Just stepped off the Diamond today (7/2)

[lbcrosby]

I will write a longer review later as we have had a full day today but wanted to give a quick review. I did bring copies of all the Patters both for the Kids Fun Zone (Ages 3-7) and the main Patters. I also have a copy of the kid's menu. After the 4th I will be back at work and try to scan them in. I also took hundreds of pictures and will get them up as soon as I can.

 

These boards were wonderful for the suggestions and we followed many of them. We also were able to connect with some people we met on the role call and it was fun to be walking around the ship seeing people you know.

 

Both the embarkation and disembarkation took only about an hour and a half and an hour respectively. We decided this wasn't that bad considering how many people had to get on and off the ship. We arrived about 10:50 and were in our cabin by 12:15. We did note that by 2:00, however, the lines were out the doors so it probably took people longer. Bottom line: get there early.

 

We did Personal Choice dining, which we loved. The only day we ran into a problem with a full dining room was when we were getting into Victoria. Even then the manager called another dining room to see if they had availability, which they did. The menu had a good deal of seafood and food you would see in an expensive restaurant. If the food items met our tastes we loved them. Unfortunately, my husband is not much for seafood and sometimes the menu was lacking for the meat and potatoes type person. Pizza by the pool was great as well as the hamburgers and hotdogs at the grill right by it. Keep in mind they close at 6:00, however.

 

Our cabin was on the Aloha deck mid-ship on the port side. During the day we could hear the sounds of the pool chairs being moved around but at night it was pretty quiet. Both our deck and the Baja below had completely covered decks which were really nice when it sprinkled off and on.

 

Our son loved the Fun Zone. He could not get enough of it and we only took him off the boat in Juneau and left him the rest of the time on board. Why pay money for an excursion when for free he can have more fun on the ship. Their security for the Fun Zone was great and they gave us pagers when we were still on board. He is now begging for a playstation 2. I guess we know what he will probably be getting for Christmas.

 

We did the Orca Express for the whale watching in Juneau instead of the Princess excursions as we were concerned about her making port on time. By the way she was only about 30 minutes late so a few excursions were cancelled but most of the rest were okay. We also coordinated with Orca to go to the Mendenhall Glacier beforehand and then they picked us up from there to go whale watching. Unless you like to hike an hour is more than enough time at the glacier, especially if you have a child in tow.

 

The other exursions we did were the trolley cars in Skagway and the Horse Drawn Buggy in Ketchikan. We liked both of those as they were fairly inexpensive and also gave you some of the history of both of the towns which you wouldn't have known about if you hadn't done them. In Victoria we took the shuttle buses which only cost $5.00 roundtrip to downtown. We were there on Canada Day so there were a lot of people but it was very pretty near the Empress hotel.

 

We saw one of the shows (Undercover) and two of the comedians and enjoyed them all. One of the comedians I haven't laughed so hard in a long time so I would highly suggest seeing him. Again, once I get my paperwork out I can give you more details.

 

To end our cruise we took the transfer from the ship to the airport which was really easy. They had the buses lined up when you came out the door and you just had to ask which bus to get on. For those that do not want to take the transfer there were a string of taxis available as well.

 

We are back in Colorado with 90 degree weather and already miss Alaska. Yes, it rained at several of the ports we were in but it did not ruin any of the visits. We took Columbia jackets that have the lining that zips out and would highly recommend that for anyone getting ready to go.

 

Well, if you have doubts about having a great time - don't worry. We enjoyed it and went in with a positive attitude and came out the same.

[Nessi]

Thanks for the great review. Any tips on where to eat when in port? I am interested in tips for the port cities aside from shore excursions. What time did you actually get off the ship in Victoria? What did you do there, since the Diamond gets there so late? Looking forward to any info on these questions!

[nmarsh]

Ibcrosby: Thanks for your timely review, we will be on the Diamond in Aug. and thrist for information. Looking forward to your longer review. I'm especially interested in the Patters. Thanks again

[cynbar]

I have a question about anytime dining -- did you make reservations, or just walk up ??? And what time did you usually eat dinner, and how crowded were the DRs then ?????

[the cruise is on]

We will be cruising on the Diamond next year (June 2006). Will you share your room #. Our room is also on the Aloha deck, and when I booked the room, I had some concern regarding the activity and noise on the level above us. It sounds like nights are not a problem and if that's the case, I will stay where I am. Thanks!

