Coral Princess 15 Day Panama Canal Cruise - Questions?

[crawford]

We just got off the ship yesterday from our PC cruise; had a great time!

 

Will be glad to provide answers to any of your inquiries.

[nanface]

Our first cruise was on the Coral Princess to Alaska 15 years ago when she was brand new. How has time treated her?

 

 

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[crawford]

Our first cruise was on the Coral Princess to Alaska 15 years ago when she was brand new. How has time treated her?

 

 

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First of all, we loved the ship! Overall, we found it to be very clean and well maintained.

 

If you pay closer attention to some of the more difficult-to-reach places on deck, corners of the balconies, etc., you will see some occasional rust. Maintenance, however, is always around painting and fixing things. Similarly, you may see some worn spots on the carpeting, a table top in the Princess Theatre broken, etc. Nothing major and may not even notice anything unless you're really looking for it. In addition, our balcony stateroom was in excellent shape. Other than a slow sink drain, which was promptly addressed, everything was in great condition. Mattresses and pillows were wonderful. Our room steward, Alfonso, kept everything ship-shape!

 

She is holding up extremely well given her age. We would cruise on the Coral again without reservation.

[Sacto Rick]

I'm glad you liked the ship and had a great time! We're doing that cruise on the Coral next year from SF to Ft. Lauderdale.

What were some of the highlights of your cruise? Did you do any excursions you would recommend?

 

Oh, which way did you go?

Okay, no more questions. lol

[Keith1010]

How was the food and the entrainment?

 

What were the highlights in terms of the ports?

 

Thanks for starting this thread.

 

Keith

[gdlamberth]

Also, what cabin we'e you in? Comments on your cabin would be nice. Which way we'e you going? Any pre or post cruise arrangements worth mentioning?

[crawford]

I'm glad you liked the ship and had a great time! We're doing that cruise on the Coral next year from SF to Ft. Lauderdale.

 

What were some of the highlights of your cruise? Did you do any excursions you would recommend?

I will try to be specific to each question, so that people searching will hopefully find it easier to find their answer. Feel free, however, to ask any questions you may have.

Highlight of the cruise for us was going through the Panama Canal; first time for us. Although we spent some time on our balcony, I would recommend (as other CC members have) to move around the ship to get different perspectives. As we went through each set of locks, the numbers on deck dwindled. I was very glad to have read "The Path between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914" by David McCullough. It really helps you to truly appreciate this marvel. We also had Dr. Thomas Ryan as our PC lecturer - outstanding knowledge of the PC and several other subjects where he gave lectures later in the cruise.

 

As far as excursions are concerned, here is a breakdown by port:

Grand Cayman: On our own. Walked the town and did some shopping. Been to "Hell", Turtle Farm and Stingray City previously.

Cartagena: Private tour with Dora "the Explorer" De Zubiria. Had a van of eight with Dora, who did her "City Tour". In addition to the small size of the group, what I really liked about the tour was that we were also able to visit the "La Popa" Monastery, which was inaccessible that day to larger buses. Highly recommend Dora.

Fuerte Amador: Embera Indian Village (Princess Tour). Very memorable tour with the Embera indigenous people. Each way it was 75-90 minutes by bus, 35-40 minutes by dugout to the village. Nice overview of how simply they live and survive off their surroundings and the crafts they sell. Note that this is a real village and not something set up for tourists. Again, we would highly recommend. I would stay with Princess on this one, as you also must tender. With heavy traffic on the return, we were the last passenger tender to the ship.

Puntarenas: Thumbs Up Tour: 10- In-1 Combo Tour. Details are on their website. Again, I would highly recommend. It is a full day with lots to see and do. We had Kari as our guide (originally from Texas who now lives in the area). She was very knowledgeable and personable.

Puerto Quetzal: Antigua On Your Own (Princess Tour). 90 minutes via bus each way to Antigua. While I am one to appreciate every experience, Antigua is run down and very poor. I have never been pursued by vendors like here; Mayans were very nice people, persistent but not mean or obnoxious. They all sell the same things, which don't appear to be locally made. The main area to see is only a few blocks in length. We were there for 5 hours and could have easily cut the time in half. We ate at Cafe Condesa across from the Central Park (recommended by Dr. Ryan), one of the highlights. Glad we went there once but would go on a volcano excursion/hike on a future visit.

Oh, which way did you go?

We did the Ft. Lauderdale to Los Angeles route. Really liked the itinerary, as there was a day at sea between each port day and four days at sea on the back end. Also liked going East to West, as we gained one hour through each time zone.

Hope that helps!

[Meemp]

We just got off the ship yesterday from our PC cruise; had a great time!

 

Will be glad to provide answers to any of your inquiries.

 

I have a few questions about Princess@Sea. If you used it or learned about it, I am wondering how it works with an iPad. Will I be able to get texts from my ship Mates or messages in any way on it....or does that feature only work on phones?

