Diamond cruisers - are you home yet?

[momthecruisedirector]

We just watched the Diamond sail away on her second Alaska cruise of the season - drove home hoping to find a review, no matter how short, of last week.

[judyjudy56]

Just bumping this up so maybe we can get info. Inquiring minds want to know.

[Sheebah]

Geepers, where are our Diamond cruisers? The suspense is killing us!!

[Sallie]

We were on the first Alaska cruise of the season, the 4-day Alaska sampler on May 3rd. The cruise sailed from Vancouver, to Ketchikan then back to Seattle. This was our 18th cruise, but our first Princess cruise. There is no such thing as a bad cruise, but this one definately was not our best! The embarkation was a nightmare. This was not totally the fault of Princess, but I do fault Princess for not having people in the cruise terminal informing the people in the 2-hour-long line about the delays. The ship is beautiful. One of the prettiest I have ever seen. Our room was also wonderful, and our room steward, Jamie, could not have been better. We had personal choice dining, which is not as bad as we had thought it would be. The food was great. The big problem was the crowds during lunch trying to eat in the International Dining Room. This was the only dining room opened (except of course for the buffet) during lunch and breakfast and it is very small. I think that they might not have considered that in the cold weather most people would be dining inside on sea days rather than by the pools. One sea day the dining room filled up and we were turned away and told to return around 1:30. We waited around and we were seated after about 45 minutes. When 1:30 came, the doors were closed, so if we had waited to come back after 1:30, we would not have been seated, as we were told. We couldn't figure out why they only had one dining room opened during lunch. If the International Dining Room is too small to accommodate the evening crowds without the other four small dining rooms, don't you think it might occur to them that it might not accommodate the lunch crowd??? It just seemed that the rules were made up as they went...no one in charge seemed to know what was going on.

 

The ship is huge and holds a lot of people, but there were always people who could not find seats for the shows. It seems that they have their big ship but cannot accommodate many people in the various venues. On the day of debarkation, it was a zoo!!! If people would follow the rules there would be no problem. However, again, if Princess had had enough personnel working with the people and keeping them informed, making more announcements, debarkation would have been a breeze! I think the people in charge of the ship, the captain and the officers, were all on vacation that particular week. I phoned the purser's desk during debarkation and asked that they please send someone up to handle the crowds and organize the debarkation. They did make an announcement about when to debark, but there were only two people working to get people off the ship.

 

I won't tell you about the bus transfer back to Vancouver. It is too funny!!!! Again, Princess didn't have a clue.

 

Was this our best cruise? No. Would I go again? Most definately!

[tx2cruiser]

I got off the Diamond last week (Boo HOO!) and we had a FANTASTIC trip! Couldn't get NEAR Tracy Arm due t all the Ice fields, though.

 

Food was very good, service very good, and the ship looked as good as it did when we were aboard last year when it was brand new.

 

Happy to answer any specific questions....

[gg3]

What was the scenery like sailing out of Seattle and around Vancouver Island ??? Please give us any info re: wildlife you saw and anything you did wonderful (other than just having the joy of being there) in the towns?

[Trinity333]

How was the weather? Were the seas rough? Where was your cabin location? Did you have traditional of PC dining? Was the ship sold out? I think that's enough for now. LOL

Thanks

[tx2cruiser]

The scenery around Vancouver islands was beautiful...but is was just gorgoeus the entire trip. Saw MANY whales - especially in the fjors to and from Skagway. Lots of seals & eagles, too. Highly rec. ferry to Haines and wildlife expedidition there - that is where we saw most wildlife. It truly is just spectacular. We did not get close to Tracy Arm Glacier - too much Ice. We did see it last year and it is beautiful. The fjord on the way is so pretty, too though. Lots of Bald Eagles, and a Black Bear spotted! Take your binoculars for sure.

 

Weather was beautiful most of week - actually VERY warm (Low 70's). Later in the week it beacme overcast and Ketchikan was rainy & cooler. We were sunburned from first day at sea!

 

We were upgraded to a suite on the very back of the ship and it was FANTASTIC. The ship was sold-out, but never seemed crowded - except the first day in the Horizon Court Lunch Buffet. We got our food and took it to our balcony, however! We chose PC dining and thought it was great. We never had a problem with it. Do rememmber, though, it isn't exactly "anytime" dining, though. They seem to ony seat at 6pm or 8pm. The only people who seemed t have problems with it were those who were a little too uptight! There is always a bar with a beautiful view near a restaurant if you had to wait 5 minutes (which we didn't)!

