1st time Princess LAX-Vancouver. Hints or tips?

[dfwguy]

Upcoming trip, First time on Princess -Los Angeles-Vancouver (Coral Princess). Second cruise ever (Queen Mary 2 Southampton-NYC). We are looking forward to the tranquility that only happens when the pressure of port excursions are removed. Any tips from past cruisers re. Coral princess? How is the spa? Day pass worth it? Is the specialty dining worth the up charge? Being so close to the US mainland, any chance internet speeds are better? Any favorite spots to hang out and enjoy a coffee and solitude? As this is a repositioning cruise is it crowded/sparse? We are doing the inside cabin, as we discovered on QM2 we spent majority of our time on the outside decks.

I am a pipe smoker- is pipe smoking allowed in designated smoking area? Thinking about bringing a couple of really , really nice bottle of wine (know about cork fee , that's ok) Is there a soda package available ? Any other tips or hints from you nice folks? Thanks to all for reading this.

Edited July 3, 2014 by dfwguy

[capriccio]

Upcoming trip, First time on Princess -Los Angeles-Vancouver (Coral Princess). Second cruise ever (Queen Mary 2 Southampton-NYC). We are looking forward to the tranquility that only happens when the pressure of port excursions are removed. Any tips from past cruisers re. the Coral princess? How is the spa? Day pass worth it? Is the specialty dining worth the up charge? Being so close to the US mainland, any chance internet speeds are better? Any favorite spots to hang out and enjoy a coffee and solitude? As this is a repositioning cruise is it crowded/sparse? We are doing the inside cabin, as we discovered on QM2 we spent majority of our time on the outside decks. I am a pipe smoker- is pipe smoking allowed in designated smoking area? Thinking about bringing a couple of really , really nice bottle of wine (know about cork fee , that's ok) Is there a soda package available ? Any other tips or hints from you nice folks? Thanks to all for reading this.

 

We love the Coral Princess - we've taken 2 Alaska cruises on her - and we loved the LA to Vancouver repositioning cruise which we took 2 years ago on the Sapphire Princess.

 

What are your ports? We had lots of excursions on our trip (Santa Barbara whale watching, San Francisco wine country, Astoria Mt. St. Helens, Seattle wine country, and Victoria Butchart Gardens). Loved them all!

 

We like the Bayou Cafe (specialty restaurant on the Coral) -- in addition to great food and service, they have live music in the evening. We also like the covered adult pool. One thing not to miss: go see "On the Bayou" in the Universe Lounge. It was written especially for the revolving stages on the Coral and Island and all the singers, dancers and house orchestra have a part. It is the best production show we've ever seen on Princess.

 

Have a wonderful cruise!

[ggprincess2004]

Hi,

 

Coral Princess is a wonderful ship, but we haven't sailed her in a little while.

 

The cruise up the coast is a bit rough - you are fighting the Alaska current or Humboldt current - whatever you want to call it. It can also be a bit cool. But it is a great way to relax.

 

My favorite spot on the Coral is all the way up on the top deck, about midship, there is a round splash pool, and if it is warm and sunny, I love to sit in it and enjoy the motion of the ship. It causes the water to circle in the pool.

 

The specialty dining includes Sabatini's and the Bayou Café. I am not a fan of the Bayou Café, but do enjoy Sabatini's. You might want to look at both menus and see what appeals to you personally. They may also have some featured meals, and you may wish to inquire about the Chef's Table. Do that ASAP when you board if you are interested in participating.

 

Yes there is a soda package. It covers fountain sodas but not cans of soda I have been told. (We don't drink soda with the exception of about one Stewart's root beer a year.) I think you can find the price on the Princess website.

 

Princess ships tend to sail full, so don't expect a sparse ship, however the Coral and Island have the best deck/passenger ratio in the fleet.

 

Spa - do you mean the Sanctuary? I love the Sanctuary on a sea day intensive cruise, but the weather might not always cooperate on this one. That would be my only hesitation in getting a cruise long package.

 

Internet speed - sorry, wish you were correct. Shared satellite band width, it is S L O W. Just part of being at sea, at least that is what we accept.

 

Cannot be of any help concerning pipe smoking other than I know it will be permitted in the cigar lounge.

 

Wishing you a bon voyage!!!

[Thrak]

Upcoming trip, First time on Princess -Los Angeles-Vancouver (Coral Princess). Second cruise ever (Queen Mary 2 Southampton-NYC). We are looking forward to the tranquility that only happens when the pressure of port excursions are removed. Any tips from past cruisers re. Coral princess? How is the spa? Day pass worth it? Is the specialty dining worth the up charge? Being so close to the US mainland, any chance internet speeds are better? Any favorite spots to hang out and enjoy a coffee and solitude? As this is a repositioning cruise is it crowded/sparse? We are doing the inside cabin, as we discovered on QM2 we spent majority of our time on the outside decks.

I am a pipe smoker- is pipe smoking allowed in designated smoking area? Thinking about bringing a couple of really , really nice bottle of wine (know about cork fee , that's ok) Is there a soda package available ? Any other tips or hints from you nice folks? Thanks to all for reading this.

