Diamond Princess Review 2/5 - 2/12

What can I say? We had a great week. Our only really bad experience on the DP was when they made us get off at the end.

Here’s what we did:

-2 yoga classes (me)

-played bingo twice (DH won $300)

-went horseback riding (Stone Island in Mazatlan with Randi’s Happy Horses)(loved it)

-went snorkeling (Chileno Bay/Cabo)(really fun)

-Sierra Madre Expedition in PV – this was really something – went to some small villages & a beautiful beach, but the best part was our guide, Gustavo, who had us in stitches most of the time

-hot stone massage (me)(heaven)

-Rasul (me & DH)(the less said about this, the better, as this is a family forum)

-Thermal sanctuary 3 times (me & DH)(very relaxing)

-almost beat DH at pingpong (he cheats)

-painted cup (me) and bowl (DD) – ceramics at sea

-lots of laying around, playing games, reading, watching movies on TV

-favorite moment: watching sunrise over Stone Island as we glided into port, to a chorus of crowing roosters

Other random comments –

Embarkation – we live in LA so this was pretty easy. We loaded our car up with too much luggage – a la Beverly Hillbillies – and rolled up to the pier around 1 PM. Lines were short and it only took us about 20-30 minutes to board

Disembarkation – We were on Dolphin Deck & had no plane to catch, so had to wait around for quite awhile before being called. Went pretty fast after that.

Ship – The public areas and pools are lovely, extremely well maintained. Found our way around easily. Most of the staff were very friendly/pleasant.

Staterooms – had booked a minisuite for us and inside stateroom for DS (14) and DD (12). Told online agent to mark our minisuite “do not upgrade” – it was on Emerald deck & was really looking forward to that balcony!

Checked personalizer 3 days before cruise and both our stateroom numbers had mysteriously changed. Turns out they moved us to the family suite – D105/101. Very bummed at being moved so far forward on the ship, but it turned out great – very big stateroom with two bedrooms and living room, huge balcony with table, 3 chairs and 2 loungers, great views. True, it was very windy most (but not all) of the time while at sea, but that appeared to be the case for the rest of the balconies, too – didn’t see many people out while at sea. And the suite amenities were great! The only weird thing was, neither Princess nor our agent ever notified us of the cabin change, and if I hadn’t checked the personalizer it would have come as a complete surprise.

Cabin Steward – Lawrence – very sweet and did a great job

Dining – We started off Traditional second seating. Shared a table for 8 with two very nice couples from Canada. We baled after 2 nights, though. It was just more formality than we needed for all 7 nights. We ordered room service from the Traditional menu on Mon & Wed night, and enjoyed just hanging out in the suite, eating, playing games (which we got from Library – good selection), watching movies. We called Mon night and made reservations for Tues at Santa Fe at 8:30 and Thurs at Sterling for 8:20 (second formal nite). The last night, Fri, we just brought plates to our room from Horizon Court and nibbled while packing.

Dining Room service was very good, always, especially in the Trad’l dining room. Enjoyed Sterling the most (best décor; good steak & lobster tails).

Food - Have to agree with a lot of other posters, the food on the Diamond ain’t that good. It’s not awful – just fair. Our kids were happy, though – DS lived on cheeseburgers and DD on sundaes. And I did somehow manage to gain 5 lbs…

Coffee is everything they say about it, too.

We brought our own soda, water & wine onboard.

Do get the eggcrate mattress pads & feather pillows, they make the beds very comfy.

And enjoy yourself!!! We sure did…

Minerva-

Thank you so much for your positive review... it sounds like you & your family had appropriate expectations, and had a wonderful time!

The Diamond has been taking quite a beating on these boards as of late, and seeing as though we are boarding her in 7 weeks, I am so happy to have read your review.

Thanks again!

Thanks for the great review... Just had a couple of questions for you.. We are doing the Mexican Riveria in Dec of this year on the Sapphire Princess, and was wondering what the temperatures were in the ports?

