We chose this because of the itinerary and because it meshed with our flight. We had done Princess cruises in the past and pretty much knew what we were getting into. The good: Food in dining room had improved. Production shows much improved. The Bad: Food in buffet probably gave one of us food poisoning. It was one awful night. The "tendering" to ports without excursion was painful, slow crowded, just terrible, 2 1/2 hours. Ugly: The pending virus...no one was ever checked but the coughs increased. The mini suite is the only way to go if you can afford it. The ship was supposedly renovated in 2019 but we were hard pressed to figure out where or how. It has a strange combination of decor. Service is very good in most cases. This was the last Princess cruise I will book. Generally we felt "nickel and dimed" throughout the cruise. Read Less

Been on 8 Princess cruises, this time wasnt that great, the ship was tatty, on our balcony (B531) the wooden rail was loose, the toilet seat was broken, the hairdryer cut out every minute or so. There was a lot of rust. Theatre shows dire, the dining rooms menu hasnt changed since our first cruise and above all we didnt go round Cape Horn as the Captain told us 50 minutes before we should have sailed past we werent going to as "it would have been uncomfortable"... everyone paid a lot of money for this cruise, rhe main reason for booking it was to see Cape Horn. We will be doing this cruise again but it wont be on Princess. Passengers expected it to be rough. personally I feel the captain was far to PC, he should have said get comfy, dont walk round and enjoy an experience you will never forget. The port lecturer was amateurish and shore excursions a total rip off. We paid 100usd on shore for a trip that would have cost 399.95 with Princess.We like Princess and do have orher cruises with them booked but in future they will not be our first choice. The art auctions were just a hard sell and took FAR too long to get going. Prices for photographs were exceptionally high, we never saw anyone buy any ( 169.95 usd for a 16 x 20 ) on the plus side the entertainment team were terrific. No final night party with balloon drop, told it was because Primcess were an environmentall company and werent using single use plastics.. didnt stop them using dozens of large plastic bags for the egg drop, printing hundreds of plastic based photographs no one purchased and printing thousands of A4 flyers for the shops and the spa... out of control hypocracy Read Less

Princess cancelled our Far East cruise and the same day we were booked on to the Coral Princess going from Buenos Aires to Santiago. South America has always been on the bucket list so off we went. Embarkation was fast and well organised and so was disembarkation. Two ports had tender boats which was well organised. The ship is a little tired in places but the service from all the crew was excellent, the food at all the restaurants was really good as was the entertainment. First time back on a Princess ship since 2008 and we were very pleasantly surprised at how good it was. We were very pleased that they have installed hand basins outside the Horizon buffet and crew were very insistent that you had to wash your hands before entering, there were hand sanitizer stations as well and also outside or by all eating areas. The shore excursions organised by the ship are a ridiculous price so all of ours were organised either prior to the cruise or at the port when we arrived. The ports of call were excellent with the exception of Punta Arenas where you definitely need to get out of town. Read Less

Chose this as a preamble to an Antarctic cruise. Wanted to visit the Falklands so decided to do this first and if it got there great, if not I would ensure it was a stop on the Antarctic cruise... Embarkation was chaos. San Antonio check in did not open until 1135/1140. Through relatively quickly as Elite/suite. Had to be be bussed to ship.... :-( Ship is the opposite layout to most Princess Ships. No Crows Nest, Horizon, Wheelhouse forward.... Cabin was fine. Steward terrible. Invited to change after ten days (we accepted this). Disappointed that future cruise credit not on account. Not aware that you had to enter in a box on booking form when booking online. Dining good. We were anytime and the starboard side of Bordeaux. Taken to the port side one night, huge difference in service and quality. Entertainment from outside entertainers generally good. Did not see any singers but comedians and ventriloquists, etc. All great except a Liverpudlian who would be better suited to Carnival with his smutty jokes. Saw very few Princess Theatre Company as most of their songs are very modern and of no interest to me. Plenty of trivia, which we enjoy, and crew strict on swapping papers. Shame Princess don't do what Celebrity do and award tokens for each win. Would be nice to have one bag for life instead of 4 bottle stoppers. Lecturer was awful. We don't need to hear about Pirates on a South American cruise! Also presentation was akin to a child reading aloud in school. Just repeating what was on the power point. Again, more suited to a Carnival Caribbean cruise. A far cry from the discussions and lectures on Viking, with whom we took our previous cruise. The clientelle on a South American cruise tend to be more intellectual that those on a Caribbean etc cruise: there are so few cruises each year that you have to want to book early (1 year in advance) and be prepared to pay the money. Not just cruise because it is a cheap holiday. Ports all good. We did our own thing at each port, either taking a free walk or a cab on the quayside. We booked nothing in advance but had a great time at each port. Would travel with Princess again, but not for a while. Want to do Suez Canal transit but Princess only do a night time transit..... Looks like P&O for this. Also our proposed Antarctic cruise will not be with Princess as the ships are too large. Read Less

We chose this ship for the itinerary Buenos Aires to Santiago. Itinerary perfect but book your own independent tours for so much less money and far better - too many people on ship tours - think toilets! Staff were fabulous but the people on board lovely but so old i.e. most between 70 and 80 years . No one around after 10 PM . The poor band which were great but had an audience of 6 - quite sad really . Food and dining - great . Tenders to ports were a fiasco. Disorganised and no information if we we were late to port no information from the captain , staff were not informed - it was a shambles , worst part of the cruise.Dining room was the best place to eat as the horizon buffet just too manic . Each to their own ! But definitely recommend for itinerary, the food and friendliness on board and read above for thoughts.. Read Less

We chose this cruise for the opportunity to see several landscape/wildlife areas of south america that we have always wanted to see. Tores del Paine National Park in Patagonia Chile was our primary reason for this cruise. We have cruised with Princess on four previous occasions- Panama Canal, Alaska, Caribbean and Rome to Athens. We have only had minor problems with Princess and thus the reason for choosing Princess for our South American adventure.. Unfortunately, this cruise with Princess was a huge disappointment because of numerous problems with shore excursions as well as repeated misleading or false information given to us by multiple Customer relations representatives and 800 Princess operators. The food, cabin service and entertainment were very good to excellent. Our cabin steward Frango was the best we have had in all of our cruising days. Our mattress was totally worn out with a large sag in the middle. The first night was terrible due to the mattress but then Frango figured out how to reinforce the middle so that we could sleep. As stated earlier, Tores del Paine national park in Patagonia chile was the main reason for choosing this trip. However, after we had a confirmed and paid reservation, Princess cancelled the excursion without explanation and then reinstated the excursion without 9 booked and confirmed passengers including my wife and I. We certainly would understand a weather or safety related cancellation but that was not the problem. We heard 6 different reasons for cancelling, none of which were true. The trip is over and we never did get the truth. We were offered $100.00 on board credit for our troubles which as an insult for all of the hours spent trying to resolve the problem. We also had problems with two more shore excursions partly due to weather but mostly due to lack of planning and organization on the part of Princess. We ended up changing the last four days of our South American trip and buying flight tickets from Santiago, Chile to Puerto Natales, Chile in order to see the national park that mysteriously was cancelled by Princess. This all happened two days before we left the US and at considerable added cost to us. One final note- I sent two letters via email to Jan Swarz- Princess CEO about our problems but they were intercepted by Princess Customer Relations as they have " authority to respond to all messages sent to the CEO. PS- this all happened well before the Corono Virus problems so that is not the excuse. Read Less

