Coral Princess Cruise Reviews - Reviews

This cruise was a lot of fun and very educational. Cruising through the Panama Canal was an incredibly exciting experience. The ship was excellent, the staff were very friendly and helpful.

Come back a new! very relaxing, great weather, good service. Food not excellent as on prier cruises but still good.

Had a wonderful time. Have cruised the last 4 cruises on the same ship, so this was a treat getting to explore a different ship!

so worth it. enjoyed the experience. I have wanted to see the Panama Canal since I was a kid in the 1960's

Cruise of a lifetime it was amazing. Made wonderful memories!

D218 We just returned from the 15 day ocean to ocean Panama Canal Cruise (SF to Fort Lauderdale). We traveled with two other couples and had an amazing experience. The ship was clean and well maintained. The decor was very nice. Our bed was very comfortable! Our room stewardess was the best! She took great care of us. Always smiling and ready to help! In fact the entire staff was top notch. They all seem to enjoy what they do. Our fellow passengers were fun to get to know. We didn’t encounter any grumps. Food; excellent! We ate dinner in the main dining room. The buffet was great too. We recommend the Bayou Cafe specialty restaurant for an extra special meal. We also enjoyed lunch a few times in Sabatinis Alfredo’s pizza (no extra charge for lunch) Entertainment: The best cruise ship entertainment we’ve ever seen on a cruise ship. From the Coral Princess singers and dancers and band, to the guests they brought in. The comedians were belly laugh good! We didn’t get to stop in Nicaragua unfortunately, as the winds were too strong to tender in at this port. This was disappointing, but we understand why this happened. Obviously they cannot control the weather. We had so much fun we booked our next cruise to Hawaii next year.

We chose this cruise to go through the Panama Canal and it ended in San Francisco which is home for us. The ship, Coral Princess, had been in dry dock for 12 days prior to our cruise and the contractors were not finished with the upgrades such as new carpet and flat screen TVs in the rooms. Nice upgrades, but there were rolls of carpet about the ship and painting still being done. Embarkation was delayed for 4 hours as the ship was late coming from dry dock so we sat in the waiting area until we could board. Our cabin had a new TV and the room was thoroughly functional, but the wi fi was not working properly and there were tech's throughout the ship working on it. Cosmetically the ship was not up to the standards we have experienced on Princess. For instance there were speaker covers sitting on the floor in the Princess theater and seats around us were broken and wobbly. Our cabin was a balcony unit and other than the minor cosmetics we were overall happy with it, it was clean and the bed was comfortable. Dining was excellent, the food was great and a nice variety to chose from. The dinners were a little long, averaged about two hours to finish our meals. We had the early seating for dining, the shows are staggered so we could still see them after dinner. We really enjoyed the Production show, well done. The guest entertainers were excellent, I recommend seeing them, comics, magicians, singers. Lots of activities daily on the ship, we never got bored. The service was excellent, the crew is friendly and works hard. We took a shore excursion at every port through Princess and they were well organized. Only drawback is on ports where you tender in took a long time waiting in tender lines both coming and going. Some ports were short on time and some of it wasted waiting in line. Guests we dined with took the Whale Watching by Zodiac in Cabo San Lucas and they really liked it, said it was fantastic and they saw about 30 whales and several were up close. If we are able to do this cruise again we plan on doing this excursion. This was a great cruise and we would do it again (probably will in a few of years).

Our deluxe balcony cabin was great. No sofa in this category, but didn’t need one. Large balcony on the Caribe deck which is nice (half is covered by balcony above which provides shade over sliding door). The other half always seemed to have the perfect amount of sun. The fridge kept our items really cold. The blow dryer worked well enough that I didn’t use my own that I brought. Safe was small (standard size) and would maybe fit a standard IPad. Shower was standard (probably too small for people on the larger side). It did have the clothesline which is a plus to hang hand washable undies and bathing suits that you could do in the sink. We always bring travel size laundry soaps and clothespins just for this reason. Bed seemed new and quite comfortable (best ever on a cruise for us). Our cabin steward Gil was fabulous! Absolutely no noise from cabins above, under, or next door.

