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!

Very Delayed Eurodam Trip Review

It's been nearly 6 months since our voyage on the Eurodam but I finally was able to get the video together and it's almost 20 mins long!  Maybe too long.  Anyways, I've added it to this post as well as a link to some of our very useful travel gadgets we used onboard.

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Briefly, here's our top and bottom 3 of our trip:
Bottom 3:

1. Couldn't get food at a restaurant at all hours - yes there is room service, but it requires waiting.
2. At NY Pizza, all you could get was a full pizza and you had to wait - it would be great if they had slices ready at all times.
3. Music with lyrics, at all times, in all lounges.  I feel like they could have kept it off or just light classical like HAL used to have

Top 3:

1. Very tastefully decorated ship - perhaps one of the best in the fleet.
2. Food was very good.
3. Gallery bar - we loved it!!  Great concept with games and sports on TV.

Have you sailed on the Eurodam, what are your thoughts about her?  I'm glad she'll be on the west coast for the foreseeable future.

Here's our video of our trip.

Eurodam Coastal Trip Review - Astoria

As I mentioned in the first post, the ship started in Vancouver and ended in San Diego and had a port call in Astoria.  I’ve already touched on Vancouver and didn’t have much time in San Diego, so I’ll be focusing this section entirely on Astoria.

If you enjoy reading about history and unique geographic locations, I recommend you read Astoria by Peter Stark, its a fascinating true story about the origins of this port town and the dual exploratory parties that embarked to establish a settlement and a Pacific rim fur trading empire centered in Astoria.  I’m glad I had read the portion about the marine navigational challenges before we arrived because sailing into the port was a bit of an adventure.

Cape Disappointment on the Washington state side.

At 11am on Thursday, October 18th, Captain John Scott came on the public address system to advise us that we had a pilot aboard and were on the final approach to the Columbia Bar which is where the Columbia River interfaces with the Pacific Ocean .  He conveyed that due to the unique navigational challenges and clearances in this channel (narrow channel, lots of sediment leading to shallow spots), the Eurodam would need to retract her stabilizers for 30 minutes or so while she sailed into the channel to avoid potential for damage.  For those that haven’t looked at a detailed map of Astoria, it lies just inside the mouth of the Columbia River.

Bathymetry of the Columbia Bar and Astoria harbor

The river is wide at this location and flows at up to 8 knots, however due to its width, there are several barely submerged sand bars.  The Astoria Megler bridge, situated just east of the main dock in town, has two piers that obstruct the river further making it a very narrow passage.  The Eurodam would need to navigate the river bar, the built jetties, hidden sand bars, an 8 knot river contraflow, and when we arrived, a tide that was going out before coming aside at the only cruise pier in town, just west of the bridge.  For about 30 minutes as we approached the mouth, the Eurodam, sailing without stabilizers began rolling up to 15 degrees.  The weather was not adverse, this was just the wild Pacific and the somewhat tamed Columbia River (multiple dams upriver) commanding respect from everyone on this ship.  Although we rocked pretty good for about 30 minutes, we then arrived in the inner harbor where things calmed and the ship was along side by noon.

It's hard to capture the 10-15 degree list of the ship entering the channel without stabilizers

Looking NE - approaching the pier with the US 101 Astoria Megler Bridge and causeway in view

My personal to do list in Astoria was to jog through some of the neighborhoods just south of the dock, up to the Astoria Column, swing by the “Goonies House” and back to downtown to stop by some of the microbreweries.  So on this 60 degree cloudy afternoon, off I went from the Eurodam along the wide paved port trail towards town, and made my way up the hill immediately adjacent to the port and US 101.  I ran up a few narrow rock strewn paths and eventually was at the top of a hill side neighborhood with several unique houses and some beautiful northwest gardens.  Following a preplanned route, and keeping an eye for vista points, I eventually made my way to Clatsop Commuity College.  From the east parking lot of the college, I made my way up a 0.2 mile, steep dirt trail to the grassy meadow below the Astoria Column.  

West Astoria - the downtown is just to the left around the hill.

Astoria Megler Bridge - looking NE

Some semi official paths up the hillside in Astoria

Wildlife was not far away

Gosh, what a view.

