LOVED our 1st Princess Cruise but..........

[riffatsea]

LOVED our Panama Canal cruise on the Coral!!

We had a suite on Dolphin Deck 9 near the aft elevators.

We booked a year out and the midship suites had already been taken.

We were 2 cabins from the aft elevators and had no problems with engine noise but some noise from the staff pantry nearby.

IF we booked again we'd try to get the suite  one door away(closer to the elevator)

Since we had a suite we also had Club Class dining. Our head waiter, Petros was one of the most engaging people I have ever met!

A few of the special items were outstanding like the baby lamb chops and the surf and turf with shrimp and filet.

We also enjoyed the wonderful made on board ice cream with different flavors each night.

We had a lovely breakfast on our balcony too.

We are platinum on Carnival and the suite perks on Princess just blew us away!!

 

We did find a few things that we think Carnival does better!

Trivia on Carnival is more fact based and on Princess there were lots of riddles and "trick " questions.

Once they didn't even give out prizes to the winners!

We also missed the dedicated Comedy Club that Carnival has since we like comedians better than singers.

Lastly although the service in the buffet was great and we enjoyed the shrimp,sushi and smoked fish, Carnival offers more varied stations daily like

Indian food, Mongolian wok,made to order deli sandwiches etc.

 

Don't get me wrong we were sooo happy with our cruise that we've already booked again on Princess for 2020!!

Feel free to ask questions if you like......

[RKSue]

15 minutes ago, riffatsea said:

LOVED our Panama Canal cruise on the Coral!!

We had a suite on Dolphin Deck 9 near the aft elevators.

We booked a year out and the midship suites had already been taken.

We were 2 cabins from the aft elevators and had no problems with engine noise but some noise from the staff pantry nearby.

IF we booked again we'd try to get the suite  one door away(closer to the elevator)

Since we had a suite we also had Club Class dining. Our head waiter, Petros was one of the most engaging people I have ever met!

A few of the special items were outstanding like the baby lamb chops and the surf and turf with shrimp and filet.

We also enjoyed the wonderful made on board ice cream with different flavors each night.

We had a lovely breakfast on our balcony too.

We are platinum on Carnival and the suite perks on Princess just blew us away!!

 

We did find a few things that we think Carnival does better!

Trivia on Carnival is more fact based and on Princess there were lots of riddles and "trick " questions.

Once they didn't even give out prizes to the winners!

We also missed the dedicated Comedy Club that Carnival has since we like comedians better than singers.

Lastly although the service in the buffet was great and we enjoyed the shrimp,sushi and smoked fish, Carnival offers more varied stations daily like

Indian food, Mongolian wok,made to order deli sandwiches etc.

 

Don't get me wrong we were sooo happy with our cruise that we've already booked again on Princess for 2020!!

Feel free to ask questions if you like......

I

hope that you try the Royal or the Regal. You’ll find that the buffets on these ships will meet your expectations on a larger variety of ethnic foods. The buffet area is huge. Also they have what they call Princess live. It’s fun and will help take up the lack of nightly comedians. The space has quite a few seats but they fill up fast. This is where they have a Lot of the fun on board games one of which is trivia. I really enjoy Princess live plus the passenger shows are live on the ship. They record them and then also add them to the tv menu. Both ships are Medallion class ships which is a favorite feature of mine. Texting to friends and families is free while on board. Adding to your calendar an event you don’t want to miss or forget is a great feature. Princess patter on your phone is also another great featur. I find the staff on Princess to do outstanding work. Just booked 2 cruises for 2019. 

 

Edited December 29, 2018 by RKSue

[riffatsea]

We could see our on board account on my phone and I think the Patter was also there although I did not use that feature.

I understand that some of the larger ships may have other facilities.

[frugaltravel]

Personally I didn't like the Royal as much as other Princess ships I was on but it is all very subjective.  Having said that, the buffet on the Royal was great.

Edited December 29, 2018 by frugaltravel

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the comments on your Coral cruise.

[TracieABD]

It is always so interesting to hear other’s perspectives as new Princess cruisers. Thank you so much for offering a fair review.

[geoherb]

Thanks for posting your review. We thought the exact opposite about trivia on our one Carnival cruise--but I realize that we were on an older ship with fewer options than some of the newer Carnival ships. I've heard that Princess has started using cards for trivia instead of prizes--collect signatures on a card and turn it in at the end to choose the prizes you want depending on how many signatures you got for winning or coming in second or third. That may just be on some ships and not fleet wide, but I like the idea. On our last cruise, they held a cruise-long trivia at the same time every sea day. Each team accumulated points, but they did not give out prizes until the end and then only to the top three teams. I thought that was a little bit cheap.