 

Look forward to reading your review.

 

We are doing a cruise tour - did you do that or just the tour?

[lbcrosby]

The Cruise is on - we were in A504. We loved it as it was only a few doors away from the midship elevators and being on Aloha deck you were only one flight of stairs away from the Horison Buffet which we did for most of our breakfasts. No the noise was not a problem. If that is a concern you can always try the Baja deck which is one floor below ours and still had the fully covered balconies. We finally figured it was the chairs from the pool area. If you were sailing to a warmer port that might be more of a concern but swimming at night in Alaska was not as busy. We just did the cruise.

 

Cynbar - We always just walked up to the dining room and except for the one time when we were going to be in port in Victoria there wasn't a problem. The problem with Victoria is we were arriving at 7:00 so everyone was trying to eat before we arrived. Keep in mind that the same menus are offered in all dining rooms. Each dining room had a special item which same item is available every night so one night before we sat down to eat we asked each dining room manager what the special for that room was. I remember pork chops was one room, beef and/or chicken fajitas another and some shrimp dish in another.

 

Nessi - Sorry, we didn't eat in port except for aiming for ice cream or another snack. Our theory is why pay for food in port when you can get it for free on the ship. There was one quaint restaurant that we did notice in Skagway as our tour director mentioned it was the fanciest place in town. Even then it didn't look too impressive. Victoria and Juneau would be your best bets for food but again we weren't looking for them so we didn't see them. We arrived right on time for Victoria about 7:00. There was about a 15 - 20 minutes wait as we went through customs. We were going to do the Enchanted Gardens at Butchart but were told before we arrived that part of the gardens would be dark and since it was quite a pricey excursion we decided to cancel that and just explore by ourselves. We probably would have done the horse and buggy tour again had there been availability and we enjoyed the excursions at the other ports. Quite informative. We did take the shuttle buses downtown for $5.00 per person roundtrip. There are a slew of buses lined up when you get out of the customs building and you just get in line. They drop you off around the corner from the Empress Hotel and the gardens around there are beautiful. We were there on July 1st which was Canada Day so there were lots of things going on by the Inner Harbor. I don't know what it will be like during a normal day.

 

Hope this helps

[cynbar]

lb, thanks for your quick reply. We were on the Diamond last January, and at that time, we were pushed hard to reserve a table. We weren/t too happy with this because it seems to detract from the concept of anytime dining, which we have enjoyed so much on the Grand and the Golden, but we weren't prepared to risk being turned away (we had read on these boards that sometimes happened), so we went ahead and reserved. I.m glad to hear that it's possible now to just walk up -- that had kept us from considering the Sapphire or the Diamond again. I miss the supplemental menus, but maybe giving those up has loosened up the DRs a lttle more. I did read that the varied starters are gone too (guacamole in Santa Fe, garlic bread in Savoy, focaccia in Vivaldi), which is too bad. Did you happen to try the new Sterling Steak House, which I hear is now in part of Horizon Court ?? We have enjoyed that on the other ships, so it would be a nice addition to the Diamond.

[lbcrosby]

I think we having the same menus in each of the dining rooms that it made it easier. My bet is that some of the menus were not as popular as the others and that is why they were running into problems. No, they didn't have any of the starter items that you referred to. However, I did see guacamole and focaccia bread at least one time in the Horizon buffet. We also did not try either the Sterling Steakhouse or Sabatinis but heard from people on board they were good. Again, my husband's theory is why pay for food when you can get it for free.

[DeltaOne]

I have a question about anytime dining -- did you make reservations, or just walk up ??? And what time did you usually eat dinner, and how crowded were the DRs then ?????

No reservations are needed for Anytime Dining.

 

Some, after a nice meal with a good team of waiters, will reserve the table for subsequent nights.

 

Last January on the Caribbean Princess our group of 4 ate between 7 and 8 pm each night. The longest wait we encountered was at most 3 or 4 minutes...hardly worth worrying about.

 

Most of the Anytime Dining complaints posted here were from folks in large (over six maybe?) groups. I believe large groups should go for traditional dining.

