A Travel and vacations forum. TravelBanter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » TravelBanter forum » Travelling Style » Cruises
Site Map Home Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

Smart Choice Travel



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old March 25th, 2005, 01:21 PM
Roy Cochrun
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

I promised this review a few weeks ago. I finishe the text a couple
weeks ago, but I still haven't sorted out the photos for where the
review will be on my Web site. Once the photos have been
posted, I'll let readers here know where the review will be if they wish
to view the photos. Until then, here is the text-only version, in which
I compare the experience on Coral Princess with our previous cruises on
Carnival ships (in particular) and Norwegian. As my review last fall of
our cruise aboard Carnival Miracle, this one too is aimed at my
grandchildren, so please bear with that...

--Roy Cochrun

Grandma Bert and Grandpa Roy's Cruise to the Panama Canal, 26 February
through 8 March 2005 (wherein Grandpa decides differences between
Carnival and Princess are trivial)

Grandma Bert and Grandpa Roy decided early last summer that they wanted
to take a cruise to Panama in 2005. By the time they talked about it
and researched the available ships, only a few of the better cabins
aboard the Coral Princess were still available when they made their
reservations in July 2004. Grandpa was able to find a Double A (AA)
mini-suite only on the Baja deck, forward. He reserved the one
"furthest back" on the starboard (right) side, cabin B223. Unlike
Carnival Miracle and Carnival Conquest, the Coral Princess mini-suite
was somewhat smaller, had only one sink in the bathroom and had only a
regular tub, not a Jacuzzi. The shower provided only a gentle stream of
water or a "massage" stream, both nearly worthless. There also were
fewer amenities on the Coral Princess than Carnival provides in its
mini-suites. Carnival also provides a stocked refrigerator, but you
must pay for anything you take from it. Coral Princess, on the other
hand, had an empty refrigerator in which Grandma and Grandpa kept their
water after buying a first bottle. Water right from the bathroom tap,
although always somewhat warm, tasted good after cooling in the fridge
for a couple hours. The empty refrigerator was, therefore, a plus for
your grandparents.

One thing really bothered Grandma and Grandpa in comparison with
Carnival's ships: sleeping. The bed and pillows were awful on
Princess. The Carnival Miracle had thick, fluffy pillows and good
mattresses. The Coral Princess' pillows were thin and hard. So hard,
in fact, Grandma and Grandpa asked their cabin steward, "George"
(actually Gregorio), for better pillows if they were available. All
"George" could do was bring them additional pillows, which helped a
little. Over the course of the cruise, this busy man also repaired the
rattling door that had kept Grandma and Grandpa awake the first night,
brought them an additional blanket and was always friendly, cheerful and
courteous. He rightfully deserved Grandpa's nomination as the ship's
employee-of-the-month.

The mattress in Grandma Bert and Grandpa Roy's cabin was so bad that
Grandma Bert had a terrible pain in her back beginning the second full
day of the cruise that lasted until her first night home again. Because
the Coral Princess, built in only 2002, was smaller and narrower than
other ships on which your grandparents have sailed, it bounced and
rocked quite a bit more. It was narrower in order to be able to go
through the locks of the Panama Canal. It was the rocking, however,
that allowed Grandpa to sleep rather well, despite the poor pillows and
mattress. And for some reason, the rocking never bothers your
grandparents, which is a good thing!

Grandma Bert missed the towel sculptures that awaited them each night on
Carnival ships and at the resort in Mexico in 2004. In fact, before
dinner the third evening, she asked Grandpa if he thought there would be
a sculpture that evening. Grandpa had to tell her sadly that Princess
doesn't do that. She also was disappointed there was no after-dinner
entertainment by the waiters and waitresses in the dining room, although
some of them did sing a "happy anniversary" tune to your grandparents on
the night of their wedding anniversary. The waiters also marched through
the dining room the last evening of the cruise holding high their
delicious baked Alaska desserts. And of course there was entertainment
in the lounges and bars before and after dinner (more about which
later.)

In addition to the tune sung to them on their wedding anniversary, the
head waiter gave Grandma and Grandpa a little anniversary cake which
they never did eat. There was just too much food. On the morning of
your grandparents' wedding anniversary, three congratulatory balloons
were taped outside their cabin, announcing to the world (well, to those
on board Coral Princess at least) your grandparents' happy celebration.
In addition, the captain had signed a happy anniversary card with their
names on it which awaited them at their table that evening.

With the exception of the food in the main dining room in the evening,
Grandpa Roy could not understand why Princess was rated among the top
ten cruise lines by Conde Nast, while Carnival didn't even make the
list. Grandma said perhaps it had to do with the passengers. Most of
them were your grandparents age or older. There were very few children
and not too many young adults, either, on Coral Princess. Carnival, on
the other hand, bills themselves as the "Fun Ships" and caters to the
more noisy, younger crowds and their children.

It must be understood, however, that Grandma Bert and Grandpa Roy did
indeed enjoy this cruise, as they have all their cruises. They noticed
only very few differences in terms of quality and service on the Coral
Princess from their previous three Carnival cruises and their one
Norwegian Cruise Lines voyage a few years ago. For example, Grandma
and Grandpa changed to a table for two, as Grandma usually desires, the
second night in the traditional dining room. What they didn't
understand, though, was why Coral Princess couldn't change them for the
first evening, too. On Carnival or Norwegian, one simply visits the
maitre 'd and is changed to an available table at once thanks to their
computerized systems. This Princess ship had no such system.

The food, as mentioned, was indeed better than Carnival's in the main
dining room on the Coral Princess, with the exception of the night the
waiter talked Grandpa Roy into having the duck a al orange instead of
the pepper steak. The waiter, Daniel from Rumania, said the beef would
be tough and there would be better beef later in the week. Grandpa
didn't like any of the other menu choices that night, so he chose the
duck at Daniel's recommendation. There always were skinless chicken
breast and another steak with baked potato or French fries available,
but Grandpa decided instead to try the duck. Ugh! What a mistake!
Daniel was embarrassed and apologized quite a bit, but Grandpa Roy
certainly didn't blame him. Grandpa's just not a duck sort of guy.

In addition to the ever-changing evening meals, there always was a
recommended vegetarian dish and those wonderful appetizers and desserts.
Both Grandma and Grandpa tried things with which they were unfamiliar
and they always found them quite good, especially the soups and
appetizers, although salads usually were boring. There were some
wonderful desserts, and we know who in this family enjoyed them more
(hint: it certainly wasn't your slender Grandma Bert.) The last night
of the cruise there was one main choice of dessert, baked Alaska.
Daniel allowed Grandpa to have a second piece of this true delight (and
instant heart attack!)

Grandma and Grandpa had most breakfasts and all lunches on the Lido deck
(deck 14, there is no deck 13.) Here, Grandpa, in particular, felt that
Carnival excelled over Princess. Breakfast included only two types of
juice, orange and cranberry. The orange juice was watered down a lot
and not very good. There was milk, of course, but sometimes it wasn't
very cold. A man would fry eggs or omelets to order, so they were okay.
But the fried eggs prepared in front of you on the Carnival Miracle
were done in little pans and turned out much better. One point,
however, the Coral Princess had very nice crispy bacon each morning for
breakfast. Grandpa loved it!

The serving lines were confusing at lunch time. One entered the area,
cleaned off his or her hands beneath the chemical treatment stuff there
(one lady passenger told Grandpa she used it in her job as a druggist
every day and believed in it for preventing disease), and received a
plate and silverware wrapped in a large, cloth napkin from a gloved
steward. With plate in hand, the first thing a passenger encountered
was the desserts, not the salads. Entrees and side dishes were on two
separate hot lines, but rarely matched to each other and always in a
confusing layout. On Carnival there is a theme for the day's luncheon.
Also, Carnival provides trays so that the passenger can get everything
at once without having to return to the line looking for salads or
drinks or desserts while their meal gets cold or perhaps even whisked
away by an overly eager steward. Grandpa never had a warm meal on the
Lido deck. It was always cold by the time he was able to eat. In fact,
it wasn't very warm to begin with.

In the afternoon, real ice cream was served on the Lido deck. On
Carnival they serve only the soft stuff out of the machines, and while
available longer and in greater quantities, it wasn't very good. The
real ice cream on Princess, however, consisted of vanilla and one other
flavor each day. Grandpa Roy put the chocolate syrup on his one day
that had some type of alcohol in it. Was it ever strong! Grandma Bert
agreed. There had been no notice warning about the alcohol.

Whereas Carnival had a large selection of desserts at lunch on their
Lido decks (handed out by someone behind the counter so that children
couldn't take more than they would eat), Coral Princess had only four:
there usually was one hot dessert, normally very tasty, and three or
four cold, one of which normally was a fruit cup of some type. In
addition, there was a large selection of sliced and whole fruits on the
Lido buffet, including freshly carved pineapple that was very tasty.

The only thing to drink at lunch time was coffee, tea or iced tea. On
Carnival there is always lemonade and usually another juice, in addition
to the three traditional beverages. Because Grandpa Roy has never
gotten used to the idea of cold tea, he purchased a sticker that went
onto his cruise card that allowed him to have as many cold soft drinks
as he wanted during the whole cruise, including in the dining room in
the evening. The sticker cost $27.50 and included a fancy cup with lid.
Had he known you didn't have to purchase the cup, he could have saved
$2.50, but... At any rate, the sticker saved him money over the
purchase of traditional cans of soda at $1.50 each during the 10 days of
the cruise.

On the other hand, Grandma Bert, whom Grandpa says never has been a
cheap date, had iced tea, coffee or canned soda. Sometimes she had
mixed drinks, too, and and at supper she had one or two glasses of the
recommended red wine. All these paid soda and alcoholic beverages were
at the usual prices one finds in restaurants in Maryland. In addition,
Grandma might have a fancy drink in the ship's Princess Theater or while
sunning. They served small, medium and large sizes, and the ship's
idea of "medium," which usually cost around $7.00 to $7.50 was huge by
any standard. And, Grandma said, they were good, although she felt the
fancy drinks on Carnival were better.

The daily routine aboard the Coral Princess went something like this
when not in port: Get up, eat breakfast. Take a nap, get up and eat
lunch. Take a nap, get up and eat supper. Go to a show, go to bed, get
up, eat breakfast. Take a nap, get up... Well, you get the general
idea. Of course, your grandma didn't allow herself to get into that
routine. Instead, she would sit in the sun or use the gym. She
discovered that , although the gym wasn't very large, if she got there
after the morning rush, after 9:00 a.m., she usually had it all to
herself. There were televisions to watch while sweating on a treadmill.
Or, the user simply could enjoy the view ahead of the ship.

There were two places for shows aboard the Coral Princess. One was the
Princess Theater at the front of the ship, a traditional, sloped floor
theater with many seats and a large stage. Unlike some ships, there
were no columns or supports blocking the view of some patrons in the
Princess Theater. The Princess Theater also was the place where Grandma
and Grandpa underwent lifeboat training. On other ships, they have
gathered on the deck near the lifeboats and stood there until the slower
passengers arrived and a head count was completed. This time they were
allowed to sit down and be comfortable before standing up and putting on
their life jackets. Grandma and Grandpa liked the shows in the Princess
Theater, and Grandma especially liked the dark haired singer, Liz. She
had an excellent voice and Grandpa agreed with your grandmother on that
point.

At the other end of the ship was the Galaxy Lounge with an even larger
stage and two levels for patrons, but with tables and comfortable chairs
instead of traditional seating. Grandma and Grandpa watched one show
there. Some seats did have obstructed views of the stage, so one had to
get there early for the better shows.

Unlike Carnival, where it was more difficult to find a quiet corner to
listen to music, there was always somewhere on Coral Princess to enjoy a
quiet soda and good music. Of course, there also was the loud,
traditional band on the Lido deck near the pool. And speaking of the
pool, there were two. They both were larger, much larger, than those
found on both Carnival and Norwegian (at least on the ships with which
Grandma and Grandpa are familiar), and the Lotus Pool was indoors and
reserved for adults only. It was very nice and quiet, but rarely used
as a matter of fact.

The first two days were cruising. Grandma spent the time paying her
hard-earned money to the spa for different treatments or basking in the
sun on deck 15, away from the noise of the Lido deck band. She had had
a bad experience with a waiter, whose name she did not catch, on the
Lido deck her first day in the sun. Grandma had found a place very near
the pool. After she settled in, a waiter approached and she asked for a
soda. He tried to convince her that she should have an alcoholic drink,
but it was still early and she only wanted a can of soda. The waiter
ignored her and she never did get her soda. Grandpa made certain to
include that little episode on the critique Coral Princess asked for at
the end of the cruise. (He also included his complaints about the
pillows, mattress and shower head.)

On the third day, the ship docked in Costa Rica, the first of several
countries never visited before by your grandparents. At the suggestion
of several people last summer and much to your Grandfather's chagrin (he
is afraid of anything higher than his tiptoes unless he is surrounded by
an airplane), Grandma and he took the aerial tram ride in a privately
owned part of the rain forest. As it turned out, the ride was extremely
pleasant and Grandpa wasn't at all nervous. All they saw, however, from
the tram was one animal related to the raccoon in this country and
trees. On a short hike through the rain forest they saw a sloth, high
up in a tree, and some leaf cutter ants carrying their bits of leaves
back to their nest. The ants fascinated Grandma. After the tram ride,
the bus took the passengers to a restaurant for a typical, and
delicious, Costa Rican meal consisting of chicken and the traditional
rice and beans.

Grandpa hardly slept the night before the ship headed into the Panama
Canal, even though he had placed a wake-up call request on the automated
system. He wanted to be up when the ship passed through the locks,
which he knew would be very early in the morning. The best place, the
cruise director had announced, would be from the balcony of any cabin.
He was right. Grandma and Grandpa stood on the balcony and watched as
the Coral Princess entered the first, then the second and finally the
third lock. Another cruise ship was behind Coral Princess and Grandpa
Roy got some good photos of it passing through the locks, too. Grandma
and Grandpa ate breakfast on their balcony. And speaking of pictures,
Coral Princess photographers had gotten off the ship and were taking
pictures with telephoto lenses of the people on their balconies that
passengers could buy later.

Once the ship anchored in Gatun Lake after passing through the locks,
your grandparents caught a tender to shore and took a bus to the Pacific
Ocean. From there, they took a train back, riding in an observation car
built in 1938 that Panama found, old and neglected, in Florida. Panama
was beautiful, but there was very little time for photography on the
bus/train tour, which disappointed Grandpa. However, the guide, Marty,
was very good and spoke with no accent, as "Mommy and Daddy" had sent
him to school in the States (and "Daddy was an American," anyhow,
originally.) Of interest was Marty's view on what the American media
call the American invasion of Panama when the dictator and drug runner
Noriega was arrested and brought back to the U.S. Marty said that most
Panamanians declared it was not an invasion at all, but a LIBERATION!

Grandma and Grandpa had been to both Grand Cayman Island and Cozumel
before. Grand Cayman still showed signs of the very bad hurricane of
last year, but the city of Georgetown had not been hit too hard. While
in Grand Cayman, your grandparents took the "partly submerged" submarine
tour, aboard which they viewed many types of fish and two shipwrecks,
and they visited a butterfly farm. All the butterflies had been killed
during the hurricane and the farm had started over again. The
butterflies were beautiful, as you will see from the photos here.

In Cozumel Grandma and Grandpa went to a folklore show which was dancing
and music depicting Mexico's history. They also did some shopping and
took some pictures, of course. Of interest was the fact that Grandma
needed a bottle of water in one of the shops at the end of the pier. A
cold, small bottle of Evian cost $2.50 American. On the ship it would
have cost only $1.50. Speaking of prices, Grandma had been looking at
two clowns from the well-known Italian Lladro company. The price in the
Coral Princess gift shop was $196.00 for each clown. Grandpa looked up
the price of these Lladro clowns on the Internet after the cruise and
discovered the cost $265.00 here in the U.S. Passengers really can save
on the ship.

The last port-of-call was Belize, a little country once a British colony
which had been called British Honduras. Grandma and Grandpa's original
Sibun River and Mayan Cave Adventure excursion was canceled because the
vehicle the tour operator used was being repaired. So, instead they
took a boat up the Belize River and visited some Mayan ruins. The river
trip was very interesting. They saw many animals and birds, including
young crocodiles, howler monkeys, dolphins (yes! Dolphins in a
fresh-water river), parrots, bats and more.

Grandma and Grandpa met some interesting people during their cruise.
One couple with whom they had breakfast one morning were on their 35th
Princess cruise. In fact, they had taken over 50 cruises since they had
married. The wife told a very interesting story about a cruise to
Turkey and Greece in which their ship was held up by the Greek
government because some crew members were smuggling drugs. Princess, in
order to keep the passengers happy and because the ship could not leave,
found free excursions, usually on smaller boats to beautiful Greek
islands, for all the passengers. After a couple weeks of free,
interesting excursions, however, Princess paid back all the money the
passengers had spent for their cruise, flew them home at Princess
expense, AND gave them vouchers for a free cruise on any Princess ship.
That never happens to your grandparents!

