Diamond Princess 11/20 Review

[pkdof]

Thought I'd post a quick review. We (my 80 yo parents, 9 yo twins, DH and I) had a great time.

 

Our cabins were A744/746 (parents in A718). I loved the aft cabins, although my husband wasn't as thrilled with the engine noise when we were coming into ports--guaranteed we always woke up early. Also noisy the night of the party at Terrace Pool, but my daughter and I enjoyed the party. I liked the sense of privacy with no cabins on either side of ours, and having the balcony open between the cabins gave us some autonomy from our kids, but we could get to each other easily if we needed to. Our steward, Pusit, was very nice and did a great job for us.

 

Anytime dining worked very well for us. We eat early so that the kids can get to the kid's club and we can see the shows. So we typically ate around 6 pm. As soon as we got into the cabin, I called concierge and made reservations for Sabatini's the first night and Pacific Moon the second night. Told we could not make any more reservations until Monday. On Monday morning (at 7 am) I called and made reservations for the rest of the week.

 

Sabatini's was terrific. We had a 6 pm reservation and were done before 8 pm. Food and service were excellent. They treated our kids very well, calling my daughter princess and encouraging my son to try different things.

I thought the service in all the dining rooms was very good, except the second time we ate in Pacific Moon--that particular waiter and assistant seemed to struggle, and I noticed the maitre d' making notes about an incident at another table. We always had a table for six, and they were always comfortable.

 

One plus I noticed about anytime dining, is that you can have courses out of order--it's not like they're done with soups or entrees and have moved on, as in traditional dining. So my son could ask for more soup after his entree and it was there within a minute or two.

 

We enjoyed all three of the comedians, but thought the production shows were a little lounge lizardy. The Princess Idol finals were fun, and the crew member they brought on to sing while the votes were being tallied was better than the professional entertainers!

 

Our shore excursions were as follows: PV--Los Veranos Canopy Tour; Mazatlan--Randi's Happy Horses; Cabo--Chileno Bay snorkeling. They were all great, except we wish we had more time to see sights in PV and Mazatlan. We would have liked to go to the churches and the archaeology museum.

 

Disembarkation was pretty easy. We ate breakfast in Horizon Court around 7:45 to 8:30, then stayed in our aft cabins until 9:45, which was just when our color group was being called. We were in the car by 10:20, and went to the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, which was fun for the kids.

 

All in all a great vacation. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. And thanks again to the posters who responded to my question about snorkeling during the cruise.

[pkdof]

I forgot to mention a very pleasant surprise on arriving at our cabin. I had already been surprised when we got our docs to find a $50 shipboard credit per cabin; when we got to cabin, TA had given us an additional $150 OBC per cabin.

[BRU5]

Other than the terrace pool party what effect if any did the pool have on your rooms?? Were there lots of people in the area or are the rooms blocked off in some fashion from the pool area? It is hard to ge a good picture simply from the lay out of the deck plans. Any further info you can provide would be appreciated. The location of the rooms look great however....??

Thanks for your response!!!

[pkdof]

The pool had no effect, except that it was very convenient if you wanted to use it, and it was very easy to get to Outrigger Bar and Horizon Court. There is a small hallway outside the aft cabins that connections with the long corridor down the port side. At the intersection, there is a door to the outside, and you take a few steps up to the terrace pool. Then there are a few more steps up to the Outrigger Bar and Horizon Court Terrace.

[NorcalGuy]

Thanks for commenting on those cabins. I was wondering what they would be like. They are definately convenient to the aft pool, Horizon Court, etc. Other than the engine noise while entering port, how much vibration was there? Was it bad enough to shake the beds?

[CoolCanadian]

I'm booked to sail on the Diamond Princess Mexican Riviera in March of 2005.

I am going with my kids 16, 14 and 10. We're considering the Los Veranos Canopy Tour that you experienced. Please confirm the cost of the taxi to the office and tell me how much the kids enjoyed the thrill.

I'm already booked with Randi. The two older kids are hesitant to ride horses but the little one and I are excited. What are the names of the horses that the kids rode? What did you order at Victor's Restaurant and how much are his meals?

Tell me more about the Chileno Bay Snorkelling excursion. Is it the one that is offered by Princess. If it is...what are the finger foods that they offer and descibe the boat. What kind of fish did you see while snorkelling?

Also, boarding the Princess Diamond. What time did you arrive at the cruise terminal and how long did it take to get on the ship. I was told by Princess that boarding starts at 1:00, but others go to the cruise terminal as early as 11:00.

When disembarking the ship, how do you get a red tag to get off earlier? From what I've read, the higher floors get off earlier. Do you have to show your plane ticket at the purser's desk if you are on a lower floor in order to get a red ticket?

Many thanks if you have a moment to respond.

[pmcrusta]

I've tried locating a good picture to understand this so I thought I'd try asking past passengers on this ship. On the Emerald level what makes that deck have partically obstructed views? I've looked at a diagram but other than the tenders what else on that deck makes the cabins list as a partically obstructed view.

I am claustrophobic and so a inside cabin is out for me. But have been on other older ships with partial or fully obstucted. Every ship seems to have there own versions of what a partial or fully obstructed cabin is.

I'm pretty sure I can handle being able to only see minimally outside.

Hope you don't mind me asking here. Thanks, in advance.