[crawford]

Hi Keith,

 

Answers are below in bold. Glad to share but please keep in mind these are only my opinions.

 

How was the food and the entrainment?

 

Food:

 

First of all, we had anytime dining in the Bordeaux Dining Room every night. Never did specialty dining during our cruise. Elected to do anytime vs. fixed to add to our flexibility on port/Panama Canal days. If you did not get/or want fixed dining and like to eat early, get in line between 4:30-4:45 or you will likely get a pager and will need to wait. Although the dining room is supposed to begin at 5:15 PM, doors were always opened by 5:05 PM. After 7:00 PM, you can typically walk in, since most people want to get to the early shows. Just remember that the larger the "sharing table", the slower the service can become. We also ate breakfast most mornings in the Provence Dining Room; Horizon Court for some breakfasts/lunches; pizza both in Sabatini's and on Deck 14; ice cream in the Ice Cream Bar.

Breakfast: Bordeaux Dining room - usually 2 specialty entrees, in addition to the usual breakfast fare. Never crowded and great food and service. If you don't see it on the menu, ask and you may receive. Saw one man getting kippers, for example. We were able to get fresh berries whenever requested. In addition, if you like some ingredients with your omelettes, ask for extra. I found the cheese, meats, and vegetables to be very sparse on them.

Horizon Court - Lots of variety, tasty, although somewhat repetitive. Made to order eggs/omelettes are delivered to your table. Pastries were very good. Great way to try a lot of things you would't normally eat (i.e. cream cheese and walnut stuffed pears).

Lunch: Bordeaux Dining Room - full entrees, soups and salads can be had on embarkation day and port days. Again, good food and service. Horizon Court - again, good variety and decent food - we did mostly salads; don't forget the carving stations. Pizzeria and Alfredo's (converted over from Sabatini's on 7 days). Despite the CC pizza thread, I truly didn't see this pizza any different from other cruises. I liked the specialty pizza at the pizzeria better than the pepperoni or Margherita but all were fine to me. We only did "Alfredo's" one day. Individual pizzas were very good but the service was painfully slow (appeared to be very understaffed). Pub lunch was offered one day in the Bayou Cafe; we didn't take advantage of it. Always enjoy the Trident Grille for burgers and brats; not a fan of the chicken.

Dinner: Overall, meals were very good but found the beef (steak and prime rib in particular) disappointing. Seafood was excellent. If you haven't ever eaten kingklip, try it! I always like lobster night, too (final formal night). Keep an eye out for the Normal Love Chocolate Journeys desserts - excellent presentations and decadent, as well as the Baked Alaska on the last night of the cruise.

 

Entertainment (based on who we saw):

 

With the cruise staff, number one in my book was the "Voice of the Ocean" similar to "The Voice" on television. I was shocked at how over-the-top the set was. Had 6 passengers perform, 3 judges and it was a blast. Also, Ye Old Pub night was dancing, entertainment and singalong with the staff and Princess singers and dancers.

 

Imperial Trio - performed pre-dinner in the Atrium. Excellent musicians from Hungary (violinist truly fantastic).

Princess singers and dancers - best in-sync dancing on stage I have seen on a Princess ship IMHO. Vocals were also strong.

Coral Princess Showband - really excellent musicians as well, whether solo or used as backup for other performances.

Comedians - all worth seeing - Scott Wyler, Rollin Jay Moore and Gary De Lena.

Comedy/Magic - Garry Carson; not really funny. A couple of his illusions were interesting, but mostly lack the wow factor.

Solo Musical Performers:

Jennifer Fair - beautiful soprano voice!

Sonia Selby - great singer and funny.

Dan Delgado (trumpeter/soloist) - great voice, solid trumpet but I think the trumpeter with the orchestra is better.

Ric Steel - fairly talented C&W but once was enough

Linda Gentille - full of herself and seemed more intent to show off her skills rather than play to the enjoyment of the audience.

Shows:

Encore - nice singing and musical dance numbers of the kind you would expect from Princess.

Motor City - first time rollout for the singers and dancers - disappointing.

On the Bayou - must see in the Universe Lounge; set music and flow of the show just outstanding.

 

Final shout-out to the Cruise Director, Miranda McLean. She has excellent stage presence, very energetic outgoing and likes feedback from the passengers. Funny, personable but still manages to communicate in a straight-forward way.

 

What were the highlights in terms of the ports?

 

Please see my comments also on this thread.

 

Thanks for starting this thread.

 

Keith

[crawford]

Also, what cabin we'e you in? Comments on your cabin would be nice. Which way we'e you going? Any pre or post cruise arrangements worth mentioning?

 

We were in C618. Although we booked a BF guarantee, we were put in a wheelchair accessible cabin.