Grandpa spoke with another gentleman who admitted that his party had
fibbed about a couple birthdays and a wedding anniversary just so they
could get the cake. This man felt that because the cruise cost so much,
he should get something for his money. Grandpa couldn't do that. His
conscious would bother him too much.

As with Carnival, Princess also uses a key card that doubles as your
credit card and identification to get back onto the ship after going
ashore. If it is your first time sailing with Princess, the card is
blue. After that, the card is gold. In that way, repeat guests are
recognized instantly by members of the ship's crew. Passengers who
have sailed many times with Princess get yet another color card, which
Grandpa seems to recall was black. Carnival crew members seem to have
no way to distinguish between first-time and repeat guests.

Princess also uses the same photo technique which allows them to see if
you are indeed the person to whom the card originally was issued. While
the documentation that arrived before the cruise said passengers must
carry passports for the cruise, Coral Princess only required a
government issued photo identification, such as a driver's license.
Grandpa noticed a few security personnel on board the ship, and Grandma
noticed a banner on one side of the Coral Princess warning boaters to
stay a certain distance away. It remains to be seen, however, if the
cannon hidden behind the port holes were accurate enough to destroy any
approaching vessels.

Grandma and Grandpa had spent the night before the cruise departed at a
motel near Baltimore-Washington International airport because of the
very early morning flight Princess Cruises had arranged for them to
Cleveland (yes, Cleveland!) and from there to Fort Lauderdale. Your
grandparents had gotten their boarding passes the day before off the
airline's Web site, so they only had to check their luggage and go
through security. Your grandparents got to the airport about an hour
and a half before flight time. It turned out that Grandpa's bag was
overweight and he had to pay an extra $25.00 for it. Grandma said she
will never let him live down the fact that his bag was heavier than
hers. After a short wait in a very, very long line to go through
security, they headed for the airplane, which took off for Cleveland a
while later right on time.

The flight from Cleveland left about 15 minutes late because of
congestion in the skies over Fort Lauderdale. As it was, the aircraft
landed only about 5 minutes late. Grandma and Grandpa got their bags
and went looking for a taxi. A couple people on the rec.travel.cruises
news group had told Grandpa to take a taxi from Fort Lauderdale airport
to the cruise terminal. What good advice that turned out to be! It
took a whole two minutes to get a taxi, then about 10 minutes to the
terminal, where the bags with cabin tags attached went into a bin for
eventual delivery to the cabin. Once inside the terminal, everyone
filled out a card which stated whether or not they had been sick the
past two days. (Nope!) Then your grandparents went to a short line to
get their boarding passes, went through security, had their pictures
taken, and onto the ship. Grandpa was hoping to be on board by 2:30 or
3:00 p.m. As it was, they were boarded at 1:15. The whole check-in and
boarding process took less time than the drive from the airport to the
ship because the crowds who were coming by Princess transportation were
still sitting on the buses at the airport!

Because Grandpa had paid the $25.00 for his bag, and since he wanted to
make certain he had extra cash, one morning he put his ATM card into his
shirt pocket along with his cruise card. Off he went with camera in
hand to take some pictures, perhaps read his book for a while somewhere
and then to get money from the ship's ATM. Grandpa decided to read near
to one of the bars in the atrium area. A waitress approached and he
pulled out his card and asked for a tonic water. The waitress said he
couldn't use the card. Grandpa protested briefly, having understood the
soda stamp Princess had given him could be used in all bars, lounges and
restaurants on the ship, but the waitress replied he couldn't use an ATM
card. Whoops! Grandpa had forgotten he had it with him. But the
waitress was good-natured and when she saw his book was in Russian, she
spoke to him in Russian. She was Bulgarian, but had lived for a time in
Russia. Many of the crew were Bulgarian. There also were many
Filipinos, some Turks, South Africans, English and some Mexicans. The
ship's captain was Italian.

There were many ships preparing to leave at Port Everglades the day your
Grandparents' ship did, including the huge, highly touted Queen Mary 2.
Grandma and grandpa found someone to take their picture on the deck of
the Coral Princess with the Queen Mary 2 in the background.

It was another wonderful cruise for your grandparents. While Grandma
and Grandpa do not understand why some people hate Carnival, they do
have some insight into why people like Princess (except for the food on
the Lido deck.) Given the opportunity or cash, your grandparents would
happily sale again with either cruise line. It did seem, however, that
Princess excursions cost a bit more than on Carnival. Although Grandma
and Grandpa bought fewer photos this cruise, they still paid a bit more
for them than they would have liked. Finally, Grandma and Grandpa
thought the last souvenir from the ship added a nice touch to a very
pleasant voyage: It was an abbreviated log of the whole cruise, with
all the times of sailings and arrivals, speeds, ports-of-call, and so
forth. It will make a nice addition to their family scrapbook of
memories.

But now their cruise is over and Grandma and Grandpa are looking forward
to a really different cruise when they go to Egypt in September and sail
the Nile River on a much smaller vessel from Aswan to Luxor. Grandpa
can hardly wait, but in the meantime, Grandma already is planning what
cruise to take in 2006 or early 2007.
  #2  
Old March 25th, 2005, 01:21 PM
Roy Cochrun
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

I promised this review a few weeks ago. I finishe the text a couple
weeks ago, but I still haven't sorted out the photos for where the
review will be on my Web site. Once the photos have been
posted, I'll let readers here know where the review will be if they wish
to view the photos. Until then, here is the text-only version, in which
I compare the experience on Coral Princess with our previous cruises on
Carnival ships (in particular) and Norwegian. As my review last fall of
our cruise aboard Carnival Miracle, this one too is aimed at my
grandchildren, so please bear with that...

--Roy Cochrun

Grandma Bert and Grandpa Roy's Cruise to the Panama Canal, 26 February
through 8 March 2005 (wherein Grandpa decides differences between
Carnival and Princess are trivial)

Grandma Bert and Grandpa Roy decided early last summer that they wanted
to take a cruise to Panama in 2005. By the time they talked about it
and researched the available ships, only a few of the better cabins
aboard the Coral Princess were still available when they made their
reservations in July 2004. Grandpa was able to find a Double A (AA)
mini-suite only on the Baja deck, forward. He reserved the one
"furthest back" on the starboard (right) side, cabin B223. Unlike
Carnival Miracle and Carnival Conquest, the Coral Princess mini-suite
was somewhat smaller, had only one sink in the bathroom and had only a
regular tub, not a Jacuzzi. The shower provided only a gentle stream of
water or a "massage" stream, both nearly worthless. There also were
fewer amenities on the Coral Princess than Carnival provides in its
mini-suites. Carnival also provides a stocked refrigerator, but you
must pay for anything you take from it. Coral Princess, on the other
hand, had an empty refrigerator in which Grandma and Grandpa kept their
water after buying a first bottle. Water right from the bathroom tap,
although always somewhat warm, tasted good after cooling in the fridge
for a couple hours. The empty refrigerator was, therefore, a plus for
your grandparents.

One thing really bothered Grandma and Grandpa in comparison with
Carnival's ships: sleeping. The bed and pillows were awful on
Princess. The Carnival Miracle had thick, fluffy pillows and good
mattresses. The Coral Princess' pillows were thin and hard. So hard,
in fact, Grandma and Grandpa asked their cabin steward, "George"
(actually Gregorio), for better pillows if they were available. All
"George" could do was bring them additional pillows, which helped a
little. Over the course of the cruise, this busy man also repaired the
rattling door that had kept Grandma and Grandpa awake the first night,
brought them an additional blanket and was always friendly, cheerful and
courteous. He rightfully deserved Grandpa's nomination as the ship's
employee-of-the-month.

The mattress in Grandma Bert and Grandpa Roy's cabin was so bad that
Grandma Bert had a terrible pain in her back beginning the second full
day of the cruise that lasted until her first night home again. Because
the Coral Princess, built in only 2002, was smaller and narrower than
other ships on which your grandparents have sailed, it bounced and
rocked quite a bit more. It was narrower in order to be able to go
through the locks of the Panama Canal. It was the rocking, however,
that allowed Grandpa to sleep rather well, despite the poor pillows and
mattress. And for some reason, the rocking never bothers your
grandparents, which is a good thing!

Grandma Bert missed the towel sculptures that awaited them each night on
Carnival ships and at the resort in Mexico in 2004. In fact, before
dinner the third evening, she asked Grandpa if he thought there would be
a sculpture that evening. Grandpa had to tell her sadly that Princess
doesn't do that. She also was disappointed there was no after-dinner
entertainment by the waiters and waitresses in the dining room, although
some of them did sing a "happy anniversary" tune to your grandparents on
the night of their wedding anniversary. The waiters also marched through
the dining room the last evening of the cruise holding high their
delicious baked Alaska desserts. And of course there was entertainment
in the lounges and bars before and after dinner (more about which
later.)

In addition to the tune sung to them on their wedding anniversary, the
head waiter gave Grandma and Grandpa a little anniversary cake which
they never did eat. There was just too much food. On the morning of
your grandparents' wedding anniversary, three congratulatory balloons
were taped outside their cabin, announcing to the world (well, to those
on board Coral Princess at least) your grandparents' happy celebration.
In addition, the captain had signed a happy anniversary card with their
names on it which awaited them at their table that evening.

With the exception of the food in the main dining room in the evening,
Grandpa Roy could not understand why Princess was rated among the top
ten cruise lines by Conde Nast, while Carnival didn't even make the
list. Grandma said perhaps it had to do with the passengers. Most of
them were your grandparents age or older. There were very few children
and not too many young adults, either, on Coral Princess. Carnival, on
the other hand, bills themselves as the "Fun Ships" and caters to the
more noisy, younger crowds and their children.

It must be understood, however, that Grandma Bert and Grandpa Roy did
indeed enjoy this cruise, as they have all their cruises. They noticed
only very few differences in terms of quality and service on the Coral
Princess from their previous three Carnival cruises and their one
Norwegian Cruise Lines voyage a few years ago. For example, Grandma
and Grandpa changed to a table for two, as Grandma usually desires, the
second night in the traditional dining room. What they didn't
understand, though, was why Coral Princess couldn't change them for the
first evening, too. On Carnival or Norwegian, one simply visits the
maitre 'd and is changed to an available table at once thanks to their
computerized systems. This Princess ship had no such system.

The food, as mentioned, was indeed better than Carnival's in the main
dining room on the Coral Princess, with the exception of the night the
waiter talked Grandpa Roy into having the duck a al orange instead of
the pepper steak. The waiter, Daniel from Rumania, said the beef would
be tough and there would be better beef later in the week. Grandpa
didn't like any of the other menu choices that night, so he chose the
duck at Daniel's recommendation. There always were skinless chicken
breast and another steak with baked potato or French fries available,
but Grandpa decided instead to try the duck. Ugh! What a mistake!
Daniel was embarrassed and apologized quite a bit, but Grandpa Roy
certainly didn't blame him. Grandpa's just not a duck sort of guy.

In addition to the ever-changing evening meals, there always was a
recommended vegetarian dish and those wonderful appetizers and desserts.
Both Grandma and Grandpa tried things with which they were unfamiliar
and they always found them quite good, especially the soups and
appetizers, although salads usually were boring. There were some
wonderful desserts, and we know who in this family enjoyed them more
(hint: it certainly wasn't your slender Grandma Bert.) The last night
of the cruise there was one main choice of dessert, baked Alaska.
Daniel allowed Grandpa to have a second piece of this true delight (and
instant heart attack!)

Grandma and Grandpa had most breakfasts and all lunches on the Lido deck
(deck 14, there is no deck 13.) Here, Grandpa, in particular, felt that
Carnival excelled over Princess. Breakfast included only two types of
juice, orange and cranberry. The orange juice was watered down a lot
and not very good. There was milk, of course, but sometimes it wasn't
very cold. A man would fry eggs or omelets to order, so they were okay.
But the fried eggs prepared in front of you on the Carnival Miracle
were done in little pans and turned out much better. One point,
however, the Coral Princess had very nice crispy bacon each morning for
breakfast. Grandpa loved it!

The serving lines were confusing at lunch time. One entered the area,
cleaned off his or her hands beneath the chemical treatment stuff there
(one lady passenger told Grandpa she used it in her job as a druggist
every day and believed in it for preventing disease), and received a
plate and silverware wrapped in a large, cloth napkin from a gloved
steward. With plate in hand, the first thing a passenger encountered
was the desserts, not the salads. Entrees and side dishes were on two
separate hot lines, but rarely matched to each other and always in a
confusing layout. On Carnival there is a theme for the day's luncheon.
Also, Carnival provides trays so that the passenger can get everything
at once without having to return to the line looking for salads or
drinks or desserts while their meal gets cold or perhaps even whisked
away by an overly eager steward. Grandpa never had a warm meal on the
Lido deck. It was always cold by the time he was able to eat. In fact,
it wasn't very warm to begin with.

In the afternoon, real ice cream was served on the Lido deck. On
Carnival they serve only the soft stuff out of the machines, and while
available longer and in greater quantities, it wasn't very good. The
real ice cream on Princess, however, consisted of vanilla and one other
flavor each day. Grandpa Roy put the chocolate syrup on his one day
that had some type of alcohol in it. Was it ever strong! Grandma Bert
agreed. There had been no notice warning about the alcohol.

Whereas Carnival had a large selection of desserts at lunch on their
Lido decks (handed out by someone behind the counter so that children
couldn't take more than they would eat), Coral Princess had only four:
there usually was one hot dessert, normally very tasty, and three or
four cold, one of which normally was a fruit cup of some type. In
addition, there was a large selection of sliced and whole fruits on the
Lido buffet, including freshly carved pineapple that was very tasty.

The only thing to drink at lunch time was coffee, tea or iced tea. On
Carnival there is always lemonade and usually another juice, in addition
to the three traditional beverages. Because Grandpa Roy has never
gotten used to the idea of cold tea, he purchased a sticker that went
onto his cruise card that allowed him to have as many cold soft drinks
as he wanted during the whole cruise, including in the dining room in
the evening. The sticker cost $27.50 and included a fancy cup with lid.
Had he known you didn't have to purchase the cup, he could have saved
$2.50, but... At any rate, the sticker saved him money over the
purchase of traditional cans of soda at $1.50 each during the 10 days of
the cruise.

On the other hand, Grandma Bert, whom Grandpa says never has been a
cheap date, had iced tea, coffee or canned soda. Sometimes she had
mixed drinks, too, and and at supper she had one or two glasses of the
recommended red wine. All these paid soda and alcoholic beverages were
at the usual prices one finds in restaurants in Maryland. In addition,
Grandma might have a fancy drink in the ship's Princess Theater or while
sunning. They served small, medium and large sizes, and the ship's
idea of "medium," which usually cost around $7.00 to $7.50 was huge by
any standard. And, Grandma said, they were good, although she felt the
fancy drinks on Carnival were better.

The daily routine aboard the Coral Princess went something like this
when not in port: Get up, eat breakfast. Take a nap, get up and eat
lunch. Take a nap, get up and eat supper. Go to a show, go to bed, get
up, eat breakfast. Take a nap, get up... Well, you get the general
idea. Of course, your grandma didn't allow herself to get into that
routine. Instead, she would sit in the sun or use the gym. She
discovered that , although the gym wasn't very large, if she got there
after the morning rush, after 9:00 a.m., she usually had it all to
herself. There were televisions to watch while sweating on a treadmill.
Or, the user simply could enjoy the view ahead of the ship.

There were two places for shows aboard the Coral Princess. One was the
Princess Theater at the front of the ship, a traditional, sloped floor
theater with many seats and a large stage. Unlike some ships, there
were no columns or supports blocking the view of some patrons in the
Princess Theater. The Princess Theater also was the place where Grandma
and Grandpa underwent lifeboat training. On other ships, they have
gathered on the deck near the lifeboats and stood there until the slower
passengers arrived and a head count was completed. This time they were
allowed to sit down and be comfortable before standing up and putting on
their life jackets. Grandma and Grandpa liked the shows in the Princess
Theater, and Grandma especially liked the dark haired singer, Liz. She
had an excellent voice and Grandpa agreed with your grandmother on that
point.

At the other end of the ship was the Galaxy Lounge with an even larger
stage and two levels for patrons, but with tables and comfortable chairs
instead of traditional seating. Grandma and Grandpa watched one show
there. Some seats did have obstructed views of the stage, so one had to
get there early for the better shows.

Unlike Carnival, where it was more difficult to find a quiet corner to
listen to music, there was always somewhere on Coral Princess to enjoy a
quiet soda and good music. Of course, there also was the loud,
traditional band on the Lido deck near the pool. And speaking of the
pool, there were two. They both were larger, much larger, than those
found on both Carnival and Norwegian (at least on the ships with which
Grandma and Grandpa are familiar), and the Lotus Pool was indoors and
reserved for adults only. It was very nice and quiet, but rarely used
as a matter of fact.

