Coral Princess photo and video review

[Bimmer09]

21 miles long, 2 miles wide.

 



 



 



 

Being Glacier Bay there were other glaciers to see and so after a while the ship sailed on further up into the bay....

 

[Drews_Cruise]

Your photography is wonderful. I don't know which I want to do first, eat or book a cruise to Alaska!

[TorontoTL]

I've never had much interest in Alaska but now that I've seen some of your photos, I do want to see Alaska. Thanks for the ongoing review and photos, please keep them coming.

[jimbri]

Thanks for your review. Your photos are amazing!

[Bimmer09]

Many thanks to those of you who have made so many kind comments.

I realize that the review is coming in bits and bobs- a glacier here, a plate of food there but it would be impossible for me to do the whole thing stem to stern in one sitting (way more than 12 hours of slog) so I have to write a bit here and there, before or after work, on a day off or while the kettle is boiling.

 

So you have to keep checking back and find where you left off - thanks for your patience.

 

To say that the best is yet to come would be an understatement....we are in Monday afternoon and this epic goes on through Saturday with a visit to Butchart Gardens.....trains, ships, planes,kayaks, whale watching,meals, rooms, bands, Sanctuary in the sun, Alaskan seaports and who knows what else.

 

Thanks for following along!

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

 



 

When I wasn't taking photos I was shooting video. This glacier is receding so doesn't have the dramatic wall of ice.

 

The ship turned to head back to open water

 



 

Glaciers begin high up in the mountains, put on weight just like us passengers and then they slide down towards the sea-but it takes a while.

 



 



 

Back to the cabin to get out of the layered clothing

 

[gator582]

I am looking forward to your review and photos every day! They are fantastic. Thank you for taking the time to post. :)

[cruisinnorth]

Hi Norris,

 

We are sailing on the Island on the the 17th of June, and there is one thing that I can't seem to find an answer for. Where is the perfect place to watch the glaciers? I would like a place near the bow or the aft where one could both see to the left or right and the ships rails are low enough so I could take photos without having to shoot through the blue windows. I would love to have a chair, a lounger is not necessary, but a table might be nice.

 

Have you found such a place on the Island?

 

Thanks,

 

Dave

[2little time]

Hi Norris,

 

We are sailing on the Island on the the 17th of June, and there is one thing that I can't seem to find an answer for. Where is the perfect place to watch the glaciers? I would like a place near the bow or the aft where one could both see to the left or right and the ships rails are low enough so I could take photos without having to shoot through the blue windows. I would love to have a chair, a lounger is not necessary, but a table might be nice.

 

Have you found such a place on the Island?

 

Thanks,

 

Dave

 

Aft on the Island on the Caribe deck is a wonderful viewing area where you can see the glaciers unobstructed. There were several lounge chairs out there when we were on the ship. It is a lovely area.

[gator582]

Aft on the Island on the Caribe deck is a wonderful viewing area where you can see the glaciers unobstructed. There were several lounge chairs out there when we were on the ship. It is a lovely area.

Coral have this, too?

[rdsqrl]

Your photography is wonderful. I don't know which I want to do first, eat or book a cruise to Alaska!

Grab a sandwich while you're on the phone to your TA?

And ditto. Bimmer, I'm really enjoying your review. Take all the time you need, because your photos are definitely worth waiting for!

 

Coral have this, too?

Yes, indeed. There are also open viewing decks forward on Baja and Caribe, although there is no furniture out there. Access is via a door at the forward end of both starbord and port hallways. It'll seem like you're going through a door that you're not supposed to go through, but it's okay to be out there as long as the door is unlocked.

[gator582]

[/font][/color]

Yes, indeed. There are also open viewing decks forward on Baja and Caribe, although there is no furniture out there. Access is via a door at the forward end of both starbord and port hallways. It'll seem like you're going through a door that you're not supposed to go through, but it's okay to be out there as long as the door is unlocked.

Thank you! Will check them out. :)

[2little time]

Coral have this, too?

 

 

Yes the Coral has this viewing area as well.

[Bimmer09]

Yes the Coral has this viewing area as well.

 

The "secret" deck is where the Leaving Whittier video was shot, seen earlier in this post. I didn't use it on Glacier days, particularly Hubbard, as it was raining

and there is minimal shelter on that deck. Hopefully you will get dry weather by the glaciers, but you may need to get there earlier than everyone else with the same idea to get a position by the railing and therefore an unobstructed view for your camera.

 

At Hubbard I was sheltered by the Sanctuary overhang but had to step out into the rain to get the forward-looking shots. Other shots (dry camera ones) were taken from our balcony or from Promenade deck where there was cover.

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

As we sailed back down the bay on a beautiful day I joined some new friends in Churchill's for a beer and as it has floor to ceiling windows onto Promenade deck was able to keep an eye on what was passing by the window. Every now and then I was compelled to step back onto the deck to take another photo..

 

 



 

A little tour boat (from where?) sailing uphill apparently (LOL)

 



 



 



 

[Bimmer09]

Tonight (Monday) would be our first night in the Bordeaux Dining Room and tomorrow we would visit the first of our 3 ports-Skagway. There we were booked (via Princess Cruise Personalizer) on a 6 hour adventure which included kayaking in Canada followed by a ride back to Skagway on the White Pass and Yukon Railway. The tour was $200 per person.

