Is Coral Princess Australia’s favourite ship?

There has been an outpouring of love and affection for Coral Princess as its final season sailing out of Brisbane comes to a close. So is she Australia’s favourite ship?

Some passengers have nominated Coral Princess as Australia’s favourite – but what do you think? Do you have an Australian-based ship you’d like to nominate?

Coral Princess is in her second year in service Down Under and she has been one of the highest-rated ships in the global fleet, Princess Cruises Senior Vice President Asia Pacific, UK & Europe Stuart Allison told Cruise Passenger. Despite that, Coral Princess will cease to homeport in Australia from 2025. She only returns to Australia, briefly, in August.

Coral Princess is in her second year in service Down Under and she has been one of the highest-rated ships in the global fleet, Allison told Cruise Passenger.

“With Coral Princess homeported in Brisbane during the peak summer season, there’s a big Queenslander contingent sailing on the ship which has created a ‘great local’ community feeling on board,” he said.

“I just think there’s a great community on that ship. It’s a nice size, particularly for this market.

“Maybe it’s the guest mix – it’s a bit more Queensland skewed.”

And passengers agree. It is currently on an Easter-themed cruise of 31 days, one-way from Sydney, via Brisbane, to Auckland. The itinerary started on March 26 and ends on April 26. She then heads to Cape Town, South Africa, before returning to the Northern Hemisphere for good.  

Princess Cruises’ 2025/26 Australian summer program will also feature the debut of Discovery Princess. The program also features the longest ever world cruise to sail roundtrip from Australia. It’s a record-breaking 114-night voyage on Crown Princess.

Fun facts

“Australians spend more nights on Princess ships than they do on any other cruise line,” Allison said.

“We had more local capacity (cabins x nights deployed) than any other cruise line this summer. In addition, our itineraries are generally longer so more guests spend more nights on Princess ships than any other cruise line.”

Coral Princess at its homeported in Brisbane. Picture Facebook
Coral Princess homeported in Brisbane. Picture: Facebook

Queenslanders take tiny ship to heart

Queensland cruisers and those heading to the Port of Brisbane to join the Princess line’s smallest vessel have taken the tiny ship to heart. The 2000-passenger Coral Princess weighs in at just 91,267 gross tons and 294m. She was launched in 2002 and refurbished in 2019.

There was high praise for the food, the bars, the overall comfort, the promenade deck and library.

Julie Jester was one of many who summed up the benefits of cruising with Coral Princess when Cruise Passenger asked the question on the ship’s Facebook forum as to why she was so special.

“She’s big enough to provide a good variety of public spaces but not too big that those spaces feel too crowded all the time or to feel that you’re walking a marathon to get from one part of the ship to another.

“The decor is warm and stylish but still reminds you that you are on a ship not in a glitzy shopping mall. The layout of the MDRs, with its subtle difference in level for some parts of it, means you don’t feel like you’re dining in a barn. The Wheelhouse Bar is a decent size but the Good Spirits bar is small and cosy.

“There is a better flow throughout the public areas on the lower decks as the MDRs are forward rather than aft on most ships. She has two entertainment lounges – Universe which … also stages the On the Bayou show, and Explorers. Both are good for a variety of events. The theatre is a decent size so you don’t have (to) get there an hour before to get a seat for either show time. 

“Last, but not least, the physical aspects of this lovely ship are enhanced by the wonderful Princess crew members who work so hard but always have a smile and a cheerful greeting for you.”

Coral Princess staff made her feel like ‘home’

She was just one of many who poured out their admiration for Coral Princess while she sailed in Australia.

“The best thing we found were the staff (who) could not do enough for us,” posted Willie Kleiberg. “It is just a ship that makes you feel at home. I know it is an old ship and in places looks tired but when they revamp her what a ship she will be. 

“We just loved everything about her.”

Coral Princess in Sydney with the Sydney Opera House in the background.
There was much praise for Coral Princess in Australia. Picture: Facebook, Owen C Davies.

Passengers sing praises of petite Princess

Despite a few grumbles about her age and current condition here is a taste of other positive comments: 

“We always thought you could not beat Sea Princess but having been on the Coral a few times our opinion is firmly in favour of the latter. Great size, the very best crew, all in all just feel very comfortable and welcomed. Very very sad to see her go, hopefully she will be back – that is if the bean counters listen to their loyal clients. All the best to all.”
Keith Day

“I was on that cruise too & I’m on her again. I find many of the staff who were on in Nov are on now & remember us!”
Eileen Domagala

“My husband and myself both love the coral, but it is need of some TLC . We have been on her 5 times & we can never fault the staff .”
Cindy Ede

“ALL of the above, but mostly because it’s not a monstrosity of a ship. Love you Coral AND she sails out of Brisbane!!”
Kate O’Dwyer

“Love the smaller ships that’s what Brisbane likes with less than 2500 passengers . Staff are great on the coral. Entertainment needs to pick up and don’t judge the cruise entertainment on what age people are travelling on her. Not every one is over the age of 70. We noticed the difference in some of the things to do around the ship from Sydney to Brisbane when it went from being the Australia cruise to the Hawaii cruise.”
Jane Waddell

“Because she is a smaller ship she is more intimate, and easier to get around. She is old, she is comfortable, she hugs you. The crew are always amazing and feel like family, the food good, just love it. Back on there in a couple of weeks, can’t wait.” 
Christine Kennedy

And Polly Sargent summed it up best.

“I would say, firstly it’s the staff, secondly it’s the passengers ‘who like the smaller ships’ you get to meet so many people. The food is amazing, the entertainment is great. The experience I had on Coral was my best cruise by far. You didn’t feel like a ‘number’.

“The staff made you feel like you were someone special, even if you just asked for directions.”

And a final word…

Finally over to Rosalind Carson.

Coral is not the smartest looking ship in the Princess fleet, and she’s certainly not the youngest, but she has a special ambiance that is unmatched. Her relatively small size, by today’s mega ship standards, makes her appeal to both first time and regular cruisers. 

“There are many lovers of cruising who do not wish to see the world on a mega ship. Smaller ships can go where big ships cannot, and not every cruiser wants water slides, dodgem cars and wave machines. Coral offers personalised and very friendly service, and is staffed by crew that appear to honestly love their job.

“They take great pride in their ship and care for both her and her passengers wonderfully. Even when Coral is sailing with a full complement of passengers there is never a feeling of crowding in public spaces.

“Princess should think very seriously about their business plan, which seems to involve building bigger and bigger ships while scrapping the smaller ones. 

“The die was cast when they rid themselves of their two remaining R Class ship, the Pacific and the Ocean. Those ships now operate very successfully under the flags of Oceania and Azamara, and their small size makes them very appealing to discerning cruisers. Should Coral go the same way as the Princess R Class ships, consumer backlash will be felt in the pockets of Princess Cruises.”

12 thoughts on “Is Coral Princess Australia’s favourite ship?”

  1. Coral Princess is the ship P&O Australia should be looking at when the time comes to replace Pacific Explorer. She is an ideal size for the Australian/NZ market. As Norwegian showed when it updated Norwegian Spirit, spending money thoroughly refreshing an older ship can be just as good as a new ship particularly as ships the size of Coral Princess are no longer being built for the mass market.

  2. Our last Princess cruise was on the Coral 45 days to Hawaii & it was terrible… couldn’t even get Earl Grey tea unless I paid for it from the specialty shop…woke up one morning to no water so went up to breakfast & 2hrs later we were told there was a problem & there would be no water anywhere, another hour later it was fixed. Then another day went to the public restroom & water suddenly started pouring out of the ceiling. Also since COVID we’ve done 2 Princess & the standards have dropped in the food offerings.. Currently on Celebrity Solstice & food is still at their usual high standard.

  3. I was hoping Princess would leave the 35 night cruise from Sydney to Hawaii and back, to the Coral Princess. I am an Elite cruiser and did this cruise last, on the Dawn Princess back in 2009. The smaller ships are lovely and it’s sad that they are all disappearing. They have chosen to use the Grand Princess this year, which disappoints me. I’ve cruised on her recently and had a very bad experience. I will hope and pray that they bring back the Coral Princess, for this cruise soon.

  4. Our family sailed on Coral for one reason only.She was small enough to get closer to the glaciers in Alaska than the bigger ships. Apart from that nothing to write home about. Good if you like to sit back and read a novel or two as not much else to do for active folk. Happy to see an old tub depart Qld.

  5. First sailed on the Coral on an Alaskan itinerary back in 2004, 20 years later now on Coral cruising the Pacific, Sydney to Hawaii and Tahiti and back to Auckland. I love the smaller size of this ship.Easy to navigate and seats available in venues, loving this cruise.

  6. Yes Coral Princess is great beware we are about to be lumbered with the Diamond Princess out of Brisbane as an elite 38 cruise passenger with Princess the 2 on Diamond were the ones to fall short of Princess standards

  7. I think Elaine may have been on the wrong large ships. Our experience has been exactly the opposite. The bigger the ship, the easier it is to get around and the less crowed. The most ‘crowded’ ship for us was the old Dawn Princess out of Sydney. That dining room to theatre changeover on the small ships is terrible. The least ‘crowded’ was Symphony out of Miami.

    We make friends at events rather than the dining room. For us that’s usually Quizzes. We don’t have a set team and just form a group on the spot. Met some great people. Meet most of them again at other quizzes. Doesn’t matter whether we are on the same team or not. We’ve won quite a few of the quizzes and interact with other teams. Still keep in touch with friends we met at the Flowrider, quizzes, land excursions and airports.

  8. Our first cruise was Alaska on the Island Princess. We thought it was great. Then we found other ships and other lines. Noting wrong with Island Princess. We still enjoyed it. Just that we found others we liked better.

    We’ve met many ‘rusted on faithful’ passengers on Cunard, RCL, NCL and Princess.
    Many have done lots of cruises but kept with one company and sometimes one or two ships. For some its the comfort of familiarity.

    Regardless it’s well known in tourism that the rating of any holiday can be affected by staff and who you meet and travel with. So it’s not just down to the ship itself.

  9. I do not live in Queensland but still took extra flights to be able to join the Coral princess because she is a smaller ship. As an “Elite” passenger I have cruised on quite a few Princess ships but on the larger ships you meet someone and never see them again. I think the company who supply at least one smaller ship and advertise it as a seniors cruise ship will do a roaring trade. Being a senior, on a ship of majority senior passenger, I found everyone to be more tolerant of people with motorised buggies,walkers and walking sticks. On the larger ships it is push and shove at the lifts whereas on the Coral everyone was patient and helped each other. There were a lot of first time crew members and they were showing a great deal of potential. My only real complaint was with the entertainment. The “sail away” party was great. Lively music with the oldies tapping their feet and rocking in time to the music (that was the ones not dancing).but inside we had violins playing hymns and piano players playing classical music. The one time they had a country and western
    entertainer who played a popular song the whole auditorium erupted into song and requested more up-tempo songs we could sing along with the entertainer.
    Goodbye to the Coral Princess, a lovely SMALL ship. May she keep safely cruising the seven seas and bringing enjoyment to all who sail in her.

  10. Agree with all that has been said, I will not cruise on the larger ships, have been on 14 cruises with Princess all on small ships and believe it would be a huge mistake to get rid of them.
    Peter Cain Elite

  11. We sailed on Coral on the first journeys out of Sydney after Covid. Despite missing half the journey due to weather my wife and I thought it was the nicest of ships….similar to how we felt on the Dawn Princess many years ago. Yes I think the ships are getting too big and consequently taking away the joy of cruising.

  12. We love the coral princess
    Crew are fabulous and the smaller size is perfect
    We enjoy crooners and the great talent there and fabulous Service

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