Just off the Coral this morning- ask away!

[Phishinyem]

Hi All.. i just got off the Coral this morning and will post a review tomorrow once I settle back in. Good cruise- 10 day panama canal. Feel free to ask any questions in the meantime! Just to let you know, I am a 25 year old female from Boston and sailed with my boyfriend (27), and my mom (45) and her fiance (35). my boyfriend and I were probably one of the youngest couples on the ship. The average age was probably 55-70? Embarkation was very smooth- disembarkation was terrible, and we were about 5 minutes from missing our flight! I had a great time on the cruise itself. The staff was great. Food was good in the buffet, great in the dining room. Room was clean, ship was nice. Some of the entertainment was great, some was not so great (one of the comedians I thought was terrible, but the crowd did seem to like him!). Didn't like the tendering- especially when our time in ports was so short. I saw a few other Princess ships in some of the other ports that got to dock, and I felt second rate having to tender in. We almost didnt get to go to Cozumel because of tendering problems. Excursions were awesome!!

 

I'll post a review tomorrow- but if anyone has any quick questions I can answer, feel free to ask!

[baby]

how was the enterainment in the explorer's lounge

 

what kind of music did they plan

 

were there alot of people in the lounge at night

 

what excursions did you do

 

we were on coral last november and are going again Oct 25th

 

carol

[Phishinyem]

I actually only went to the Explorer's lounge once, and there was a band, liquid blue, playing. The band itself was okay, definitely entertaining. the female singers were great, but the male lead was kind of weak. The lounge is nice though!

 

As far as the shows go- They had a banjo entertainer one night, he was different and I liked him a lot. They had 3 comedians. One was a juggler/comedian who was okay, then a straight comedian who did mostly Italian family humor and he was really funny, and the guy on the last night ws not funny at all. The dancers were great, and the broadway style show was good too. There was a singer in Crooners- Charlie Sheeth I think his name was, who played a lot of Billy joel/elton john type tunes on the piano. he was great too.

 

There were a lot of people in Crooners at night, and the other lounges are larger so they didn't seem so crowded. I found that a lot of nights we had the ship to ourselves (especialy the pool/hot tubs) after 10/10:30.

 

As far as excursions:

Costa rica- Jungle Pontoon Adventure. We had originally booked the Rumba en Chiva Beach break, and received a note when we got on the ship saying that it was cancelled due to logistical reasons. The pontoon boat was fun. Short ride into the tropical rainforest and the two guides pointed out plants, birds, banana trees, etc. and told us what to expect on the boat. the highlight of this was seeing the sloths in the trees! We saw a lot of birds as well and took the boat on a nice long river through the forest. it was about 3 hours.

 

Panama- didn't get off the ship. I did a few things at the Spa this day and spent a lot of time in the gym and at the pool.

 

Grand Cayman- Stingray snorkeling. It was awesome. The highlight of my cruise. The stingrays are amazing, we had a beautiful day. 45 minute catamaran ride out there, and that was great too.

 

Cozumel- We were booked for the Playa Mia Beach Break, but due to the rough seas, we couldnt' tender in until almost noon so all excursions were cancelled. I was bummed. We ended up finally getting to shore after waiting in the explorers lounge for 3 hours and another hour on the tender, and went shopping. Then my mom and her fiance went back to the ship- there was just too many people in such a small area. My boyfriend and I found a Mexican bar that had $1 Coronas and drank there for the afternoon and caught a tender back to the ship around 4.

 

Belieze- We did the Rendezvous Cay Snorkeling tour. That was neat. The seas were rough, and my boyfriend is not a super strong swimmer, so he was a little uncomfortable. There were tons of fish though and lots of coral. The water was warm. We had bad weather again, it was probably in the low 80's. One of the bartenders on the catamaran said that the bad weather was very unusual and that it had been 105 degrees the day before, and completely clear. You got to spend some time on this tiny island as well where there were a few vendors and you could drink rum punch. Nice high speed catamaran ride back, though I had a few too many rum punches!!

[Iamthesea]

Jungle Pontoon Adventure - Was this a comfortable way to tour the jungle? Do you think 80 year olds like it?

[Phishinyem]

I think everyone on it liked it. I was definitely the youngest on the tour, and I think everyone enjoyed it. It was very leisurely. The bus there was very comfortable, and it's a short ride there. It was air conditioned, and was a nice, scenic ride.

[Iamthesea]

Thank you! Looking forward to seeing the sloth.

[njmoms]

Ok, here's a curiosity question.....we just got off the HAL Westerdam this morning and saw the Coral Princess in port nearby. What are the two jet engines for mounted at the top of the ship???????? I never saw anything like that on a cruise ship.

