Review of the Diamond

We just got back from our wonderful trip on the Diamond Princess out of Seattle on 5/28. We had a great time and the ship is awesome. I will try not to make this too long as we had such a fantastic time I could write a book.

I'll start with the very few things that weren't so good...Embarkation. Ouch!!!!! We waited in line for 2 hours and 20 minutes to get on the ship. We arrived at 12:20. It was pretty hot outside (high 80's I believe) and several of the elderly passengers were having some trouble with the lines and heat. Many passengers in line with us said they had cruised before, many on Princess, and it is "never like this". I heard many rumors of what had happened, one being that the Oosterdam next door had their x-ray machine go out so the Diamond gave them one. This left them one machine short. I can't imagine that would have caused that much back up but who knows.

The other thing was the missed time in the ports. As most of you may have already read, the ship was turned around for an ill passenger. The captain said we lost 5 hours due to that. I didn't hear anyone complain on the ship about it though. Everyone realized that it could have been them and most people were happy to know that the Diamond was willing to go out of its way to make sure the passenger had proper medical care. This was obviously at great expense to Princess with the lost revenue from the missed excursions as well as extra fuel, etc. The rumor we heard was that the passenger was a recent post-op patient that began bleeding that wouldn't stop. We also heard that he got back on board the ship later in the week at one of the ports. We were glad to learn he was OK. The ship also lost an additional 2 hours to due rough seas and wind according to the announcement made by the captain. The staff at the golf simulator told my husband that the ship had propeller problems and that is why it was slow. Again, who knows? Anyway it certainly didn't ruin our trip. Now for the great things:

The ship is absolutely gorgeous. We had an inside cabin and it was a lot nicer than I thought it would be. We had plenty of storage space, plenty of hangers and the bed was comfortable. The shower is a little small but just a minor inconvenience. The room was kept extremely clean and we constantly had a new supply of clean towels whenever we returned to our room. The ship in general is absolutely immaculate. Everywhere you look, someone is cleaning something! I know people often wonder about the bedspreads...the night before we left I saw carts full of bedspreads that were going to be changed out the next day for the next cruise. The hot tubs were frequently emptied, cleaned and refilled during the night. I was very impressed with how well cared for the entire ship was. It is decorated very beautifully and tastefully. Lovely artwork hangs everywhere. I could go on and on.... (I guess I just did!).

The food: We did the personal choice dining. It worked out fine. I figured out what our itinerary was for the day and what time we would want to eat and I called in the AM for a reservation. We ate at all 4 of the restaurants for dinner. It is true that there are no longer seperate menus for the different restaurants, however most nights each restaurant offers one dish particular to the theme of that restuarant. For example, the night we ate at the Santa Fe, the special was either chicken or beef fajitas. I actually got the chicken and it was great. The Sterling offered a grilled pork chop one night that wasn't on the menu, etc. The food was mostly good. The lobster I had on Thursday night was very good. I am not much of a seafood eater but my husband is and he had some wonderful seafood dishes (according to him). We ate at the International dining room for breakfast twice and the rest of the time we at at the Horizon Food Court. While eating at the International we met some older couples who were doing the traditional dining and they loved it as well. Their service was excellent they said. The service in all of the dining rooms was exceptional. Very friendly, attentive servers. Our favorite was the Sterling, our second favorite the Vivaldi.

Excursions: We had booked the Mendenhall Glacier and Salmon Bake but it was changed to the "Mendenhall Express Tour ". Actually, it was plenty of time to walk around and see the glacier. Our tour guide also drove us around Juneau and showed us the highlights of the town. It was a fun time. In Skagway we did the Glacier Point Wilderness Safari and the Klondike Bicycle Tour. The Safari was great. The tour guides were young and enthusiastic and you could tell they loved what they did. The bicycle tour was very fun as well. I had not been on a bike in 15 years and I don't think I had ever used hand brakes! The first mile or two down the mountain was a little scary but after that I was fine. The scenery was beautiful and I would do it again in a minute. We loved Skagway and the quaint little shops. In Ketchikan we did the Misty Fjords Seaplane Exploration. I would HIGHLY recommend this for anyone who is unsure what they want to spend their money on. Our pilot was awesome. The plane holds 6 people plus the pilot. He flew right up to the mountains, many times looking like he was going to fly the plane right into the side of one. I think the men on the plane with us were scared to death but we loved it!! My husband and I both agreed it was one of the most awesome things we have ever done. The views were breathtaking and when he landed on the water and let us get out and stand on the floats of the plane it was just beautiful. So peaceful and quiet. Afterwards we heard that a little place called the "Burger Queen" had a great halibut sandwich so we ate there. It was a tiny little place that actually looked a little scary from the outside but the people were so nice and the food was good.

