Coral Princess Repositioning -random thoughts

[dfwguy]

Coral Princess- San Pedro, CA - Vancouver BC May 2015.

somewhat lengthy, hope it is useful .

 

Caveat, this was our second sea voyage. The first was a transatlantic crossing on the Queen Mary 2 in 2012. I recognize Cunard and Princess are two very separate entities with different business models. So comparison, contrasts and criticism are for illustrative purposes.

 

Boarding San Pedro, the norovirus special measures (deep cleaning of ship) delayed boarding by 4 hours. Norovirus is a hazard among all cruise lines.

I do not blame Princess, but practically speaking, we lost a half day aboard ship, familiarizing ourselves with the key locations. It was a loss from which we never fully recovered. Nevertheless, I appreciate the special measure taken to keep all healthy.

 

So, in no particular order, random thoughts below.

 

Cabin: A partially obstructed balcony- Dolphin deck. Room was nice, plenty of storage. Steward introduced himself promptly. Ice in room. If you want bathrobe, you must request.

 

No stationery in the rooms. We looked forward to writing postcards / letters from the ship. Perhaps these were available in other parts of the ship ?

 

Horizons Court (buffet, all day service): Food is subjective. Some will love it, some will hate it,etc. We found an array of hot and cold items always available. Comparable to a mid range Las Vegas hotel buffet, but there were always choices from other cuisines - especially south Asian. Seating was often hard to find. Hint: send a member of your party to secure an open table while other(s) obtain food.

 

Bourdeaux / Provence Rooms (Fixed sitting): We opted for the late sitting with a table for 2. Caution: on days when the early seating (5:15) is too soon to accommodate on score excursions and other activities, they will dispense with fixed seating. This means you probably NOT get your usual server and / or you will be seated with other passengers. For this situation, Princess should be faulted. There are several alternatives to consider: a) adjust seating times to something more continental - say, 7:00 and 8:45; b) only have two-tops in the dining rooms and pulling together for larger parties; c) at the very least, informing those of us who choose fixed seating WHEN WE MAKE THE CHOICE about those days when fixed seating will probably NOT be possible.

 

Lupita our fantastic server is a treasured asset to Princess.

Evening meals- again, food is subjective. No Michelin rating dining, but

meals were good with at least one or two items on each menu that were particularly memorable or creative. Desserts seem to be the weakest.

Breakfast- usual array. Usually opted for Horizon court as wait for dining room

Lunch- usually at dining room. Some days, I thought the luncheon menu was better than dinner menu.

I have photos of dining room menus and will post later.

 

Wine:- we brought 4 bottles on board, Cab, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Bordeaux blend. Checked in with luggage in standard cardboard box- Cabin steward brought the bottles to room on departure day. Hand carried bottle to dining room each evening, (noticed others doing same), our server issued the $15 charge slip. Half-empty bottles were stowed by wine steward for future use.

 

I have scanned the entire wine list from the ship and will post at future date.

 

Smoking: I smoke a pipe, but the Churchill Room (the Pipe and Cigar room) was unbearable as it was standing room only with cigarette smokers. Tiny little room with minimal ventilation system. I am not complaining about cigarette smokers, but wish Coral made a larger, more ventilated venue.

 

NOTE:Cigarette smoking is permitted in a designated area outside on deck 15-Starboard side. However, ash from cigar and pipe smoking is too much a fire hazard for that type of smoking to be permitted.

Hint,here is a very useful backdoor entrance to Horizon's Court down the stairs from this area. You will find this very help when trying to secure a table (see note above).

 

Staffing: Cunard seems to have more staff for tasks. Princess crew seemed truly overworked and minimally trained.

 

On QM2, smartly uniformed officers were ALWAYS walking about. Did not see any CP officer types in 5 days.

 

Sabatini and Bayou (the for-a-fee restaurants): Menu did not appear to change during voyage. We considered and opted out.

 

Bought the coffee card and soda card, both well worth it. Coffee card also works for real brewed coffee and does not count as a 'punch'. The main venue coffee is odd, was told a pre-made bagged liquid coffee concentrate is added to hot water and served.

