Crew Excellent but Princess Is Nurturing Some Problematic Policy Issues
Coral Princess Cruise Review to Panama Canal, Central America
10 Night Panama Canal Partial Transit (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)
Sail date: March 26, 2016
Ship: Coral Princess
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: B637
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 8 years ago
Review summary
This was our 10th cruise with Princess. We love the feel of the ship, the freedom of small venues, great places for dancing, attitude of employees. The Coral had all those things going. The Problems:
(1) Stomach flu hit our family the week before this cruise, my wife the day before departure (nausea, vomiting, fever). We had to decide between canceling or catching the ship in Aruba. We opted for Aruba. Delta was great in helping. In talking to someone at the enroute office, I was told catch the ship in Aruba, and to bring a letter from the physician. Rich told me that gratuities would not be charged for days we weren't on board, and the captain had choice to gift per diem shipboard credits for days we missed. Admin was great about welcoming us, however the cabin hadn't been cleaned and the bed had been slept on. When I took the letter and went to the Burser's desk, I was treated with an attitude that I was trying to cheat Princess, and received nothing for response, only a condescending attitude. While attitude was better in dealing with Customer Relations, policy was not. Lesson: if you have the flu a day or two before traveling, suck it up and climb on board as Princess has no desire to address this issue.
(2) Anytime dining is not anytime. First night on the ship, dining room at 6 and were told to get in a line (40 minutes) or come back at 8 pm. Reservations were available between 8 & 8:15 each morning for 5:15 or 5:30, or 7:15 & 7:30. There is a seating problem, and anytime dining is a myth.
(3) The sanctuary, small pool on three levels is a pay availability ($20 half day or $40 full day). From people who used the rear three decks, I was told they never saw more than a half dozen people in the area. That area has been adult only, or reservation only, but this was first time there was an upcharge. It is the equivalent of airline baggage and snack charges. Princess needs to do better. I wanted to take a picture passing through the Panama Canal off the back of the ship from this area, and was not even allowed a photo. Only one of four decks were available off the back of the ship.
(4) We found spotty smells on the ship, smell of old plumbing problems lingering. These were mostly entering theater on right hand side, and hallway near midship on Baja starboard side.
These things said, the food and service was wonderful on most of the ship. Excursions were good and necessary in Columbia and transiting the canal. Local tours work in Limon or Jamaica, or consider renting a car with others and going to Blue Hole (up White River) for a fun spot. Avis was good.
While having been loyal to Princess over the years, we are looking at Celebrity or Holland for next cruise.
Larry
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
9 Comments
Gwbigdog 2 years ago
Gwbigdog 2 years ago
jrizzo 8 years ago
larrybcoleman 8 years ago
Cruise Tim: I can unpack the issues around a decision. We followed a physicians advice, delayed boarding. My point, as is clear by the title of the review, is that Princess by their "policy decisions" for treating illness situations is encouraging, often leaving as an only option, "if you are sick, and delay boarding for others, don't expect the cruiseline to be appreciative. Princess will take your money, & bill you for unused services. That policy in fact encourages people with the flu "to suck it up, and get on board." When Princess has their next round of norovirus, their policy will contribute to it. That is my criticism of the cruiseline. Burser's office wasn't even interested in looking at the physicians report. If you get sick on a cruise, it may not be simply your fellow passenger's issue, it might be "Princess Policy."
CrusinTim 8 years ago
Larry, I'm sorry you were given the bad treatment by Princess and misled. But, if your family was sick one week prior to the cruise, and your wife got sick right before the cruise, wouldn't it have been better to just cancel the cruise, get a refund and rebook for a later date when everyone wasn't sick? Why would you want to go through the extra hassle of flying to Aruba and missing the first days of your cruise? My point is that regardless of if you feel Princess encourages boarding when your sick (which I don't agree with) or not, why would anyone want to sail and take a chance of others getting sick? We use CruisesOnly as well and always get the Leisure Care coverage and thankfully only had to use it once. We got a full refund in about 4 weeks and used that money to rebook a future cruise.
larrybcoleman 8 years ago
to Cruisin Tim: Had travel insurance purchased through Leisure Care at time of booking through CruiseOnly.com. Their option was cancel the whole cruise, or nothing. That is why I called Princess. Princess on the phone through the enroute option encourage later boarding, but once onboard, their policy is "your problem" and no adjustment. Options are: Cancel, eat the loss, or push to get onboard. Given Princess's policies, they encourage the suck it up and get onboard option.
CrusinTim 8 years ago
" Lesson: if you have the flu a day or two before traveling, suck it up and climb on board as Princess has no desire to address this issue. ". ARE YOU SERIOUS? As opposed to getting cruise insurance as so to cancel your cruise, your going to chance getting other passengers sick because your selfish? Please PLEASE never be on a ship I'm sailing on!!! Folks, if your sick when your due to board, STAY HOME! Please don't ruin my cruise. With cruise insurance and a letter from your doctor, you can get a FULL REFUND!!!
dcaland2001 8 years ago
tmunzert 8 years ago