Background I'm a single 62 YO guy who usually cruises solo. I chose this itinerary for several reasons: 1. It was a continuation of a trip I made w/my Mom aboard Celebrity Millennium during the '05-'06 holiday season to South America; 2. I wanted to see more of Chile, and I welcomed the opportunity to also visit Argentina, the Falklands, and Uruguay; 3. I decided to give Princess another chance after my last cruise with them to the Baltic states in the fall of '95, but something about Princess rubbed me the wrong way. Hotel Information I had a two-night hotel stay at Sheraton Santiago Hotel and Convention Center, a very nice hotel located at the base of the San Cristobal hill--from a top floor bar and lounge, I could see the gondola cars making their way up the hill. I had a 7th floor room that overlooked the city. The hotel had nice restaurants, bars, lounges, an outside pool, and a great service staff. Early on in my cruise planning, I decided I wanted an extensive tour of the capital that also included a winery visit, so I booked a Viator city tour with a winery tour. Unfortunately, the winery visit could not be held be because an insufficient number of people had signed up for that portion of the overall tour, so it had to be canceled. Travel to Embarkation Port Because I had not bought transfers from Princess, I decided to use Viator's services of a private transfer to the pier at San Antonio, Chile. I was glad I did this because doing so made the trip a personal one w/o lots of commentary from a guide. Upon approaching the port, it had a ramshackle appearance with many boarded up buildings. The cruise terminal was in a large warehouse renovated for the whole check-in process, which happened very quickly--even with a short wait for one's number to be called. After checking in and being given the key card, I went through security and was told I had to board a shuttle to take me to the ship itself: the vessel was docked at a cargo loading area, which was very dangerous for pedestrians. Ship Information As previously mentioned, this was the first time I had been aboard a Princess ship since being aboard the old Royal Princess (the one christened by Princess Di in '84) for a fall '95 Baltic Sea cruise. That ship was smaller than the Coral Princess, a 91,000 GRT vessel that was a Panamax-rated, meaning that her size was the maximum that could be accommodated by the Panama Canal locks in operation at the time of her launching. She was one of two ships of her class, the other being Island Princess. Coral was a good-looking ship and had a great service staff in all departments. Service The service aboard ship was terrific, whether you were in a bar, a dining room, at the pool, the pizzerias, in your cabin, on a port excursion, or had need of the ship's doctors (as I did on one occasion). After muster drill, I made my way to the Guest Service desk to validate whether guest service quality had declined as I've read in this forum many times. Fortunately, that wasn't the case, and I advised the person who served me that I might have some difficulty with going aboard the tenders. He made sure that not only was I placed on a special needs list of folks who needed help in getting to muster stations, but also on a list of folks who needed assistance to board tenders. Well done, Guest Services staff! Activities Two particular activities I participated in were the Spanish@Sea classes held on Sea Days and taught by Amparo, the Chilean-born Assistant Cruise Director. The other activity was trivia contests. In addition, I made myself a regular at Crooners' Bar, a lounge decorated by pictures of the Rat Pack, a group of singers and showbiz guys who reigned supreme in Vegas of the 50s and 60s. Note: for Millennials and Gen X, Y, and Z readers, the Rat Pack crew included Sammy Davis, Jr., Frank Sinatra, Joey Bishop, Dean Martin, and Peter Lawford. The lounge was primarily a piano bar presided over by pianist-songwriter Sammy Goldstein, Jr. Cabin I had a wheelchair-accessible cabin with balcony, category BD, on Caribe Deck (Deck 10). The cabin had nice closets, a queen-size bed, twin sets of drawer space, an good-sized desk, and a very big flat-panel TV. Regarding that piece of equipment, you had to duck down to avoid hitting your head on the TV because nearly half of it was over the desk and bar area. There was an empty mini-frig below the bar area. The balcony was large with plenty of space to walk around, two lounge chairs and a table. The bathroom was large to accommodate a walker or wheelchair person; there was a roll-in shower, a fold-down seat, handheld shower wand, soap and shampoo dispensers on the wall, and two shelves for one's meds or toiletries but only one sink. Frankly, how that bathroom could accommodate two people sharing the cabin was a riddle, because the sink's space barely accommodated my needs. Dining I had late sitting dinner, table #166 in the Provence Dining Room. Although the pretty Asian lady server told me her name, I couldn't remember it, but she remembered mine and always called me "Mr. Shep" throughout the cruise. I had bought a 3-bottle wine package, and the server made sure that all bottles were brought to my table. My table-mates included an Indian couple from Canada and a family from Texas. In many cruises I've taken for the past 4 decades, this trip was one of the very few whose dining companions were so agreeable that I didn't need to change tables. For other meals, I took advantage of the complimentary pizza at Sabatini's, Alberto's Pizzeria on Deck 14, Horizon Court buffet, the Bordeaux DR for lunch, and room service (especially for early AM shore excursion departures). Entertainment During my four decades of cruising, I've decreased my visits to the showroom considerably, and only patronize it when there's a comedian, juggler, opera singer, or other special entertainer scheduled for that evening. The one time I went to a cruise ship show for this trip was for a very funny comedian, John McDonnell. The Cruise Director was Fernando, a fairly entertaining guy who hailed from Brazil, emceed the shows and held sway over the many activities shown in the Princess Patter. Ports and Shore Excursions San Antonio/Santiago, Chile I've already described the San Antonio port area, and Santiago itself was a very pretty city dotted with 16th century buildings interspersed with green spaces and modern skyscrapers. Puerto Montt, Chile Because of an accident in my cabin, I was unable to do the sheep ranch and BBQ excursion I had booked for this port. I overheard from many guests that this port was worth visiting. The next day, I visited the library and chose a book whose author was the only one I liked, JK Rowling. I read that book during the cruise. I also discovered where the Internet Cafe was, and started using the Windows PCs to access my emails. The price was decent: 85 bucks for nearly two weeks' service during the voyage. Punta Arenas, Chile This port required tendering, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that the ship had a special lift to accommodate folks w/special needs to get us from Deck 4 to the tender embarkation platform. I didn't have to walk down or up steps to get to the tender platform, and the crew members took my walker aboard and took it ashore from tenders with ease. Well done, Princess! My tour consisted of a visit to an estancia in Patagonia, Estancia Fitz Roy, for watching how sheep were herded, shorn, and a nice lunch with spit-roasted lamb. I should note here my shore excursion had two Cruise Critic Roll Call members, Rosa and her spouse. The other CC Roll Call members had their own private excursions to our ports of call. I was glad to see Rosa and her man and have their company on this excursion. Scenic Cruisiing Part of the itinerary included a side trip to see Amelia Glacier in a fjord. I saw the glacier, which wasn't as impressive in size to Mendenhall Glacier outside Juneau, AK. In addition, the trip included rounding Cape Horn. Usually, there's rough seas for ships doing this, but for our journey, the seas were not as rough. Everybody aboard received a certificate for Rounding Cape Horn on X date in Feb 2020. Ushuaia, Argentina I was originally scheduled to do a tour that included a train trip to the southernmost point in the Western Hemisphere, but I wanted to recover from another accident I had on this trip, one that happened at that Patagonian estancia. So I stayed aboard ship and took photos of the port from my balcony. Port Stanley, Falklands, UK I was scheduled to do a tour of the island's Falklands War battlefields, but the Captain told the guests that they were cancelling most of the tours because of crappy weather that made tendering to the pier too hazardous. So I ended up not going on that tour, too. I stayed aboard and had lunch someplace, then went to the Wheelhouse Bar for the trivia contest. I was joined there by one of my table-mates from dinner, who had come there from one of the Deck 14 food places, the Trident Grill. Puerto Madryn, Argentina At last, a port that didn't require tendering! Also, the weather was sunny and mild, perfect for visiting this port. My excursion visited Point Loma, a place where sea lions, penguins, and seals made their home, and a paleoontology museum with exhibits from excavations of prehistoric animals and people living in Patagonia way back during the dinosaur age. I took advantage of the opportunity to eat an Argentina snack food, alfajores, which was like a Scooter Pie: a large cookie covered in chocolate and a marshmallow filling. Yum! Sometimes, the best souvenirs are the ones that go into one's belly instead of on your bookshelves, and this snack filled that bill to a T. Montevideo, Uruguay I had booked a shore excursion to visit a town called Colonia de Sacramento, a 2.5-hour bus ride each way. It was a great visit to a 16th century town, complete with boulder-strewn and cobblestone streets that made walking on them with a walker very difficult, but I had help from a shore excursion staff member who accompanied the tour. The excursion included lunch with wine and the opportunity to buy souvenirs. I didn't buy anything because I didn't want anything to fill increasingly limited shelf space. Buenos Aires, Argentina My shore excursion combined a city visit and a lunch with tango show. My tour showed many sights of this city whose nickname was the "Paris of the South," including Recoleta Cemetery, Casa Rosada, etc. The lunch and tango show was very good, especially the lunch with a choice of entree, appetizer, dessert, bread, and wine. This city being Buenos Aires, a place known for its wonderful beef, I had to give the steaks a try, and I was not disappointed by the quality of the beef. Disembarkation The process was pretty much a breeze, especially finding my suitcase and going through passport control and immigration. But the transportation scene was a madhouse, and I had to find my Viator driver to take me to my BA hotel, Argenta Hotel Suites. Eventually, we found each other, and he took me to my hotel, which was very close to the pier. I had a great stay there for my first time to the Argentine capital. Two days later, I had another private transfer to Ezeia, the town where the international airport was located. Big airport, but made manageable with the assistance of my wheelchair pusher. Summary Would I go again on a Princess ship? You bet! I'm going on Coral's sister ship, Island Princess for a visit to Denmark, Norway, Iceland, and the UK in July. The service quality in all departments, especially for us special needs folks made this cruise and the ship more enjoyable. In addition, in contrast to the constant fawning over suite guests that RCCL and Celebrity engage in on their ships, Princess keeps their attention on suite guests low-key. Let me say a few words about the Cruise Critic situation aboard Coral on this cruise. Although there as an OK and well-attended Meet and Greet on the first Sea Day, it was also too low-key to be real enjoyable. I did get to meet some of the people whose names I could associated w/their postings on the Roll Call forum--Rosadpx, Lisa and David. There were name tags, but you had to find them on a table somewhere in the venue that hosted the Meet and Greet, the Wheelhouse Bar. In contrast with the August '19 British Isles cruise aboard Celebrity Reflection, this Roll Call was not as social as I hoped it would be. I just wish there was a lead Roll Call person to introduce wallflowers like me to fellow Roll Call members. I also wish that CC Roll Call would make an effort to have fellow members sit as dinner table groups, but I recognize that desire might not be so welcome if other CC Roll Call folks consist of people who usually travel together. I do hope that the CC Roll Call for the Norway and Iceland cruise this July will be more social. Fingers are crossed for that situation to happen! Read Less

