A Suite Coral Princess Cruise Review—12/23-1/3

[taxatty]

This was our third cruise on our favorite Princess ship. For the first time ever, as DW was reaching a milestone birthday, as a surprise (which actually worked out) I booked a suite instead of the usual mini-suite (when DW saw “Suite” on her cruise card before boarding, luckily, she thought that also applied to minis).

 

I had originally booked a mini-suite for this cruise over a year ago, as no full suites were then available. I then periodically checked and then a few months ago put our names on the “official” waiting list. Thanks to CC, I didn’t rely upon that to get a shot at a suite. Finally, late in the evening two days before the final payment date one showed up on the Princess web site, so I immediately called Princess and booked it, and had Princess allow our TA to take over the new booking and cancel the old one. My guess is that if I wasn’t proactive, or possibly even just waited until the next morning and ask our TA to take care of it, we wouldn’t have gotten the suite. Luckily, at that moment Princess happened to be running a sale, so the suite cost went down a bit, included pre-paid gratuities and some OBC. Coupled with the free bottle of wine and more OBC from the TA, cashing in FCCs, a Carnival shareholder credit, and the 500 free Internet minutes given me and DW as Platinum, our onboard expenses on the ship weren’t huge.

 

Some random notes:

 

1. For us, for a relatively long (11 day) cruise like this, the suite was worth the extra 50% or so cost over the mini-suite. We loved the suite/Elite amenities (more below), none of which we had enjoyed before as I do not become Elite until our next cruise. All of the Coral suites are identical except for location and face the port or starboard sides. The stateroom is quite nice with a large sofabed/couch sitting room area with the mini-bar and mini-fridge. The bedroom area is separated by curtains. The closet is a little bigger than a mini’s, but there is a veritable ton of drawer space all over—far more than we needed. The real star of the show is the giant marble bathroom (3 doors!), the separate shower and huge Jacuzzi tub and the separate sink/toilet area. It was nice to have several crew members from the hotel/dining staff stop by or call our room for personal introductions (not the Captain J) .

2. We took advantage of the following amenities—

· breakfast in Sabatini’s a few times (a nice and peaceful alternative venue, except for the one morning it took over 30 minutes to get our eggs with no one else there),

· use of the Thermal Suite in the spa (otherwise $129/PP for the cruise—a very nice perk we had never done before but would now consider booking separately in the future),

· the mini-bar set up (traded most of it for more vodka and Diet Coke),

· the extra bathroom goodies (loved the bath salts in the tub),

· free laundry (used it twice, took 2 days and then 3 days),

· the DVDs on loan (5 sea days) ,

· full dining room menu room service (several times for breakfast, including on disembarkation this morning) and twice for dinner—very prompt service and properly served hot/cold food),

· delivered canapés plate and afternoon tea,

· welcome/formal night chocolates,

· special PSD line, and

our massive balcony, partly shaded.

3. We did the Chef’s Table (our second time). Neville, the Maître D (who was charming and personable the entire cruise) mentioned that 60 had signed up for the one table for 12 (only offered once). I don’t know if being in a suite helped (we were also the first to be put on the list per the DINE staff member I spoke with) but it didn’t hurt. The Head Chef (Klaus)and Neville put on quite a show in the galley beforehand and the dinner (much of which was cooked or finished off tableside, served with three wines) was excellent and well worth the extra $95/PP.

4. Our meal at the Bayou Café (where we had been several times on prior cruises) was good, but don’t expect it to be like a high-end mainland steakhouse. The only “great” there was the newly added Norman Love chocolate/peanut butter bar dessert. Sabatini’s, where we haven’t been for several years, was to us much better, with a delicious breaded veal chop special.

5. We also ate at Sabatini’s a couple of times at lunch for the quite good Alfredo’s pizza. Note--our first time there early in the cruise it was empty, and later in the cruise it was full with a wait to get in.

6. Other MDR food ranged from very good to fair—really good lemon sole and surf and turf, tasteless overcooked sliced lamb, mussels with quite a few shells broken, the usual delicious fettuccini alfredo.

7. No ESPN on this cruise—BOO--just a fireplace video loop (seriously). For serious foot ball fans like me that sucked. THE CD reported that these were the only games Princess was licensed to show. My other holiday cruises on Princess had full-time ESPN with all of the bowl games, so I don’t understand this. The only games shown on this cruise were the two NFL Sunday games and the Jan. 1 college playoff games, and three of those had to be seen on the poor Movies Under the Stars screen on Lido Deck which has many bad pixels that were distracting—this screen really needs to be replaced ASAP.