[mcrcruiser]

Nice review . Glad you enjoyed your cruise

 

[Aus Traveller]

4 hours ago, geoherb said:

Thanks for posting your review. We thought the exact opposite about trivia on our one Carnival cruise--but I realize that we were on an older ship with fewer options than some of the newer Carnival ships. I've heard that Princess has started using cards for trivia instead of prizes--collect signatures on a card and turn it in at the end to choose the prizes you want depending on how many signatures you got for winning or coming in second or third. That may just be on some ships and not fleet wide, but I like the idea. On our last cruise, they held a cruise-long trivia at the same time every sea day. Each team accumulated points, but they did not give out prizes until the end and then only to the top three teams. I thought that was a little bit cheap.

One cruise where we had  a 'cruise-long trivia' it was in addition to the usual trivia. On other cruises, they gave out prizes every day, but kept the tally for the prizes at the end of the cruise.

[Lucky TGO]

Thanks for your review.

Tony

[skynight]

"Trivia on Carnival is more fact based and on Princess there were lots of riddles and "trick " questions.

Once they didn't even give out prizes to the winners!"

Each cruise staff member creates their own trivia. Questions vary, they have to have lots and lots of quizzes. Most of the staff try to have different quizzes from cruise to cruise as there are lots of b2b'ers. This makes it even more difficult for them. Some staff like the trick and riddle questions, some not so much.

I have seen no prizes, but it's rare. Sometimes the CD department does not receive their supplies and they run out of prizes. It's all for fun anyway. And remember for some English is not their first language. 

Edited December 30, 2018 by skynight

[golfb4cruzing]

We also really enjoyed the Coral and especially the Lotus Pool area. The Coral is a unique ship as many features seem to be smaller but still our best trip so far. Our last princess was on board the Regal and was totally underwhelmed for all the hype. I thought the layout was abnormal and the Sanctuary pool area was unusable due to the wind at the front of the ship. We will stick to the smaller ships and are looking forward to the Canal again next October on the Island. Glad you had an excellent time. Depends on what your needs are, big difference between Carnival and Princess.

[riffatsea]

Interesting that my comment on trivia has caught the most attention.

We have also been on ships(on Carnival) where there was cruise long trivia with pts and prizes at the end of the voyage. I know it is silly but Carnival gives out plastic replica "ships on a stick" as prizes.

Some folks collect them and they are even sold on e bay!

The trivia "issue" was not a major one but just something we noticed.

I know the Coral is one of the smaller Princess ships. We still loved being on her for the canal cruise!

There were definitely more things to love than things to complain about!!!

For example, I had the best cruise massage ever (Thai herbal wrap) on the Coral.

I also enjoyed the free daily stretch classes in the gym(although the Patter had the times wrong for several days).

We loved the Down on the Bayou show and dancing in the atrium afterwards.

I thought the opera show was quite amazing for a cruise ship!

Interesting too that only veteran Princess cruisers have written on this thread and there were no questions about anything??

Hopefully you will all understand that in the end we were quite happy with this ship!!

Edited December 30, 2018 by riffatsea

[jagsfan]

We loved Coral. We thought the food in the MDR was the best we’d had in several years. 

And I believe she’s the only ship I’ve ever been on where I never once had to stop and think which way to turn when I stepped off an elevator!

Edited December 30, 2018 by jagsfan

[pcsunlover]

17 hours ago, frugaltravel said:

Personally I didn't like the Royal as much as other Princess ships I was on but it is all very subjective.  Having said that, the buffet on the Royal was great.

 

I have to agree with you.

[pcsunlover]

I would love it if Princess would add a comedy club. Not everyone is interested in sitting in a bar night after night listening to singers.  We found ourselves bored a few nights on our Royal cruise a few weeks ago.  The game shows in Princess Live weren’t even that good and for some reason they didn’t have the Marriage Match game which is usually good for a laugh.  On the plus side,we thought the food and service everywhere was excellent.

[konatyme]

Just curious since we will be on the Coral for the Panama Canal next month - was Nicaragua a scheduled port &, if so, did you stop there?  I know there were some problems earlier this year.

 

[PensFan1028]

While we've only done one cruise with Carnival... the one thing we really enjoyed was the sing along piano bar and that it was a little easier to have fun without making your own fun if that makes sens. Otherwise, we won't cruise with Carnival again, everything else just didn't compare with prior and recent Princess experience.

 

I will agree with you on the Trivia, I think Princess hasn't figured that out but it is likely a ship by ship basis. Food variety on the Regal and Royal has been the best of any ship I've been on. The introduced a new menu a few years back that kind of killed quality but on the Royal in December, the food was some of the best I've had at sea.

 

Oh, and comedy on just about any cruise is pretty bland.... they rotate a lot of the same comedians and content. I was brought up on stage by the comedian to help him come up with a story and felt I made his show significantly better, haha... but I may be bias 😉

Edited January 3, 2019 by PensFan1028

[elliair]

"Indian food, Mongolian wok,made to order deli sandwiches etc."