 

Casino- $20 lasted 4 hours, not bad!

 

Coral had a better stocked convenience store than QM2

Coral did not have as many daytime lectures or events as QM2.

Bought the Grotto pass (4 days , $89) from the Lotus Spa. It was nice and would do it again, but the spa on QM2 is far better.

 

Movies Under the Stars (MUTS):- love the concept. Sadly, it was too choppy and windy to be much used.

 

Internet and cell phone: slow..but so is internet on all cruise lines. It is charged by the minute (not the megabyte) so be sure to log off -not just turn off your computer (Lesson learned: burned up 50% of our purchased time because we left the connection on when we put the tablet away.) Hint: Cellular At Sea was always active while at sea. We used intermittently because we were uncertain how it works with our cellular plan so next month's bill may be terrifying. Please check with your cell provider about how Cellular At Sea would be billed (domestic roaming, international roaming, satellite service, whatever) BEFORE embarkation. It is nice to know that cellular connectivity is available in case of emergencies.

 

 

Passengers- average age mid 50's and had cruised before.

 

Laundry- open 24 hours (QM2- open daytime only), swipe your card to purchase token (3.00) for washer & dryer. Soap and softeners available.

Not crowded. On QM2, laundry always crowded and fights erupt (really!)

 

This may annoy some, but I find comparing things to department stores helps clarify. QM2 (Britannia class) comparable to Nordstrom or -Neiman Marcus, Princess comparable to Macys or Bloomingdales.

 

Thanks to all the hard working guys and gals at Coral Princess who work ridiculously long and hard hours to for very minimal wages. If so moved, please try and slip extra $ to your server and steward. These folks send the money back to their families and it really helps.

[Colo Cruiser]

Great points, thanks for your comments. :)

As far as stationary, its supposed to be in the cabin folder/binder.

If not Stewart will supply more. I have never had an issue getting some if it was missing. ;)

As far as NORO, its everywhere, we just hear about it constantly on cruises because its documented so much. :(

 

I am glad Princess attempts to stay one step ahead.

[msmoger]

Thanks for your review.

 

Just one point, in general the menus in the specialty restaurants don't change from night to night. I've been to Sabatini's when they offered a special that evening but that's hasn't always been the case. I certainly don't have extensive experience on other lines but I'm guessing this rings true more often than not. It was certainly true on our one NCL cruise.

[ar1950]

Coral Princess- San Pedro, CA - Vancouver BC May 2015.

...............................

 

No stationery in the rooms. We looked forward to writing postcards / letters from the ship. Perhaps these were available in other parts of the ship ?

 

............................

 

Did you look in the ship information binder on your cabin desk? That is where we have always found that stuff hiding these days. :cool:

[caribill]

Thanks for your honest report.

[seamwoman]

We got off when you got on the Coral. There was stationary in the info book - maybe they removed it due to the Noro? Karen

[Working 2 Cruise]

Since you're comparing Cunard with Princess, did you notice the fare difference? I'm willing to bet that the fare for this cruise was considerably cheaper...

 

Princess is a mass market cruise line. Canard considers itself a high end luxury line. It's like comparing apples to oranges.

[dfwguy]

Hi Nina, surprisingly the price differential was very comparable ( less than $200) and QM2 was 6 nights versus 5 nights. I would say - all things considered, QM2 was a better value for the money- FYI, some transatlantic crossing 7 days go for $899 per person

[Working 2 Cruise]

Hi Nina, surprisingly the price differential was very comparable ( less than $200) and QM2 was 6 nights versus 5 nights. I would say - all things considered, QM2 was a better value for the money- FYI, some transatlantic crossing 7 days go for $899 per person

 

That's shocking! But it's one reason I don't like short cruises because they're not typically representative of the cruise line on longer cruises... then again, you got a real bargain on QM2!

Edited May 11, 2015 by Working 2 Cruise

[Lulubelle45]

We got off when you got on the Coral. There was stationary in the info book - maybe they removed it due to the Noro? Karen

 

May 2-6th on Coral it was in the binder