Coral Princess Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Enjoyed the Panama cruise starting February 26, 2017. Staff was great, ship was nice, and destinations were spectacular. My only negative comment was the temperature onboard the ship...it was very warm in most areas of the ship, including lounges, casino, theater, and most importantly our cabin. I had Maintenance take the temperature of our cabin in the evening past sundown and it was 74.5 degrees. They said it was the coolest they could make a balcony cabin...we were pretty uncomfortable the whole time. The front desk did apologize and brought a small fan to the room (one of only two they had on the ship) and bottle of Champagne. Having cruised 21 times before, we know this is not normal for a cabin. If you prefer a cooler cabin, particularly while sleeping, you may wish to bring a small personal fan with a clip-on. We heard others with a balcony cabin (including my sister next to us) comment on the same heat issue (she received the only other fan and a bottle of wine). We also heard others with an inside cabin that it was too cold. Not a deal breaker at all...just something for which to prepare. Enjoy!

Firstly...the staff is wonderful.  Very nice and always accommodating. 

The food at dinner was always nice...great service.

What didn't work for us and why I probably will not cruise with princess again. 

Breakfast in Horizon at any time was like pigs at feeding time, food disorganized...which was the same for lunch buffet.  Went to dining room to be served for lunch and it took 2.5 hours.  

Not enough outside policies and even though it was stated no reserving of chairs...we watched 4 chairs empty with clips on them for over 4 hours one day...no enforcement!  

If you wanted to see a show you needed to get to venue over an hour before the show to get a seat.

Also...everything cost $$$$....such an emphasis on sell sell sell...we literally had crew begging us to sign with them for wine tastings...after saying we'd think on it...they pushed on while we were eating dinner.  

Excursions...they even nickel and dimed you for water...really?  You can throw in a couple of waters?  

The casino was a joke...those machines so tight..one knows your going to eventually lose...but playing for more than a couple minutes would be nice.   

We've got 10 cruises on Holland America...we hoped for a bit younger crowd, more manners and relaxation.   What we got was no mannered zombie eaters, ride people, not enough seats for pool and shows and nothing to do that didn't cost $$$$...for heaven sakes no go cost 50 bucks unless you wanted one paper card..and then they couldn't loan you a dauber...they cost 2.50...really?

We have a fall colors cruise booked this fall...doubt if the four of us will go. 

Thanks again

If it wasn't  for the high winds that closed two ports, this would have been a outstanding trip.  The ship had a guest lecturer onboard who spoke on the history of the canal and the country.  Very good.

Excellent food, spectacular service, great ports. Only down side (out of control of the cruise line) was a few very grumpy people who felt it was appropriate to yell at my children for splashing them in the family pool

Favorite part of cruise was the Panama Canal of course.

The Coral Princess is a nice ship, with a bit of miles on it, but overall in good shape.

The one area of the ship to stay away from is a bathroom by the Princess Theatre. The smell is just horrible, but one would just smell it when walking by. You cannot smell anything in the Theatre itself.

i absolutely would recommend this cruise and ship. Princess has some really good food.

We stopped at Aruba,  Cartagena Columbia,Panama Canal, Limon Costa Rica, and Grand Cayman. Princess Cruise Line was great. We met so many terrific people, both staff and cruisers. What a wonderful experience.

Embarkation was fantastic, didn't have to wait hardly at all. 

Buffet was very crowded, thankfully a Princess employee told us to find a seat before getting our food.  We had second seating in the Provence dining room and the service was good.  Portions are getting smaller and smaller though and we are a little shy about asking for a second entree.  We had a reservation on my husbands birthday for the Bayou Cafe and it was the best meal we had.  We both had Filet Mignon with a lobster tail and we were both shocked at the quality and size of both.  Their dessert was out of sight if you love peanut butter and chocolate.  We purchased a bottled water package before cruising and a coffee card.  We then enjoyed bottled water and lattes the entire time, very nice!

I like to play slots at the casino when we cruise and this being my 14th cruise I have seen some casinos.  This was, without a doubt, the smallest, worst casino for slots I have seen.  Old machines, half the amount I expected and one section of the casino was so hot that no one would sit long...therefore cutting the amount of machines even further.  I figured I'd save myself some money and normally would have been there everynight, but only went there 3 nights. 

The cruise director was so so.  You would see him in the Atrium and doing his morning show (which he taped the night before), but he hardly ever made any announcements, didn't say anything to us via announcement on our disembarkation.  All in all very lackluster. 

As far as the itinerary is concerned, the transit through the canal was the Best!  Worth the whole trip.  Started our day very early (about 6AM) on Deck 11 (the same deck our cabin was on) as we had access to the front of the ship from there.  We stayed there the whole time through the canal to the lake.  The other ports of call were fine, albeit a little short on time in Aruba, and Ocho Rios was lousy, but we had never been to Cartagena and Costa Rica and now we can say we have, however, the purpose of our trip was to see the transit and it was definitely enjoyable.

Panama Canal was our favourite. No videos can give it the reality.we had not been to Costa Rica or Colombia before apparently Pacific side and pacific side of Panama calmer and more beach like but we enjoyed the rain forest. Great cruise. Nice sized ship. Pleasant staff. 

Very comprehensive look at Canal.  

Really enjoyed our Coral Princess Cruise from Jan 7-17. Clean ship, really good food, wonderful staff, easy on, easy off. It was time to relax, read, some shows. Excursions were not our goal on this cruise. We did go horseback riding in Aruba. Wonderful experience. Went on a private food tour in Cartagena. And really enjoyed the Canal. We have sailed Princess over 200 days and are starting to see a bit too much selling and shopping on the program. And really see some drop in quality lectures: culture, nature, history.