[cynbar]

Paul, thanks for your response. We have done anytime dining very successfully on the Grand and the Golden, but it was quite different on the Diamond last winter. Reservations were pushed from the time we got on board, and we had read on these message boards about passengers without reservations being turned away and sent to the buffet. I'm relieved to hear that this has changed, because the flexibility of truly being able to show up when you want and get a table has been a big plus for us. But it sounds as if the price for this was giving up the supplemental menus, which is a shame --- they were a nice alternative to the regular Princess menus which, let's face it, stay pretty much the same. If anyone has a chance to try the osso bucco as a special in Vivaldi or the fajitas in Santa Fe, you'll have a great meal!!

[travellady]

On our Sapphire cruise this past week, I called the day before when we wanted to dine in one of the Anytime Dining rooms and never had trouble getting the times we wanted. In fact, one night I reserved a table for 5 at Savoy but when my sons looked at the menu before dinner, they decided it wasn't what they wanted (was very fish oriented) so opted for the buffet. My husband and I decided we liked the options so told the Maitre'd (sp?) we only had 2 for dinner instead of the reserved for 5. No problem, we got a nice cozy table for 2 and saw many tables were open. It was 8 PM, a normally busy time.

 

Our experience on the Diamond this past Feb was quite different as the Dining Rooms were serving the specialty menu items and it was difficult to get a good time or walk in "Anytime". But, I will say we missed some of those options - though the food was great on the Sapphire, I found it did lean heavily towards fish and if you wanted a really good steak, Sterling was the only choice. We opted not to go this route as we didn't feel the need for steak anyway this time around.

[Hulagirl]

We were also on the cruise last week on the Diamond. Was also concerned about the dining rooms with making reservations since there would be 5 of us dining together every night. We find that eating around 8:00 works well for us, so that is the time I called and made reservations for. When we got on the ship we were able to make reservations for the first and second nights dinnig and then the next morning I called and made them for the rest of the week. We ended up with the best wait staff in the Pacific Moon dining room and were able to reserve their table for the full week. Ate in the Savoy for the first formal night and couldn't believe how empty it was. Were there at 8:00 and it never was full. That really surprised me because I had heard all the stories about people being turned away also. We never make reservations on the other ships for personal choice either. As Cynbar said, the Diamond and the Sapphire are completely different for dining with the 4 smaller dining rooms.

 

Each dining room does have one specialty item, which is the same all week, but isn't listed on any menu. Savoy - pork chops, Pacific Moon - scallop/prawn stirfry, Vivaldi - Veal something, Santa Fe - fajitas. These will not vary on any night.

 

We found the service to be very, very good and totally enjoyed ourselves.

 

This cruise pushed me into the Elite status with Princess which was nice. Went to the repeaters party on the second formal night and found there were only 500 repeaters on the ship out of 2,950 people. The woman who won for most traveled had only 176 days with Princess. So completely different from the Caribbean cruises. I was also invited, along with my husband and daughter, to the Captains luncheon on Friday. There were around 25 of us there and it was very nice. Was hoping I would finally get an invitation for this and did. Probably the only chance I will get was the Alaska cruise. The Chief Technical Officer sat next to me at our table. He has been with the company since 1966. He said he started with P&O as a summer job and that it has been the longest summer of his life. Very nice man. He loves working for the company.

 

Embarkation in Seattle was a snap. We arrived at the pier at 10:25. Since we live in the area we drove and parked at the pier. Got a porter who walked our luggage right over and took care of it, and then we walked right into the terminal and right up to the counter. We were in the Platinum line and our friends were first time cruisers. All of us walked right up and were checked in immediately. Then we stood there until there got to be quite a group and no room, so they opened up the door for the next area about 11:15 where they take your pictures for the embarkation photo opportunity. Waited there until 11:40 when we then went outside to walk up the long walkway to the ship. Were in our room by 11:55. For this cruise we were given a complimentary upgrade to a Vista Suite E733 on the aft of the ship. It turned out to be a wonderful location.

 

I did ask about the new Sterlings at the Captains lunch. The do completely close off the full back area of the Horizon Court. If you haven't sailed on these ships, the back area is different from the other Grand Class ships that the Horizon court is larger and goes across the full back of the area. They put table cloths on and apparently have done a good job with it, from what I was told. The Officer we sat with told me that he was very impressed with what they accomplished in a short time and that the food has been very good. The couple we were with had the same thoughts as lcrosby and her husband, that they felt the dining room food was fine with them. We never did any of the specialty dining venues for quite some time, but do go now at least once a cruise, except for this one. Granted it does cost you more, but it is fun and the food is usually excellent. Will be trying it on our future cruises. Did the Sterling Steak House this past April on the Star and it was very good.