 

There was ALWAYS a curry dish - maybe 2 on Princess Lido buffet.  More than I like to see.  Princess had Mongolian wok  3 of the days we were on board the Coral (Panama Canal).  I wouldn't order the deli sandwiches so that doesn't bother me.  However, I will say that we enjoy the food more on Carnival than on Princess.  We're elite on Princess and platinum on Carnival.  We have not cruised Carnival in some time now and probably won't for a long time.  Best way to cruise and be happy is to not get your expectations up too high.

Edited January 3, 2019 by elliair

[riffatsea]

On 12/30/2018 at 12:08 PM, konatyme said:

Just curious since we will be on the Coral for the Panama Canal next month - was Nicaragua a scheduled port &, if so, did you stop there?  I know there were some problems earlier this year.

 

I just noticed your question. Yes we stopped in Nicaragua and had no problems at all.

We just did the short excursion to the hacienda by the edge of Lake Nicaragua.

Others on our Roll Call did longer excursions to the capital and farther into the country withOUT any problem at all!!

I hope you enjoy this cruise as much as we did!!

[Micahs Grandad]

On 12/30/2018 at 9:07 AM, riffatsea said:

Interesting that my comment on trivia has caught the most attention.

We have also been on ships(on Carnival) where there was cruise long trivia with pts and prizes at the end of the voyage. I know it is silly but Carnival gives out plastic replica "ships on a stick" as prizes.

Some folks collect them and they are even sold on e bay!

The trivia "issue" was not a major one but just something we noticed.

I know the Coral is one of the smaller Princess ships. We still loved being on her for the canal cruise!

There were definitely more things to love than things to complain about!!!

For example, I had the best cruise massage ever (Thai herbal wrap) on the Coral.

I also enjoyed the free daily stretch classes in the gym(although the Patter had the times wrong for several days).

We loved the Down on the Bayou show and dancing in the atrium afterwards.

I thought the opera show was quite amazing for a cruise ship!

Interesting too that only veteran Princess cruisers have written on this thread and there were no questions about anything??

Hopefully you will all understand that in the end we were quite happy with this ship!!

We are Diamond on Carnival and few years ago decided to see the world and these days mostly sail on Princess.

 

Think buffet on Princess larger ships much better than Carnival.

 

Production shows far superior. Service superior on Princess with nobody asking us to accept 1x stateroom service.

 

We do miss comedy club and piano bar but overall Princess is far superior  

[riffatsea]

Interesting comments!

We don't like the large mega ships on any of the lines.

We don't even want cabin service 1 X each day as we don't change linens daily at home and dont want them changed daily on a ship either!  We allow the steward to come into our cabin a few times on each cruise but never daily!

My husband really missed the comedy as he doesn't love production shows at all.

Everyone is different so we are not making any blanket comments as to which line is "superior" .

We enjoy Princess and Carnival and each have their merits(and DEmerits).

[BCCRUSINGCOUPLE]

On 12/29/2018 at 1:20 PM, riffatsea said:

LOVED our Panama Canal cruise on the Coral!!

We had a suite on Dolphin Deck 9 near the aft elevators.

We booked a year out and the midship suites had already been taken.

We were 2 cabins from the aft elevators and had no problems with engine noise but some noise from the staff pantry nearby.

IF we booked again we'd try to get the suite  one door away(closer to the elevator)

Since we had a suite we also had Club Class dining. Our head waiter, Petros was one of the most engaging people I have ever met!

A few of the special items were outstanding like the baby lamb chops and the surf and turf with shrimp and filet.

We also enjoyed the wonderful made on board ice cream with different flavors each night.

We had a lovely breakfast on our balcony too.

We are platinum on Carnival and the suite perks on Princess just blew us away!!

 

We did find a few things that we think Carnival does better!

Trivia on Carnival is more fact based and on Princess there were lots of riddles and "trick " questions.

Once they didn't even give out prizes to the winners!

We also missed the dedicated Comedy Club that Carnival has since we like comedians better than singers.

Lastly although the service in the buffet was great and we enjoyed the shrimp,sushi and smoked fish, Carnival offers more varied stations daily like

Indian food, Mongolian wok,made to order deli sandwiches etc.

 

Don't get me wrong we were sooo happy with our cruise that we've already booked again on Princess for 2020!!

Feel free to ask questions if you like......

I agree I think the comedy is much better on Carnival plus having its own venue is great.   I also agree Carnival has a more options for food however I think I like Princess buffet better 

[XBGuy]

On 12/30/2018 at 6:07 AM, riffatsea said:

 

I thought the opera show was quite amazing for a cruise ship!

Interesting too that only veteran Princess cruisers have written on this thread and there were no questions about anything??

 

 

Riff, thank you for taking the time to report your impressions.

 

Here's a question.  What is the "Opera Show?"

 

I have been on a dozen, or so, Princess Cruises--albeit, all of them out of the U.S. West Coast--and I cannot recall ever seeing anything called the Opera Show advertised in the Princess Patters.

 

It certainly sounds interesting.

[BCCRUSINGCOUPLE]

Same never heard of it