Review: Princess Cruises - Coral Princess - [January 07 , 2005]

[Net Reviews]

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Reviewer Comments:

Coral Princess Review

January 7th through January 17th

Panama Canal Cruise

Fri 7th – Sail FLL at sea
Sat 8th – At Sea
Sun 9th – At sea
Mon 10th – Limon 7 am – 7 pm
Tues 11th – Panama Canal 7 am – 8 pm
Wed 12th – At Sea
Thurs 13th – Grand Cayman 7 am – 4 pm ( 8am stingray tour )
Fri 14th – Cozumel 8 am – 6 pm
Sat 15th – Belize City 7 am – 4 pm
Sun 16th - At Sea
Mon 17th - Fort Lauderdale HOME

Reviewer Background

We started cruising in 1984 on the NCL Starward, it was our honeymoon cruise
and we immediately became cruiseaholics. Since that time we have taken over
40 cruises on various lines, celebrating both 20 years of marriage and
cruising this past October aboard one of our favorite ships the Celebrity
Zenith. I am now in my fifties, my wife still in her 40’s. During the years
I have done many reviews and served The Mining Company, now About.com, as
the original cruise guide. I also served as an outside agent for a cruise
only agent for several years after retirement from my original career. I am
now just a cruiseaholic with no affiliation to any website or agency. This
was our first Princess cruise and our first Panama Canal itinerary. We were
joined on this cruise by friends from Texas and their grown daughters. We
originally all met on the Carnival Celebration in 1988 and became fast
friends through the years. Another reason I love cruising. We have several
close friends gained through the years having met on cruises. Having great
friends and wonderful people cruising with you will make any cruise a happy
cruise!

The Start

Another new aspect for us is now cruising during winter months. The only
past winter cruise we took was a year plus ago on the NCL Dawn from NY.
Being from NY this was tempting since no air travel was required. This
cruise of course mandated flying from NY to Fort Lauderdale in January.
Concerned with possible weather conditions we traveled a day early to FLL.
January 6th saw a lovely ice storm in our area but despite it all we were
able to get to the airport and our flight on JetBlue was on time. We arrived
in FLL to stay the evening in the Amerisuites Hotel near the pier.
Previously we had used Embassy Suites but the Amerisuites was $100 less for
the date so we choose that. Amerisuites provides FREE shuttle service from
the airport to hotel and from hotel to pier. Both we very good and no
problems encountered. The hotel itself was clean, nice size suite with
coffee maker, refrigerator and all need amenities. A nice breakfast is
available complimentary in the lobby area in the morning as well/ Overall I
have no problem recommending Amerisuites. One thing to note is that you will
have to handle your own luggage at the hotel. There are luggage carts
located in the lobby but since there are only two you may have to hunt and
manhandle your luggage to your room.

Embarkation

On recommendation of the hotel shuttle driver we elected to go to the pier
at 11:30 am. Officially embarkation starts at 1 pm but I have never seen an
embarkation that didn’t start early. He advised that the ship is usually
disembarked by 10:30 and that around 11:30 the porters are taking in luggage
and that around 300 people would have arrived for embarkation and be in
line. Arriving at the pier at about 11:35 am we found porters ready and
about 300 in line outside. Shortly thereafter the doors were opened and the
screening process commenced. While in line each passenger was given a form
to swear that they had not encountered respiratory problems, diarrhea or
vomiting in the past 48 hours. I mean let’s face it, is anyone having
traveled to a ship for a cruise they paid for are in line to get onboard
really going to say yes, and risk being denied boarding? Why even bother? We
were to find out that sanitation and illness concerns were a priority
concern presumably because of various outbreaks on numerous lines through
the years. Two things we found that immediately differed from other ships we
have sailed that the buffets were set up so that you must be served by staff
wearing gloves. If fact if you even tried to help self serve you were
immediately admonished and stopped by the serving people. This created quite
a log jam at times. First because you had to wait for each item to be served
and that since the serving tables are designed for self service the addition
of all the servers adds to the congestion of the area. We were told that
evening that this was the first cruise that this system had been started.
Also you are more or less required to wipe your hands with some
anti-bacterial or whatever solution in all entries to eating areas. When
entering the main dining room that evening there were staff with spray
bottles spraying our hands as we entered. It becomes a little odd being
disinfected every time you get in a line to eat something.

