Coral Princess Question

[dshefter]

My wife and I are looking to celebrate our 10-year anniversary this November by taking a Panama Canal cruise on the Coral Princess. We have done numerous cruises, but never on Princess. We have sailed on Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Norwegian. Wanted to get people's impressions of the Coral Princess in terms of amenities, food, service. We have always enjoyed the fine service on RC and our Norwegian cruise a couple of years ago on the Pearl was outstanding.

 

I know the itinerary includes Aruba, Cartegna, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica and Ocho Rios. Have only been to Ocho Rios. Want to know about the other ports.

 

Want to hear honest opinions, good and bad. The comments are much appreciated.

[mycruz]

The Coral is one of my favorite ships. I love the small feel to it, the way it's laid out and the crew are very good.

 

We also did the PC on the Coral and loved every minute of it, the canal itself is quite an experience. We got off in Gatun Lake and took the excursion on the small boat through the remainder of the canal and back. Costa Rica was a beautiful place, we did a 4x4 excursion through the rain forest, banana plantation and had a great time. Aruba is a very interesting place, I took a lame tour while my roommate did an ATV tour which he loved.

 

Congratulations on your anniversary!

[Murrah Miss]

We were on the Coral Princess to Alaska in July '08 and absolutely LOVED the ship. I am VERY particular in staying in 'unfamiliar' places, but found our cabin and all the public areas of the Coral to be VERY clean. It is my understanding that the ship has been in 'dry dock' since then, and should be even better!

 

While we have never done the Panama Canal trip, I believe that you will find this ship to be truly, truly enjoyable and memorable!

 

Bon Voyage!

[Gabrielle R.]

The Island is a sister ship to the Coral. For that reason we are booked on the Coral this summer up in Alaska. We really liked the feel of the Island, so We know the Coral we be jsut as wonderful!

 

We ahve been to Aruba- We liked that port- we wandered off on our own and had a great time at a public beach.

 

Been to Costa Rica twice. Lots to see and do there. I don't think you can go wrong with anythign you do there. We have done two different trips a river cruise and a coffee planation- both good. One was on the West coast, the other on the East coast.

 

The Canal was awesome- we did a full transit.

 

We hate Jamaica- so we stay on the ship and pretend that it is our yacht for the day... Might as well dream big right?;)

 

I think you will enjoy Princess too. WE have been on Two Royal ships (The smaller ones- which we liked) We have been on Carnival twice- felt like it was too much of a party atmosphere We have probably done Princess so much since we have gotten good service and we liked the itinerary. Hope some of this helped. Gabrielle

[cruiserjanet]

We've been on the Island twice and were on the Coral a year ago doing the full transit of the Panama Canal. We plan to be on the Coral this September going to Alaska. The Panama Canal cruise is a cruise not to be missed in our opinion. We enjoyed every port except I was not fond of Colombia. Would have liked to have done some shopping in Aruba but the ship wasn't there very long and our excursion went too long so we hope to go back there at some point. The Coral is beautiful and very easy to navigate. We enjoyed the food and the service as well and are looking forward to our next cruise especially since she was recently in drydock.

[grandmato4]

Absolutely loved our cruise on the Coral Princess doing the same itinerary you are planning. We did not have a single negative about the Coral. Loved the ship. Fantasitic crew, great service by all, good entertainment, good to great food. Easy to navigate the ship. Never felt crowed. We would sail on that ship and do that itinerary again in a heartbeat. We love all of our cruises but rarely is one perfect. This is the one cruise that there was absolutely nothing even remotely negataive during the entire cruise other than our tablemates in the DR and that was simply the luck of the draw and didn't detract from the wonderful cruise.

