Rooms on Coral Princess

[Kiwi11]

Hi

 

As a brand new cruiser, my partner and I are looking at doing a cruise in Alaska in June 08, on the Coral Princess. We are on a fairly small budget and so were wondering if it is worth spending the additional money to get an unobstructed oceanview or balcony room. If we are going to spend a lot of time in our room, it may be best to upgrade, however if we will be on the deck viewing the scenery, we could save our money and spend it on excursions etc instead.

 

Could anyone please identify the need for a better room, or is it simply a treat?

 

Thanks so much!

 

New to Cruising Kiwis

[cruzzers]

One of the nice things about the Coral is the public viewing areas of the ship. If you are on a tight budget and want to save some $, I would suggest you book an inside room in a good location, central to the ship. That way you would just be steps away from public areas. That said, we had a wonderful balcony on the front of a bump out when we were on the Coral and loved the view we had. You can never go wrong because you are on a cruise and what could be better than that?

[Sea Hag]

My husband and I usually book inside cabins. We're never in them, since we prefer to be outside when at all possible. The inside cabins save us lots of money, allowing us to cruise more often, and I really appreciate the darkness and quiet that we get there. For Alaska in particular, you'll want be outside as much as possible for your sightseeing. If there're whales on starboard, you'll be able to hotfoot it over there. If you move around, I think the chances are that you'll see more than you would if you were sitting on a balcony or some other place.

[Kiwi11]

Thanks for your replies, I think we are leaning towards an inside cabin, near the middle of the ship as suggested.

 

Sae Hag - I notice that you are doing another cruise soon - is that with Princess and if so, on what ship? Have you been on the Coral and would you recommend it or would you recommend another ship?

 

Thanks again =)

[hotmike98]

My take on your question depends on your itinerary. We had a mini-suite (comes with balcony) on the Sapphire two years ago in Alaska, and booked the same for this year's Alaska trip on the Island (sister ship to the Coral). Our one way itinerary this year will have a half day in Glacier Bay and close to a half day in College Fjord. We had an obstructed ocean view on HAL (New Amsterdam-ship sold) on a prior one way. There is no question that being up on deck gives you the option to change views instead of waiting for the captain to change directions. But it can be very cold on glacier days, and if its raining, you can't beat having a balcony. Last time, we ordered room service for breakfast, and could pop back inside for a bite, cup of joe, and to warm up, then back outside to take pictures. When money is tight, this is a tough decision. I suppose the bottom line is that a balcony is a luxury, and if it means having to give up some excursion you really want to do, book and inside and make friends with folks who have a balcony and will invite you for breakfast!

[CROSBY]

We went on our first cruise ever to Alaska - one way from Whittier to Vancouver on Island princess.

Waking up the first morning (early) and opening the curtains and experiencing College Fjords is something that will stay with me forever.

We spent a lot of time on our Balcony. This cruise is all about the scenery. Yes you can go up on deck, but nothing beats watching the scenery go by lying in bed with the curtains (drapes) pulled back. Don't forget its light for a lot of the nightime (depending when you go0 and if you have a balcony you canenjoy it in your jammies.

[umma]

Another thing to consider is the fact that the majority of public areas on the Coral Princess have blue tinted plexiglass that obstructs your view for good pictures and it distorts the true color of mountains, trees, water, etc. There are lower decks that do not have the plexiglass but I would imagine that it's hard to find a spot to stand when everyone wants to see things in its' true colors. We had a mini-suite on the Dolphin deck and it was great! If you're cold, put on that winter jacket you pack and enjoy.

[katier825]

A few years ago, we were on the Coral in E736. It cost us a bundle, but we love having a balcony. Had we known about the public area next to us, we would have booked an inside and saved about $600/pp!!! There are several decks, including Emerald, that have a public deck at the back of the ship. There were a few chairs, loungers and tables back there. It wasn't advertised, we just peeked around the corner and saw it.