Were you able to lay out during the day or was it to chilly?

Did you enjoy the snorkeling, did you see alot of cool fish and was the excursion through princess?

Did you like all of the ports of call?

Was the water rough? We have only done Caribbean itenaries so I am very curious?

Thanks and sorry about the questions

Hi, Iluvcruizn -

The temps in all 3 ports were perfect, about 75 degrees. I liked the rural parts of Mazatlan and PV that our excursions took us to - very kicked back, people riding burros, goats & baby chicks running around in the road, children waving at us, pretty flowers everywhere...we went into the old section of Mazatlan city later in the day, that was pretty gritty and not too appealing, but maybe we went to the wrong part. Didn't go into PV at all (no time after excursion).

Cabo was just a big resort-type place, very commercial, & ship left at 2:00, so didn't look around much there.

We booked the snorkeling through the ship, don't like to cut corners when only in port for a short time. They take you out in a catamaran and it's a beautiful boat ride. They take you over to Los Arcos, very scenic. We saw A LOT of colorful fish. They don't give you much snorkling instruction and you just dive in off the boat, tho, so I can't really recommend it for beginners, not that we're very expert either!

Seas were smooth til the last day, which was a little rocky, and apparently this is usually the case. The best day for laying out was Monday, Sun/Fri were a little too cool, although you could have better weather than we did. Winter weather really varies here in LA - it can get up in the 80's or drop to 40's with rain - I imagine it's similar further south.

Hope you have fun!

....Do get the eggcrate mattress pads & feather pillows, they make the beds very comfy.

Minerva, is this something you need to request "before" the cruise or do you just ask your room steward the first day? We're cruising in four weeks and since I have low back pain/sciatica this would be lovely! TIA

Lisa :)

Lisa,

We asked our steward for the pillows and pads as soon as we saw him, and gave him $10.00. Someone else on this board said you can fax the request to Princess before the cruise, to 661-284-4770.

Minerva

In 10 minutes, we are headed to the airport to catch a flight to LA to board the Diamond tomorrow. We can't wait - work has been way too busy and we need to relax and reconnect.

Glad to read this review - we are not looking for super upscale white glove treatment. Just a nice clean place to relax, with decent service, and good food. Our last cruise in December was on the Carnival Inspiration. We weren't overly thrilled with it so are hoping the Diamond experience will be that much nicer.

Thanks for the great review... Just had a couple of questions for you.. We are doing the Mexican Riveria in Dec of this year on the Sapphire Princess, and was wondering what the temperatures were in the ports?

 

Were you able to lay out during the day or was it to chilly?

 

Did you enjoy the snorkeling, did you see alot of cool fish and was the excursion through princess?

 

Did you like all of the ports of call?

 

Was the water rough? We have only done Caribbean itenaries so I am very curious?

 

Thanks and sorry about the questions

I guess the Sapphire Princess will replace the Diamond Princess soon. I went to a different site called cruise reviews and checked out some of the "nonpartisan" reviews of the Sapphire Princess. Again, the food comments were not that great, so I think I'll pass again on the Princess lines. The food is a very important factor when we decide to go with a particular line. Here's a link to the review for Sapphire:

http://www.cruisereviews.com/PrincessCruises/SapphirePrincess.htm

elliair,

Just curious--is the food one of the main reasons you cruise? I don't mean this as an attack at all, I'm just wondering because I notice that you always post about the Diamond's food. I'm not a Princess cheerleader by any means (I want to cruise on ALL the major lines before I become a cheerleader for any line...lol), but even though I didn't think the food was the best I'd ever had on the Sapphire last summer, I enjoyed the cruise overall so much that I'm going on the Diamond again next month....cruising for the ship, service, and itinerary...and the food was pretty decent. :-)

elliair,

Just curious--is the food one of the main reasons you cruise? I don't mean this as an attack at all, I'm just wondering because I notice that you always post about the Diamond's food. I'm not a Princess cheerleader by any means (I want to cruise on ALL the major lines before I become a cheerleader for any line...lol), but even though I didn't think the food was the best I'd ever had on the Sapphire last summer, I enjoyed the cruise overall so much that I'm going on the Diamond again next month....cruising for the ship, service, and itinerary...and the food was pretty decent. :-)

Elliair while you were on your cruise did you go to the pursers office ask to speak to a manager there about the food?

