Just back from the Coral Princess S/B

[alaskagain]

We arrived home late last night. I will have to get back to you all in a few days with my review. Overall it was a great trip. We did an 8 day landtour in front of the cruise. We were supposed to go to Dawson, the whole reason my FIL booked the trip, but because of the fires in the interior that was cancelled. I will tell you how they accomadated us later. The cruise was great. The guys caught 16 fish, my son caught a 23 lb King and my little nephew (8) caught a shark! We saw whales, moose, a baby black bear, seals, sea lions, puffins, lots and lots of eagles and much more.
I really have no major complaints, just a few on the land tour. We all had a magnificent time. I met Mezzaluna from CC, Hi Ann:) even.
I will get back when I get readjusted, oh and have a bunch of pics as well.

Toodles,
Laura

[APH]

Hi alaskagain - I'm glad you enjoyed your cruise - I look forward to seeing your pics! :D :D

Just one question - do you mind posting the bio of the Captain (I believe it was Nicolo Binetti) - your cruise was his first ever as a captain!

Thanks

Andrew.

[JCH]

Hello Alaskagain,

I look forward to reading about your cruise and seeing your pics. I am going on the Coral Princess next April for the repositioning back up to Vancouver via. San Francisco.

Reguards,
JCH

[ronl]

we are going on the coral in jan looking forword feading about the coral

[alaskagain]

Andrew I will have to go through all my paperwork to get that for you. Still unpacking and doing laundry. I hate that part. The cruise itself was wonderful. No complaints. We had wonderful weather, no rain. Just a little smokey :) Finally the smoke lifted in Ketchikan, very warm there. We went to the pool every day I even got a little sunburn on the last day! I did meet the captian at the captian's circle cocktail party. This was our second cruise. It is so cute when they list the people who have cruise the most. They are usually cute older couples holding hands as they walk up to get their gift!
I am in So Cal and boy what a weather adjustment. About 95 here today! Will get back later. K

[Deloresgardella]

I will look forward to you review. I went on the Regal from S.F. to Alaska last May and will be going on the Coral in April also on the repositioning cruise from FLL to S.F. Really looking forward to it.
Delores

[twocats]

Hi Delores, Gosh don't you just love reading about the Coral. I just can't wait, not much that happens between now and April matters, I am so looking forward to the Coral trip. We haven't gained anymore posters to the roll call but it is still pretty early for many people to book. I am sure they will show up, who wouldn't wait to cruise on the Coral.

[Deloresgardella]

Hi twocats, I think part of the fun is the anticipation. I have been looking at tours already. Of course I will have to figure out what every one else wants. I think I did figure out how to get home from S.F. We have an Airport Express that meets the ship when they dock. It is still early for some people to make reservations but I like to do mine early. We will be flying in an day early so still have to make hotel reservations. Will try priceline for the first time. See what happens. Hopefully we will get more people going.
Delores

[alaskagain]

Ok guys here is the details from our land tour 7/2-7/9. Arrived in ANC late, around 11 pm. By the time we got to the Captian Cook it was around 11:30, but they did put us in a nice suite. There are 10 in our party and 3 rooms total. The kids loved the suite, but we have an early call for the train so off to bed. Boarded the train by 8 and on our way to Denali. My FIL did not like these arrangements as he wanted to spend more time in ANC. He complained, but nothing done. Anyway on to Denali, we had a little rain but a good trip over all. Saw a few moose and a swan. Arrived in Denali around 4:30, great new lodge from last year and a beautiful room. On to the dinner show. We did see this last year and it is still good IMHO. The kids love it and the food is great. Up early on the 4th for the Natural History tour. I know we should have upgraded to the Tundra tour, but when you are working with 6 adults and 4 kids it just doesn't work some times! Didn't really see much including Denali, but it is beautiful. Took the shuttle to the NP vistors center around 1 and then another bus to the headquarters for the dog sled demo. This is free and then they will take you back to the train station. It is short and sweet and the kids get to get up close to the dogs. Boarded the train for Fairbanks around 4:30. About a 4 hour ride. Still beautiful scenery. Found out that the little town of Terry, (I think that is the name), instead of fireworks on the 4th moons the train! This is true I have pics!:) Anyway arrived in Fairbanks around 8:15. When we boarded the bus we were informed that our trip to Dawson which was to be on the 6th may not happen because of the fires. Some of the roads were closed and people had been evacuated, they would let us know tomorrow evening.
On to the Princess Lodge in Fairbanks. This is a nice lodge and we were on the main floor facing the river. Since we had had dinner on the train spent some time on the river enjoying the weather. Warm but a little hazy from the smoke. Next morning up to do the Gold Mine tour and the Riverboat Discovery. I thought the Gold mine was fun and interesting. Yes I did by a locket for my gold and my DH's. I guess I am hooky! We had done the riverboat last year so knew what to expect. Still a nice afternoon. Tried to convince my FIL to go to Pike's for dinner but to no avail, we ate at Trackers. Now I won't fault Princess for their rooms, but their food service here has a lot to be desired. While the kids received their food promptly, we waited over an hour for ours and it was wrong! Could of said told you so but didn't :) Oh yeah when we got back from the riverboat they let us know that we would not be going to Dawson. Just to many factors working against us. See next post

[alaskagain]

