Coral Princess Review

Pleasantly surprised

Review for Alaska Cruise on Coral Princess
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gdyer
10+ Cruises • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Jul 2011
Cabin: Balcony

My wife and I have sailed to or from Alaska nine times since 1996. You can easily conclude that it is our favorite cruise. We have journeyed on ships from four different cruise lines. There are things we have liked about each one. We chose the particular thirteen night cruisetour that went from July 30 to August 12 because Princess made an offer that was irresistible. We had gone with Princess once before in 2002. It was not not quite on par with some of our previous cruises; but we had read positive reviews on Cruise Critic for the Coral Princess, so we took it. We were pleasantly surprised.

There were some things that could were rather average, such as the buffet and the service in the dining rooms. Furthermore, the ship itself is showing a little wear and tear. However, the rest of the experience was wonderful enough to entice us back.

You might ask why anyone would cruise to Alaska nine different times. Of course, my first response is to ask why someone would sail to the Caribbean year after year. We go because we love what Alaska has to offer. It's not just a bunch of water with a few ports sprinkled in. It's something to see virtually all the time. We love whales, sea otters, seals, porpoises, eagles, glaciers, towering mountains, thundering waterfalls, bears, moose, caribou, etc., etc.--not to mention cooler weather! Again, we saw all of the above on this cruise. Throw in two days at heavenly McKinley Princess lodge where the mountain was in perfect view, plus a rare gray wolf walking beside our bus in Denali for a five full minutes, and it was quite the trip. I have always been amused by people who complain that they saw no whales on their cruise. After probing the matter further, I have typically discovered that they basically expected the whales to jump up right outside their balcony while they were sipping coffee. Good things come to those who watch...and watch...and watch! And good things came to us on this cruise. In a 55 minute span one afternoon, we saw 11 humpbacks from our balcony--just to give one of many possible examples.

Cabin Review

Balcony

Cabin BF

We had a balcony. The bed was not the most comfortable in the world. The televions options were not extraordinary. But the storage was ample; the bathroom was suitable; and the balcony was satisfactory.

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