Diamond - Hawaii Jan 6-22, 2023. Semi Live

[cruzin4us]

There is a Tropical Feeling in the air now.  Much more humid. Tomorrow is a sun day for me.  I’m bound and determined to get some sun on this very pale body of mine.    The ship definitely still has movement going on.  I feel a bit drunk walking down the halls.   
 

On to dinner 

 

The crying toddler is back.  I’m sorry but dinner is too long to expect a 1-2 year old  child to sit quietly for 1.5 to 2 hours.   Come on mom and dad……

 

The dinner line was much smaller tonight.   Hopefully more people are getting assigned seats which helps

I’ve only eaten in the International Dining Room, and what I like about it is:   There is room between tables and everyone isn’t crammed in like Sardines.  There are tables and not a bunch of bench seats with people sitting on top of each other.   Reminds me of Days of Old. 
 

Orders for tonight:

 

Dinner roll (again).  

 

Grilled Zucchini and Eggplant with Sun-Dried Tomatoes - arrived on a chilled plate an all.  Quite tasty 

 

Tom Kah Gai - excellent.   Not sure what to expect but pleasantly surprised.  Kind of like an egg drop soup with mushrooms and a hint of ginger.   Also served hot.  Yum

 

Penne Al Pomorado con Calamari -  Yes, I like Parmesan Cheese 😁.  Piping hot.  The calamari is a little fishy tasting but not overly so.  Lightly spicy.   I like to order an appetizer size portion so I can try their pasta every day.     It was good + and I ate it all.  

 

Pan-Fried Turkey Scaloppine - Quite a large portion and another meal that arrived nice and hot.  Whatever the Diamond is doing back in their kitchen, it’s working.   Scaloppini is very goo and veggies are Al dente.  No mushy overcooked veggies.  Ate every bite.

 

Typically I don’t order dessert because I’m so full, but the woman next to me said hers was really good.   I’m so stuffed now, so what’s a few more bites & calories.   

Bananas Foster - wow, this was way better than last time I had it. Plate is chilled, ice cream isn’t melted and I have nice chunks of bananas.   superb sauce.   

 

I have been pretty critical of Princesses food late, but the Diamond has exceeded my expectations thus far.  I’m going to gain weight, no doubt about it.   The head chef needs to be commended.   Thus far I’ve only had the crab quiche (crab with a K) that was absolutely gross IMO.      The plates of food aren’t just thrown together and it shows.   You can tell the food is good because people are cleaning their plates. 
 

I’m waddling out of the dining room tonight.  Probably go watch a movie in my room.  Haven’t even turned on the TV yet.   Tonight is going to be a relaxing evening 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cruzin4us]

Wow, this girl slept until 10:00.......I don't think I ever, slept until 10:00.......ever!     These beds are so comfy, I roll on my side, and wake up in the same position.

 

Better peak my head out the window and check if it's going to another bathing suit attempt or Trivia Day.

 

I think we are in Hilo tomorrow, but truthfully......I've kinda lost count of how many days we've been at sea.    I'm not even sure what day of the week it is unless I look at my pill container.    I'm so relaxed, this is wonderful.   

 

 

[cruzin4us]

Oh my, I’m really losing track of time.   Tomorrow is another sea day and Hilo on the 12th.   In all of my 61 years I have never been so relaxed.  I haven’t had to worry or plan anything….so unlike me.  Usually, I’ve got everything mapped out.   Kinda liking this freedom 😁.  
Decided to just take a shower are go find my well needed coffee.   Sheesh, it’s already 11 and I should have some kind of agenda.  
I’m going to go to the Afternoon Tea at a suggestion from a fellow cruiser so I can report back.  I have never gone to this event because I’m a strong coffee person and tea seems like drinking very diluted coffee.    I drink 4 shots of espresso in a flat white so I’ve got to open up my mind to tea.  
All I can say is, I’m glad all my pants/capris are like leggings and they stretch.   

[cruzin4us]

Lunch

 

walked right in at 12:00.   Trying not to overstuff myself so I can hit the Afternoon Tea

 

Spaghetti Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino - Very tasty but arrived lukewarm which choked me frankly since everything has been hot up until now.   The pasta has some roasted garlic pieces that were caramelized and added a nice flavor.  Ate it anyway because it was tasty.    The more I’d eat, the more I enjoyed it.  
Diamond seems to have their pastas honed in.   Every order has been nicely plated, not like when I try to do it 

 

Nicoise Salad -  not my favorite.  I was expecting ahi slices not canned tuna.   Should have asked so that’s on me.   The salad dressing looked like watered down French Dressing.   I ordered another order of pasta after picking at it for a while.  Was too fishy tasting.   No biggie the pasta is delicious 

 

 

Fresh Flowers at the Explorer’s Lounge 

Art Auction being set up

[cr8tiv1]

You may order coffee instead of tea.  You may also bring in your own specialty coffee for Afternoon Tea.

