Gut and Mrs Gut's adventure

[GUT2407]

Gut2407,

 

I am really enjoying your posts. You have a sense of humour I can relate to!!

 

Also enjoying the review by instalments....not too much to take in at the one time!!!

 

Look forward to the next chapter!

 

I'm glad someone likes my humor Mrs Gut's not a big fan.

 

I had done another installment, then it disappeared. Also my computer died so I'm picking it out on an iPad, and Mrs Gut insists I earn more cruise money.

[GUT2407]

Have read the tread through, word for word. Come on mate I'm getting the EXCITES.

 

See the above reply, now on top of Mrs Gut wanting cruise $ you mob want faster reports, poor Gut, no wonder he's known as a "delicate little petal".

[GUT2407]

Now it's no great secret that e prefer small ships.

 

We started cruising back when Princess in Australia meant Pacific Princess (680 PAX 30,000 T), so have to say we were a tad apprehensive about Diamond with 2,600 PAX and 115 T.

 

However it was not a problem at all most of the time.

 

Lining up was rare, really only one night at ATD hen we had maybe 8 people in front of us, and when disembarking at Ports the lines could be pretty long.

 

Tendering was also a bit of an issue, really 2 reasons in my opinion:

 

• 
  

Due to the size of the ship we had to anchor further out than ith a small ship, so a tender ride that was 10 minutes on Pacific was 45 mins on Diamond

 

I also don't know why thy don't deploy more tenders, in Prt Douglas they only used 3, later Ports they increased the number, so with 100 in each tender, when you included the crew going to shore it was 25 or 30 trips.

 

Minor those things are (though with some of the moaners on this trip you would have thought it was the end of the world, later on I will cover some of it in a separate post, but it was fun for us lstening to some).

Edited November 27, 2015 by GUT2407

[GUT2407]

The ship is in good condition and they were constantly working on her.

 

Painting varnishing and for at least a part of the trip we had carpet layers with us, went to bed and the next morning there was new carpet on the stairs and we didn't hear a thing.

 

One night they warned us that he next morning they would be accessing our balcony to do some work, (guess they didn't want Gut wandering round in his birthday suit and scaring workers). Funny the second cruise in a row, different lines, where they did work on our balcony. I'm not sure what thy did, a bit of paint touch up was all I could see. But they may have lifted the rubber matting and done something under that.

 

In most Ports they would be doing some touch up on the hull paint.

 

I really couldn't find a lot to fault.

 

Perhaps the one thing was forget any real water pressure in the shower and the water was a bit hotter than I may have liked, ie with it set on it's coldest setting it was at the temperature I like a shower, so on a few of the hot days (and we had a few) a cold shower was out of the question.

 

The only other criticism I'd have is that because she has been Japaneseised ( is that a word) a few areas were really wasted space, over the 34 days I never saw a single person in Kai Sushi and the Japanese baths seemed about as popular. If she was going to continue spending half he year in Aus I think hat they could have put the Sushi section to better use.

[GUT2407]

My favourite part.

 

Dining.

 

We had anytime dining this cruise.

 

Normally we prefer traditional, but it worked well.

 

On Diamond, as many will know, ATD is done in the four smaller rooms, *Pacific Moon, Savoy, Sant Fe and Vivaldi after 8:00 pm.

 

We tried each of them, but found some wait staff that we really enjoyed in Santa Fe, so ate there most evenings with great service and staff who went out of their way to attend to our preferences.*

 

For us it is the little things. We don't like over attentive service but not having to ask for lemon for HER water, it just being there, or a BIG glass for my diet coke, I empty the little ones too quickly, ice cream with desert are all little extras that WE appreciate.

 

The food was good, rather than great, but in my opinion that is to be expected when catering to 2600 people. Part way through the cruise we had the every day menu changed to include some Curtis Stone dishes, but in all honesty they were little different to the normal everyday menu, (Chicken Pot Pie, Veal Osso Bucco and Roasted Pork Belly).

 

I was a little disappointed with the variety of dishes, early on we had been told that there were 32 menus in operation, so only one would repeat, now that may be right but the dishes repeated more frequently, just not on the same menu. Also I had expected more specialty dishes from the four anytime restaurants. But overall I'd say it was more than acceptable.