This ship is smaller than most but it was built for the purpose of going through the Canal. I had been on the Grand last year and this was similar. My husband and I often questioned what people were talking about regarding the food. We found it delicious. There were 2 nights in the main dining room my husband didn't like his. But he doesn't like to waste food and ate it anyway. One, the fish was too salty, but he never had it before so maybe that fish is exceptionally salty? The last one was a Thanksgiving type dinner and the turkey was rubbery. Maybe he got the the bad pieces. Other than that, the specialty restaurants (Bayou, Sabitini's and the Crab Shack were marvelous) We only ate once at the buffet and that was for breakfast. I think if you steer away from the buffet, you'd really have nothing to complain about. Not that it was bad. But it is a buffet. 

The crew is amazing! The best. The Cruise Directors team made you feel like you were family and long time friends. Many of them, this was their last voiyage on this ship because their contract was up and they were off on other ships. The rest of the crew, even if you didn't know what they did, would pass and acknowledge you. This is not a glamorous job as one might think. They all work so very hard without a full day off. They get hours. Can't convey enough how wonderful they all are.

The ship I found in as good condition as one would expect. Yeah, maybe they need to update a bit, the carpet etc. You think about how much heavy traffic is wearing on those carpets.....it doesn't take long to wear out. They are always cleaning the ship. Even at 3 a.m they are cleaning while people sleep. There was a worry I had before sailing from what I had read from others and that was the sewer smell.   I did not smell the overwhelming stinch. In certain areas, I would smell something, but it didn't last. It was the same smell you would get in your cabins toilet. Again, nothing lasted.

They organize the excursions perfectly. They know what they are doing and do it smoothly. I cannot imagine booking my own excursions anymore after this trip. 

As soon as we boarded we went to the front desk and inquired about a ship tour. They only allow 14 people (if they are conducting one) and it is $150 pp. It was very interesting to go behind the scenes and see the bridge, the galley, photo office, printer, laundry...and more. It took about 3.5 hrs and you receive so many pictures, frames, robe, chef apron, personalize stationary...(I think that's it?) 

If i gave you any advice, it would be to PARTICIPATE in the games, contests, parties....to socialize with other guests. We had a blast because we did all that. We did the Newlywed Game and I entered the Voice of the Ocean. On top of other activities.  Oh, and I also suggest going this time of year. It was a slow time for the ports. Only once did we see one other ship docked. Places were not crowded. We  stayed 3 days in Fort Lauderdale afterwards and it was slow season there, too. Loved not having to waiting in lines or crowds. 

We found everyone very helpful. On the various tours we took, the bus drivers were well

informed about the area and were able to answer all questions. All the schedules were on time as well.

The ship offered many options to keep busy during the day.

Very well run.  All the employees were impeccably trained, service was top notch.  The stops in Ketchican, Juneau, and Skagway were done well and the tours were handled very efficiently.

We had great weather for cruising Glacier Bay and College Fjords for viewing the glaciers. 

We thoroughly enjoyed our Alaskan cruise with the Coral Princess. Great food and entertainment. Helpful and friendly staff and a very enjoyable and relaxing cruise.

Enjoyed the cruise tremendously but have to say we especially enjoyed the land portion of the trip that was provided through Princess.  Our destinations were excellent and great choices of things to do.  Our room was kept in very good condition thanks to Catherine.  Entertainment was also very good.

The cruise and the staff were top notch. We had a fabulous time. The excursions were appropriate, educational and fun. When we returned to the ship the staff treated us like royalty. Everything on the cruise was extremely well organized. The only area that needs tweaking is their website. It is too scattered and difficult to follow when planning. They need to have one organized checklist added so one can feel prepared. We would most definitely sail with Princess again. 

The Coral Princess is a beautiful ship.  Very well maintained, very clean.  Friendly staff throughout the ship.  Wonderful service.  So glad we took the land portion before we sailed.

I particularly enjoyed Glacier Bay and the Yukon Bus tour.  I thought the lunch buffet was not particularly enjoyable....the overall setting and types of food available were not appealing to me.  The ship had some water leakage issues early in the cruise but these were finally repaired.  Our staeroom was very nice....much better than I expected.

Tour itself was great.  Could not have asked for anymore. Wildlife was incredible. Fulfilled my expectations. Coral Princess seemed to be an older ship and was not really impressive. I have sailed on Carnival and Royal Caribbean and enjoyed a  more pleasant cruise with them. Princess is not bad, but could improve.

We enjoyed our trip to Alaska.  This was our 3rd trip there.  We have done a 3 day land-7 day cruise and a 7 day escorted land-7 day cruise in the past.  Enjoyed the views of the glaciers, whale watching and views of nature in general.  The only drawback was the buses after we left the ship did not get us to Vancouver Airport in a timely manner because of traffic.  When we got to the airport the kiosks would not accept our passports to give us our luggage tags.  Therefore we had to stand in a long line for customer assistance where there were only 3 people servicing the line.  We had a 10:30 flight.  Around 10 A.M. a woman asked if anyone had a 10:30 flight.  There were a couple of us.  She took us out of the line and started to work on getting us our luggage tags.  By then the system had already transferred to the desk in the back. She had to make a call to have them release the system back to her so she could get us our tags.  She then put a sticker on our ticket and we had to run to security and then to the gate.  We made that flight but 2 of our party of 9 did not.  When we arrived in Toronto it was a real nightmare as the walk was very long, there was no transportation to help get to our new gate and the chaos was unexcuseable. 

Voyage of the Glaciers is a must for young and old. It is awe inspiring. The only place I have been that compares is the Alps. I hope to go back again and take my family.