We just got back from a wonderful trip on the Coral Princess from Santiago to Buenos Aires. This is the second time we have taken this cruise; the last time was 4 years ago. This time we booked a mini-suite, club class. The short review is that we loved our trip – even the second time. My husband and I have taken 20+ cruises and have cruised on Princess, Holland America, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Viking Ocean, and Oceania. We tend to book smaller ships now and look for a ship with a full promenade as we love to walk on deck. We are in our 60s & 70s and cruise about once a year. The Coral Princess is a lovely older ship that has been maintained well. Yes, there is a little rust and age showing, but I found that it was still in very good shape and quite liked it. In fact, we just booked another ship on the Coral to Alaska next year. You can’t beat a wrap-around promenade in Alaska. I have broken my review into areas, so you can skip to what interests you about the ship. Itinerary: I enjoyed the itinerary, even the second time. This time we choose different excursions and docked in a port that was skipped the last time. The scenery is just beautiful and the ports have so much to offer in terms of culture and wildlife. We booked several tours to see penguins in different ports as we were aware from our last cruise that ports can be cancelled due to weather and sea conditions. One important thing to realize before you book a cruise around Cape Horn is that you may not get to all the ports. The weather is variable and you have to tender to several of the ports. If the water is too choppy, the ship or the harbor master may close the pier. On this trip, approaching the Falkland Islands, the captain had warned everyone the night before that the weather looked challenging in Stanley, but he didn’t want to give up hope, so he continued there. Unfortunately, many people missed seeing this port. My husband and I were in line early in the morning (7:30) when the captain indicated how rough the water was and that there was a pontoon pier with docking for one tender at a time with two cruise ships trying to use tenders. We decided not to get off. At 9:00, the harbormaster closed the harbor, so only a few people had tendered to the port. Stateroom: Our Club Class Mini-Suite was just lovely. There was plenty of room for storage in both the room and bathroom. While we were on the ship they upgraded our beautiful new TVs to On-Demand – which was wonderful! The bed and bedding were luxurious. The bathroom had a tub with a shower curtain. There was still individual hand soap in the bathroom. The shower had good pressure and temperature control. We were welcomed with Champagne. There were two half bottles of wine in our statement for our enjoyment. The patio, which we didn’t use because it was too cold, had older patio furniture on it. The patio was a good size; included a small table, two reclining chairs and ottomans. Service: We experienced excellent service no matter where we were on the ship. We always experienced lots of smiling faces and helpful folks. Our room steward was great, couldn’t do enough for us. He quickly learned our schedule and always had our room done when we were gone. Food: We ate mostly (and whenever we could) in the dining room. There is a special area for Club Class in one of the dining rooms. Most of the tables are tables for two; however, you get to know almost all the people in Club Class and the tables are near enough to engage should you want to. The wait staff and head waiter are the same for the entire cruise; therefore, they remember you and your preferences. At each meal in Club Class the head waiter prepares something special in your dining area. At lunch and dinner it was usual a pasta or seafood dish. At breakfast it could be a quiche, special cake, crepes, etc. It was usually wonderful. Also, at dinner there were usually one or two other special items that the Chef prepared in the larger kitchen for Club Class. It was a great experience. I think generally the food was good; however, there were somethings I didn’t like and the wait staff took them back and gave me a different selection. We never had to wait to be seated and noticed a line at the non-club class door. We usually ate around 7 p.m. We ate in the horizon court on days when we had early excursions. Of course, there is more variety there; however, I am not fond of buffets and try to not go to them. There were generally good choices for all types of diets there. I was also impressed with the care they took at the horizon court to ensure people washed their hands and placement with hand sanitizers. Internet: Wow! Medallion Net really improved internet on the ship. I could always connect with no problems. We purchased the 4 device unlimited option. One thing to note, you cannot connect a Kindle Paperwhite to the Medallion Net. It seems the device has to be a color device for it to work. Service: In short, it was wonderful! Entertainment: It has been 4 years since I have been on a Princess ship. I think the entertainment has greatly improved. There were many production shows, several different headliners and lounges in the ship with a good band and classical and piano music in the atrium area. Often these were happening simultaneously so you could pick which to attend. I loved the choices. There was also a lot of trivia, name that song and other games that were fun. Excursions: We took a couple from the cruise line and booked some on the roll call. They were all very good. Disembarkation: We had a late flight out so we booked a tour and transfer through Princess. We did a city tour and lunch with tango show. That was really good; however, they drop you at the airport at around 3:00 for a 9:45 flight. There were so many people at the airport waiting to check in for different flights on American and no signs or indication which counter or where the lines would form. About 4:00 pm a random line began forming and it went back about 100+ people. Around 5:30 they began check-in for two or three flights (American Airline). Of course, the check in was not exactly where the line formed; so there were a lot of shuffling, upset and unhappy cruisers who had been up since 6:00 am and standing in line for 1 ½ hours. Of course, this has nothing to do with Princess, but with the airport. Posting some signs could help – basically, there was not information on what to expect, when check-in would happen or where. I guess the only way to avoid this is to book a hotel and stay over a night; however, you could conceivably have the same issue the next day with another ship disembarking. If no one had started the random line, there wouldn’t have been a problem. But when you see so many people waiting, I guess it had to happen. We really enjoyed our time on the Coral and recommend it to those who enjoy cruising on a smaller ship. Read Less

