Coral Princess Cruise Reviews - Reviews

This cruise was excellent. The ship's staff was the best and most attentive and organized and caring group in all cruises we have been on in the past. This was our first cruise with Princess and I would recommend this cruise to anyone. We will choose Princess again.

This year my husband and I decided to celebrate our 28th wedding anniversary by going on another Princess cruise.  We chose the Panama Canal 11 day partial transit.  It was an experience I wouldn't have missed.  The weather was beautiful and the 5 different countries we visited were educational and lovely.  We visited Aruba, Columbia, Panama, Costa Rica and Jamaica.  Princess cruise lines have always been our top choice in cruising.  The Coral Princess ship is just the right size as the ship was not overcrowded.  Food was good and fresh in all areas we ate (buffet, the grill and the dining room).  Our balcony stateroom was clean but the size of the bathroom is quite small.  I would recommend the mini-suite for all cruises (we are going to try to afford the upgrade on all our cruises from now on).  The towels in the bathroom weren't the best quality.  The daytime entertainment (or lack of) by the pool was very disappointing.  Not much really was happening during our sea days.  However, every night there was good entertainment throughout the ship.  

The excursions were very reasonable in price and enjoyable.The seas were a little choppy and windy the first couple of days.

I would recommend this cruise - seeing the Panama Canal in action was quite interesting.  I always recommend Princess Cruise Lines.

The employees in the photo gallery took the greatest pictures of us while on board.  Lloyd the bartender next to the grill serves an awesome drink.  The woman in the ice cream area was very friendly and all smiles.  In fact all the crew members we encountered always had smiles.  This is one of the many reasons we choose Princess. 

The ship was excellent and the stateroom and dining room service was top notch. The itinerary was great, the level of service was perfect except for one restaurant, comments later. The shows were good and the entertainment is the bars also very good and we enjoyed the piano player/entertainer, Barty (Englishman) in the Crooners Bar. He was popular, warm and great fun each evening.

We went to the one 'fine-dining' restaurant which I think was called the Cajun Restaurant or a similar name. The staff here were not at all responsive. I think they were not busy and it made them lackadaisical in their approach to serving. I asked for ice-cream for desert as the deserts available were limited and did not interest me but was told there was no ice-cream. I found this amazing as it was available everywhere else on the ship. It was symptomatic of the attitude of the staff in that particular restaurant. I think it was a management failure because if it had been led well the staff would have been more attentive instead of gathering together for chats and not doing their job. The food here though for the main course and starter was excellent I have to say. They staff in the main dining room were incredible and did a magnificent job. The ship was immaculate and the rest of the service on board and all communication was very good. We enjoyed the trip and recommended this trip to two friends who joined us and booked through Cruises Only on our recommendation. We felt this was the best of our 14 cruises so far and we will do another one in the not too distant future and book with Cruises Only again as service is great and reliable which is what everyone relies on. One thing we must comment on though is the heavy marketing done by the ship in terms of constantly asking us to buy drinks with special offers. It was 'overboard' (excuse the metaphor), and I don't think the staff enjoyed doing it (most of them were not natural sales people) and it was obvious that they are pushed to do this to drive revenue. It's tacky and took away from the overall ambience...less drinks marketing...we're there ..we'll buy if we want to...don't push it - should be the message to Princess and other cruise ships who are all doing this now, although some less than others. 

The service and the staff were great, the whole experience of the Panama Canal was well worth the trip.  The only thing that I did not like about this trip was the fact that the buffet in the Horizon Grill was to small and the choices to take from was not that great.  I think that if the buffet was large a greater selection at meal time would satisfy the lack of choice.

The Panama Canal Cruise (partial transit) was very interesting and exciting.  The ship was smaller so it would fit through the Panama Canal but large enough to accommodate everyone. 

There were 5 ports in additional to the Panama Canal.  Ports included: Oranjestad, Aruba  • Cartagena, Colombia • Panama Canal (Cruise Into Canal) • Colon, Panama • Puerto Limon, Costa Rica • Ocho Rios, Jamaica.

