Cruising Rob's Blog: Coral Princess Trip Report

After a relaxing flight on United, we landed in Vancouver right at the beginning of the AM International arrival block – meaning lots of flights from many distant lands. Fortunately, using the “eDeclaration” app on our phone allowed us to enter in all our passport information and clear customs in Vancouver very quickly. In less than 20 minutes, we were on the Skytrain heading toward downtown very quickly.

Once downtown, we quickly headed over to the Seabus to head to North Vancouver and Londsdale Quay for some coffee, photos of the harbor, and some souvenir toys for the kiddos. The Seabus always impresses me with how efficient and timely it is. After a few photos from the top of a viewing tower, we headed back to downtown. With the Golden Princess, Volendam, and Coral Princess in town I feared that the boarding process would be nightmarish so we opted to swing into Steamworks Brewery (a bit south of Canada Place) for a pint and some delicious yam fries with pesto mayonnaise while we hoped crowds thinned out.

Finally, around 1:30 we decided we should head to Canada Place and board the Coral. Surprisingly, security screening was a breeze as was US customs. What probably helped the most was that the Volendam and Golden Princess, both wedged in at the North and West docks at Canada Place, were stopping in Victoria for their first port calls, meaning that US preclearance in Vancouver wasn’t required for passengers of those ships.

By 1:50 we were on board and in our cabin – what a relief! Perhaps one of the fastest embarkations we have ever experienced. Lunch at the Horizon Court was not crowded and then we walked around and explored the ship. The Coral Princess is well taken care of with new carpet from her last drydock giving her a fresh and updated look. We have an aft, inside cabin on Baja Deck, and the location is excellent given that it is about 20 feet from a door to an aft observation deck. If you are booking on a budget, any of the aft Baja inside cabins have a great outside deck very close by.

We were first away from the pier in Vancouver and made our way toward the Salish Sea and ultimately toward the strait of Juan de Fuca – and this is where we hit some pretty good waves and wind. Most passengers were probably in their cabin at this point but those that were awake definitely got a reminder of the power of the Pacific Ocean.

Around 9am on Thursday morning, after riding a swift southbound current, we turned east to make our approach to the Columbia Bar and Astoria with a Regent Seven Seas ship behind us. After about 1 hour of a manoeuvring and 1 hour of slow transit into the mouth of the Columbia, we sailed past the Astoria Cruise Pier, under the Astoria Megler Bridge, and into our anchorage. Tender operations began around 12:30 and we made it to shore by 1:30. We were fortunate with skies that were partly sunny and 60 degree temperatures all day long.

In Astoria, we went for a jog up to the Astor column, climbed to the top, and then back down through town to swing by Reach Break Brewing and Reveille Cidery on 13th street between Duane and Exchange Streets. We always enjoy our visits to Astoria and will be back next spring. On to the photos...