Coral Princess - Public Deck Walk-throughs

Below are some time lapse, walk through videos on the public decks of the Coral Princess.

Promenade deck - Back to Front

Promenade Deck - Front to Back

Fiesta Deck - Front to Back

Lido Deck - Back to Front

Sun Deck (and some Lido deck) - Front to Back

Coral Princess - Trip Report - Final thoughts and more photos

On Friday and Saturday we sailed southbound under sunny skies and 60 degree temps.  With the winds and current coming from the north, we had calm breezes on deck and smooth sailing despite being surrounded by whitecaps.  For much of the journey we were on a parallel course with the Golden Princess and Royal Princess; Princess Cruises should have had a helicopter in the area to take a photo.  Around 1 in the afternoon on Thursday, the Star Princess passed between the Coral and the Golden Princess while heading north bound.  The Golden stayed with us until the evening of the 27th, and then sped up to make a eastbound turn toward San Franciscio.  The Royal stayed far off to our starboard most of the day on the 28th and then continued south as we entered the channel between Santa Barbara and the Channel Islands.  Since both ships were headed to San Pedro, I'm assuming she did this to avoid burning more expensive fuel as she headed well south and then maneuvered back to the east.

This cruise has had a lot of fun activities, great weather, and very good food.  By 6am on Sunday the 29th, we were parked at Pier 93.  We were off the ship by 7:50am, on a coach to LAX by 8:20, and at our gate at LAX by 8:55.  The biggest take away from our voyage was that it re-affirms our belief that the Coral is the best ship in the fleet when it comes to friendlyness of the crew, general uncrowdedness, and variety of outdoor and indoor venues on board.

Coral Princess Trip Report - Embarkation and Astoria

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...

Skytrain

Seabus

Coral Princess at Canada Place

Golden Princess and Coral Princess

Embarking

Nice carpeting

Inside on Baja deck

Aft outdoor area on Baja deck

Canada Place, the Volendam, and the Golden Princess

Golden Princess

Lotus Pool

Princess Theater

Sailing under the Astoria Megler Bridge (US 101)

Sanctuary Pool was closed :(

Regent Seven Seas ship following us

Astoria Column Park

View of the Coral Princess at anchor

165 spiral steps to the top

Brewery, cidery, and food trucks!

The card room.

Coral Princess - Trip Report - Day 1 enroute

We are waiting at the gate in Denver for our morning flight to Vancouver to join the Coral Princess on a 4 day coastal repositioning cruise with a port call in Astoria.  We will be trying out the Coral's new internet so hopefully we can provide a lot of updates along the way.

It will be a busy day at Canada Place with the Golden Princess, Volendam, and Coral Princess having turn around days, but it looks like the Coral has the larger east/south berth.

More updates to come!

Princess Cruises - Ocean Medallion Update

Princess has announced that their Ocean Medallion program will expand beyond the current trio of Ocean Medallion enabled vessel of the Royal, Regal, and Caribbean Princess.  By the end of 2020, guests on most itineraries will be sailing with the technology.

Note that the Pacific, Star, and Golden are not mentioned.  This is interesting since the Star and Golden have recieved some of the foundational upgrades for Ocean Medallion on previous drydocks.  When we sailed on the Star in late 2017 after her drydock in Victoria, there were several technicians working on-board wearing uniforms with Ocean Medallion logos and labels on them.  It's likely that the Ocean Medallion program will be activated on these ships after their transfer to P&O Australia in 2020 and 2022.  The Pacific Princess has an uncertain future and may not ever get Ocean Medallion.  It is also interesting that the Majestic, Sapphire, and Diamond are not mentioned at all.

The list of ships and planned activation dates are listed below the messages from our sponsors.

h/t: https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/20825-princess-to-activate-six-more-medallion-ships.html


Booking.com

Ship	Code	Year Built	OM Activation
Sun	SP	1995	Not Announced
Grand	AP	1998	3/29/2020
Sea	CP	1998	Not Announced
Pacific	PA	1999	Not Announced
Golden	NP	2001	Not Announced
Star	TP	2002	Not Announced
Coral	CO	2003	10/16/2020
Island	IP	2003	12/20/2020
Caribbean	CB	2004	Active
Diamond	DI	2004	Not Announced
Sapphire	SA	2004	Not Announced
Crown	KP	2006	7/24/2019
Emerald	EP	2007	8/16/2020
Ruby	RU	2008	1/27/2020
Royal	RP	2013	Active
Regal	GP	2014	Active
Majestic	MJ	2017	Not Announced
Sky	YP	2019	10/12/2019
Enchanted	EX	2020	6/15/2020