8. On board entertainment was generally good. On the Bayou was excellent and the best show we’ve seen on Princess. We skipped the New Year’s Eve celebration because it was moved inside due to high winds, and we lost interest thereafter.

9. Our balcony furniture was in serious need of refinishing, as was much of the wood furniture on the Promenade Deck.

10. We very rarely use cruise line shore excursions, but we did here due to the nature of the ports (no choice on the Panama Canal). In Aruba, we spent the day with local friends, and just walked around Bay Street in Nassau, where we’ve been many times, just to get off the ship for a couple of hours..

The Princess excursion in Cartagena covered the main sites—a visit to and inside the fortress, the Old City, a cute short folkloric show, and two schlocky shopping stops (not our style), but each busload of 40 or so went around separately instead of a massive cattle drive, and the guide was quite good. If someone didn’t want to walk in or up to something, they waited for the others rather than holding everyone back.

We did the Panama Canal full transit by ferry trip. You are tendered to a dock to catch a bus for an hour or so to Gamboa (over a scary bridge), which then takes you to the ferry with your guide providing commentary the whole time. Additional thanks to CC (especially Pam in CA) for suggesting that you do your best to be one of the first on the tender (top deck gets off first) and then on this bus. Although there is plenty of seating on the ferry, as confirmed by our excellent guide (who also did most of the commentary on the ship) the choicest seats for viewing and taking photos are near the front, port side in the shade (unless you want to resemble a cooked lobster, like some did), and our first busload grabbed many of them. The lunch severed on the ship, and the lunch was OK (best were the chicken skewers) with plenty of free water and fruit-flavored beverages to drink. You could also buy local beer at a reasonable $2/bottle but they ran out about halfway through. It will be HOT (even for us, and we’re from Miami), so plan accordingly.

We greatly enjoyed this full transit—there is a lot to see. There is a long bus ride back to Colon at the end but most slept through it. Princess warns you that this excursion could take up to nine hours due to delays in waiting for enough small ships to pass through the locks in tandem, but for us it was about 7½ hours in total. At the end of this excursion, you are let off at the dock in Colon with some tacky souvenir shops (“tacky” is probably redundant when used with “souvenir”) ,a duty-free electronics store, some locals selling their products and a useful large supermarket/pharmacy, all of which accept USDs.

In Limon, we took the Rainforest/Nature Walk tour. A long bus ride there and back, but again with good running commentary from our guide (Eddy, who was one of the best guides we’ve had on our travels). If you want to learn everything there is to know about Costa Rican bananas and the hazard of growing them, such as fer de lance snakes, he’s your man. The nature walk was interesting, as was the gondola ride through the rain forest. We saw a lot of different plants and trees but not much fauna, possibly because it rained almost the entire time we were there, sometimes as a downpour—bring a raincoat. This tour comes with a lunch buffet that was fair in quality—lots of food (chicken rice and beans, pasts salad, fruit, etc. with not much flavor without adding the local hot sauce.

As a bottom-line, these shore excursions were not cheap but exceeded our expectations and I doubt if we would have seen more with a private tour except possibly in Cartagena if we had told the guide that we didn’t want shopping stops.

11. Lexi, the Assistant CD, led 5 Zumba classes that DW says were excellent.

12. Disembarking today was easy—for the first time in a long time, we let Princess take our luggage overnight. We finished breakfast in the stateroom about 7:45 and were off the ship in a taxi by 8:15.

 

All in all—a great cruise and we loved the suite. We would consider booking another one, but only on a relatively long cruise where we could really benefit from the perks.

 

Happy New Year to everyone at CC!

Les

Edited January 3, 2015 by taxatty

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the review, can you supply officer names in the patter the first day?

[taxatty]

Thanks for the review, can you supply officer names in the patter the first day?

