We thoroughly enjoyed our cruise. We were fortunate to enjoy such lovely weather. If I was a jewelry or art shopper I think I would have felt even more excited about this cruise. We were really surprised at how much focus was placed on shopping for jewelry and the art auction. That would have been the last thing I would have expected on a cruise. Definitely a learning experience. It obviously was a hit for many cruisers were shopping and apparently finding just the right items. Just was not our focus.
The “enrichment presentations” were particularly interesting and enjoyable.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Organized but it seemed there were steps to be taken at several points along the way which we’re quite spread out and somewhat repetitious.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
The dining rooms were very nice. The food overall was very good. Food in the dining areas was very elaborate but quite honestly was not always as good as it looked and sounded. My husband had a filet one evening and it was a very tough stringy piece of meat - certainly did not taste like a filet. We liked the flexibility of the option of anytime dining and the “mingle” option to meet other cruisers.
We had breakfast and lunch in the Horizon Buffet because of convenience and the wide variety of foods available.
Onboard Activities
4 out of 5
The weather was a bit chilly for us to enjoy the pools. We did sit in the lounge chair on deck to enjoy the sun but had to keep lightweight jacket on. We did take advantage of line dancing classes that were fun. The venues were a little small for the number of participants who showed up.
Entertainment
4 out of 5
Good entertainment overall although we had hoped for more shows. We missed the show “On the Bayou” because we went to the comedy show- we heard that show was very good. I Had been told there would be Vegas style shows. We do not watch much TV and were less than excited about the focus of entertainment being on “The Voice” which was the highlight show of the cruise. We did not go to the finale - no interest in that type of show. We also had hoped there would be opportunities for ballroom type dancing- perhaps even lessons but they only had prerecorded music with the focus seeming to be on Latin music which is not our favorite. One evening we went to listen/dance to what was labeled as big band and we thought they were terrible. It seemed they had not played together before - they simply did not have it together and their focus was more jazz than big band for ballroom dance.
Children's Programs
No kids
Service and Staff
4 out of 5
Everyone was very friendly and helpful. I had preordered a case of water and they had told me it would be in the room when we arrived. It was not. It took three calls and two days to actually get the case of water delivered. Also, I had called down to request a couple bathrobes and it took another three calls and two days to get the Bathrobes delivered.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
We found the layout convenient. They definitely make an effort to keep things clean. We appreciated the requirement to wash hands prior to dining in the horizon court. Although there were hand sanitizers available in the buffet area, they were often empty and there did not seem to be anyone monitoring to be sure they were refilled. The other thing I noticed in the buffet dining area the staff clearing tables did not wear gloves handling all the used plates as they discarded food. These same staff would then handle fresh drinks for cruisers seated in the dining area. The same servers would set out clean silverware wrapped in napkins ensuring each table had napkins and silverware available. It makes me wonder how many germs are inadvertently spread from discarding food to placing clean napkins/silverware and serving drinks.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
This was our first cruise. We wanted to be conservative and opted to choose an economical cabin. We ended up being placed in a room in the middle of the ship on the lower level - had a nice window. It was well maintained, clean and very comfortable.
Ship tip
This was our first cruise. I think the Coral Princess was a good size ship for a newbie. It was very convenient to make our way around the ship to whatever we wanted to participate in.
We flew into Vancouver and ended up waiting several hours to go thru customs- very disorganized. Many kiosks were not being used because the folks guiding the incoming people did not instruct them to move forward to open kiosks toward the front. It was totally crazy to see so many open kiosks as we moved through to the front. The wait was totally inexcusable!
Beautiful-we had a friend in Juneau who loaned us a vehicle to tour Mendenhall Glacier and Auke Bay. Perfect weather. We took the Mount Roberts tram. Fabulous- we walked to the top and enjoyed a magnificent view.
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