This is my first sailing on the Coral Princess (1,970 passengers) and I just loved it. It is the sister ship to the Island Princess which is also one of my favorite ships. The ship was recently refurbished and it looks it. New carpets, furniture, flooring, etc. You would never know the ship is almost 20 years old. The size of the ship is just perfect and you do not wait long for an elevator, unlike the massive Majestic Princess. We had the usual great outstanding servers in the dining room and our hangout at Crooner’s Bar on Deck 6. We could not have asked for a better room steward who was so quick and efficient. Our room was always spotless. We were on the ship (February 2020) with a group of eight others. We all agreed that the food was the best that we have ever had. We had three formal nights and on each of those nights we had lobster on the menu, which is my favorite. The Chef clearly takes great command of the kitchen and it was appreciated. We had just been on a Royal Class ship and enjoyed this one much better – it is the perfect size. Read Less

We always wanted to see So. America. We had been on the Coral twice before and wanted to enjoy her again. Cabin was roomy and clean and we enjoyed the balcony (C226). Our room steward was wonderful and very helpful at times. Dining room was good most of the time. We only had one meal each that we did not love. Dining wait staff were very attentive and knew our likes and drinks etc. Desserts were the best ever! We hate the buffet so avoided it whenever possible. Enjoyed the International Cafe many times. Had breakfast in our room while viewing the Beagle Channel and Amalia Glacier. Shows were all good, especially the production shows, the soprano and the Brazilian singer. By far the best show was one they brought on from Buenos Aires, the Tango show..magnificent! We liked the lectures, especially the destination lecturer who really told us some about the history and geography of each place, not just a rehash of the ship's excursions. The pirate lecturer was also good, but they seemed to have a lot of trouble with their AV system when she spoke. We only took one ship excursion to Montevideo city tour. It was fine. All our others were private excursions we arranged in small groups through the Cruise Critic board and were excellent. We loved all the ports and the private tours. South America exceeded our expectations. Now for the bad and ugly. They were changing our TV to Medallion so we had no news for a number of days and no music. When it finally came back on, none of the ship's lectures of movies could be seen. We never went to deck 14 to watch the movies because it was so cold and windy, so we missed all of those, many of which I wanted to see. The other thing that has really changed in one year is that you get no paper receipts for anything you purchase onboard, and you do not sign for it - wine, beer, drinks just come with no prices and no receipt unless you ask for it. Photos - they had signs saying that a digital copy would be free if you purchased a photo, but that was not true because you had to buy one of their flash drives for $8, and could not use your own flash drives! The other thing that really bugged us was the music around the ship - the piano player and 2 violinists were really awful, out of tune and out of tempo. I loved walking around the promenade deck and that was one reason we chose this ship. Read Less

The service was excellent, but the food was mediocre, both in the dining room and at the lido buffet. Loved the entertainment on ship! Santiago did not have much sight-seeing that interested us. We like eco-tours, and it's a very arid area. Buenos Aires was great! We particularly liked our gaucho excursion and tango lesson. Ushuaia was one of our favorite stops. We rented a car and went for a 10 km hike to Esmeralda Lake. Our dinner companions told us of an excursion they did that I wish we had done. They went to a sheep farm and saw the sheep being sheered. We were going to see a penguin colony on the Falklands, but it was cancelled due to inclement weather. We saw a few penguins in Puerto Madryn, but I never saw a king penguin during this cruise. In Puerto Madryn we booked an excursion on-line to the peninsula to the northeast. We saw lots of wildlife - guanacos, which are like llamas, maras, which look like hares on stilts, burrowing owl, a Rhea (like an ostrich), sea lions, elephant seals and also some little armadillos. If the food had been better, it would have been an excellent cruise! Read Less

The primary reason for this cruise was to see Antarctica - everything else was secondary. Coral Princess is a great ship in very good condition. May have the smallest ration of passengers per ton of any major cruise ship making for a very uncrowded experience. Superb Captain, very good crew, might be my favorite cruise ship (this was cruise 16.) Embarkation seemed hectic with what felt like a crowded lounge but from arrival to cabin was less than one hour. Disembarkation (Club Class) had a lounge with refreshments and snacks and also went smoothly, less than 20 minutes once our group was called and less than 2 hours after arrival. Dining room was open so we had breakfast before leaving. D412 Cabin (Mini-suite) was spacious, quite and well located (mid-ship). Did not have the squeaks and creaks that we were expecting in this no longer young ship. Note that the large balcony is completely exposed to those above all the way up to the top deck - this is not a private balcony. More outlets than I have ever seen in a stateroom before.Room steward was attentive. Food was very good with the Club Class anytime dining, with a little something extra prepared in the space for you each meal, was outstanding. All the benefits of anytime with the same team serving each evening. Food and wine recommendations were on point. Entertainment options were many, professional shows were okay but not great, few ports meant less variety in the entertainment. Good lectures regarding the cruise destinations. Nice gym, gets good usage as well. Antarctica was simply amazing - this should be on your bucket list! Other ports are small and excursions fill up fast - do not delay in signing up for excursions! Read Less

