Coral Princess
Laura

Age: 36
Occupation: BROKER
Number of Cruises: 3
Cruise Line: PRINCESS CRUISES
Name of Ship: CORAL PRINCESS
Itinerary: Two Day Coastal Sampler

I have cruised before with Disney on the Wonder in its inaugural season and most recently a week before Thanksgiving 2002' on Royal Caribbean's "Voyager of the Seas." In my opinion there is no better vacation other than cruising, so now I will use any excuse to go when I can get away and in this case I took advantage of being a Mom and took my kids on the newly built Coral Princess for Mother's Day weekend.

This was the shortest cruise I have ever taken, but amazingly was able to experience for the first time the ship itself without shore excursions getting in the way. I affectionately labeled this cruise the Cruise of Bridges, because we started off going underneath The Golden Gate and ended our voyage passing under the "Lion's Gate Bridge" in glorious Vancouver, BC Needless to say, both passages were awesome.

Since air fare isn't ideal unless your itinerary is round trip, I decided on the train. This actually was an excursion in itself from Vancouver to Seattle coming back, because you see so much beautiful Canadian and Puget Sound scenery! However, next time I will opt for a sleeper car for the trip to San Francisco. *Note: all meals on the train are expensive and included for those who have a sleeper.

Embarkation was my only complaint on this cruise. For some reason, San Francisco has a warehouse that they are temporarily using as a terminal and as a result, lacked none of the efficient tools to get guests on board in a timely fashion. I did find out from a local San Franciscan, that the city has one slated to be built in the near future. All considering, Princess did an excellent job with what they had to work with.

Once on board my kids and I were in awe of the gorgeous decor and pleasantly surprised to be led to our outside stateroom with balcony which was upgraded twice from what I originally booked, an inside stateroom! Happy Mother's Day to me! Thanks Princess! Awaiting us were delicious canapés compliments from the Captain! Disney could take notes on the exceptional service and hospitality we received from beginning to end of this vacation.
We spent the first day swimming under the sunny skies of San Francisco with live music and while drinking Golden Gate Punch, the kids of course felt special with the virgin ones served in commemorative take home cups. We met a lot of friendly Canadians on this cruise and fortunately a lot of the families we met had the same age kids. This was great for my son (10 yrs) who enjoyed roaming the ship with his newfound friend, eating pizza and hanging out in the play station arcade. My daughter (14) loved the princess Pedicure treatment in the Lotus Spa while I had an exceptional back massage. Both kids painted there own Mother's Day gifts for me in the Ceramic Studio!

We opted for personal choice dining and ate whenever we wanted with no wait! My kids and I love dressing up and were a little surprised at how casual everyone else was dining on this cruise. However, once seated inside the "starlit" dining room "Bordeaux," we were treated to the best waiter, food and overall dining experience of our lives! Our waiter was Thomas from Poland who was so impressive (his assistant waiter as well) that we ate in Bordeaux again the following night and asked specifically for him! He treated us in return with additional desserts, I think my son had a sampling of three! I highly recommend the Cheesecake!

As far as entertainment goes, we enjoyed both shows each night. The performers were extremely talented and stages high tech. I'm not a gambler and avoid the casinos, but did attend the Art auction and actually won a bid on a tremendous piece which Princess will frame and ship to me later. The collection of art varies dramatically at times auctioning a Picasso shortly after an animation cell of Bugs Bunny playing Golf is up for grabs! So there were opportunities for all passengers to take a piece of artwork home with them as a souvenir.

The shopping on board was of course duty free and tax free. The selection wasn't as plentiful as the two other ships I've been on, but prices seemed reasonable. Note to Princess: Please come out with a model of your Coral Ship for my son! He collects these after every cruise and was somewhat disappointed that they didn't have one yet, probably because its such a new ship.

Bottom Line: I loved this ship and so did my kids. We will definitely cruise Princess again and in fact are looking at cruising to the Mexican Riviera with them next fall.

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