Coral Princess Southbound June 26-July 3 Blog (long, with pictures)

[fireflymd]

Loved your review and your good humor!!! You gave very helpful information and it was a pleasure to read. Thank you!

[sept10dsm]

Thank you. One of the best reviews (and pictures) I've read!!!

[sept10dsm]

Sunday brought us to Juneau for a short port day. [i’m told the ship arrived at 6:30 am, but I was getting my beauty rest; so sailing at 4 pm made it a short day for me...] DW and I attended Mass at the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is the smallest cathedral in North America. The Mass was celebrated by Bishop Burns; great liturgy, good preaching and upbeat music. We wish there were more Bishops like him.

 

Then the three of us took a cab to Glacier Gardens Rainforest Adventure. Our timing was great: a loaded bus was leaving as we arrived, so we had our own private golf cart and guide taking us up hundreds of feet to the observation deck. We were intrigued by flowers growing in upside down trees and huge plants in hanging baskets. It was very beautiful, and we were (very pleasantly) surprised not to be bothered by mosquitoes.

 

The second naturalist talk, “Bears, Bears, Bears,” was scheduled at sail away, and we were part of the select few who attended. Another informative talk.

 

We dined in Bordeaux. We were not disappointed. Our friend enjoyed lobster and prawns. DW and I opted for Beef Wellington, which was very good. It was formal night, so here come the hornets! I wore navy dress pants and a light blue silk sport coat over a solid golf shirt (collared but not button-front, and no tie) and fell well within the range of male couture. We saw some men in tuxedos going to the fixed seatings in Provence or getting their formal portraits, but did not notice any in our Anytime Dining venue. The range we saw went from suits to golf shirts without any jacket. No jeans, shorts or bathing suits. The range for women was similar.

 

DW and friend popped in for the end of the show “Motor City” (Motown hits), which they said was just ok. There was a lovely sunset [which meant we were getting far enough South that the sun was actually setting].

 

Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

 

Russian Orthodox Church

 

Glacier Gardens “Upside-Down Trees”

 

View from Glacier Gardens

Do you happen to recall the addresses to the churches? Where they within walking distance? Thank you and thanks again for the great report!

[sue402001]

I thouroughly enjoyed your review, thanks for posting it!

[Host Jazzbeau]

Do you happen to recall the addresses to the churches? Where they within walking distance? Thank you and thanks again for the great report!

 

The Cathedral is 416 Fifth Street. The Russian church is on the next block of Fifth.

 

In theory, you can walk from the ship*, but the churches are uphill from the port so it's longer than it looks on the map. We took a cab.

 

* As Yogi said, "In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they're different."

 

[sept10dsm]

 

The Cathedral is 416 Fifth Street. The Russian church is on the next block of Fifth.

 

In theory, you can walk from the ship*, but the churches are uphill from the port so it's longer than it looks on the map. We took a cab.

 

* As Yogi said, "In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they're different."

 

Thank you. I grew up Roman Catholic and learned religon prior Vatican 2. Funny now many of the litergy is reverting back to the original change to English! I pulled out my old prayer book. I just was introduced to the Russian Orthodox religon via a funeral and meeting someone celebrating Easter in May this yr. I just looked into the Orthodox religon and it seems it is more similar to the Catholic religon I learned as a child. Anyway, just mentioning since both churches were pictured and it reminded me of my findings. Thanks again and really nice pictures as well as story!

[mcmarya]

What camera did you use? Your pictures are excellent.

[shofer]

Excellent pictures. I am back on 5/27 from the Island so it was nice memories seeing them. We were on the Coral for the RT Canal and loved it.

 

Sue

[Host Jazzbeau]

What camera did you use? Your pictures are excellent.

 

Thanks.

 

I have a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ40. It looks like a baby SLR, but the lens is fixed and the camera is very light for its size. The lens is a monster: a Leica 25-600mm superzoom with image stabilization. Maximum f/stop ranges from 2.8 at wide angle to 5.6 at full tele, but there was plenty of light in Alaska.

 

The current version is the -FZ200, which has a better sensor, better image stabilization, and the lens is now f/2.8 throughout the range. It also does better video [which I don't use]. IMHO this is the best all-around camera on the market: works for indoor portraits with built-in flash, for outdoor scenery with superzoom, and for sports with fast lens. The pictures won't scale to 16x20 prints, but as you saw the quality for display on a screen is totally fine [and you didn't see the full-quality version of these pictures, since they were loaded through flckr...]

[erewhon]

What a fantastic review.

Thank you.

[winste]

Fantastic review. Thank you so much. Have a southbound on Island Princess reserved for next summer. This has given me a ton of great info.

[murphy4]

Thanks for that great review. we will be on the Coral June 21 2014. can you please tell me what the attire was like for the dining rooms? are Jeans ok?