Bimmer09 Christmas Cruise to Mexico on the Diamond

[arizonaperson]

9 minutes ago, Bimmer09 said:

Thanks- I didn't check any reviews but now I will. I'm not onboard though- I left the ship on December 27th in San Diego.

Norris

 Well I definitely did not know that you were already off, I thought this was a Live 10 day cruise.( I definitely missed the first page of your post cruise details)

I’m sorry that your tour was not as described .I probably wouldn’t have been happy with how your tour went . Description definitely says you can take photos at pottery shop. Description definitely says  guided tour of Malecon sculptures.

can only do a review now to warn others.

Edited January 7, 2023 by arizonaperson

[Bimmer09]

 

 

A flight of pelicans

 

 

The green is a golf course, designed by Tiger Woods, between car crashes. The ball tends to roll a lot.

 

 

We've turned as it is time to return to port

 

Pelicans on boats

 

 

 

Don't get me started on pirates!

 

Or Russian Oligarchs!

 

 La Datcha, 253 ft of brown paint, $110 million owned by Oleg Tinkov. 

[c-boy]

2 hours ago, Bimmer09 said:

 

 

A flight of pelicans

 

 

The green is a golf course, designed by Tiger Woods, between car crashes. The ball tends to roll a lot.

 

 

We've turned as it is time to return to port

 

Pelicans on boats

 

 

 

Don't get me started on pirates!

 

Or Russian Oligarchs!

 

 La Datcha, 253 ft of brown paint, $110 million owned by Oleg Tinkov. 

  😄   it is meant to blend in with the surrounding land scape

[rdsqrl]

Norris!  Happy New Year to you and Carol. 

 

I would have chimed in sooner, but I was aboard the Regal over Christmas and NY -- my first cruise post-pandemic.  Only been back 4 days and if I weren't up to my ears in writing lectures (why did I agree to teach two courses this semester I've never taught before?!!), I'd write a review.  Instead, I'll freeload off yours.

 

I'm only on page 2 so far; I shall now go back and continue reading to catch up. Thanks for the food porn so far and to come!

[Bimmer09]

11 hours ago, rdsqrl said:

Norris!  Happy New Year to you and Carol. 

 

I would have chimed in sooner, but I was aboard the Regal over Christmas and NY -- my first cruise post-pandemic.  Only been back 4 days and if I weren't up to my ears in writing lectures (why did I agree to teach two courses this semester I've never taught before?!!), I'd write a review.  Instead, I'll freeload off yours.

 

I'm only on page 2 so far; I shall now go back and continue reading to catch up. Thanks for the food porn so far and to come!

Annie! Great to see you here. I was hoping your food-porn Spidey sense would draw you here. I can't use the sense of smell to draw people-like leaving a fresh from the oven batch of cookies on a windowsill and letting the breeze waft the deliciousness. 

You had Christmas and NY- the double whammy!

Happy New Year!

Norris

[Marvy Mare]

On 1/6/2023 at 6:10 PM, Bimmer09 said:

minutes 8 of the 17 in the store came out carrying bags of pottery so Jose would have got his kick-back. I let Princess know on the survey that I disapproved of forced shopping during a tour.

I just watched a cruise video that talked about shore excursions that push shopping and long demos trying to sell something. You made the right choice and kudos for sharing your concerns with Princess. 

[Bimmer09]

Lunch for One

 Upon arriving back at the harbor and disembarking the good ship Cabomar, Carol had a plan-to escape Cabo. The dock was a zoo of newly arriving passengers from two ships and the multitude of vendors waiting to show them their tour offerings . I had to eat ashore and had seen a place with a 2nd floor shaded patio that said it had "the best fish tacos in Baja " right at the end of the dock. Now you can't put up a sign like that unless it's true was my thinking so I went in . It was either that or the next nearest restaurant which was Señor Frog's. 

 

I was above the melee happening down on the dock as the swarms of  tourists met the hordes of vendors. I heard "No, gracias" more than "yes, let me purchase that once in a lifetime cruise to watch the seals sleeping on a rock".  I had a refreshing Mexican beer to soothe me.

