First Princess Cruise

[Angel in FL]

I am not new to cruiseing just new to Princess. Have done 4 cruises on RCCL but they didn't have the itinary I wanted at the time I wanted. So I just booked a balconey on the Baja deck room 232(I think). Any way this is a total suprise for my husband. I have a few questions. I have been reading the boards and noticed there are no reviews from the Coral Princess. My husband prefers smaller ships plus one place we've always wanted to see is the Panama Canal. Booked for the Oct. 31, 2007 cruise.

 

1. Is the Coral Princess a good ship? No reviews or comments on the board.

 

2. I've read the destanations(sp??) board and have not found anything on a couple of tours. Has anyone done the "Best of Costa Rica"? This is the trip with the aerial tram, lunch, & then monkey watch.

 

3. Looking for information on the fishing tour in Lake Gatuan? Hubby loves to fish. I would enjoy this just to watch him.

 

4. Better to book through the cruise ship given countries we will be in? I've done some independant tours in Caribbean but not sure on this one.

 

5. Since we are leaving on Halloween night do we need a costume?

 

I know this is long but if you have any comments or information you'd like to share I'd love to hear it. Thanks

[ggprincess2004]

The Coral and Island Princesses are our two favorite ships! (Sister ships) We did the Panama Canal from Ft Lauderdale and back on the Coral in late 2004 and had a wonderful time. We found the service to be excellent, the food in the formal dining room was among the best on Princess. Of course, this can change as staff changes.

The size and layout of the ships are quite appealing to us.

As far as shore excursions, we have not taken an excursion in Costa Rica anytime we have been in port there. But, we prefer to generally take the Princess shore excursions anywhere in the Caribbean and Central America.

Hope this helps and have a wonderful cruise!:D

[renata102]

I too am new to Princess. I also cruised 4 times with RCCL! Good Luck!

[KKB]

They had a wonderful time. Ranked it SLIGHTLY below RCI, mostly for food.

Said there was nothing wrong w/ food, just liked RCI's a bit better. But they said they would sail Princess again.

 

Mom took tour in Costa Rica to banana farm & said it was pretty worthless.

 

Have a great time!

[barbarah33]

I have sailed both RCCL and Princess many times; platinum with Princess and Diamond with RCCL. They do have many similarities. I actually prefer Princess though; the served food is better IMHO - for the buffets RCCL has it. I also prefer the more personalized service on Princess as well as the décor of the ships.

 

You will not need a costume for Halloween on the Coral. You can bring one if you want but only about 15% of the ship will have them - including staff and kids. They will decorate the atrium and some of the bars and have Halloween drink specials, etc. so you can celebrate Halloween but costumes are not necessary. (I sail over Halloween every year.)

 

I've never sailed on the Coral but I have it down to the Coral or the new Emerald for my fall cruise this year. I have had the pleasure of sailing through the entire canal before and loved it but it's not a factor in my choosing which ship I sail on. But I have read such wonderful reports and reviews of her and I like that size ship so it's a tough choice for me.

[stired]

You might want to read this recent thread about the Coral! http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=489174&highlight=Coral

[Angel in FL]

Thanks to all who responded:D . Still hope to hear from many more. Not concerned at all about choosing Princess was just concerned cause no one seems to post from Coral but I am feeling better.

 

Still hoping for advice on shore trips and if anyone has gone with independants and who.

[TM]

My husband and I will be sailing on the Coral this September through the Panama Canal. This will our second trip through the canal and we typically do our own tours in port. Not sure what all we have planned for this fall. We picked this cruise because of the ship and the fact that it will be sailing out of SF, as we live in the bay area. We have not been on the Coral but did her sister, the Island Princess to Hawaii a couple of years ago. We loved that ship. It was beautiful and never felt crowded. We typically pick the smaller ships. Have done the Grand class and really prefer the smaller size ships.

Have a great cruise, you won't be sorry for picking the Coral.

[venusbello1]

I have been on the Coral twice through the Panama Canal, and am cruising on her again in May and November.

 

I think the size of the ship is great and she offers a variety of things to do! As far as excursions go, in Panama (Dec) I did the bus ride to the Pacific side of Panama to the Mira Flores locks and the doom train back to the ship--it was quite enjoyable. In February, I stayed on the ship and went back through the locks to the ocean--for some reason that seemed even better than going through them to Gatun Lake.

 

In Costa Rica, I have done the tour that includes the banana plantation, canal cruise, and train (Dec)--that was really fun and we definitely saw lots of wildlife. When I returned in February, I did the longer canal cruise because that was my favorite part of the other excursion--loved it. Again lots of wildlife!

 

Sorry this is so long... if you have any other questions, I'd be happy to try to help you out. :)

[Wormy53]

This is also my favorite sized ship. Some tours that were really good in Costa Rica (Limon) included the one with the river eco-cruise plus the aerial tram. They also have zip-lining, but if you really want to see it, do the tram. We loved it! See if you can do it so that the river cruise is first in the morning - you see more animals. This is also the one where we had the best lunch!! Of course there were beans and rice, but be sure and use their CR sauce to spice it up - (lizanos) sp - i came home and ordered some online!!

 

We did the Ocean-to-Ocean tour by boat. Some people loved this, but I found it kind of long. However it was the way to see the Bridge of the Americas and the Cut.

 

Be sure to get the book "path between the seas" by Mccullough before you go. All the history makes if much more memorable.