The first two days were cruising. Grandma spent the time paying her
hard-earned money to the spa for different treatments or basking in the
sun on deck 15, away from the noise of the Lido deck band. She had had
a bad experience with a waiter, whose name she did not catch, on the
Lido deck her first day in the sun. Grandma had found a place very near
the pool. After she settled in, a waiter approached and she asked for a
soda. He tried to convince her that she should have an alcoholic drink,
but it was still early and she only wanted a can of soda. The waiter
ignored her and she never did get her soda. Grandpa made certain to
include that little episode on the critique Coral Princess asked for at
the end of the cruise. (He also included his complaints about the
pillows, mattress and shower head.)

On the third day, the ship docked in Costa Rica, the first of several
countries never visited before by your grandparents. At the suggestion
of several people last summer and much to your Grandfather's chagrin (he
is afraid of anything higher than his tiptoes unless he is surrounded by
an airplane), Grandma and he took the aerial tram ride in a privately
owned part of the rain forest. As it turned out, the ride was extremely
pleasant and Grandpa wasn't at all nervous. All they saw, however, from
the tram was one animal related to the raccoon in this country and
trees. On a short hike through the rain forest they saw a sloth, high
up in a tree, and some leaf cutter ants carrying their bits of leaves
back to their nest. The ants fascinated Grandma. After the tram ride,
the bus took the passengers to a restaurant for a typical, and
delicious, Costa Rican meal consisting of chicken and the traditional
rice and beans.

Grandpa hardly slept the night before the ship headed into the Panama
Canal, even though he had placed a wake-up call request on the automated
system. He wanted to be up when the ship passed through the locks,
which he knew would be very early in the morning. The best place, the
cruise director had announced, would be from the balcony of any cabin.
He was right. Grandma and Grandpa stood on the balcony and watched as
the Coral Princess entered the first, then the second and finally the
third lock. Another cruise ship was behind Coral Princess and Grandpa
Roy got some good photos of it passing through the locks, too. Grandma
and Grandpa ate breakfast on their balcony. And speaking of pictures,
Coral Princess photographers had gotten off the ship and were taking
pictures with telephoto lenses of the people on their balconies that
passengers could buy later.

Once the ship anchored in Gatun Lake after passing through the locks,
your grandparents caught a tender to shore and took a bus to the Pacific
Ocean. From there, they took a train back, riding in an observation car
built in 1938 that Panama found, old and neglected, in Florida. Panama
was beautiful, but there was very little time for photography on the
bus/train tour, which disappointed Grandpa. However, the guide, Marty,
was very good and spoke with no accent, as "Mommy and Daddy" had sent
him to school in the States (and "Daddy was an American," anyhow,
originally.) Of interest was Marty's view on what the American media
call the American invasion of Panama when the dictator and drug runner
Noriega was arrested and brought back to the U.S. Marty said that most
Panamanians declared it was not an invasion at all, but a LIBERATION!

Grandma and Grandpa had been to both Grand Cayman Island and Cozumel
before. Grand Cayman still showed signs of the very bad hurricane of
last year, but the city of Georgetown had not been hit too hard. While
in Grand Cayman, your grandparents took the "partly submerged" submarine
tour, aboard which they viewed many types of fish and two shipwrecks,
and they visited a butterfly farm. All the butterflies had been killed
during the hurricane and the farm had started over again. The
butterflies were beautiful, as you will see from the photos here.

In Cozumel Grandma and Grandpa went to a folklore show which was dancing
and music depicting Mexico's history. They also did some shopping and
took some pictures, of course. Of interest was the fact that Grandma
needed a bottle of water in one of the shops at the end of the pier. A
cold, small bottle of Evian cost $2.50 American. On the ship it would
have cost only $1.50. Speaking of prices, Grandma had been looking at
two clowns from the well-known Italian Lladro company. The price in the
Coral Princess gift shop was $196.00 for each clown. Grandpa looked up
the price of these Lladro clowns on the Internet after the cruise and
discovered the cost $265.00 here in the U.S. Passengers really can save
on the ship.

The last port-of-call was Belize, a little country once a British colony
which had been called British Honduras. Grandma and Grandpa's original
Sibun River and Mayan Cave Adventure excursion was canceled because the
vehicle the tour operator used was being repaired. So, instead they
took a boat up the Belize River and visited some Mayan ruins. The river
trip was very interesting. They saw many animals and birds, including
young crocodiles, howler monkeys, dolphins (yes! Dolphins in a
fresh-water river), parrots, bats and more.

Grandma and Grandpa met some interesting people during their cruise.
One couple with whom they had breakfast one morning were on their 35th
Princess cruise. In fact, they had taken over 50 cruises since they had
married. The wife told a very interesting story about a cruise to
Turkey and Greece in which their ship was held up by the Greek
government because some crew members were smuggling drugs. Princess, in
order to keep the passengers happy and because the ship could not leave,
found free excursions, usually on smaller boats to beautiful Greek
islands, for all the passengers. After a couple weeks of free,
interesting excursions, however, Princess paid back all the money the
passengers had spent for their cruise, flew them home at Princess
expense, AND gave them vouchers for a free cruise on any Princess ship.
That never happens to your grandparents!

Grandpa spoke with another gentleman who admitted that his party had
fibbed about a couple birthdays and a wedding anniversary just so they
could get the cake. This man felt that because the cruise cost so much,
he should get something for his money. Grandpa couldn't do that. His
conscious would bother him too much.

As with Carnival, Princess also uses a key card that doubles as your
credit card and identification to get back onto the ship after going
ashore. If it is your first time sailing with Princess, the card is
blue. After that, the card is gold. In that way, repeat guests are
recognized instantly by members of the ship's crew. Passengers who
have sailed many times with Princess get yet another color card, which
Grandpa seems to recall was black. Carnival crew members seem to have
no way to distinguish between first-time and repeat guests.

Princess also uses the same photo technique which allows them to see if
you are indeed the person to whom the card originally was issued. While
the documentation that arrived before the cruise said passengers must
carry passports for the cruise, Coral Princess only required a
government issued photo identification, such as a driver's license.
Grandpa noticed a few security personnel on board the ship, and Grandma
noticed a banner on one side of the Coral Princess warning boaters to
stay a certain distance away. It remains to be seen, however, if the
cannon hidden behind the port holes were accurate enough to destroy any
approaching vessels.

Grandma and Grandpa had spent the night before the cruise departed at a
motel near Baltimore-Washington International airport because of the
very early morning flight Princess Cruises had arranged for them to
Cleveland (yes, Cleveland!) and from there to Fort Lauderdale. Your
grandparents had gotten their boarding passes the day before off the
airline's Web site, so they only had to check their luggage and go
through security. Your grandparents got to the airport about an hour
and a half before flight time. It turned out that Grandpa's bag was
overweight and he had to pay an extra $25.00 for it. Grandma said she
will never let him live down the fact that his bag was heavier than
hers. After a short wait in a very, very long line to go through
security, they headed for the airplane, which took off for Cleveland a
while later right on time.

The flight from Cleveland left about 15 minutes late because of
congestion in the skies over Fort Lauderdale. As it was, the aircraft
landed only about 5 minutes late. Grandma and Grandpa got their bags
and went looking for a taxi. A couple people on the rec.travel.cruises
news group had told Grandpa to take a taxi from Fort Lauderdale airport
to the cruise terminal. What good advice that turned out to be! It
took a whole two minutes to get a taxi, then about 10 minutes to the
terminal, where the bags with cabin tags attached went into a bin for
eventual delivery to the cabin. Once inside the terminal, everyone
filled out a card which stated whether or not they had been sick the
past two days. (Nope!) Then your grandparents went to a short line to
get their boarding passes, went through security, had their pictures
taken, and onto the ship. Grandpa was hoping to be on board by 2:30 or
3:00 p.m. As it was, they were boarded at 1:15. The whole check-in and
boarding process took less time than the drive from the airport to the
ship because the crowds who were coming by Princess transportation were
still sitting on the buses at the airport!

Because Grandpa had paid the $25.00 for his bag, and since he wanted to
make certain he had extra cash, one morning he put his ATM card into his
shirt pocket along with his cruise card. Off he went with camera in
hand to take some pictures, perhaps read his book for a while somewhere
and then to get money from the ship's ATM. Grandpa decided to read near
to one of the bars in the atrium area. A waitress approached and he
pulled out his card and asked for a tonic water. The waitress said he
couldn't use the card. Grandpa protested briefly, having understood the
soda stamp Princess had given him could be used in all bars, lounges and
restaurants on the ship, but the waitress replied he couldn't use an ATM
card. Whoops! Grandpa had forgotten he had it with him. But the
waitress was good-natured and when she saw his book was in Russian, she
spoke to him in Russian. She was Bulgarian, but had lived for a time in
Russia. Many of the crew were Bulgarian. There also were many
Filipinos, some Turks, South Africans, English and some Mexicans. The
ship's captain was Italian.

There were many ships preparing to leave at Port Everglades the day your
Grandparents' ship did, including the huge, highly touted Queen Mary 2.
Grandma and grandpa found someone to take their picture on the deck of
the Coral Princess with the Queen Mary 2 in the background.

It was another wonderful cruise for your grandparents. While Grandma
and Grandpa do not understand why some people hate Carnival, they do
have some insight into why people like Princess (except for the food on
the Lido deck.) Given the opportunity or cash, your grandparents would
happily sale again with either cruise line. It did seem, however, that
Princess excursions cost a bit more than on Carnival. Although Grandma
and Grandpa bought fewer photos this cruise, they still paid a bit more
for them than they would have liked. Finally, Grandma and Grandpa
thought the last souvenir from the ship added a nice touch to a very
pleasant voyage: It was an abbreviated log of the whole cruise, with
all the times of sailings and arrivals, speeds, ports-of-call, and so
forth. It will make a nice addition to their family scrapbook of
memories.

But now their cruise is over and Grandma and Grandpa are looking forward
to a really different cruise when they go to Egypt in September and sail
the Nile River on a much smaller vessel from Aswan to Luxor. Grandpa
can hardly wait, but in the meantime, Grandma already is planning what
cruise to take in 2006 or early 2007.
  #3  
Old March 25th, 2005, 02:11 PM
aarep
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

A really nice review and some interesting comparisons between Carnival &
Princess. Thanks
"Roy Cochrun" wrote in message
...
I promised this review a few weeks ago. I finishe the text a couple
weeks ago, but I still haven't sorted out the photos for where the
review will be on my Web site. Once the photos have been
posted, I'll let readers here know where the review will be if they wish
to view the photos. Until then, here is the text-only version, in which
I compare the experience on Coral Princess with our previous cruises on
Carnival ships (in particular) and Norwegian. As my review last fall of
our cruise aboard Carnival Miracle, this one too is aimed at my
grandchildren, so please bear with that...

--Roy Cochrun

Grandma Bert and Grandpa Roy's Cruise to the Panama Canal, 26 February
through 8 March 2005 (wherein Grandpa decides differences between
Carnival and Princess are trivial)

Grandma Bert and Grandpa Roy decided early last summer that they wanted
to take a cruise to Panama in 2005. By the time they talked about it
and researched the available ships, only a few of the better cabins
aboard the Coral Princess were still available when they made their
reservations in July 2004. Grandpa was able to find a Double A (AA)
mini-suite only on the Baja deck, forward. He reserved the one
"furthest back" on the starboard (right) side, cabin B223. Unlike
Carnival Miracle and Carnival Conquest, the Coral Princess mini-suite
was somewhat smaller, had only one sink in the bathroom and had only a
regular tub, not a Jacuzzi. The shower provided only a gentle stream of
water or a "massage" stream, both nearly worthless. There also were
fewer amenities on the Coral Princess than Carnival provides in its
mini-suites. Carnival also provides a stocked refrigerator, but you
must pay for anything you take from it. Coral Princess, on the other
hand, had an empty refrigerator in which Grandma and Grandpa kept their
water after buying a first bottle. Water right from the bathroom tap,
although always somewhat warm, tasted good after cooling in the fridge
for a couple hours. The empty refrigerator was, therefore, a plus for
your grandparents.

One thing really bothered Grandma and Grandpa in comparison with
Carnival's ships: sleeping. The bed and pillows were awful on
Princess. The Carnival Miracle had thick, fluffy pillows and good
mattresses. The Coral Princess' pillows were thin and hard. So hard,
in fact, Grandma and Grandpa asked their cabin steward, "George"
(actually Gregorio), for better pillows if they were available. All
"George" could do was bring them additional pillows, which helped a
little. Over the course of the cruise, this busy man also repaired the
rattling door that had kept Grandma and Grandpa awake the first night,
brought them an additional blanket and was always friendly, cheerful and
courteous. He rightfully deserved Grandpa's nomination as the ship's
employee-of-the-month.

The mattress in Grandma Bert and Grandpa Roy's cabin was so bad that
Grandma Bert had a terrible pain in her back beginning the second full
day of the cruise that lasted until her first night home again. Because
the Coral Princess, built in only 2002, was smaller and narrower than
other ships on which your grandparents have sailed, it bounced and
rocked quite a bit more. It was narrower in order to be able to go
through the locks of the Panama Canal. It was the rocking, however,
that allowed Grandpa to sleep rather well, despite the poor pillows and
mattress. And for some reason, the rocking never bothers your
grandparents, which is a good thing!

Grandma Bert missed the towel sculptures that awaited them each night on
Carnival ships and at the resort in Mexico in 2004. In fact, before
dinner the third evening, she asked Grandpa if he thought there would be
a sculpture that evening. Grandpa had to tell her sadly that Princess
doesn't do that. She also was disappointed there was no after-dinner
entertainment by the waiters and waitresses in the dining room, although
some of them did sing a "happy anniversary" tune to your grandparents on
the night of their wedding anniversary. The waiters also marched through
the dining room the last evening of the cruise holding high their
delicious baked Alaska desserts. And of course there was entertainment
in the lounges and bars before and after dinner (more about which
later.)

In addition to the tune sung to them on their wedding anniversary, the
head waiter gave Grandma and Grandpa a little anniversary cake which
they never did eat. There was just too much food. On the morning of
your grandparents' wedding anniversary, three congratulatory balloons
were taped outside their cabin, announcing to the world (well, to those
on board Coral Princess at least) your grandparents' happy celebration.
In addition, the captain had signed a happy anniversary card with their
names on it which awaited them at their table that evening.

With the exception of the food in the main dining room in the evening,
Grandpa Roy could not understand why Princess was rated among the top
ten cruise lines by Conde Nast, while Carnival didn't even make the
list. Grandma said perhaps it had to do with the passengers. Most of
them were your grandparents age or older. There were very few children
and not too many young adults, either, on Coral Princess. Carnival, on
the other hand, bills themselves as the "Fun Ships" and caters to the
more noisy, younger crowds and their children.

It must be understood, however, that Grandma Bert and Grandpa Roy did
indeed enjoy this cruise, as they have all their cruises. They noticed
only very few differences in terms of quality and service on the Coral
Princess from their previous three Carnival cruises and their one
Norwegian Cruise Lines voyage a few years ago. For example, Grandma
and Grandpa changed to a table for two, as Grandma usually desires, the
second night in the traditional dining room. What they didn't
understand, though, was why Coral Princess couldn't change them for the
first evening, too. On Carnival or Norwegian, one simply visits the
maitre 'd and is changed to an available table at once thanks to their
computerized systems. This Princess ship had no such system.

The food, as mentioned, was indeed better than Carnival's in the main
dining room on the Coral Princess, with the exception of the night the
waiter talked Grandpa Roy into having the duck a al orange instead of
the pepper steak. The waiter, Daniel from Rumania, said the beef would
be tough and there would be better beef later in the week. Grandpa
didn't like any of the other menu choices that night, so he chose the
duck at Daniel's recommendation. There always were skinless chicken
breast and another steak with baked potato or French fries available,
but Grandpa decided instead to try the duck. Ugh! What a mistake!
Daniel was embarrassed and apologized quite a bit, but Grandpa Roy
certainly didn't blame him. Grandpa's just not a duck sort of guy.

In addition to the ever-changing evening meals, there always was a
recommended vegetarian dish and those wonderful appetizers and desserts.
Both Grandma and Grandpa tried things with which they were unfamiliar
and they always found them quite good, especially the soups and
appetizers, although salads usually were boring. There were some
wonderful desserts, and we know who in this family enjoyed them more
(hint: it certainly wasn't your slender Grandma Bert.) The last night
of the cruise there was one main choice of dessert, baked Alaska.
Daniel allowed Grandpa to have a second piece of this true delight (and
instant heart attack!)

