PEB

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It really doesn't matter to us what month we cruise. As long as we feel fine with the price and where we are going we will cruise any month. I guess we have cruised May and June the most but that is only because we cruise most often in Alaska and we enjoy Alaska in May and June.

We have sailed on some of the same ships multiple times and always had a great time. We have booked the same ship even though we didn't care for the destination and just wanted to be on the same ship. One of the nice things about being on a ship you have already been on is that you know your way around the ship. You already know the areas you prefer on the ship and you can get into the swing of relaxing and having fun without being lost.

jbond any information on the Coral Princess would be appreciated, such as how easy it is to get around, or real congested areas, or what areas you enjoyed or did not enjoy and why you enjoyed them or did not enjoy them. Skipper one thing to try with the camera is to rap in in something warm and keep it in a drawer the night before we get to the canal. This speeds up the acclimation time. Putting it in a plastic bag also helps. Do not put the batteries in until it has acclimated. If it still fogs up or gives a dew error take the room hair dryer to it and then bring it back outside. This has worked for us. The transit of the Canal is interesting and worth the trip even in the heat and humidity. If we arrive near the canal at night they will anchor and start for the locks early in the morning. If we do arrive at night it is quite interesting to see all the ships and the lights on the ships that will wait until the morning to pass through the locks. This makes a great picture opportunity. The large ships only go through during the day and the smaller ones will go through during the night. If I remember right they told us something like 350 vessels go through in a 24 hour period. We spent several hours last night going through video's we have of the passage through the Canal and the ports we stop at. It brings back some good memories.

Thanks for the reply. I know several of the people going have been on the Coral before and seem to have liked the ship. Several have done the Panama Canal before also. I have done the Panama Canal before but it was on Celebrity and went from San Diego to Ft Lauderdale. That was in 2001. Most the ports were the same with one exception Huatalco or however you spell it LOL. Costa Rica was our favorite port on our last Panama Canal cruise. We will be doing Panama Canal in 2007 also back on Celebrity. We are only going on that one because a friend of ours wants us along for her 50th birthday and their 20th wedding anniversary. We would prefer to go elswhere in 2007 but these are to good a friends to not go along. You will find the trip through the Canal quite interesting although it will be quite hot and muggy in May. That is when we went through last time. If you want to take pictures you will have to make sure your camera is acclimated well in advance of entering the canal. We had a lot of camera trouble last time but now we know better.

Skipper you say you have cruised on Princess quite a few times. Have you been on the Coral before? If so what did you think of her and how do you feel she compares to the Sun class ships of Princess? We are looking forward to trying a different class ship with Princess. I am sure we will enjoy the ship. I guess we better seeing we will be on it for 33 days LOL. By the way are you doing the 15 day cruise to San Francisco or the 19 day cruise to Vancouver?

Well Skipper I would be happy to meet up with you onboard the Coral. The Panama Canal is just the start for us on the Coral. We are staying onboard for their start of the Alaska season so we will be onboard for 33 days. It will be our first time on the Coral but not first time on Princess. We normally go on the Sun Class ships with Princess.

If what you want is hot weather, beaches and raggae music stay away from Alaska. Alaska is for those that love wildlife and the beauty of their outdoors. Alaska is never the same twice due to the changing of the glaciers and where, when and what type of wildlife you may see. Alaska is a place where you may see humpback whales bubblenet feeding or a pod of Orca whales. You may see Dahls porpoise playing off the wake of your ship. It is not unheard of to see sea otters as well as sea lions. You more then likely will see many bald eagles as well as many other types of birds. If you keep your eyes open you may see some bear, moose or mountain goats. You can see the blue reflecting from a glacier. If lucky you may see some calving of a glacier. Alaska does get hot at times but usually not for long periods of time. It does get into the 80's in Alaska where the ships go. Again if all you want is hot weather beaches and raggae music it is not the place for you. If you want to see natural beauty and wildlife give it a try you may be surprised. For me I'll take Alaska over the Caribbean anyday but then I live for the wilderness and the outdoors. I have no interests in cities and beaches. And by the way if you have seen pictures of someones cruise to Alaska you have not seen Alaska because pictures do not do it justice regardless of how good a cameraman a person is. JMHO

Tips on Carinval are $10 per day per person so $70 per person for a 7 night cruise or $140 for a 7 night cruise for two people. This is for the automatic tip if you do not want to pay this go to the pursers desk and let them know and they will remove it or change it to what you want. This money is pooled and given out. Anything you give above this directly to the steward or wait staff they keep, however if you remove the auto tip and then give cash directly to the steward or wait staff they must put that money into the tip pool.

We will be cruising May 3, 2006 on the Coral Princes for 33 days. We will be doing the repositioning cruise then staying onboard for back to back Alaskan cruise. In other words we will go from Ft Lauderdale to Whittier Alaska and then back to Vancouver. I hate short cruises :grin:

Our next cruise is a ways off but is a back to back to back on the Coral Princess starting May 3, 2006 going from Ft Lauderdale to Vancouver, Vancouver to Whittier then Whittier to Vancouver. It will be a total of 33 days of cruising.

There will be private tours near the ships in Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan. If there is something your really want to do I would book it in advance or from the ship. Just like anywhere else popular tours book up quick. Tours that can book up really fast are flight tours and whale watches. Cabs are not big in Alaskan ports but there are various shuttle buses or carriage rides. Skagway and Ketchikan can be walked in a short time period. Juneau has a trolley service that you can pay a flat fee and get on and off as often as you like. Last year the fee was $10 I don't know what it is this year. It is easy to see the local sites on your own in Alaska if you wish.

I always keep a journal. I take a small notebook with me on every cruise then when I return home I put it into my computer. If I didn't keep a journal I would not remember names of places or people that I saw and met LOL.

We always book an inside guarantee. We have been upgraded to an outside a few times, however I do enjoy the inside cabin. I do not spend that much time in the room but I also like the fact of how dark it does get in an inside room. I get up early and do a 7 to 10 mile walk around the decks and on sea days I will take a nap in the afternoon and the darkness works great for me. My wife has worked midnights for 33 years and is use to being up all night. She stays up late on a cruise and then sleeps in during the morning so the darkness of an inside room also works for her We would rather cruise more often then pay more for a room we would not spend that much time in.