 

There is a regular soda package (soda from "the gun" only - no cans) and an Ultimate Soda and More package that includes extras such as mocktails. You can get a variety of cocktails made without the alcohol. They are actually quite tasty. Please note that you can take as much canned soda as you like onboard at no cost so you have the soda you prefer. The selection onboard doesn't include quite a few things...

 

We sailed from SF to Vancouver in May and had no issues at all with the weather or rough seas.

 

On closed loop sailings Princess will sell you duty-free liquor and you get it in your cabin the night before you disembark. On the SF - Vancouver sailing (which is obviously not a closed loop) they did it very different. They refused to sell bottled alcohol at all until the day before we reached our final port. Then they sold you as much as you wanted and you took it with you immediately. Of course Canada has some restrictions on how much you can take into the country but many of the Canadian cruisers seemed to ignore that and stocked up onboard. When we reached Vancouver we found out why. Liquor in Canada is roughly twice the cost as it is in the USA.

 

Tobacco was very expensive too. Cigarettes were around $10 - $13 a pack. Good thing I gave that up over 25 years ago! You said you smoke a pipe so make sure you have enough tobacco for your trip or you may get an unpleasant surprise once you hit Vancouver. Please note that Princess is very strict about enforcement of their smoking policy.

[Colo Cruiser]

You will love the Coral Princess, we have sailed her a few times.

Great ship and great pass count at 1900.

Yes do bring your wine. :)

[cdngrl]

the fastest wifi I ever had was on the coral.

I am not techie enough to know whether it was the ship itself or the location (panama canal). :o

[rdsqrl]

the fastest wifi I ever had was on the coral.

I am not techie enough to know whether it was the ship itself or the location (panama canal). :o

And the worst I ever had was on the Coral on the Panama Canal cruise! So, who knows. Sunspots, I guess . . .

Best was on the Pacific trans-Atlantic in December -- it was virtually indistinguishable from the speed of the internet at home.

[Thrak]

You will love the Coral Princess, we have sailed her a few times.

Great ship and great pass count at 1900.

Yes do bring your wine. :)

 

I really love hearing this. We booked a 17 day Panama Canal cruise out of SF for late next year. We've never sailed on the Coral and it's great to hear people say how much they like the ship.

[cdngrl]

And the worst I ever had was on the Coral on the Panama Canal cruise! So, who knows. Sunspots, I guess . . .

Best was on the Pacific trans-Atlantic in December -- it was virtually indistinguishable from the speed of the internet at home.

 

haha, too funny.

 

oh, and I forgot, 'on the bayou' gets my vote for a wonderful production show as well. as a theatre rat, the stage itself captivated me.

[Thrak]

And the worst I ever had was on the Coral on the Panama Canal cruise! So, who knows. Sunspots, I guess . . .

Best was on the Pacific trans-Atlantic in December -- it was virtually indistinguishable from the speed of the internet at home.

 

Wow! After all the zillions of posts about slow Internet speeds on board I have to wonder what sort of service you have at home!

 

Standard DSL is "up to" 5 Mbps and usually delivers far less. I have cable and spec out during tests at 50 Mbps and wish it was faster! (For a couple of weeks I was getting over 100 Mbps but they "fixed" it.) My first online connection was at 300 bps but I quickly fixed that and got it up to 1200 bps. Ahhhh... the days of dialup and BBS connections. :rolleyes:

[rdsqrl]

Wow! After all the zillions of posts about slow Internet speeds on board I have to wonder what sort of service you have at home!

 

Standard DSL is "up to" 5 Mbps and usually delivers far less. I have cable and spec out during tests at 50 Mbps and wish it was faster! (For a couple of weeks I was getting over 100 Mbps but they "fixed" it.) My first online connection was at 300 bps but I quickly fixed that and got it up to 1200 bps. Ahhhh... the days of dialup and BBS connections. :rolleyes:

Honestly, your second paragraph is just white noise to me; I have no idea what any of that means. But really, the internet aboard the Pacific was very quick. How else do you think I was able to write such long posts on my Live, plus order and download Kindle books, and even read The Washington Post (a notoriously slow-loading website, even on the university's internet) once or twice?

[cdngrl]

thrak and rdsqrl, I read it and my head heard 'blah blah cable, blah blah online'.

I noticed no difference between home and the ship on that cruise also.

I have no idea how fast my internet is...it does what I need it to without any delay.

[cr8tiv1]

Just did the repo this past May. Very smooth sailing all the way (LA/Vancouver, Vancouver/Whittier, Whittier/Vancouver/18 days). Ship was sailing with 500 less passengers on the repo.

 

Favorite inside cabin (on all ships) is the Plaza Deck (5). Near everything and no noise.

 

Free walking tours in Vancouver (Google Tour Guys Vancouver).

 

Sky Train to airport or there is a shuttle within Canada Place parking structure door $14/online reservation.

 

"On the Bayou" is definitely the best production show Princess performs. Get there early or go to the late show.