Grandma and Grandpa had most breakfasts and all lunches on the Lido deck
(deck 14, there is no deck 13.) Here, Grandpa, in particular, felt that
Carnival excelled over Princess. Breakfast included only two types of
juice, orange and cranberry. The orange juice was watered down a lot
and not very good. There was milk, of course, but sometimes it wasn't
very cold. A man would fry eggs or omelets to order, so they were okay.
But the fried eggs prepared in front of you on the Carnival Miracle
were done in little pans and turned out much better. One point,
however, the Coral Princess had very nice crispy bacon each morning for
breakfast. Grandpa loved it!

The serving lines were confusing at lunch time. One entered the area,
cleaned off his or her hands beneath the chemical treatment stuff there
(one lady passenger told Grandpa she used it in her job as a druggist
every day and believed in it for preventing disease), and received a
plate and silverware wrapped in a large, cloth napkin from a gloved
steward. With plate in hand, the first thing a passenger encountered
was the desserts, not the salads. Entrees and side dishes were on two
separate hot lines, but rarely matched to each other and always in a
confusing layout. On Carnival there is a theme for the day's luncheon.
Also, Carnival provides trays so that the passenger can get everything
at once without having to return to the line looking for salads or
drinks or desserts while their meal gets cold or perhaps even whisked
away by an overly eager steward. Grandpa never had a warm meal on the
Lido deck. It was always cold by the time he was able to eat. In fact,
it wasn't very warm to begin with.

In the afternoon, real ice cream was served on the Lido deck. On
Carnival they serve only the soft stuff out of the machines, and while
available longer and in greater quantities, it wasn't very good. The
real ice cream on Princess, however, consisted of vanilla and one other
flavor each day. Grandpa Roy put the chocolate syrup on his one day
that had some type of alcohol in it. Was it ever strong! Grandma Bert
agreed. There had been no notice warning about the alcohol.

Whereas Carnival had a large selection of desserts at lunch on their
Lido decks (handed out by someone behind the counter so that children
couldn't take more than they would eat), Coral Princess had only four:
there usually was one hot dessert, normally very tasty, and three or
four cold, one of which normally was a fruit cup of some type. In
addition, there was a large selection of sliced and whole fruits on the
Lido buffet, including freshly carved pineapple that was very tasty.

The only thing to drink at lunch time was coffee, tea or iced tea. On
Carnival there is always lemonade and usually another juice, in addition
to the three traditional beverages. Because Grandpa Roy has never
gotten used to the idea of cold tea, he purchased a sticker that went
onto his cruise card that allowed him to have as many cold soft drinks
as he wanted during the whole cruise, including in the dining room in
the evening. The sticker cost $27.50 and included a fancy cup with lid.
Had he known you didn't have to purchase the cup, he could have saved
$2.50, but... At any rate, the sticker saved him money over the
purchase of traditional cans of soda at $1.50 each during the 10 days of
the cruise.

On the other hand, Grandma Bert, whom Grandpa says never has been a
cheap date, had iced tea, coffee or canned soda. Sometimes she had
mixed drinks, too, and and at supper she had one or two glasses of the
recommended red wine. All these paid soda and alcoholic beverages were
at the usual prices one finds in restaurants in Maryland. In addition,
Grandma might have a fancy drink in the ship's Princess Theater or while
sunning. They served small, medium and large sizes, and the ship's
idea of "medium," which usually cost around $7.00 to $7.50 was huge by
any standard. And, Grandma said, they were good, although she felt the
fancy drinks on Carnival were better.

The daily routine aboard the Coral Princess went something like this
when not in port: Get up, eat breakfast. Take a nap, get up and eat
lunch. Take a nap, get up and eat supper. Go to a show, go to bed, get
up, eat breakfast. Take a nap, get up... Well, you get the general
idea. Of course, your grandma didn't allow herself to get into that
routine. Instead, she would sit in the sun or use the gym. She
discovered that , although the gym wasn't very large, if she got there
after the morning rush, after 9:00 a.m., she usually had it all to
herself. There were televisions to watch while sweating on a treadmill.
Or, the user simply could enjoy the view ahead of the ship.

There were two places for shows aboard the Coral Princess. One was the
Princess Theater at the front of the ship, a traditional, sloped floor
theater with many seats and a large stage. Unlike some ships, there
were no columns or supports blocking the view of some patrons in the
Princess Theater. The Princess Theater also was the place where Grandma
and Grandpa underwent lifeboat training. On other ships, they have
gathered on the deck near the lifeboats and stood there until the slower
passengers arrived and a head count was completed. This time they were
allowed to sit down and be comfortable before standing up and putting on
their life jackets. Grandma and Grandpa liked the shows in the Princess
Theater, and Grandma especially liked the dark haired singer, Liz. She
had an excellent voice and Grandpa agreed with your grandmother on that
point.

At the other end of the ship was the Galaxy Lounge with an even larger
stage and two levels for patrons, but with tables and comfortable chairs
instead of traditional seating. Grandma and Grandpa watched one show
there. Some seats did have obstructed views of the stage, so one had to
get there early for the better shows.

Unlike Carnival, where it was more difficult to find a quiet corner to
listen to music, there was always somewhere on Coral Princess to enjoy a
quiet soda and good music. Of course, there also was the loud,
traditional band on the Lido deck near the pool. And speaking of the
pool, there were two. They both were larger, much larger, than those
found on both Carnival and Norwegian (at least on the ships with which
Grandma and Grandpa are familiar), and the Lotus Pool was indoors and
reserved for adults only. It was very nice and quiet, but rarely used
as a matter of fact.

The first two days were cruising. Grandma spent the time paying her
hard-earned money to the spa for different treatments or basking in the
sun on deck 15, away from the noise of the Lido deck band. She had had
a bad experience with a waiter, whose name she did not catch, on the
Lido deck her first day in the sun. Grandma had found a place very near
the pool. After she settled in, a waiter approached and she asked for a
soda. He tried to convince her that she should have an alcoholic drink,
but it was still early and she only wanted a can of soda. The waiter
ignored her and she never did get her soda. Grandpa made certain to
include that little episode on the critique Coral Princess asked for at
the end of the cruise. (He also included his complaints about the
pillows, mattress and shower head.)

On the third day, the ship docked in Costa Rica, the first of several
countries never visited before by your grandparents. At the suggestion
of several people last summer and much to your Grandfather's chagrin (he
is afraid of anything higher than his tiptoes unless he is surrounded by
an airplane), Grandma and he took the aerial tram ride in a privately
owned part of the rain forest. As it turned out, the ride was extremely
pleasant and Grandpa wasn't at all nervous. All they saw, however, from
the tram was one animal related to the raccoon in this country and
trees. On a short hike through the rain forest they saw a sloth, high
up in a tree, and some leaf cutter ants carrying their bits of leaves
back to their nest. The ants fascinated Grandma. After the tram ride,
the bus took the passengers to a restaurant for a typical, and
delicious, Costa Rican meal consisting of chicken and the traditional
rice and beans.

Grandpa hardly slept the night before the ship headed into the Panama
Canal, even though he had placed a wake-up call request on the automated
system. He wanted to be up when the ship passed through the locks,
which he knew would be very early in the morning. The best place, the
cruise director had announced, would be from the balcony of any cabin.
He was right. Grandma and Grandpa stood on the balcony and watched as
the Coral Princess entered the first, then the second and finally the
third lock. Another cruise ship was behind Coral Princess and Grandpa
Roy got some good photos of it passing through the locks, too. Grandma
and Grandpa ate breakfast on their balcony. And speaking of pictures,
Coral Princess photographers had gotten off the ship and were taking
pictures with telephoto lenses of the people on their balconies that
passengers could buy later.

Once the ship anchored in Gatun Lake after passing through the locks,
your grandparents caught a tender to shore and took a bus to the Pacific
Ocean. From there, they took a train back, riding in an observation car
built in 1938 that Panama found, old and neglected, in Florida. Panama
was beautiful, but there was very little time for photography on the
bus/train tour, which disappointed Grandpa. However, the guide, Marty,
was very good and spoke with no accent, as "Mommy and Daddy" had sent
him to school in the States (and "Daddy was an American," anyhow,
originally.) Of interest was Marty's view on what the American media
call the American invasion of Panama when the dictator and drug runner
Noriega was arrested and brought back to the U.S. Marty said that most
Panamanians declared it was not an invasion at all, but a LIBERATION!

Grandma and Grandpa had been to both Grand Cayman Island and Cozumel
before. Grand Cayman still showed signs of the very bad hurricane of
last year, but the city of Georgetown had not been hit too hard. While
in Grand Cayman, your grandparents took the "partly submerged" submarine
tour, aboard which they viewed many types of fish and two shipwrecks,
and they visited a butterfly farm. All the butterflies had been killed
during the hurricane and the farm had started over again. The
butterflies were beautiful, as you will see from the photos here.

In Cozumel Grandma and Grandpa went to a folklore show which was dancing
and music depicting Mexico's history. They also did some shopping and
took some pictures, of course. Of interest was the fact that Grandma
needed a bottle of water in one of the shops at the end of the pier. A
cold, small bottle of Evian cost $2.50 American. On the ship it would
have cost only $1.50. Speaking of prices, Grandma had been looking at
two clowns from the well-known Italian Lladro company. The price in the
Coral Princess gift shop was $196.00 for each clown. Grandpa looked up
the price of these Lladro clowns on the Internet after the cruise and
discovered the cost $265.00 here in the U.S. Passengers really can save
on the ship.

The last port-of-call was Belize, a little country once a British colony
which had been called British Honduras. Grandma and Grandpa's original
Sibun River and Mayan Cave Adventure excursion was canceled because the
vehicle the tour operator used was being repaired. So, instead they
took a boat up the Belize River and visited some Mayan ruins. The river
trip was very interesting. They saw many animals and birds, including
young crocodiles, howler monkeys, dolphins (yes! Dolphins in a
fresh-water river), parrots, bats and more.

Grandma and Grandpa met some interesting people during their cruise.
One couple with whom they had breakfast one morning were on their 35th
Princess cruise. In fact, they had taken over 50 cruises since they had
married. The wife told a very interesting story about a cruise to
Turkey and Greece in which their ship was held up by the Greek
government because some crew members were smuggling drugs. Princess, in
order to keep the passengers happy and because the ship could not leave,
found free excursions, usually on smaller boats to beautiful Greek
islands, for all the passengers. After a couple weeks of free,
interesting excursions, however, Princess paid back all the money the
passengers had spent for their cruise, flew them home at Princess
expense, AND gave them vouchers for a free cruise on any Princess ship.
That never happens to your grandparents!

Grandpa spoke with another gentleman who admitted that his party had
fibbed about a couple birthdays and a wedding anniversary just so they
could get the cake. This man felt that because the cruise cost so much,
he should get something for his money. Grandpa couldn't do that. His
conscious would bother him too much.

As with Carnival, Princess also uses a key card that doubles as your
credit card and identification to get back onto the ship after going
ashore. If it is your first time sailing with Princess, the card is
blue. After that, the card is gold. In that way, repeat guests are
recognized instantly by members of the ship's crew. Passengers who
have sailed many times with Princess get yet another color card, which
Grandpa seems to recall was black. Carnival crew members seem to have
no way to distinguish between first-time and repeat guests.

Princess also uses the same photo technique which allows them to see if
you are indeed the person to whom the card originally was issued. While
the documentation that arrived before the cruise said passengers must
carry passports for the cruise, Coral Princess only required a
government issued photo identification, such as a driver's license.
Grandpa noticed a few security personnel on board the ship, and Grandma
noticed a banner on one side of the Coral Princess warning boaters to
stay a certain distance away. It remains to be seen, however, if the
cannon hidden behind the port holes were accurate enough to destroy any
approaching vessels.

Grandma and Grandpa had spent the night before the cruise departed at a
motel near Baltimore-Washington International airport because of the
very early morning flight Princess Cruises had arranged for them to
Cleveland (yes, Cleveland!) and from there to Fort Lauderdale. Your
grandparents had gotten their boarding passes the day before off the
airline's Web site, so they only had to check their luggage and go
through security. Your grandparents got to the airport about an hour
and a half before flight time. It turned out that Grandpa's bag was
overweight and he had to pay an extra $25.00 for it. Grandma said she
will never let him live down the fact that his bag was heavier than
hers. After a short wait in a very, very long line to go through
security, they headed for the airplane, which took off for Cleveland a
while later right on time.

The flight from Cleveland left about 15 minutes late because of
congestion in the skies over Fort Lauderdale. As it was, the aircraft
landed only about 5 minutes late. Grandma and Grandpa got their bags
and went looking for a taxi. A couple people on the rec.travel.cruises
news group had told Grandpa to take a taxi from Fort Lauderdale airport
to the cruise terminal. What good advice that turned out to be! It
took a whole two minutes to get a taxi, then about 10 minutes to the
terminal, where the bags with cabin tags attached went into a bin for
eventual delivery to the cabin. Once inside the terminal, everyone
filled out a card which stated whether or not they had been sick the
past two days. (Nope!) Then your grandparents went to a short line to
get their boarding passes, went through security, had their pictures
taken, and onto the ship. Grandpa was hoping to be on board by 2:30 or
3:00 p.m. As it was, they were boarded at 1:15. The whole check-in and
boarding process took less time than the drive from the airport to the
ship because the crowds who were coming by Princess transportation were
still sitting on the buses at the airport!

Because Grandpa had paid the $25.00 for his bag, and since he wanted to
make certain he had extra cash, one morning he put his ATM card into his
shirt pocket along with his cruise card. Off he went with camera in
hand to take some pictures, perhaps read his book for a while somewhere
and then to get money from the ship's ATM. Grandpa decided to read near
to one of the bars in the atrium area. A waitress approached and he
pulled out his card and asked for a tonic water. The waitress said he
couldn't use the card. Grandpa protested briefly, having understood the
soda stamp Princess had given him could be used in all bars, lounges and
restaurants on the ship, but the waitress replied he couldn't use an ATM
card. Whoops! Grandpa had forgotten he had it with him. But the
waitress was good-natured and when she saw his book was in Russian, she
spoke to him in Russian. She was Bulgarian, but had lived for a time in
Russia. Many of the crew were Bulgarian. There also were many
Filipinos, some Turks, South Africans, English and some Mexicans. The
ship's captain was Italian.

There were many ships preparing to leave at Port Everglades the day your
Grandparents' ship did, including the huge, highly touted Queen Mary 2.
Grandma and grandpa found someone to take their picture on the deck of
the Coral Princess with the Queen Mary 2 in the background.

It was another wonderful cruise for your grandparents. While Grandma
and Grandpa do not understand why some people hate Carnival, they do
have some insight into why people like Princess (except for the food on
the Lido deck.) Given the opportunity or cash, your grandparents would
happily sale again with either cruise line. It did seem, however, that
Princess excursions cost a bit more than on Carnival. Although Grandma
and Grandpa bought fewer photos this cruise, they still paid a bit more
for them than they would have liked. Finally, Grandma and Grandpa
thought the last souvenir from the ship added a nice touch to a very
pleasant voyage: It was an abbreviated log of the whole cruise, with
all the times of sailings and arrivals, speeds, ports-of-call, and so
forth. It will make a nice addition to their family scrapbook of
memories.

But now their cruise is over and Grandma and Grandpa are looking forward
to a really different cruise when they go to Egypt in September and sail
the Nile River on a much smaller vessel from Aswan to Luxor. Grandpa
can hardly wait, but in the meantime, Grandma already is planning what
cruise to take in 2006 or early 2007.



  #4  
Old March 25th, 2005, 02:11 PM
aarep
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

A really nice review and some interesting comparisons between Carnival &
Princess. Thanks
"Roy Cochrun" wrote in message
...
I promised this review a few weeks ago. I finishe the text a couple
weeks ago, but I still haven't sorted out the photos for where the
review will be on my Web site. Once the photos have been
posted, I'll let readers here know where the review will be if they wish
to view the photos. Until then, here is the text-only version, in which
I compare the experience on Coral Princess with our previous cruises on
Carnival ships (in particular) and Norwegian. As my review last fall of
our cruise aboard Carnival Miracle, this one too is aimed at my
grandchildren, so please bear with that...

--Roy Cochrun

Grandma Bert and Grandpa Roy's Cruise to the Panama Canal, 26 February
through 8 March 2005 (wherein Grandpa decides differences between
Carnival and Princess are trivial)

Grandma Bert and Grandpa Roy decided early last summer that they wanted
to take a cruise to Panama in 2005. By the time they talked about it
and researched the available ships, only a few of the better cabins
aboard the Coral Princess were still available when they made their
reservations in July 2004. Grandpa was able to find a Double A (AA)
mini-suite only on the Baja deck, forward. He reserved the one
"furthest back" on the starboard (right) side, cabin B223. Unlike
Carnival Miracle and Carnival Conquest, the Coral Princess mini-suite
was somewhat smaller, had only one sink in the bathroom and had only a
regular tub, not a Jacuzzi. The shower provided only a gentle stream of
water or a "massage" stream, both nearly worthless. There also were
fewer amenities on the Coral Princess than Carnival provides in its
mini-suites. Carnival also provides a stocked refrigerator, but you
must pay for anything you take from it. Coral Princess, on the other
hand, had an empty refrigerator in which Grandma and Grandpa kept their
water after buying a first bottle. Water right from the bathroom tap,
although always somewhat warm, tasted good after cooling in the fridge
for a couple hours. The empty refrigerator was, therefore, a plus for
your grandparents.

