Coral Princess - Caribe 328

[mcgluro1]

Hello everyone - -

 

I'm trying to book this BA stateroom for the 10/05/05 10-day Panama Canal sailing.

 

There is some confusion as to if the twin beds can be made into a Queen in this particular room. It says non-converting twins but previous posts on Cruise Critic have said that often that's not true.

 

Apparently there are very few BA staterooms left for this sailing.

 

If a BD on the Carbie deck in one of the bumpout sections is all that's left would there be a great difference in these rooms? I'm guessing the major difference would be room/balcony size and if the balcony is covered or not (the dreaded topic).

 

I'd appreciate any insights from those who've sailed on the Coral Princess.

 

Thank you and Happy Sailing to everyone!

[erin6494]

We were in C537 on recent Coral sailing. Our original booking said non-converting twins but a call to customer service got it changed to queen. As far as I know, all the twins can be converted to a queen (unless you have 4 people in room and are using upper bunks). Caribe was a good location, 3 floors up from main atrium, 3 floors down from Lido. We enjoyed it.

 

Erin

[mcgluro1]

Erin - -

 

Thanks so much for your quick response.

 

There would only be my wife & I in the room so hopefully we'll be ok.

 

I'd be interested to hear your impressions of the Coral Princess. We've sailed on the Grand Princess 4 times and on the Caribbean Princess in September (one of the infamous 7 day cruises which turned into a 9 day thanks to a hurricane) and we're excited to try this size of ship.

 

Thanks again.

 

Rob

[ahracer]

Rob,

 

If it were me I would take a BD if one were available on the aft bump out. Room is the same size and I think the balcony is too. They are covered except for maybe two feet.

 

Scott

[mcgluro1]

Scott - -

 

Thanks so much for your advice.

 

I just talked to a local TA who said the twin beds might be 'built in' and therefore couldn't be converted to a twin.

 

It sounds like we wouldn't be losing much to book a BD.

 

This is way harder than it should be. :)

[ahracer]

We were in C637 and thought it was a great cabin and the beds do convert.

 

Scott

[erin6494]

Rob,

 

We absolutely loved the Coral. Had sailed on the Grand and Golden previously. This just seemed more elegant, definitely felt less crowded (and I never felt crowded on Grand class either). Less passengers so more of an opportunity to run into the same people again. By far my favorite Princess ship, would not hesitate to sail her again tomorrow if the chance came up.

I would call Princess directly about the bed issue. Like I said, they confirmed for me that the beds could convert. Not to doubt your TA, but seems strange that beds would be bolted in place because it limits the ways they can use the rooms. We were in a room with upper bunks, but never noticed them (they come out of ceiling).

Did you have any specific questions about the Coral? I would love to try to answer some!

 

Have a good day!

Erin

[mcgluro1]

Erin & Scott - -

 

Thank you for your comments and advice.

 

A friend who used to be a TA, and is sailing with us, is arranging this booking (using her TA), called Princess and they confirmed the bed could be made into a Queen. I've since noticed on the Coral/Caribe deck plan that C328 is not marked as being able to accomodate a third or fourth person so that should've been a clue that there are no bunks, etc. I guess I missed that detail during my planning excitement.

 

Erin - your comments about the Coral seem to be exactly what other Princess cruise alum are saying, less people, more elegant, etc. Since you said 'recent Coral cruise' I'm assuming you did the Panama Canal route? If so, could you comment on any shore excursions you took? We're sailing with 2 other couples so I'm sure we'll eventually have questions about the Coral and the itinerary. Would it be OK to e-mail you direct? You can reach me - rjmcglumphy@vssp.com.

 

Thanks again!

[twocats]

Hi, I have been looking at photos of the Coral and have a question. We are booked into cabin C520. I am interested in knowing if looking down from my balcony will I be looking directly into the water, other decks below or the tender boats hanging on the Emerald deck. I can't quite get the idea from the photos, but it looks like the tenders are hanging out from the ship. Any idea?

[KAJOKG]

You will be looking down on the Dolphin Deck, which extends further out than the Caribe Deck.