 

Seas were calm until sail between Tracy Arm & Victoria, where we had a pretty rough night! We were on the very back of the ship, so I don't know how we would have felt if we were mid-ship. I loved my suite so much I did not mind how much it rocked!

Let me know if you have any more questions - you will have a WONDERFUL trip!

[tx2cruiser]

Ps - re the towns: Definatlely plan an excursion for Juneau. I thought the town was pretty dismal. Any to the Mendanhall Glacier are spectular. We like adventure, so We went Rafting at the glacier last year and loved it. This year we thought we would just walk around Juneau - big mistake!

 

Skagway & Ketchikan are very cute towns, albeit full of the exact same tourist shops. I loved getting out "on the land" in ports to see the "real" Alaska (and thats def. where we saw most wildlife). Went sea kayaking in Haines and had three whales about 100 ft from us! Very exciting...

[tx2cruiser]

Re : debarkation - ALOT of it is dependant upon Customs in Seattle. They were about 35 minutes behind schedule last week. Hopefully this was because it was very early in the season. True, if the passengers just waited where they were supposed to, it wouldn't be so chaotic. Stay in your room until the last possible moment!

 

Re the shows & crowds - we never had a problem getting a seat. We did arrive 5-10 minutes early, though. I did NOT like Undercover, but thought the first one was pretty good.

[travellady]

There's been questions this past week as to whether or not the specialty dining rooms, for example Sante Fe, Sterlings, Pacific Moon, etc., served only menu items from the traditional dining room or whether or not they also their own speciality menus. I'm referring to dinner specifically. One poster indicated only traditional dining menus and no specialty items were available - this didn't sound right to me. Could somebody who sailed the Diamond last week please provide more detail on this?

 

I'm on the Sapphire 6/26 and expect whatever is going on with the Diamond in regards to Anytime Dining will be no different on the Sapphire.

[tx2cruiser]

I am very baffled - the Diamond Sailing of May 7th to Alaska had PC Dining in each specialty Dining Room. That is, one menu unique to that Dining Room. IE Prime Rib, etc in Sterling, Mandarin Duck, etc. in Pacific Moon....They also had one page of menu items that were available in all Didng Rooms - the specailaties of that day - ie Lobster night. Didn't matter what DR you were in, you could order it.

 

I would be so surprised that they completely changed this in one week...very odd. The food was very good & efficient. Why have different themed dining rooms if they all serve the same thing?

[Hulagirl]

Hi Tx2Cruiser: So glad to read you had such a wonderful cruise. We leave for ours 5 weeks from today. I do have a few questions for you, if you don't mind.

 

1. What cabin did you get upgraded to? We have also been upgraded to a Vista Suite on the back of the ship. We will be in E733. I'm just wondering how much sound we will hear from Club Fusion there. Several years ago we were in a cabin on the back of the Grand and did hear music from the Vista Lounge, but it was not big deal. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled with the upgrade, but just wonder what you had.

 

2. I see you had personal choice dining. We also have this and always do it on all the cruises with Princess. You said you had no problem getting a table and didn't have any wait. Did you try a different dining room for dinner each night? If you did, which I'm sure is the case, was any take longer to get seated than the others? Have read that the Sterling dining room is harder to get in to, but I'm not certain if this is the case for Alaska. There are a few nights that the ship is still in port, so I'm wondering if the dining rooms were emptier those nights. I'm asking because there are 5 of us and we want to go to the Sterling dining room on the 2 formal nights. I was going to try and make reservations for those 2 nights.

 

3. What time did you get to the port to board the ship? We live in the area, so we are driving and parking our truck in the parking lot. Usually in Florida we are there before they open the doors, so I'm interested as to when you actually arrived and when they opened the doors to start letting people inside the terminal and start the boarding process. Did this just once, but that was for the short 2 day cruise last September and they had a problem clearing the ship to let us on. Waited for quite a while before they let us start the process.

 

This will be a wonderful cruise and we are looking forward to it. Not having to fly is a plus to me. It will be nice to drive and not having to worry about the weight of our luggage for a change. So glad you had such a good time.

 

If you have time, I would love to know what you think about the questions.