[cruzzers]

I would have to say the Coral must have been built to make sure passengers have plenty of viewing areas to watch the scenery. The front and back of the ship is open on most decks so there is plenty of open viewing for anyone who may have an inside room. If you are cruising on a tight budget, get the inside room as a guarantee. There is a chance you may get an upgrade to an oceanview and if not, you have nothing to loose. There isn't a bad place on the ship.

[vacation fool]

I have to go with the others who said the balcony was great. The day the ship spent at the glacier was the best day of the cruise for us. We did not have to fight the crowd on the deck to try to see, or freeze to death. We ordered hot cocoa from room service and got the greatest pictures from our balcony. When we got cold we stepped inside to warm up. What could be better than that? I agree that saving money (for another cruise) is a good idea but how many times are u going to experience a glacier? I say save the inside for the caribbean or repeat cruises. Like the commercial says "some things are just priceless!":D

[CoolChile]

I'm looking at deck plans on Coral and I see there are 4 AD minis that appear to be bump-outs at mid-ship (two of them are on port side ... B504 &516). There must be a reason they are AD (less moulah?). For those in the know, might that be because they form the corners of a "square" surrounding the stairs and elevators? Don't want to book "noisy" as god knows I'll want my beauty rest. ;)

 

Desirable cabins or not? (I know, I know, at least they're ON the ship) :D

________

CoolChile

[Mary Leslie]

We've always sailed with a balcony......but for our next cruise we opted for a partially obstructed ocean view on Emerald deck. Why?? because on our last 2 cruises we barely used the balcony and figured we would use the savings for excursions. The Corol is a beautiful ship with many areas the view.......I love the library..........and Spacewalkers during the day is way under-utilized. On another note, my son and DIL did Alaska last August with an inside cabin.........remember that the days are quite long that far north and they liked the inside because it was easier to sleep..............Mary

[hotmike98]

We booked guarantee for AD category on the Island Princess (sister ship to Coral) for next month. Since there are only 8 of these, and they were already all taken, we got upgraded to AA. Will report back on our return.

[bjkTX]

I don't think there is anything wrong with those bump-out minis. We have B228 booked and I have yet to get an explanation why the AA (more expensive) minis on the Coral are up front, when they are normally midship. I'm sure we'll figure it out when we get on her - just wish it wasn't 11 more months away :-)

[hotmike98]

BjkTX: we got B226 from our upgrade. I too wonder why that far forward is AA; We are leaving July 9, so I will report in with my findings. Still trying to decide whether to take the little coffee pot with us. I rented a tux this time, as Alaska Airlines is pretty strict about their weight limits, so I will have to see if the absence of the tux (and I usually take both black and white jackets) frees up enough weight for the coffee pot. I need more coffee than room service usually brings, and I hate that vile syrup facsimile of coffee in Horizon Court. But if that is the only obstacle to the trip, it will be terrific! This is our third trip to Alaska. Can't get enough!

[bjkTX]

Please do let us know! Our Coral cruise is the 15 day full transit Panama Canal trip in April 2008. While we said that would probably be our last - we keep talking about how wonderful the Alaska cruise was 3 years ago so we might get another FCC and do that again. But that will certainly be the last!!! :-)

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[sashas_mom]

This is one cruise I would splurge for a balcony. We were on the Coral to Alaska last year and had a balcony on the Emerald Deck. Perfect! It was completely covered so the days in drizzled didn't affect our enjoyment and we saw whales, dolphins, every day from our balcony. Coffee in the morning on the balcony was also a treat when the scenery is stunning. We could hear the commentator from our TV with the balcony door open. If you can afford it, I hightly recommend a balcony for this itinerary. The Emerald Deck balconies are also a little deeper even though they are completely covered which was also very nice.