 

With the ship almost to capacity, are all the dining rooms open?  I have been trying to make reservations for the Deck 5 MDR (Vivaldi/Savoy) and they are not an option.  

 

Nice that you are able to let go and relax.  That's the island attitude.  

[cruzin4us]

Well, I was too stuffed to attempt the afternoon tea.  Always tomorrow since it’s another sea day.   For the life of me, I don’t know how people eat 3 meals per day.   For anyone concerned, if they have cut back on portion sizes, I’ve not noticed it.   Should I ever have the opportunity to do a World Cruise, I’d have to figure out how to keep from gaining 50 lbs.   I’m not giving up the bread and butter so that’s out.   Im thankful they don’t have the warm almond croissants or I’d be even worse off!

 

I noticed my meals are a lot less rushed on the Diamond than the Ruby.   Not painfully slow as I experienced on the Discovery, it’s just right.    
 

I’ve noticed the food isn’t bland tasting on this ship.  There are a variety of flavors which is appealing to me.  If you like bland (no seasoning) you may not like it as much as me.   I’ve been quite pleased.   Just noticed a lady complaining it was too spicy.    Guess you can’t please everyone.     
 

Menus are out of order - sorry 

 

Dinner:

 

Tapas-style Chorizo Sausage, Paprika Tomato Cream - First plate was cold, so I sent it back, way to cold.  Hate to do that but it wasn’t good cold 😢.   Plate #2 was much much hotter.    Glad I did because I really enjoyed this dish.  Spicy but not overly so and so full of flavor and the egg was poached with a runny yolk.   A+

 

Rustic Beef and Vegetable Hot Pot with empanada -  I ordered this because I love empanadas.   It is basically a soup with an empanada on the side.   The soup was boiling hot, the empanada was just warm but really tasty.   The clear broth soup had some veggies as well.   Kinda like a minestrone but with more of a beef broth taste.  It was good but not as good as last night’s.  

 

Rack of Pork with glazed Artichokes - This was definitely the star of the show tonight.   It’s a super thick rack of pork Chop which wasn’t dry and very tender.  Served over a bed of artichokes along with some mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus.  Veggies were cooked on point.  The gravy/a jus was wonderful.   They did this meal to perfection. WTG Princess!

 

Too stuffed to even consider dessert 
 

Other stuff:   This size ship suits me much better than the larger ones.   I haven’t dreaded walking from point A to point B.   I know it’s not a big deal for the younger crowd but the older I the less trucking around I want to do.   
 

The promenade deck has some cushy lounge chairs if interested (pic)

 

I haven’t heard a bunch of coughing either which is a good thing, nor have I heard of people being quarantined.   Maybe 5% mask wearing.    

2.5 laps on the track promenade deck = 1 mile

 

weather never cleared up today buts it’s definitely warmer the closer we get to Hawaii.   
 

I think I could make this an annual cruise.   I like this much better that cruising to the Mexican Riviera which is what I usually do because when you live in SD, that’s where you usually go 😁.  I sure hope Princess has a few sailing out of SD every year.   I know wishful thinking 
 

 

 

 

 

[cruzin4us]

6 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

You may order coffee instead of tea.  You may also bring in your own specialty coffee for Afternoon Tea.

 

With the ship almost to capacity, are all the dining rooms open?  I have been trying to make reservations for the Deck 5 MDR (Vivaldi/Savoy) and they are not an option.  

 

Nice that you are able to let go and relax.  That's the island attitude.  

thanks for the info on the afternoon tea.  Now that I know I can take coffee, I’m in!

 

Sabatini’s is only open a few days and Sterling Steakhouse has been closed due to a grill issue issue

 

All the main dining rooms are open.  It was such a cluster on the first couple of days.   When I boarded fairly early, I beelined to the International Dining room.   It wasn’t my first choice but people we’re already lined up at the others trying to get an assigned table/time (traditional).  There was no one at the ID room except the maitre D and he happily assigned me a permanent table at 5:20.  It wasn’t my first choice of locations being as my room is next to the Bridge.    I normally book quite a bit of Specialty Dining because frankly I’ve been disappointed in the MDR food on past few cruises.   On this cruise, I’m glad I saved the money because the food has been superb

 

hope that helps 

[LouChamp]

Aloha.  Thank you again for your posts and especially the delicious food pictures!  

[cruzin4us]

We lose an hour tonight, no biggie as I've been losing track of days too.

