Coral Princess-Who is Cruise Director

[pegfromca]

Who is the present Cruise Director on the Coral Princess? What was your evaluation? Thanks for the info. We will be on the Coral July 3rd.

[cigal]

I was just on the Coral last week (5/29-6/5). The Cruise Director was Gavin Chandler. IMHO he was pretty good - not too much jaw-flapping! But, he was informative and always seemed happy and energetic.

 

Hope that helps!

[mumom95]

cigal- Just wondering how your cruise was, I'll be on the Coral southbound July 24th.

[cigal]

Hi mumom95,

 

We LOVED it - from the time we got to the pier till they pried our fingers off the balcony railing and stuffed a towel in our mouths to keep all of Vancouver from hearing us scream "Don't make me go!" :D. We have cruised with NCL, RCCL, CCL, (and a few others that are gone now) before, but this was our first on Princess. DH and I can't wait to go again. Here are some of the things I especially liked:

 

It was the only ship in Whittier that day, so the pier was not very crowded. We had 2 nights pre-cruise in Anchorage, so we took the Princess transfer bus to Whittier and arrived about 2 PM with 3 other busses. Still, we were onboard in about 15 or 20 minutes.

The ship is very elegant, and the colors and decor do not jump out at you.

We docked in all the ports - no tenders!

We ate in the dining room at late traditional dining. I loved being able to enjoy my coffee/dessert without all the Hoopla and singing and dancing that some lines have. But if you want the rah-rah stuff, that's okay with me - but be ready to not have it on the Coral. On the last night they did parade in baked Alaska, but that was okay.

The comedians were really funny, and pretty clean too!

We were the only ship in port in Ketchikan - so the town wasn't overwhelmed. (I don't know if it is like that every week though - but there are not as many ships that depart on Mondays, so maybe that was why).

When it was too cold to sit on the balcony and read, there were many places on the ship to find a quiet place to read and relax.

For the most part, people respected the dining room dress code - at least at my sitting.

There were limited announcements over the P.A.system. If you want to go to bingo/trivia/horseracing - the info is in the Patters.

 

I don't want to turn this into a food/coffee thread, but FWIW - we both thought the food was excellent, and presentation of the food was fantastic. We would rate it the best of all the others. If you have cruised Princess before, you have your own opinion on the coffee, but I didn't think it was the best ever, or the worst ever either.

 

If you are thinking about snorkeling in Ketchikan - read my input on the Mountain Point Snorkeling thread - I think it is on page 2 of the Alaska thread. I don't know how to cut and past into other threads yet:).

 

That is what I can think of off the top of my head. If you have any other questions - let me know and I will try to answer them. Have fun...I wish I was going with you.

 

cigal

P.S. I accidentally brought home a hanger from my cabin:(. Are you interested in taking it back when you go?