choosing a Princess Ship

[cruise junky joan]

I need to choose a princess ship for a southbound cruise next summer. My choices are Pacific, Diamond, Coral or Island. I don't understand why the Pacific Princess has a higher review score and is priced higher than the newer larger ships. Anyway I need as much feedback as possible to make my decision and would rather do so based on the comments of avid cruisers who have been there done that than from a travel agent who may or may not have actually sailed these ships on these itineraries. Thanks Joan

[stired]

We absolutely loved the Coral (sister ship to Island). It was the perfect size for us and the passenger/staff ratio is very good. If you look on the Princess board, you will see a lot of great reviews for the Coral.

[gambit57]

Basically, do you like big ships or little® ships?

 

I'd choose the Diamond b/c I like the big, new ships. I don't feel crowded on those ships so the smaller, older ships hold little appeal to me. Most on this Board tend not to share that view it seems.

[NancyIL]

The Pacific Princess isn't going to Alaska in 2008. Instead, the Tahitian Princess is doing 14-day roundtrips from Vancouver. The Sapphire Princess is the other Princess ship that sails one-ways on alternate Saturdays with the Diamond Princess.

 

We were on the northbound Coral Princess last month. I loved the size of the ship, and the fact that it and the Island Princess are the only ships departing on Mondays made some ports less crowded. We were the only ship in Vancouver, and the only large ship in Skagway. (There was also a Cruise West ship in port - but those ships are tiny.)

[Whitnee1]

I have been on the Coral, Golden, Dawn, and am leaving on the Sapphire this Saturday. So far I prefer the Coral and the Dawn. I believe the Golden class size are too large. I would also recommend you research if you are getting a mini suite. For example on the Coral and the Sapphire the rear mini suit balconies on Emerald deck are fully covered and the others are not.

[judynorth]

We have been to Alaska on both the Diamond and the Coral and much preferred the Coral. It is a good size - not too big and not too small - and it is a very "friendly" ship. We loved it!

[nextelcup]

Cruised on the s/b Coral mid-June of this year. (First cruise for us, so nothing to compare it to.) We did love the ship and itinerary. It never felt crowded to me (only in Ketchikan trying to get off the ship...loooong line to get off there!)

[Coral]

I would choose Coral or Island.

 

And as someone else stated, the Pacific will not be there next summer.

[Chat Noir]

Coral was my first choice for our cruise last year, simply because she is so highly recommended here. We ended up with Sapphire (Diamonds twin) since we were traveling with our teens. The larger ship was more appealing to them.

 

We were all very happy with the Sapphire. However, we sailed Celebrity Mercury this year, and I loved the smaller ship! I'd still love to sail the Coral...

[Italy52]

We have been on the Island and the Sapphire to Alaska. We had a wonderful experience on both of the ships. Yes, the Island is smaller than the Sapphire. Did size make a difference to us? Nope, we found both ships very manageable and never crowded. Both ships had a great crew. Embarkation/Disembarkation was better on the Island (Whittier-Vancouver) than the Sapphire (Seattle-Seattle). The only onboard negative was the Bayou specialty restaurant on the Island. We thought the food was just OK and not worth a second trip in the future.

 

We wouldn't hesitate to cruise either ship again in the future.

[krish2]

We had a mini-suite on the Island Princess in June for a northbound cruise from Vancouver to Whittier. Wish I was still onboard! The Island Princess is beautiful and never felt crowded. I would definitely choose this ship again for the Inside Passage cruising.

[MaderaMan]

I'll chime in that we think the Coral/Island is the perfect size ship.