My husband and I had been on one cruise, many years ago during the Love Boat era, and absolutely hated the entire experience. We decided that we wanted to see the glaciers before they retreated entirely and the only way to do that was by sea. I researched Alaskan cruises and settled in on the Coral Princess for its size and itinerary. We booked in late May 2018 for the August 29th cruise. We booked a guarentee rate Mini-Suite. We were assigned D314 about three weeks before the cruise.

Day 1-Vancouver: Our Princess EZAir flight was direct from DFW to Vancouver. We arrived at noon. While it seemed to take forever to get through Canadian customs, we still had plenty of time to meet the Princess bus that took us to the ship. We arrived at the ship at around 3:30 and were on board and in our room by 4. We grabbed a quick sandwich at the International Cafe to tide us over until dinner. We grabbed our camera and headed up to the the Lido deck for the sail away. Since we had the Premium Beverage Package we found the bar and were a little disapointed that they did not have the Sea Witch Beers on this boat; Alaska Brewing Beers were the local craft beer. Note: There are a lot of craft beers at the bars that do not appear in the menu; just ask the bartender what he has in stock. We were in the traditional dining room for the early seating, We had a table for 6 right by a window. Our table mates were two sisters on their annual vacation; the other diners never showed up. Our head waiter was a charming young woman from eastern europe and her assistant a young man from the Philipines. They were always full of information on the daily menu. The food in the MDR was consistantly delicious the entire cruise. I really enjoyed the soups, my husband the desserts. We attended the Cruise Directors presentation and overview in the Princess Theater and then headed to where the music took us...first the Wheelhouse, then the Atrium, finally Crooners. We walked the Promanade deck and headed to bed. The bed was one of the new Princess mattresses and it was wonderful; We probably would have overslept if our bodyclocks had adjusted!

Day 2: At Sea-The PBP included coffee from the International Cafe. I went down and had them fill our travel mugs. We had to wait for the MDR to open at 7:30 for breakfast; I was dissappointed with breakfast in general. The MDR had limited selections and the entrees seemed on the cool side to me. The mornings we went to the Horizen Buffet it was crowded and forget about made to order eggs, you will wait a lifetime for them. The mornings we were in port were the absolute worst when it came to breakfast! The sea day itself went by quickly, as there were plenty of activities throughout the ship. We enjoyed the Martini demonstration and Pasta demonstration. The musicians on board were great and varied. There was a classical quartet, a South American dance band, several soloists that played a variety of styles, a modern jazz/rock cover band. You could find music to suit your style by just looking through the Patters. The first formal night had photographers everywhere and you could avoid them if you wanted to. They weren't pushy just numerous. We were getting the hang of the cruise by now. We were pleasantly surprised at how few people were out and about on the decks...as we had nearly perfect weather the whole trip. We went to most of the early shows after dinner and then did the Movies Under the Stars or went one of the bars. Our favorite ended up being Crooner's, mainly because it was bright and the music did not overpower you like some of the other bars. You can also get snacks: peanuts and olives! Read more