Coral Princess September 9th Southbound Alaska

[99Cruiser]

Just got back from a 7 day Southbound Alaskan cruise fromWhittier to Vancouver aboard the Coral. This will be my first time doing a review and will answer any questions.

Flights

We had a red-eye flight from Los Angeles to Anchorage and landed at4:30AM. On the recommendation of peopleon these boards we took the train from Anchorage to Whittier. We took our time getting to the Alaskan TrainStation since the train didn’t depart until 9:30 but it was much better thanthe Princess transfer which wasn’t leaving until 12:30.

Transfer toWhittier

We got to Whittier at noon and it was great not having to worry about luggageas the porters pick up the luggage from the train and take to the ship. Even though it said boarding wasn’t until12:30, we got checked in, our room key and onboard by 12:15. We dropped off our carry-on bags in the room,met our cabin steward, and went to the grill for lunch. We were going to go to the dining room but Ilove the grill on Princess ships and was not disappointed.

Service

Our cabin steward was great and always very pleasant.

The bartenders in the casino were not great and if you asked for water or soda(DW had a soda sticker) they took their time, if you were buying a drink theydid it immediately.

Ship

I have read the ship is in need of repairs and such but we didn’t haveany issues. Our AC in our room workedgreat (was actually cold some nights so had to turn it down) and even though itwas sold out it never felt crowded

Gym

For a ship gym it had enough ellipticals, treadmills, machines and freeweights so it never felt busy. I was inthere daily and never had to wait for anything.

Food

Food is so subjective and everyone has an opinion.

Lunch

We ate lunch mostly at the Grill (I love the Princess hot dogs) or thebuffet. The food at the buffet was thesame (or close to it) on most days and was just ok. They didn’t have a wide variety and what theydid have was just so-so.

Dinner

We had traditional dining and were seated with a family from Chicagowho were great and easy to get along with. Our head waiter was good and actually sang almost nightly and was reallyentertaining. The assistant waiter wasok. He took a long time to get drinks orrefill the water. I know his job is torun to the kitchen and bring the food and he did good it was just a littleslower than normal.

The food in the dining room was good but the variety was not as good as Iremember. My DW doesn’t eat sea food andthere were only a few options for her each night.

Entertainment

We only saw one show and that was Jeff Peterson and his dog Indy(comedy/magic). Honestly, the onlyreason I remember his name at all was because I looked in the Patter justnow. The show was pretty bad and Indy didn’treally do much. I guess if I could workon a ship and have my dog with me I would love it.

Excursions

Skagway – White Pass Train

We were told a rock slide had just occurred so we would have to dock in Hainesinstead of Skagway and we found outthis was not fully true. The rock slidehad occurred over a week prior so it wasn’t something they just found outabout. Our tour was supposed to meet onthe pier at 8:30AM and instead we had to take the ferry to Skagway and meet atnoon. The bad thing was when we got offthe ferry in Skagway there wasn’t anyone from Princess to tell us where wewould be meeting for our tour. We askedsomeone from the Ruby Princess and she told us where we would meet. It was very unorganized in Skagway without aPrincess person there. The tour itselfwas a great train ride up and then a bus ride back down with a stop inLiarsville for panning for gold, a show and food. We were on the last ferry back to the shipand sailed the minute we got back.

Juneau – Dog Sled Summer Camp and Helicopter

We did the Dog Sled Summer camp in the morning and it was so fun to seelisten to how they raise the dogs and get them ready to pull sleds. The dogs were super excited to get hooked upto the “sled” and pull us along. Once wewere done we got to go to the puppy area and hold and pet the puppies. They were so cute and I wanted to try tosneak one back on the ship.

We then took a helicopter toMendenhall Glacier and got to walk on the glacier. I never thought I would get my DW on ahelicopter but she said if she wanted to go to the glacier she didn’t have achoice. She was fine on the ride and itwas a very smooth trip with amazing views. It was so neat to walk on the glacier and drink some of the water….thebest water I have ever had.

Ketchikan – Lumber Jack Show and Totem Poles

When we got off the ship there was someone with a sign but then justpointed us down the street where to go for the show. You would think they would either havesomeone walk you over or better directions than just go down the street. We found it with no problem but it just againseemed unorganized. The show was kind ofUniversal Studios Like and very scripted. It was cool to see the things the guys can do but it was all justsketched.

The Totem Pole park was very interestingand our guide was great. To see thedetails and hear the stories of the poles was fascinating.

Debarkation

Since we were spending the night in Vancouver and couldn’t check intoour hotel early we were in no rush to get off the ship. We had breakfast in the buffet and then wentto our designated meeting place and waited to be called. We were called a few minutes prior to thetime stated and had no issues finding our luggage, and going through customs.

Overall

Had a great cruise and loved Alaska. I do hate that Princess tries to up sell you on EVERYTHING and you endup with a huge stack of papers they put in your mail slot daily. Even when I went to buy ONE picture they kepttrying to sell me a package, or disk or…….I finally said, LOOK, I want ONEpicture, if you ask me to buy one more thing I won’t even buy this onepicture. It just gets old the nickelingand diming on everything.

I know this is the end of theAlaska cruise season but hope this review helped some people as I had helpreading reviews prior to my trip.

[Working 2 Cruise]

Thanks for the review. Unfortunately, nickeling and diming is on all cruise ships, unless you sail on the high end, luxury lines. All we can do is 1st no thank you and it stops.