On a big cruise ship you don't get to go off the ship onto the ice, but the cost is about a third of the price, so we thought we'd try seeing Antarctica this way and if we really needed to touch the ice, we could do the expedition ship in a few years. We were not disappointed. Captain McBain took us to places not even on the itinerary, and we had a blast doing them. We got to within a couple of hundred feet from the continent so we were more than happy to stay warm in the luxurious surroundings (compared to the expedition ships down there) and pop outside as we needed to, to take photos and just watch the beauty and to steal a line from the iconic Aussie movie 'The Castle', to watch 'the serenity of it all"! Princess did a fantastic job of entertaining us and showing us the continent. We were lucky to have had calm seas both ways on the Drake Passage and only the first day was foggy in Antarctica (cleared up mid afternoon and from then on it was great). Embarkation in Buenos Airs, once inside away from the traffic (it was raining) was smooth, disembarkation in Santiago also went smooth. Rough seas up the Chile coast meant we popped in and out of their Inside Passage, so as a bonus we got to see some spectacular Chilean Patagonia glaciers and scenery (and green stuff - maybe grass???) Our balcony cabin was great - our first time on deck 12 (cabin A619) and we thoroughly enjoyed the different (higher) perspective this gives - we normally cruise on deck 9. Tim our room steward was attentive and patient when we stayed on our balcony all mornings some Antarctica days - we offered for him to skip our room but he always cleaned it twice daily and always with a smile. Then again we've never had a bad cabin steward on Princess (14th Princess cruise but 25th overall - only new to cruising and have only been doing it for 5 years). Entertainment was more guests than the Princess singers and dancers, although we saw their show Encore for the third time on the third ship and we would be happy to watch this show on every cruise - its that good. On the Bayou was a great show they performed too. 3 guest lecturers were absolutely brilliant, as were the Ice Pilots. One poor comedian Steve Bruner had to compete with the American Superbowl one night and the Captain's free cocktail party on the other night. But those that missed his two shows missed some of the best comedy we've seen in a long time. Thanks for the memories! Minimal shore excursions this cruise - Falkland Islands were the best and I'm glad i booked early and we saw the Gentoo penguins @ Bluff Cove - worth every cent! Montevideo and Santiago okay - Punta Arenas we docked on a Sunday and there was hardly anything to do really. Ushuaia was good (train ride excursion) and had great souvenir shops - plus i bought a cheap ($45USD) big suitcase there for all my purchases. If i knew the Drake Passage was as calm as we had it, i'd book this cruise again for next year. i did not speak to any person on that cruise who didn't consider Captain Todd McBain the reason why the cruise was spectacular. And the ice pilot Bob said on the last day in his summary of the cruise the captain would take us places not on the itinerary (less icebergs than normal so we could go further than they have ever been able to on such a big ship), saying 'they'll get a kick outta this' or 'they're gonna love this'. Thank you captain - more captains should be like you and realise you guys have the capacity to make or break our holidays. Read Less

We had been looking at this cruise for sometime and gave it to ourselves for our 40th wedding anniversary. We liked this cruise because it was the only affordable way to see Antarctica (checking off a continent). Also we had not been to South American. My wife and I spent 3 days before the cruise in Buenos Aires. We took a city walking tour to understand and see the city and enjoyed some delicious food (steaks). We stayed in the Recoleta area. It was and felt very safe. The Boca area was amazing. The process getting on the ship was easy, uneventful. We chose a balcony suite because we wanted more room. We also chose a room with a view of the land and scenery as to which way the ship was traveling to view from our balcony. We chose the anytime dining and chose to share with a table of 6 or 8 people. Interesting to visit with people from around the world. We went to the lectures and found them enlightening. Went to only 1 show the rest didn’t interest us. The port to Montevideo was too short. We would’ve liked more time there. The other ports of call were excellent. At the end we spent 1 day in Valparaíso and 3 days in Santiago. We throughly enjoyed this cruise/trip. Read Less

We wanted to go to Antartica and felt cruise touring was the way to go. We were not disappointed! The cruise was incredible. Seeing the icebergs, the wildlife (plenty of whales, penguins and seals) and cruising around the island of Cape Horn was cool. Although delayed by a huge storm coming from the west towards South America, when it was time to go across Drake passage, it was calm as can be. Perfect cruising on the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula and every day treated to 3 lectures from presenters who have been there as part of their careers. And an Ice Captain who ran the icebreaker Polar Star for about 19 years was very interesting. Captain McBain was the best. He communicated every day, cared about what the passengers were experiencing and very complimentary of his crew all through the cruise. I highly recommend this cruise. (It is done for this season but will do three trips next season.) Read Less

I couldn't believe my luck when a trip to the Antarctica came up. I was saying the night before to my husband that we would not be visiting this part of the world because it was way too expensive, then BINGO the Coral Princes was cruising down this part of the world with a few stops on the way and on the way back. (at an affordable price) Our cabin was extremely comfortable and we were on the 8th level which was very convenient. The laundry was also on our level which was a bonus to be able to wash and dry our clothes. The ship was spotless and the crew looked and behaved very professional. Our Captain Todd McBain was absolutely amazing. He kept us totally up to date with the conditions and travel day. He made the trip an absolute adventure and ensured that we got the best of all the sites. On the bridge daily whilst in the Antarctica there was a commentary regarding the surroundings, ice and sea life which was fantastic. Never been on a cruise before with so much forthcoming information. We received a map detailing the areas we had cruised with the dates of the Antarctic and a certificate to say we had completed this journey. Very nice touch! The Captain also was concerned with the comfy of his passengers,went out of his way to cruise waters which were calm and not expose us to rough conditions. This resulted in cruising the Patagonia which was an absolute delight. We received a map detailing this leg of the trip which was so nice. We stop at Port Stanley and visited Gypsy Cove to see the penguins then walked around the town taking in the history. Ushuaia was another port visited which is known as the "End of the World". We loved this place such a great ambience and people were extremely friendly. We went to Tierra de Fuego National Park, place of beauty. We had an amazing day exploring absolutely beautiful. The Antarctica was a wonderland of white, blue, ice bergs and sea life. This place takes your breathe away with its beauty. A Must See. We loved cruising with this very professional team on the Coral Princess. Read Less

This trip included four days cruising around the Antarctic peninsula and nearby South Shetland Islands. Ice bergs - check. Really bid tabular icebergs - check. Penguins on the shore and on floating ice - check. Penguins swimming and porpoising - check. Whales floating, swimming, diving - check. Sea lions - check. Glaciers - check. Large areas covered by continental ice sheets - check. Even recent lava covered ice. Cape Horn encircle - check. Albatrosses and other birds for watching - check. Plus some actual before before and after - Falkland Islands with penguin nesting areas, Ushuaia and Punta Arenas with Patagonian landscapes. And a stop in Montevideo for those who brought shorts along. Nature galore. Great ship with good forward, rear and side (both protected and open) viewing areas. Solid service, good food and a captain who took advantage of conditions to see as much as possible and more than was initially planned. It was summer in Antarctica and it was cold, ranging from 31 to 37 degrees F. Sometimes with winds. Still, a "must do" trip. For those interested in the "cruising" portion, the entertainment was excellent and the food was very good to excellent. Didn't spend a great deal of time on the internal activities because of the constant scenery. Movies under the Stars (tm) was presented, but few takers in 30 degree temperatures (we did snag the popcorn). Read Less

