Coral Princess and Panama Canal cruise

[Conanc]

Hi,

 

We are celebrating our 25th anniversary and trying to decide between the Coral Princess Panama Canal cruise and The Celebrity Summit Mexican Riviera cruise this October. We have sailed on the Grand Princess before and loved it and are also interested in trying Celebrity at some point. Our last few cruises have been on Royal Caribbean's Voyager class ships.

 

I would love information about the Coral Princess from anybody who's sailed her and would also love to hear about opinions on the Panama Canal itinerary vs. Mexican Riviera for October.

 

Thanks so much!

[Druke I]

We were on the Coral Princess 5-03, and she is a lovely ship. Size much manageable than the huge Grand class ships.

 

There are many threads on this board giving details of the ship.

 

As relates to itinerary, I think Panama Canal far superior to Mexican Riviera.

Again, there are many threads about both itineraries which may help you decide.

[KAJOKG]

We sailed on the Coral....Love the ship and the itinerary is my favorite! Did the same cruise earlier on the Island, sister ship to the Coral. The ship is smaller than the Grand Class ships and just lovely. The Coral is my favorite ship of all those we have sailed on. We had a minisuite on the Aloha deck both times. It was great. Balcony is a bit small, but it did not bother us at all. The Caribe Deck has the best balconies I believe. They are large and half covered. Exception would be in the bumpout sections...then it is completely covered. If you chose the Coral you will not be sorry.

[mii]

I third the motion on the Coral/ We did her on the Panama Canal route and having also sailed the Mex. Riviera I would take the Panama Canal route anytime. Coral is a great ship. Just the right size and the Panama Canal is spectacular. You will not be disappointed.

 

marilyn

[LARGIN]

The Coral has my vote.. You will not be disappointed..

[crusdiva]

I'm with Larry, Marilyn, Katy and Michael.

The Coral is a beautiful ship with an excellent crew.

We are sailing her again in September for the reasons above.

Panama Canal is awesome.

Check out my pictures and you'll see how lovely this ship is.

[Conanc]

Thanks so much for the info everyone! Looks like the Coral is a well-loved ship. As far as Panama Canal goes, what do you recommend. Ship tours or on your own and which are not to miss?

 

Thanks!

P.S. - Crusdiva -- beautiful photos. Thanks for sharing them!

[crusdiva]

Thanks ;)

Glad you enjoyed them.

 

As far as excursions, I think it depends on the port.

In Limon we took a Princess excursion - we went horseback riding in the rain forest and it was terrific.

We usually go on our own in Cozumel (try Paradise Beach - it's awesome). In Grand Cayman stingray city can be booked through the ship, it'll be very crowded - many people prefer to book with Captain Marvin as he has smaller groups going out.

In Belize we did a ship's tour to Rendezvous Cay - unbelievable.

For the Canal itself, we had done a full transit the year before so we stayed on the ship - others mention the Ocean to Ocean tour through Princess.

BTW: Happy Anniversary.

[mii]

On our Panama Canal trip on the Coral we did the Ocean to Ocean and highly recommend that. Also in Costa Rica we the boat trip on the Tortuguera Canals and loved that. You can find extra info on the shore excursions section on the Princess Site. In cozumel and Grand Cayman we did our own thing.

 

Marilyn

[WeBeGone]

We love the Coral so much we've done the Panama Canal trip twice. In Panama, 1st time -visited the Embara native tribe and loved it-2nd trip did the Coast to Coast on the train and loved it too. First trip we went to Ochios Rio and loved Dunn River Falls but 2nd trip went to Belize and took Princess excusion to the Mayan ruins at the Guatamala border-awesome. In Costa Rica took a 4x4 off road trip-fun. In Cozumel and Grand Cayman we did our own thing as we've been there many times and these are easy cities to book trips on your own..

[Iamthesea]

recently visited the Mexican Riviera, let me give you a different perspective.