I can assure you they do listen.... this would have been rectified for you.Princess ,goes out of the way to please their customers and have them returning to them. I have no complaints about the food.......well only one and that is it keeps wonting me to eat more,so I have to walk up all those darn stairs to try and compensate for that.!!!!!!!!!!!

elliair,

Just curious--is the food one of the main reasons you cruise? I don't mean this as an attack at all, I'm just wondering because I notice that you always post about the Diamond's food. I'm not a Princess cheerleader by any means (I want to cruise on ALL the major lines before I become a cheerleader for any line...lol), but even though I didn't think the food was the best I'd ever had on the Sapphire last summer, I enjoyed the cruise overall so much that I'm going on the Diamond again next month....cruising for the ship, service, and itinerary...and the food was pretty decent. :-)

jimbug: Yes, the food is a VERY important part of our cruising experience. My DH and I do not like to fly anywhere, so we are limited to where we want to vacation. We also own a seasonal-type business, and we are also limited to our times of travel. With that being said, that's why we cruise the Mexican Riveria. We don't care about the ports, we only care about (1) food (2) service AND (3) on-board activities. With food being our #1 priority (we enjoy eating 3 times a day and more), and it plays a big part in our overall experience on the ship. The Diamond Princess is a beautiful ship, our cabin and balcony experience was great, and the service (cabin steward) was good. Our waiter had been off the ship for 6 months, and it was his first night back. He wasn't happy to be there. His assistant was only there to get enough money so her and her husband (also a waiter), could get enough money together to start a business. The service was sloppy the first 2 evenings (we had traditional seating), and improved the rest of the evenings.

Specifically why I found the food not good on the Princess Diamond:

1. No qualms on the Horizon Court SALAD BAR. They had a fabulous selection of salad bar offerings.

2. Breakfast: Canned corned beef and hash (unacceptable!). Premade omeletes, over easy eggs (served flat and tasteless and cold-warm at best), by the time you got your coffee and sit down to eat, they were cold. Greasy globs of bacon over salty and limp, salty ham, shriveled up sausage links, silver dollar size pancakes, canned prunes, canned peaches, apricots, (okay out-of-season fruits), but still the out-of-can jiffy stuff. The eggs benedict (I ordered at the International sit down), was salty and luke-warm. You were served two and I could only eat one, it was tasteless, no flavor).

3. Lunch: Stuff swimming in gravy or sauces. There were always pasta dishes, sliced luncheon meats to make sandwiches, also premade sandwiches, which always looked dried out, dried out looking broiled chicken, prepackaged potstickers, egg-rolls, chicken fingers, poppers (crew member verified when I asked them). If I want fast-food, I'll eat it at home. I tried the Cioppino for lunch one day....tomato sauce, 1 shrimp and circles of rubbery calamari. I'm an accomplished cook and I know how to make Cioppino, this dish was anything but a seafood stew. This was about the same everyday. I suggest eating fried chicken, and the packaged mash potatoes every day and you can't go wrong.

4. Dinner: Order the steak (you can order this every night), baked potato and you can't go wrong. I finally caught onto this the 4th night out after everything I ordered (middle of the road stuff), tasted terrible.

I always hear on this Princess cruisecritic forum how upscale they are from Carnival. I have sailed several times on Carnival, (I'm not a big fan of Carnival (Pride only) for other reasons), but I can honestly say, Carnival's food was very tasty, their pizza was not greasy and limp like Princess. Their grill was excellent and they offered more of a variety (steak sandwiches with grilled onions for instance). And, you only had to walk a few steps to get your lemonade, ice tea or punch.

