Coral Princess®

Alaska

May

Pros: Great adventure. Met all our expectations.

Cons: Princess Air didn't work out for us.

Recommended: Yes

If you are arriving the day(s) before book your own airfare. I will never book through a 3rd party again.

Beautiful ship and super friendly crew

November

Pros: Ship size, space to passenger ratio, full circle Promenade deck

Cons: Food could be better

Recommended: Yes

I was onboard the Coral Princess for 32 days from Singapore to LA. The ship is lovely and a perfect size. She has lots of open space for passengers. I rarely encountered a crowd, except in the Horizon buffet which could get pretty crazy. I had most of my meals in the Provence dining room. We were well entertained throughout the trip. By both the onboard performers as well as the guest performers. Many wonderful talks and presentations also. I can highly recommend the Coral Princess. She is a beauty.

Fantastic experience

November

Pros: Excellent service

Cons: Wall art needs improvement

Recommended: Yes

We had a great time...interesting ports of call.

Coral Princess

October

Pros: The Coral Princess is an older smaller ship. Everything seems a bit more personal due to the size. You meet new friends frequently on board and finding your way around is easier. You really get the feeling you know staff and fellow travelers.

Cons: The Coral Princess is an older ship and shows some signs of aging but it doesn’t detract from the charm!

Recommended: Yes

We thoroughly enjoyed our ocean-to-ocean Panama Canal cruise!! We loved visiting the countries where we were in port.

alaska vacation

September

Pros: very helpful good service friendly

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

had a great time. would like to go again

Alaska Cruise

September

Pros: Staff, Entertainment, Luggage Transfers, Transfer details between ship, train, & hotels

Cons: Check in at the ship, food, out of date rooms

Recommended: Yes

Princess did a great job of movement of people and luggage between ship, trains, hotels, and airports. The ship had been updated but the staterooms were not, their was stains and chips in the shower pan, the shower curtain looked like it had mildew on the bottom of it, and the shower was always changing temperature from cold to hot. The food was not as good as previous cruises I had been on. The entertainment on the ship was great. The cruise director, our steward, and the rest of the staff were very professional and did a great job.

Inland passage

August

Pros: All I have is Pros.

Cons: No cons

Recommended: Yes

Our trip surpassed our expectations. Everything from our airline to ship transport to the excursions could not have been better. All of the crew members went out of there way to make our cruise the best. From the Captain on down.

We loved the view... good location.

June

Pros: Very relaxing, great staff, ship is older but still nice

Cons: Food was good but warm, never hot.

Recommended: Yes

It was my husband's first time on a cruise....he LOVED it. Princess was very organized boarding and disembarking...they made it easy. The staff were all so friendly and helpful...they definitely believe in customer service.

Alaska cruise and Denali on land

June

Pros: The whole cruise

Cons: Older ship

Recommended: Yes

The cruise including food, service, and the excursions was excellent. Going through the inside passage and seeing glaciers up close is amazing. Most of the excursions are expensive but well worth it. Especially flying in a seaplane over 5 glaciers! Staying in Denali was definitely a good decision. So much to see! 90% of Alaska is untouched and so beautiful. Lots of wildlife too!

Alaska/Coral Princess

June

Pros: great, friendly service

Cons:

Recommended: No

Old but Nice

June

Pros: Looking for a smaller cruise ship with not too many passengers

Cons: Coral Princess is dated, and is in need of repairs, but very nice overall.

Recommended: Yes

We traveled on the Coral Princess twice to Alaska. The first time was about 6 years ago, and it is showing it's age quite a bit. The balconies are very rusted and needing paint, but the overall condition of the ship is good.

fantastic

May

Pros: such a smooth transition from one point to another. Wonderful staff all around!

Cons: 5 ships in Ketchikan at once. very crowded!

Recommended: No

Superb entertainment

March

Pros:

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

All excitement in one whole package. Cruising is my kind of traveling, no worries just relax and chill out.

15 Day Panama Canal Cruise

February

Pros: The food was all wonderful!!

Cons: Due to weather were unable to see one stop, which is not their fault.