The fish tacos had last been in the hands of someone who went bonkers with a squirt bottle which is a lazy chef's exclamation of "Ole!- I have squirted!" . I thought that maybe these weren't the best fish tacos in Baja and that maybe there was hyperbole at work. Still I ate them all. I want to use this forum to ask all chefs, near and far, to "lay down your squirt bottles' and rely on a simpler, more appetizing food styling and also, while I have the floor, stop cutting up a steak before you present it. My mom had to do that when I was 4 years old as I couldn't be trusted with a sharp knife. I can manage now....thanks!

 

The restaurant charged me $17 for the meal which was ok. I think their name was Wizzles or Twizzles or something similar with a  name that spoke "Meh-ico"

 

 

 

[Bimmer09]

57 minutes ago, Marvy Mare said:

I just watched a cruise video that talked about shore excursions that push shopping and long demos trying to sell something. You made the right choice and kudos for sharing your concerns with Princess. 

Maris, I don't mind if we are dropped on a street with a myriad shops, bars and restaurants and told you have 45 minutes to shop (or not shop) but it's too obviously "kick-back" time when there is just one shop of limited interest. My particular interest in Mexican pottery is so small that even the Hubble Telescope could never find it.

Norris

[Bimmer09]

I took one of the Cabo tenders back to the ship as it wasn't crowded and was ready to sail. It was much smaller than a  Princess tender and had no upper deck. During the short voyage a crew member came through with a Big Gulp cup to collect tips. Really? I declined but some folks dropped a dollar in the cup. I mentioned this egregious behavior on my Princess survey.

Norris

[Bimmer09]

CATS

Frequent readers of my GSJs will know that we had a white cat called Snowy who often appeared.

She got a lot of fan mail from CC readers which I had to read to her as her eyesight was failing. Sadly she crossed the Rainbow Bridge in September 2021 and as we were sailing with Azamara in the Med later in October we held off on replacing her until we got back. We have always bought from the same cat shelter in Indiana and saw a pair who were found living on a golf course with kittens . We brought them home and introduced them  to a home furnished with cats in mind-like  Disneyland for cats.

Rodolfo is a big hairy male cat who lives to be petted but unfortunately has no off-switch.

His main hobby is waking up humans at 5 a.m. He is not allowed on tables.

 

 

Mimi is a small, sleek female whose hobby is fitting into box lids and baskets-the smaller the better.

She is well behaved and well mannered and delights in slow motion boxing matches with Rodolfo.

She floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee. They live harmoniously and are great company for each other.

 

When we are in Europe I have often said, as we are talking about and missing them "I wish I was a fly on the wall and could see what they are doing right now".

 

Well before we left for the Diamond, Carol gave me my Christmas present- a motion operated camera, a small cube that is linked to an app on our phones called Petcube. Anytime the cats walk in front of its wide angle lens (with sound) the camera runs and records them eating or jumping onto the window sill or climbing our 7 foot cat tree. So it was that on the cruise at any time we could go to the app and see what they were up to. We had the ability to speak to them through the camera but thought that might scare them. We could also see our cat sitter interact with them. Highly recommended!

 

This was our longest cruise at 12 days away from Chicago but the Celebrity Apex in June this year will keep us away for 16 days so Petcube is  a real comfort for us.

Norris

Edited January 8, 2023 by Bimmer09
spelling

[Bimmer09]

Job done! The cardon cacti that Carol photographed on the bus ride from the ship to La Paz

Edited January 8, 2023 by Bimmer09
the head scratching CC software

[jwattle]

10 minutes ago, Bimmer09 said:

Job done! The cardon cacti that Carol photographed on the bus ride from the ship to La Paz

Thank you Carol! (And Norris)

[Fairgarth]

I stumbled over this thread by chance (and at my age stumbling is a not infrequent occurrence).  What a pleasure to follow along a new GSJ and all the great photos!  Thank you, kind Sir.  We did that trip on Oosterdam some years ago so it brought back happy memories.

[Bimmer09]

47 minutes ago, Fairgarth said:

I stumbled over this thread by chance (and at my age stumbling is a not infrequent occurrence).  What a pleasure to follow along a new GSJ and all the great photos!  Thank you, kind Sir.  We did that trip on Oosterdam some years ago so it brought back happy memories.

Thank you for reading along/discovering this and letting me know. I was just on the Holland America site to see what they offer next Christmas. Did you enjoy sailing with HAL? Just exploring our options with a lot of time to spare-Caribbean and Mexico.