One thing really bothered Grandma and Grandpa in comparison with
Carnival's ships: sleeping. The bed and pillows were awful on
Princess. The Carnival Miracle had thick, fluffy pillows and good
mattresses. The Coral Princess' pillows were thin and hard. So hard,
in fact, Grandma and Grandpa asked their cabin steward, "George"
(actually Gregorio), for better pillows if they were available. All
"George" could do was bring them additional pillows, which helped a
little. Over the course of the cruise, this busy man also repaired the
rattling door that had kept Grandma and Grandpa awake the first night,
brought them an additional blanket and was always friendly, cheerful and
courteous. He rightfully deserved Grandpa's nomination as the ship's
employee-of-the-month.

The mattress in Grandma Bert and Grandpa Roy's cabin was so bad that
Grandma Bert had a terrible pain in her back beginning the second full
day of the cruise that lasted until her first night home again. Because
the Coral Princess, built in only 2002, was smaller and narrower than
other ships on which your grandparents have sailed, it bounced and
rocked quite a bit more. It was narrower in order to be able to go
through the locks of the Panama Canal. It was the rocking, however,
that allowed Grandpa to sleep rather well, despite the poor pillows and
mattress. And for some reason, the rocking never bothers your
grandparents, which is a good thing!

Grandma Bert missed the towel sculptures that awaited them each night on
Carnival ships and at the resort in Mexico in 2004. In fact, before
dinner the third evening, she asked Grandpa if he thought there would be
a sculpture that evening. Grandpa had to tell her sadly that Princess
doesn't do that. She also was disappointed there was no after-dinner
entertainment by the waiters and waitresses in the dining room, although
some of them did sing a "happy anniversary" tune to your grandparents on
the night of their wedding anniversary. The waiters also marched through
the dining room the last evening of the cruise holding high their
delicious baked Alaska desserts. And of course there was entertainment
in the lounges and bars before and after dinner (more about which
later.)

In addition to the tune sung to them on their wedding anniversary, the
head waiter gave Grandma and Grandpa a little anniversary cake which
they never did eat. There was just too much food. On the morning of
your grandparents' wedding anniversary, three congratulatory balloons
were taped outside their cabin, announcing to the world (well, to those
on board Coral Princess at least) your grandparents' happy celebration.
In addition, the captain had signed a happy anniversary card with their
names on it which awaited them at their table that evening.

With the exception of the food in the main dining room in the evening,
Grandpa Roy could not understand why Princess was rated among the top
ten cruise lines by Conde Nast, while Carnival didn't even make the
list. Grandma said perhaps it had to do with the passengers. Most of
them were your grandparents age or older. There were very few children
and not too many young adults, either, on Coral Princess. Carnival, on
the other hand, bills themselves as the "Fun Ships" and caters to the
more noisy, younger crowds and their children.

It must be understood, however, that Grandma Bert and Grandpa Roy did
indeed enjoy this cruise, as they have all their cruises. They noticed
only very few differences in terms of quality and service on the Coral
Princess from their previous three Carnival cruises and their one
Norwegian Cruise Lines voyage a few years ago. For example, Grandma
and Grandpa changed to a table for two, as Grandma usually desires, the
second night in the traditional dining room. What they didn't
understand, though, was why Coral Princess couldn't change them for the
first evening, too. On Carnival or Norwegian, one simply visits the
maitre 'd and is changed to an available table at once thanks to their
computerized systems. This Princess ship had no such system.

The food, as mentioned, was indeed better than Carnival's in the main
dining room on the Coral Princess, with the exception of the night the
waiter talked Grandpa Roy into having the duck a al orange instead of
the pepper steak. The waiter, Daniel from Rumania, said the beef would
be tough and there would be better beef later in the week. Grandpa
didn't like any of the other menu choices that night, so he chose the
duck at Daniel's recommendation. There always were skinless chicken
breast and another steak with baked potato or French fries available,
but Grandpa decided instead to try the duck. Ugh! What a mistake!
Daniel was embarrassed and apologized quite a bit, but Grandpa Roy
certainly didn't blame him. Grandpa's just not a duck sort of guy.

In addition to the ever-changing evening meals, there always was a
recommended vegetarian dish and those wonderful appetizers and desserts.
Both Grandma and Grandpa tried things with which they were unfamiliar
and they always found them quite good, especially the soups and
appetizers, although salads usually were boring. There were some
wonderful desserts, and we know who in this family enjoyed them more
(hint: it certainly wasn't your slender Grandma Bert.) The last night
of the cruise there was one main choice of dessert, baked Alaska.
Daniel allowed Grandpa to have a second piece of this true delight (and
instant heart attack!)

Grandma and Grandpa had most breakfasts and all lunches on the Lido deck
(deck 14, there is no deck 13.) Here, Grandpa, in particular, felt that
Carnival excelled over Princess. Breakfast included only two types of
juice, orange and cranberry. The orange juice was watered down a lot
and not very good. There was milk, of course, but sometimes it wasn't
very cold. A man would fry eggs or omelets to order, so they were okay.
But the fried eggs prepared in front of you on the Carnival Miracle
were done in little pans and turned out much better. One point,
however, the Coral Princess had very nice crispy bacon each morning for
breakfast. Grandpa loved it!

The serving lines were confusing at lunch time. One entered the area,
cleaned off his or her hands beneath the chemical treatment stuff there
(one lady passenger told Grandpa she used it in her job as a druggist
every day and believed in it for preventing disease), and received a
plate and silverware wrapped in a large, cloth napkin from a gloved
steward. With plate in hand, the first thing a passenger encountered
was the desserts, not the salads. Entrees and side dishes were on two
separate hot lines, but rarely matched to each other and always in a
confusing layout. On Carnival there is a theme for the day's luncheon.
Also, Carnival provides trays so that the passenger can get everything
at once without having to return to the line looking for salads or
drinks or desserts while their meal gets cold or perhaps even whisked
away by an overly eager steward. Grandpa never had a warm meal on the
Lido deck. It was always cold by the time he was able to eat. In fact,
it wasn't very warm to begin with.

In the afternoon, real ice cream was served on the Lido deck. On
Carnival they serve only the soft stuff out of the machines, and while
available longer and in greater quantities, it wasn't very good. The
real ice cream on Princess, however, consisted of vanilla and one other
flavor each day. Grandpa Roy put the chocolate syrup on his one day
that had some type of alcohol in it. Was it ever strong! Grandma Bert
agreed. There had been no notice warning about the alcohol.

Whereas Carnival had a large selection of desserts at lunch on their
Lido decks (handed out by someone behind the counter so that children
couldn't take more than they would eat), Coral Princess had only four:
there usually was one hot dessert, normally very tasty, and three or
four cold, one of which normally was a fruit cup of some type. In
addition, there was a large selection of sliced and whole fruits on the
Lido buffet, including freshly carved pineapple that was very tasty.

The only thing to drink at lunch time was coffee, tea or iced tea. On
Carnival there is always lemonade and usually another juice, in addition
to the three traditional beverages. Because Grandpa Roy has never
gotten used to the idea of cold tea, he purchased a sticker that went
onto his cruise card that allowed him to have as many cold soft drinks
as he wanted during the whole cruise, including in the dining room in
the evening. The sticker cost $27.50 and included a fancy cup with lid.
Had he known you didn't have to purchase the cup, he could have saved
$2.50, but... At any rate, the sticker saved him money over the
purchase of traditional cans of soda at $1.50 each during the 10 days of
the cruise.

On the other hand, Grandma Bert, whom Grandpa says never has been a
cheap date, had iced tea, coffee or canned soda. Sometimes she had
mixed drinks, too, and and at supper she had one or two glasses of the
recommended red wine. All these paid soda and alcoholic beverages were
at the usual prices one finds in restaurants in Maryland. In addition,
Grandma might have a fancy drink in the ship's Princess Theater or while
sunning. They served small, medium and large sizes, and the ship's
idea of "medium," which usually cost around $7.00 to $7.50 was huge by
any standard. And, Grandma said, they were good, although she felt the
fancy drinks on Carnival were better.

The daily routine aboard the Coral Princess went something like this
when not in port: Get up, eat breakfast. Take a nap, get up and eat
lunch. Take a nap, get up and eat supper. Go to a show, go to bed, get
up, eat breakfast. Take a nap, get up... Well, you get the general
idea. Of course, your grandma didn't allow herself to get into that
routine. Instead, she would sit in the sun or use the gym. She
discovered that , although the gym wasn't very large, if she got there
after the morning rush, after 9:00 a.m., she usually had it all to
herself. There were televisions to watch while sweating on a treadmill.
Or, the user simply could enjoy the view ahead of the ship.

There were two places for shows aboard the Coral Princess. One was the
Princess Theater at the front of the ship, a traditional, sloped floor
theater with many seats and a large stage. Unlike some ships, there
were no columns or supports blocking the view of some patrons in the
Princess Theater. The Princess Theater also was the place where Grandma
and Grandpa underwent lifeboat training. On other ships, they have
gathered on the deck near the lifeboats and stood there until the slower
passengers arrived and a head count was completed. This time they were
allowed to sit down and be comfortable before standing up and putting on
their life jackets. Grandma and Grandpa liked the shows in the Princess
Theater, and Grandma especially liked the dark haired singer, Liz. She
had an excellent voice and Grandpa agreed with your grandmother on that
point.

At the other end of the ship was the Galaxy Lounge with an even larger
stage and two levels for patrons, but with tables and comfortable chairs
instead of traditional seating. Grandma and Grandpa watched one show
there. Some seats did have obstructed views of the stage, so one had to
get there early for the better shows.

Unlike Carnival, where it was more difficult to find a quiet corner to
listen to music, there was always somewhere on Coral Princess to enjoy a
quiet soda and good music. Of course, there also was the loud,
traditional band on the Lido deck near the pool. And speaking of the
pool, there were two. They both were larger, much larger, than those
found on both Carnival and Norwegian (at least on the ships with which
Grandma and Grandpa are familiar), and the Lotus Pool was indoors and
reserved for adults only. It was very nice and quiet, but rarely used
as a matter of fact.

The first two days were cruising. Grandma spent the time paying her
hard-earned money to the spa for different treatments or basking in the
sun on deck 15, away from the noise of the Lido deck band. She had had
a bad experience with a waiter, whose name she did not catch, on the
Lido deck her first day in the sun. Grandma had found a place very near
the pool. After she settled in, a waiter approached and she asked for a
soda. He tried to convince her that she should have an alcoholic drink,
but it was still early and she only wanted a can of soda. The waiter
ignored her and she never did get her soda. Grandpa made certain to
include that little episode on the critique Coral Princess asked for at
the end of the cruise. (He also included his complaints about the
pillows, mattress and shower head.)

On the third day, the ship docked in Costa Rica, the first of several
countries never visited before by your grandparents. At the suggestion
of several people last summer and much to your Grandfather's chagrin (he
is afraid of anything higher than his tiptoes unless he is surrounded by
an airplane), Grandma and he took the aerial tram ride in a privately
owned part of the rain forest. As it turned out, the ride was extremely
pleasant and Grandpa wasn't at all nervous. All they saw, however, from
the tram was one animal related to the raccoon in this country and
trees. On a short hike through the rain forest they saw a sloth, high
up in a tree, and some leaf cutter ants carrying their bits of leaves
back to their nest. The ants fascinated Grandma. After the tram ride,
the bus took the passengers to a restaurant for a typical, and
delicious, Costa Rican meal consisting of chicken and the traditional
rice and beans.

Grandpa hardly slept the night before the ship headed into the Panama
Canal, even though he had placed a wake-up call request on the automated
system. He wanted to be up when the ship passed through the locks,
which he knew would be very early in the morning. The best place, the
cruise director had announced, would be from the balcony of any cabin.
He was right. Grandma and Grandpa stood on the balcony and watched as
the Coral Princess entered the first, then the second and finally the
third lock. Another cruise ship was behind Coral Princess and Grandpa
Roy got some good photos of it passing through the locks, too. Grandma
and Grandpa ate breakfast on their balcony. And speaking of pictures,
Coral Princess photographers had gotten off the ship and were taking
pictures with telephoto lenses of the people on their balconies that
passengers could buy later.

Once the ship anchored in Gatun Lake after passing through the locks,
your grandparents caught a tender to shore and took a bus to the Pacific
Ocean. From there, they took a train back, riding in an observation car
built in 1938 that Panama found, old and neglected, in Florida. Panama
was beautiful, but there was very little time for photography on the
bus/train tour, which disappointed Grandpa. However, the guide, Marty,
was very good and spoke with no accent, as "Mommy and Daddy" had sent
him to school in the States (and "Daddy was an American," anyhow,
originally.) Of interest was Marty's view on what the American media
call the American invasion of Panama when the dictator and drug runner
Noriega was arrested and brought back to the U.S. Marty said that most
Panamanians declared it was not an invasion at all, but a LIBERATION!

Grandma and Grandpa had been to both Grand Cayman Island and Cozumel
before. Grand Cayman still showed signs of the very bad hurricane of
last year, but the city of Georgetown had not been hit too hard. While
in Grand Cayman, your grandparents took the "partly submerged" submarine
tour, aboard which they viewed many types of fish and two shipwrecks,
and they visited a butterfly farm. All the butterflies had been killed
during the hurricane and the farm had started over again. The
butterflies were beautiful, as you will see from the photos here.

In Cozumel Grandma and Grandpa went to a folklore show which was dancing
and music depicting Mexico's history. They also did some shopping and
took some pictures, of course. Of interest was the fact that Grandma
needed a bottle of water in one of the shops at the end of the pier. A
cold, small bottle of Evian cost $2.50 American. On the ship it would
have cost only $1.50. Speaking of prices, Grandma had been looking at
two clowns from the well-known Italian Lladro company. The price in the
Coral Princess gift shop was $196.00 for each clown. Grandpa looked up
the price of these Lladro clowns on the Internet after the cruise and
discovered the cost $265.00 here in the U.S. Passengers really can save
on the ship.

The last port-of-call was Belize, a little country once a British colony
which had been called British Honduras. Grandma and Grandpa's original
Sibun River and Mayan Cave Adventure excursion was canceled because the
vehicle the tour operator used was being repaired. So, instead they
took a boat up the Belize River and visited some Mayan ruins. The river
trip was very interesting. They saw many animals and birds, including
young crocodiles, howler monkeys, dolphins (yes! Dolphins in a
fresh-water river), parrots, bats and more.

Grandma and Grandpa met some interesting people during their cruise.
One couple with whom they had breakfast one morning were on their 35th
Princess cruise. In fact, they had taken over 50 cruises since they had
married. The wife told a very interesting story about a cruise to
Turkey and Greece in which their ship was held up by the Greek
government because some crew members were smuggling drugs. Princess, in
order to keep the passengers happy and because the ship could not leave,
found free excursions, usually on smaller boats to beautiful Greek
islands, for all the passengers. After a couple weeks of free,
interesting excursions, however, Princess paid back all the money the
passengers had spent for their cruise, flew them home at Princess
expense, AND gave them vouchers for a free cruise on any Princess ship.
That never happens to your grandparents!

Grandpa spoke with another gentleman who admitted that his party had
fibbed about a couple birthdays and a wedding anniversary just so they
could get the cake. This man felt that because the cruise cost so much,
he should get something for his money. Grandpa couldn't do that. His
conscious would bother him too much.

As with Carnival, Princess also uses a key card that doubles as your
credit card and identification to get back onto the ship after going
ashore. If it is your first time sailing with Princess, the card is
blue. After that, the card is gold. In that way, repeat guests are
recognized instantly by members of the ship's crew. Passengers who
have sailed many times with Princess get yet another color card, which
Grandpa seems to recall was black. Carnival crew members seem to have
no way to distinguish between first-time and repeat guests.

Princess also uses the same photo technique which allows them to see if
you are indeed the person to whom the card originally was issued. While
the documentation that arrived before the cruise said passengers must
carry passports for the cruise, Coral Princess only required a
government issued photo identification, such as a driver's license.
Grandpa noticed a few security personnel on board the ship, and Grandma
noticed a banner on one side of the Coral Princess warning boaters to
stay a certain distance away. It remains to be seen, however, if the
cannon hidden behind the port holes were accurate enough to destroy any
approaching vessels.