 

Captain-Karl Austin

Staff Captain-Kevin Grant

Chief Engineer--Antonio Distefano

Hotel GM-Timothy Ellis

CD-Susan Rawlings

Sr. Dr.-Nikolas Hoffman

Customer Services Dir.-Cara Winter

Food & Bev. Dir.-Max Bigagli

Staff Eng. Off.- Antonio De Felice

Staff E.T. Off.-Salvatore Esposito

Environmental Off.-Duncan MacGregor

Exec. Housekeeper-Manuel Radamento

Exec. Chef-Klaus Baumgarten

Maitre d' Hotel-Neville Saldaha

[Colo Cruiser]

Captain-Karl Austin

Staff Captain-Kevin Grant

Chief Engineer--Antonio Distefano

Hotel GM-Timothy Ellis

CD-Susan Rawlings

Sr. Dr.-Nikolas Hoffman

Customer Services Dir.-Cara Winter

Food & Bev. Dir.-Max Bigagli

Staff Eng. Off.- Antonio De Felice

Staff E.T. Off.-Salvatore Esposito

Environmental Off.-Duncan MacGregor

Exec. Housekeeper-Manuel Radamento

Exec. Chef-Klaus Baumgarten

Maitre d' Hotel-Neville Saldaha

 

 

Thanks!! Perfect. ;)

[CRLess]

Great review! We are looking at this cruise for March, but pricing is not very favorable at this point.

 

I was down there this morning to pick up Neville and spend the morning with him. We had a nice lunch at Southport Raw Bar and saw several crew from the Coral as well as Ruby there.

[Colo Cruiser]

Great review! We are looking at this cruise for March, but pricing is not very favorable at this point.

 

I was down there this morning to pick up Neville and spend the morning with him. We had a nice lunch at Southport Raw Bar and saw several crew from the Coral as well as Ruby there.

 

 

Chris you know I would be in trouble if I lived that close. :D

[Grammyluvs]

Enjoyed your review. We are boarding her on 2/5th. We are doing the ferry ride also in Panama and was happy to read you enjoyed it. Hope we get a shady seat. LOL

[CRLess]

Chris you know I would be in trouble if I lived that close. :D

 

Keith....when I ultimately retire, its going to be scary. Just sayin...:eek:

[cheeks78734]

Can you tell me in Limon how far any restaurants are from the port? Doing a half day excursion with Princess and was hoping to find some local cuisine afterwards.

[Love.II.Cruise]

Thanks for the review!

[islandatsea]

Thanks for the review. Will be on the Coral Princess in 3 weeks :).

[TracieABD]

Thank you for the lovely, upbeat review. I love the suite perks, and am a little sad that we will not have the opportunity to enjoy them on our upcoming cruise.

[taxatty]

Can you tell me in Limon how far any restaurants are from the port? Doing a half day excursion with Princess and was hoping to find some local cuisine afterwards.

All we saw near the ship was a small flea market that had some interesting art, crafts and coffee for sale, but I didn't see any prepared food. The surrounding area is not very attractive.

 

Les

[taxatty]

I forgot to mention Nassau. We've been there many times. Our MDR waiter said don't stay there after dark--too dangerous. When we docked there, the Captain reported that the US Embassy had warned of crime problems. Not too comforting. Bottom-line, if you go on an organized shore excursion or to the Atlantis resort, or stay in the Bay St. area near the ship, you should be OK. We also suggest the Athena Café on Bay St. with great Greek food.

 

We also saw one of the very few Starbucks on the planet that was closed--it was almost like Candid Camera, watching from our lunch balcony, seeing at least 100 people wanting Starbucks coffee turned away and bewildered.

[Woobstr112G]

OP;

 

Thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts.....:):):)

 

Bob

[shsce750]

We were in Suite C704 on the Coral in November. I feel slighted...none of the crew called or stopped by to introduce themselves other than our cabin steward. Seriously though, we also enjoyed the suite amenities.

 

One note on the laundry service... There is the option at the top of the form to select same day service. As long as your cabin steward has your laundry by 9 am it will be back by about 5 pm and there's no charge for the faster service. I neglected to check that box once when I sent out the laundry and it took 2 days. I complained to Princess that since same-day and 2-day service are both available to suite passengers with no charge the default should automatically be same-day service.

[vinoblanco]

We were onboard too, in a mini suite on Caribe Aft. For me personally, there were too many sea days, being 5 , plus we only had half a day in Cartagena and half in Nassau. We were warned by the Captain to beware of criminals in Nassau.

 

Likewise, we did the full Panama transit by ferry. Unfortunately we were in one of the last coaches and there were no seats left in the shade. The tender staff were not amused by the mad rush for the first tenders, as we all heard.

 

I wouldn't do a transit by ferry again, but would definitely do a full cruise ship transit.

