The recent May 4-19 Coral Princess cruise through the Panama canal and on to San Francisco was an almost perfect experience. The ship is run like a fine Swiss watch (except the debarkation process as described below) and the entire experience was better and more enjoyable than any other cruise I have taken. From the cabin steward through the dining staff and superb chefs, there is hardly anything that didn't meet the most rigorous standards of excellence. The ship was immaculate and everyone performed their duties so well that my wife and I couldn't thank them enough. While the cruise was long (too long at times for my tennis-playing wife) we both marveled at the fine food and service. Each meal in the dining room (and even in the serve-yourself restaurant at the top deck) was outstanding, and having dined in some of the world's finest restaurants, we could safely say the ship's cuisine matched them very well.The debarkation process on the last day detracted from an almost perfect experience. It took several hours to get the passengers and staff off the ship in San Francisco and that unfortunate example of failure to perform acceptably, marred the almost perfect cruise. Whoever was in charge of that process needs to be told about this failure.Anyone wanting to cruise in style with the most wonderful staff needs to consider the Coral Princess before making other arrangements on a different cruise line or ship.