Capt of Diamond Princess reveals new Grand Class ship's name

[argosy]

Lemonchello is a brand of Italian lemon cordial. We first had it in Amalfi and LOVED it. On Princess they usually send pretty girls around the dining room to sell it as an after dinner drink (you get to keep the cordial glass). Most bars have it as well, try it once, it's delicious.;)

 

They had cute guys pushing it on the Grand.

[NewPacifica]

And finally, how was disembarkation on Saturday? Thanks!!!!

 

 

Disembarkation (as well as embarcation) was a slight bit of madness. Part of the problem was that the dock -- which is fairly new I think, maybe 2 years old -- used one customs checkpoint for 2 cruise ships. The Oosterdam was with us most of the trip, and embarked and disembarked at the same time. The whole embarcation process seemed to be fairly unorganized when it came to where passengers needed to go to drop off luggage/check in/wait to get onboard -- but since it WAS the first cruise of the season, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. It even looked like arrivals had improved as we disembarked the ship. Us, however, were stuck in the chute as we melded with Oosterdam passengers to get through customs. Not a HUGE wait, but our color group was about 2 hours behind schedule getting called to disembark. I was happy with Princess for not calling us right away, and allowing for the line to get shorter before they called the next group.

 

MY RECOMMENDATION: Get organized the night before (obviously) and don't be afraid to keep one small suitcase (we had one of those small rolling ones) with you for clothes you will need. Get up when they need you to, and head upstairs for a nice, realaxing breakfast in the Horizon Court -- Once you are out of your stateroom you can take your time. Find a nice seat with a view and enjoy your last massive meal of the cruise. The buffet was CLOSED :eek: around 9 or 9:30, so make sure you take what you need by then (maybe an extra box of cereal or a muffin for a snack later). There were so many people sitting on the stairs and in the hallways near the exit even though they continually asked people over the intercom NOT to do this (and how BORING that must be, anyway!). We decided to head up to Skywalkers one last time to watch the sights of the city, then moved up on deck for the last time to watch things being loaded on board. It made the day much nicer when we weren't simply waiting to get off, and could enjoy our time on the ship up until we stepped onto the gangway.

[Gateman1997]

Disembarkation (as well as embarcation) was a slight bit of madness. Part of the problem was that the dock -- which is fairly new I think, maybe 2 years old -- used one customs checkpoint for 2 cruise ships. The Oosterdam was with us most of the trip, and embarked and disembarked at the same time. The whole embarcation process seemed to be fairly unorganized when it came to where passengers needed to go to drop off luggage/check in/wait to get onboard -- but since it WAS the first cruise of the season, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. It even looked like arrivals had improved as we disembarked the ship. Us, however, were stuck in the chute as we melded with Oosterdam passengers to get through customs. Not a HUGE wait, but our color group was about 2 hours behind schedule getting called to disembark. I was happy with Princess for not calling us right away, and allowing for the line to get shorter before they called the next group.

 

MY RECOMMENDATION: Get organized the night before (obviously) and don't be afraid to keep one small suitcase (we had one of those small rolling ones) with you for clothes you will need. Get up when they need you to, and head upstairs for a nice, realaxing breakfast in the Horizon Court -- Once you are out of your stateroom you can take your time. Find a nice seat with a view and enjoy your last massive meal of the cruise. The buffet was CLOSED :eek: around 9 or 9:30, so make sure you take what you need by then (maybe an extra box of cereal or a muffin for a snack later). There were so many people sitting on the stairs and in the hallways near the exit even though they continually asked people over the intercom NOT to do this (and how BORING that must be, anyway!). We decided to head up to Skywalkers one last time to watch the sights of the city, then moved up on deck for the last time to watch things being loaded on board. It made the day much nicer when we weren't simply waiting to get off, and could enjoy our time on the ship up until we stepped onto the gangway.

 

Good advice my dear. Skywalkers was nice that morning ;)

[madelinerose]

Allright!!! Keep the Limoncello coming! ;)

 

They had cute guys pushing it on the Grand.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Just got the summer issue of the Captain's Circle magazine today and there's no mention of any new ship except the Crown so this ship probably to start sailing in '07. In fact, if you look on the calendar on the last two pages before the back cover and most of October and November of next year is blank. The calendar ends there. Interesting...

[luvcruzn]

Other then friday it was outstanding, we had 12 foot swells on Friday and because Diamond is so big she doesn't roll with the weather she plows through it and you get 5 second interval pounding vibrations. After 12 hours it got REAL old. But besides that... Food was supurb especially in the Santa Fe dining room. The weather was almost too warm for Alaska (80 degrees in Juneau) and the staff was great, especially the comedian and the purveyor of the Limochelo drinks Alek from Poland. The shows were awesome, pools were fun to partake in and Skywalkers lounge was the secret gem of the ship. No one ever goes up to Deck 18 and we would spend hours whale watching up there.

 

Is Alek the tiny little waitress Aleksandra with short streaked blonde hair? She was our waitress Anytime on the Coral/Canal Oct 05 and she was OUTSTANDING! We would only let them seat us at her tables (She also introduced us to limoncello).

 

Anyway...I too hope the new ship is not named after a US state...I love the US but I hope they call her the Aquamarine Princess...conjures up more paradise-like images.

 

Nordic Empress 94

Sun Princess 97

Sun Princess 03

Coral Princess 04

Voyager of the Seas 05

 

Coming soon God willing:

Sea Princess Nov 05

Enchantment of the Seas Dec 05

[cruisnfool]

No offense to Californians but thats about the dumbest name I've heard for a ship!

[NewPacifica]

There is a Caribbean Princess, named after a place, so why not a California Princess?

[kradogna]

I just came back from a cruise aboard the Regal Princess that was escorted by my TA. She made an announcement to the entire group that Princess has 3 new ships coming out and that the largest of them will be named the California Princess. She said it weighs 188,000 tons and will be based on the West Coast. I don't know if she's right, but I sure hope so!

[Druke I]

188,000 GRT is a big ship - but that is a measurement of internal space, not the weight of the ship nor its displacement.

 

I rather doubt the veracity of the report - Fincantieri, Princess' shipyard of choice, has not announced a contract for a ship that size, but has announced a contract for three ships similar to Caribbean Princess, at about 116,000 GRT. One of the three may be assigned to P&O as Canberra, according to World Ocean and Cruise Liner Society. Other allegedly to be named Emerald and Sapphire Princess.

[princess_lover]

What gives one the impression that Diamond Princess is the flagship of the fleet? Last time I checked' date=' that honor belonged to Royal Princess. She's still in the fleet for a few more weeks anyway.

 

BTW, I am disappointed with the selection of another "jewel" name. I was hoping to see Royal or Regal re-appointed to one of the new ships. Have to maintain tradition some how, afterall.[/quote']

 

 

THANK YOU!! finally someone agrees with me that the "gem" names are stupid... these are ships, and with so many beatiful possibilities that have at least something to do with sailing and the sea, can't something else be chosen??

[Guest Snorkelbunny]

The next two ships coming out for Princess will be called The Crown Princess followed by The Emerald Princess. They are sister ships to the Caribbean Princess. Very exciting!

[Druke I]

Noticed I said Sapphire when I meant Crown. Oh well, I know what I meant.

 

Apparently there is a third ordered, which may be assigned to P&O as Canberra.