Diamond Princess Review - 4/10 (with kids)

[soprano]

Our extended family (12 adults, 7 kids-ages 1-9) recently returned from the Diamond Princess 4/10/04 sailing to the Mexican Riviera. I will mainly discuss our experiences, especially regarding traveling with children. We are a family of 5, with three young daughters, ages 9, 6 and 1. Overall, we had a great time and have very few complaints. We were told that there were over 700 kids onboard. The kids that we came in contact with were all very well behaved.

We were quite disappointed that our embarkation was delayed due to engine problems causing the Diamond to be unable to reach normal speeds returning from Cabo. We were notified the day before, but no other information was available (one Princess rep we talked to said that the ship would be arriving on time, but embarkation for our voyage would be delayed). No one could agree on what time boarding would actually take place, so we decided to arrive at the terminal at 11:30am and just wait it out (what else did we have to do?). One of our favorite things about cruising is getting on the ship early, and being able to explore without all the crowds...and having a good part of that first day on the ship. We also felt that something should have been said to at least acknowledge the fact that people were inconvenienced by the late embarkation. We were given a letter telling us of delay as we entered the terminal, but nothing else was ever said. The staff we asked onboard said that they were not allowed to talk about it.

A note for when you arrive at the pier: several different Princess reps were handing out boarding numbers as you walked into the terminal. They would only give them to you if your whole party was together. What you need to note is that each of the reps has a different stack of numbers. When we entered, we received numbers in the 500's, but a few steps away was a women handing out numbers in the 200's. It turned out that we didn’t even need the numbers because they let families with strollers board early, but I thought this might be of some interest to others.

After waiting in a very crowded terminal for several hours, we finally boarded just before 4pm. We were in connecting cabins on the Aloha deck, A626 and A628. What a perfect set-up for a family! Two very basic balcony cabins, but it was great to have two bathrooms, and totally separate areas for the adults and the kids. The connecting doors were able to open completely, so did not obstruct the flow of traffic in either stateroom. When we last sailed Princess, we had only two kids and we were in a mini-suite. The connecting rooms were less expensive, and in our opinion, much better in this situation. There were less noise issues having the kids separate, and we didn’t care if they watched TV late, or were up talking, etc, but we still were able to hear what was going on in their room. They also felt very grown-up having their own room. We were immediately below the Horizon Court, and across from an entrance to the aft stairs/elevators, but had absolutely no problem with outside noise of any type. Very nice!

Our extended family had a total of 8 additional cabins, so we were able to see many other cabin types. One big difference we noticed between the Diamond and the Star is that the mini-suites are bigger on the Diamond. Both the sitting areas and the balconies were noticeably larger. The mini-suites also had 2 padded loungers on each balcony (though not the full lounges that you lie on...these were basically tall-backed chairs that reclined, but no foot rests). One of the members of our party had cabin C753, an aft BB balcony cabin. It was a great location, but the balcony did not appear to be any larger than the other standard balcony cabins on the Caribe deck. The inside cabins were the same as what we had seen on the Star.

I read here that the people on the first couple of Diamond voyages had trouble receiving incoming email. I’m happy to report that one member of our party did receive an email without any problem, addressed to [email]diamondprincess@princesscruises.com[/email] with her name and cabin number in the subject line.

The Kids Program received mixed reviews from the 5 older kids in our extended family. They were not in a position to let kids change from one age group to another, due to the large number of children onboard. The two kids who were at the older end of their groups did not have a good experience (one almost 6 year old thought the 3 year olds in the younger group were just too young, and our almost 10 year old was wishing she could be in the pre-teen group instead of hanging out with 6 year olds), and these kids chose not to attend many of the kids program events. The other 3 kids really seemed to like the programs, and spent at least 2-3 hours there each day. I have the Pelican (6-9y.o.) Patters if anyone wants specific information.

We had traditional first seating, and it was a wonderful experience from start to finish! Our main server was Elaina from Romania, who we just loved. She definitely spoiled us rotten, and catered to the kids as if they were her own (even holding one of the two babies to give us a chance to eat!). During the course of the week, we were given smaller versions of the menus from the various PC restaurants, in addition to the regular menu. There was also no problem asking for anything that was on ANY of the menus, although it sometimes took a little longer to get a dish from one of the upstairs restaurants (Pacific Moon & Santa Fe). On the night that we were given the Santa Fe menu, we arrived at the table to find bowls of guacamole and chips. The kids dinner at the Horizon Court was Wednesday night (Mazatlan), but didn’t start until 7pm, so they still had to start dinner with us, before one of the adults in our group took them upstairs.