 

Thanks.

[Phishinyem]

We were wondering the same thing the entire time we were on the cruise- I never asked anoye (or saw them being used) so i'm not sure! If you do find out, let me know :)

[Sammy1]

Actually, they're not jet engines at all, just look like it. We were told they're part of the smoke stack system - designed that way to better disperse the smoke away from the ship and the sunbathers on the top decks.

We did the Coral last November and had a fabulous experience snorkelling off the coast of Belize. The water was smooth and crystal clear - lots of fish and colorful coral.

 

Sam

[senior lady]

Just curious, where was your cabin???

:confused:

[Phishinyem]

We were in an inside cabin- B625. Small, with no windows, but it did the job just fine for the two of us. We hardly spent any time in the room. The cabin is near the middle/back of the ship

[Iamthesea]

njmoms - How did you think the size of the Coral and the looks compared to the Westerdam? How was your cruise?

[LARGIN]

Can you tell me the name of the Maitre D' ??

[longduo]

Just curious if you did room service. Recent posts have said on several ships you can no longer write in hot breakfast items or order from the dining room menu. Said you can only do the limited room service menu. So it would be great to hear the latest info on Coral room service.

 

Thanks.

[Iamthesea]

What! No room service breakfast! :(

[Druke I]

Not sure, but I believe (and was told) that those "jet engines" on the stack are in fact the air intakes for the gas turbines. Coral and Island are the only ships in the Princess fleet that have both gas turbines and diesel for ship/hotel power.

[longduo]

Hi All.. i just got off the Coral this morning and will post a review tomorrow once I settle back in.

 

I'll post a review tomorrow- but if anyone has any quick questions I can answer, feel free to ask![/quote

 

I'm hoping you'll post your review soon as we sail on the Coral next week.

Haven't seen it yet, but I know reentry takes a while!

[Sammy1]

You will have lots of incentive to stay slim and avoid the buffets - the shower stalls in the Coral are the smallest we've ever experienced on a cruise ship. It was a favourite topic of conversation on our cruise - lots of jokes. Some people actually had bruises. Take 2 bars of soap in with you in case you drop one!

 

Sam

[judynorth]

On a previous thread someone suggested that the best way to wash in those small shower stalls is to soap down the walls and spin. That is just about right! I hope they are no smaller than those on the Diamond. Yes, don't drop your soap!

[Northender]

You will have lots of incentive to stay slim and avoid the buffets - the shower stalls in the Coral are the smallest we've ever experienced on a cruise ship. It was a favourite topic of conversation on our cruise - lots of jokes. Some people actually had bruises. Take 2 bars of soap in with you in case you drop one!

 

Sam

 

 

Point well taken :D

 

How are the balconies on The Coral. Does the Caribe deck have the same type of setup as the Grand Class - half overhang/half open to sun?

 

What is best time to do Panama Canal Cruise weatherwise - not tooooo hot :)

 

We are thinking of this for next year.

 

TIA

[Sammy1]

We went the end of last November - the weather was perfect. Sunny most of the time, and not too hot. But we did get a little wet in the rain forest to nobody's surprise.

 

As far as I remember, it was half and half with the balconies, but still very nice.

[mii]

We did the partial transit r/t to Panama Canal and went in Feb. 2004. The weather was beautiful. Not very humid either. I also must say that the showers are small. I had to laugh at one of the above poster who suggested to soap down the shower and then you spin. LOL But really it is dueable but small.

 

Marilyn

[where next?]

Hello fellow New Englander!

 

We just got back from the Diamond Princess 4/23/05 Mex Riv sailing and loved it so much we've booked the Coral Princess for next April 23, 2006 school vacation.

 

I'm have a couple of questions for you regarding the Coral Princess -

 

1. Do you know whether there were many kids on board? My kids, ages 13 and 9, will be traveling with us and I'm hoping that even though this is a longer cruise, there will be friends for them.

 

2. Splash pool - how deep? We loved the fact that the Diamond had so many pools - kept crowds down.

 

3. Aft doors on cabin decks - they show on the deck plans on decks Baja, Caribe, Dolphin and Emerald. Do they really lead to the outside? Is this a quiet place to sit?

 

 

Thank you for any help. I appreciate it!

 

Bobbie

Derry, NH

[LARGIN]

To answer your questions...

 

Don't know much about the kids question but the splash pool is around a foot deep I think and the aft doors do lead to the outside and the aft decks make perfect quiet and relaxing viewing areas. We hung out on the Caribe aft deck on our last two cruises on the Coral..

[where next?]

Thank you for your quick answers!! I'm going to like the aft area, I can tell. I love looking at the wake of a ship.