Recommended: No

Panama Canal Feb-Mar 2019

February

Pros: Great trip made easy with the planning and Princess Staff.

Cons: N/a

Recommended: Yes

Princess Cruise/Coral Princess

February

Pros:

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

I was a solo traveler. Wish meet ups for solo travelers would have been more organized as I was unable to locate other single travelers.

Coral Princess Cruise

December

Pros: Very friendly and helpful Club Class dining waiters and Cabin Steward!

Cons: Ship is in need of lots of repairs!

Recommended: No

The Coral is in need of a complete dry dock refurbish! Our bathroom had mold on the tile, a very worn mattress, frayed sofa and the drain at the balcony door was cracked and covered over which caused us to think we was falling through the floor when we stepped close to the door. This was not just our cabin - other guest had the same complaints! In the public areas of the ship the furniture was worn and dirty. To sum it up the ship is ready for a complete refurbishment to return it to an appealing "Princess Cruise Line" appearance! We was very pleased with the service, friendliness and eagerness to please from all the crew which made our cruise one to remember!

Can't wait to sail on Princess again

August

Pros: Cleanliness, service, entertainment

Cons: breakfast pastries, rolls, cookies and toast

Recommended: No

Great Family Vacation

August

Pros: Myriad of activities, something for everyone. Enrichment lectures, naturalists, trivia, Voice of the Ocean, good food, great staff

Cons: We find charging for soft drinks and espresso coffee drinks unwarranted. The onboard gym was too small to accommodate all those wanting to use it.

Recommended: Yes

Our family of 12, with ages ranging from 3, 16, 30's, 50's, 60's and 70's found something to do aboard the Coral Princess. From trivia, to Bingo, to enrichment lectures and naturalists onboard, even a book signing by Libby Riddles, winner of the Ididerod sled dog race, Zumba exercise classes, top notch entertainment team, to Voice of the Ocean...there was something for everyone. Great excursion offerings. Beautiful spectacular scenery...it was grand.

Alaska inside passage and land tour

June

Pros: Staff is fantastic

Cons: People still don't want to wash their hands prior to entering the dining areas.

Recommended: Yes

Staff was available for the first day or two, then no one was overseeing the issue. A member of our party was in the washroom and some people were done using the toilet, left without washing their hands and went in the dining area.

Princess Coral Alaskan Cruise

May

Pros: Scenery, food, service, entertainment on ship - it was all fabulous!

Cons: a bit expensive

Recommended: No

Best service ever

February

Pros: OUT waiter staff in the Bordeaux dinning room, Was the best Christian, Rodolfo and head waiter Rafael were so helpful fun and just special.

Cons: More ventilation in inside cabins.

Recommended: Yes

This was a long and very special trip for me. I am a new widow . And the steward was so helpful and kind. I can not say his name but I was in C621. Thank you

Panama Canal

February

Pros: Good Food Excellent waiters took the old canal, more interesting

Cons: Shore excurtions were notthe best

Recommended: Yes

Overall a great trip, would recommend it.

Panama Canal Cruise

November

Pros: Service was great, shows were excellent, the tours were good.

Cons: The variety in the Horizon buffet could be better.

Recommended: Yes

Had a great time. Would do this trip again. Very happy with Princess.

Overall Cruise

November

Pros: Food was excellent. Wait staff were very good.

Cons: Ship had a lot of rust on it. Cruise Director was terrible.

Recommended: No

Panama Canal was very nice and interesting. Cartigena, Columbia was not good. Limon, Costa Rica was not good.

Panma Canal transit

April

Pros: Good Food, Good speakes on the canal and rounte ports, Good food

Cons: Show times are too close together and must get ther 45 Min early to get a good seat, and still a smell of sewage in the halls.

Recommended: Yes

We had a good Cruise. The speaker was very good and had current and relevant information on our ports and route. There was still a persistent sewage smell in the halls on Deck 7 and 9 on and off through out the cruise. Production entertainers were a very high caliber and versatile in their song selections.

panama canal cruise

March

Pros: excellent cruise ship and service

Cons: rocky seas did not let us disembark on Costa Rica or Grand Cayman

Recommended: Yes

Due to safety reasons, we were unable to visit Costa Rica or Grand Cayman. They took us to Belize instead of Grand Cayman when they found out the seas would not let us disembark there. Princess did the best they could under the circumstances and the cruise was excellent in all other respects.

Panama Canal Cruise

February

Pros: Excellent overall experience

Cons: None

Recommended: Yes

Very accommodating services, staff & Crew Relaxing fun filled trip All shows Outstanding & available for Viewing Food service & presentation impressive for large groups. Restaurants staff very Congenial!!!! Land stops handled very efficiently!!!

10 Days in Paradise

January

Pros: Smaller ship so easier to get around.

Cons: Only one dining room for anytime dining made it difficult to make reservations from day to day.

Recommended: Yes

We enjoyed the cruise but would have liked the ports spaced out better. At sea for tow days and then in port for four days in a row. Not sure how that could be accomplished.

Review of Corel Princess

January

Pros: The ship is not to big to make it crowded, easy to move around the ship. We enjoyed our balcony, especially when we were in port at Panama Canal.

Cons: Have no cons.

Recommended: Yes

The staff was great, entertainment top notched, especially the Princess Encore singers and dancers. Great variety of food, especially the evening dinners.

Pananma Cruise

February

Pros: Food, entertainment, emnployees were awesome. Loved our excursions

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

Princess is very well organized with getting on and off the ship.

Great Cruise Coral Princess

January

Pros: The Food Was Great

Cons: Princess Theater Only Had Deck 6 Entrance And Exit

Recommended: Yes

At Aruba we went to Aschi Beach past Palm Beach and had a great time on the beach and was great snorkeling out about a football field to find lots of fish and coral. Would have liked to change clothes and rinse off but shack was not open till after we left. Took the public bus for $2.60 each one way. We were back in plenty of time to set sail for Columbia. Did a ship tour in Columbia going to visit La Popa and Churches and Chapel and Fort we had a very good and knowledgeable guide Will or bus number 2. Saw lots of poverty and interesting sights and glad we took this as we were not to sure about getting off ship but glad now that we did. Glad we had A/C on bus too. Canal was awesome and glad we did this itinerary for we learned alot about canal and reading about it and seeing it is alot different. Everyone should see this wonder of the world. Hope you all felt the same. In Panama we just did some shopping and wanting to see the playoff games was back on board after about 1 hour of shopping and seeing 3 cute little girls selling some trinkets we took their picture and headed back to the ship. At Limon we took ship tour to the Train Ride and Boat ride and shopping and seen sloth, monkeys,both spider and howler and lots of birds and guys fishing in the waterway. Glad we took this tour as the guide was very knowledgeable and made sure we all got fruits and drinks after the boat ride. Saving the best for last as we had been to Ocho Rios before we went with Peat Taylor and were very surprised we were the only ones on the bus for the day that could hold over 25. So the two of us had bus guide (not Peat) but was great and we headed to Dunns River Falls first and he got our wrist bands for us and we then had Paul for a guide up the Falls and another guy took pics and video of us going up the falls and we bought it cause we had a blast just like the last time we were there. Then off to The Blue Hole which I thought was going to be a big lake that was nice pretty blue......boy was I wrong......It was another Falls that first we climbed up and then started going down the falls by rope in the falls then jumping into pools every 50 ft with the biggest jump being a 50 ft drop. It Was Great and would do it again and glad our guide Lemar took pics of us doing this cause nobody would ever believe we did this at 64 and 55 years old. Everyone should do this too at least once in their lives. Then off to White River for river tubing and were surprised that it was a different river than we did last time and had a great relaxing and exciting time with class 3 rapids and beauty of the rain forest. We tipped all of our guides good as they were all great. Last but not least I have to talk about the great food on the ship when we had Lobster and Prawns and Endless Shrimp and Sushi and Mussels and Clams and Beef Wellington and Some Foods that I can not remember their names but were all great. The only disappointment was the Princess Theater only having entrance and exit on Deck 7 when all the other Princess ships have Deck 6 and 7 entrance and exits so people with mobility problems had to only sit up top of the theater and if they could not see too good then they would not be able to see too good. And another disappointment was we had to make reservations daily instead of once for the whole cruise for the same time in anytime dining which we were always able to do on all the other ships. Hope you all had a great time like we did and we look forward to our upcoming cruises and maybe see you all on the seas in the future.