We had discovered on previous cruises that you do not go to the buffet at popular times, so living by this rule, we had no problems with the Horizon Court. I liked the variety and freshness of the buffet, and as we didn’t expect gourmet food at a buffet, we were not disappointed. They do have a free ice cream bar every afternoon from 3:30-4:30pm. We liked everything we tried from the Lido grill, but did not care much for the pizza. It was really quite flavorless...they need to use more spices in the sauce.

We were very happy with the entertainment onboard. Both of the production shows were terrific...although we are a showtune loving family! I especially enjoyed “Curtain Up”, and thought the staging was very clever. The alternate entertainment venues were also great. I think most of the comedians and the hypnotist have now left the ship, but we enjoyed them all. There was never a lack of things to do. We liked all of the game shows, which is something we hadn’t seen in such volume on Princess before. The Princess Idol contest was a nice idea, but it replaced the general karaoke that our family enjoys. One of the nights when there was generic karaoke, they did let my 9 year old sing (she wasn’t allowed to sing in the Princess Idol), which she enjoyed. The Club Fusion idea is a good one, but I didn’t care for the decor of that lounge - much less classy than the rest of the ship. It also tended to become very crowded, mostly because there was not all that much seating.

Disembarkation was fine, not an issue at all (except that the week ended much too soon!). We had to drive back to Northern California, and were on the road by 9:30am.

Overall, we had a fantastic week, and would certainly recommend the Diamond Princess to anyone looking for an activity filled week with lots of potential for meeting new people.

[Jolimont]

Thanks for the review! My 6yo will come on the Diamond with us next month, so all of this stuff is important to me. If you have a way to scan the 6yo patters, I'd love to see them. I wonder which nights are formal and what they offer for the kids on those nights. Thanks!

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=8b0000&cdt=2004;5;22;16;0;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
Diamond Princess HERE WE COME! Alaska has never been so cool! 5/22/04
May 31, 2003 Carnival Triumph to Western Caribbean.

[soprano]

I don't have a scanner, but the kids program on the formal nights was nothing different than usual. The evening activities start at 7pm, and for our sailing on the first formal night (Easter Sunday for us):
7-8:30pm Easter Pary
8:30pm Friendship Bracelets
9pm Monopoly Tourney & Spoons Tournament
10pm Goodnight

For the second formal night (Thursday):
7pm Chat N' Chill
7:30pm Blackjack Tournament
8:30pm Dicey Horse Racing
9pm Celebrity Heads
9:30pm Jackpot Bingo
10pm Goodnight

(Sounds like quite a gambling night!)

[Jolimont]

Oh, I thought the had a special dinner for the kids on formal night. It's good to know they don't. Thanks!

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=8b0000&cdt=2004;5;22;16;0;00&timezone=GMT-0500[/img]
Diamond Princess HERE WE COME! Alaska has never been so cool! 5/22/04
May 31, 2003 Carnival Triumph to Western Caribbean.

[ljr7225]

Funny, my wife and I remarked that the pizza on board was the most authentic Italian pizza we have enjoyed outside of Italy. The crust was perfect and the sauce didn't overwhelm the overall flavor at all. This ain't Pizza Hut.

More anything? More everything!

[emmysmom]

Thanks for the great review! I can hardly wait till we cruise in August on the Diamond with our 8 yr daughter and 12 yr son. I love reading about everyones cruises - am learning so much!

[MRF777]

Thanks for the review, we are looking forward to June.

Scandinavian Sun
Emerald Seas
Island Princess
Seaward
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Facsination
Majesty of the Seas
Dawn Princess
Inspiration
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Grandeur of the Seas (June 2002)
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Grand Princess (June 2003)
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Diamond Princess (June 2004)

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Diamond Princess Here We Come!

[soprano]

ljr7225,
Yeah, I thought it was funny too...on the Star in 2002 we loved the pizza, so it was dissappointing this time. It really had NO taste, and this from a person who has never met a pizza she didn't like! At first we were wondering if we had just been too overwhelmed by flavors from all of the other things we had eaten, but we even tried it a second time with similar results. (But the texture was good...and not too greasy). Strange.

