOL

Surprisingly all of those Art of Cooking demonstrations are free!

(I legitimately wanted to eat everything on the dessert menu)

After we ordered, Ericson comes over and makes another puzzle for us.

While we were working on the puzzle, Ericson and Rita low-key disappeared and they started having the “thank you chefs and servers!!” parade

Ericson had our Canadian flag! :)

After that, our dessert started arriving! Ericson first had a random plate of papayas for us! :O

Seafood Linguini Pasta:

(8.9/10 this was great too, nice toppings and creamy sauce)

Garlic and Rosemary-Marinated Lamb Sirloin:

(9.1/10 Yes. Just yes.)

Roasted Red Snapper:

(8.0/10 presentation was kind of ugly though??)

Oven Baked Fillet of Salmon:

(8.2/10 very simple)

Time for dessert! The Til We Meet Again dessert menu:

Sesame-crusted Tuna Sashimi:

(8.7/10 This was very much my style)

Trio of Salmon:

(8.7/10 Great, although not nuts about fajita-like things)

Dungeness Crabmeat Stuffed Tomato:

(8.8/10 the filling was excellent, but the tomato part didn't fit that well, just the shape)

Lobster and Crawfish Bisque:

(8.2/10 Good but a bit salty)

Potato and Leek Soup:

(8.1/10 not salty enough LOL)

Roasted Filet of Beef Wellington:

(8.8/10 this was great)

The kid's menu:

Today's bread was Six-Grain Country Bread and Caramelized Onions and Sun-dried Tomato Dip:

They also had these extra pages with tons of other languages today

Our servers had nice flag vests today too!

As tonight's dinner was at Parrot Cay, we passed by Chip & Dale on the way to the dining room

Here was tonight's Til We Meet Again menu:

and Scrabble

After a while, more people starting coming in for some catchphrase game

Once it got later, we headed back to our rooms to change for tonight's dinner.

We found some luggage tags already waiting for us *sigh*

We played some Jenga