NOTE: The buffet areas were self serve by day THREE, they obviously gave up.

Getting back to actual embarkation, it was run smoothly, first passing
through the metal detectors. You are advised to put all your metal into your
carryon so you won’t beep when passing through the metal detector. Should
you beep you are not only hand scanned with a hand wand but I also noted
several people actually frisked by security staff. Something I have also
never seen before boarding a ship. I guess they are taking the lead from TSA
staff at airports. Next up to the check in counters, numerous and arranged
by deck. Since most have already provided all their information via internet
or mail in forms now required by Homeland Security the process is very fast.
I presented passports and credit card and received our boarding cards in
less than two minutes. Up to the photo and gangway and you were onboard.

Arriving on the ship we found staff directing us to an elevator which was
being manually operated and we were placed on the elevator by which deck we
were assigned to. This was very efficient in moving people and getting you
directly right to your location. Also first time I had seen this, it worked
well.

Cabin

We were in Cabin D404, a mini-suite with balcony category AB, Dolphin Deck
(9). Cabin was spacious enough and contained adequate storage most of which
is provided by closet space with more than needed number of hangars. The bed
was very comfortable and firm, the pillows left much to be desired. More
like a couple of flat squares than pillows. Our cabin steward, Martin, was
asked whether larger pillows were available and he provided much larger and
fuller pillows by nightfall. The room also had a large couch easily seating
three, a table and a chair besides the built in desk. Cabin outlets are
located at the desk. There are two side by side. Numerous lamps and ceiling
lighting are more than adequate. The wall and nightstand lights all have
switches that are also dimmers, a nice touch as they can readily serve as
night lights depending on your need and preference. There is a cabinet of
shelves which also houses the safe. You program in a number to lock and to
open. You program the number each time you lock the safe. The bathroom is
ship size but contains a bathtub in this category. Water pressure is
superior and we had no complaints regarding the bathroom facility. Cabin has
two TV’s which abut each other but face opposite directions facilitating
watching from bed or couch.

Balcony was more than adequate size wise and contained two junky plastic
chairs and a plastic table. No matter since we found the balcony useless at
least three quarters of the time due to wind. In the few reviews I read
prior to sailing the lack of privacy was noted and is indeed a key point on
this ship for many who love balconies. This because the balconies are
tiered, each deck jutting out from the one above. The privacy issue doesn’t
concern me but what I found, perhaps because Dolphin Deck balconies jut out
enough to be in the air stream of the ship, the balcony was most often just
too windy to even want to step out on when moving. Having sailed many ships
with balconies this is the first time I have ever encountered that
situation. Sailing 21 knots on Legend and Dawn in Atlantic seas never
presented such a problem, nor on any ship sailed in Caribbean. So I presume
that the way the deck just out makes it vulnerable to the strong wind when
sailing at speed or with certain wind direction. Most evenings stepping out
on the balcony was similar to popping your head out the sunroof of your car
while on the highway.

Another problem was the balcony furniture and deck was wet everyday. The why
I am not sure, whether wind all night sent water spray close enough to mount
up or whether early cleaning upstairs resulted in our balcony being
drenched. There was one morning I was standing on the balcony when I
suddenly got splashed with some water. Since the sun was shining I was
startled, looking up found that the cabin steward upstairs was throwing
cupfuls of water on outside balcony glass to clean same. Perhaps I solved
our soaked balcony mystery?

Would I personally get a balcony on this ship again? Yes simply because I am
smoker and do so out on the balcony in deference to my wife who is not. I
also enjoyed the balcony while going through the locks. Finally I always
feel that a cabin is roomier if you have access to the immediate outside.
However if you are a person that can take it or leave about balconies I
wouldn’t bother if the price was substantially more.

Food

Always a personal opinion. So for what it is worth, my opinion. We were
traveling with close friends making us a party of six so we choose
traditional dining. Our preference is traditional dining as our preference
normally anyway. We enjoy having the same waiter and dining partners during
a cruise, our friends when traveling together, and meeting new friends when
it’s just us. We were served each evening by our waiter Fabio, and his
assistant Niwch ( Nick ). Both provided excellent service and were
instrumental, as good waiters are, in helping make this cruise a great
experience.

