Diamond Princess in Singapore today - 29th November 2017

Diamond Princess is on her way back to Australia and today she is in Singapore today:

I am hearing report on Facebook that the Diamond Princess is going to miss Benoa (Bali), Indonesia in two days time, due to the Bali Volcano.

Diamond Princess first Australia port is on 5th December 2017 when she gets to Darwin, Australia.

She gets to Sydney on 11th December 2017.

Thanks Stu, understandable that they miss Bali, I wonder if they will pick up another port instead, like Komodo.

I liked the Diamond. But a lot of flack going on @ The Princess board, re no ADT, just Traditional fixed sitting when over in Asia - Japan. One or two of the regulars on here in the fracas.:o:halo:

Thanks Stu, yes understandable they will miss Bali, volcano issues plus the ship might get overrun with thousands of Aussies stranded there, wanting to get home.

I liked the Diamond. But a lot of flack going on @ The Princess board, re no ADT, just Traditional fixed sitting when over in Asia - Japan. One or two of the regulars on here in the fracas.:o:halo:

 

Thanks Stu, yes understandable they will miss Bali, volcano issues plus the ship might get overrun with thousands of Aussies stranded there, wanting to get home.

Love the Diamond too Les, but we liked the Sapphire better same same but different;p

He answered his own question over there when he said the Japanese like to be organised and on time, reason Princess have no Anytime while sailing in Japan.

I like the fact that Princess cater to the area they are sailing in, makes the cruise experience unique:D

Thanks Stu, understandable that they miss Bali, I wonder if they will pick up another port instead, like Komodo.

I think Lombok might be better.

Love the Diamond too Les, but we liked the Sapphire better same same but different;p

He answered his own question over there when he said the Japanese like to be organised and on time, reason Princess have no Anytime while sailing in Japan.

I like the fact that Princess cater to the area they are sailing in, makes the cruise experience unique:D

Thanks Chez, glad to hear you liked Sapphire, as have two (B2B) on it next year, Scandinavia then Baltic, out of Southampton.

Yes, Japanese very organised and disciplined, traditional dining would suit them. But then it suits us too.:eek:

Thanks Stu, understandable that they miss Bali, I wonder if they will pick up another port instead, like Komodo.

I think Lombok might be better.

It is neither as it is staying longer in Singapore.

I liked the Diamond. But a lot of flack going on @ The Princess board, re no ADT, just Traditional fixed sitting when over in Asia - Japan. One or two of the regulars on here in the fracas.:o:halo:

 

Thanks Stu, yes understandable they will miss Bali, volcano issues plus the ship might get overrun with thousands of Aussies stranded there, wanting to get home.

I prefer ATD but would settle for Late dining if there was no choice. Cruises are best suited to the region.

I prefer ATD but would settle for Late dining if there was no choice. Cruises are best suited to the region.

We prefer Anytime too, had our first ATD experience on the Diamond, those 4 little restaurants are great!

We choose a table for 2 so either Traditional or Anytime is fine, its just that Traditional is either way too early (5.30pm) or way to late ( 8.15pm) depending on ship.

We prefer Anytime too, had our first ATD experience on the Diamond, those 4 little restaurants are great!

We choose a table for 2 so either Traditional or Anytime is fine, its just that Traditional is either way too early (5.30pm) or way to late ( 8.15pm) depending on ship.

First sitting on the Princess ships is generally 6pm, but they often pull it back to 5.45pm. There is a separate 5.30pm sitting. Have you not heard that phrase on the ships...'Americans like to eat early?' I have many times. Yes 1st sitting a little early, but 8.15pm way to late. I liked the 1st sitting time on P&O UK - 6.30pm, suits us fine, same time as we eat in our own MDR.:halo:

I am still a bit 'regimented.' Like breakfast @ 0730, Lunch 1230 and dinner 1830.

We prefer Anytime too, had our first ATD experience on the Diamond, those 4 little restaurants are great!

We choose a table for 2 so either Traditional or Anytime is fine, its just that Traditional is either way too early (5.30pm) or way to late ( 8.15pm) depending on ship.

I agree that early whether 5.30 or 6pm is way too early so will opt for the late even if it is 8 or 8.30pm

First sitting on the Princess ships is generally 6pm, but they often pull it back to 5.45pm. There is a separate 5.30pm sitting. Have you not heard that phrase on the ships...'Americans like to eat early?' I have many times. Yes 1st sitting a little early, but 8.15pm way to late. I liked the 1st sitting time on P&O UK - 6.30pm, suits us fine, same time as we eat in our own MDR.:halo:

 

I am still a bit 'regimented.' Like breakfast @ 0730, Lunch 1230 and dinner 1830.

I like to eat when I am hungry, on a cruise that generally means breakfast when I wake (7-8.30am), lunch when convenient or when hungry again (12-2.30pm) and dinner when hungry again or slotting in between activities/shows (7-9pm).

We are on Diamond now and spent last night in Singapore. Four sea days and we'll arrive in Darwin.

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We are on Diamond now and spent last night in Singapore. Four sea days and we'll arrive in Darwin.

 

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Have a fabulous cruise, love Singapore, love the Diamond!! even love Darwin:D

We are on Diamond now and spent last night in Singapore. Four sea days and we'll arrive in Darwin.

 

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Bon Voyage ....

You are in for a wonderful cruise on a wonderful ship.:D:D

Thank you we are having a ball!

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Great pictures, enjoy your cruise.

I will be on it again in January to go to the South Pacific.

They pulled any time dining from the ship based in Japan. I ended up on a table for 8 with 1 other passenger and I was travelling on my own. It was a common theme for that cruise for all the English speaking passengers to have the same situation re dining. The ones who did not like traditional went to the alternative restaurants or buffet. Many I met felt the same about dining because the subject was brought up when they had "open seating" when the ship was in port of an evening for Hong Kong, Naha and Kaohsiung.

You would think they would put all the English speaking passengers on the same tables, so that they are not on their own.

You would think they would put all the English speaking passengers on the same tables, so that they are not on their own.

They did, except not all were happy with traditional dining so they did not turn up which resulted in empty seats on many tables in all the restaurants and a full buffet and the alternative restaurants were also full each night.

Right, that was a shame then.

ah well, you cannot please everyone all of the time.

Right, that was a shame then.

ah well, you cannot please everyone all of the time.

They can try to improve. As I see it those passengers that did not like traditional dining who were forced onto it by the removal of anytime dining voted with their feet and ate elsewhere. This ruined the dining experience for others who may have liked traditional dining (not me personally as I like anytime). It resulted in many empty seats that would never be reallocated.

With the amount of restaurants they have on that ship I think it would be easy to have anytime dining or fixed times with open seating. By doing fixed times with open seating it ensures all tables are filled up opposed to empty seats. Those who nominate for traditional dining can be put in the same dining room where it is inevitable that they will have full tables as those who nominate for traditional dining will normally always turn up.

From Cruise Critic: "Diamond Princess Cruise Ship Cancels Bali Visit Due to Volcano"

https://www.cruisecritic.com.au/news/news.cfm?ID=8245

Thats good thinking. It would not be a fun day ashore in Bali . We had an extra day and overnight in Singapore once when we missed KL because of the smoke from the forest burn offs.

I was surprised on my recent 15 night cruise on Diamond Princess out of Yokohama, they gave us future cruise credits. I ended up with a 50% credit of the fare I paid. So I end up with almost $2750 deposit for a future cruise thanks to missed ports. On boarding we were informed we would miss Kagoshima due to a developing typhoon so we sailed strait to Chan May in Vietnam, when we got there the port was closed due to other severe storms down south causing strong winds. By that day they had a riot on the ship where the Captain came over the announcer and told them they were nothing more than a "pack of idiots" and nothing more than "hyenas", he said he would not tolerate abuse of his staff and that those "idiots" would be getting kicked off in Hong Kong. That actually happened and true to his word the ringleaders and abusive passengers were all kicked off. By this stage we had already had $150 credited to our on board account for spending. To get the credit what happened was that a few days later after we left Hong Kong bound for Kaoshiung we had some high winds slow the ship down which would make us late for the next port. We would only have half a day instead of a full day. Well by this stage we were offered another $50 in on board spend as well as for Australians and Japanese we got a 50% future cruise credit, the British and Americans got 25%.

Personally I did not expect anything because I was having a good time and the ship was comfortable and kept out of storms. I was happy. I was happier when I got offered the credit because it means I can do it all again next year. I might just have to pick another cruise in typhoon season hoping for another shot at something like this.

I wonder if they will get anything for missing Bali?