Absolutely exceptional, an experience I will always remember. I loved learning about the Panama Canal and seeing the wild animals in Costa Rica. The staff on the boat always said hello and offered a smile when walking by and it made a difference.

Well we are on it now cruising the canal. To call it a curate’s egg is an understatement. It was in dry dock for a couple of weeks before we boarded; and as far as we can see they spent this time fitting new TVs in the cabins and little else. We are now day 14 of 15 and they are still painting parts of the ship. If I were anyone coming on the next cruise I would call them and ask them whether repainting will be happening then as well. Don’t expect them to do anything about it whilst you are onboard. Customer services has one poor girl trying and the rest are a joke. Don’t waste your time with them and feel free to cite this example of someone wasting well over 3 hours of time “interfacing” with the supervisory team for an end product of a comp Italian experience of dubious value. It was also late leaving Miami by a good 4 hours. Evidence again of it not being ready to cruise. Dining Tables were not assigned until night 2 and they have no Mondavi cab sauv on board at all (despite enticing you into the drinks package with “fine Mondavi wines”. The first ensemble theatre show was not until day 7 and they have cut most 10.30pm shows with no explanation. None of these problems are dream-destroying but they are frustrating when you’ve paid good money. Princess are not the first company to get too big to quick and have great people interfacing with clients on deck backed by poor (mis) management. Check your bills carefully and regularly because they do not spot any mistakes: the onus is on you. We know of people spending a whole day/night without a shower and having to wash in the sink. Don’t get me started on how they reacted to our disabled Mothet

This ship does not execute well. Poor “show” with many departments trying to up sell guests. Dress code (formal nights) a total joke. We felt stupid bringing tuxedo and gowns. Cunard (also Carnival owned) does a great job enforcing their dress code. Passenger demographic older, and unsophisticated. Observed many people starting to drink at 9AM with buckets of beer. We would consider Princess again only based on itinerary. Balcony value no more than $100-125 per person per night.

Internet performance sucks. Extremely expensive and so slow as to be practically unusable. I have talked with internet manager and customer service. They insist it is as advertised. I disagree strongly.

Our favorite cruise of nine, even though now three times through the Canal. But Excursions and Entertainment were best yet. We have not have much luck with previous excursions, but these all hit the spot. Great cruise with Princess!!!

The servers /waiters we had and the Traditional Dinning were outstanding and keep us well supplied in food and drink. Our stewart was exceptional. The entertainment was top notch. Just never really liked the shore excursions. With the amount of money you pay it would be better not to bee rushed all the time.

Coral Princess, 06 Jan-21 Jan 2019, San Pedro to Fort Lauderdale via Panama Canal. First the bad, yes the ship shows signs of wear, but what do you want for a ship going into refurbishment after our trip? The crew was working on things so unless you are a real nit picker, it really was not that bad (about a dozen seats in the theater were broken? Rusted out areas?) but I did not mark anything down. Hopefully the next group will have a fresh ship. Bedding, our bed had one mattress that had a 3 inch or so dip, BEFORE putting weight on it. But the steward had that changed out within a few hours of our complaining. Smaller ship than we are used to, so there was some adjustment for the strange traffic patterns like elevators and passageways, but nothing that an intelligent person should mark down since it was a matter of learning routes and knowing where things are. The international cafe was in an odd area, small, and not as good as the other ships we have been on, that was worth a quarter point off. The Atrium (Piazza) was poorly designed for the few entertainment venues held there, more of a nexus for the stairs, shops, and services. Anytime dining tended to have a line, but then this trip was mostly older folks who eat early. The good. The aft pool was covered, nice for the cooler days and help prevent sunburn during the hot days. Horizon Buffet, small, but a nice linear layout with a large selection of hot items (I ate more hot lunches on this trip instead of just making a salad). Usually the buffet also had several ethnic dishes and often a curry dish I liked, and several times large shrimp from the grill. And after about 2PM, chips, guacamole, and salsa (on the days they left out the quac, I asked and received it). Had good to great service there. Dinner was mostly great, food was much better than our last trip on the Caribbean. Granted there were ho hum days, but even then I had a lot I liked (2-7 appetizers and all but two times a main + desert?). Actually gained some weight on this trip[ despite all the stairs I did (up to 38 flights a day). We got the same table every night and the table assigner started telling us “Go to your table”, loved it! Our server, Lorina, was excellent Evening main shows were mostly ranged from very good to excellent (“On the Bayou” and “Encore” were excellent), one good, and two fair (the comedian, Scott Wyler, and juggler, Mark Nizer, were not very good). Still lacking late morning and early afternoon music. One thing I enjoyed were the enrichment lectures by Dr. Angel Colon, ranging from various medical breakthroughs in history to art and environmental. And the Blue Jade Band was very enjoyable. Actually had several tours we took that we enjoyed a lot, the Getsemani walking tour was very informative. Embarkation and disembarkation all went very smooth and fast (but then we are elite level). Due to lack of formatting in this, I am just going to finish and say - GREAT TRIP, well worth the cost.

This was a delightful cruise from Los Angeles to Fort Lauderdale. We most enjoyed the excursions in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Panama.

Just completed the Canal transit Los Angeles to Ft Lauderdale on Coral Princess, ship is now in dry dock for updates, would have ranked a 5 post dry dock I’m sure. Overall it was a great experience, boarding in San Pedro, CA was a breeze. Stayed in a suite this trip and definitely worth the perks (breakfast at Sabattinis and the new Club class dining), and the extra space on a 15 day cruise. The ship was in need of some maintenance so glad they have it in dry dock now but it didn’t curtail out experience. Dining and entertainment was consistent with other Princes cruises and having the smaller ship made it easier to get around. We went on Princess booked excursions in every port, we like the no stress booking through them. Puerto Vallarta snorkel and beach trip was great, the stop in Huatulco, Mexico outdid my expectations, we did a boat tour of the 5 bays and you’ll be shocked how many wide open public beaches are there along the coast and near the port, some only assessable by boat or hike. The river raft tour in Costa Rica was the highlight of the trip, not to strenuous by not felt either, we saw everything advertised including some large Crocs on the shoreline (don’t worry, they are more afraid of you) the tour guides were awesome and took their time to point out everything, monkeys, birds, Iguana etc. after floating down the river the bus brings you back to the starting point for lunch, beef or chicken and beers were only $3 US. San Juan del sur required a tender and we did a short bus tour to the lake, a farm and a church, not much to do overall and still seems to be some tension politically. Panama City was great, the pope is coming to town soon and you could see the planning going on, we did a downtown walking tour with time to shop. The canal transit was awesome, and the weather was quite warm, we started into the canal around 6:30 and completed it around 4pm, the excursion director commented throughout the journey, sitting out on deck was perfect but it’s a small ship so easy to walk to other spots. Cartagena was a treat as well, looks like Miami as you pull into port, we did the hop on hop off bus and that worked out perfectly, did a full loop in about 90 minutes to get the lay of the land and then walked solo in the old city, lots of vendors in your face in the old town area. Overall good experience and for those traveling after dry dock it should be even better. Staff on the ship were super friendly and attentive.

Really enjoyed the Coral Princess. Although we were not full, there were no long waits in lines. Pretty quiet ship overall. Nice decorations for Christmas. All and all I’d sail her again...perhaps Alaska.

The cruise was wonderful. It was restful and exciting and fun. Can't wait to do it again.

Would like to be able to buy internet minutes. I find $24.99 per day too expensive. I would also like the pictures to be cheaper. I find $25 per picture to expensive.