 

Afternoon tea

 

We had afternoon tea twice in the international dining room, once with Greg and Dee, from muster drill (which extended into a chat session) and it was nice.

 

However its worth noting that almost the same menu was available at the buffet.

 

The buffet afternoon tea was nice and a few days we had a late breakfast then some afternoon tea, skipping lunch.

 

Pub lunch

 

This was offered twice and was a nice change albeit with a limited menu.

 

International dining room.

 

The room itself was a disappointment much of the room having little ocean view. We did try breakfast and lunch here and both were again acceptable, I was disappointed by the lack of eggs benedict, one of my little treats on a cruise, offered a couple of times in the buffet but not of a very high standard and not on offer at all on any of our visits to the MDR.

 

 

Horizon Court.

 

I am one that isn't a big fan of the new system, enter at one end and exit the other is fine if there is only one way to go, but when people can go any direction you frequently find people trying to go opposite directions and no one is wrong. Then you have guests not realizing that there is an entry and an exit (and staff standing in front of the signs) with some staff becoming rude when a passenger tried to go out the entry. If it was busy with a line waiting to come in it may be appropriate but when there is no one near the entry I don't see the point, especially if someone has mobility problems, has a table near the entry and their path around the food *service area takes them back to the entry it just seems, to me like overkill.

 

The food was however good. A was the drinks service and the table clearing.

 

Trident Grill

 

Became a frequent venue, the burgers were OK, the chips fresh and hot, the daily pie special a nice touch. The extras you could add such as sauces, mustard, mayonnaise or even beetroot was a nice option.

 

Pizza Bar

 

Was, I thought, disappointing in the range. Same two pizzas on offer every day with another changing each day, so any given day three types on offer but two of those the same every day.

 

Swirls or Scoops

 

The ice cream bar with the identity crisis, it is signposted Swirls, but the ship directory had it as scoops and the staff may have caps or aprons saying either.

 

The shakes were very good, about 4 scoops of ice cream with your choice of milk and flavor. The soft serve was pretty much your typical soft serve the Bride was addicted to the Green Tea version either in a cone or a cup. The shakes were $2.75 but no charge if you had the soda package, the ice cream was no charge.

[GUT2407]

The wait staff were fantastic, that's probably all I need to say.

 

Did I say that the fresh baked bread rolls should be banned.

 

Rotten things, crusty on the outside soft and luffa on he inside with butter at about the perfect temperature, probably owe me about 5 kg.

[Kinkacruiser]

The wait staff were fantastic, that's probably all I need to say.

 

Did I say that the fresh baked bread rolls should be banned.

 

Rotten things, crusty on the outside soft and luffa on he inside with butter at about the perfect temperature, probably owe me about 5 kg.

 

It's hard to resist those warm fresh roll when they arrive. No doubt they have saved many starving souls!

 

Thanks for sharing Mr Gut :)

[VK3DQ]

The wait staff were fantastic, that's probably all I need to say.

 

Did I say that the fresh baked bread rolls should be banned.

 

Rotten things, crusty on the outside soft and luffa on he inside with butter at about the perfect temperature, probably owe me about 5 kg.

 

Tell me about the Danish pastries !!! I Need to know !!! :D

 

 

Regards

 

John

[GUT2407]

Tell me about the Danish pastries !!! I Need to know !!! :D

 

 

Regards

 

John

 

What is there to say, none left I'm sorry pretty sure I ate them all.

 

They had a different jam filled one each day, the lemon was my favorite, they also had whipped cream to pop on top.

 

Did I motion the waffles about an inch thick fresh made (he stood there making them with his waffle maker) and about four different syrups.

[GUT2407]

It's hard to resist those warm fresh roll when they arrive. No doubt they have saved many starving souls!

 

Thanks for sharing Mr Gut :)

 

Or put a few kg on.

[KiwiFunCruiser]

Interesting review, it is a refreshing change to get snippets of review regularly instead of every thing on post #1.

[GUT2407]

Interesting review, it is a refreshing change to get snippets of review regularly instead of every thing on post #1.

 

If I had to do it in one hit it would neve get done, the pesky bank manager and even peak ire Mrs Gut want money back in the bank, inconsiderate aren't they.

[KiwiFunCruiser]

Regards to Mrs Gut.