Another formally informal public trail.

The Astoria Column in the distance

A street scene just uphill from downtown.

The trail up from Clatsop College

The bluff 

Several more huffs (I admit I was walking at this point), and I made it to the top of the bluff and took in the 270 degree view to the north, west, and south, and the magnificence of the Astoria Column with its exterior fresco that spirals up the column providing a quick yet thorough visual history of the city.  164 steps later and I made it to the top to even more impressive views - however the Eurodam was hidden by the hill that had been the starting point for my jog.  If you go, it's a free trek to the top however if you drove you will need to pay a small fee for parking.  There are restrooms just southeast of the of the column and a small gift shop as well.

At the base of the Astoria Column

A bronze relieve of the surrounding geography

There were maybe 5 or 6 landings where you could let others pass and catch your breath.

The Astoria Column provides impressive vistas in all directions and was a real treat as the clouds were clearing over the Columbia River, creating a visual cornucopia of greens, yellows, and oranges on the forested hillsides of Washington state, on the north side of the Columbia River.  

View to the NW

View W

View N

View S

Heading back down, this time I took the 0.9 Cathedral Tree woodland trail from the northeast side of the site which put me into northeast Astoria.  Following my prescribed route, I made my way over near the "Goonies" house (from the 1980s movie) only to find several nasty signs about no visiting and no pictures.  Bummer!  By the looks of it it was either in disrepair or being updated.

One last view from the bluff towards town.

Well that's a bummer.

The Goonie's House - if you go, please only take pictures from afar.

Anyways, I then set back toward downtown on the waterfront path which runs from the far eastern limit of town all the way to downtown and beyond to the cruise dock and even further.  During summer months, Astoria has a trolley that runs on some old railroad tracks that run along the waterfront.  There was no trolley today but it was a nice jog with the sun coming out and the leaves on the trees in a mosaic of colors.  In the distance I heard the barking of a few sea-lions; obviously it was a smaller group than the one in San Francisco but a nice audible treat combined with the other smells and sounds associated with a seaport.

The very nice waterfront path and adjacent trolley tracks.

A nice neighborhood on a pond near the waterfront.

As a fan of microbrews, it was a nice way to end my sojourn in the downtown area with 5 downtown breweries of which I visited 3.  Well, really I visited 2 breweries and a cidery that was next to a brewery that I stumbled into.  The Fort George Brewery was first and is just north of the site of the original settlement in Astoria.  There is a historical marker here and some green paint at odd angles in the road indicate the fort’s original boundary.  The beer at Fort George was good and I would go back, they also served food and had a nice outdoor area as well as a wintergarden style patio.  The next brewery was 2 blocks away and I ended up going to cidery in the same location.  The brewery, Reach Break Brewing, and cidery, Reveille Ciderworks share an open lot that has several picnic tables and spots for some food trucks.  It’s a nice setting and I’ll be sure to go back to this location next year (more about that later) as the cider was good and the owner talked a bit about how Astoria was changing for the better.  My last stop was Buoy Beer about 5 blocks away located on the waterfront in a structure over the water.  This location has 2 bars with a nice selection of beer and food.

First up, Fort George Brewery

Historical marker just south of Fort George Brewery

Reveille Cidery and Reach Break Brewery's shared outdoor area.

A nice place to stop, enjoy a pint, and take it all in.

Buoy Beer List

Finally, after having perhaps a bit too much beer, I made my way back to the port on the waterfront trail.  The Eurodam was certainly a nice sight and I was ready to hop in a hottub near the Seaview pool and put my feet up. 

Waterfront trail back to the Eurodam

Under the Astoria Megler Bridge

The port access path.  There are usually vendors near the terminal selling a variety of locally made souvineers

My approximate route

Next September, Princess Cruises is sending my favorite Princess ship on the Vancouver, Astoria, Los Angeles run.  This will be interesting however because little Astoria will be inundated with THREE ships that day.  Believe it or not, the Coral Princess and one other ship will be tendering passengers in closer to downtown.  I’m hoping for some great photos of all the ships when I go.  

A few more posts to come in the coming days.