I have around 18 reviews, a couple of which are in my signature and feature different cruise lines.

They are for those long winter nights...

Norris

[Bimmer09]

A special Christmas Eve dinner

A concert video of Sting (not his real name) helped to close out the daylight hours in Cabo

 

 

We said a silent goodbye to the Koningsdam

 

 

 

 

 

We headed towards Ensenada

 

We also headed toward the International Dining Room, 3 floors below our cabin

 

 

and greeted as often by Marios a Head Waiter

 

The food

 

Crab Cake is my middle name which takes up a lot of space on my Business Cards-Norris Crab Cake Guinness Adair. It's maybe too much and should be amended. Carol had the same dish and her notes say "Thai crab cakes" The sauce is sweet chili ginger.

 

 

My lobster rests atop a Filet Mignon and despite its odd color the lobster was good. Filet is my favorite cut and was tasty and juicy medium temperature. This dish costs me $75 in Chicago without any accompaniments. I'm used to white lobster flesh but this wasn't a bad effort when cooking for over 1,000 people.

 

Carol had a British dish-roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. She cooks the latter at home and found it lacking in egg within the crispy shell. But -a hard thing to pull off for so many people. Reading gate menu Carol found it missing the onion confit and glazed root vegetables and instead substituting the frozen peas and carrots. 

 

For dessert we both enjoyed the chocolate mousse nougatine almond cake

 

A good meal.

 

 

[Bimmer09]

Here are a couple of pics from our late dinner in the International Dining Room for those who have never dined there. We like to sit in a quiet corner.

 

 

 

[Bimmer09]

Prior to joining me for dinner Carol had attended this show

 

 

She was not a fan and can hopefully pop in and tell you why. I avoided it as I would a rabid dog.

I see the poster says there will be a tribute to Icons of "pupular " music which I guess means music for dogs? 

[Deck Chair Queen]

1 hour ago, Bimmer09 said:

Prior to joining me for dinner Carol had attended this show

 

 

She was not a fan and can hopefully pop in and tell you why. I avoided it as I would a rabid dog.

I see the poster says there will be a tribute to Icons of "pupular " music which I guess means music for dogs? 

Where do I start? I saw every show but one and this was the weakest by far. Princess used to distinguish itself with its live music and still claims to excel. But over the years they have used lip synching more and more. In this revue one of the sopranos walked off the stage during a duet and never came back. No explanation. Her part was taken by a taped track. I consider this insulting to the audience’s intelligence, especially when they pretend the dancers are singing (with no mikes). Really? By contrast, Vox Fortura (two shows) comprised four classically trained musicians who could also do Motown. They even sang one number a capella and unmiked!  They open with O Fortuna from Carmina Burana (you would recognize it) and I imagine the name Carl Orff has never been uttered on a cruise ship stage before or since. But I’m getting ahead of Norris. Carol The Critical

[bunnyette]

9 hours ago, Bimmer09 said:

Maris, I don't mind if we are dropped on a street with a myriad shops, bars and restaurants and told you have 45 minutes to shop (or not shop) but it's too obviously "kick-back" time when there is just one shop of limited interest. My particular interest in Mexican pottery is so small that even the Hubble Telescope could never find it.

Norris

That happened to me in Lima when we were on a repositioning cruise on the Celebrity Infinity.  We were dropped off on a street.  I saw a chocolate shop which I knew would have the kind of souvenirs my friends & family would like.   I was happily shopping up a storm when the guide came to drag me out to his chosen store.  He & the manager nearly got into fisticuffs!  DH just stood there gobsmacked.  I was very firm and finished my shopping.  Then just stood outside he chosen store!

[Walt fan]

Loved the pics and personalities of your two kitties; going to look into the Pet Cube. Thank you for posting this. Still following along and so enjoying with my nightly glass of wine.

[Bimmer09]

That's Entertainment!

Although Carol had already been to one show before dinner she was ready and willing for two more afterwards. Entertainment is never far away on Princess as you can see from the Patters I've been posting.

From the international Dining Room we had to make our way up one floor to Club Fusion which sits at the stern of the ship. It's a big room that holds 280 people and a crowd of say 80 would show up to listen to and dance to a band that had caught my ear as I passed through the Grand Piazza on occasion but I failed to stalk them all week by not reading the Patter until I came home (Dork!)

