Just back from Diamond, 3/10/07 Mexican Riviera

[mariakitty]

We got home last night from a fun week on the Diamond Princess. I will post a more detailed review in a few days, but I wanted to post a few things quickly for those of you who will be boarding soon.

 

We had a great time on this cruise, even though it is probably our least favorite of our Princess cruises. The food was definitely less than spectacular overall, however the crab night and lobster nights were very good. We had traditional second seating and our waiters were fantastic. My husband is a picky eater, and he had a much harder time finding selections on the dinner menus, and ended up eating the alfredo fettucini a bit more than he anticipated.

 

This was the first time I used the lotus spa (manicure and pedicure) and the services were fantastic! I ended up getting a free hand wax while I was getting my pedicure, along with a parcial facial. I bought some of the skin products and I am really enjoying them. They are similar in quality to The Body Shop, and they don't test on animals which is essential for me.

 

So now we are down to my biggest "complaint" of the cruise....the college spring breakers. I am a college instructor and we don't have spring break for another two weeks, so I thought we were safe. NO NO NO! If you want to avoid spring break, DO NOT BOOK IN MARCH! Most of them were fine, but we heard that on the second day of our cruise, the Diamond broke the record for the most alcohol sales made in one day in the history of Princess. We actually left the casino on that day because there were so many drunk guys that were being incredibly obnoxious. In fact, they were told to stop swearing or they were getting booted out.

 

On this same evening, I was awakened around 12:30am to what sounded like a deck chair landing on our balcony. I checked it out and nothing was out of place. The few days later I was talking to the woman in the next balcony and she was telling me that a couple three decks above was having a very heated argument and one of them threw a deck chair over the balcony and it landed in the balcony next to ours. Security was on it immediately. We heard that seven passengers were taken off the ship during our cruise: 6 for rowdiness and 1 adult who was buying drinks for under-age kids. Now we are wondering if this couple was taken off as well. Go Princess!!

 

What surprised me the most were the college girls. They provided some excellent floor show entertainment each night in the dining room parading around in what they considered formal and dinner wear. Let's see, first there were the "j-Lo" dresses that are basically two thin pieces of fabric only covering the essential areas. Then there were the girls who thought that shorts with a couple of rhinestones on the back pocket was acceptable dinner attire. Oh, and on formal night there was one girl who had the shortest skirt I had ever seen. Her dress was exactly what Kelly Bundy would wear on Married with Children. I know I sound incredibly old, but some of the getups were really too much! The girls got what they wanted though, as they certainly turned heads. We were late leaving Cabo because one girl was so drunk by the time her excursion ended that she couldn't get back to the ship on her own and was transported directly to the gangway after all the tenders were finished for the day.

 

Cabo San Lucas was really fun, and it is disappointing that Princess is only there until 2pm. We had fun in Puerto Vallarta, but we didn't get off the ship in Mazatlan and from what we heard we didn't miss much. It was so nice to experience the ship when most of the passengers were in port. The movie selections were outstanding, which my husband particularly enjoyed. We don't usually go to the production shows, though we did attend the variety show with Delisco and Jim MacDonald. Now we know why we don't go to the production shows! Delisco was actually quite good, though we just don't like that sort of thing, but none of the comediens were up to usual Princess standards this time. Do we really need to hear about airline food or the Mile High club AGAIN?

 

My final word of warning is in regards to disembarkation. Yesterday we were cleared by Customs an hour late, and though were were scheduled to be off the ship at 10:40am, we didn't get off until 11:50am. We had a 2pm flight, which leaving at 10:40 would have given us ample time, but by the time we got through customs, took a taxi to lax, checked-in, etc. we sat less than 5 minutes before boarding our plan. If you are flying I highly recommend talking to the purser's desk to get an earlier dismbarkation time. Also, take a book or something, because there is nothing to do while you wait. Breakfast ends early and then you are sitting around. This is something Princess could improve on, though I realize they are getting ready for the next set of passengers too.

 

Even with the minor issues that I noted above, we had a great time and have already booked three more cruises with Princess. The Diamond is a beautiful ship and we had nothing but excellent service. We would definitely sail her again, just not to Mexico and not during spring break or summer holidays.

 

Maria

[ms.sunburn]

We learned our lesson about spring break last March on the Valor. From now on we'll only book cruises before the last two weeks of February or after the first two weeks of April.

 

Thanks for the terrific review! We're on the Diamond next month. What is it about Mazatlan that makes it less popular than the other two ports?

[CrusinAgain]

Thanks so much for posting some info. We leave this weekend and yes it is still Spring break for alot of kids, my daughter included.

 

Did you save the Patters or do you remember what movies are currently playing?

[AZPam]

We were on the same cruise and sorry that we didn't have a chance to meet you at either of the get togethers, Maria.

 

I will have to agree with everything you said about the college aged spring breakers. We knew going into this cruise that there would be a lot of spring breakers as we had our own kids with us. I was very disappointed how they totally took over this ship and that nothing was done to discourage it. ALL pools were taken over with different college groups and there was a lot of smack talking going on between the U of AZ, AZ State and USC crowds. Sometimes it led to a few fights and only then did Princess step in and do something. Glass bottles were in the pools, beer pong games could always be found, they were totally disruptive during some of the shows, screaming in the elevators and down the halls late at night. Skywalkers was basically one huge bump and grind session every night until the wee hours of the morning. Don't even get me started on what was going on in the corners of Skywalkers either. Lets just say they should have been charging admission for the porn session! I don't consider myself a prude by any stretch but I guess my age must have been showing this week as they did manage to shock me a few times. I don't mind them having fun as long as they weren't disturbing others, but I also think Princess should have stepped in a few times and kept it a little more PG-13 instead of the R or sometimes even X rating we saw all week long. Maria, did you see the gal with the "dress" that was more of a beach coverup and only a thong underneath? Well, at least the men in our group appreciated that one!

