Hey Skipper I have a question for you?

PEB · September 7, 2005

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?

TheSkipper · September 8, 2005

We are doing Ft. Lauderdale to San Fran leg of the trip.

No, have not been on the Coral yet. Was on the Diamond in January and in the last couple of years, the Grand, Sun, Golden and Crown. Enjoyed them all. But, then I've never been on a cruise I did not like!!

We booked this cruise while on board the Diamond in January. Gotta look up our room number for Capt. Ron. That is if I can ever get back on the CC board. :angry:

PEB · September 8, 2005

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.

TheSkipper · September 10, 2005

We are looking forward to the canal transit. About three weeks ago we did a European River Cruise and went through a total of 64 locks on the Rhine, Main and Danube rivers. I found it quite fasinating to watch these operations.

Good tip about the camera and the heat and humidity. I have had problems on deck sometimes coming quickly out of the air conditioning into the heat. I've heard it is best to put the camera in a plastic bag for awhile until it has a chance to adjust. I guess we can always put it out on the balcony a little in advance and see what happens.

I would love to move to Costa Rica, but Roe had a medical problem which prevents that.

I know you are gone to your cabin for the weekend. We are having a cold spell here in Vegas only getting into the 90's during the day. Almost too cold to go in the pool! :wink:

jbond · September 11, 2005

We will be on Coral Princess in 9 days time, sailing from LA to Fort Lauderdale through the Canal. If there's anything you want checked out, let me know.

PEB · September 12, 2005

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.