The ship went through the Panama Canal from the Atlantic side.  If you are taking an excursion (like I did), you only go through the locks once – one way.  The rest of the ship goes back through the locks to the Atlantic Ocean.  At the end of the excursion, any one on an excursion meets up with the ship at Colon, Panama. 

Though I missed going back through the Locks, the excursion was worth it.  The excursion took you to the observatory of the Gatun Locks and to the new expansion of the locks still under construction.  The excursion allowed plenty of time at each site.

I did take excursion at all the other ports too.  And all excursions was through Princess.  There was one port, where 300 people on an excursion were not back at the time of sailing.  Princess did wait until everyone was on board.

The ship had great entertainment, lectures (really just talks with PowerPoint Presentations) on your next Port of Call.  And the food was yummy, and the service overall was excellent.

I did Anytime Dining.  No problem getting a table any night. 

I would highly recommend the Princess Coral to Panama Canal.

The Coral Princess was very comfortable, clean and well staffed.  The dining staff was excellent, the food was very good and the ports of call were very interesting.  The weather was perfect.

Everything was done very well.

overall a good cruise.  things I did not like:  sales presentations that interrupted dinner and lack of continuous music during cocktail hours of 5-7 pm.

The highlight of the cruise was the Panama Canal experience.  To learn more about the canal's past, present and future was exciting.  We took the excursion thru to Pacific locks and got an up close view of the locks and how they worked.  The briefings on board were wonderful and informative.  The other ports visited were good but what we expected.

The evening dining experience on Princess cruises is what makes us dislike this cruise line.  The entrees are uninspiring (example - Turkey Pot Pie and Kidney Bean something).  This was our second Princess cruise and what turns us off in wanting to cruise with the Princess Line.  We chose both cruises based on the itinerary.  The dining room experience is not what we expect from a cruise line.  Selections are limited and portions are small.  The best thing is the dessert menu.

Our choice for the best cruise line is Celebrity.

Trip itinerary was very good, Food fair to good but seldom very good , Fruits were tasteless, fish other than Salmon was poor ,sent snapper back it smelled very bad. Ship was in need of up dating . and entertainment was at best  fair. Also being pestered with mimosa's drinks was disturbing when eating --STOP IT  . Quality of employees was very good and very helpful. Now you need major management improvement in equiptment . 

Our cabin # 710 was interesting.  It was on a high deck, far aft, across from the guest laundry room, not too far from the stairs and elevator, and had no covering over the balcony.  I thought I wouldn't like the roofless balcony, but I ended up enjoying the full vista of the sky and sea both day and night and I spent a lot more time out there than on other cruises.  Issues arose right away, however.  The high, aft location created a constant engine vibration in the cabin.  I got used to the rock and rolling pretty quickly and it didn't affect my sleep, but my husband was bothered by it throughout the cruise and he spent far less time in the cabin than I did.  A worse problem developed as we traveled south.  The roofless balcony doors had no protection from the direct sun.  Even with the drapes pulled shut during the day, the A/C was unable to compensate.  It was ten degrees hotter during the day than at night.  The laundry room location was an asset.  It was not at all noisy in spite of the foot traffic and it was extremely convenient on those days I used the laundry.  CABIN GRADE: B-     The many interesting and educational activities on sea days that were directly related to the ports of call earned high marks.   We felt really connected and prepared whenever we disembarked to shore.  Princess excels in this area compared to other cruise lines.   ACTIVITIES: A+.  We were surprised, however, to see the same exact entertainment shows (same costumes, same sets, same everything) as on an Island Princess cruise we took a couple of years ago.  We still enjoyed the shows, but were surprised nonetheless.  ENTERTAINMENT: B;   FOOD: A- ;   RESTAURANT SERVICE: A+ (mainly because they were liberal in allowing guests to wear nice but casual clothing on formal nights).    OVERALL CRUISE: A  (The pros outweighed the cons and we had a very good time.) 