Grandma and Grandpa had spent the night before the cruise departed at a
motel near Baltimore-Washington International airport because of the
very early morning flight Princess Cruises had arranged for them to
Cleveland (yes, Cleveland!) and from there to Fort Lauderdale. Your
grandparents had gotten their boarding passes the day before off the
airline's Web site, so they only had to check their luggage and go
through security. Your grandparents got to the airport about an hour
and a half before flight time. It turned out that Grandpa's bag was
overweight and he had to pay an extra $25.00 for it. Grandma said she
will never let him live down the fact that his bag was heavier than
hers. After a short wait in a very, very long line to go through
security, they headed for the airplane, which took off for Cleveland a
while later right on time.

The flight from Cleveland left about 15 minutes late because of
congestion in the skies over Fort Lauderdale. As it was, the aircraft
landed only about 5 minutes late. Grandma and Grandpa got their bags
and went looking for a taxi. A couple people on the rec.travel.cruises
news group had told Grandpa to take a taxi from Fort Lauderdale airport
to the cruise terminal. What good advice that turned out to be! It
took a whole two minutes to get a taxi, then about 10 minutes to the
terminal, where the bags with cabin tags attached went into a bin for
eventual delivery to the cabin. Once inside the terminal, everyone
filled out a card which stated whether or not they had been sick the
past two days. (Nope!) Then your grandparents went to a short line to
get their boarding passes, went through security, had their pictures
taken, and onto the ship. Grandpa was hoping to be on board by 2:30 or
3:00 p.m. As it was, they were boarded at 1:15. The whole check-in and
boarding process took less time than the drive from the airport to the
ship because the crowds who were coming by Princess transportation were
still sitting on the buses at the airport!

Because Grandpa had paid the $25.00 for his bag, and since he wanted to
make certain he had extra cash, one morning he put his ATM card into his
shirt pocket along with his cruise card. Off he went with camera in
hand to take some pictures, perhaps read his book for a while somewhere
and then to get money from the ship's ATM. Grandpa decided to read near
to one of the bars in the atrium area. A waitress approached and he
pulled out his card and asked for a tonic water. The waitress said he
couldn't use the card. Grandpa protested briefly, having understood the
soda stamp Princess had given him could be used in all bars, lounges and
restaurants on the ship, but the waitress replied he couldn't use an ATM
card. Whoops! Grandpa had forgotten he had it with him. But the
waitress was good-natured and when she saw his book was in Russian, she
spoke to him in Russian. She was Bulgarian, but had lived for a time in
Russia. Many of the crew were Bulgarian. There also were many
Filipinos, some Turks, South Africans, English and some Mexicans. The
ship's captain was Italian.

There were many ships preparing to leave at Port Everglades the day your
Grandparents' ship did, including the huge, highly touted Queen Mary 2.
Grandma and grandpa found someone to take their picture on the deck of
the Coral Princess with the Queen Mary 2 in the background.

It was another wonderful cruise for your grandparents. While Grandma
and Grandpa do not understand why some people hate Carnival, they do
have some insight into why people like Princess (except for the food on
the Lido deck.) Given the opportunity or cash, your grandparents would
happily sale again with either cruise line. It did seem, however, that
Princess excursions cost a bit more than on Carnival. Although Grandma
and Grandpa bought fewer photos this cruise, they still paid a bit more
for them than they would have liked. Finally, Grandma and Grandpa
thought the last souvenir from the ship added a nice touch to a very
pleasant voyage: It was an abbreviated log of the whole cruise, with
all the times of sailings and arrivals, speeds, ports-of-call, and so
forth. It will make a nice addition to their family scrapbook of
memories.

But now their cruise is over and Grandma and Grandpa are looking forward
to a really different cruise when they go to Egypt in September and sail
the Nile River on a much smaller vessel from Aswan to Luxor. Grandpa
can hardly wait, but in the meantime, Grandma already is planning what
cruise to take in 2006 or early 2007.



  #5  
Old March 25th, 2005, 03:14 PM
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default



SMART CHOICE TRAVEL is the premier online travel planning and
flight-booking site.


Ahhh...the joys of the 'killfile'....plonk


  #6  
Old March 25th, 2005, 03:14 PM
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default



SMART CHOICE TRAVEL is the premier online travel planning and
flight-booking site.


Ahhh...the joys of the 'killfile'....plonk


  #7  
Old March 25th, 2005, 07:33 PM
Smart Choice Travel
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Smart Choice Travel

Dear Traveller

SMART CHOICE TRAVEL is the premier online travel planning and flight-booking site. Purchase airline tickets online, find vacation
packages, and make hotel and car reservations, find maps, destination information, travel news and more

Smart Choice travel information is designed to kickstart your travels and help you on your way. Save big on travel. Prices from some of the nation's top airlines, hotels and car rental companies and Vacation Rentals.

Providing resources for travellers Search by city or date, and browse travel guides.

Should you wish to speak to our staff at our company, or require
additional information, We can be contacted via email at


Thank you for your time and attention,
Smart Choice Travel

www.smartchoicetravel.com

---
MAF Anti-Spam ID: 20041110223429Q9k4KrT6


  #8  
Old March 27th, 2005, 12:44 AM
Becca
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Roy, I enjoyed reading Grandma and Grandpa's cruise review of the Coral
Princess. It was nice to see their contrasts and comparisons between
Carnival and Princess (and NCL). Thanks for sharing this with us, I
enjoyed reading it. I am looking forward to seeing the photos.

Becca -----cruising on the Miracle in 5 weeks...


Roy Cochrun wrote:

I promised this review a few weeks ago. I finishe the text a couple
weeks ago, but I still haven't sorted out the photos for where the
review will be on my Web site. Once the photos have been
posted, I'll let readers here know where the review will be if they wish
to view the photos. Until then, here is the text-only version, in which
I compare the experience on Coral Princess with our previous cruises on
Carnival ships (in particular) and Norwegian. As my review last fall of
our cruise aboard Carnival Miracle, this one too is aimed at my
grandchildren, so please bear with that...

--Roy Cochrun

Grandma Bert and Grandpa Roy's Cruise to the Panama Canal, 26 February
through 8 March 2005 (wherein Grandpa decides differences between
Carnival and Princess are trivial)

Grandma Bert and Grandpa Roy decided early last summer that they wanted
to take a cruise to Panama in 2005. By the time they talked about it
and researched the available ships, only a few of the better cabins
aboard the Coral Princess were still available when they made their
reservations in July 2004. Grandpa was able to find a Double A (AA)
mini-suite only on the Baja deck, forward. He reserved the one
"furthest back" on the starboard (right) side, cabin B223. Unlike
Carnival Miracle and Carnival Conquest, the Coral Princess mini-suite
was somewhat smaller, had only one sink in the bathroom and had only a
regular tub, not a Jacuzzi. The shower provided only a gentle stream of
water or a "massage" stream, both nearly worthless. There also were
fewer amenities on the Coral Princess than Carnival provides in its
mini-suites. Carnival also provides a stocked refrigerator, but you
must pay for anything you take from it. Coral Princess, on the other
hand, had an empty refrigerator in which Grandma and Grandpa kept their
water after buying a first bottle. Water right from the bathroom tap,
although always somewhat warm, tasted good after cooling in the fridge
for a couple hours. The empty refrigerator was, therefore, a plus for
your grandparents.

One thing really bothered Grandma and Grandpa in comparison with
Carnival's ships: sleeping. The bed and pillows were awful on
Princess. The Carnival Miracle had thick, fluffy pillows and good
mattresses. The Coral Princess' pillows were thin and hard. So hard,
in fact, Grandma and Grandpa asked their cabin steward, "George"
(actually Gregorio), for better pillows if they were available. All
"George" could do was bring them additional pillows, which helped a
little. Over the course of the cruise, this busy man also repaired the
rattling door that had kept Grandma and Grandpa awake the first night,
brought them an additional blanket and was always friendly, cheerful and
courteous. He rightfully deserved Grandpa's nomination as the ship's
employee-of-the-month.

The mattress in Grandma Bert and Grandpa Roy's cabin was so bad that
Grandma Bert had a terrible pain in her back beginning the second full
day of the cruise that lasted until her first night home again. Because
the Coral Princess, built in only 2002, was smaller and narrower than
other ships on which your grandparents have sailed, it bounced and
rocked quite a bit more. It was narrower in order to be able to go
through the locks of the Panama Canal. It was the rocking, however,
that allowed Grandpa to sleep rather well, despite the poor pillows and
mattress. And for some reason, the rocking never bothers your
grandparents, which is a good thing!

Grandma Bert missed the towel sculptures that awaited them each night on
Carnival ships and at the resort in Mexico in 2004. In fact, before
dinner the third evening, she asked Grandpa if he thought there would be
a sculpture that evening. Grandpa had to tell her sadly that Princess
doesn't do that. She also was disappointed there was no after-dinner
entertainment by the waiters and waitresses in the dining room, although
some of them did sing a "happy anniversary" tune to your grandparents on
the night of their wedding anniversary. The waiters also marched through
the dining room the last evening of the cruise holding high their
delicious baked Alaska desserts. And of course there was entertainment
in the lounges and bars before and after dinner (more about which
later.)

In addition to the tune sung to them on their wedding anniversary, the
head waiter gave Grandma and Grandpa a little anniversary cake which
they never did eat. There was just too much food. On the morning of
your grandparents' wedding anniversary, three congratulatory balloons
were taped outside their cabin, announcing to the world (well, to those
on board Coral Princess at least) your grandparents' happy celebration.
In addition, the captain had signed a happy anniversary card with their
names on it which awaited them at their table that evening.

With the exception of the food in the main dining room in the evening,
Grandpa Roy could not understand why Princess was rated among the top
ten cruise lines by Conde Nast, while Carnival didn't even make the
list. Grandma said perhaps it had to do with the passengers. Most of
them were your grandparents age or older. There were very few children
and not too many young adults, either, on Coral Princess. Carnival, on
the other hand, bills themselves as the "Fun Ships" and caters to the
more noisy, younger crowds and their children.

It must be understood, however, that Grandma Bert and Grandpa Roy did
indeed enjoy this cruise, as they have all their cruises. They noticed
only very few differences in terms of quality and service on the Coral
Princess from their previous three Carnival cruises and their one
Norwegian Cruise Lines voyage a few years ago. For example, Grandma
and Grandpa changed to a table for two, as Grandma usually desires, the
second night in the traditional dining room. What they didn't
understand, though, was why Coral Princess couldn't change them for the
first evening, too. On Carnival or Norwegian, one simply visits the
maitre 'd and is changed to an available table at once thanks to their
computerized systems. This Princess ship had no such system.

The food, as mentioned, was indeed better than Carnival's in the main
dining room on the Coral Princess, with the exception of the night the
waiter talked Grandpa Roy into having the duck a al orange instead of
the pepper steak. The waiter, Daniel from Rumania, said the beef would
be tough and there would be better beef later in the week. Grandpa
didn't like any of the other menu choices that night, so he chose the
duck at Daniel's recommendation. There always were skinless chicken
breast and another steak with baked potato or French fries available,
but Grandpa decided instead to try the duck. Ugh! What a mistake!
Daniel was embarrassed and apologized quite a bit, but Grandpa Roy
certainly didn't blame him. Grandpa's just not a duck sort of guy.

In addition to the ever-changing evening meals, there always was a
recommended vegetarian dish and those wonderful appetizers and desserts.
Both Grandma and Grandpa tried things with which they were unfamiliar
and they always found them quite good, especially the soups and
appetizers, although salads usually were boring. There were some
wonderful desserts, and we know who in this family enjoyed them more
(hint: it certainly wasn't your slender Grandma Bert.) The last night
of the cruise there was one main choice of dessert, baked Alaska.
Daniel allowed Grandpa to have a second piece of this true delight (and
instant heart attack!)

Grandma and Grandpa had most breakfasts and all lunches on the Lido deck
(deck 14, there is no deck 13.) Here, Grandpa, in particular, felt that
Carnival excelled over Princess. Breakfast included only two types of
juice, orange and cranberry. The orange juice was watered down a lot
and not very good. There was milk, of course, but sometimes it wasn't
very cold. A man would fry eggs or omelets to order, so they were okay.
But the fried eggs prepared in front of you on the Carnival Miracle
were done in little pans and turned out much better. One point,
however, the Coral Princess had very nice crispy bacon each morning for
breakfast. Grandpa loved it!

The serving lines were confusing at lunch time. One entered the area,
cleaned off his or her hands beneath the chemical treatment stuff there
(one lady passenger told Grandpa she used it in her job as a druggist
every day and believed in it for preventing disease), and received a
plate and silverware wrapped in a large, cloth napkin from a gloved
steward. With plate in hand, the first thing a passenger encountered
was the desserts, not the salads. Entrees and side dishes were on two
separate hot lines, but rarely matched to each other and always in a
confusing layout. On Carnival there is a theme for the day's luncheon.
Also, Carnival provides trays so that the passenger can get everything
at once without having to return to the line looking for salads or
drinks or desserts while their meal gets cold or perhaps even whisked
away by an overly eager steward. Grandpa never had a warm meal on the
Lido deck. It was always cold by the time he was able to eat. In fact,
it wasn't very warm to begin with.

In the afternoon, real ice cream was served on the Lido deck. On
Carnival they serve only the soft stuff out of the machines, and while
available longer and in greater quantities, it wasn't very good. The
real ice cream on Princess, however, consisted of vanilla and one other
flavor each day. Grandpa Roy put the chocolate syrup on his one day
that had some type of alcohol in it. Was it ever strong! Grandma Bert
agreed. There had been no notice warning about the alcohol.

Whereas Carnival had a large selection of desserts at lunch on their
Lido decks (handed out by someone behind the counter so that children
couldn't take more than they would eat), Coral Princess had only four:
there usually was one hot dessert, normally very tasty, and three or
four cold, one of which normally was a fruit cup of some type. In
addition, there was a large selection of sliced and whole fruits on the
Lido buffet, including freshly carved pineapple that was very tasty.

The only thing to drink at lunch time was coffee, tea or iced tea. On
Carnival there is always lemonade and usually another juice, in addition
to the three traditional beverages. Because Grandpa Roy has never
gotten used to the idea of cold tea, he purchased a sticker that went
onto his cruise card that allowed him to have as many cold soft drinks
as he wanted during the whole cruise, including in the dining room in
the evening. The sticker cost $27.50 and included a fancy cup with lid.
Had he known you didn't have to purchase the cup, he could have saved
$2.50, but... At any rate, the sticker saved him money over the
purchase of traditional cans of soda at $1.50 each during the 10 days of
the cruise.

On the other hand, Grandma Bert, whom Grandpa says never has been a
cheap date, had iced tea, coffee or canned soda. Sometimes she had
mixed drinks, too, and and at supper she had one or two glasses of the
recommended red wine. All these paid soda and alcoholic beverages were
at the usual prices one finds in restaurants in Maryland. In addition,
Grandma might have a fancy drink in the ship's Princess Theater or while
sunning. They served small, medium and large sizes, and the ship's
idea of "medium," which usually cost around $7.00 to $7.50 was huge by
any standard. And, Grandma said, they were good, although she felt the
fancy drinks on Carnival were better.

The daily routine aboard the Coral Princess went something like this
when not in port: Get up, eat breakfast. Take a nap, get up and eat
lunch. Take a nap, get up and eat supper. Go to a show, go to bed, get
up, eat breakfast. Take a nap, get up... Well, you get the general
idea. Of course, your grandma didn't allow herself to get into that
routine. Instead, she would sit in the sun or use the gym. She
discovered that , although the gym wasn't very large, if she got there
after the morning rush, after 9:00 a.m., she usually had it all to
herself. There were televisions to watch while sweating on a treadmill.
Or, the user simply could enjoy the view ahead of the ship.

There were two places for shows aboard the Coral Princess. One was the
Princess Theater at the front of the ship, a traditional, sloped floor
theater with many seats and a large stage. Unlike some ships, there
were no columns or supports blocking the view of some patrons in the
Princess Theater. The Princess Theater also was the place where Grandma
and Grandpa underwent lifeboat training. On other ships, they have
gathered on the deck near the lifeboats and stood there until the slower
passengers arrived and a head count was completed. This time they were
allowed to sit down and be comfortable before standing up and putting on
their life jackets. Grandma and Grandpa liked the shows in the Princess
Theater, and Grandma especially liked the dark haired singer, Liz. She
had an excellent voice and Grandpa agreed with your grandmother on that
point.

At the other end of the ship was the Galaxy Lounge with an even larger
stage and two levels for patrons, but with tables and comfortable chairs
instead of traditional seating. Grandma and Grandpa watched one show
there. Some seats did have obstructed views of the stage, so one had to
get there early for the better shows.

