Brisbane -New Zealand Return

Item: Coral Princess
Rating: 4.7
Author: emmas71

Coral Princess Cruise Review

emmas71

Contributor Level: Second Mate

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 4

Helpful Votes: 94

Overall rating:

4.7 out of 5

14 Night New Zealand (Brisbane Roundtrip)

Sail date: February 06, 2023

Ship: Coral Princess

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: B735

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

Beautiful ship with loads of space and plenty of pool choices. Well looked after by medical, guest and room services after hubby tested positive on 12th and myself on the 17th. Reimbursed drinks packages for the isolation days and missed 2 x ports.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

The embarkation for Group A was expected to open at 12 however opened early about 11-40 and we were on board by 12:15. When we first arrived we dropped our bags off to the bag drop area and had a wander around the lovely parklands and enjoyed the sight of our ride for the coming 14 days. People carry on about wanting shops etc but realistically, people are too busy pushing into lines worried they’ll miss out on getting on board. My one suggestion to the organisers would be to have very clear lines for each time group and along side those, a seperate lines for the priority boarders within each time frame. That might stop the pushing and shoving and dirty looks.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

As late risers, we decided to treat ourselves to the Sanctuary on sea days for the afternoons so we enjoyed being served a variety of Bento box style lunches. Everything fresh and lots to choose from. Main dining room dinners we ate predominately at Provence We enjoyed Sabatini’s and Bayou Cafe and Grill on 2 seperate occasions. Service at all was spot on and food was fresh and plentiful.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

We don’t go for on board activities, preferring to spend our time pool side reading and watching the views

Entertainment

4 out of 5

Live performers were of good quality and variety. Beven Addinsal singer is a form personal favourite and he did not disappoint

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Room Steward was very welcoming and accommodating. He actually got the week off from cleaning our room as we ended up with Covid, but was always prompt when we requested fresh robes, sheets and towels, We used lots of room service the 2nd week of our cruise due to being in isolation. That was a knock and drop the tray on the table situation and we returned the tray and employ plates and used the app to request tray pick up

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

This was our first time of this ship and this is our favourite so far. Despite being the oldest in the fleet, it feels both fresh and cosy with lots of little rooms and couches for sitting and watching the world go by. No issues getting a lounger poolside and plenty of entertainment venues Everything was clean.. probably only design flaw is the small size of the international cafe and it’s proximity to the casino , meaning the cafe felt almost airport waiting room

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

We had treated ourselves to a balcony with the last of our 2020 cancelled cruise credits and enjoyed the extra space. The cabin was clean as always and we requested robes on the first day which were promptly delivered. We let our steward know we generally did not require an early morning tidy as we tend to sleep in, so we would come home from spending the afternoons out and come back to a freshened room

Ship tip

If embarking from a port close to Home ( no luggage weight restrictions ) consider donating some books to the onboard library.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Auckland, New Zealand

5 out of 5

We’ve been to Auckland many times so did not do an excursion. We headed up to Federal street to the Federal Deli for the best sandwiches in Auckland and wandered back to the ship.

Thumbs Up 0

Brisbane, Australia

4 out of 5

Embarkation Port. Clean and tidy and easy enough to get an Uber or a taxi too. People need to realise this is a working port entrance instead of demanding a Westfield shopping centre. Time your arrival correctly and there’s minimal time for waiting around anyway

Thumbs Up 0

Tauranga, New Zealand

5 out of 5

This is one of the prettiest ports. We did not do an excursion, instead we bought ourselves a 90 minute massage and entry to the Hot Pools at the base of Mount Manganui. This is about a 20 minute casual walk from the ship.

Thumbs Up 5

Cruise Fjordland National Park

5 out of 5

What an incredible sight this scenic cruising opportunity is. We had beautiful blue skies and mostly fairly calm seas. Like the Grand a canyon, pictures of the scale and beauty of this area don’t give it justice

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

Having Covid, we along with a surprising amount of others- I would guesstimate 2-300 people, were directed to not leave our cabins until 9:30am and make our way to the Explorers a lounge. It rapidly filled and we end up in the International cafe. A slight delay while they removed medical blocks from our medallions and we were off by 10:30 and home by 11:00. ( the benefits of living close to the port) Despite the next cruise passengers receiving emails and text messages that their embarkation was pushed back an hour ( first group now 1pm) was surprised at how many people were already there waiting to board and piling out of various transport modes..they were going to be in for a long wait

Traveler Photos

Balcony- looking towards the Brisbane river mouth

Tuna and avocado bento box- lunch in the Sanctuary

13 Comments

Ladyjunecliff 1 year ago

What an experience. Good to know you have FCC. If you have to be isolated, a balcony room helps a whole lot! I like the part where you dressed up in your room. Booyah!

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deconz 1 year ago

Thanks great review

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javawoody 1 year ago

Thanks for sharing your experience

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Ship2Shora 1 year ago

Thanks for the detes😎

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AuntPinkie 1 year ago

Hope you are both feeling better. Appreciate your detailed and informative review. Great itinerary (even if you missed part of it). Happy to hear that Princess treated you well. Glad you enjoyed your cruise in spite of the situation.

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Gwbigdog 1 year ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise

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RetiredRay 1 year ago

We loved the Coral, was saddened she was sent over there.

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walte27f 1 year ago

Thanks for sharing

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karlgrgurich 1 year ago

Wow…that’s really great to hear that you enjoyed your trip that much and made the very best of it. I’m glad you got to stay in your cabin…that’s what I would want. I love the balcony cabins. I’m also impressed and pleased that Princess continues to provide those refunds. That’s the way to keep their guests happy and coming back. Enjoy your next cruise too!!

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emmas71 1 year ago

@Kargrgurlich. It wasn’t hard to stay positive despite not being out and about as planned but we looked at it as a win, we had been lucky enough to have treated ourselves to a balcony with the last of our 2020 cancelled cruise credits so we had great views ( the weather was overcast for most of the week we were in isolation so we set up our hammock and enjoyed the scenery from comfort of own room. The day we went through the Fjordlands we were blessed with blue skies and minimal wind so that was a real treat where many cruises have to give this part of the tour a miss. We celebrated my birthday on the 18th with breakfast in bed, cocktails and we dressed up as it was formal night. Yet again Princess was incredibly generous and we have been given FCC for the week so our 2020 cancelled honeymoon cruise is the gift that keeps on giving, and that’s on top of the drinks package $ refunded for those days despite us still being able to order cocktails.

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emmas71 1 year ago

@Poolie…yes was the Rueben…. So tasty!,

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karlgrgurich 1 year ago

Thanks for your review..sorry you had to miss out on some of your cruise due to isolation. Sounds like you were able to stay in your original cabin, and weren’t moved to an isolation ward. Glad to hear of your reimbursements.

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Poolie 1 year ago

I'm going to guess you had the Reubens sandwich?!

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Other reviews of this sailing

An amazing cruise as always