This was my second adventure with The Coral, the first in 2015 to Alaska, so who better to cruise again to Antarctica. I was a solo traveller from Sunderland to Santiago - a very long way! After the nightmare chaos of Santiago Airport, though to be fair there were many Princess reps on hand to guide us through it, embarkation was stress free and in no time at all I was in my cabin. Mark Lee my cabin steward introduced himself to me straight away and throughout the cruise he was helpful and friendly. There was a little wait for cases and some people were huffing and puffing, waiting outside their cabin doors, but generally they were delivered within a couple of hours. Safety drill completed we all eagerly awaited our 6pm sail and waited.... our Captain Todd McBain (who proved to be ‘the very best’ had the unfortunate task of telling us that the fuel barge had been delayed and we would not now sail until 2.30 pm next day. Also, due to the delay and the deep weather system that was following us we would not now be calling at Punta Arenas, but instead sail through the Inside Passage straight to Ushuaia. OK, so you can’t change the weather and the fuel situation was completely out of Princess’ control but nevertheless this was a huge disappointment as I had booked a rather expensive excursion to Paine National Park which was to be a major highlight of my trip. The refund was in my account within an hour and because of that I treat myself to the rather expensive unlimited WiFi package. Normally I would just take advantage of the Platinum/Elite 250 mins free package but it means you have to keep an eye on limits and keep logging out. This way I could keep in touch with all my friends and family back home and this was a real bonus on this cruise as a I felt they had sailed with me! Again, within hours they had arranged an additional Port of call - Puerto Montt, Though another big blow was the change to the Antarctic itinerary, cutting the cruise day’s from 4 to just 2. Again this would have been a huge disappointment to many passengers. So we all picked our spirits up and the ship sailed on Monday afternoon. Getting to know the ship again was easy, my favourite evening drink spot was Crooners. On exploring I found the Horizon Court Buffet was literally minutes away from my cabin. I have not previously made a lot of use of Horizon Court, as a solo traveller it’s always difficult to get a seat and I wasn’t that impressed with the food. However, I found the choice and quality on this trip much much better and even managed to get a seat, though sometimes I just picked up something and took it straight to my cabin for my own private dining! My dining options were Bordeau Anytime and although many passengers praised the restaurant I found it a little ‘stuffy’ and they looked on me very distainly when I requested a table on my own - really, it’s not that I am unfriendly, and some evenings you enjoy the enrichment of talking to passengers from different walks of life, I just get a little tired of explaining myself to different passengers on large tables. I suspect this happens on all cruise ships. So a couple of choppy days at sea and some misty cruising we arrived at Puerto Montt on the day when it rained heavily and we saw nothing! Ushaia was very pretty and thankfully we enjoyed our excursion on the steam train. Don’t forget there are lots of sail days on this trip - another couple of days at sea and we rounded Cape Horn, although a windy and misty day it was quite an emotional experience. Continuing on we arrived at the southern part of the Antarctic Peninsular which proved spectacular and thankfully we enjoyed some decent weather - especially the Charlotte Bay sailing - the whole two days were magical lots of penguins, whales, seals in abundance as we sailed North. There were three lecturers on board, Bob, Tony and Christian who, from day two of the cruise provided daily lectures on the joys of Antarctica, explained the history and natural history of the area. Princess also provided us with helpful maps and descriptions of the birds and wildlife we would encounter along the way. Sometimes you would spend all morning in the Lecture Theatre! They were always well attended. As well as the lecturers the Shore Excursion Director was on hand to tell us all about the ports we were to visit. Now previously I have found this all a bit ‘up selling’ but this was an entirely different take, Humberto was very knowledgeable about the areas we visited, was very entertaining and charming and in no way was this an excursion sell session - quite the opposite. In no time our 48 hours in Antarctica sadly came to an end, another disappointment due to the weather was the very early morning sail past Deception Island, everyone was on deck but unfortunately the weather beat us and the fog was so bad there was nothing to see! We moved on though and enjoyed Admiralty Bay, Prince George and Elephant Islands to name but a few. If you want to have a good close up wildlife experience please remember to invest in a very good camera and/or decent binoculars and you will not be disappointed though on Antarctic day’s expect all the viewing areas in Decks 12/14 to be crowded and unfortunately it’s every man/woman to himself! Two more sail days and we arrived at Falkland Islands, it’s a lovely, fragile place that reminds me very much of the Scottish Islands and the Rockhopper penguin colony was amazing. More sail days and we arrived to the warmth of Montevideo. Which I enjoyed. Then onwards to our disembarkation at Buenos Aires. This was well organised, everyone given their coloured case labels two days before knowing exactly where and when to meet. This was the case with all of the excursions in my opinion. So to sum up and wake everyone up! I would not have missed this for the world, I enjoyed each moment even though some of the itinerary changes were a huge disappointment and I would have loved to have spent more time cruising the Antarctic - though even at the end of 48 hours some people were quite frozen from their time on deck - this is not a sun holiday!! The Coral Princess served me well. Yes, Bar prices are a little pricey, Sabatini’s lovely but an expensive surcharge - I didn’t try any of the other restaurants. I went to two Theatre shows which I enjoyed. I did love the experience, and now back home have some great memories and maybe not so great photos!!! One final note I previously mentioned our Captain, who was very hands on, kept us informed at every turn of events and a very nice man.... Read Less

We choose this cruise because it was a great way for us to visit our last continent, Antarctica. Although we were faced with a disappointment in the beginning as our landing expedition was cancelled due to weather, Captain Todd McBain and his crew did everything to make up for it. They rerouted, added an excellent port and provided us with an experience that was beyond belief. Captain McBain is without a doubt the finest Captain we have ever encountered. We hope to cruise with him again. Also, the entire crew of the Coral is to be commended for their customer service, attention to detail and their desire to make everything perfect. From embarkation to disembarkation we were treated with friendly smiles and a caring attitude. Fernando, our cruise director was fantastic and highly visible and friendly. Our dining experience was excellent as was the entertainment. We highly recommend this cruise and ship. Read Less

Antarctica was the only continent I had not visited before this cruise and it was the last item on my bucket list. I chose a Princess cruise because I am an Elite member and have always found that Princess caters for persons with disabilities. I have mobility problems owing to Parkinson's Disease and found the staff friendly and very helpful. Our cabin was, like all Princess cabins, clean and well laid-out, although I found the shower a bit cramped owing to my physical problems. We ate in the Anytime Dining Room when possible, and this is much more civilised than Horizons, which we found a bit "grab and go". The Captain took us to as many places in Antarctica as was physically possible and I do not think this could have been done any better. Embarkation and disembarkation were smooth and stress-free and the lectures were mainly excellent and informative. As for the sites we visited - they were truly magical. The whole Antarctic experience was unlike anything I have ever experienced before. It truly was a magnificent wonderland of ice and Alaska cannot even begin to compare. I will treasure my memories of Antarctica forever, as my lifespan will not enable me to visit it again. Read Less