[Thomkm]

I'm looking at deck plans on Coral and I see there are 4 AD minis that appear to be bump-outs at mid-ship (two of them are on port side ... B504 &516). There must be a reason they are AD (less moulah?). For those in the know, might that be because they form the corners of a "square" surrounding the stairs and elevators? Don't want to book "noisy" as god knows I'll want my beauty rest. ;)

 

Desirable cabins or not? (I know, I know, at least they're ON the ship) :D

________

CoolChile

We were on the Coral last week in B504...the cabin location is great..the curve on the balcony does take up some of the room..it would be nice if they would have used smaller lounge chair instead of the longer ones. There was no noise from the elevators...the mattresses have not been replaced and are not the greatest. Overall it's a great cabin with an outstanding view.

[TravelnAl]

Was in A416, an AD Mini on the bumpout corner, for the FLL to LAX this April. No noise from the elevators; however, were woken up by a terrible chatter in the plumbing on several mornings at 4:00am. Traced it to the deck crew using a water hose for cleaning from the fire system, a chattering relief valve. Complained to PSD, nothing. Told an officer on the deck crew the last day as they were cleaning the pool and it was making the noise aqgain. Hopefully, it is fixed by now. Otherwise a very nice room with great views.

[49er]

A point of interest is that these corner "Bump Out" mid ship cabins move up to Cat AA on the September cruise from SF to FLL. Go figure

 

49er

[CoolChile]

Please do let us know! Our Coral cruise is the 15 day full transit Panama Canal trip in April 2008. While we said that would probably be our last - we keep talking about how wonderful the Alaska cruise was 3 years ago so we might get another FCC and do that again. But that will certainly be the last!!! :-)

 

Too rude of me to ask, bjkTX, but oh my, why would another cruise be your last ... I checked your profile ... you're too young to stop! You're also a wealth of salient commentary on these threads. :)

 

Thanks also to Thomkm, Travel'nAl, and 49er ... I wanted to "quote" your helpful comments but I have no idea how to quote from more than one post in MY post :confused: ... but you helped me about those bump-out minis around the elevator/stairs area.

__________________

CoolChile :cool:

[bjkTX]

Thanks - the "last" comment was pretty much tongue in cheek since I've said that after every booking :-)

 

I spent 30 years in the military traveling, and just retired from a second career that had me traveling quite a bit. There were some things we wanted to see - Alaska (I had been there several times in the military but it's not the same...), the Caribbean, and New England (which we loved so much we did twice) and my dream "retirement" cruise through the Panama Canal. We've done the others now, and once we do the Panama Canal next April we'll see if there is any of the travel "bug" still in us. Cruising is an addiction after all...... :-)

[snookhaven]

We are looking at a Coral Princess cruise next summer and would like advice on which side of the ship to book a room. Should you book the side that will be toward land to see scenery or the open ocean side to see whales, etc or does it make a difference? :confused:

[bjkTX]

I guess that would depend on the cruise. If it's a round trip - you get both! Our cruise on the Coral is west bound from Florida through the Panama Canal to San Francisco. I checked the CC boards for advice on the best side to get a cabin and booked it, then later read other advice that seemed more in line with what I wanted and switched to the other side. The nice thing about the Coral, from what I've read, is that there are great common areas to check out the view :-)

[CrusinAgain]

Alaska would be the only cruise that I would definitely forego an excursion to pay for a balcony. We are going in 2 years to Alaska and went there before and had an oceanview on the original Star Princess. People crowd the upper decks to get a view and hog the dining room when they are not eating to sit and watch the view during Glacier Bay. Our goal is to get an aft balcony to see more. It does get cold and being able to jump back into your room to warm up really helps. We had to wear really heavy jackets and our pictures show us shivering up on deck. It also gets old just standing there and not being able to sit down.

 

Our first trip we did not take a single excursion but plan to this time but not take helicopter tours or anything ridiculously price because we want that balcony.

 

So my point is for you to rethink the inside room versus a balcony. You tune your TV to the station where the forest ranger is talking about Glacier Bay and leave your door open to hear while you sit on the balcony. Honestly, I haven't been on an excursion yet that would beat having a balcony on the Alaska cruise. Good luck.