 

In Cartagena we took a white taxi to the Papal hill and he waited for us while we went inside. We went early and it was quiet. He then dropped us in the Old City and again waited then took us back to the ship via the Castle where we had a quick photo stop and we had agreed $40 which we thought was reasonable. Be careful of the yellow taxis we heard from others that they argue the price and have no working seat belts. We were offered hats and beads etc everywhere we went but found the vendors polite.

 

 

Would love to go back to Costa Rica, loved the rainforest in spite of the rain!

[hollon]

We were in Suite C704 on the Coral in November. I feel slighted...none of the crew called or stopped by to introduce themselves other than our cabin steward. Seriously though, we also enjoyed the suite amenities.

 

One note on the laundry service... There is the option at the top of the form to select same day service. As long as your cabin steward has your laundry by 9 am it will be back by about 5 pm and there's no charge for the faster service. I neglected to check that box once when I sent out the laundry and it took 2 days. I complained to Princess that since same-day and 2-day service are both available to suite passengers with no charge the default should automatically be same-day service.

 

Did you like cabin C704, that's the one I'm thinking of booking, is it covered? After booking this cabin, do you feel you made the right choice or next time would you save money and book a minisuite - sorry, just trying to figure out quickly what I want to do and get it set in stone :)

[sunsetbeachgal]

Thanks for your review! We are on the Coral at the end of January, after she comes out of her two week sprucing up. Other than adding the new Share restaurant I have no idea what they are doing, hopefully the new Princess beds!

[shsce750]

Did you like cabin C704, that's the one I'm thinking of booking, is it covered? After booking this cabin, do you feel you made the right choice or next time would you save money and book a minisuite - sorry, just trying to figure out quickly what I want to do and get it set in stone :)

 

Yes we liked C704. And yes we would do it again and, in fact, did. 7 months later we were back on the Coral in June for Alaska in suite D631. The balcony on C704 is not fully covered. The suites below on Dolphin deck are fully covered though. Otherwise they are identical.

 

We enjoy the suite amenities and are booked in a suite again on a Baltic cruise in May on the Regal.

[vino100]

Thanks for your review. We will be on the Coral partial Panama in April and appreciate all the info . did you hear of any comments about the Embera excursion in the canal? Also ,did you think your balcony could hold 8 for the ultimate balcony dinner?

[I object 2]

Yes we liked C704. And yes we would do it again and, in fact, did. 7 months later we were back on the Coral in June for Alaska in suite D631. The balcony on C704 is not fully covered. The suites below on Dolphin deck are fully covered though. Otherwise they are identical.

 

We enjoy the suite amenities and are booked in a suite again on a Baltic cruise in May on the Regal.

 

Glad you hear you enjoyed D704. We booked D701 for our upcoming Panama Canal partial transit. This will be our first time on the Coral. Is the deck furniture teak or do the suites have canvas-type chairs and metal table?

[vino100]

We were onboard too, in a mini suite on Caribe Aft. For me personally, there were too many sea days, being 5 , plus we only had half a day in Cartagena and half in Nassau. We were warned by the Captain to beware of criminals in Nassau.

 

Likewise, we did the full Panama transit by ferry. Unfortunately we were in one of the last coaches and there were no seats left in the shade. The tender staff were not amused by the mad rush for the first tenders, as we all heard.

 

I wouldn't do a transit by ferry again, but would definitely do a full cruise ship transit.

 

In Cartagena we took a white taxi to the Papal hill and he waited for us while we went inside. We went early and it was quiet. He then dropped us in the Old City and again waited then took us back to the ship via the Castle where we had a quick photo stop and we had agreed $40 which we thought was reasonable. Be careful of the yellow taxis we heard from others that they argue the price and have no working seat belts. We were offered hats and beads etc everywhere we went but found the vendors polite.

 

 

Would love to go back to Costa Rica, loved the rainforest in spite of the rain!

What tour did you do in Costa Rica ? We are still trying to pick the perfect one !

[shsce750]

Thanks for your review. We will be on the Coral partial Panama in April and appreciate all the info . did you hear of any comments about the Embera excursion in the canal? Also ,did you think your balcony could hold 8 for the ultimate balcony dinner?

 

I think you will have plenty of room for that on the balcony, but they will need to bring in some more tables and chairs from somewhere.

 

Didn't hear any comments about that excursion.

[shsce750]

Glad you hear you enjoyed D704. We booked D701 for our upcoming Panama Canal partial transit. This will be our first time on the Coral. Is the deck furniture teak or do the suites have canvas-type chairs and metal table?

 

The deck furniture for the suites is teak.