 

Afternoon tea and scones. They might have a pub day for fish and chips.

 

After viewing decks are the best place to hang out, although the Promenade Deck still has real lounge chairs!

 

For anyone interested in a balcony cabin, loved C309. Out of the wind tunnel and a curved glass balcony.

[Colo Cruiser]

Upcoming trip, First time on Princess -Los Angeles-Vancouver (Coral Princess). Second cruise ever (Queen Mary 2 Southampton-NYC). We are looking forward to the tranquility that only happens when the pressure of port excursions are removed. Any tips from past cruisers re. Coral princess? How is the spa? Day pass worth it? Is the specialty dining worth the up charge? Being so close to the US mainland, any chance internet speeds are better? Any favorite spots to hang out and enjoy a coffee and solitude? As this is a repositioning cruise is it crowded/sparse? We are doing the inside cabin, as we discovered on QM2 we spent majority of our time on the outside decks.

I am a pipe smoker- is pipe smoking allowed in designated smoking area? Thinking about bringing a couple of really , really nice bottle of wine (know about cork fee , that's ok) Is there a soda package available ? Any other tips or hints from you nice folks? Thanks to all for reading this.

 

 

Here is a great site related to the Coral/Island....

 

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

[Thrak]

Just did the repo this past May. Very smooth sailing all the way (LA/Vancouver, Vancouver/Whittier, Whittier/Vancouver/18 days). Ship was sailing with 500 less passengers on the repo.

 

Favorite inside cabin (on all ships) is the Plaza Deck (5). Near everything and no noise.

 

Free walking tours in Vancouver (Google Tour Guys Vancouver).

 

Sky Train to airport or there is a shuttle within Canada Place parking structure door $14/online reservation.

 

"On the Bayou" is definitely the best production show Princess performs. Get there early or go to the late show.

 

Afternoon tea and scones. They might have a pub day for fish and chips.

 

After viewing decks are the best place to hang out, although the Promenade Deck still has real lounge chairs!

 

For anyone interested in a balcony cabin, loved C309. Out of the wind tunnel and a curved glass balcony.

 

Wow. Sounds like a great cruise. I know that envy is supposed to be bad but I would have really loved to be on this cruise. Congratulations on what sounds like a really excellent trip.

 

We went to Vancouver in May and I wish I had known about the "Tour Guys Vancouver" thing. I'll definitely be looking that up (most likely immediately). I love CC for exactly this sort of info.

 

Edit: Just googled it and added it to my Vancouver folder of bookmarks as I think (at least I hope) I will be back in

Vancouver one of these days. I don't think it will be next year but the year after that (2016 - it sounds do far off!) I am pretty sure we will be doing an Alaska cruise tour trip. I've been told that, if I cruise out of Vancouver, I "may" be able to cruise to Anchorage, do a land tour, and then cruise from Anchorage back to Vancouver. It sounds kind of spendy for a state employee but it really does sound ideal. At the worst we WILL manage a trip to Alaska, a land tour, and a cruise back. Cruising both ways though... Wow. That sounds great. If I can get in some walking tours in Vancouver as well... Icing on the cake.

 

(I get to retire at the end of 2016 and I'm hoping to be able to take advantage of some of the last minute fare deals that seem to come up. One can always dream...) :)

Edited July 4, 2014 by Thrak

[cr8tiv1]

Wow. Sounds like a great cruise. I know that envy is supposed to be bad but I would have really loved to be on this cruise. Congratulations on what sounds like a really excellent trip.

 

We went to Vancouver in May and I wish I had known about the "Tour Guys Vancouver" thing. I'll definitely be looking that up (most likely immediately). I love CC for exactly this sort of info.

 

Edit: Just googled it and added it to my Vancouver folder of bookmarks as I think (at least I hope) I will be back in

Vancouver one of these days. I don't think it will be next year but the year after that (2016 - it sounds do far off!) I am pretty sure we will be doing an Alaska cruise tour trip. I've been told that, if I cruise out of Vancouver, I "may" be able to cruise to Anchorage, do a land tour, and then cruise from Anchorage back to Vancouver. It sounds kind of spendy for a state employee but it really does sound ideal. At the worst we WILL manage a trip to Alaska, a land tour, and a cruise back. Cruising both ways though... Wow. That sounds great. If I can get in some walking tours in Vancouver as well... Icing on the cake.

 

(I get to retire at the end of 2016 and I'm hoping to be able to take advantage of some of the last minute fare deals that seem to come up. One can always dream...) :)

 

Did I mention "free" walking tours? I've done all four. Keep in mind that if you do a north bound, a land tour, and a south bound, you will not be on the same ship on your return.

 

I've been to Alaska before and so the ports were not as important as the scenery and just cruising. Got to see "On the Bayou" three times, each of the ports twice, plus had the best dining room experience so far. Weather was fantastic every day. How can anyone complain about cruising Glacier Bay in the 60's and sunny?

 

Welcome to Retirement when it finally arrives. You will wonder how you every worked and got everything else done.