We requested a mixed cheese plate every evening at the beginning of the meal
and this was brought out upon our arrival each evening. We had wine served
each evening as well. As many lines have done the waiter and assistant are
now also the wine service. Something I had not seen before but expected to
see sooner or later, they were also now the bar service as well. This means
they handled wine, dinner, drinks, and the bill for the card. In the case of
Fabio and Niwch they handled it well enough to pull it off without service
being exceptionally hurt. However I would bet that they are the exception
rather than the rule

Food itself was tasty enough and well presented for the most part. The first
nights prime rib was an exception, that looked and tasted more like a slice
of high school cafeteria beef but other than that I had no complaints about
the food. Soups were very good, I eat hot soup my wife always likes to try
the chilled soups. They had one called the Pina Colada or something similar.
It was even served in a pina colada style cocktail glass with umbrella and
all. A pina colada without ice or booze to me. I’ll stick to hot myself.

One thing I like is that they also have some items that are available every
night such as a steak, fries, baked potato, Caesar salad, or shrimp
cocktail. That is a nice alternative when the menu is just not to your
liking or some item is not. Several nights the appetizer selections didn’t
appeal to me and it was nice just to be able to order a shrimp cocktail
instead.

The buffet areas and food were more than satisfactory. Plenty of seating in
immediate areas as well. Nice salad bars, a cutting board with something
different everyday and a nice variety of hot and cold foods. Desserts were
generally small squares of some sort of cake, fruits tarts, fresh fruit and
such. Nothing overly to die for in my opinion. One nice touch was a hot
dessert, apple betty, rice pudding, or something along that line everyday.

A highlight in buffet eating for me was the GRILL and the PIZZA areas
poolside. The grill featured great burgers, hotdogs and grilled chicken one
flight up from poolside with outside tables and the grill bar. Pizza,
located just outside the buffet area poolside was best I have ever had on a
ship, just the way I love it. Plenty of real cheese and the thinnest
crispest crust I have seen anywhere. Various toppings and styles made daily.
Being a New Yorker it is work for you to get me to compliment something
other than NY pizza. This was gooooood!

Room Service / Coffee hit / Cigar hideaway

You can call or place out order sheet. We used both methods and for the
first time anywhere, including land based room service, there was never a
mistake on our order. Everything ordered was there, arrived on time
promptly, and was delivered with a smile and a pleasant greeting. Each time
the server noted that everything was there.

Coffee, for ship coffee, was pretty good. Good enough that I could wait for
a couple of hours to stop by Patisserie lounge in the main lobby area for a
shot of double espresso ( $2.50 ) jolt to keep the ticker going. A nice
lounge to watch the world go by for a while, downside for a smoker like me,
a coffee bar/lounge without a smoking area in it or nearby. One deck up
though is a small very comfortable enclosed area called Churchill Lounge.
This is the cigar/bar area with leather seats and a nice view of ocean off
the promenade deck. There is not actually a bar in there but one located
nearby and the servers pay attention for those entering Churchill’s and show
up quickly to offer a cognac or whatever you desire with your cigar. Spent
some time there throughout the trip as one of my traveling companions is a
noted cigar expert and is kind enough to share his stash of Cubans with me.
What a guy!

Entertainment

As usual we seldom went to the sing and dance shows. They also had some
comedians on board, we attended two of those shows. One was fairly decent,
the other a ventriloquist that has appeared on TV and such through the
years, well we were almost embarrassed for him. Started his act with old
footage of him appearing on Carson, with Whoppi, etc. Well that was
obviously back in the day as they say. Material bad, timing worse, and often
hesitated like he forgot what he was doing. Many got up and left.

They also show movies in the Princess theatre each day and I enjoyed
watching a couple in there. I like being able to go to an actual theatre
during a sea day, much nicer than sitting in a cabin and watching it on TV
although they were also shown there.