Unlike Carnival, where it was more difficult to find a quiet corner to
listen to music, there was always somewhere on Coral Princess to enjoy a
quiet soda and good music. Of course, there also was the loud,
traditional band on the Lido deck near the pool. And speaking of the
pool, there were two. They both were larger, much larger, than those
found on both Carnival and Norwegian (at least on the ships with which
Grandma and Grandpa are familiar), and the Lotus Pool was indoors and
reserved for adults only. It was very nice and quiet, but rarely used
as a matter of fact.

The first two days were cruising. Grandma spent the time paying her
hard-earned money to the spa for different treatments or basking in the
sun on deck 15, away from the noise of the Lido deck band. She had had
a bad experience with a waiter, whose name she did not catch, on the
Lido deck her first day in the sun. Grandma had found a place very near
the pool. After she settled in, a waiter approached and she asked for a
soda. He tried to convince her that she should have an alcoholic drink,
but it was still early and she only wanted a can of soda. The waiter
ignored her and she never did get her soda. Grandpa made certain to
include that little episode on the critique Coral Princess asked for at
the end of the cruise. (He also included his complaints about the
pillows, mattress and shower head.)

On the third day, the ship docked in Costa Rica, the first of several
countries never visited before by your grandparents. At the suggestion
of several people last summer and much to your Grandfather's chagrin (he
is afraid of anything higher than his tiptoes unless he is surrounded by
an airplane), Grandma and he took the aerial tram ride in a privately
owned part of the rain forest. As it turned out, the ride was extremely
pleasant and Grandpa wasn't at all nervous. All they saw, however, from
the tram was one animal related to the raccoon in this country and
trees. On a short hike through the rain forest they saw a sloth, high
up in a tree, and some leaf cutter ants carrying their bits of leaves
back to their nest. The ants fascinated Grandma. After the tram ride,
the bus took the passengers to a restaurant for a typical, and
delicious, Costa Rican meal consisting of chicken and the traditional
rice and beans.

Grandpa hardly slept the night before the ship headed into the Panama
Canal, even though he had placed a wake-up call request on the automated
system. He wanted to be up when the ship passed through the locks,
which he knew would be very early in the morning. The best place, the
cruise director had announced, would be from the balcony of any cabin.
He was right. Grandma and Grandpa stood on the balcony and watched as
the Coral Princess entered the first, then the second and finally the
third lock. Another cruise ship was behind Coral Princess and Grandpa
Roy got some good photos of it passing through the locks, too. Grandma
and Grandpa ate breakfast on their balcony. And speaking of pictures,
Coral Princess photographers had gotten off the ship and were taking
pictures with telephoto lenses of the people on their balconies that
passengers could buy later.

Once the ship anchored in Gatun Lake after passing through the locks,
your grandparents caught a tender to shore and took a bus to the Pacific
Ocean. From there, they took a train back, riding in an observation car
built in 1938 that Panama found, old and neglected, in Florida. Panama
was beautiful, but there was very little time for photography on the
bus/train tour, which disappointed Grandpa. However, the guide, Marty,
was very good and spoke with no accent, as "Mommy and Daddy" had sent
him to school in the States (and "Daddy was an American," anyhow,
originally.) Of interest was Marty's view on what the American media
call the American invasion of Panama when the dictator and drug runner
Noriega was arrested and brought back to the U.S. Marty said that most
Panamanians declared it was not an invasion at all, but a LIBERATION!

Grandma and Grandpa had been to both Grand Cayman Island and Cozumel
before. Grand Cayman still showed signs of the very bad hurricane of
last year, but the city of Georgetown had not been hit too hard. While
in Grand Cayman, your grandparents took the "partly submerged" submarine
tour, aboard which they viewed many types of fish and two shipwrecks,
and they visited a butterfly farm. All the butterflies had been killed
during the hurricane and the farm had started over again. The
butterflies were beautiful, as you will see from the photos here.

In Cozumel Grandma and Grandpa went to a folklore show which was dancing
and music depicting Mexico's history. They also did some shopping and
took some pictures, of course. Of interest was the fact that Grandma
needed a bottle of water in one of the shops at the end of the pier. A
cold, small bottle of Evian cost $2.50 American. On the ship it would
have cost only $1.50. Speaking of prices, Grandma had been looking at
two clowns from the well-known Italian Lladro company. The price in the
Coral Princess gift shop was $196.00 for each clown. Grandpa looked up
the price of these Lladro clowns on the Internet after the cruise and
discovered the cost $265.00 here in the U.S. Passengers really can save
on the ship.

The last port-of-call was Belize, a little country once a British colony
which had been called British Honduras. Grandma and Grandpa's original
Sibun River and Mayan Cave Adventure excursion was canceled because the
vehicle the tour operator used was being repaired. So, instead they
took a boat up the Belize River and visited some Mayan ruins. The river
trip was very interesting. They saw many animals and birds, including
young crocodiles, howler monkeys, dolphins (yes! Dolphins in a
fresh-water river), parrots, bats and more.

Grandma and Grandpa met some interesting people during their cruise.
One couple with whom they had breakfast one morning were on their 35th
Princess cruise. In fact, they had taken over 50 cruises since they had
married. The wife told a very interesting story about a cruise to
Turkey and Greece in which their ship was held up by the Greek
government because some crew members were smuggling drugs. Princess, in
order to keep the passengers happy and because the ship could not leave,
found free excursions, usually on smaller boats to beautiful Greek
islands, for all the passengers. After a couple weeks of free,
interesting excursions, however, Princess paid back all the money the
passengers had spent for their cruise, flew them home at Princess
expense, AND gave them vouchers for a free cruise on any Princess ship.
That never happens to your grandparents!

Grandpa spoke with another gentleman who admitted that his party had
fibbed about a couple birthdays and a wedding anniversary just so they
could get the cake. This man felt that because the cruise cost so much,
he should get something for his money. Grandpa couldn't do that. His
conscious would bother him too much.

As with Carnival, Princess also uses a key card that doubles as your
credit card and identification to get back onto the ship after going
ashore. If it is your first time sailing with Princess, the card is
blue. After that, the card is gold. In that way, repeat guests are
recognized instantly by members of the ship's crew. Passengers who
have sailed many times with Princess get yet another color card, which
Grandpa seems to recall was black. Carnival crew members seem to have
no way to distinguish between first-time and repeat guests.

Princess also uses the same photo technique which allows them to see if
you are indeed the person to whom the card originally was issued. While
the documentation that arrived before the cruise said passengers must
carry passports for the cruise, Coral Princess only required a
government issued photo identification, such as a driver's license.
Grandpa noticed a few security personnel on board the ship, and Grandma
noticed a banner on one side of the Coral Princess warning boaters to
stay a certain distance away. It remains to be seen, however, if the
cannon hidden behind the port holes were accurate enough to destroy any
approaching vessels.

Grandma and Grandpa had spent the night before the cruise departed at a
motel near Baltimore-Washington International airport because of the
very early morning flight Princess Cruises had arranged for them to
Cleveland (yes, Cleveland!) and from there to Fort Lauderdale. Your
grandparents had gotten their boarding passes the day before off the
airline's Web site, so they only had to check their luggage and go
through security. Your grandparents got to the airport about an hour
and a half before flight time. It turned out that Grandpa's bag was
overweight and he had to pay an extra $25.00 for it. Grandma said she
will never let him live down the fact that his bag was heavier than
hers. After a short wait in a very, very long line to go through
security, they headed for the airplane, which took off for Cleveland a
while later right on time.

The flight from Cleveland left about 15 minutes late because of
congestion in the skies over Fort Lauderdale. As it was, the aircraft
landed only about 5 minutes late. Grandma and Grandpa got their bags
and went looking for a taxi. A couple people on the rec.travel.cruises
news group had told Grandpa to take a taxi from Fort Lauderdale airport
to the cruise terminal. What good advice that turned out to be! It
took a whole two minutes to get a taxi, then about 10 minutes to the
terminal, where the bags with cabin tags attached went into a bin for
eventual delivery to the cabin. Once inside the terminal, everyone
filled out a card which stated whether or not they had been sick the
past two days. (Nope!) Then your grandparents went to a short line to
get their boarding passes, went through security, had their pictures
taken, and onto the ship. Grandpa was hoping to be on board by 2:30 or
3:00 p.m. As it was, they were boarded at 1:15. The whole check-in and
boarding process took less time than the drive from the airport to the
ship because the crowds who were coming by Princess transportation were
still sitting on the buses at the airport!

Because Grandpa had paid the $25.00 for his bag, and since he wanted to
make certain he had extra cash, one morning he put his ATM card into his
shirt pocket along with his cruise card. Off he went with camera in
hand to take some pictures, perhaps read his book for a while somewhere
and then to get money from the ship's ATM. Grandpa decided to read near
to one of the bars in the atrium area. A waitress approached and he
pulled out his card and asked for a tonic water. The waitress said he
couldn't use the card. Grandpa protested briefly, having understood the
soda stamp Princess had given him could be used in all bars, lounges and
restaurants on the ship, but the waitress replied he couldn't use an ATM
card. Whoops! Grandpa had forgotten he had it with him. But the
waitress was good-natured and when she saw his book was in Russian, she
spoke to him in Russian. She was Bulgarian, but had lived for a time in
Russia. Many of the crew were Bulgarian. There also were many
Filipinos, some Turks, South Africans, English and some Mexicans. The
ship's captain was Italian.

There were many ships preparing to leave at Port Everglades the day your
Grandparents' ship did, including the huge, highly touted Queen Mary 2.
Grandma and grandpa found someone to take their picture on the deck of
the Coral Princess with the Queen Mary 2 in the background.

It was another wonderful cruise for your grandparents. While Grandma
and Grandpa do not understand why some people hate Carnival, they do
have some insight into why people like Princess (except for the food on
the Lido deck.) Given the opportunity or cash, your grandparents would
happily sale again with either cruise line. It did seem, however, that
Princess excursions cost a bit more than on Carnival. Although Grandma
and Grandpa bought fewer photos this cruise, they still paid a bit more
for them than they would have liked. Finally, Grandma and Grandpa
thought the last souvenir from the ship added a nice touch to a very
pleasant voyage: It was an abbreviated log of the whole cruise, with
all the times of sailings and arrivals, speeds, ports-of-call, and so
forth. It will make a nice addition to their family scrapbook of
memories.

But now their cruise is over and Grandma and Grandpa are looking forward
to a really different cruise when they go to Egypt in September and sail
the Nile River on a much smaller vessel from Aswan to Luxor. Grandpa
can hardly wait, but in the meantime, Grandma already is planning what
cruise to take in 2006 or early 2007.

  #9  
Old March 27th, 2005, 12:44 AM
Becca
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Roy, I enjoyed reading Grandma and Grandpa's cruise review of the Coral
Princess. It was nice to see their contrasts and comparisons between
Carnival and Princess (and NCL). Thanks for sharing this with us, I
enjoyed reading it. I am looking forward to seeing the photos.

Becca -----cruising on the Miracle in 5 weeks...


Roy Cochrun wrote:

I promised this review a few weeks ago. I finishe the text a couple
weeks ago, but I still haven't sorted out the photos for where the
review will be on my Web site. Once the photos have been
posted, I'll let readers here know where the review will be if they wish
to view the photos. Until then, here is the text-only version, in which
I compare the experience on Coral Princess with our previous cruises on
Carnival ships (in particular) and Norwegian. As my review last fall of
our cruise aboard Carnival Miracle, this one too is aimed at my
grandchildren, so please bear with that...

--Roy Cochrun

Grandma Bert and Grandpa Roy's Cruise to the Panama Canal, 26 February
through 8 March 2005 (wherein Grandpa decides differences between
Carnival and Princess are trivial)

Grandma Bert and Grandpa Roy decided early last summer that they wanted
to take a cruise to Panama in 2005. By the time they talked about it
and researched the available ships, only a few of the better cabins
aboard the Coral Princess were still available when they made their
reservations in July 2004. Grandpa was able to find a Double A (AA)
mini-suite only on the Baja deck, forward. He reserved the one
"furthest back" on the starboard (right) side, cabin B223. Unlike
Carnival Miracle and Carnival Conquest, the Coral Princess mini-suite
was somewhat smaller, had only one sink in the bathroom and had only a
regular tub, not a Jacuzzi. The shower provided only a gentle stream of
water or a "massage" stream, both nearly worthless. There also were
fewer amenities on the Coral Princess than Carnival provides in its
mini-suites. Carnival also provides a stocked refrigerator, but you
must pay for anything you take from it. Coral Princess, on the other
hand, had an empty refrigerator in which Grandma and Grandpa kept their
water after buying a first bottle. Water right from the bathroom tap,
although always somewhat warm, tasted good after cooling in the fridge
for a couple hours. The empty refrigerator was, therefore, a plus for
your grandparents.

One thing really bothered Grandma and Grandpa in comparison with
Carnival's ships: sleeping. The bed and pillows were awful on
Princess. The Carnival Miracle had thick, fluffy pillows and good
mattresses. The Coral Princess' pillows were thin and hard. So hard,
in fact, Grandma and Grandpa asked their cabin steward, "George"
(actually Gregorio), for better pillows if they were available. All
"George" could do was bring them additional pillows, which helped a
little. Over the course of the cruise, this busy man also repaired the
rattling door that had kept Grandma and Grandpa awake the first night,
brought them an additional blanket and was always friendly, cheerful and
courteous. He rightfully deserved Grandpa's nomination as the ship's
employee-of-the-month.

The mattress in Grandma Bert and Grandpa Roy's cabin was so bad that
Grandma Bert had a terrible pain in her back beginning the second full
day of the cruise that lasted until her first night home again. Because
the Coral Princess, built in only 2002, was smaller and narrower than
other ships on which your grandparents have sailed, it bounced and
rocked quite a bit more. It was narrower in order to be able to go
through the locks of the Panama Canal. It was the rocking, however,
that allowed Grandpa to sleep rather well, despite the poor pillows and
mattress. And for some reason, the rocking never bothers your
grandparents, which is a good thing!

Grandma Bert missed the towel sculptures that awaited them each night on
Carnival ships and at the resort in Mexico in 2004. In fact, before
dinner the third evening, she asked Grandpa if he thought there would be
a sculpture that evening. Grandpa had to tell her sadly that Princess
doesn't do that. She also was disappointed there was no after-dinner
entertainment by the waiters and waitresses in the dining room, although
some of them did sing a "happy anniversary" tune to your grandparents on
the night of their wedding anniversary. The waiters also marched through
the dining room the last evening of the cruise holding high their
delicious baked Alaska desserts. And of course there was entertainment
in the lounges and bars before and after dinner (more about which
later.)

In addition to the tune sung to them on their wedding anniversary, the
head waiter gave Grandma and Grandpa a little anniversary cake which
they never did eat. There was just too much food. On the morning of
your grandparents' wedding anniversary, three congratulatory balloons
were taped outside their cabin, announcing to the world (well, to those
on board Coral Princess at least) your grandparents' happy celebration.
In addition, the captain had signed a happy anniversary card with their
names on it which awaited them at their table that evening.

With the exception of the food in the main dining room in the evening,
Grandpa Roy could not understand why Princess was rated among the top
ten cruise lines by Conde Nast, while Carnival didn't even make the
list. Grandma said perhaps it had to do with the passengers. Most of
them were your grandparents age or older. There were very few children
and not too many young adults, either, on Coral Princess. Carnival, on
the other hand, bills themselves as the "Fun Ships" and caters to the
more noisy, younger crowds and their children.

It must be understood, however, that Grandma Bert and Grandpa Roy did
indeed enjoy this cruise, as they have all their cruises. They noticed
only very few differences in terms of quality and service on the Coral
Princess from their previous three Carnival cruises and their one
Norwegian Cruise Lines voyage a few years ago. For example, Grandma
and Grandpa changed to a table for two, as Grandma usually desires, the
second night in the traditional dining room. What they didn't
understand, though, was why Coral Princess couldn't change them for the
first evening, too. On Carnival or Norwegian, one simply visits the
maitre 'd and is changed to an available table at once thanks to their
computerized systems. This Princess ship had no such system.

The food, as mentioned, was indeed better than Carnival's in the main
dining room on the Coral Princess, with the exception of the night the
waiter talked Grandpa Roy into having the duck a al orange instead of
the pepper steak. The waiter, Daniel from Rumania, said the beef would
be tough and there would be better beef later in the week. Grandpa
didn't like any of the other menu choices that night, so he chose the
duck at Daniel's recommendation. There always were skinless chicken
breast and another steak with baked potato or French fries available,
but Grandpa decided instead to try the duck. Ugh! What a mistake!
Daniel was embarrassed and apologized quite a bit, but Grandpa Roy
certainly didn't blame him. Grandpa's just not a duck sort of guy.

In addition to the ever-changing evening meals, there always was a
recommended vegetarian dish and those wonderful appetizers and desserts.
Both Grandma and Grandpa tried things with which they were unfamiliar
and they always found them quite good, especially the soups and
appetizers, although salads usually were boring. There were some
wonderful desserts, and we know who in this family enjoyed them more
(hint: it certainly wasn't your slender Grandma Bert.) The last night
of the cruise there was one main choice of dessert, baked Alaska.
Daniel allowed Grandpa to have a second piece of this true delight (and
instant heart attack!)