 

There is a lot of information to be found about the different ports on the Port of Calls board here in CC. In Aruba we took the local bus to Eagle Beach to spend the morning and then returned on the bus to town to do a bit shopping in the stores. In Cartegena Columbia we took a tour arranged by another cc member from our rollcall. WE LOVED the city and hope to return again someday. We visited the monestary, the fort, and did a walking tour of the old city. Also some shopping stops. After entering the canal we took a ships tour to visit the Embera Indians in Panama. Really enjoyed the tour as it was a bit different than anything else we've ever done. Also liked the shopping at the pier when we returned to the ship. In Costa Rica we booked a private tour for our rollcall with J.J. whom I had found recommended here in cc. We had a great time visiting a bananna plantation and learned more about bananna's than we ever thought possible, did a boat ride on the canal and saw many many different birds and animals, stopped at a local fruit stand and enjoyed some local fruits, had lunch at a local restaruant on a beach and enjoyed a dip in the ocean, looked down on the city from a mountain top and stopped to purchase local coffee at a grocery store. We were originally suppose to stop in Montego Bay but found the itinerary changed when we boarded the ship. Since we'd been to Ocho Rio's the previous year we decided to just have a lazy day and walked off the ship and down the street to a shopping area and browsed around enjoying our time talking to the vendors and returned to the ship. We had enjoyed our previous visit in Ocho Rios at Dunn's River Falls and Coyoba Gardens on a ships tour.

 

The Coral is a great ship and its a great itinerary. Have a great time!:)

[dshefter]

Thanks for all of your insight.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for all of your insight.

 

 

There is some good info here....

 

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

[mr green]

Coral is our favorite ship. Call DINE as soon as you get on board, and try to get on the 'Chefs Table', $75.00 each. This made our last cruise.

 

john

[Northender]

Keith, thanks for posting the link. We have not done our 2010 Ruby yet, but have Panama Canal and Alaska already on our mind.:)

I remembered this link was out there awhile back and thought, oh my this will be a search and a half:eek: Now it is in My Favorites for future use.

 

Thanks again

[Colo Cruiser]

Keith, thanks for posting the link. We have not done our 2010 Ruby yet, but have Panama Canal and Alaska already on our mind.:)

I remembered this link was out there awhile back and thought, oh my this will be a search and a half:eek: Now it is in My Favorites for future use.

 

Thanks again

 

 

I did the same as I got tired of looking for it when someone else needed it. :D

[Kamloops50]

We came off the Coral Princes (after our 2nd PC trip).

It was our first trip on Princess . We have done 2 trips on HAL and 2 on RCL . The Coral trip was the best of the lot.

We are currently booked for four more Princess Cruises in the

next 18 months. It was beautiful ship and well layed out. We had a balcony on Aloha Deck (A529) just aft under the "Adults Only Pool" We have visited all those ports except Costa Rica . I presume that it isn't a Panama Canal Transit.

[SHIPMEOUT]

We did the full Panama Canal transit from Ft. Lauderdale to LA last year on the Coral. It was by far our favorite ship! Top notch service, food, etc. Our itinerary was outstanding - Aruba, Cartegena, Panama Canal, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Guatamala, and Huatulco Mexico.

 

Your itinerary is a little different but we also visited Aruba (easy to walk around yourself), Cartegena (we went to the Monastery). Our Costa Rica port was Puntarenas, and we really enjoyed the aerial jungle tram and boating afterwards down the Tarcoles River (visited with a few crocodile friends) :eek:.

 

Don't miss the Chef's Table. It was great on the Coral.

 

Enjoy :)

Cindy

[dfields1814]

We were on the Coral last Sept. and Oct. through the Panama Canal. We liked the ship. I perfer the Grand class better but there was nothing bad about the Coral. One hint: Try not to get a cabin right next to the jut out. Your view can be hindered between 30 to 50% depending where you stand or sit on the balcony.

[melsal]

A "live from" the Coral has started for a cruise starting on 2/5/10. You may gain some good insight and post questions to those cruising.

[hoop4fun]

Hi....I hope someone can help me with a few questions.. regarding my upcoming cruise. I asked this same question on another thread (roll call) but no reply :(. Anyway, does anyone know if you can take a case of bottle water on this ship? What other drinks can we take with us and what about chips, cookies for our room etc...