[LandLockedInAZ]

Thanks for your review! We're sailing in November.
One piece of information I can't seem to confirm- in all of Princess's promotional literature and online, they seem to have a teen group that starts with 13 year olds. It seems I read somewhere that on the Diamond they split it and that the 13s will be with a younger group and the teens are 14 and up. My daughter will be 14 less than one week after we finish sailing and I'm afraid she'd be bored with the younger set. From all I've read, Princess is very strict with their age policies.
This is the first time we will have sailed Princess so clarification would be appreciated if anybody has info!
Thanks!
Joyce

Next up: Diamond Princess 11/20/04!

[soprano]

It's true that the age groups vary on the Diamond from other Princess ships. As of last week it was:

3-5 Fun Zone
6-9 Princess Pelicans
10-13 Princess Pirateers
14-17 Off Limits

[chicgeek]

We were on the same cruise (4/10-17), and are so glad you reported on the way Princess handled the delay. We were very disappointed that they offered no apology, let alone any acknowlegement of the inconvenience to passengers. We also had small children in our party, and had to wait for several hours in the terminal with no food or water, except in vending machines. We had flown into LAX, so were not notified of any delay. I would have thought that once we were finally able to board that they would have cocktail buffets set up on all decks, along with free margaritas, just to take the edge off everyone's hunger and frustration. How much would nachos or even chips and salsa, with margaritas and beer, have cost them in comparison to the ill will among passengers? Or at the very least a sincere apology and acknowlegement of everyone's vacation delay? They did nothing, and dinner that night was "catch as catch can". Since everyone boarded at the same time, it was a mad crush to the restaurants. Even the ship photographer was telling people as they boarded, "Hurry up, and look happy!" We had also hoped to explore the ship that first afternoon, get settled in our cabins, and have a nice dinner. NOT. We felt the first day was pretty much lost, with no acknowlegement of that from Princess---very disappointing. The rest of trip was great, and we enjoyed everything very much. We ate at all the different restaurants, and everyone enjoyed the variety. We also had adjoining cabins on the Aloha deck, and enjoyed being able to open the doors between the verandas. That way the children could go between the cabins without going out into the hallway, and we could have cocktail hour on our verandas.

[WCAB]

My sister and I are both taking a grandchild. My grandaughter will just have turned 11, my sisters grandson will be be shy 10 years old by three months. They do not see each other often and have their hearts set on being together. I sure hope that Princess will allow them to stay in the same group. Do they have a record of the kids ages? The grandson is big for his age and could easily pass for 10 right now.

Carnival Spirit-Hawaii
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[PenelopeCruise]

Soprano...Thanks so much for taking the time to post a review.

My family and I will be on the Diamond in ten days, and I have a couple of questions. I understand there is a charge ($20?) for the virtual golf, is there also a charge for the little golf course?

Also, I'm wondering if my 18yr. old will be able to go into the Off Limits Teen Zone to keep her younger (16 yr. old) sibling company?

Thanks in advance [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_cool.gif[/img]

Sun Princess, May 04
Diamond Princess, May 04
RC Monarch, March 04
Star Princess, Sept. 03

[tradogna]

Soprano, thanks for the great review.Do the children have to be pottie trained to go to the day care program. Will they take them in pull ups, if you come back and change them yourself. Thank you. Teresa

[soprano]

PenelopeCruise-
The miniature golf course is free, but was often quite crowded on our cruise. I'm not sure on the rules for Off Limits...we didn't have any teens in our group. Sorry!

Tradogna-
The offical word (i.e. on posted signs, etc.) is that they do not take kids in diapers or pull-ups, but from what I can gather this is not always followed. Some people on these boards have said that they were paged when their child needed a diaper change...I think it might depend on how many kids are on a particular sailing and whether the staff is overwhelmed.

[tradogna]

Soprano, tanks so much for the information on day care and pull ups. I dont go on my cruise until October, she will be 3 just before we go. I am trying to pottie train her now, but so far no luck. I will just keeping trying. Thanks Teresa

[chicgotgame]

I was also on the April 10th sailing of the Diamond. My daughter is 13 and was allowed to sign herself up for the teen program which is for 14-17 year olds. She picked up the permission forms and brought them to me for signatures. I asked her if she had any difficulty with staff regarding joining the older group and she said they were very friendly and said she could go in either group according to her preference. It was an easy decision for her and she made some great friends.