 

So, coming up ( I have a day off tomorrow) we'll see Skagway with 4 ships in port-Golden Princess, Zuiderdam, Celebrity Infinity and the Coral. Lots of ship photos for "boat-nerds" like me. For the first time I get to take exterior shots of the Coral as it was raining when we boarded in Whittier.

 

Kayaks and trains coming up.

 

Much later!

 

Norris

[Valminx]

Am really looking forward to it - thank you! :-)

[Woobstr112G]

OP;

I just had a chance to read your review and look at your pictures. The pictures were amazing. I've been to Alaska twice and never tire looking at the beauty and wonderment of the area.....:):):)

Bob

[Bimmer09]

Monday evening, after an afternoon spent in Glacier Bay, we took our places in the Bordeaux Dining Room for the first time. This was my first MDR dinner experience in 20 years- since my Carnival experience of 2 cruises back in the early 90's. Then there was one massive dining room- a huge hubbub- and two seatings and we (my wife of the time and I) were placed at a table for six with a mother and two daughters. I remember the waiters dancing through the room

and someone hollering over a microphone. It was fun when I was that age.

 

I didn't take photos of food back then nor did I have a video camera. I sold them for a living and they were big clunky things but wonderful for capturing memories. Sony 8mm and VHS C were also in their nascent stages. I wish I had bought one then and had tape to show you here.

 

On the ship I worked on-The Song of Norway- dinners sometimes featured live music-strolling players from the Polish dance band-who would work the room on French and Italian nights. One of them played an accordion which lent authenticity to French and Italian tunes. Waiters and Head waiters dressed up

to the theme. I have photos of one head waiter -Raymond, who later was the staff trainer on Oasis of the Seas when she came from the shipyard to ft Lauderdale- dressed in a Gendarme uniform, arresting me at the table.LOL.

On a Formal Night leaving Ocho Rios, Jamaica, the steel band who played poolside in the daytime, were in the dining room playing Island tunes. Nice touch.

 

Some things were prepared table side- I remember Cherries Jubilee was always something I would order and caused a buzz around the room.

 

There was a nightly Midnight Buffet- an elaborate spread which had people lining up. There was a live band playing softly.

 

None of that in the Bordeaux but the food and service was good and that is what matters. It was certainly a more restful place to eat than of yore.

 

Only one photograph was taken at dinner and a fuzzy one at that but I am sharing it with you anyway- it was Surf and Turf and normally the Surf is lobster tail but here some big shrimp were standing in....

 

 

My notes for the night are sadly sketchy. They tell me I also had a Pate to start and that Carol had clam chowder,Caesar salad and crab legs. My bottle of Pinot Grigio was retrieved from Sabatini's.

 

Then a comedy show by an unknown comedian (bad notes!) and bed at midnight.

 

I set the phone alarm for 4.30 as there was a big day ahead- we were docking at our first port, Skagway and had a lengthy excursion planned.

[Bimmer09]

Tuesday morning, 5 a.m, first coffee in hand and on the Promenade deck in the dark.

 



 



 

A ship was following us. I didn't have binoculars on deck to check out the funnel to see which line it was. It turned out to be Zuiderdam. I hoped the passengers onboard were as happy as I was on the Coral.

 



 

An hour later, with the morning light easing into the day, we were met at the dock by the mooring teams. From around the bend in the channel another ship appeared and it wasn't the Zuiderdam....the Z was close behind though.

 

[Bimmer09]

A Princess ship!

 



 



 



 

Photos are taken from the stern of the Coral on Promenade deck.

 

 

[Bimmer09]

 

Have you guessed which ship, yet? She had sailed up from Seattle, I believe.

 

 

As I had a good HC breakfast in me and another cup of coffee I went back down to Promenade deck, from the Sanctuary where the last photo was taken, and I met again the man whose luggage had been left behind in Whittier due to the road accident. He told me his luggage and the passengers who had missed the ship were arriving today. Great news!

 

Dockside the White Pass and Yukon Railway train sat waiting for excursion passengers. My excursion was much later @ 11.30 so I had lots of time to walk into town and take photos. I was particularly excited to get photos of the two ships tied up, nose to tail.

 

 

Let's get off the ship!

 

[Bimmer09]

Going down the gangway I met the ship's photographers, two of whom were dressed as Gold Rush gunslingers and they posed with me for a photo. Harmless fun and you don't have to buy the photo if you don't want to. It might be an inconvenience if you are running late for an excursion-but you should leave yourself enough time for that so you don't have to rush on vacation!

 



 

Now the Coral is a big ship by any standards-at 965 ft long she is the longest (with her sister the Island) ship in the fleet (only to be surpassed by Royal and Regal, neither yet at sea) but she is "only" 106 ft wide, so that she can pass through the Panama canal as it stands currently, while a wider passage is being built. 92,000 Gross tons so plenty of room for the 1970 passengers she carries.

 

 



 

No aft cabins!!!! (more on that much later)

 

 



 

Which ship?

 



 

[Bimmer09]

Once through the security barriers I was free to roam the dock area.

 



 



 



 

[Bimmer09]

 



 



 

Skagway town was a 15 minute stroll away and there was a steady stream of walkers and the less fortunate in wheelchairs were being pushed by loved ones.

This was very heartwarming. Everyone was going to get to enjoy this port and it wasn't raining. Smiling, excited people and I was one of them. I pointed my feet towards town and told them to do their thing...