Also, how formal is formal night on the coral Princess? I've read many threads regarding this issue but I want to know about coral princess only. Please feel free to share any info regarding this cruise..:confused: It's been a longtime since my last cruise (22 years) :eek:

Thanks for your reply ;)

[Oi]

The Coral was our first Princess cruise and she made us want to sail again! Great ship!!

[napunani]

We sailed for the first time with PRINCESS on the Coral in November and are now converts. My review is posted at

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=62640

[rdsqrl]

Hi....I hope someone can help me with a few questions.. regarding my upcoming cruise. I asked this same question on another thread (roll call) but no reply :(. Anyway, does anyone know if you can take a case of bottle water on this ship? What other drinks can we take with us and what about chips, cookies for our room etc...

Also, how formal is formal night on the coral Princess? I've read many threads regarding this issue but I want to know about coral princess only. Please feel free to share any info regarding this cruise..:confused: It's been a longtime since my last cruise (22 years) :eek:

Thanks for your reply ;)

You are allowed to carry on bottled water as well as soft drinks and wine/champagne. You can also bring snacks aboard if you wish, although there's plenty of food onboard!

Formal nights on our cruise were pretty formal -- lots of tuxes and suits. Women in cocktail dresses, a smattering of long dresses. I don't recall seeing very many people who weren't dressed according to the guidelines.

[skellis]

The Coral and the Island are my favorite ships in the fleet. They are smaller and more intimate than the others, and the Panama Canal is fantastic. Check your roll call for excursions, particularly for Cartagena which should not be done on your own. It is very dangerous (we have several nuns as friends and the tell me that one of their order was chloroformed while praying in church and they took her rosary because of the silver cross. Mr. Emerald was the person who set up our tour and we saw the gold musuem, the monastery (great view) and beautiful, saw the fortifications, the city, Emeralds of course, and the torture museum and walked around int he old quarter. Do not wear jewelry, or anything ov value as the beggars and vendors are very grabby and I am very uncomfortable, particularly because of the pickpockets. I have a security wallet that goes under my clothes and take only one credit card and travellers checks with a small amount of cash.

 

In Nicaragua the Ship's coffee plantation tour was fantastic. Guatamala was good for ship's tours to the volcanos. Hualtuco is small and beach time is your best bet. As for Costa Rica tours of the plantations, Carara Biological preserve and zip lines are all great. It is my favorite port country, on either sice of the isthmus.

 

Buy "The Path Between the Seas" by McCollough on Amazon (used is better) for a detailed history of how the Canal was built, and enjoy going under the Bridge of the Americas, the link between the continents. I did it the first time on the Pacific Princess (the original Love Boat) and still get a thrill.

[hoop4fun]

You are allowed to carry on bottled water as well as soft drinks and wine/champagne. You can also bring snacks aboard if you wish, although there's plenty of food onboard!

Formal nights on our cruise were pretty formal -- lots of tuxes and suits. Women in cocktail dresses, a smattering of long dresses. I don't recall seeing very many people who weren't dressed according to the guidelines.

 

Thank you so much for the info...true, there will be lots of food on the ship lol :o

[Whoo]

We did the full transit from Florida to San Francisco in April 2008. It was a wonderful cruise! As far as excursions, we only took ship-sponsored excursions. The waterfall park and volcano excursion in Costa Rica was great - spent a lot of time on the bus getting there, but we had a good tour guide who talked and gave us information about the country and we enjoyed the scenery along the way, as well as the scenery at our destinations. We did the "Best of Cartagena" tour in Colombia - and we were glad we were on an escorted tour. Our guide was great, and gave us lots of good tips and information about the country. In Aruba we took a tour where we saw a submerged shipwreck from a semi-submersible boat, saw a collapsed land bridge, etc. The shipwreck was the best part of the tour in Aruba. We had no excursion planned in Acapulco - it was very hot and humid, and we just got off the ship and walked around the harbor area. Very aggressive taxi drivers were there, but we just smiled and kept walking. We enjoyed the Coral Princess, and also enjoyed the Island Princess (sister ship) last spring when we went to Alaska. You should have a great time going on the Coral Princess to the Panama Canal!