They also have enrichment type activity, they offered pottery class and
computers classes. I know they charged for computers classes and I presume
they also charged for pottery. Computer classes were 1 hour classes on using
various programs like Power Point or Word and were in area of $20 a class. I
didn’t attend any of the sessions both because the offerings were more a
basic level and also I figured if they couldn’t run there own computer
operation they had no business charging to teach anyone anything.

Before I start up on their internet system I’ll point out that shows are
shown both in Princess theatre and in the universe show lounge. While both
are comfortable the show lounge has horrible line of sight problems, big
columns and such. I would get there early to find a good seat to see the
stage from.

Several lounges had entertainment at night and games in day. Overall I think
there was plenty to do for those that wanted to remain busy. For those that
just wanted to relax and read by pool or get some sun there was no problem.
The Coral Princess has two pools, one ADULT only with a retractable roof.
This is also where they ice cream bar is located ( extra charge ). The roof
remained closed for the trip which made the area somewhat stuffy and
sunless. When asked they said that they open the roof in port, however, they
did not. The other mid-ship pool has plenty of seating, lounge chairs and
table and chairs.

This ship also has a very nice Promenade deck which is nice since so many
new ships have eliminated having and expansive Promenade area. There were
also numerous lounge chairs on the Promenade making for a great area to sit
and read away from pool activities and the hustle and bustle of open deck.

Internet

Well just can’t say enough bad things about their internet café or wireless
system, pure frustration. You would think that I ship that is only something
like two years old would have a large internet system built into it.
Actually the internet cafe is contains only about 10 terminals broken into
two sections. Several of the stations were prominently marked out of service
and those that were not I saw several people have a problem getting them to
accept their room cards for payment. When and if you did get on they were
slower than anything I have seen since 2600bd dialup and Commodore 64’s. If
you ask they would claim that the satellite must be in a bad location. YEAH
RIGHT! I have used internet services on several ships in past two years all
worked reasonably well. Either their equipment is really bad or their
computer people are bad. I know not which. Since everything onboard and
their precious onboard revenue stream all are computer regulated ( and
apparently worked well, they didn’t have any problem getting any of my
charges on the bill fast ) it would be expected that their computer people
are of high caliper. That leaves either they just don’t care or are so
network point of sale oriented that they no little about other areas.

WIRELESS was worse! Their system was not only slow but it was their own
machine that was slow to let you establish a connection. Meaning that long
before you were trying to connect to internet you have to connect to your
account on their machine. That took forever. Then instead of like on most
ships being able to buy a decent BLOCK of time you could only purchase
blocks of 30 minutes. To do that you had to go to the Pursers Desk and get a
paper card with two id numbers and enter them into the computer. Then you
had to get another one and add that time again to the computer. I didn’t
even get connected during the first 30 minutes when my time EXPIRED. To
their credit I was given another 30 minutes no charge. They give you three
pages of instructions just on how to add time to your account, geez, join
the new tech age.

If that wasn’t all bad enough the signal cannot be received in the internet
lounge, only directly under it in the lobby and Pasterrera lounge area and
then signal is often weak or merely good. This also means no plug in station
so you must operate on battery. That would be okay if system wasn’t slower
than molasses I guess. Going to download my mail which would take about 30
seconds at home on DSL, and usually about 1 to 2 minutes on ships I have
sailed previously, would take about 11 to 15 minutes. Upload your outgoing,
well just go buy another 30 minute card, you’ll need it.

There were several laptop users and we often sat around the lobby shaking
our heads in frustration waiting a quarter of an hour to download 5 or 6
short text messages. I would hate their system if it was FREE! Funny while
in port I could hit the Carnival ships network and get their account webpage
in seconds. Of course without an account was no help. NO the Princess system
needs to be entirely redone. Maybe now that Carnival owns them they will
eventually put in the same system that they and NCL use which works pretty
good. In the meantime don’t count on internet ability….

Staff

All staff I had dealing with were great, friendly, helpful, and smiling. No
complaints on their staff or crew. Since how happy and helpful staff are is
the biggest factor to a good cruise this made for just that a good cruise.
The Pursers desk had plenty of staff and all remarkably helpful, something
you don’t always see on a ship.

NOTE: Although mentioned no where! One morning I went down to lobby looking
for a Times Fax to read. Seeing none I inquired with the Pursers desk. No
problem, pushed a button and printed me out a 3 page Times Fax. Then asked
if I would like one delivered to my cabin each day, no charge. I did of
course. Recent ships I have been on did have such service but charged for
it. It was nice to see that they do not, but heck, give them time.

Casino

I liked the casino on the Coral Princess, not to big not too small. Lot’s of
quarter machines, enough dollar machines, a bank of nickel machines, and
even a row of machines that you can set for $5 to $25 a pull. Caribbean
poker a couple of blackjack machines and some poker type game. As far as
winners, yes there were some. Watched one guy hit two jackpots on different
machines within minutes, each paying over a grand. Can’t complain myself
either. First night hit a dollar machine for $500, second to last night hit
another dollar machine for $1000 so I actually came home a little up about
$150 which is unusual for playing at sea.

Ports

Normally I don’t do much in ports or comment on it much because I have been
to the same Caribbean ports so many times. This time one of the calling
cards for taking this cruise was the Panama Canal itinerary.

Limon – tours were cancelled as when we got there the weather and waves were
not conductive to tendering. The Captain waited awhile and since there was
no improvement we headed off back to sea.

The passage through the canal was fabulous. After exiting locks we anchored
briefly in Gatun Lake where our group was tendered to shore for the Gatun
Locks and Ganges River Rainforest tour ( 3 ½ hr ). First we taken over the
locks and to an area where we got on a small boat and sailed the river. Then
returned to the locks where our ship was again passing through. This time we
watched from observation area on land. Finally we were transported to a pier
about 20 minutes away to await the Coral Princess’s arrival. There while we
waited in a nice new mall containing shops, dancers, and a straw market. It
was a great tour. As our ship sailed in ( great photo op ) and docked it was
greeted by us, the dancers in Panamanian garb, and numerous Panamanian
Indians which included topless young ladies and near naked young men. Not
something you see everyday when cruising.

We also took the Stingray swimming tour at Grand Cayman. We had done this
some years ago and it was great doing it again. We were tendered into GC and
then bussed to a pier where we got onboard an open deck boat with Captain
Reid and Estoban. It takes about 25 minutes or so to reach the sandbar and
we were lucky enough to be the first boat there that day which meant we
could anchor in a good spot. You enter the water which on the sand bar is
about 3 to 5 feet deep and Captain Reid and Estoban brought out a bucket of
squid pieces to attract the stingrays. You can take a piece and the
stingrays will glide over your hand in the water and suck it out of your
hand. We spent almost an hour on the sandbar then returned onto the boat for
the ride back to town. Vests were mandatory but did not have to be inflated.
Snorkel gear was available if you wanted it.

In Cozumel we shopped all day.

So we were extremely happy with our cruise and itinerary. We had waited many
years to do this particular itinerary and we were not disappointed.

Disembarkation

Yes every cruise must come to an end, sad but true! Princess handled
disembarkation very well. Unlike recent sailings on other lines, Princess
did not welcome you to stay in your cabin until called nor did they offer
room service on departure day. Both of these recent touches but other lines
are greatly welcomed but not to be on the Coral Princess. However no one
pushed for you to be out of the cabin either! We went to the dining room for
breakfast, open seating on departure day. Hours were something like 7 to
8:30 am. The buffet area was open as well but we have traditionally gone for
breakfast in the dining room on disembark days. A full breakfast of omelet
and egg choices etc was offered with one exception. The first time that we
have not seen eggs benedict on the morning menu. Since this is also a
tradition we were somewhat disappointed but not so much that we were upset
or anything over it. We did inquire of the waiter about getting them, he
left for the kitchen and then returned with apology that it was not
possible. Oh well.

Next we returned to our cabins and awaited our color being called for
disembarkation. This appeared to be mainly by deck. We were off the ship in
an orderly manner between 9:30 and 10:00 am. Porters were readily available
in the baggage area and luggage was easy to find since it was separated by
not only color but also number. We were Aqua #2 this made for smaller
groupings to sift through. The first time we have seen both color and number
used and it works well. All the lines should adopt this method.

Out to the buses area having bought transfers while onboard. A short 10
minute or so ride to FLL airport and that was that.