So since we didn't get to go to Dawson, which by the way was a 10 hr bus ride, this is what they gave us. The next morning we were on the bus on the way to Valdez for the night. The next day we would have a Glacier tour, payed for by Princess. Then on to Copper River for an extra day. We already were booked there on the 8/9. We also received a city tour to Chitina and a $100 gift cert for everyone. I know this may not seem like much, but as I see it they didn't have much of a choice. Our bus driver this whole time was Don Johnson, no not the actor. He was very pleasant and fun. He lives in Fairbanks all year and has knowledge of the area.
So on to Valdez. We stopped at a little place called Rika's Roadhouse. This was a charming roadhouse that had been run by a lady called Rika. It was real cute and we weren't there long. For lunch we stopped at Meirs Lake. This is were things get interesting. While the food was OK and the hospitality was great, I really think Princess should have paid for our cup of soup and lunchmeat sandwhich which cost $8 per person! The restrooms were disgusting and I was leary to have my kids use them. Oh well I think my MIL will be writing Princess regarding this matter! From here on the road to Valdez is beautiful, with waterfalls and glaciers. OUr room in Valdez is OK. We walk around to find a place for dinner, not much to be had. My MIL has a hard time getting around so it was a challenge. We ate at Mike's place, OK but my crab legs were cold, and my DD fettucini was strange tasting. AFter that we walked around the harbour to see the catch coming in. It was neat to see the Halibut and Salmon being brought in. The next morning there was a continental breakfast. Before the glacier cruise we took a walk around town. The glacier cruise was wonderful. So neat when you can see things up close. We saw seals, sea lions, eagles, puffins, and sea otters. No whales this time. We went to the Columbia glacier, right in the ice field. We got back with only and hour to spare to find a quick bite before we were on the road to Copper. Arrived at Copper around 11. It is real pretty and serene on the top of the hill. The next morning we had the city tour to Chitina. The highlight of this was seeing a mommy moose and her two calves feeding in a pond. Too cute. AFter that we spent a relaxing afternoon watching the kids play shuffleboard. I have pics of Copper and Denali, I just have to get them organized.
The food at the restaurant is wonderful. Yes it is a little pricey but there is nothing else around, so just allow for it.
The next day we went on the Jet Boat Excursion down the Copper River. This is a lot of fun and the kids loved it. My 15 yr old DS loved sitting on the back seat on the back deck, just to give me a heart attack. We saw a lot of eagles and even a moose in the river. The next day we are on our way to the cruise so spent the evening packing and enjoying the view. I will try to have my pics organized and have the cruise reveiw soon.

[Mezzaluna]

Hi Alaskagain!! It was good to meet you. I'm sorry we didn't get to meet the other CCers who were on the ship, but at least we did. I hope your daughter liked the champagne fountain (if she stayed awake!!).

Your land tour sounds like quite a trek. Too bad you couldn't get to Dawson. Maybe next time!

[alaskagain]

Sorry it has taken me so long to finish this review. Life unfortunately has gotten in the way! We left Copper River early as to get to Valdez to pick up the catamaran to Whitter. This is about a 2 hour tour, I am funny! Very beautiful. Once we arrived in Whitter we then boarded a bus to take us just down the road to the Princess embarkation center. Our bus was one of the last to embark so we did have to wait a while. We made it to our rooms around 3pm. No luggage, but we had brought our swimsuits in our carryons for this very reason. It was quite warm so we headed to the Lido Pool for some rest and relaxation. Very nice and the kids had a great time. We were booked for dinner @ 6 and still no luggage. Oh well, no big deal, no one else had theirs either. AFter dinner we went back to the room to see if it had arrived and it had. Forgot to mention we had a mini suite on Caribe deck, room 215. It was great and I noticed no more movement up fron then in the middle.
Now I will just give a quick over view of the cruise. Wonderful!!!! We had a great time and enjoyed ourselves immensely. I did come down with laryngitis (sp) the first day, so suffered through that all week, but I was not going to let it stop me. College Fjord and Glacier Bay were awesome. Being as we did this cruise NB last year, it was a little smoky from the fires but no less beautiful. Took the train in Skagway beautiful scenery. Still a little smoky though. My DH surprised me and bought me a diamond anniversary band at Diamonds Int'l there. We celebrated our 20th on 7/28 so it was a surprise.
The guys went fishing in Juneau and caught 7 between the 4 of them. They really liked the captain a norweigan retired fireman I believe. Can't remember his name offhand. In Ketchikan they went fishing as well and caught 9, my 15 yr old DS caught a 23 lb King, made his day. In Juneau we did the Orca Point Whale Watching tour. It was great. So many whales you didn't know where to look, and a wonderful lunch at the lodge. In Ketchikan my DD and I did the Rain Forest Canoe Adv. It was fun, but very hot that day. On the way back we saw a baby black bear on the road. Cool as my dd would say.
So much to do and so little time.
If we ever do this again, looks like we will, we may not do any tours and just shop!
Sorry this is so short. I guess because it has been almost 4 weeks hard to remember all the details. I hope I may have helped someone and if you have any questions please ask.
Toodles,
Laura

[kkorman]

[quote name='JCH']Hello Alaskagain,

I look forward to reading about your cruise and seeing your pics. I am going on the Coral Princess next April for the repositioning back up to Vancouver via. San Francisco.

Reguards,
JCH[/QUOTE]


If you click on the webshots kkorman1 and kkorman2 you can see picts of the COral. I did the Fll-Van trip this year. Sailing out of SF and into Vancouver is a treat.

[Singinman]

I'm new to this forum, but not to Alaska. My wife and I were on the Diamond Princess in May 2004 (May 22) out of Seattle. After a rough start on that cruise, we had a blast. We enjoyed it so much, we are going back, May 14, 2005 on the Coral. Any specific words of wisdom about the ship or crew would be appreciated. What I have read so far sounds great. We booked this cruise specificly for glaciers.:):)

[carol allen]

keep us updated

[twocats]

I understand how excited you are getting, we will have finished our cruise from FLL to San Francisco 4/27/to 5/12, on the Coral, just before you get on the ship. I can't believe it though, we booked last April and now we are almost down to double digit days left. :D