 

It is on the port side of the ship aft. Due to the fact that it's accessible, the cabin is approximately 30% larger; huge bathroom w/shower stall, grab bars and two emergency pull cords. The cabin also has three closets along the wall, with pull down clothing racks in two. Desk, two chairs and a flat screen TV, we had it configured for a queen bed; mattress and pillows were newer and very comfortable. Being a Caribe balcony and HC accessible, it was also bigger and was half open/half covered.

Since we were on a westbound cruise, however, the afternoon sun went directly into the balcony for most of the afternoons. As the cruise went on and we turned North towards San Pedro, the cooler days made afternoons on the balcony much more tolerable.

 

As far as pre/post cruise arrangements are concerned, we flew into FLL the day before departure, checked into the Renaissance Cruise Port hotel in the afternoon. Went to dinner at Carrara's then to Total Wine to pick up a couple of bottles of wine to carry on the Coral. Both ere easily within walking distance.

 

After disembarking the ship, our plan was to simply fly home. Worth mentioning, however, was the ease of departure. We were in the first walk-off group at 7:40 AM, went through customs (no forms for US citizens to fill out) and were directed to the stand for ground transportation. We picked up an Uber in 3 minutes and were through Delta's bag drop, TSA and at the gate by 8:35 AM; plenty of time for our 10:40 AM flight home.

Edited February 5, 2018 by crawford

[crawford]

I have a few questions about Princess@Sea. If you used it or learned about it, I am wondering how it works with an iPad. Will I be able to get texts from my ship Mates or messages in any way on it....or does that feature only work on phones?

 

Hi, I used it all the time on both my phone and iPad. All you need to do when you get on the ship is to type in coral.princess.com and hit enter. There is no app to download and it only works on the ship.

From there you can access your stateroom account, see events of the day, log onto the internet and send/receive text messages from your friends. To get texts, you will need to exchange a unique numeric id that is on the messenger. Once you exchange them, you can communicate. You need to keep checking the messenger though, because although it will show that you have a new message, there is no audio notification.

 

Hope this helps!

[pris993]

Thanks for your review. We plan to do a similar cruise from Ft Lauderdale to San Francisco in 2019.

 

Wondering if there are taxis for hire in Cartagena? Would prefer to hire a private taxi over small group or Princess tour, if available.

 

Do they doing anything like fish and chips on the Coral for lunch?

 

Happy to hear you had a good time, this trip will be our first panama canal as well.

[crawford]

Thanks for your review. We plan to do a similar cruise from Ft Lauderdale to San Francisco in 2019.

 

Wondering if there are taxis for hire in Cartagena? Would prefer to hire a private taxi over small group or Princess tour, if available.

 

Yes, taxi's are plentiful in Cartagena. There are also many vendors hawking tours. If you are a negotiator, you can probably get past the first line and get a better rate further away from the port. Shops and a nice aviary right at the port, too.

 

Do they doing anything like fish and chips on the Coral for lunch?

 

Fish and chips are offered in the Bayou Cafe on the English-style pub day lunch. It was offered once on our cruise.

You can probably pull together fried fish w/french fries in the Horizon Court. Obviously not the same maybe a viable alternative?

[caribill]

Fuerte Amador: Embera Indian Village (Princess Tour). Very memorable tour with the Embera indigenous people. Each way it was 75-90 minutes by bus, 35-40 minutes by dugout to the village. Nice overview of how simply they live and survive off their surroundings and the crafts they sell. Note that this is a real village and not something set up for tourists. Again, we would highly recommend. I would stay with Princess on this one, as you also must tender. With heavy traffic on the return, we were the last passenger tender to the ship.

No choice. Excursions from the ship here can only be done by Princess, no private excursions possible.

[AhoyAway]

What nights were the formal nights? What did the people wear for formal nights?

[margob111]

I was on the same cruise as Crawford (hi Mike!), so thought I would add some of my observations and experiences.

 

gdlamberth - We were in Baja 223. I didn't realize how far forward we were until I was on the ship. The only time it really bothered me being that far forward was when we had some rough water a day or two into the cruise. Since we were so high up and forward, we felt a lot of movement that night. Not an enjoyable night. We also heard deck chairs being moved, I guess the deck was being mopped, and at 4:00 a.m., that wasn't very pleasant. Also, we were on the starboard side but I would choose port side if I were to go from Ft. Lauderdale to Los Angeles again.

 

 

SactoRick - I think you wanted to know about excursions. With the exception of the Thumbs Up Tour in Puntarenas, we did all Princess excursions.

 

Grand Cayman - Trolley Roger Train, Scenic Tour of Georgetown - ok.

 

Cartagena - Fortress, City Walls and Shopping By Land & Sea - more walking than I expected but it was fine. Wear a hat, as it was hot so walking up a steep hill could be difficult.