We wanted to go to Antarctica for an affordable price and were excited when Princess started offering trips there again after 8 years. We took our 2 kids (ages 6 and 8) and my brother even brought his 1 year old daughter. Pros: 1) Antarctica is truly beautiful and amazing. 2) The Falkland Islands were great and the tours are all in personal vehicles so you get a very small group as you go to see the penguins. 3) Overall, seeing the penguins at many times during the cruise was always amazing, as well as whales and other wildlife. 4) The kids club was amazing and kept the kids happy so we could enjoy the scenery. They would point things out from the huge windows so the kids still saw the highlights. Cons: 1) It seems to be about 50/50 for chance of going to Montevideo. 2) More importantly, DO NOT go on this cruise if you're hoping to walk on the continent. Though there is a side trip offered (at $3600), they canceled it this trip (the day before it was scheduled) and the captain said it gets canceled more often than not. People were hugely disappointed and Princess did not seem very consolatory. It was not even based on the weather that it got canceled but on problems with the side trip company they partnered with. 3) For the scenic cruising, many changes were made to itinerary so don't get too attached. For example we didn't get to see Esperanza station or the primary part of Deception Island. It's not Princess' fault, but ice and sea conditions. 4) Finally, there are a lot of at sea days so be prepared! Overall, please understand that we loved the cruise and would go again in a heartbeat. However, I want people to understand that many things didn't go according to plan. Read Less

We had an amazing time on the Coral Princess during our 18-day Brazilian Adventure in December 2019. The Coral Princess was the perfect sized cruise ship!! It was a very well maintained and the staff as usual was terrific. Fernando the cruise director was the best we have had with this being our 17th cruise on Princess. The production show “The Bayou” was terrific as was the other production show “Motor City.” During our overnight stop in Rio de Janeiro the cruise line brought on a Carnivale show from Brazil which was absolutely amazing. During the sea days there were plenty of onboard activities (human slot machines, wooden horse races, etc.) and as “pollywogs” we loved participating in the “Crossing the Equator” ceremony. As has been the case with our previous Princess cruises the food and dining onboard was great. We loved the layout of Horizon Court on the Coral Princess since it made for much less congestion. The ports of call were all amazing. Loved our tour of Salvador, Brazil with its colorful buildings. We will never forget the first time seeing Christ the Redeemer or the views from Sugar Loaf Mountain. We walked the city of Montevideo, Uruguay and loved seeing the many sites along with experiencing some local food. We did a post cruise city tour of Buenos Aires, Argentina and saw an amazing tango show during lunch. This was a cruise we will never forget!! Read Less

Choose the cruise based on the itinerary. Cruising Antarctica was amazing. Really enjoyed all 34 days. Friendly,helpful staff. The food was great but did get a bit redundant. The captain was engaging and the naturalists we had on board were knowledgeable and entertaining. The interior is getting a little dated and the jokes about the tiny showers are more fact than anything else. The shore excursions were ok but I wasn’t impressed with the knowledge of the staff. I’ll give 5stars to the new Wifi and tv reception. Much improvement from the last cruise. My biggest suggestion to Princess is to offer a social drinkers drink package. The one that was available was nearly half as much again as the cabin price. Princess has cut back on some of perks from last year. I think it’s time for them revamp the specialty restaurant menus as they were exactly the same as last year . All and all we are planning on cruising with Princess again this year. Read Less

We chose this cruise for 2 reasons: Embark from SF and the Panama Canal passage. Embarkation with Princess in SF is consistently one of the best experiences we have ever had. We showed up at the port when we were instructed to and were on the ship in all of 7 minutes after leaving the car. There was no lines anywhere, we walked through security, got our ship cards, and walked on the boat. Amazing. The ship itself is in fine shape. Yes, it’s older and yes, you can find evidence of it’s age and imperfections of you want to be nitpicky, but at no point did any deficiency of the ships condition hamper the enjoyment of our vacation. Everything was clean and well maintained. The Medallion upgrades are a nice touch to modernize the vessel, and the new internet service is CONSIDERABLY better than our last cruise. I was actually able to stream audio and video reliably, with a few exceptions. Being a smaller ship with only 2000 pax means that you give up some features of the larger vessels. We were consistently surprised at how empty public spaces were. There was little issue finding seats for shows, an open hot tub, or a prime deck lounger. We had anytime dining and were often able to walk in and get seated almost immediately, regardless of the time we showed up. Some of the venue choices for shows was less ideal, namely those in the Universe Lounge. They had a couple of shows in there which were difficult to view given the seating layout. That said, there were plenty of choices of musicians to listen to or other activities. We only went to a couple of the productions, but regularly listened to musicians and watched the Movies Under the Stars, which had some really good movie selections. There was one pair of musicians, ConSonance Duo, who were amazing to watch. It’s a younger duo, probably in their late 20s, but amazing. It was a pianist and a violinist who could play almost any classical piece without sheet music and would regularly take requests from the crowd. Their personality and musical talents were quite honestly one of the highlights of the cruise. Well done on that one, Princess. Most of the entertainment / activities were geared towards older people but that’s fitting given that the median age on the ship couldn’t have been under 70. There were maybe 10 kids on board and a handful of younger couples with the overwhelming majority being retirees. This is expected given the itinerary and cruise line, but is also on of the reasons we continue to cruise Princess. The lack of kids / families / drunk frat boys / annoying d-bags is very appealing and makes for a pleasant environment. The food: The MDR was hit or miss and had a fair amount of odd dishes that weren’t particularly appealing, but there was always something good on the menu. In the past we would eat almost exclusively at the MDR, but this cruise found ourselves splitting equal time between that and the buffet. The buffet itself was similar - always something good but also several things that didn’t interest us. The variety was plentiful overall and we never went hungry. I will say that the Grill and Pizza choices were pretty simplistic, but not disappointing. It would be nice to see some additional quick service options on board, but again it’s a smaller ship so you can’t expect it to have everything. The pools were nice and not usually crowded. There are 5 hot tubs and I don’t think we ever saw them all occupied at once. The main pool did get murky after a couple days, probably due to all the sunscreen in the water. The Lotus pool was a better option for us as the water was clearer and has fewer patrons. The aft pool is supposedly reserved for Sanctuary guests. We never tried to go in it during daylight hours so I can’t say how strictly that rule is kept, but we did find that they locked it down pretty quickly after the Sanctuary closed everyday. The gym/fitness facilities were adequate. Another benefit of the smaller ship, the crowds here were minimal. The ports of call were varied and interesting. We went scuba diving in Cabo through the ship, which I recommend. In Nicaragua we just walked around the town and had some drinks on the beach. The town itself was not much to see, though it was an eye opener to see the conditions in which a lot of the population lives. We felt safe there though, no issues. Costa Rica we arranged a private tour at the Don Juan coffee plantation in Monteverde. We paid a lot to do this ($330) to get private transport to and from and take a 3 Part your that discusses the process for the production of coffee, chocolate, and sugar cane. It was a great tour and very informative. The ship has a similar offering for less than we paid, but I can’t speak to the quality of that tour. The ship stopped in Fuerte Amador (Panama City) the day before we transited the Canal. This gave us a chance to explore the canal in greater depth before we went though it, which we really liked. We paid $100 for a private car to take us to the new locks in Colon / Agua Clara, as well as the old locks at Miraflores. I think the ship offered something like this and may have been cheaper than what we paid for the car + admissions, but we liked the flexibility of doing things on our own schedule without being beholden to a larger group schedule. Panama City is huge and probably pretty interesting but we didn’t have time to explore it. It’s a tender port and the rendering takes a while, which cuts into your day. I believe they are in the process of building a property cruise dock though, so that should help with future cruises. Regardless, Fuerte Amador is a little island connected by a long man made peninsula and you don’t really have a choice but to get transportation out of the area to do anything. The canal itself was great. It took the better part of 11 hours to do the full transit, which is longer than normal due to some other ships causing delays and a medical emergency on board. Regardless, going through the canals and seeing what the original workers as well as new additions had to overcome to complete them was awesome. A canal transit is definitely recommended. Our cabin was low enough that we were able to easily touch the walls of the canal at a few points. The ship is all of 18” off the walls so getting to be that close to the locks and adjoining ships was fantastic. Getting to take what amounts to a jungle cruise on a cruise ship is also a pretty cool experience. It’s weird being on a lake in a cruise ship, as well as being so close to land and other ships, but that’s part of what made it fascinating. Cartagena has a neat old walled city and fort which are worth a visit. I will say though - we had purchased tickets to the Hop On / Off bus ahead of time because it seemed like the way to go. Turns out the ship made special arrangement to get tickets through them which provided transport direct from / to the ship. This would have been good to know ahead of time as we had to pay separate transit to get on the bus which cost another $30. I wish Princess has told is ahead of time that they were offering this as it was the better alternative to doing it privately. All in all, we had a great trip on the Coral Princess and would definitely recommend it to others. Read Less

