DBSDSS

2 hours ago, Cathygh said:

Hi

Thank you! I soooo want to go to Kyoto. I am in the UK and TAs have been telling me there are no direct flights to Osaka. However that is a few weeks ago and so I am hoping flights might now have been scheduled. One TA did say to check in September/October. The TAs seem to be struggling with getting a package to include Kyoto as generally most people ask for Tokyo. I have looked at land tours but most of them are too long and go to places the cruises also go to and I really would like to have some time on a ship, to do a bit of relaxation. I am tied by dates around my birthday and work stuff which means I need to be back and over jet lag by early September

Hi - 

A few additional suggestions, let’s start with the easiest one first- 

Make sure ur cruise stops in Osaka.  The cruise offers tours that will take you to Kyoto, or to Kyoto and Nara, for the day.  You won’t see everything that Kyoto has to offer, but at least u will see some of this special city.  If you haven’t been to Tokyo yet, you want to fly to Tokyo a few days early, so you can tour Tōkyō.

Second option - even if there aren’t any direct flights to Osaka from the UK, take a flight to Tokyo, then transfer to a flight to Osaka.  Then you would have to make ur way to Kyoto, then eventually back to Tokyo/Yokohama (port city near Tokyo).

if u can free up a few days before the tour - fly to Tokyo first. Spend a day or two in Tokyo.  Leave your heavy bags at the Tokyo hotel. Take the bullet train to Kyoto with an overnight bag.  Stay in a hotel at the train station, easier this way.  Spend a day or two in Kyoto, then back to Tokyo for a night and to pick up your heavy bags and to transfer to Yokohama for your cruise.

Whatever u do, u will have a great time.

9 hours ago, Cathygh said:

Thanks so much for this. I am hoping to cruise Japan next year. I am celebrating a decade changing birthday in August 2020 and want to go to Kyoto but none of the cruises go there at the right time. Sigh! I am trying to persuade my self not to let that put me off and your review has helped

A few quick thoughts, in no particular order.

In October , 2019, we did a week land tour, on our own, followed by an 8 day Fall Foliage, cruise (Yokohama RT), all Japanese ports except Busan, South Korea.

We flew to Tokyo, spent a few days there, then took the bullet train (green car, ie first class, not that much more in cost) to Kyoto, spent a few days there, then returned to Tōkyō for a night and caught the Diamond cruise.  If you can squeeze in Kyoto, either at the beginning or end of your trip, suggest you do so, but spend 2-3 days there. Can fly from Osaka to/from the US, and Osaka is near Kyoto, as is Nara, worth a half day, the deer really do bow to visitors for food.

Re the cruise, in general, we had a great time - 

The foliage had not changed to the spectacular colors we were hoping to see, a minor disappointment.

Did not like the green tea ice cream,  tasted it, then put in down and replaced with chocolate,  just a personal choice.

Was hoping that the majority of the cruisers would be Japanese, for the cultural aspect,  but the majority were English speaking.  Thought we would see many kimonos on formal night, didn’t, except for the Japanese CD. First time cruisers were a majority of the cruisers - laundry came back quickly.

Agree about the immigration line.  Don’t remember other issues with lines.  Did not notice any issues between  passengers and staff.  Japanese style toilets are a plus, if ur cabin has one.  Thought two cruise directors was a plus.  The trivias were either all Japanese or all English, as I recall.

At Horizon Court, we could roll our own sushi, which was fun.  No one will mistake me for a Sushi Chef.  In general, the food was similar to that on other cruises and was fine.

Tiebreaker not needed.  My ‘yes’ above was to indicate that I was on the Grand recently.  

Think I will also buy more before my next cruise.

Yes, we were just on the Grand to Alaska.  Had a great time and weather.

Purchased some 20 oz bottles of soda in Alaska and Victoria to supplement what we had to start the cruise.  We paid about $3 per bottle for what we purchased in Alaska.  That is close to the $2 per can that Princess is charging in the 6 for 5 promotion.  If we can buy on board, probably easier and the way we go in the future.

Can we purchase the 6 cans of soda for the cost of 5 cans package while we are on board?  I know we can purchase soda at each port and bring on board, but might be easier to simply purchase 6 can soda packages, during the cruise, as needed.

36 minutes ago, jus10cruise said:

I had a morning helicopter excursion from Juneau last year. It was too foggy so they just pushed it back a couple hours (or you could cancel). After talking to them it seems to be frequent occurrence. Hopefully it'll work out for you!

Tks, we have nothing else scheduled in Juneau, so we would push it back. Was ur tour thru Princess?

1 hour ago, PotatoBug said:

I don't know about sledding in Skagway but I talked to someone on Glacier Bay day who said their morning helicopter ride in Juneau was canceled, but that afternoon ones ran when the weather cleared up.

 

The information we had read about the zipline said no go-pros, and yet they let 2 people attach theirs to their helmets. You need both hands on the bar when you're zipping so you can't operate a camera then, but I took pictures from the platforms between ziplines using my phone. I left the DLSR behind on the ship because I didn't think it would be practical to take along.

Thanks for the info.

 We have a morning helicopter ride scheduled on 8Aug, and as of a couple of days ago, the excursion is still operating. Guess we have to wait until we get there to see if the excursion is still operating, then hope for good weather in the morning.

Don't have a go pro. Have a little 35M, will use that if I can fit it into my pockets, or my phone, to take pics from the platforms.   Tks again for the info, have a great rest of ur cruise.

Do you know if the dog sledding excursion went as planned, or was it cancelled?  We are booked on that excursion in Juneau on 8 August.  The similar excursion in Skagway was cancelled due to the co diction of the glacier.

We are also booked on the zip-lining excursion you just took. Can you take pictures, using a small camera with a wrist band, while on the zip lines?  Got a feeling you might be saying no, given the gloves that we will need to wear that serve as brakes.

Thanks,  David

Hi Dani,

We board the Grand on 4Aug, when u guys disembark - have a great cruise and look forward to reading ur thread.

We are booked on the dog sledding excursion in Juneau on 8Aug.  We were cancelled out of a similar tour in Skagway due to glacier conditions.  There was talk of possible similar cancellations re the Juneau dog sledding excursion.  So, if u get a chance, can u find out if the Juneau dog sledding excursion from ur cruise is still scheduled, and if they have any idea re whether the dog sledding excursion on 8Aug will take place.  Thanks in advance for ur help.    David

I posted a video of my pictures touring the Diamond Princess from my Spring Flowers Cruise in April. The pictures include some of the food and menus.

 

Here is the link:

 

 

 

If you would like to see any of the other videos from the ports from the cruise, you can find them in this playlist:

 

 

 

Thank you.

Thanks for ur post since we will be heading to Japan on 30Sep18 to spend a week in Tokyo/Kyoto followed by an 8 day Fall Foliage Cruise.

Noticing ur screen name; we are hoping that we will be heading for our trip just as the Cubs are finishing their season and getting ready for a long post season run. If all goes well, we will be back home to watch the Cubs in the WS. “Let’s play two” in “the Friendly Confines “.

David

Yes, and had an amazing wonderful cruise on the Diamond, we are returning to the Diamond in October 2019 for Northern Japan. :D

Just curious since u took a cruise around the same time in October. Our cruise is billed as the Fall Foliage Cruise. Do u remember seeing great colors during ur 2017 cruise? (We are spending a week in Tokyo/Kyoto pre cruise; main reason for trip/cruise is to see Japan, not Fall Foliage, so if we miss the colors, still OK, but if we get lucky and see the fall colors, an added bonus.)