 

Got into the cabin, got all comfy in my favorite bed.......and, oh yes, the walls are mighty thin.   Just thought you might want to know this in case you do a lot of "oh, ah, yes, yes, yes, harder, harder, oh, oh, ooh"......lol.    Can't undo what ya hear LOL

 

Had an interesting conversation with my adorable Assistant Waiter (Mohammed) from Tunisia. There was kind of a lull during dinner so I asked how he was enjoying working on the cruise ship (this is his 4th day).   He was grinning and said he is enjoying it and starting to feel more comfortable.   I asked him if had gotten sea sick and he said the rocking didn't bother him.   He then opened up and said everyone has been so nice to him in the dining room (passengers).   He was so afraid of us Americans before he came on the ship because he heard we were all mean.   He said, "now I know that's not true"......"Everyone has been so kind".   There's hope for us yet.....kindness goes a long way

 

That's all for tonight.....

 

[cruzin4us]

Captain just announced we will be arriving in Hilo tonight instead of tomorrow morning.   We’ve been cruising way south of our normal course due to the nasty storms in the Pacific.   
 

Still haven’t decided what to do today.   Just got my coffee and now I’m going to glance at it and see what’s on the agenda.   
 

I need to get up early one day so I can go to breakfast at least once.   So far, I’ve missed them every day.  
 

Weather is getting better day by day.   I’ve worn a sweater every day since we left San Diego.    Kinda ready to ditch this thing.  
 

Packed my beach bag with every intent on getting some sun.  Got my audio book and headset, so perhaps I’ll actually make it to the Sun Deck.   
 

 

[cruzin4us]

Y’all must be thinking I’m losing my mind….I am, but I seemed to have found it.  
 

I sat down to check out the meals for lunch and dinner.   I usually take pics of them in the morning while drinking my coffee, then I upload while eating along with the food pics.  Just saves me a bit of time later.   
 

So, I went to Dine My Way and it said the 12th Hilo.   Wait a second, we aren’t supposed to be in Hilo until tomorrow (ok, now it’s tonight).  Then I panicked because I have a dinner reservation at Sabatini’s on Hilo night.    But, we aren’t in Hilo!    I grabbed the patter to look at the date and it says the 11th.   Did I grab yesterday’s patter?

 

I check my iPhone and my watch and both say the 12th.   Holy Crap, I don’t know what day it is!   There medallion app says it’s the 12th.   I’m feeling lost and stupid at this point.    
 

I sheepishly get up and go ask a Gentleman what day of the week it is as well as the date.  He looked at me like I was off my rocker.   I kind of felt like I was at this point.  
 

He told me it’s Wednesday the 11th.   Ok, so I didn’t grab the wrong Patter.   So, why did the app and my phone both say the 12th?     Slowly, it dawned on me that I had manually changed the time on my phone and somehow I must have changed the day too.   😵‍💫

 

I went and manually changed the date and now the app is correct too

 

Seriously, I thought I’d lost it.   

 

 

[hozelovr123]

Thanks for the lovely, in depth updates. I’m on the Diamond the 29th. 
Do you know which Dining Room is the club class? I can’t seem to find that anywhere. 
thanks!!!!!

[cruzin4us]

I found myself a lounge chair on deck 15 near Tradewinds.   Movie is playing on MUTS.   West Side Story 

 

it’s a beautiful day, not too hot, not too cold.  
 

ordered a Coco Loco. It took about 10 to arrive.  Not bad considering how many people are up here

 

some pics

Buffet

pool areas

Bingo

 

 

[cruzin4us]

saw the first rude passenger today.    She went off on A cocktail server for calling her “man”.   Shaking my head

[cruzin4us]

Got some sun and it felt wonderful.  There’s going to be some mighty sore people tonight.  Lots of red skin in bathing suits 

 

Wi-Fi has been working flawlessly I’m happy to report.   No issues browsing the internet or the app.  

 

Lunch:

 

Beef Carpaccio, Crispy Vegetables:   It was absolutely delicious.  Beef was sliced very thin as it should be.  Melted in my mouth.   What I’ve noticed on the Diamond is the little things.  They haven’t cut back on items on a plate.  For example, if you order something with almonds or Pistachios, you can actually find the in your food.   The aren’t crushed unrecognizable tidbits.   My taste buds loved this dish. 

 

Milwaukee’s Famous Fish Fry:  

Nice thick piece of fish, it’s thicker than it looks in the pic.   They could have added a tad more Cole slaw, it came in the same size dish as the tartar sauce.  Again, food arrived hot.  Nothing to complain about here, it was great. 

 

 

[memoak]

2 hours ago, hozelovr123 said:

Thanks for the lovely, in depth updates. I’m on the Diamond the 29th. 
Do you know which Dining Room is the club class? I can’t seem to find that anywhere. 
thanks!!!!!

On most ships club class is at the mid ship dining room on deck 6

[cruzin4us]

59 minutes ago, cruzin4us said:

saw the first rude passenger today.    She went off on A cocktail server for calling her “man”.   Shaking my head

Typo - the server called her “mam”

[CruisnDeb]

15 minutes ago, cruzin4us said:

Typo - the server called her “mam”

Well that is a big difference lol....guess she doesn't like the term...I would just call her "snowflake".