Also, at the Pizzeria on Carnival (Elation and Pride), you can order a calzone and a fresh ceaser salad. When finished, there's an ice cream bar with no extra charge.

We paid a lot more money to cruise on Princess, so my expectations of course were higher. Carnival Elation and Pride were far superior in the quality of food than Princess, and I would rank them with the best of Las Vegas buffets. JMHO.

Elliair while you were on your cruise did you go to the pursers office ask to speak to a manager there about the food?

I can assure you they do listen.... this would have been rectified for you.Princess ,goes out of the way to please their customers and have them returning to them. I have no complaints about the food.......well only one and that is it keeps wonting me to eat more,so I have to walk up all those darn stairs to try and compensate for that.!!!!!!!!!!!

Nah, I didn't go to the pursers office, and our tablemates for Traditional dining had the same opinion as we did (two of them at at Sabbitinis at different times and hated it, they said it was a waste of money). Besides, what is the pursers office going to do? I believe Princess reads these messages boards and takes notes (I dunno??). But if anyone here says that they don't care about the food on a cruise they paid big bucks for, then they're in like Flint. Don't pack any evening wear and spend your time at the Horizon Court....the bread and butter tastes pretty good.

I worked in the hospitality industry in my youth..........

I did have occasion on behalf of several persons about food on a Princess trip.

Had a nice friendly chat ....then I said 'All that great food that is in your kitchen....it just has to be cooked properly and you will have a ship of satisfied customers' Things really changed for the better after that.. It could be than many of the cooks come from different parts of the world and only cooked in their own countries.......they just have to learn the North American likes while on the ships....the old saying "One mans meat is another mans poison" is very true.

Princess does listen...I know from experience....Please try them again and mention your concerns....thats how one learns in life..... Kruisey.

elliair....

As a professional chef, I will agree with you about Princess's food to a point. It is not great, but good, overall. It is like Carnival, a mass market cruiseline, whose food was below Princess on my journeys.If food is that important then try Crystal or Silversea or any other Premium line.

One thing that MANY people fail to realize is that there is a BUDGET that each chef follows, which dictates what is feasable in the financial sense. On the Premium Lines, they CAN afford to spend alot more, hence the caviar from Russia. One Pastry chef on a mass market line complained to me that he had a budget of $1 per person per DAY (breakfast pastries, lunch breads, dinner rolls and pastries throughoout the day).

SO, please don't slam the kitchen without ALL the facts. Food is very subjective, based on one's background and history. For me, I am just happy to have someone else cook for me and to enjoy a meal with my family, as many Chefs, this is something we wish for but seldom get.....Dennis

I worked in the hospitality industry in my youth..........

I did have occasion on behalf of several persons about food on a Princess trip.

Had a nice friendly chat ....then I said 'All that great food that is in your kitchen....it just has to be cooked properly and you will have a ship of satisfied customers' Things really changed for the better after that.. It could be than many of the cooks come from different parts of the world and only cooked in their own countries.......they just have to learn the North American likes while on the ships....the old saying "One mans meat is another mans poison" is very true.

Princess does listen...I know from experience....Please try them again and mention your concerns....thats how one learns in life..... Kruisey.

I'm not giving up on Princess just yet. The Sapphire Princess is sailing out of LA in Jan 06. However, I've pretty much read the same reviews about her (in the food area), that I've experienced on the Diamond. And you are so right about food being cooked properly....I had an aunt that could screw up a mayonnaise sandwich! :rolleyes:

I have worked in the Industry........I find Princess gives very good value for the buck...Can you imagine a restaurant having to serve over 2,000 customers each nite?

As the chef said one can always go on the premier lines and pay alot more if one wonts to be very picky about food.

Find Princess is more than OK for me.....those souffles and lobster.......YUM YUM......Oh the stair walking is good for my muscles and heart....Good all the way round.

Minerva,

Can you give me more details on the Chileno Bay snorkeling in Cabo? We are signed up for the trip, but I honestly know nothing about it! :-) This would be my first time snorkeling...but I am very comfortable in the water...do you think this would still be an okay kind of trip? Also, my mother will be coming along on the excursion, and according to Princess, non-snorkelers can relax on the boat or swim to a beach. Was this the case? Thanks so much! Any details you can provide would be awesome...

Minerva,

Thanks for the report.

Do you remember if the spa has a steam room or steam showers?

Thanks.

Jean

hi jimbug -

If you are comfortable in the water, you will probably be fine. I don't know if the Diamond has snorkeling equipment or lessons onboard, (they give you the equip on the catamaran) -if they do it might be a good idea to spend a little time getting used to the equipment on a sea day, or take a quick lesson at home.

If your mom wants to go to the beach, she will have to swim for it! They just park the boat in the cove. If she is a good swimmer, shouldn't have any problem. They only spend about an hour at Chileno Bay, the rest of the time is basically just cruising up and down the coast and to Los Arcos. We never made it to the beach, but it looked like a lovely stretch of sand. The boat ride itself is fun, the scenery is beautiful, after snorkeling they open up a host bar, the cerveza & rum punch flows, they play music, everybody just relaxes and has a great time. Looked to me like lots of people just stayed on the boat & didn't snorkle. I think your mother will enjoy herself either way.

There were over 90 people on our excursion, it took a while to board everybody and I was worried at first about being crammed in with a lot of people. It turned out fine tho, there's plenty of nice places to sit & watch the beautiful scenery go by.

Have fun -

Minerva

hi jean -

There is a ladies room by the spa that has steam, sauna & showers. Very nice/posh. I think you can go there for free - not sure though.

Then, inside the spa is an area they call the "thermal sanctuary". This has five heated tile beds, two fancy showers that spray different types of water at you from all directions, two steam rooms (1 has a sort of aromatherapy aspect) and a sauna. Very nice place to hang out, and then the lotus pool & two hottubs are right outside. We just moved back and forth between all these lovely devices, it was great.

You can use the thermal sanctuary for free on the day you have a massage. You can also sign up for it for the week for a fee, they might also sell day passes, not sure about this.

The lotus pool & hottubs are free to everybody, they are the least-used pool/hottubs on the ship, so a good place to go when other parts are crowded. The pool has a current function, you flip a switch and swim against a current for exercise, kind of fun.

Enjoy -

Minerva

Thanks, Minerva. My husband loves steam showers and is glad there's one on the Diamond.

Jean

I have worked in the Industry........I find Princess gives very good value for the buck...Can you imagine a restaurant having to serve over 2,000 customers each nite?

As the chef said one can always go on the premier lines and pay alot more if one wonts to be very picky about food.

Find Princess is more than OK for me.....those souffles and lobster.......YUM YUM......Oh the stair walking is good for my muscles and heart....Good all the way round.

Our local Applebees serves 2,500+ a day, lunch and dinner, (I made it a point to ask the manager.) Also, our local Hometown Buffet serves 3,000+ a day on week days, and 3,500+ on weekends (BLD). We live near a college town of 30,000 college students, and the remainder are residents in a 50 square mile radius. These restuarants rely on repeat business, therefore, they must be consistently good. I only point these restaurants out because they get the most repeat business and VALUE, for the price. The point? Princess serves more than 2,000 customers a nite!! (kruisey) Restaurants stay in busines because they rely on customers coming back for more, because the customer is happy with the food. Case in point. :cool:

That's nice, elliair. When Applebees adds 5 pools, a spa and a casino maybe we'll try it sometime.

That's nice, elliair. When Applebees adds 5 pools, a spa and a casino maybe we'll try it sometime.

Amen, sister! :)