 

Susan

[Beryl]

Hi there Hulagirl!!! We had E731 on our cruise to Mexico in February. Heard nary a thing from Club Fusion! I don't think you will have any problems with noise. Congratulations and enjoy your wonderful upgrade.

 

I can't comment on how busy the PC dining rooms are when docked in Alaska but I can tell you that our room steward strongly encouraged us to make reservations as soon as possible after we boarded (I think you and I went through this part before :D!)

[Hulagirl]

Hi Beryl!

 

Thanks for the information about the suite and no noise from Club Fusion. I'm so happy to be upgraded to this from the mini suite. As nice as those cabins are, the full suites are just so much nicer and roomier. With 3 of us, it makes everything easier. Can't wait. I have the information you told me before about making the reservations for the dining rooms. Copied it and have it in my file of things to take with us. Remembered what you had said when you cruised on the ship in Mexico and I'm going to call and make reservations as soon as we board. I am curious though as to how Alaska is going with having to make the reservations. Will also be on the Sapphire Princess next year to Mexico, so everything you have passed on to me will definintly be put in use for that cruise. It will be interesting to see if they actually have the different menus for the dining rooms. Read that this past cruise they didn't use them, and it basically defeats the purpose of how they set the ship up. Can't wait to see what they do on your cruise. Will you let me know when you get back about this and if it was just this past weeks cruise or if this is something they are going to keep doing.

 

Your cruise isn't too far out now! Bet you are getting as excited as we are. This cruise will push me to the Elite status at the end, so that will be nice for the December trip.

[Janie1111]

Hi! Hulagirl, We had E733 on the Golden on the back of the ship and it was

fantastic especially the bathroom. We're going on the Sapphire to alaska June

26th in a inside cabin because we're bringing the family. Still hoping for an upgrade. Got so spoiled in the suite. Enjoy the jacuzzi tub. I'm so jealous.

[SML828]

After reading this thread, we actually called Princess about the Diamond PC menus yesterday (we'll be sailing in June to Alaska). The way it is setup now is that each room has the "traditional" menu as well as one speciality. There is no longer a strictly Santa Fe restaurant, Asian restaurant, etc. They said it's something they are "trying out" - not sure if it will be permanent or not, but the way they were talking it was to deal with passenger complaints about how PC was setup. So the 3 extra dining rooms will still be Anytime dining, just not "themed". I hope that makes sense. I'm slightly disappointed, but at least we should still get the speciality items at some point during the cruise, just no "mexican every night" is the way I understand it. They also said that one of the restaurants will be changing names. My guess is Sterling, because of the rumor of creating the surcharge Sterling that all of the other Princess ships have...more continuity.

[Hulagirl]

SML828: Thanks for the post. So I'm hoping I understand this right. Will it be now be like how they are doing it in the traditional dining room, where each night they rotated one of the menus from the themed dining rooms along with the traditional menu? So if you are actually in the Asian themed dining room, you would get the traditonal menu and then could be given the small menu for the Italian dining room. This is interesting. What did they tell you about the Sterling dining room as of now? Is it still strictly the steak menu in there (along with traditional) or is it changing every night also?

 

When they built these 2 ships and named one of the dining rooms "Sterling" I really was surprised. I think it has been cause for some confusion when on the other ships that is an extra charge dining venue, where on these ships it wasn't. But at this point I'm not sure what they are doing with that. Appreciate the information. Hoping I've gotten this right!

 

Janie1111: Aren't the suites nice? We have sailed in a Penthouse Suite twice now and it does spoil you. Used to book insides, but were always lucky enough to be upgraded to balcony cabins. Then when our daughter got older we started booking mini suites. They are very nice, but still the full suite is nicer. It was such a thrill to be upgraded to the Vista Suite for this cruise. I'm really looking forward to the trip. Have a wonderful cruise on the Sapphire. These are such beautiful ships.

 

Susan

[v33]

To the folks who were just on the Diamond... What was the musical entertainment like? Was there a pianist and/or a string quartet and how were they?

[Hulagirl]

Bumping up so those that offered any information might see this. It was getting buried.

[mojavegirl]

Yes there was a great string quartet. I wasn't impressed with the rest of the musicians (aside from princess idol contestants). One issue is the use of keyboards instead of real pianos (or using drum machines to back up the one real piano-ew). The rock band was ok, just not my era (I'm 29). The was also a polka band, oompa.