[GUT2407]

Regards to Mrs Gut.

 

 

The beautiful (but not too smart) Mrs Gut said thank you.

[GUT2407]

Made one American ladies day in Darwin, we were n the lift and Mrs Gut asked me something I responded, as you do, "bug..d if know" (not sure if the word used is allowed by CC they seem to object to some pretty harmless words), she wanted me to say it again and again " was told I'd hear people say it but I didn't think I would" I appologised in case I had offended her and threw in a few far dinkums and mates to really give her something to talk about when she got home even a bl...y little ripper or two.

 

She assured me she wasn't offended just happy to have heard someone say it.

[icat2000]

I was on the Arcadia last year, and I boarded in Sydney. The ship was halfway through the world cruise and had lost 8 on the way over.

 

But I think 8 in a couple of weeks is the most I've heard of dying on a cruise.

[NSWP]

I was on the Arcadia last year, and I boarded in Sydney. The ship was halfway through the world cruise and had lost 8 on the way over.

 

But I think 8 in a couple of weeks is the most I've heard of dying on a cruise.

On Oriana recently, I did the behind the scenes tour. Visiting the ship's medical centre, the Dr was explaining his set up. So me being me asked about the facilities for storing bodies. Dr showed us that facility 2 freezer draws off the medical centre. Now if more than 2 died, god only knows. Now Oriana was built as a world cruise liner and on our tour there was plenty of freezer space in the Food storage areas..., ye gods !!

Edited November 28, 2015 by NSWP

[GUT2407]

On Oriana recently, I did the behind the scenes tour. Visiting the ship's medical centre, the Dr was explaining his set up. So me being me asked about the facilities for storing bodies. Dr showed us that facility 2 freezer draws off the medical centre. Now if more than 2 died, god only knows. Now Oriana was built as a world cruise liner and on our tour there was plenty of freezer space, ye gods !!

 

 

But they unload them at the next port.

 

I'm also not sure if the 8 included the ones who left in ambulances but didn't make it, one Port we had three ambulances waiting when we docked.

[OzKiwiJJ]

The wait staff were fantastic, that's probably all I need to say.

 

Did I say that the fresh baked bread rolls should be banned.

 

Rotten things, crusty on the outside soft and luffa on he inside with butter at about the perfect temperature, probably owe me about 5 kg.

 

Ohhh! Those Princess bread rolls are divine. I swore on our last cruise that I wasn't going to eat them every night ... but I did! I just couldn't resist them :eek:

 

Thank goodness none of my local bakeries make anything that good or I'd be in serious trouble. :D

[erewhon]

GUT2407,

 

Thanks for continuing your review.

[NSWP]

But they unload them at the next port.

 

I'm also not sure if the 8 included the ones who left in ambulances but didn't make it, one Port we had three ambulances waiting when we docked.

Not if you are in the middle of a six day Atlantic run from Southampton to NY !! I reckon the Diamond might have a few more freezer draws than Oriana.

 

Good review by you too Mr Gut. I have passed it on to my wife and grandaughter who are on Diamond 23 Jan.

[GUT2407]

On Oriana recently, I did the behind the scenes tour. Visiting the ship's medical centre, the Dr was explaining his set up. So me being me asked about the facilities for storing bodies. Dr showed us that facility 2 freezer draws off the medical centre. Now if more than 2 died, god only knows. Now Oriana was built as a world cruise liner and on our tour there was plenty of freezer space, ye gods !!

 

 

Uncle Les I was told on one cruise that if the storage is full they use the flower fridge.

 

True or not, it's what they said.

[GUT2407]

Ohhh! Those Princess bread rolls are divine. I swore on our last cruise that I wasn't going to eat them every night ... but I did! I just couldn't resist them :eek:

 

Thank goodness none of my local bakeries make anything that good or I'd be in serious trouble. :D

 

 

I seldom eat bread or butter at home, but the Princess rolls are just to die for, and the butter is, in my opinion just right.

[GUT2407]

Good review by you too Mr Gut. I have passed it on to my wife and grandaughter who are on Diamond 23 Jan.

 

 

Thanks Les

 

More still to come, happy to answer anything they might ask, if I can, or I might even resort to asking Mrs Gut.

[GUT2407]

But if I ask Mrs Gut we might get right answers.