 

We didn't care for the Mexican Riviera all that much. We were on a HAL ship. We thought the ship too small and drab, compared with the Voyager class ships and even a little smaller than the Radiance class. The Mexican ports were just so, so. We did love Cabo San Lucas with the whales, though they would not be around in October.

 

We have cruised with Celebrity and absolutely loved everything about it! That being said, we are looking forward to trying out our first Princess cruise on the Coral this October. :D I have a feeling that the Coral will be in line with the RCCL Radiance class. A great size!

 

BTW - Our itinerary does not go to Belize.

Having been to Grand Cayman and Cozumel a couple of times, I would recommend Stingray City with Nativeway Water Sports http://www.nativewaywatersports.com/shiptours.html and Chankanaab Park through Cozumel Insider www.cozumelinsider.com.

Margarittaville in Cozumel was also fun for an hour or so. be sure and try the slide. It's free!

 

We celebrated our 25th anniversary to Hawaii last fall. Come join us on the Coral!

 

 

[Iamthesea]

Whoops! Just remembered that Margarittaville was in Ocho Rios. :o Carlo's n Charlies was in Cozumel.

[Broadie]

Looking for advice. We've cruised on Carnival three times previously and one time on Holland America. We enjoyed the many activities on Carnival...seemed to be so much to do...this was not the case on HA. We are mid 40's and enjoy various activities. What is your recommendation? :)

[cviolante]

When are you thinking about going? My wife and I and some of our friends are going on the October 15th sailing.

[Iamthesea]

Broadie - I cannot compare to princess, but we enjoyed RCCL over Carnival. We are in our 40's as well.

 

cviolante - We will be on the 15th sailing. ;)

[DrivesLikeMario]

IamtheSea - I agree with a lot of your observations about the ships you spoke about. We just went on our first HAL cruise, (the Oosterdam in March to the Mex. Riv.). I agree that the ports are only so-so. Although the "O" is a nice ship, it's not anywhere as beautiful as the Radiance and the Coral.

 

I do think you'll really like the Coral Princess though. She IS similar to the Radiance, although I have to admit the Radiance is still #1 in my book as the most beautiful ship. The Coral is second. She doesn't seem to "ride" as smoothly as the Radiance, but the dining room food & service were superior. We had the best cabin steward, waiter and asst. waiter we've ever had. I think the cabin steward was a mind-reader. Absolutely top notch!

 

As far as excursions go, do not do the Ocean to Ocean Tour in Panama unless you enjoy very, very long boring tours where you're stuck on a small boat and can't get off. (I know there are those that would disagree with me on this; I love history & engineering marvels, but they won't open the next lock until the previous lock is full and this can take hours for each lock.) When Princess says this tour is 7-8 hours, plan on 9-10 hours. Bring something to amuse yourself, like a couple movies, a blanket to knit, the Bible to read... :D :D

[Conanc]

Hi,

 

We are also looking at the sailing on the 15th as well. We are still up in the air and are exploring all the options but this is looking good. We're done some wonderful all-inclusives recently and enjoyed those as well but are looking for something different. The Hawaii cruises look great but we can't take that much time off. This one seems to work well.

 

We loved the Serenade so it looks like we would enjoy the Coral as well. Our cruises on the Voyager class ships have all been with our daughters and they love the activities but we wanted something a little more romantic since it is our 25th anniversary. Our cruises on Grand Princess and Serenade were just the two of us and we loved those ships as well. I could do without going to Cozumel and Grand Cayman since we've already been to Coz twice and have spent a lot of time in Mexico, and GC once where we swam with the stingrays. Costa Rica and Panama are what we are looking forward to so any suggestions for making the most out of these ports are greatly appreciated.

 

Broadie, if you are looking for lots of activites, maybe you should try Royal Caribbean. I recommend the Voyager class ships if you are looking for mega ships with lots to do, if not, the Radiance class ships are beautiful.