 

Fuerte Amador - Panama Canal & Locks Transit - we enjoyed this one because we were in a small boat going through the locks so you could touch the walls of the locks and you get a different perspective since at several points you are as high as the mules and big ships and later you are below the level of the mules. Transferred to bus to take a city tour. Lunch was included.

 

Puntarenas - did Thumbs Up Tour 10 - in 1 Highlights - recommend it. We saw a lot, have some great pictures of a capuchin monkey on hubby's shoulder, they are looking eye to eye, and some great pictures of alligators.

 

Puerto Quetzal - Filadelfia Coffee Estate, Colonial Antigua & Lunch - the coffee estate and lunch was fine. Antigua was disappointing because of the vendors - they are very bothersome - they continue to follow you and there are a lot of them. Hubby has bad knees so this was hard for him to do all the walking on cobblestone. I should have just stayed local and then did my shopping in the locations outside of the ship.

 

We had the early dining because I had heard of the issues with any time dining. Looking back, I would have chosen any time dining. Early dining was too early. Food the first few days was not good; in fact, we thought the food on our excursions was better. We did eat at Bayou the first night, and that was decent. Ate at Sabbatini's another night but I liked Bayou better. Had the pub lunch one day - fish & chips was ok, bangers and mash was better. Had pizza at Sabbatini's for lunch one day and it was decent.

 

AhoyAway - 3 formal nights - first at sea day (Jan. 21), 4th at sea day (Jan. 29), second to last sea day (Feb. 2).

 

Hope this helps.

[musicpro442]

I was on Coral as well. For anyone thinking of sailing her, do. Food and service was excellent, many crew remembered my name, ports were okay, but we'd been there many times before so we mostly relaxed onboard. Activities were cleverly fun and I loved the atrium ensemble. Shows are all outstanding, but my personal favorite is Encore. If you're lucky enough to have Barbi McCulloch as the guest soprano for Encore, you're in for a treat. I also heard her around the time the show premiered and she's the best soprano I've ever heard at sea.

 

Thinking about taking another cruise on the Coral again myself if Wifey and I can swing the 15 days away. It's just the right size of ship for us.

[1midsun]

We will be on the Coral, boarding in 11 days!!! Full Panama Transit from Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco.

 

Thanks for posting!!

[LnWG]

What nights were the formal nights? What did the people wear for formal nights?

 

We will be sailing soon....my husband has a summer weight suit for formal nights, and I plan on wearing black slacks with a fancy top.

[crawford]

We will be sailing soon....my husband has a summer weight suit for formal nights, and I plan on wearing black slacks with a fancy top.

 

I found that most people dressed nicely on formal nights; much better than I have previously seen on Caribbean itineraries.

[LnWG]

I found that most people dressed nicely on formal nights; much better than I have previously seen on Caribbean itineraries.

Good to know. If the baggage weight can handle it, I'll toss in the long gown!

[margob111]

We will be sailing soon....my husband has a summer weight suit for formal nights, and I plan on wearing black slacks with a fancy top.

 

I forgot to answer the question about dress when I answered about formal nights last night. Black slacks and a fancy top will work great. I actually brought a black cocktail dress with a lace jacket, black slacks with a lace top and I forget what I wore for the other formal night! I took two pair of black leggings and several nice slacks for smart casual in the main dining room and got a lot of use with them and mixing various tops. Hubby wore a suit and nice shirts for formal night.

[geranium1952]

We just got off the ship yesterday from our PC cruise; had a great time!

 

 

 

Will be glad to provide answers to any of your inquiries.

 

 

 

What shore excursions did you do, and which would you recommend?

 

 

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[ArubaGal]

My husband and I are planning on escorted tours in Guatemala , Costa Rica , Cartagena and panama. Friends traveling with us are confident that they can just get a taxi at the pier to take them around locally and see everything and that there is plenty to see in close proximity to the ship. I am of the opinion if a tour lasts eight hours then you are not staying anywhere close to the pier . which is correct ?

 

 

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[BillB48]

My husband and I are planning on escorted tours in Guatemala , Costa Rica , Cartagena and panama. Friends traveling with us are confident that they can just get a taxi at the pier to take them around locally and see everything and that there is plenty to see in close proximity to the ship. I am of the opinion if a tour lasts eight hours then you are not staying anywhere close to the pier . which is correct ?

 

 

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In Guatemala most of the popular tourist areas are some distance from the port and to a lesser degree in Costa Rica as well. Cartagena will have some offerings that won't really take you too far from the city proper, meaning you would not be very far distance wise from the ship, but still have an 8 hour excursion. I presume you will call at Ft. Amador for your Panama stop, you won't be too far from the ship for activities in Panama City itself, but there are a number of tours that do take you considerable distance from the ship.

 

At just about any of the stops it probably is possible to find a taxi at the end of the pier, however at many of the ports a lot of the major items of interest are not that close to the port.