Entertainment: The shows were pretty good. The comedians were funny, especially Rollin Jay Moore. I am pretty easy to please but I heard a lot of passengers talking about how funny he was the next day. One night there was a magician/comedian in the Explorers Lounge that was very good. We participated in some of the activities. I couldn't believe I was able to talk my husband into going to the ballroom dancing lessons. The guy who taught them, Sly, was a riot and made it so fun. After the first lesson my husband looked forward to it and he is NOT a dancer!!! We also did the Country Line dancing (my kids couldn't believe their dad got dragged to that). It was fun as well and the cute little girl that taught that made it a little easier for my husband, I think. He is a runner and he used the track daily to run a few miles (10 times around is a mile). I did some of the aerobic classes and they were fun but a little short. We went to some of the game shows at night (the Newlywed/Not So Newlywed was a favorite), very funny due to Neil, the emcee.

I guess I should wrap up as this is a little long. I really wasn't sure what to expect on the trip but the whole thing was just awesome. If you are going on the Diamond and are worried how it will be... relax. You will love it. I can't imagine any other ship being any nicer.

Bizzyma

Thanks for the review - can you give more details about the Glacier Point Safari? Thanks :)

Thanks for the rave review. I hope I am not dissappointed we are not on the Diamond. How was the Salmon bake? I wanted to try that.

I don't think a cruise review can ever be too long! If you want to add to it go ahead.....

I loved your review, so glad you had a good time. I think embarkation and disembarkation are always the worst part of the cruise but once you get on board it's okay - and getting off the ship, even if it was smooth it'd still be depressing.

Thanks for the review, we leave on the 2nd of July CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!

The prop problems on the Diamond are real and well-known. They are the result of the ship meeting the pier in Victoria a year ago. Princess decided to postpone her dry dock to repair the propeller until December of this year.

Hi Bizzyma,

A few of us were on the same cruise and made similar reviews, check them out on the first few pages of this forum.

Glad you had a good time, we had better luck for embarkation though, we arrived around 1:00PM and even though the lines were very big, we made it to the ship in about an hour, so not that bad. Disembarkation was more stressfull as we had the time constraint of catching a plane and they didn't keep us on the loop on why there was a delay, but we made it to the airport in time.

We didn't know the sick passenger made it back to the ship nor the condition he was in. We would have appreciated a bit more info from them while in the cruise, but as you said, it didn't stop us from having a great time as well.

Great review! :D We also fell in love with the Diamond on our last cruise. Can't wait for August to get here so we can experience it again!

Thank you for the great review.. We plan to try the Diamond in 2007

Thanks for the review. Diamond is truly gorgeous, isn't she ? We did a Mexican Riviera cruise on Diamond last December and loved the dining options very much. In reality, in each of the specialty restaurants, only one or two items are truly outstanding for that restaurant, i.e. sautee sea scallop and pawn with glassy noodle in Pacific Moon, or Osso Bucco in Vivaldi, and the Fajita in Sante Fe. Hubby loves Osso Bucco, so we ate at Vivaldi 3 times. :-)

We also like the layout of the ship - we were on a full ship (there was a sign at purser office said no room available for exchange no matter what as ship was full), but we did not feel any crowdiness, until, disembarkation morning !

There are so many pools on the ship and scattered around the whole ship really help to spread the crowd around. It was never a problem to find a quiet place to sit near anyone of the pools during our cruise which by the time we reached Mexico, weather was rather hot.