Grandma and Grandpa had most breakfasts and all lunches on the Lido deck
(deck 14, there is no deck 13.) Here, Grandpa, in particular, felt that
Carnival excelled over Princess. Breakfast included only two types of
juice, orange and cranberry. The orange juice was watered down a lot
and not very good. There was milk, of course, but sometimes it wasn't
very cold. A man would fry eggs or omelets to order, so they were okay.
But the fried eggs prepared in front of you on the Carnival Miracle
were done in little pans and turned out much better. One point,
however, the Coral Princess had very nice crispy bacon each morning for
breakfast. Grandpa loved it!

The serving lines were confusing at lunch time. One entered the area,
cleaned off his or her hands beneath the chemical treatment stuff there
(one lady passenger told Grandpa she used it in her job as a druggist
every day and believed in it for preventing disease), and received a
plate and silverware wrapped in a large, cloth napkin from a gloved
steward. With plate in hand, the first thing a passenger encountered
was the desserts, not the salads. Entrees and side dishes were on two
separate hot lines, but rarely matched to each other and always in a
confusing layout. On Carnival there is a theme for the day's luncheon.
Also, Carnival provides trays so that the passenger can get everything
at once without having to return to the line looking for salads or
drinks or desserts while their meal gets cold or perhaps even whisked
away by an overly eager steward. Grandpa never had a warm meal on the
Lido deck. It was always cold by the time he was able to eat. In fact,
it wasn't very warm to begin with.

In the afternoon, real ice cream was served on the Lido deck. On
Carnival they serve only the soft stuff out of the machines, and while
available longer and in greater quantities, it wasn't very good. The
real ice cream on Princess, however, consisted of vanilla and one other
flavor each day. Grandpa Roy put the chocolate syrup on his one day
that had some type of alcohol in it. Was it ever strong! Grandma Bert
agreed. There had been no notice warning about the alcohol.

Whereas Carnival had a large selection of desserts at lunch on their
Lido decks (handed out by someone behind the counter so that children
couldn't take more than they would eat), Coral Princess had only four:
there usually was one hot dessert, normally very tasty, and three or
four cold, one of which normally was a fruit cup of some type. In
addition, there was a large selection of sliced and whole fruits on the
Lido buffet, including freshly carved pineapple that was very tasty.

The only thing to drink at lunch time was coffee, tea or iced tea. On
Carnival there is always lemonade and usually another juice, in addition
to the three traditional beverages. Because Grandpa Roy has never
gotten used to the idea of cold tea, he purchased a sticker that went
onto his cruise card that allowed him to have as many cold soft drinks
as he wanted during the whole cruise, including in the dining room in
the evening. The sticker cost $27.50 and included a fancy cup with lid.
Had he known you didn't have to purchase the cup, he could have saved
$2.50, but... At any rate, the sticker saved him money over the
purchase of traditional cans of soda at $1.50 each during the 10 days of
the cruise.

On the other hand, Grandma Bert, whom Grandpa says never has been a
cheap date, had iced tea, coffee or canned soda. Sometimes she had
mixed drinks, too, and and at supper she had one or two glasses of the
recommended red wine. All these paid soda and alcoholic beverages were
at the usual prices one finds in restaurants in Maryland. In addition,
Grandma might have a fancy drink in the ship's Princess Theater or while
sunning. They served small, medium and large sizes, and the ship's
idea of "medium," which usually cost around $7.00 to $7.50 was huge by
any standard. And, Grandma said, they were good, although she felt the
fancy drinks on Carnival were better.

The daily routine aboard the Coral Princess went something like this
when not in port: Get up, eat breakfast. Take a nap, get up and eat
lunch. Take a nap, get up and eat supper. Go to a show, go to bed, get
up, eat breakfast. Take a nap, get up... Well, you get the general
idea. Of course, your grandma didn't allow herself to get into that
routine. Instead, she would sit in the sun or use the gym. She
discovered that , although the gym wasn't very large, if she got there
after the morning rush, after 9:00 a.m., she usually had it all to
herself. There were televisions to watch while sweating on a treadmill.
Or, the user simply could enjoy the view ahead of the ship.

There were two places for shows aboard the Coral Princess. One was the
Princess Theater at the front of the ship, a traditional, sloped floor
theater with many seats and a large stage. Unlike some ships, there
were no columns or supports blocking the view of some patrons in the
Princess Theater. The Princess Theater also was the place where Grandma
and Grandpa underwent lifeboat training. On other ships, they have
gathered on the deck near the lifeboats and stood there until the slower
passengers arrived and a head count was completed. This time they were
allowed to sit down and be comfortable before standing up and putting on
their life jackets. Grandma and Grandpa liked the shows in the Princess
Theater, and Grandma especially liked the dark haired singer, Liz. She
had an excellent voice and Grandpa agreed with your grandmother on that
point.

At the other end of the ship was the Galaxy Lounge with an even larger
stage and two levels for patrons, but with tables and comfortable chairs
instead of traditional seating. Grandma and Grandpa watched one show
there. Some seats did have obstructed views of the stage, so one had to
get there early for the better shows.

Unlike Carnival, where it was more difficult to find a quiet corner to
listen to music, there was always somewhere on Coral Princess to enjoy a
quiet soda and good music. Of course, there also was the loud,
traditional band on the Lido deck near the pool. And speaking of the
pool, there were two. They both were larger, much larger, than those
found on both Carnival and Norwegian (at least on the ships with which
Grandma and Grandpa are familiar), and the Lotus Pool was indoors and
reserved for adults only. It was very nice and quiet, but rarely used
as a matter of fact.

The first two days were cruising. Grandma spent the time paying her
hard-earned money to the spa for different treatments or basking in the
sun on deck 15, away from the noise of the Lido deck band. She had had
a bad experience with a waiter, whose name she did not catch, on the
Lido deck her first day in the sun. Grandma had found a place very near
the pool. After she settled in, a waiter approached and she asked for a
soda. He tried to convince her that she should have an alcoholic drink,
but it was still early and she only wanted a can of soda. The waiter
ignored her and she never did get her soda. Grandpa made certain to
include that little episode on the critique Coral Princess asked for at
the end of the cruise. (He also included his complaints about the
pillows, mattress and shower head.)

On the third day, the ship docked in Costa Rica, the first of several
countries never visited before by your grandparents. At the suggestion
of several people last summer and much to your Grandfather's chagrin (he
is afraid of anything higher than his tiptoes unless he is surrounded by
an airplane), Grandma and he took the aerial tram ride in a privately
owned part of the rain forest. As it turned out, the ride was extremely
pleasant and Grandpa wasn't at all nervous. All they saw, however, from
the tram was one animal related to the raccoon in this country and
trees. On a short hike through the rain forest they saw a sloth, high
up in a tree, and some leaf cutter ants carrying their bits of leaves
back to their nest. The ants fascinated Grandma. After the tram ride,
the bus took the passengers to a restaurant for a typical, and
delicious, Costa Rican meal consisting of chicken and the traditional
rice and beans.

Grandpa hardly slept the night before the ship headed into the Panama
Canal, even though he had placed a wake-up call request on the automated
system. He wanted to be up when the ship passed through the locks,
which he knew would be very early in the morning. The best place, the
cruise director had announced, would be from the balcony of any cabin.
He was right. Grandma and Grandpa stood on the balcony and watched as
the Coral Princess entered the first, then the second and finally the
third lock. Another cruise ship was behind Coral Princess and Grandpa
Roy got some good photos of it passing through the locks, too. Grandma
and Grandpa ate breakfast on their balcony. And speaking of pictures,
Coral Princess photographers had gotten off the ship and were taking
pictures with telephoto lenses of the people on their balconies that
passengers could buy later.

Once the ship anchored in Gatun Lake after passing through the locks,
your grandparents caught a tender to shore and took a bus to the Pacific
Ocean. From there, they took a train back, riding in an observation car
built in 1938 that Panama found, old and neglected, in Florida. Panama
was beautiful, but there was very little time for photography on the
bus/train tour, which disappointed Grandpa. However, the guide, Marty,
was very good and spoke with no accent, as "Mommy and Daddy" had sent
him to school in the States (and "Daddy was an American," anyhow,
originally.) Of interest was Marty's view on what the American media
call the American invasion of Panama when the dictator and drug runner
Noriega was arrested and brought back to the U.S. Marty said that most
Panamanians declared it was not an invasion at all, but a LIBERATION!

Grandma and Grandpa had been to both Grand Cayman Island and Cozumel
before. Grand Cayman still showed signs of the very bad hurricane of
last year, but the city of Georgetown had not been hit too hard. While
in Grand Cayman, your grandparents took the "partly submerged" submarine
tour, aboard which they viewed many types of fish and two shipwrecks,
and they visited a butterfly farm. All the butterflies had been killed
during the hurricane and the farm had started over again. The
butterflies were beautiful, as you will see from the photos here.

In Cozumel Grandma and Grandpa went to a folklore show which was dancing
and music depicting Mexico's history. They also did some shopping and
took some pictures, of course. Of interest was the fact that Grandma
needed a bottle of water in one of the shops at the end of the pier. A
cold, small bottle of Evian cost $2.50 American. On the ship it would
have cost only $1.50. Speaking of prices, Grandma had been looking at
two clowns from the well-known Italian Lladro company. The price in the
Coral Princess gift shop was $196.00 for each clown. Grandpa looked up
the price of these Lladro clowns on the Internet after the cruise and
discovered the cost $265.00 here in the U.S. Passengers really can save
on the ship.

The last port-of-call was Belize, a little country once a British colony
which had been called British Honduras. Grandma and Grandpa's original
Sibun River and Mayan Cave Adventure excursion was canceled because the
vehicle the tour operator used was being repaired. So, instead they
took a boat up the Belize River and visited some Mayan ruins. The river
trip was very interesting. They saw many animals and birds, including
young crocodiles, howler monkeys, dolphins (yes! Dolphins in a
fresh-water river), parrots, bats and more.

Grandma and Grandpa met some interesting people during their cruise.
One couple with whom they had breakfast one morning were on their 35th
Princess cruise. In fact, they had taken over 50 cruises since they had
married. The wife told a very interesting story about a cruise to
Turkey and Greece in which their ship was held up by the Greek
government because some crew members were smuggling drugs. Princess, in
order to keep the passengers happy and because the ship could not leave,
found free excursions, usually on smaller boats to beautiful Greek
islands, for all the passengers. After a couple weeks of free,
interesting excursions, however, Princess paid back all the money the
passengers had spent for their cruise, flew them home at Princess
expense, AND gave them vouchers for a free cruise on any Princess ship.
That never happens to your grandparents!

Grandpa spoke with another gentleman who admitted that his party had
fibbed about a couple birthdays and a wedding anniversary just so they
could get the cake. This man felt that because the cruise cost so much,
he should get something for his money. Grandpa couldn't do that. His
conscious would bother him too much.

As with Carnival, Princess also uses a key card that doubles as your
credit card and identification to get back onto the ship after going
ashore. If it is your first time sailing with Princess, the card is
blue. After that, the card is gold. In that way, repeat guests are
recognized instantly by members of the ship's crew. Passengers who
have sailed many times with Princess get yet another color card, which
Grandpa seems to recall was black. Carnival crew members seem to have
no way to distinguish between first-time and repeat guests.

Princess also uses the same photo technique which allows them to see if
you are indeed the person to whom the card originally was issued. While
the documentation that arrived before the cruise said passengers must
carry passports for the cruise, Coral Princess only required a
government issued photo identification, such as a driver's license.
Grandpa noticed a few security personnel on board the ship, and Grandma
noticed a banner on one side of the Coral Princess warning boaters to
stay a certain distance away. It remains to be seen, however, if the
cannon hidden behind the port holes were accurate enough to destroy any
approaching vessels.

Grandma and Grandpa had spent the night before the cruise departed at a
motel near Baltimore-Washington International airport because of the
very early morning flight Princess Cruises had arranged for them to
Cleveland (yes, Cleveland!) and from there to Fort Lauderdale. Your
grandparents had gotten their boarding passes the day before off the
airline's Web site, so they only had to check their luggage and go
through security. Your grandparents got to the airport about an hour
and a half before flight time. It turned out that Grandpa's bag was
overweight and he had to pay an extra $25.00 for it. Grandma said she
will never let him live down the fact that his bag was heavier than
hers. After a short wait in a very, very long line to go through
security, they headed for the airplane, which took off for Cleveland a
while later right on time.

The flight from Cleveland left about 15 minutes late because of
congestion in the skies over Fort Lauderdale. As it was, the aircraft
landed only about 5 minutes late. Grandma and Grandpa got their bags
and went looking for a taxi. A couple people on the rec.travel.cruises
news group had told Grandpa to take a taxi from Fort Lauderdale airport
to the cruise terminal. What good advice that turned out to be! It
took a whole two minutes to get a taxi, then about 10 minutes to the
terminal, where the bags with cabin tags attached went into a bin for
eventual delivery to the cabin. Once inside the terminal, everyone
filled out a card which stated whether or not they had been sick the
past two days. (Nope!) Then your grandparents went to a short line to
get their boarding passes, went through security, had their pictures
taken, and onto the ship. Grandpa was hoping to be on board by 2:30 or
3:00 p.m. As it was, they were boarded at 1:15. The whole check-in and
boarding process took less time than the drive from the airport to the
ship because the crowds who were coming by Princess transportation were
still sitting on the buses at the airport!

Because Grandpa had paid the $25.00 for his bag, and since he wanted to
make certain he had extra cash, one morning he put his ATM card into his
shirt pocket along with his cruise card. Off he went with camera in
hand to take some pictures, perhaps read his book for a while somewhere
and then to get money from the ship's ATM. Grandpa decided to read near
to one of the bars in the atrium area. A waitress approached and he
pulled out his card and asked for a tonic water. The waitress said he
couldn't use the card. Grandpa protested briefly, having understood the
soda stamp Princess had given him could be used in all bars, lounges and
restaurants on the ship, but the waitress replied he couldn't use an ATM
card. Whoops! Grandpa had forgotten he had it with him. But the
waitress was good-natured and when she saw his book was in Russian, she
spoke to him in Russian. She was Bulgarian, but had lived for a time in
Russia. Many of the crew were Bulgarian. There also were many
Filipinos, some Turks, South Africans, English and some Mexicans. The
ship's captain was Italian.

There were many ships preparing to leave at Port Everglades the day your
Grandparents' ship did, including the huge, highly touted Queen Mary 2.
Grandma and grandpa found someone to take their picture on the deck of
the Coral Princess with the Queen Mary 2 in the background.

It was another wonderful cruise for your grandparents. While Grandma
and Grandpa do not understand why some people hate Carnival, they do
have some insight into why people like Princess (except for the food on
the Lido deck.) Given the opportunity or cash, your grandparents would
happily sale again with either cruise line. It did seem, however, that
Princess excursions cost a bit more than on Carnival. Although Grandma
and Grandpa bought fewer photos this cruise, they still paid a bit more
for them than they would have liked. Finally, Grandma and Grandpa
thought the last souvenir from the ship added a nice touch to a very
pleasant voyage: It was an abbreviated log of the whole cruise, with
all the times of sailings and arrivals, speeds, ports-of-call, and so
forth. It will make a nice addition to their family scrapbook of
memories.

But now their cruise is over and Grandma and Grandpa are looking forward
to a really different cruise when they go to Egypt in September and sail
the Nile River on a much smaller vessel from Aswan to Luxor. Grandpa
can hardly wait, but in the meantime, Grandma already is planning what
cruise to take in 2006 or early 2007.

  #10  
Old March 27th, 2005, 06:15 AM
Marcocto 91410
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

You really wasted a golden opportunity by not going thru the PC. and
cruising the Pacific coast. In Egypt try to see Alexandria,Valley of the
Kings,and hire a bi-lingual guide to really see Cairo, DON'T TRY IT ON
YOUR OWN. Jim traveler.

 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Airline Ticket Consolidators and Bucket Shops FAQ Edward Hasbrouck Air travel 0 February 16th, 2004 11:03 AM
Airline Ticket Consolidators and Bucket Shops FAQ Edward Hasbrouck Travel Marketplace 0 December 15th, 2003 10:48 AM
Airline Ticket Consolidators and Bucket Shops FAQ Edward Hasbrouck Travel Marketplace 0 November 9th, 2003 10:09 AM
Airline Ticket Consolidators and Bucket Shops FAQ Edward Hasbrouck Air travel 0 October 10th, 2003 09:44 AM
Airline Ticket Consolidators and Bucket Shops FAQ Edward Hasbrouck Travel Marketplace 0 October 10th, 2003 09:44 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 04:52 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 TravelBanter.
The comments are property of their posters.