Coral Princess - Panama Canal questions

[blazerjan]

We are thinking of booking a Panama Canal cruise in 2010,with another couple. We have pretty much decided on adjoining mini suites.... does anyone have any pros or cons as to which deck... forward or aft??? Any suggestions would be welcomed. I was also thinking about doing the any time dining for the first time but have not read any good reviews on this. Anyone have any input on this too? Thanks in advance. :confused:

[cb at sea]

If you can't get midships, then go toward aft...less motion. Side won't matter. Book a deck closest to where you'll be spending most of your time, so you can use the stairs rather than waiting on elevators all the time!

Most of the "anytime" diners like to eat alone....if you like tablemates, stick with traditional dining. If you're a loner, then the anytime thing might be for you!

[lovetocruise1960]

We just got off the Island Panama Canal 10/11/09 and we had a mini on the Dolphin deck mid ship. It was great, however if it rains you can't really use it. We also did a cabin crawl and saw the covered balconies above - can't remember the deck and they didn't seem claustrophobic at all. I was surprised. The Caribe deck has the best balconies and if you don't need a mini-suite that would be my choice. Great view going through the locks right from the balcony.

 

As far as dining, we did anytime dining and loved it. The food is the same as in the main dining room and we never had to wait one minute for a table but we shared. We made more friends on that ship than I ever would have imagined. But if you want the wait staff to remember your name and preferences etc... you might want to go with traditional.

 

Hope this helps.

[jimpod]

We have done 4 Princess cruises and have always opted for Anytime dining. We frequently requested a table for 2 and although didn't always get one right away we didn't have to wait any longer than 20 minutes. The bleeper sytem works well and allows you do go sit somewhere nearby until your table is ready.

[end1946]

We are booked on the Coral to the Panama Canal. The way I understand the aft minis on the Dolphin Deck are covered. We have booked D719 and others who have been in that cabin stated that it is covered. We prefer the aft. We love anytime dining...we have never had to wait and enjoy sitting with different people each night...or if there are four of you, I believe you can just ask for the table for 4. What we really like is the flexibility....if we are doing something, we can eat anytime that is convenient.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[PoohUnderstands]

As far as anytime dining goes, it depends on what you want out of dinner dining. What I mean is we did anytime on a cruise where there were 4 of us. Now I like to meet people and so we always said a table for 6-8, but what ended up happening more times than not, is that we ended up eating alone. Now we 4 love each other but eat together quite a lot so that anytime did not appeal to me then. I did it when there was two of us only and that went alot better and enjoyed all the people I met. Also, I found unless you ate early, anytime became like set dining in that anytime diners were making reservations ahead of time for the same time each night and that meant that if you didn't you waited during the normal eating hours.

 

I also enjoy very much getting to know and "bond" with my wait staff, so all in all I like set dining better. Again, it all depends on what you want in the experience. Good luck, and have a great cruise.

 

Pooh

[Tweedy]

We are thinking of booking a Panama Canal cruise in 2010,with another couple. We have pretty much decided on adjoining mini suites.... does anyone have any pros or cons as to which deck... forward or aft??? Any suggestions would be welcomed. I was also thinking about doing the any time dining for the first time but have not read any good reviews on this. Anyone have any input on this too? Thanks in advance. :confused:

 

I liked our mini-suite location on the Coral. We were on the dolphin deck, cabin D705. It had a covered balcony and was very quiet. There wasn't alot of foot traffic or noise outside our door. It was close to the laundry, easy access to the aft viewing deck and close to the aft elevators. It was a hike to the Horizon Court but that was okay.

 

As for anytime dining, it's okay. I could take or leave it. The nice thing is you aren't tied to one particular table so if you would like to eat in one of the a la carte restaurants (Bayou or Sabitini's) there is no need to inform your waiter you won't be there the next night.

[billet]

I would recommend a covered balcony. We had a Champagne breakfast while going through the lock and it was lovely to be able to sit out there despite the bucketing rain.

We (4 of us) certainly do not like to eat alone and we always do Anytime Dining. You ask for a shared table and you get to met a wonderful mix of people over the period of the cruise. I you want to sit alone you can do that in TD or AD! It offers flexibility of eating time and if you find a table you really like talk to the maitre'd and your waiter about getting it on a regular basis. I have waited probably 3 times in 3 years to be seated but I normally eat earlier (6ish) or later (8:30ish)

[texkan]

http://mysite.verizon.net/res76zxu/princessbalconies/index.html

 

 

Dolphin Deck is a good deck. Had mini suite D722.

[dfields1814]

We just returned from a Panama Canal cruise on the Coral on 10/9. We had anytime dining. On the Grand and Star we never waited at all because they had two MDR's. However, on the Coral there was only one MDR. If you went to dinner after say 6:15 there was a wait - sometimes a long wait... 45 minutes or longer. If you got to the MDR before 6:00 you would be OK. That being said if given the choice again we would still opt for anytime dining because we met so many interesting people.