Club Fusion

Carol had already gone in to get seated while I hit the Promenade deck with several officers and casino staff to have that after dinner smoke. When I met up with her she told me that  the bar waiters roaming the room had ignored her so far. Just then one approached as Sir Norris was in the room. She also told me that a group of Hispanic folks had come in and were raring to dance. 

 

I had the camcorder with me and caught the band-Los Brilliantes- playing a dance song....

 

 

The man (hombre) playing the electric guitar synthesizer could summon up the sound of trumpets, accordion, xylophone at the flick of a switch-amazing to hear how he colored the songs. He also operated the occasional drum backing tapes with a foot switch. Busy guy! Here the guitar sounds like a guitar which wasn't the norm.

The room has a big polished wooden dance floor, which the Piazza lacks. I love the woman dancing with the electric bulbs flashing...

 

We enjoyed the whole 45 minute set and stayed put for a comedian from LA called Patrick Keane

who was laugh out loud funny, pretty much improvising with a very sharp but deprecating wit.  He and his audience were somewhat distracted by the raucous noise coming up from an Officer's Party with adult beverages down below in the Wake View bar which is accessed by a spiral staircase in the floor of Club Fusion

 

It was our best night's entertainment of the week and kept us up until midnight

 

[Bimmer09]

Patter from Cabo

 

[Bimmer09]

This was to be a "relaxing cruise" which is how I justified my inertia onboard. Normally I  am all over the ship taking photos and video, seeing champagne waterfalls, all the bands, shows, ice carvings ( I walked past it) fruit carvings (Carol went) Elite cocktails in Skywalker's, Ship Tours, Galley Tours, more shore excursions when in interesting places, more photos of staff, Ultimate Balcony Dinners-but I don't recall these being an option on the Princess Website anymore-just UB Breakfasts. No photos on Formal Night or at the dinner table as in the past. No more gangway photos as Princess gave up trying apparently. No buying a DVD of the cruise-"Reflections" as we have in the past.

I had hurt my back early in our week before sailing and so was much less active than usual. I was concerned that I would have to cancel but it wasn't an option as we were both looking forward to seeing the sun again. It had healed by the time we flew.

Regardless we both enjoyed our time on the Diamond and it has convinced us we should cruise at Christmas time again. Now that we have weaned ourselves off having to sail in an aft balcony or suite cabin we have more options and can wait until the deals start flying close to sailing time.

 

I am already anticipating our next cruise which is on a stunning ship where I will be busy with the camera, visiting a stunning one of a kind place in Iceland and where I'll get a port stop in Belfast and be reunited with my sisters and my oldest friend, since 5 years old . We'll get to do a Beatles tour in Liverpool and ride a steam train when we stop in Dover. We'll also have 4 days in Amsterdam which will be new to us. I will link to that review in this one so that Princess folks can see what X has to offer. The Diamond Princess was my favorite cruise ship from 2012 to 2016 when we sailed on the Celebrity Silhouette which took over the mantle of favorite. I expect the crown will shift to the Apex when we sail her in an aft balcony cabin (not the horrible Infinity balconies that infest the ship)

 

Meanwhile it is Christmas Day and I have to catch up on taking ship pictures...

[Bimmer09]

15 hours ago, Walt fan said:

Loved the pics and personalities of your two kitties; going to look into the Pet Cube. Thank you for posting this. Still following along and so enjoying with my nightly glass of wine.

Pet Cube is a great investment. The picture is in color and clear- I leave a floor lamp on near their food bowls as they eat during the night and if they pass in front of the camera it triggers and we get a video of 30 seconds or so. The sound is loud and clear-every meow is heard if not understood. You can talk to them remotely using your app. We haven't tried that yet to see their reactions.

Carol pays $6 a month for the video alerts package. The camera was on sale from Amazon for $30.

We watched them from a ship in Mexico!

Hope this helps.

Norris

[Bimmer09]

I've always loved the art on Princess ships and stop while on my way somewhere to take a pic. In a stairwell for instance

 

 

 

Each morning my first stop was the Calypso bar at 6 a.m. when they opened for my morning coffee. It's in the Conservatory where the indoor pool is

 

 

 

Then I'd head up to deck 15 to Tradewinds

 

 

I'd stay here until it was time for breakfast usually, chatting to fellow early-risers