 

We only did two of the ships excursions, and both of them were in Skagway. Did the dog sledding (sleds on wheels) and To The Summit. Enjoyed both. In Juneau we booked with Orca Enterprises and did the whale watching with Captain Larry. It was fun and did see some whales.

 

The ship is beautiful and we had a great time. Didn't bother with Victoria. We live close enough that I would rather go back with the car and be able to drive up Vancouver Island. The couple of hours just to go into the city area just isn't enough time, and it really didn't interest me since we had been there before. Were able to see the fireworks from our balcony for Canada day. That was fun to watch.

 

If you have any other questions I would also be happy to answer them. We had a very nice group from our roll call on the board. Met the first afternoon at the Outriggers Bar on the Lido deck at the aft of the ship. Was a pretty afternoon here in Seattle, so that worked out well. It was so nice to meet all of them and then run into everyone on the ship or on our tours. Glad we all were able to do that.

 

Anyone planning a cruise on the Diamond won't be disappointed. It is a beautiful ship. If you are there, be sure and go to Club Fusion and say Hi to Sherwin. He was in Crooners during our cruise, but was just promoted. Such a nice guy. He made me special martini glasses every night.

 

Susan

[DeltaOne]

We have done anytime dining very successfully on the Grand and the Golden, but it was quite different on the Diamond last winter. Reservations were pushed from the time we got on board, and we had read on these message boards about passengers without reservations being turned away and sent to the buffet.

I've only been on one Princess cruise, the Caribbean Princess. You'd think the Anytime Dining rules would be the same on all the ships, but it sounds like you experienced something different on the Diamond.

[Hulagirl]

Paul:

 

The Sapphire and the Diamond were built differently. The Caribbean Princess, along with the other ships have one traditional dining room and then 2 other dining rooms for personal choice. These other 2 ships have the one traditional dining room, but 4 other smaller dining rooms. Initially these 4 rooms used the traditional menu along with a small menu that had a few other specialty items for that dining room. This was just recently changed. There has been a problem with more people wanting one of the dining rooms over the others which made it difficult for just walking up and being seated. You had to make reservations if you wanted a particular room.

 

Susan

[John L.]

IBCrosby or Hulagirl: Does the Diamond have an egg station at the Horizon. I enjoy my eggs over easy each morning and was wondering if they are available. Do they have a lot of shrimp available at the Horizon. I love Princess for their seafood variety and am looking forward to our July 29 cruise. Thanks for the info.

 

John L.

[Hulagirl]

John:

 

We only went to the Horizon Court once for breakfast. They do make fried eggs and put them out on a big tray in the hot food area. In the past I've gotten them and they were cooked over easy, but I'm sure if you asked them, they would cook some for you how you like. In the back of my mind I think I've read where someone posted this could be done. They don't have an actual egg station like I've seen on other lines.

 

In the past I know there has been shrimp towers in the buffet area on formal nights, but again, we didn't go this time. Truly, we only went to the Horizon Court about 3 times and that was it. After some of the past issues of sick passengers, we tend to stick more to the dining room and I just don't care much for breakfast. Hopefully LCrosby may know more on this if they ate there.

 

I'm sure you will have a wonderful time on your cruise. Do remember in the dining room at night, on the anytime menu is a shrimp cocktail. We all had it several times and it is good. Of course you could have as many as you want also. Right now I wish I had one in front of me.

 

Have a great cruise.

[custompcsys]

Does anyone know if they serve king crab legs and/or lobster at the Horizon on the Diamond? We are leaving on the 16th and have some folks specifically looking forward to those - would hate to disappoint them :) Thanks!

[jdm]

Thanks for your report. We will be on Diamond Princess August 20. Looking forward to it. You mentioned there were only about 500 repeaters on the cruise. We have sailed with Princess on about 14 cruises. We were lucky enough to have been invited to those wonderful luncheons on two past cruises, one on Sea Princess and then on Coral Princess. We were surprised that we were considered one of the more traveled passengers, but LOVED the luncheon. Hope we get invited again on upcoming cruise. Looks like chances are good if there aren't so many repeaters on this sailing. Nice perk from Princess! What did they serve at the luncheon?