Hi Frostypenguin and Gypsea

The Glacier Point Wilderness Safari was very nice. It starts off at the pier. You board a very nice, new looking boat (I think they said it holds about 75 people) and we had about 50 on board. The boat travels for about 45 minutes to Glacier Point. From there you get off the boat and board a school bus that has been converted to 4-wheel drive! It travels a very short distance (maybe 1-2 miles) and you come to a kind of base-camp place. We actually got out of the bus before we arrived at the destination because the driver spotted bear tracks in the road (dirt road). We all got out to see the tracks and there were large bear prints as well as baby bear prints. While we were out walking around there were wild roses growing everywhere along the road and they smelled so good. We also saw several bald eagles flying around. It was really very beautiful. When you arrive at the little camp-place they give you special gear to continue with the trip. You put on high rubber boots, life jacket and they also had extra lined jackets in case the guides feel you won't be warm enough (they had me put one on, thank goodness as it was a bit chilly). They also have rain gear which we didn't need as it was a beautiful day. After that you walk through what they call a "rain forest". It was very pretty as well with lots of huge trees, flowers, etc. You don't have to walk to far, I am guessing maybe 1/4-1/2 mile. There you come to the lake/river or whatever that the glacier is on. They then divide the group into smaller groups and you board a canoe. From there, you paddle out to the glacier. We actually didn't have to paddle the whole way as once we reached a certain point the guides turned on the small little motor the canoe had and we went right up to the glacier. It was very beautiful. The mountains in the background were gorgeous. The day before the guides said you couldn't even see the mountains due to clouds and bad weather so I guess we were lucky. I would guess we spent about 1-1 1/2 hours out there. Then, we did it all in reverse. On the way back in the boat the driver took us on a small detour to see an unbelievable amount of sea lions. It was really funny as some (the "alpha males") were huge and they would be climbing over other sea lions and they were all screaming at each other, it was really interesting. They also fed us a box lunch that consisted of a turkey sandwich wrap (it was good) Sun Chips, a huge chocolate chip cookie and a bottled water. All in all it was a fun trip. It was a little on the pricey side, I thought, but we were still glad we did it.

Gypsea, we didn't get to do the salmon bake because we got into Juneau so late they had to cancel it. All we actually did was visit the Mendenhall Glacier. I really didn't care about the salmon (I don't even eat it) but my husband was really disappointed as he loves salmon and was really wanting to do the salmon bake. If anyone else has anyother questions about our excursions on the seaplane or bicycle tour I'd be happy to report!!

Bizzyma

Sounds like you had a wonderful time. My finace and I are leaving on the 18th with our two children and we can't wait. First timers! How was the weather while on ship and what about any sea sickness?

Wow, that was a great review of the excursion - totally not what I imagined. Now I'm really looking forward to it !!!

Thanks for the review. We were on her last Aug. We are going on her again Aug. 20006. We love that ship!!

The weather we had on our trip was varied. When we left Seattle it was in the mid 80's. People were swimming in the pools, wearing shorts, etc. The temperature really dropped that night and the next day. On Sunday it was very windy and at times it was even difficult to get the doors of the ship opened and closed due to the wind. You could hear the water just pounding the ship below. I get easily carsick (if in the backseat) and at times have felt a little queasy on a plane but I didn't get seasick at all. I had my doctor order the Scopalimine patches but of course I went off without them. I did meet one lady who said she was seasick the first two days and I saw a lot of people wearing the patches, but I really didn't hear of anyone else complaining of being sick. Other than that Sunday when the ship was really "pitchy" I couldn't even tell we were on the water. At the ports, the weather varied as well. I usually wore a sweater or light jacket. In the afternoons I saw people in short sleeves. The day at Tracy Arm was overcast and more chilly. My husband actually wore his ski coat in the morning. The drink of the day that day was Bailey's and hot chocolate. Yum! I hope you all have as as much luck as we did with the weather and I hope you have a fantastic time on your cruise! I wish we were going again!!

Bizzyma