[sunviking90]

1 hour ago, cruzin4us said:

Typo - the server called her “mam”

I’m sure she has been called worse behind her back.  Sadly we all reach the day when we are “ma’amed”!

Edited January 12, 2023 by sunviking90

[cruzin4us]

Went to afternoon tea for the first time today.   Served in the Pacific Dining room between 3-4.   I’m not a tea drinker but they gladly served me coffee.    While it was ok and I sat with some lovely people it’s not my thing.  Too much bread/desserts for me since I have an early dinner.  

[cruzin4us]

Diamond Princess 
Skywalkers Deck 18 aft
Such a beautiful place that most people don’t seem to know about.  Comfy chairs and wonderful views

Izumu aft pool

Far aft pool - don’t recall the name
 

 

[cruzin4us]

Platinum and Elite Happy Hour in Skywalkers.   Not overly crowded.   Nice presentation and lots of goodie’s.  3 cocktails servers taking orders and serving guests.   Such a beautiful setting

[cr8tiv1]

I think I followed your train of thought.  Hilo is scheduled for Thursday, Jan 12, but the captain said you will arrive tonight.

 

8 hours ago, cruzin4us said:

Captain just announced we will be arriving in Hilo tonight instead of tomorrow morning.   We’ve been cruising way south of our normal course due to the nasty storms in the Pacific.   

 

I checked Marine Traffic and notice that she is "cruising" at a slower than normal speed (12 knots).  As far as I know (which could not be correct), Hilo and Nawiliwili are both daylight ports which means that all incoming ships must enter/exit the ports during the day. 

 

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-155.6/centery:19.7/zoom:8

 

Please let us know if you are actually porting tonight or won't arrive until Thursday morning.

Thanks..

[cruzin4us]

I definitely took one for team today

Lunch 12-1

Afternoon Tea 3-4

Happy Hour 5-5:15

Dinner 5:20

Won’t be doing that again.   

 

Such a beautiful day, got some sun when I wasn’t eating my way through the ship.  We are having a quiet large swell even though looking outside you think the sea is rather calm.   Then you look at the bow of the ship rising and falling against the horizon.  
 

Meals are being served at a great pace, not rushed and not painfully slow.   You’d never know most of this crew has only been on the ship for a few weeks and some even shorter.   
 

Tonight I ate at a different table (remember my screw up on my day/date).  Well I told the Maitre D I wasn’t dining tonight because I was going to Sabatini’s.   This one is on me…. It’s funny how server’s are so different.   My normal Server is really on it, he replaces my silverware between courses.   This server just took my dirty fork and knife and placed them back on the table and brought me my next course.   I was kind of surprised, never had that happen before.   I’m waiting on my entree and the fork came off my salad plate and reset back on the table, not even on the correct side.  Now, I’m not used to this, except at home.  Am I being critical?   Opening up a can of worms with this question I’m sure.     Don’t worry, I survived before you all blast me 😁
 

Dinner:  

Singapore Street-Style Beef Satay - Princess has served quite a few Beef Satay Dishes and I order them every time.   This one was as good as all the others.   Beef was tender and served with the typical peanut sauce.    Wasn’t hot but I’m not sure if it was supposed to be? It was good. 

 

Romaine & Kale Caesar Salad -  one of the items on menu every day.    It was your typical Caesar Salad.   Nothing fancy but good. 

 

Roasted Lamb Shank with Pan Jus -  OMG was this good.   It’s fall off the bone tender.  Came with carrots and potatoes and a couple of Brussel Sprouts cooked perfectly again.  Just the silverware was off 😁

Way to full for dessert.  
 

This is the first cruise in a long while where I hear people commenting continually about how good the food is.   Days of old and I love it!

[cruzin4us]

28 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

I think I followed your train of thought.  Hilo is scheduled for Thursday, Jan 12, but the captain said you will arrive tonight.

 

 

I checked Marine Traffic and notice that she is "cruising" at a slower than normal speed (12 knots).  As far as I know (which could not be correct), Hilo and Nawiliwili are both daylight ports which means that all incoming ships must enter/exit the ports during the day. 

 

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/centerx:-155.6/centery:19.7/zoom:8

 

Please let us know if you are actually porting tonight or won't arrive until Thursday morning.

Thanks..

we are arriving tonight instead of tomorrow morning.   It has something to do with the weather/swell.  We are supposed to be there sometime between 8-9 pm.  No one allowed off the ship until tomorrow at the regular scheduled time.  
 

I know they are expecting really high surf on some of the islands for the next few days.   Not sure how that effects Hilo.  
 

I’ll post more if I hear anything.   The Captain made the announcement at 9:00 this morning and there has been no update since.