Thoughts on Coral Princess?

[ACoupleAtSea]

We are thinking about taking an Alaskan 7 day roundtrip out of Vancouver next May. Any feedback from recent Coral cruisers?????

[Coveguy4]

My favorite ship. Great viewing areas aft. It's been a couple of years for me, but the ship has not been redone like the Island(her former sister ship), which is a very good thing. Just came back from Alaska on May 15th, and had fantastic weather.

[Eagle_and_hawk]

We were on her in February. Our Favortite ship and scheduled again next year.

[elliair]

We did the Panama Canal on the Coral recently. I am so glad they didn't butcher the Coral like they did the Island. If they do go back into dry dock, I think they should move the Churchill Lounge (smokers lounge), to where the IC is now located which is next to the casino. And move the IC cafe to where the Churchill lounge is and include Vines. Where the Churchill Lounge is now located, the smoke drifts down into the atrium area or when you walk by the lounge. Other than that, I would cruise on the Coral again. Another plus, you can walk clear around the Promenade deck unlike the Island. The food was good - they occasionally have the seeded breadsticks on Lido (they call them pretzel sticks). They are soooo good!

[Thrak]

We did 17 days on Coral (September 21 - October 8) last year through the Panama Canal. GREAT ship. We would sail Coral again in a heartbeat. For Alaska it would be really great with the forward and aft viewing decks.

[scottbet]

We loved the Coral, Vancouver to Whittier last August. Great forward viewing areas, well-maintained and clean ship. The size of the ship felt easy to navigate. We loved the full promenade deck and our bump-out balcony. mid-forward. Highly recommend.

[cafelovercanada]

My favorite ship. Great viewing areas aft. It's been a couple of years for me, but the ship has not been redone like the Island(her former sister ship), which is a very good thing. Just came back from Alaska on May 15th, and had fantastic weather.

 

We are sailing on the Coral in June. Would you be able to share your Patters or tell us what your favourite shipboard activities were? Any feedback you could provide would be greatly appreciated by our group (family of 11 cruising together)

[mistyb]

Just sailed northbound Vancouver to Whittier two weeks ago. I absolutely loved this ship. By far the friendliest crew I have encountered on cruise ship. Had starboard aft mini suite. Great food, comfortable beds, activities offered through the day, great little shops. I don't t have one negative comment for this ship.

[eandj]

Posts from recent cruisers complain of lack of hot water on some floors. Hopefully it will be resolved for our August Alaskan. :o

[simigirl]

My husband I were on The Coral last week and had a great time! We had a mini suite which was great for viewing the glaciers when we wanted a break from being on deck. Staff and service was great. No issues for us!

[lmkucala]

If any of you that sailed Northbound this year to Alaska still have your Patters would you be willing to post them? I know there are a few of us on Cruise Critic hoping to get a peek at them!

[Lucky TGO]

We did the Panama Canal on the Coral Princess it's a very nice ship.

Tony

[seacruise9]

Hi,

 

I recently cruised aboard the Coral Princess from Los Angeles to Vancouver (May 10-14, 2016) and greatly enjoyed the ship. The ship is beautiful and very well designed and maintained. I highly recommend the On the Bayou production show. I would certainly be interested in cruising aboard this ship again. :)

 

Chuck

[Coveguy4]

We are sailing on the Coral in June. Would you be able to share your Patters or tell us what your favourite shipboard activities were? Any feedback you could provide would be greatly appreciated by our group (family of 11 cruising together)

 

I was on the Ruby last month not the Coral, but I'm sure the daily activities are just about the same. New York Nana has posted all the patters from the cruise on her posting Alaskian cruise onRuby Princess May 8th thru 15th. just scroll back and you will find it. Everyone onboard seemed to have a fantastic cruise, we had perfect weather, enjoy your upcoming cruise...I love the Coral!

[tonyweir]

We were on Coral in May. Beautiful ship! Lots if room.

 

Alaska tends to be a more sedate voyage, not to mention colder, but that didn't affect the inside activities, just the outside ones.

 

The grill was open and there were plenty of outide seating!

 

The covered pool is awesome and warm.

[preteristbrd]

The Wife and I sailed through the Panama Canal on her several years ago. Became at the time our best cruise and favorite cruise ship-loved the layout of the ship and crew was wonderful. However, she is scheduled to receive major dry dock changes early next year, similar to the cutup of her sister ship the Island. We are tentatively planning another trip through the canal next April, but if Princess repeats the Island thing I may rethink the cruise. We shall wait and see.

[tonyweir]

Now a bit more detail.

 

We were just on the Crown in Feb so I have a comparison. Granted one was to sunny Mexico and the other to colder Pacific Northwest..

 

Staterooms. Balcony cabin were identical to Crown.

 

Crew. The Coral crew was much more open, warm and welcoming than on Crown.

 

Music. Music was much more mellow and sparse than Crown. The shows did not have live music, well one had a 5 piece band for part of it. Xtasea, the house band was fairly upbeat. Gemstone was chamber music and the piano guy was ok. I know it's subjective, but Crown was much more lively and upbeat.

 

Crab Shack. Menu was the same. On Crown they had used the dining room behind the buffet. On Coral, they used half the buffet. The experience was the same but on Crown we got hot towels to clean up. On Coral we got fast food type paper towelettes.

 

International cafe. Crown had much more of a selection.

 

Part of the difference is due to the number passengers, 1900 vs 3100, the itinerary, south vs north and the overall ship size.

 

Not to say we didn't enjoy the cruise, we certainly did. But, after a recent experience on a bigger ship, it was hard not to compare.

[freshair8]

Posts from recent cruisers complain of lack of hot water on some floors. Hopefully it will be resolved for our August Alaskan. :o

 

I hate to tell you this, but that is been a problem for years and when you cruise through the Panama Canal, I found that the hot water was then TOO hot!! because of how hot it was outside..... just my experience. The Coral is an awesome ship.... would sail on her in a heart beat! :)

[MainePrincess]

I was on the Coral May 14-21, so very recently. I loved the ship. Good size, nice decks to walk around, and loved the aft viewing areas. I do highly recommend it. We had no hot water problems in our cabin. All of the crew were great too.

:)

[paul929207]

Thanks all for your comments. We will be boarding the Coral for the first time 5 weeks from today.

[Alaska05]

I was on the Coral May 14-21, so very recently. I loved the ship. Good size, nice decks to walk around, and loved the aft viewing areas. I do highly recommend it. We had no hot water problems in our cabin. All of the crew were great too.

:)

 

Are the doors to the aft viewing areas always unlocked?

 

We have an inside cabin on Baja aft and are hoping to be able to use the aft viewing area as "our balcony."