Hi, just checking, are u sure that ur cruise doesn't start on the 8th, think we are on the same cruise - Oct 8, 2018 a Fall Foliage Cruise

Pls ignore the above post, would edit if I knew how, now realize u took the cruise in Oct 2017

Thank you so much for starting this thread cowgrrl, you are totally correct there has been so little that gets posted about the Diamond and the Japanese cruises. We are flying to Tokyo Oct 5th and will board the Diamond on the 9th. I started taking notes of things that I must do once on board the ship and thanks to you I have started the most important ones so we can get signed up for everything right away. This is our first cruise around Japan although it will be my second time to Japan but my first was as a teenager in 1970 so cannot really compare. You have given some great information. Right this minute I cannot think of any questions but I am sure I will.

 

What I do plan to do is a "Live From the Diamond Princess" Thread here on CC, I have been doing these for many years although have stopped in recent years but I think that Princess cruisers may be interested in my daily diary type post that will have lots of pictures from excursions to the on board activities.

 

Thanks again for starting this thread. :)

Hi, just checking, are u sure that ur cruise doesn't start on the 8th, think we are on the same cruise - Oct 8, 2018 a Fall Foliage Cruise

Just got on Star. No expiration dates on coffee cards.

So the new cards are contradictory. They say that unused punches can be used on the next voyage and that the card expires at the end of 2018. So if your next voyage is in 2019, does the ‘use on your next voyage clause’ apply, and the unused punches are still valid, or does the expiration clause apply, and you can’t use in 2019. To be determined.

We recently took a $129pp upsell from a balcony to a mini on an upcoming 15 day cruise to Hawaii. Given the duration of our cruise, and the additional cost, we thought it was a great deal. But as everyone else has indicated, it really is a personal decision based on the cost and cabin (that holds 4) that u currently have.

You can see what the available cabins are by checking your cruise on princess.com (i.e. start the booking process for an additional cabin on your cruise.). Then when/if you call, you will already know which cabins are available. Princess will ( at least they did with us) give u whatever open (mini) cabin you request, if u take the upsell.

One of the posters indicated u can indicate that u don't want an upgrade. Can that be done thru the Princess website?

Just off the Caribbean Princess yesterday and had a wonderful experience for Passover onboard. We signed up at passenger services the day before. It was held in the Horizon court. The table was beautifully set with all the traditonal elements to do the seder. The reading of the Hagaddah went from table to table. Food was in keeping with tradition and very tasty. Can't say enough good things about the staff who made it possible. Job well done.

Just off the Golden, we echo the above comments. We didn't even sign up, the Seder was simply provided in a separate section of the Horizon court. Also, on Sunday, the ship was decorated for Easter, and yes, there was also an Easter bunny,a cookie decoration station, face painting for the kids, and large chocolate eggs - for demonstration purposes only - couldn't eat them 😒

Hope to clarify at least the issue about the cheaper fares on the subsequent cruise.

Believe the Op is on the 4Jul15 Iceland cruise. So are we ( myself and DW),and nine of our friends. Originally there was only one such cruise, our group booked this tour because we liked the itinerary.

Months after we booked the cruise, Princess changed the itinerary of the following cruise from a Baltic cruise to essentially the same cruise as the 4Jul15 cruise, one port different. Presumably Princess was having difficulty selling the Baltic cruise, but not the Iceland cruise. - the first cruise was almost sold out.

Since they added the new itinerary just a couple of months ago, they discounted the rates, yes by up to a $1,000 pp, to sell the ship. We considered changing to the latter cruise, but it wasn't worth trying to coordinate everyone's schedule, including changing air tickets.

We had our TA check with Princess to see if they would give us the cheaper rates. They said no, but we could switch to the following cruise if we wanted to. Now wearing my shareholder hat, I understand why they didn't give us the cheaper fares, our cruise was basically sold out so there was no reason to discount it. When we originally booked our cruise, the fares were relatively high, but we knew that and booked the cruise, so we really don't have anything to complain about.

Hope this helps at least part of the discussion.