Panama Canal cruise

December

Pros: Lovely evening shows

Cons: Not all wait staff were friendly.!

Recommended: Yes

75percent of staff very friendly ship very clean.

Caribbean Cruise #6637 Panama Canal

October

Pros:

Cons:

Recommended: No

I have to admit that this vacation was not one of my bests. Not enough time (only a few hours) on Aruba. The excursion on Gatun Lake and then the rain forest was not good. The rain forest was too muddy to allow older passengers to navigate. As a result, I slid and fell and fractured a bone in my ankle. That led to missing the last 2 excursions which I still haven't been reimbursed for.

Wine Cruse

September

Pros: Small ship

Cons: Main dinning not as good as others I have been on with Princess, we used the specialty dinning and they were very good.

Recommended: Yes

Small ship, pro less people, Con dinning options limited to 2 specialty restaurants, besides main dinning.

Coastal repositioning cruise

September

Pros: Very attentive and responsive staff.

Cons: Two formal nights, one would have been plenty.

Recommended: Yes

Overall a good experience, would definitely consider doing it again.

Coral Princess review

September

Pros: Our cabin steward was the star for service by the name of Joven. Our food servers were at best average. Oft times we would ask for a condiment or cup of Hot Shockton interview candidate 20 minutes before we would receive it which he didn't thrill either of us.

Cons: The food was of average quality and not to the standard we anticipated.

Recommended: Yes

The itinerary was great and we enjoyed the trip for its scenic beauty. They were very efficient for the embarkation and disembarkment; however, they lost two of our smaller suitcases on the land tour and didn't receive them until we reached the first tport in Skagway. There were two crewmembers Who performed on the last day of our cruise that was a dance team and are sweethearts that performed extremely well and should be considered for their regular cruise entertainment. Also, one hour before I was to disembark to go fishing they canceled the fishing trip due to "operational reasons" whatever that meant. No one could give me a clear explanation or would not give me an explanation which didn't enthrall me .

Excellent vacation

September

Pros: Service excellence, staff, food, cabin-size/linens/bed

Cons: Entertainment

Recommended: Yes

This experience exceeded our expectations and we would definitely cruise again!

Alaskan Escape

August

Pros: Very well organized especially with hotels.

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

I think Princess did a remarkable job and made my trip very smooth. No checking in at hotels was a plus...everything was well planned.

Good time had by all 8!

August

Pros: Staff was Great! Beds were wonderful.

Cons: No hot water in Showers and Hot tubs were only warm

Recommended: Yes

Boat was just right size and no lines for anything. Clean rooms. Boat is older and not as flashy as the Emerald or Diamond. Staff was friendly and helpful. Food was good. Drinks were good. Spa was very nice.

North yo Alaska

July

Pros: weather accomadations

Cons: expense for excursions

Recommended: Yes

This was my 5th cruise with Princess I feel they could have given more of a discount on the price, also on excursions. Looking into other lines for next cruise

Alaskan Cruise- Once in a Lifetime cruise for my family!!

July

Pros: Great food and very organized staff

Cons: Platinum Studio photograher very rude

Recommended: Yes

Overall the cruise and land tours were absolutely wonderful. From the food to the fact that it was a smaller ship the wait times to get on and off were short. The land part tours were spectacular. Although we could not see Mt McKinley because of rain and clouds the area was amazing in Denali. I think I will book a larger stateroom next time but the fact that we could open the dividers between the balconies was great. It would be nice to have a shower in a tub area. Next time.

Glorious Gold Anniversary

May

Pros: Wonderful everything, service, food, drinks, entertainment and of course the scenery.

Cons: none

Recommended: Yes

Coral Princess Review

June

Pros: Buffet selections great! Cabins, beds comfortable. Staff awesome!

Cons: Need at least 2 common items that aren't fancy on dining room main menus other than salads.

Recommended: Yes

Need to plan a little more time in between tours, especially on first day. Only 4 hours sleep then quick breakfast and off running on tour was pretty taxing! Disappointed that we didn't get to do anything in Vancouver after investing over $100+ on Passport.

Alaska - inside passage

June

Pros: Princess planning and transfers were excellent

Cons: Lots of people

Recommended: Yes

Took my granddaughter and daughter for the former's graduation from high school. She (and we) had a great experience. All transfers worked like clockwork. You can tell Princess has a lot of experience. We especially liked how the shop took it's time viewing the College Fjord. Some cruise lines don't even stop there and we considered it THE MOST magnificent viewing of all. Captain hovered the ship in the Fjord and was able to turn the ship 360 degrees 3 times in order to soak the grandeur in! All the onboard service was excellent.

Coral Princess is getting old

May

Pros: Staff, services, shows and food were excellent. Ports offered opportunity to explore, tour of Glacier Bay was amazing.

Cons: Coral Princess is old and showing her age. Travelers were inconvenienced with water dripping in hallways and cabins and many had all water turned off in their cabins for 5 hours for repairs.

Recommended: Yes

N/a

Ak Cruisetour

May

Pros: Land part was great!!

Cons: Dining on the ship was not up to par.

Recommended: Yes

For the first time our dining experience on a Princess Ship was sub par!!

Coral Princess

April

Pros: I am profoundly hard of hearing and I haven't been to a movie theater in over a decade. It was such a pleasure to see the movies on the Coral Princess because they all had closed caption. We saw one each day. I loved it!

Cons: I was unable to take any excursions because I use a stroller. Pretty much all the excursions involved getting on the tender, which does not acommodate wheel chairs and strollers.

Recommended: Yes

The Coral Princess is a beautiful ship. The food was outstanding and the employees were wonderful.

Panama Cruise Review

March

Pros: Wonderful food - never had a bad meal. Staff very pleasant and helpful. Entertainment was outstanding. The lectures were very informative.

Cons: A little disappointed in two of our excursions.

Recommended: Yes

We had a wonderful time and would cruise with Princess again.

General evaluation.

March

Pros: Excellent service, good food, outstanding entertainment. Great organization.

Cons: None.

Recommended: Yes

Insufficient cabin heating on cooler nights should be corrected.

cruise

November

Pros:

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

Good cruise

December 2015 Cruise

December

Pros: Very Nicely Appointed Ship, Universe Lounge a plus

Cons: Small Horizon Cafe

Recommended: Yes

Excellent Cruise. Universe Lounge provided an alternative to the Princess Theater for entertainment, consequently, the entertainment on this ship was much better than I expected for a ship of this size and cruise length.

PANAMA CANEL

November

Pros: WONDERFUL TRIP

Cons: NONE

Recommended: Yes

ENJOYED THE CRUISE

coral princess

November

Pros: I ternary

Cons: Alot of the crew members wasn't hospitable.

Recommended: No

The beds were to small I'm 6'4" and was hanging off the end. Also the entertainment was subpar at best.

Coral Princess

October

Pros: excellent service, spacy clean stateroom

Cons: no sun chairs in the shade

Recommended: Yes

wonderful cruise, exiting passage of the Panama cannel locks

Great!

July

Pros:

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

Just a little disappointed about weather in beginning. Rainy and foggy, but that is Mother Nature.

Great Experience

July

Pros: Excursions, staff, food, ...

Cons: shower - size and temperature changing

Recommended: Yes

We enjoyed our experience on your ship. I would recommend the shore experiences we picked for our outings. I especially enjoyed the glass blowing and gardens with Sara and Addison. They made the outing fantastic. My husband really enjoyed the helicopter ride and landing on a glacier even though the weather did not permit them to land on Mount McKinley. The ERO company was able to take them at a later time to another glacier. Our steward, Joseph, was fantastic and very helpful. He kept our room neat and organized; helped me find someone to open my safe when I changed my password without realizing I did; and gave me a remedy for my stomach when I was feeling sick. We only went to one show with the ventriloquist and it was good. We were unable to go to any of the others because the early shows were full. I heard the comic was very funny and was sorry we missed it. I enjoyed my time at the Lotus Spa. She made my back feel wonderful.

Memorable trip

July

Pros: Whales, glaciers, wildlife

Cons: On-board marketing and length of Princess post-cruise survey

Recommended: Yes

This was our second cruise of the Inside Passage. It was memorable because of the whale sightings in the Juneau excursion, the glaciers, and the grizzly bear and other sightings on the land tour excursion (take the long tour, the short one wouldn't have shown anything). The land tour was memorable because we had an excellent guide - rooms with great views and no hassles anywhere. Perhaps it is common among all cruise lines but, on-board, the push to buy something was pretty much everywhere. Marketers have hit the cruise lines. It was an annoyance. As for other excursions, they were fine. In Skagway, if you take the train tour, I suggest avoiding cars close to the engines. In ours, the exhaust fumes on the return trip were very strong. This Connoiseur version of the tour is more expensive but, in my opinion, well worth it.

7 Day Glaciers with Denali and Fairbanks Land Tour

May

Pros: Great Service, Professional Staff and Beautiful Glaciers

Cons: Better crowd control to allow people needing assistance priority access

Recommended: Yes

I would like to see a map distributed for College Fjord which names each of the glaciers. For us this was equal to or better than Glacier Bay and I would have enjoyed more information on these spectacular glaciers.

Alaska Adventure

May

Pros: Excellent land tour and plenty of onboard activities that were great quality.

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

My wife & I really enjoyed our trip and would recommend to everyone to do the land trip first because it allows the cruise to be a time to relax.

Superb cruise to Panama Canal

March

Pros: Great ports

Cons: Slacks required for dining room every night.

Recommended: No

We enjoyed the whole cruise except one day at sea they decided to do painting and the fumes ran us out of our stateroom. The really terrible part was we could not get anyone from maintenance to come and check it out.

Panama Canal 3/21/15 partial transit

March

Pros: Preferred check in process. Food inproved from last cruise. EZ check in bag process.Cartagena and Canal tours.

Cons: Cabin a/c temp fluxuation. cabin was a swing of 6 degrees and warm in the middle of the night. never repaired. wind noise through balacony sliding doors. door seals and base corrosion.

Recommended: Yes

I would've rated this cruise 5 stars except for our inability to get consistent cabin tempature and the balcony sliding door wind noise even when the doors were secured. Coral Princess getting old. Needs refurb.

Panama Cruise

February

Pros:

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

Food was good but not great. Tour leaders should all have something to help people see them - hold a sign or in one case a colored umbrella. With large groups it can be difficult to keep the leader in sight. Tours were awesome, however.

Very positive experience

February

Pros: Excellent service Non plus Ultra

Cons: disembarking a mess They called brown water coffee

Recommended: Yes

Panama

February

Pros: Good weather, great meals, excellent staff, fun tours

Cons: Crowded live shows

Recommended: Yes

Overall the Panama Canal cruise is outstanding.

Panama Canal

November

Pros: The entertainment director(BOB) and his staff was great.

Cons: Food service was not as good as most ships.

Recommended: Yes

1) Checking in was fast and easy. 2) Luggage got to us before 3 pm 3) Room steward was in and out of the room 5 times a day. 4) The Canal was the best part. Wish we could have stayed there for 2 days.

Panama Canal Cruise LA to Ft Lauderdale

September

Pros: Experience on the Coral Princess was great. Good food and entertainment.

Cons: End of cruise needs work, disembarking instructions for wheelchair passengers confusing. Bad bus service at Ft Lauderdale Airport.

Recommended: Yes

Everything was great except for the bus shuttle from the Coral Princess to the Ft Lauderdale Airport. We were dumped off 2 blocks from the Delta Terminal at the side of the road in the open onto a very rough sidewalk with a threating rain storm. The sidewalk was on an incline with large cracks and bumps making it difficult to use my wheelchair. Some of the passengers also had wheelchairs, walkers and canes, were over 60 years old. My travel down the rough sidewalk was downhill to the Delta Terminal, but some had to proceed uphill 2 blocks to the Southwest Terminal. The bus driver said it was not his fault, it was the Ft Lauderdale Airport policy and complain to them. I believe Princess employees should take responsibility for this poor planning.

Alaska cruise

August

Pros: very well organize

Cons: the buffet wasn't good at all

Recommended: Yes

The scenery was worth the $$ but the food on the ship wasn't at all.

Coral Princess

July

Pros: Beautiful, well appointed ship.

Cons: Service charge in two specialty restaurants.

Recommended: Yes

Don't recall being advised of the above mentioned sevice charges. Did enjoy the open seating for dinner. Thought the tips added on to our bill was somewhat excessive.

Alaska

July

Pros:

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

The shop was very nice I preferred royal Caribbean food selections more but it was very clean and well maintained good service

Alaska

June

Pros:

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

The ship was clean and well managed. The staff could have been somewhat more excited about being there. The shows were fabulous. Nightly entertainers were diverse in music selections to enjoy.

Land and sea tour

June

Pros:

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

The Anchorage part of the land tour which was only transportation and hotel was not well organized. Places to stay around Denali very nice and park is wonderful! The cruise part of the tour was very well organized with comfortable rooms on the ship and wonderful accommodating crew. We took our children and grandchildren and ship worked out very well with plenty of activities for a variety of ages (13 to almost 7).

Our first cruise

June

Pros:

Cons:

Recommended: Yes

Alaska Cruise

June

Pros: Beautiful ship, outstanding passenger services, friendly and professional staff and crew. Liked that gratuities were automatically added to my shipboard account so I didn't have to deal with tipping cabin steward, waiters, etc.

Cons: Personal opinion is that Princess charges extra for some things that I thought should be included. Example, if you want a soft drink you have to pay for it even with meals. Hot chocolate was also an extra charge.

Recommended: Yes

Thoroughly enjoyed the entire cruise experience on Princess. Very impressed with "white glove" service in dining room. Crew members were very friendly, professional, and helpful.

Accommodations, logistics, service, food and excursions

May

Pros: 95% of the trip

Cons: Excursion package - jeep in Skagway

Recommended: No

Northbound Alaska Cruisetour on Coral Princess: Alaska is the WOW!

May

Pros: The itinerary and efficiency of transitioning from Port to ship and ship to train and Lodges was so easy and carefree.

Cons: Lack of entertainment for the 60 and under crowd, our bed was worn out, McKinley lodge has management issues and lack of customer service. We were 1.5 hours late getting our room and then it was NOT clean, we talked to the manager at the front desk she told us to sit and wait in the lodge. We were there less than 24 hours and time was precious. The dinner at that lodge did not have menu items and served undercooked bacon and pancakes with out syrup for breakfast.

Recommended: Yes

This will be long I will give our experience in order of cruise, ports of call, and landtour. I will start with the embarkation at Canada Place, Port of Vancouver. Princess embarkation is a well oiled machine. Yes, you will stand in line but the line moves efficiently through the building; step by step you move quickly. Princess gets five stars for embarkation. We immediately were allowed into our rooms. Upon embarking we had a choice of three different venues for eating. 1. Horizon Court Buffet, 2. One MDR selection 3. International Cafe. We chose the Horizon Court Buffet. The buffet was crowded but they handled the crowds and had enough staff. The ship was clean and efficient however we quickly realized the itinerary would be the memorable part of this trip. The ship was fine, and we never felt crowded or like we were in a big crowd. Our stateroom was fine, except the bed mattress needed to be replaced about 5 years ago. It had the body impressions with hard spots at the hips. I do not mean stiff spots I mean hard like hip on cardboard or something. -1 for my half of the lumpy bed. The eateries were efficient but the food was just good. Nothing made me think WoW !! There is plenty of it and nothing was bad but nothing was excellent either. We loved our room steward and our wait staff in MDR but also encountered some less than helpful staff in other areas. There seemed to be a morale problem in the bar staff and crew members at the service desk. Our ports were Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway. Ketchikan: We did a walking tour with Joe Williams, a Tlingit Indian and past Mayor of Ketchikan. He was informative and fun. Ketchikan looks just like the pictures and we really enjoyed our day there. We decided after walking through Ketchikan with Joe we would catch the lumberjack show. It was a little corny but loads of fun. The bleachers around the area were heated which made sitting on bleachers tolerable on a dreary COLD Alaska day. Juneau: Juneau was beautiful! We pre-booked through Princess the Taku River Salmon Feast and 5 Glacier Viewing. Can you say WOW!! Outstanding and worth every $$$ we spent on the fare. Skagway: Skagway is known for the White Pass Railroad so off we went on the scenic Railroad trip. This place is beyond beautiful and we enjoyed our time on the train. I stayed on the platform outside trying to capture the beautiful Pass and Summit with my camera. After three back to back ports we enjoyed being mystified by the majestic beauty of Glacier Bay Nation Park. I can not do it justice with my words. You must see it to appreciate it - awe inspiring. Now to the rest of the story. The mean age of the passengers was in my estimate was 65-70 years old, therefore everything (music, trivia, live shows) is geared toward their taste. We are early 50s and felt like the young crowd on the ship 85% of the time. Therefore entertainment gets a 2. It was severely lacking. Cruisetour: Disembarkation was as smooth as boarding the ship. We had to separate our bags with tags: Meet Me in Anchorage and Meet Me Tonight. All the bags were moved for us at every stop. I was impressed with that. Very efficient and helpful. The glass dome train ride is very scenic and nice. It is nine hours long and we were definitely ready to get off asap when it stopped. The food was OK on the train but very pricey, as was anything in Denali or McKinley. They know you are captive and you will pay for it. Denali Princess Lodge: The lodge and facilities were nice but our room was under the stairs, so absolutely no view and the room was small. The room is like a Holiday Inn Express only in beautiful setting with more facilities. It was very clean. We did the Nature and History tour in Denali National Park which was wonderful, more exquisite natural beauty plus we were lucky enough to see a Moose Mommy and her twin calves and a real live Grizzly Mom and her cub along with Caribou, Mooses, and a porcupine! Mt McKinley Lodge: The rooms are much larger but ours was dirty, We got into it 1.5 hours after check in time and was told to sit and wait in the lodge while it was being cleaned, the management staff had an attitude. I mentioned it was dirty and she cut me off - we had 1/2 used toiletries in our bathroom from previous guest and the dust was in the room was thick. (Total disappointment) All the literature mentions Talkeetna but that is an extra fee per person and another 2 hour round trip to get there so we hung out at the lodge and watched for the Great McKinley to show and yes she did show in all her snow covered glory! Everything you do in the lodges has a fee attached. Every single thing, you get nothing complimentary - just realize that before you get there. We knew it but expected some Princess treats of some sort (there are NON Princess guest are there also). We did not know Talkeetna was an extra fee or 2 hours more on a bus to get there. In 24 hours we had spent 9 hours on a train and 7 hours or so on a bus so we skipped it! Anchorage was our final leg in the journey. We spent 2 nights in Captain Cook which is a fine Anchorage hotel. There is plenty around Anchorage to do. We ate at the Glacier Brewhouse and Humpys in Anchorage. Both places are good. Brewhouse is a tad bit upscale, Humpies is Cheers Alaska. We had a great time and were awed by the natural beauty of Alaska. I think this cruisetour was a good value even though some areas were not great. We attributed part of that to being early in the season and staff trying to learn as they go. We did not let that slow down the fun; we just think they need to improve. I would recommend this to anyone who loves and appreciates natural beauty.

They need to maintain this ship much better.

April

Pros: Entertainment was decent and the food was passable but nothing to brag about.

Cons: Maintenance needs to be performed on these vessels before they set off for the next cruise.

Recommended: No

Panama Canal Cruise

April

Pros: I was very pleased with the nondinominational worship service that was available on Palm Sunday.

Cons: Did not like the subject of some of the passenger talent show participants. Because religion is an individual choice, the participants in the show should pick a neutral subject for the mixed audience.

Recommended: No