Diamond Reviews???? Mexican Riviera???

[TrayceeJ]

We are leaving on November 6th on the Diamond Princess to the Mexican Riviera. Any recent cruisers from this cruise want to post a review or point me in the direction of one? Thank you!

Tracy

[spingal]

Here you go!! http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=91033

 

The Diamond is wonderful!! Have a great cruise!!!

 

:D :D

Jamie

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Thanks for the reveiw, I am going to read it as we will be on the ship 11/27.

[bcs819]

here are several:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=86126

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=87985

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=86133

[Ernie G]

Just off the Diamond Princess yesterday. Here's a condensed review of the pre-cruise hotel, port, ship and princess IMHO...

 

PRE-CRUISE HOTEL - Marina Hotel San Pedro - formally a Hilton. OK, but not a 3* as advertised. More like a 2 or 2.5*. Dirtiest carpet I've ever seen in a public facility.

 

PORT - Nice, clean, well-organized. VERY SLOW for embarkation. Heard that it was customs, immigrations, etc. Didn't get on until after 2 pm.

 

SHIP - One word....FABULOUS. Beautifully designed and decorated. Large, but not massive or hard to navigate around.

 

STATEROOM - Inside cabin (forward) on Caribe deck. Decorated in pleasant, soft shades of blue with some faint greens. Very clean and tasteful. Great Cabin Steward (David) who added lots of extra touches. Since he had mostly corner and forward suites assigned to him we were one of 2 inside cabins he was responsible for and he provided the same treatment for us as well.

 

ROOM SERVICE - Had it 5 mornings and 1 lunch. Very good and always on time, if not early. Always gave a small tip, which they seem to really be appreciative of.

 

DINING - had assigned late dining. Wanted to go to Sterling one night but was told when attempting to make reservations that I would have to give up the traditional dining completely in order to dine in Sterling one night. We did however have the Sterling menu on Wednesday evening in the INternational Dining Room. It was wonderful having the same waitstaff each night (Moonsai and Jane). They were fabulous!! So glad we didn't change anything. Brought wine everynight (purchased at Von's in San Pedro) and was charged a corkage fee only 1 time. Of course, we took extra care of our waitstaff, in addition to the tip added automatically to bill. Food was better than some of the other cruise lines. Comparable to Celebrity.

 

HORIZON COURT - Good food, just lots of congestion. In trying to promote a "Food Court" style in such a small area I believe it has just caused some confusion.

 

ENTERTAINMENT - Was great! Piano Man was the best. Lots of recently released movies shown, great bands, especially "Cruise Control". Princess Idol (like American Idol) was really fun too. Donna is apparently the newest Assistant Cruise Director and she was really good. So much was happening all the time, I can't remember all of it. But I do know that nothing was done badly. Some of the best onboard activities I've seen and enjoyed.

 

FRONT DESK - OK. Not great, Not bad either.

 

GENERAL STAFFERS - Really nice.

 

INTERNET CAFE - Always "Unavailable for Maintenance Service"

 

CASINO - Very tough to win!

 

SPA - Pleasant. Eric from France does a great hairdo....highly recommend him.

 

SHOPPING - Not as much merchandise as some other lines, but nice things with reasonable prices.

 

ALL IN ALL.....it was right up there at the top as far as a CRUISE TO REMEMBER (and recommend).

[Mrs. Pharlin]

we were on diamond 10/9, over all it was great, other than one of the shore excursions, in PV we went on the tequlia town and country side tour. We will never drink tequlia again, i was disgusted by the conditions, the production area was dirty, with lots of bugs everywhere, and was open to the outside. we did not bother with the included refresment, too scared about what we would catch, the shopping stop included very very pushy salespeople selling very abvious knock-offs. we could not wait to get back on the ship to get the grime off.

overall we will never go back to PV, even if the trip was free.

on the other hand we loved Cabo, did another shore excursion, glass blowing and cactus gardens. it was beautiful, and much cleaner, and the sales people down town were not as pushy.

this was our first cruise, but not our last, but we prob wont go back to the west coast of mexico, though would love to go to the gulf side to the mayan ruins

 

if you are looking for a shore excurison in PV try the jungle canopy adventure, our tablemates could not stop talking about it

[Lynda90]

Thanks Ernie for the great review. Will be on that cruise on 11/27. Unhappy to hear about the Marina as I will be staying there the night before. Sorry I didn't book the Sheraton, but too late now.

[cnmiranda]

Thanks for the reviews folks! Re: the Marina, stayed there in Feb and will be returning in Dec and didn't find it dirty during my last visit. My room was clean :)

[TrayceeJ]

Thank you for your reviews and replies. Can't wait till Saturday.

 

Tracy

[bardgal]

Here is my ridiculously long one from 10/9:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=7032

 

enjoy!

:)

[TrayceeJ]

I see that I have overpacked for our cruise on November 6th, but I am POSITIVE that I need everything that I have packed. In San Pedro is there a place for us to drop off our luggage and then go park? Also, can we use a credit card to pay for parking when we return from our cruise? Thank you.

Tracy