Hello all, I took a bit of time to settle back from our cruise to fully digest all the activity. Positive Points: - Our cabin steward, Kurt was fantastic. We had an issue of me leaving dirty dishes outside our cabin after we had room service. I guess I was the one at fault here as I did not know to call Room Service to pick up the dishes instead of just leaving the dirty dishes by our door. However, I did see many crew members walk past the dirty dishes without picking them up. - Club Class Dining was great for bypassing the line for the dining room. - Check-in for our cruise was a breeze. Much better process from our first cruise in Seattle back in 2012. Would highly recommend departing from San Francisco for anyone considering a cruise departing from there. - Hygiene. We were very concerned being on a cruise for this long & getting a cold or worse. Our hand washing routine & attention to detail about what we touched was beyond reproach. I think most of the passengers were the same. We did not hear of anyone getting sick. I believe this ship is the first one we have been on that has hand washing sinks outside the buffet. What a great idea!! Almost everyone washed their hands before going into the buffet. Their was a portion of the pre-cruise muster that included informing everyone that the hand sanitizer does not kill the noro-virus & everyone should wash their hands before entering the buffet. As a side note, we also did Emergen-C for a week before the cruise & during the cruise. Don't know if that helped but it sure did not hurt either. - Candra in the International Cafe. We clicked right off the bat & was great about the service he provided. Also I would like to mention a Bar Server in the International Cafe, Shermine, she was fantastic. - Shore Excursions: - Cabo San Lucas-I did the SCUBA diving excursion. Fantastic. Saw a lot of sea life & would recommend this to anyone who is a diver. We had a diver get injured & she was promptly assisted & accompanied to the local hospital. Nothing negative about how the dive team handled the situation. - Coral Princess: Deck 7. I do like how the 7th deck goes all around the ship from stem to stern. Makes a good running track. Some walkers just need to be trained on where to walk or walk in a straight line so they can be passed. Now unfortunately for negative comments: - Shore Excursions. The shore excursion for the Coffee & Chocolate in Costa Rica was not worth the cost & the long time on the bus. The coffee plantation portion was fantastic. They explained in detail coffee plant growing & processing. Very good. However, the Chocolate portion was non existent. All that was done, was the guide showed us a pod & explained a little how it was processed. So much more should have been done. We also had a portion of the tour that included going into a small town & seeing an oxcart production. This was a joke. Totally. No work was being done, only a wood carver was there. His work was fantastic but no time was spent with him explaining anything. We spent over 4 hours on the bus that day just traveling. No lunch was provided or did we have free time to try & source our own lunch. Oh, one other thing the guide actually told us to zip our lips if we had a complaint. I can usually tell if someone is joking & I & my wife do not believe he was joking. But we were at the guide mercy & did not cause a scene. Next shore excursion was the hop on & off in Columbia. The cost is way too high for the benefit. Skip any excursions & just go to the aviary at the end of the pier. Nicaragua - Again too much time on the bus for the benefit. We did see the volcano & actually flowing lava into the volcano. But that was really about it. We were supposed to see a crater lake & we did for about 2 min. & we had to get back on the bus for our return. Cabin - We paid for a mini suite. The room was nice. Thank goodness the TV's were upgraded recently from the 19" models on a shelf to a decent size mounted on the wall. Very nice. However, there is still the same crappy choice of shows to watch. I know for a fact there are more choices that Princess could choose from. I had to connect my computer to the TV to have something to watch. Our balcony furniture had paint splatter all over the chairs & table. I think this is ridiculous. How can this be allowed? Why are the deck crew allowed to paint without covering all the furniture? I asked the steward to fix this & it never was addressed. With a mini suite we were supposed to be delivered canapes every evening. What was not told to us is we had to submit a menu everyday. - Allergies: per the required pre-boarding paperwork, we reported an allergy to shrimp. However, the first night our canapes were delivered with shrimp. EVERY meal we had to repeatedly tell the Club Class dining staff that we had a shrimp allergy. Once we requested a dish be prepared minus the shrimp. We were told by the server that this could not be done. I asked to speak to the Maitre D, after explaining the allergy & how I believe the allergy should be accommodated the Maitre D agreed & explained the dish would take time to be made. The additional time was reasonable & expected but to be told that it could NOT be accommodated was outrageous. I actually had words with the Maitre D & really feel we were shunned for the rest of the cruise. If we had not paid extra for the Club Class dining we would not have returned to the dining room again. Here is my issue; why does the pre-boarding reports not get reported throughout the staff? If we fill out requested forms why is upon us to inform the staffs at the various venues that we have an allergy? Another issue we had was the Bayou Steakhouse. There is an oyster dish that has shrimp included. We were told that they could NOT prepare it at that seating. If we wanted that dish we should have requested a special preparation 24 hours in advance. WHAT??? Again, the proper forms were completed in advance. Why did the specialty restaurant contact us & provide a menu & ask if we would like any special preparation to accommodate the allergy? Shouldn't that be process for great customer service? In their defense, we were given another complimentary meal to make up for the lack of communication. - Entertainment: There were only 3 production shows during the 2 week cruise. We were highly disappointed. Our first Princess cruise had production shows almost every night. There was great musician & comedian, Gary Delany that was fantastic. But he only did two shows. - Panama Canal: This was exciting for my wife. We marked two items off her bucket list. First, San Francisco & then the Panama Canal. Going through the locks & thinking of the engineering that took place in the early 1900's was amazing. The huge obstacles that were overcome to make this possible. The locks were exciting but after a bit it was like watching paint dry. I don't think we would do this cruise again because it was a once in a lifetime event. You know a bucket list. Read Less