Coral / Royal / Island

[sskate]

Could anyone please advise if Royal Princess has 360 degree unobstructed view on the top deck?  

 

It seems most people would opt Coral over Royal for Alaska, however, few talks about Island Princess for Alaska, are Coral and Island not sisters ship? Are there any difference between them? Interested to know what are the things that makes Coral a better choice over Island

[Alaskanb]

 Coral has retained the aft viewing areas. We were on the Island before the major changes were made and spent a lot of time on the rear viewing area of Dolphin deck. 

[Colo Cruiser]

Island and Coral are indeed sisters. But they retain little resemblance of each other after the Island underwent major changes mid 2015.

150 plus cabins were added, 1/3 of the promenade deck was removed, a 2 deck high longe (Universe) was removed to be replaced with cabins. An International Cafe was not added (it was added on the Coral). 

With 300ish additional passengers no additional dining space was added.

With the removal of the Universe lounge IMO it puts strain on the entertainment and dining venues.

 

We have sailed the Island many times before and after the changes.........

[Parrottdizes]

The Island has more passengers and less public space..........because the aft public viewing areas and lounge were replaced with cabins. 

International Cafe, the Coral has one but the Island doesn't.  

[BarbinMich]

2 hours ago, sskate said:

Could anyone please advise if Royal Princess has 360 degree unobstructed view on the top deck?  

 

It seems most people would opt Coral over Royal for Alaska, however, few talks about Island Princess for Alaska, are Coral and Island not sisters ship? Are there any difference between them? Interested to know what are the things that makes Coral a better choice over Island

Yes, it does if you go all the way to the top to the Sky Deck forward.  Not positive it's 360 as I was only interested in looking forward as we entered the bay where Cobh, Ireland sits.  But there's nothing behind it on the deck plan schematic.  It's 2 flights of stairs up from the Sun Deck.  Royal is doing Alaska for the first time this year.  IMHO, it's too big a ship for Alaska.  Plus, there is little sheltered outdoor space for viewing/photo-taking as there is on the older ships.  We last did Alaska on the Star P and it was great to have the covered promenade.  It was still very cold (in mid-May), but they served hot drinks out there when we were in Glacier Bay--the only place one usually spends any time outdoors on a ship up there.  It's a few years (and many cruises) since we've been on the Coral so I don't remember its layout at all.  I do remember that I really liked it at the time (on a Panama Canal cruise in 2008 and in 2013), partly because it was fairly new in 2008 and different from the Grand class ships we'd been on.  I'm sure others will respond about what's "wrong" with the Island.  Originally, it was identical to the Coral, but then they added cabins aft and no one seems to like the new version.

[TravelingEA]

The Coral has a small international cafe near the casino, the Island does not have an international cafe - unless one was added during dry dock.

 

[sskate]

2 hours ago, BarbinMich said:

Yes, it does if you go all the way to the top to the Sky Deck forward.  Not positive it's 360 as I was only interested in looking forward as we entered the bay where Cobh, Ireland sits.  But there's nothing behind it on the deck plan schematic.  It's 2 flights of stairs up from the Sun Deck.  Royal is doing Alaska for the first time this year.  IMHO, it's too big a ship for Alaska.  Plus, there is little sheltered outdoor space for viewing/photo-taking as there is on the older ships.  We last did Alaska on the Star P and it was great to have the covered promenade.  It was still very cold (in mid-May), but they served hot drinks out there when we were in Glacier Bay--the only place one usually spends any time outdoors on a ship up there.  It's a few years (and many cruises) since we've been on the Coral so I don't remember its layout at all.  I do remember that I really liked it at the time (on a Panama Canal cruise in 2008 and in 2013), partly because it was fairly new in 2008 and different from the Grand class ships we'd been on.  I'm sure others will respond about what's "wrong" with the Island.  Originally, it was identical to the Coral, but then they added cabins aft and no one seems to like the new version.

Hi BarbinMich,

I'm going on a cruise to Alaska this year, I've heard a lot of good things about Coral, unfortunately, the departure date for Coral doesn't quite fit in with my schedule of vacation leave, I am left with either Island or Royal.  Royal seems to be have little outdoor space and no forward viewing deck.I wonder if it will be very crowded on the top deck given no other forward viewing decks.

 

Why is, Royal too big for Alaska?  Is big ship not suitable for sailing in Glacier bay?  

[Oak City Man]

My wife and I just got off Island last week for a Panama Canal cruise.  Island does have a forward viewing area, but it is small and filled up quickly on the canal transit.  Also, the deck is surrounded by blue tinted plexiglass that makes viewing subprime and picture taking almost impossible.

 

Also, Island was bit crowded.  We had to wait 20-30 minutes to be seated for anytime dining after 7pm.  If you wanted to see a show you had to get there at least 45 minutes early.  During the lunch rush the buffet would not have a single open table.  We enjoyed the cruise, but would have to think hard about sailing Island again.

 

We did Alaska in 2016 on Star and loved it.  The only place shipboard viewing is paramount is in Glacier Bay.  We staked out a good spot on the promenade deck, but it was not really necessary.  GB is an all day event and we found ourselves roaming all over to get the best views.

 

As for outdoor space?   Alaska is not really cold in summer, but it can get chilly when sailing.  We walked the promenade a lot, but never hung out at the pool.  Too cold.

[BarbinMich]

On 2/14/2019 at 2:30 PM, sskate said:

. . .

Why is, Royal too big for Alaska?  Is big ship not suitable for sailing in Glacier bay?  

This is my personal opinion.  We first  cruised to Alaska in 1996 on a 1,200 pax ship.  There were probably larger ones at the time, but not many.  Since then we've sailed there on HAL's Statendam (1,400 pax) in 2004, HAL's Volendam (1,400 pax) in 2005 and the Star P (3,000 pax) in 2016.  The port towns in Alaska are very small Ketchikan--8,000, Junearu (the capital)--32,000, Skagway--741. 

 

On a typical day there are several ships in each of these ports.  So there will be many more pax than local population, including seasonal workers.  The Royal P carries 3,600 pax and it will not be the only large ship up there; Norwegian Bliss and Norwegian Joy with 4,000 pax each will also be up there this summer.  A typical example:  in Skagway on Jul 2 (Tu) along with the Royal will be the Ruby P, Celebrity Solstice, and HAL Nieuw Amsterdam (12,150 total pax at double occupancy).  This number of pax will be good for business, I suppose, but I'm not sure how great an experience the pax will have.

Edited February 15, 2019 by BarbinMich