 

Thankyou

[Hulagirl]

We had King Crab Legs in the dining room on Alaska night for dinner. They were very good. Lobster on second formal night. Our plan was to go to the Horizon court later that night to see if they had the crab legs up there, but we were still too full to even think about it, so never did. Sorry I can't give you any more information on the Horizon Court offerings. This time we just sort of stayed away from the buffet area. Wasn't completely on purpose, but we seemed to eat in the dining room more this time.

 

JDM: I would say you may have a very good chance on being invited to the lunch. My friend Coral always gets an invitation when doing Alaska and Beryl from this board was also invited when she did the CC cruise out of Seattle on June 4. She had 9 cruises with Princess, so it doesn't sound like you have to be over the top on the amount of cruises or days. I do have 5 cruises with over 10 days each, so I thought that may have been a big help for me, but who knows. Like I said, I was shocked when the woman won with 176 days for most traveled person on the ship. In the Caribbean she wouldn't have even been in the running.

 

The food at lunch was delicious, we thought. The appetizer was so pretty I wish I could have taken a picture of it. On the plate was a half of papaya that was filled with seafood. There was a lobster tail, crab piece, then a King Crab leg (small), scallop, prawn and a couple other pieces of fruit. It had a small portion of a light sauce on it and was so good I wish I could have had another. Then you got a choice of either the fish (orange roughy) or the veal dish for your entree. We had the fish and it was very good also. Then came the desert. It was similar to what they give you for celebrating a birthday. It is this chocolate desert that is something to die for. It isn't real big, but so good. The inside is thin cake layers with a creme filling and the outside is totally wrapped in layer of chocolate fondant type coating. There are little pieces of chocolate around the bottom for decoration that are also so good. I'm sure there must have been a thin fudge type layer on the bottom because I remember cutting it and this thick chocolate coating the fork. As you can see, I didn't like it at all!!!!!!!!!!! Wish I had one sitting in front of me to dive into again. The food was so good. They also pour you unlimited glasses of wine if you wish. They brought my daughter all the pop she wanted to drink instead of wine. It was so nice and I was glad to have been invited to join in. Definitely a treat. Hope you get invited again. Was so nice to hit the Elite status.

 

Susan

[carma7007]

We were on the Diamond with LBCrosby and Hula girl.

We went to the Horizon quite often and I don't recall seeing crab legs served, but I could have missed them. We usually went up a few hours after dinner to get some hot water and always cruised by the food.

 

I brought my own hot chocolate mix and would enjoy it in my room while looking out.

 

Carm

[kevinsac]

Reading all of these recent reviews makes us all the more excited about our upcoming cruise! :D

[Hulagirl]

Carma:

 

Good to see you are back home safe and sound. It was so much fun talking to you on the cruise. We really enjoyed the afternoon in Crooners when you guys sat down with us for a while. Everyone on our CC thread was very nice and we liked meeting all of you.

 

So how fast did you drive home????????????? Had to laugh about your stories.

 

Glad you are back, but I will miss seeing you.

 

Susan

[carma7007]

Susan,

We had a wonderful time and would not hesitate to reccomend it. I forgot that Princess is based out of the city we live in so I was wearing something that said Alaska and ended up talking ot a guy who was on the Coral?, anyway he worked for princess and wanted to know how we liked it so he could bring feedback to work.

 

I really enjoyed seeing you all over the place. It was nice to compare stories.

Do you know what happened to the person who left by ambulance from Dolphin deck when we were in Canada?

 

As for driving, the speed limit in Oregon varies between 50-60 about every fifteen miles and I don't speed in other states!! I will take my chances in my own. Plus if you get a ticket in some states it counts against you in your own.

 

Hope we stay in touch and meet up again.

Carm

[Hulagirl]

Carma: So that is what happened in Victoria? We kept hearing someone being paged when we were at dinner to come immediatly to the medical center. Then Lindsay said she saw them rush someone on the ship along with paramedics. We presumed it may have been a DR as soon as we docked. Have no idea what happened. Then we also saw 2 Aid Cars rush over to the Oosterdam right not long after we got there. Pretty scary for those passengers.

 

Susan

[m steve]

Since there seems to be identical menus in all the dining rooms (not buffet) which is the nicest looking room? I prefer to stay w/ one waiter for the cruise and see no reason to bop around the ship to find identical menuseverywhere.

From reading recent comments is there any variation of menus in any of the rooms?Thanks.:confused: