Diamond Princess 1/22/05- 1/29/05

We're just back from our Mexican Riviera cruise on the Diamond Princess. Overall it was a good cruise, not a great one, mainly due to problems with dining. We are Platinum members and usually big Princess cheerleaders, but this was not what we had come to expect from Princess. We still had a great time, though!! I'll write more details later, but I'd also be happy to answer any questions about our trip.

cynbar what kind of problems did you have with dining that diminished your pleasure on the cruise?

Let me start with the good points, because there were so many. The ship is beautiful, with some nice changes from the Grand. The promenade deck has loungers -- what a great place to relax and watch the sea go by, although the first and last sea days were quite cool so it was hard to sit outside. The Wheelhouse Lounge is in the space usually used for the southwestern/Sterlings restaurant, and is much more attractive. The Internet Cafe is in the usual spot for the Wheelhouse, and here it's a lovely room with a bar selling specialty hot and cold coffees --- really a nice place. Our cabin was A209 , a balcony cabin forward on the Aloha deck, and it was fine for 2 people (even the bathroom and storage.) Our steward, Edgar, was one of the best we have had ---- he seemed to always be waiting for us to leave the cabin, and then he would make it up immediately! This sailing was full, but the other passengers were unfailingly pleasant --- no chair hogs, no constant complainers, no unruly children or teens. The dress code was observed well -- formal nights were formal and we saw no jeans or shorts in the DRs. Entertainment was fine, the usual cruise ships offerings, nothing either particularly good or bad. Island Night and Princess Idol were both well done and great fun.

Billy Hygate was our cruise director --- he wasn't too visible, has no AM show and wasn't seen at either Island Night or sailaway or Princess Idol, but his assistants were excellent (esp. Stu and Donna), so that made up for it. The casino was usually busy, and excessive smoke was never a problem (this was a pleasant surprise.) The shops had a nice selection, and the atrium sales weren't too intrusive. We didn't feel that we were constantly getting a sales pitch from the staff, either, which was a variation from some previous cruises. Daytime had a good selection of activities --- ice carving demonstrations, galley tour, backstage tour, bridge, pool games, art auctions with a better than usualt auctioneer. We also found the staff helpful and courteous (outside of the DRs, but more on that later), and the Horizon Court workers were especially efficient -- they even had someone offering more coffee during breakfast hours, which I've never seen before. Room service was friendly, accurate and very prompt -- we had lunch one sea day on our balcony, watching the sea go by and looking for whales, and it was a high,ight of our trip!

The ports were great and really exceeded our expectations. We have cruised the Caribbean many times and picked this itinerary for a change of pace , and we loved every one. In Puerto Vallarta, we took the ship's City Tour and Coastal Drive, then stopped in town for some shopping and sightseeing before returning to the ship. In Mazatlan, we did a private country tour with Mazatlan Frank, taking us up into the Sierra Madre hills to tour a couple of country villages, see bricks and tiles being made, walk through an inhabited hacienda, have an included lunch in a small village restaurant, and tour the city on the way back. This was a great day and a chance to see a part of Mexico away from the tourist areas. In Cabo, we did the zodiac whale watch --- this was great fun, a lively small boat ride with a good amount of whale sightings. Every one of these days was a big success, and I would gladly return to any of these ports for a land vacation.

Now on to the dining rooms, which is where we had problems. First let me say that the food all week was very good to excellent --- only the duck in Pacific moon was a disappointment. We especially enjoyed the lobster (of course), the osso buocco and pasta with seafood in Vivaldi, the onion rings in Sterling, the catfish and fajitas and kahlua rice pudding in Santa Fe, and the shrimp and scallop stir fry in Pacific Moon. We liked the concept of the 4 different DRs with different ambiance and supplemental menues, so we tried many of the alternative choices, and almost all were excellent. But we were troubled by the emphasis on reservations on this ship, with the only times available being either 5:30-6:00 or 8:00-8:30. This really isn't anytime dining which we had enjoyed so successfully on the Grand. We weren't brave enough to try and walk up at around 7:00 and risk getting shut out (some earlier reviews on these boards spoke of being sent off to the buffet, which we wouldn"t have liked.) The second problem we had was the set up of the DRs. The Diamond has put long bench seats around the perimeter and set the table for two up here--- they were so close that you could touch the people on each side, and there was no privacy if that's what you wanted. I wasn't wild about this arrangement, but DH really hated it --- he felt it was low budget, not typical of an upscale dining establishment. But the main problem we had was with the service, which was generally well below what we have had on our previous Princess cruises. Let me say here that we like the flexibility of anytime dining, and accept that there will naturally be less personal service than in traditional, but this was far below what we had twice on the Grand. We did have one excellent waiter on two nights --- Virgil in Santa Fe, he's worth requesting -- but the other nights ranged from just adequate to poor. We were rushed at every meal, with one course coming out on top of the the last and almost no conversation with the staff at all. We were given water and had the chance to order a drink or iced tea at the start of a meal, but that was it, no refills were offered. All of this was on a good night. Twice, we felt the need to speak to the maitre d" on the way out. The first was in Pacific Moon, when the waiter and assistant just disappeared. DH had no chance to send back his duck, and we were never offered coffee or dessert -- finally, we just left. The worst was in Sterling on the second formal night. Three tables for two sat down at about the same time, but one of them was behind the other two. When our lobster arrived, it was set down and the waiter vanished. No one offered drawn butter, no one offered to remove it ceremoniously from the shell, no one brought sour cream for the baked potato. So we plunged in, rather than wait for it to get cold (luckily it was delicious.) But when we were almost done, the waiter reappears with the lobster for the other table, and proceeds to make the usual fuss with removing the lobster from the shell, etc. We honestly couldn't believe it. One of the problems with the Diamond's set up is that it works against finding a good waiter and requesting him every night, because then you're limited to only one of the DRs. And before anyone says it, we know we could request traditional, but we shouldn't have to, and it's usually waitlisted anyway.

Great review Cynbar. We leave for Diamond in 10 days 2/12/05 voyage so your comments are very helpful. Right now the ship appears sold out. We are flying in Wednesday and out on Sunday so we hope to have a relaxing embark and disembark.

Thanks again, Randy

Now on to the dining rooms, which is where we had problems.

I am sorry you had a bad dining experience. Your tales of woe are exactly what scares me about personal choice dining. It doesn't ruin my dining experience if the waiters are too rushed to engage in a lot of banter at the table, but I do like a waiter who learns my preferences early on and caters to them.

I am traveling on the Island Princess in April and because I booked late, they listed me for PC dining. When I saw that, I was on the phone in a heartbeat to my TA. Told her no friggin way. I prefer early dining, but am over 200 down on the waiting list. She said that's why they listed me for PC. I told her to give me late traditional then ... but under no circumstances PC. I just don't think the flexibility of dining when you want is worth getting the short shift by waiters who really have no inkling as to what I like, nor care. In traditional, even though you are on auto tips, I think the waiters have more of a motivation to take good care of you, figuring that if they do maybe you'll grease their palms with a little extra cash at the end of the cruise ... which is something I certainly don't mind doing when I've received exceptional service.

My feeling is that the benefits of anytime dining are far offset by a good wait staff in traditional ... and on those occasions when the time for traditional doesn't work out, like perhaps I returned from port too late ... I could always grab a bite in the Horizon Court, or plan on dinner at one of the specialty restaurants that night.

You might want to consider giving traditional a try on your next cruise. You might find you actually prefer it.

Blue skies ...

--rita

Kryos----- The funny thing about all this is that we have loved anytime dining on our last two Princess cruises, both on the Grand. The first time, we found a waiter we liked and just requested him every night. This was never a problem although we presented ourselves at a variety of times, depending on how our day was going. We never waited more than about 10 minutes, which we thought was well worth the flexibility we gained. The second Grand cruise, we didn't really find a waiter we loved, but the service was still far ahead of what we got on the Diamond. The problem with the Diamond and the Sapphire is that they're not designed for requesting a good waiter because that would limit you to only one of the 4 themed DRs. The Island is not set up like that --- there's only the regular menu available, no supplements like we had, so my suggestion is to find a winner and stick with him!! These boards can probably give you some good leads, and then all you'll need to do is request him when you arrive at the DR to check in. We will definitely do anytime dining again, but probably not on the Diamond. We have had traditional in the past, but anytime dining gives you the freedom to pick any time you want and saves you from a bad waiter or tablemates for the entire week.

We also just returned from the Diamond and have concluded that you have to take all of these board messages with a grain of salt. I also think that it would be much more helpful if the reader knew something more about the writers of these boards than how many cruises they have been on. WThen, at least you would know where peoople are coming from when they say soemthing is great or poor. What is great food for one is mediocre for another. What is crummy entertainment for someone who goes to broadway shows is awesome for someone who never goes out. What is a beautiful ship to one is just average to someone who has been on the finest.

We found that Princess offers a very middle of the road and similar cruise experience to NCL and a notch below our expereince on Grandeur of the Seas. The most consistent comment we heard was that Princess has gone downhill. We had much higher expectations. Having said that, it made for a good holiday--it was just not a special experience. The food was good with some splashes of very good, the entertainment was pretty lame except for 2 very entertaining comedians-the magician comedian and the juggler comedian. We walked out of the shows and both good old Stan and the cruise director whatisname are both long in the tooth and not of this century. They obviously have thier appeal to some.

We liked anytime dining. Just so you know, we are mid 50's, very active, professional and we dine out a lot. We had no problem with 8 p.m. reservations and never felt rushed in any of the dining rooms. The DR's were usually half empty by 9 pm and we were often the last to leave at 930. The service was just fine, not white glove service but very accommodating. The wait staff were not in our faces and we had no interest in making them our best friends. The specialty restaurants are a bit of a misnomer since really, they are serving the dining room menu but each has an extra appetizer or 2, 2 extra main courses and a dessert specific to it. We picked and chose what we wanted off the different menus so in many respects, it didn't really matter which restaurant you were in. We just made sure we ate in each once. We also ate in Sabatinis, probably as upscale as the Diamond gets for a dining experience and it was worth the $20. Lots of food, well served and presented. My only surprise is that for an Italian restaurant, they serve a lot of seafood and not much carne (meat).

On the contrary, we had a breakfast and a lunch in the main dining room and in each case, they were very unpleasant experiences--rushed, inconsistent service, poor attention and as luck would have it, the most uncommunicative dining partners we have ever experienced. We don't like buffets but chose that over the luck of the draw in the main dining room.

Just a few other comments: we did the PV off road bike riding-just 10 of us on good equipment on the back roads of the hills surrounding PV. It was a very good workout. If you golf, take a lesson from Kate--the best lesson I ever had for any money and the golf in Mazatlan was a dream. Where else can you golf til you drop. We had the course virtually to ourselves--30 golfers in a shotgun start.

It was a good holiday but no better than any of the mainstream cruise lines we have encountered. I don't quite understand why there is so much yahooing about Princess. It provides reasonable value for the dollar but it isn't that good that I would never try anyone else. Actually, we won't rush back to Princess after this cruise. There are a lot more cruise lines to try. Celebrity is next.

I'll chime in on our experience on the Princess Diamond 1/22/05-1/29/05 sailing. I will only comment on the food because that's the only area that we found lacking. We have sailed on the RCL, Carnival, and first time Princess.

We had traditional late dining. Our waiter's first night back from a 6-month vacation. He was sloppy in his service and seemed a bit riffed that he was there and not on vacation. His assistant hated her job as well and was only there to make enough money to start a business with her husband.

We had wonderful tablemates and we got along fine. We all agreed that the food in the dining room was not very tasty. Comments were: too bland, tasteless, too fishy tasting. Two of our tablemates ate in Sabbitinis on different nights and both said that the food was terrible. They were disappointed in the food and felt it was a waste of money.

The Horizon Court had two sides to the buffet. The salad bar was very good, the luncheon meat was very salty, and the broiled chicken was dried out. It was also very crowded and it was impossible to find a seat. Often times we had to go out on the deck to eat. For breakfast, there were made ahead omeletes, fried eggs, scrambled eggs, deep fried bacon, small pancakes and french toast, dried up sausages, and greasy out of the can corned beef hash, and hash browns. White rice, grits, fresh melons, grapefruit, and canned apricots, peaches, and prunes. Boxes of dried cereal was also available. IMHO, it was par with Denny's or Hometown Buffet.

At the Trident Grill, they had grill chicken sandwiches, hamburgers, and hot dogs. DH and I got a hot dog and sauerkraut. The hot dog itself was very salty, it wasn't the best hot dog. If you wanted something to drink like ice tea, you had to walk clear back to the Horizon Court to get your drink. No lemonade or punch, or beverage dispensers were located ANYWHERE but the Horizon Court.

For late afternoon snacks at the Horizon court, they had chicken hot wings (good, just add more Tobasco sauce), hot dogs wrapped in bread, cheese cubes, sliced beef, dried up sandwiches, poppers (good, but from a package), tasteless egg rolls, and pot stickers, peel and eat shrimp (tasteless), pizza (semi-thick crust), and the salad bar. Again, I thought I was at Hometown Buffet with Hometown being tastier. I wonder if the Italian chef ever heard of using garlic and other seasonings for flavor. The peel and eat shrimp would have been great cooked in butter, garlic, some white wine, salt and pepper.

By Tuesday evening, I was ordering a steak medium done, baked potato and steamed veggies. The waiter didn't even have to ask me what I wanted. On lobster night, they ran out of lobster and you were limited to how many you could order. Our tablemates weren't too happy about that. I did try a plate of Fettucine Alfredo. The noodles were baked to the side of the dish and the center noddles and sauce were like mush and tasteless. The chef could have added some garlic and nutmeg for taste.

We cruise for the good food and drink more than anything else. Our room was great, our cabin steward was wonderful, and the ship was beautiful. Will I cruise on Princess again? Only if they improve on their food. Our next cruise line to sample will be Celebrity. IMHO, Carnival has Princess beat in the food department. If Carnival can get the unruly children problem under control, I might consider cruising with them again.

Oh and if you want a chocolate sundae, they're $3.25 each. On Carnival there's no extra charge. I hate being nickled and dimed. :rolleyes:

We were on the Diamond Princess January 8. We had PC dining but were with a larger group and had 5:45 pm reservations set for each evening by the TA. (a little early for me but that's what the group wanted). The 1st night we showed up at Sterling's and were told we weren't in the computer but to go to Santa Fe. We went there and they said "no, you're not in our computer either". After much discussion we were finally seated in Santa Fe. Neither maitre'd was very helpful and both seemed put out. We rotated through all four restaurants each evening. In all restaurants I observed empty tables between 6:00 pm and 7:30 pm. A couple of times it was people in our larger party who were unable to come to dinner (they were ill) and the table was left empty. I think a reservation should be let go if the party does not show up withing 10 min of the reservation time. Then more walk ins could be seated. We hear many complaints about PC dining on this ship and I think it's because there are 4 PC restaurants instead of 1 or 2. Many said they missed shows because they couldn't get into a dining room. Maybe more information needs to be given as to how PC dining works as many assumed you could wait for a table or easily make a reservation.

Overall we felt the food was good to excellent. We had better service in the PC dining rooms than we did in the main dining room at lunch. Also found the overall atmosphere to be better there too. We went to Horizon Court for breakfast each day and it was OK. Found it better to find a table and alternate who is getting food rather than both get food and then try to find a table. I'm not impressed with the buffet and think Carnival (Legend) and RCI (Serenade of the Seas) have much better buffets.

Would we do it again? Of course......probably with assigned dining although the assigned dining room is not easily accessible. With assigned dining you can still go to PC dining so you have more options. Will be on Island Princess in Oct and see that the assigned dining room is in a much better location.

We were on the Diamond last year too and agree that the dining room situation needs some tweaking. Everybody had complaints and we started to think that the maitre d's were so bombarded with complaints by unhappy passengers that they just turned a deaf ear which begat more complaints.

The waiters had multiple tables at all phases of dinner--some starting, some in the middle and some finishing up. Our dinners lasted from a fast 45 minutes to 2 hours and each time we were at a table for two. Some nights we couldn't get drinks. There was never a fun feeling to dinner at Personal Choice on the Diamond.

However, we enjoyed the food and were happy to have some different choices than the tried and true on the rest of the ships.

So what to do to make this better? Probably several things. First, cancel any reservation if the passengers don't show up in 10 minutes. Second, part of the problem is that everyone wants to try each dining room. Maybe they have to give up on the four different PC dining rooms. Seems like it would be easier on the chefs too. Perhaps they could just go back to Italian night, Asian night, Southwest night, etc. Third, figure out something so the traditional dining diners don't constantly skip their dining rooms to go to PC and exacerbate the problem. Maybe if they do, they have to go very early or really late. On one of our cruises we noted that many tables in late traditional dining were mostly empty, yet there's ALWAYS a wait list for traditional. Why not replace the missing diners with people who would love to get into traditional, but booked too late?

Just my thoughts. Anyone else have some ideas how to tweak the Diamond's dining?

We leave on Feb 12 on the Diamond and I hope they have ths "attitude" problem cleared up by then. We cruise for the experiance. My BIG thing is eating out, even here at home. All I want is good service. We typicaly order a bottle of wine before we decide on our entree. Are they slow on that also?

We are Elite members with over 37 cruises on various lines but we prefer Princess. I will tell you this if we have any experiance like cynbar I will have NO problem pulling the tips right out from under them and will consider another cruise line next time. The "Snowman" has spoken.

I saw this review on another board and I think it pretty much says what we found it to be too.

Occupation: Retired

Number of Cruises: 12

Cruise Line: Princess

Ship: Diamond

Sailing Date: December 29th, 2004

Itinerary: Mexican Riviera

My wife and I together with a group of friends have just returned from the New Year’s cruise aboard the Diamond Princess which left Los Angeles December 29, 2004 and returned January 8, 2005. We were a party of nine and had about 20 other friends on this cruise. Most of us had previously cruised aboard Princess as well as on other cruise lines.

For a New Years Eve 10-day cruise where we all paid a premium price most of us were sorely disappointed. I felt compelled to write you this letter with our comments of your ship and cruise.

This was the worst experience cruising that we have ever had.

In brief the following are some of the highlights

A – The quality, presentation and variety of the food was terrible. The food served at dinner was cold (not one of the meals was served hot). The meat items were the lowest quality that we have ever seen on any cruise. The selection at the buffet was terrible as well. The bacon was piled into a serving tray and stuck together so all you received was a glob of bacon either dry, cold and overcooked or cold half cooked. The egg omelets were cooked hours earlier and served dry and cold. In short we would rate the food as just marginally above fast food. The ship ran out of things such as berries, bananas and sugar free ice cream. The food served in the Sabatines restaurant was well below par. As an example the crab cakes were the size of marbles and inedible. The veal chop was cold, tiny, tough and over seasoned. To charge a additional fee for poor quality food is ridiculous. We have used the Sabatinis restaurants on other Ships, (e.g., Grand Princess) and they were much better. When the head waiter of a dining room was told that we couldn’t get a reservation for dinner at any of the personal choice rooms and that the regular dinning room was full, we were told it was too bad and to go the buffet. After accepting a tip he suddenly found that he could get us in for dinner. Also the policy of allowing people to make reservations for a personal choice dining room for the entire week creates a situation where many people are left out in the cold with no chance of getting to eat at a time of their choosing – the object, apparently, of personal choice dining.

B – The method of adding the gratuity to the bill results in your service personnel not providing service. When asked a question or a request we would be either ignored or greeted with a stare, or someone would pretend not to understand English. The room Steward was very good. A few of the waiters were good but on whole most were not.

C – The entertainment for the cruise was also bad. The 2 production shows were good but that is about it. For a 10-day cruise this is pretty bad. One night the entire show was a banjo player. Another night a singer was the entire show. Another night a juggler was the show. New years eve there was music on the deck next to the pool. There were 3000 passengers on the cruise. There was no hope or attempt to accommodate the passengers. The other Lounge areas had no decorations, nor were anything done to them to even simulate New Years Eve. The ships entertainment director was terrible.

D – when one of out shore tours was cancelled the night before arriving in port, we were not given any reason or adequate time to reschedule something else. When we arrived in Carbo San Lucas, which we had to tender into shore, the ship arrived in port 2 hours late. The ships newspaper stated that that all those not on a tour would be handled on a first come first served basis and to just come down to the embarkation deck. As it turned out what they failed to mention was that you had to get a numbered ticket, which would then be called. Some people got a ticket and then when to eat in the dining room. Others not knowing about the ticket system went to eat first and then went down to the lower deck only to find an hour or more wait. This then limited the time in town to between 2-3 hours maximum. When the ships tour officers were asked about this all they did was shrug.

E – There was no card or game room facilities on this ship. The other ships in your fleet do have a card/game room. We had to go up to the buffet area in order to play cards while other passengers were trying to eat. The only accommodations made were for bridge players in one of the dining rooms. The rest of the passengers had to fend for them selves.

F – When we were leaving the ship on the last day we had to wait 1½ hours on the dock standing on a concrete floor waiting for the luggage area to open. Treating people like cattle is no way to get repeat customers.

But we were troubled by the emphasis on reservations on this ship, with the only times available being either 5:30-6:00 or 8:00-8:30. ..The second problem we had was the set up of the DRs. The Diamond has put long bench seats around the perimeter and set the table for two up here--- they were so close that you could touch the people on each side, and there was no privacy if that's what you wanted. I wasn't wild about this arrangement, but DH really hated it --- But the main problem we had was with the service, which was generally well below what we have had on our previous Princess cruises. ....We were rushed at every meal, with one course coming out on top of the the last and almost no conversation with the staff at all. We were given water and had the chance to order a drink or iced tea at the start of a meal, but that was it, no refills were offered. All of this was on a good night.

We are Elite- 20 total cruises (207 sea days)- 17 Princess and 3 Holland America - and also really prefer PC dining. I agree with the comments cynbar has made about the Diamond. We don't have any problem with the reservatons because we usually make them for 6 PM and have made standing reservations on the other Princess ships with PC dining at that time. We did notice those without reservations being turned away and the "Patter" does say they recommend making reservations which I imagine is not what the majority want to do.

We had read about "private" tables in the different restaurants and so went prepared for the bench set up. The first night, Pacific Moon, after the reservation screen was checked we requested the private table and right away we were given it with a smile on his face. The second and fourth nights in Vivaldi we requested the "private" table and were told it is probably reserved - a look at our reservation and immediately we were taken to that table. In the Santa Fe we saw the "private" table was occupied so did have to settle for the bench seat. The other nights "Norwalk" that DH got resulted in room service. The reason that I mention the reaction to our request for the "private" table, only one in each of the 4 dining rooms, is to give others our thoughts on requesting these tables. We felt possibly the only reason we were given them was because of our Elite status. We have been told the number of cruises is in their computer data base - don't know if this is a fact because we were never able to see the screen. So these tables may or may not be given when requested. Have read another post where they were told the table was reserved.

In the Santa Fe with the bench seat assignement: There was a party of 6 to our left, 3 tables for 2 pushed together, and they were very loud. On my right there was a low opaque divider and the couple next to us was quiet and we really didn't have much problem with that BUT not our ideal seating arrangement. There are many more tables for two in these dining rooms than the other PC dining rooms on the other ships and that style seating is probably the way they manage this plus it is very easy for them to push tables together to accomodate more.

Service was only lacking in the Santa Fe and our waitress apologized saying her assistant was ill and the substitue was not familiar with the dining room so she had to show/tell him everything to do. Our excellant waiter in the Vivaldi was very busy the first visit but the second time around he only had 6 of us to serve so spent a lot of time talking with us. He said on the Diamond they have more passangers to serve so they work a great deal harder with little or no time to talk with anyone. He had 20 people to serve at his station and we have observed on the other ships they usually have about 14 people. DH likes ice tea and we have learned in the past for him to order 3 glasses when he places the order to eliminate having to wait for refills. If the servers seem busy he asks for them to be put on the table rather than kept at the wait stations. In the Pacific Moon the waiter gave good service offering more sushi, etc. and his station was filled. The only night we saw empty seats between 6 and 7 was the second visit to Vivaldi which followed the day in PV. We were never rushed but did note the courses came right after each other except in the Santa Fe (see above) where we sat and sat waiting for the next course.

Our disappointment came with breafast and lunch seating in the International Dining Room. We entered for breakfast and requested "2 only" to be told they don't have any tables for 2 in this dining room but since they weren't "real busy" they'd make a table for 4 into 2 "this time only". At lunch we never even asked. We do love joing others from time to time but rarely order as much food as the others and hate to sit and wait for them to be served various courses and consume them. On every other Princess ship we have always received a table for 2 upon request - yes, sometimes they try to get us to join others- without being told there aren't any in the dining room.

Having read the comments from others on these boards really prepared us for the experience with PC dining on the Diamond and we thank all of those who take the time to share their experiences both positive and negative. Knowning what to expect helps when things are not the way they are on another Princess ship. We have found with Princess procedures, activites, etc. can vary so much from ship to ship that one might not even recognize they are on the same cruise line. ;)

I saw this review on another board and I think it pretty much says what we found it to be too.

Must comment on our experience on the Diamond 1/8/-15/05 to give those reading this thread another view point to see. These reviews vary so much from poster to poster just pointing out how much variety there can be from one ship to another and one time to another on a particular ship all on the same cruise line. If we all liked the same things then there would only be one cruise line. Princess offers a wide variety for the wide variety of passangers and ages of its cruisers. They will not please all of the people all of the time. We find knowing what to expect results in us changing expectations from one time to another.

My comments are in black on the following quoted review

Occupation: Retired -also retired

Number of Cruises: 12 - 20

Cruise Line: Princess

Ship: Diamond

Sailing Date: December 29th, 2004 - January 8, 2004

Itinerary: Mexican Riviera

My wife and I together with a group of friends have just returned from the New Year’s cruise aboard the Diamond Princess which left Los Angeles December 29, 2004 and returned January 8, 2005. We were a party of nine and had about 20 other friends on this cruise. Most of us had previously cruised aboard Princess as well as on other cruise lines.

For a New Years Eve 10-day cruise where we all paid a premium price most of us were sorely disappointed. I felt compelled to write you this letter with our comments of your ship and cruise.

This was the worst experience cruising that we have ever had.

In brief the following are some of the highlights

A – The quality, presentation and variety of the food was terrible. We felt there was a very large variety of food with an acceptable, not fancy, presentation. The food served at dinner was cold (not one of the meals was served hot). We never had a cold meal - occasionally never real hot but land restaurants are the same- and serveral of the dishes were so hot we were warned not to burn ourselves. The meat items were the lowest quality that we have ever seen on any cruise. We had some very good pieces of meat - steaks are never as good in the dining rooms as they are in Sterling Steakhouse (other ships and not the Sterling Restaurant on the Diamond) but certaining not poor and very good if cooked to ones liking which can be a challang to get. We rarely order steaks as we have them often at home.The selection at the buffet was terrible as well. Not our first choice of where to eat but we found a better variety of foods on the Diamond with 1/2 the selections of the other Princess ships. They appear to divide the serving areas into 2 parts for a total of 4 compared to the 2 , one on each side of the ship, on the other ships. The bacon was piled into a serving tray and stuck together so all you received was a glob of bacon either dry, cold and overcooked or cold half cooked. The egg omelets were cooked hours earlier and served dry and cold. In short we would rate the food as just marginally above fast food. The ship ran out of things such as berries, bananas and sugar free ice cream. Occasionally we have had them run out of something like bananas at the end or a cruise but this is very rare. The food served in the Sabatines restaurant was well below par. As an example the crab cakes were the size of marbles and inedible. The veal chop was cold, tiny, tough and over seasoned. To charge a additional fee for poor quality food is ridiculous. We have used the Sabatinis restaurants on other Ships, (e.g., Grand Princess) and they were much better. When the head waiter of a dining room was told that we couldn’t get a reservation for dinner at any of the personal choice rooms and that the regular dinning room was full, we were told it was too bad and to go the buffet. After accepting a tip he suddenly found that he could get us in for dinner. Also the policy of allowing people to make reservations for a personal choice dining room for the entire week creates a situation where many people are left out in the cold with no chance of getting to eat at a time of their choosing – the object, apparently, of personal choice dining. People would not be left out in the cold if they made reservations like recommended in the "Patter"

B – The method of adding the gratuity to the bill results in your service personnel not providing service. We have had not had poorer service since this was started. The personnel serving you are human and service will vary with different individuals. To say that everyone on the Diamond did not give service is very hard to believe and not at all what our experience was. When asked a question or a request we would be either ignored or greeted with a stare, or someone would pretend not to understand English. Some of the crew do not speak or understand English very well but we may have to ask a question or make a request several different ways to be understood but never once have we been ignored on the Diamond or anyother ship.The room Steward was very good. A few of the waiters were good but on whole most were not.

C – The entertainment for the cruise was also bad. The 2 production shows were good but that is about it. For a 10-day cruise this is pretty bad. One night the entire show was a banjo player. Another night a singer was the entire show. Another night a juggler was the show. Many people like these types of entertainers. New years eve there was music on the deck next to the pool. There were 3000 passengers on the cruise. There was no hope or attempt to accommodate the passengers. The other Lounge areas had no decorations, nor were anything done to them to even simulate New Years Eve. Hope it changes before next New Year's Eve when we're on the ship. If it doesn't now I will know what to expect and that will help ease my disappointment The ships entertainment director was terrible. Some are better than others and they do rotate from ship to ship so one cruise he might be the poorest in the fleet and the next cruise the best so find this comment should not judge the Diamond. The cruise director will probably be different when the reader cruises.

D – when one of out shore tours was cancelled the night before arriving in port, we were not given any reason or adequate time to reschedule something else. When we arrived in Carbo San Lucas, which we had to tender into shore, the ship arrived in port 2 hours late. The ships newspaper stated that that all those not on a tour would be handled on a first come first served basis and to just come down to the embarkation deck. As it turned out what they failed to mention was that you had to get a numbered ticket, which would then be called. Some people got a ticket and then when to eat in the dining room. Others not knowing about the ticket system went to eat first and then went down to the lower deck only to find an hour or more wait. This then limited the time in town to between 2-3 hours maximum. When the ships tour officers were asked about this all they did was shrug. Sorry to hear about this experience but we have always seen the "Patter" tell people about the tender ticket system which applies even if arriving late. Doubt the tour officers could have said much about a policy that is always in place and any comments by them would probably have resulted in a confrontation with unhappy passengers. Organized ship's tours are always given priority on Princess ships. People that book their own tours have many comments about this but why shouldn't Princess put these tours first?

E – There was no card or game room facilities on this ship. The other ships in your fleet do have a card/game room. We had to go up to the buffet area in order to play cards while other passengers were trying to eat. The only accommodations made were for bridge players in one of the dining rooms. The rest of the passengers had to fend for them selves. We observed many using the very large Wheelhouse Lounge during the daytime to play cards and games - not ideal I agree but we never use the rooms on the other ships and except for bridge players have rarely seen them used.

F – When we were leaving the ship on the last day we had to wait 1½ hours on the dock standing on a concrete floor waiting for the luggage area to open. Treating people like cattle is no way to get repeat customers. Carried luggage off the ship but others on the transfer with us picked up their luggage immediately