The cruise was relaxing and enjoyable. Embarkation went smoothly. The accommodations were nice and the bed was very comfortable. The crew was very nice and the entertainment was very good. Loved watching movies under the stars. My only disappointment was the food. The food was good but only once during a dinner service I was wowed by the meal. I was expecting much better prepared food from what i read about the reviews on Princess' food. The meals in the specialty restaurants lived up to their reputation and I greatly enjoyed them. Would I sail on the Coral Princess again. Probably not.

Ship was nice.  The meat was over cooked each time.  Too many old people on board with wheel chairs and walkers. This held up people.  Cabin was at the rear of ship, no good. We had to walk too much

Tours were too expensive.  There were lines for everything.  

We have sailed many time before.  We know good service from bad.  We were not happy campers! 

We had a great time.  Plenty to do onboard and off.  Staff was always smiling and helpful.  I joined the pop choir and N joined the line dancing group.  We are both trtivia buffs and there were trivia challenges 2 or 3 times a day.  Turned out that most of the passengers were seniors so we fit right in.  Food was always delicious.  I am not experimental with food but N tried everything, especially if it had an exotic name.

Beautiful ship, great staff & guests. Made new friends, enjoyed the stops. I did have an awful meal in your specialty steakhouse. Complained to the front desk about it and I wasn't the only one complaining! No response, none, no one ever got back to us. I seldom complain about anything. Very poor customer service. We should have received a refund. No flavor at all in the food there. On the other hand the food in the main dining room was excellent. Our waiter. Prince Albert Soni, his assistant and your Maitre'D, were the best I ever had. Kudos to them. Our room steward, Leonil was top notch as well. Rooms were beautiful, most comfortable bed I've ever had on a cruise. Smallest shower ever. I would recommend Princess to anyone.

It was nice to get away from the cold with temperatures in the 80's. The Coral Princess is a nice ship,although the cruise was fully booked,we never felt crowded.The staff was helpful and polite.On the down side,the tours is Panama were very expensive.There was a lot of emphasis on buying stuff onboard.The lectures were interesting and informative.

Nice staff but dining was poor. Anytime dining was a fraud. One could not go between 6-7:30pm and get seated. Attitude was felt from staff. Came down for breakfast on morning of return. My bags were sent night before. I had shorts and shirt without sleeves and maître d passed a comment to waiter who was about to seat me that I should not be seated. i was outraged. Told him so. Finally was seated. It really wasa stupid move by a classless man

the room service for breakfast was poor. You get more from McDonalds

in 8 cruises this was worst

The crew was wonderful, attentive, and always pleasant.   This was my fifth princess cruise.  To show their appreciation of my loyalty we were invited to a captains party.  It consisted of a couple songs from the princess singers, a very few words from the captain, and a very long video commercial of their new ships.  Upon leaving at the end of the presentation we were given a coupon for a free drink.  This was the only appreciation given for my loyalty.

Due to bad weather we were unable to see Limon, Costa Rica.  I know this was not the Princess's fault but they did nothing to make up for the passengers disappointment.  A complimentary drink would have shown compassion for the guests disappointment.

The entertainment with the exception of the two comics was mediocre.  The cruise director had the same activities planned everyday even when rough seas caused cancellations of some events.

Overall, I liked the ship.  The crew was wonderful!  But dining time was chaotic.  There were nights we had to wait an hour to get a table.  I've been cruising every year since 2006 and have never experienced this before.  If they get their act together, it would be a great cruise.

Enjoyed the cruise very much. Balcony stateroom was comfortable.  The food throughout the ship was excellent. Very friendly atmosphere on board. Would recommend this cruise for anyone interested. A little disappointed that we did not get to Costa Rica ( high swells prevented the ship from arriving, plus there was no alternate stop, so one less port).

Enjoyed the cruise.  Pleasantly surprised on how nice it was.  The food was good.  Loved our wait staff. Enjoyed talking to head waiter and really liked the porter.  I thought Panama Canal was wonderful.