 

We did attend the production shows and were also a little disappointed but only because they were the same from last year on the Golden. The singers could have been a lot better. Thought the comedian, Kevin Jordan, and hypnotist, Steve Bayner, were both great and enjoyed them alot. Be sure to attend the adult comedian show as it was a laugh until you cry type of thing. The band in Club Fusion, Ethix, were fantastic! Head there for some great tunes and dancing. Hardly ever saw the cruise director Richard Joseph and didn't care for him much when we did. The rest of the cruise staff was very good. Attended Princess Idol every night which was always fun, we were one of the ones who won in Majority Rules Gameshow, loved the Newly or not so Newlywed show and they actually had some different questions this year! We got around pretty good on board and felt like we did a lot.

 

We were with a large group and all had anytime dining. We found that most of the shows would start at 8:15 and you needed to be seated at least 20 minutes prior if you wanted a seat. Therefore, we choose to make a standing reservation in the Savoy every night for 6pm. This allowed us to attend the early production shows and then go straight for whatever would be happening in one of the other venues after that. We didn't miss a thing that way. Sat at table 212 with Elmer and Jerry as our waiters. Not big talkers but great service, so that worked for us. Food was good as always but I'm getting kind of tired of the same menus after cruising with Princess for so many years. Buffet was okay too, I'm not that picky. Loved the pizza and burgers by the pool.

 

In PV we had done the zip lines before so this year we booked a dune buggy trip. 2 seater that we followed caravan style thru town and out into the country side. I don't think I have ever been that dirty in my life! So much dust, went thru lots of water puddles and then the river too. Stopped for a break at a ranch that had some of the best salsa I've ever had in my life and then we headed back. It was tons of fun and I would recommend it. Just a little disappointed we had to do so much city driving. That was a bit nerve racking!

 

In Mazatlan we took the water taxi's on our own over to Stone Island and then hopped a taxi to Molokay restuarant. I highly recommend this if you want a great beach day! They had something for everyone. Plenty of shade, beautiful beach, great food too. Some in our group rented ATV's and took off down the beach, others went on the horseback riding for $10 for the hour. I spent most of the day out in the water. There were also banana boat rides. To give you an idea, there were 8 in our group. We ordered at least 30 bottles of water, 15 beers, lots of food and our bill for the day was only $60. All of the taxi's and water taxi cost us about $25 total, so very cheap day!

 

Cabo is such a short stop. Some went to Lover's Beach, others did parasailing and got them down to $30, others rented jet skis for $35. My husband, daughter and I just went into town and did a little shopping. My daughter had gotten a bacterial infection early in the week and we made a visit to the medical offices twice. Here is another reason to take cruise insurance folks! Her bill, including drugs, for 2 visits was $383! Thank goodness she has the insurance and I guess we will be making that claim this week. I was able to get some antibiotics in Cabo, the same she was given on ship, for about $40, so that's nice to have on hand now.

 

All in all, it was a great cruise. There were some road bumps but we didn't let it ruin our vacation. Just not so sure I will want to do this trip again any time soon. Think we will head back to San Juan for our departures on spring break. We don't seem to have these types of issues when departing down there.

 

I do have all the patters so if anyone has any questions, just let me know!

Pam

[CrusinAgain]

Pam, great review of everything and wrote down notes.

 

What movies were playing? We leave this coming weekend.

 

Also has the Diamond changed the bed linens or mattresses yet?

[Dizzkitty]

Pam it was great meeting you on the ship! I agree with you that Molokay was a blast in Mazatlan. I highly reccomend this place as well. We ordered 4 buckets of beer and food for 4 people and our bill was around $60 as well. All the shopping comes to you and you can really talk them down there, let them walk away they will come back! The banana boat rides were really boring, they just take you in a straight line, not very fun.

 

I know what girl you are all talking about! I couldn't believe they were let in the dining room like that. A cocktail waitress told me that the group had drank all the beer they had at one of the bars by the pool. There seemed to be a large group of them that took over the 'childrens pool' and I overheard a mom walking by telling her kid they couldn't go in because all the teenagers were in there. I was suprised as well that Princess didnt step in more, I guess they just saw dollar signs.

 

I thought the beds were extremely comfortable. We asked for an egg crate when we got there which was the main reason they were so comfy. The comforter was really ugly but I thought the sheets and down comforter were nice.

[AZPam]

Movies for the week were: Cars, Happy Feet, Little Miss Sunshine, The Queen, Casino Royale, The Departed, Flags of our Fathers, Invincible, The Illusionist, Superman Returns, The Inside Man, All the King's Men, Bobby, Stranger than Fiction, The Prestige, Rocky Balboa, You, Me and Dupree, Flyboys, Babel, The Black Dahlia, The Lake House and Charlotte's Web.

 

We liked the beds too and didn't have the egg crate. Not sure if they have changed the mattresses or not. Pretty sure the linens were the new stuff, nice duvet. Still hate the pillows though. We usually ask to have the comforter removed for the week. Have seen too many of those Dateline shows about that!

 

Have to say that we didn't have any problems with kids or teenagers, just the college crowd. The Youth Security on board did a great job keeping the younger ones in line. Just don't understand why they didn't step in on the others. Hopefully those with cruises in the next few weeks won't have the same issues we experienced last week.

[lhall85917]

Thanks for taking the time to share. We are leaving in 3 weeks - hopefully the college crowd is about done with spring break by then!:eek: