questions Diamond Princess 9/05

[JRae]

Hi everyone,

 

We are on the Diamond in Spetember Vista Suite D738 aft balcony and I have several questions

 

We like to hang out in private which is why we chose the aft suite, will we be able to see everything from that balcony or are we going to miss a lot if we hang out on the balcony, fi so where does it benefit us the most to be on deck

 

I have been trying to get a hold of Orca enterprises, are they too busy to take care of us and is there another option that is just as good

 

I don't want the trip to be crazy, so we are thinking of ONE excursion in Juneau ( orca) rent a car and drive to Emerald lake in Skagway, and seaplane of Misty Fjord in Ketchikan. I think this is MOre than enough, comments????

 

I have read A LOT about embarkation and are we best off to get there at 10am or wait and get there around 2pm.

 

Thanks for everybody's help, this is a great resource:o

[Mistified]

I really can't help you much, because I have never cruised, but I am going to Alaska on the diamond in Sept. as well, we are going on the 10th, when are you going? When I called Orca, they answered right away and was willing to help me in anyway is this what you have? Hope this help's!:)

[star gazer]

Hi everyone,

 

I have read A LOT about embarkation and are we best off to get there at 10am or wait and get there around 2pm.

 

Thanks for everybody's help, this is a great resource:o

 

If you are new to Diamond and Princess, go early for the experence and fun.

If you have did that and done that, wait until 2:00 PM.

[lbcrosby]

We took the Diamond to Alask on June 23rd and did use Orca. I can't give you much help on the location of your cabin as we were on the Aloha deck in the middle. We did use Orca for the whale excursions and went on the 3:30 time. We coordinated with them so that we could get out to Mendenhall Glacier before hand and then they picked us up from there. Definitely the way to go. However, unless you are planning on hiking near the Glacier an hour is more than enough time to visit the Glacier so you could hang out in Juneau ahead of time and then take a shuttle to the Glacier. You can check on online as well. http://www.orcaenterprises.com/1-schedule.htm.

 

The excursions that my husband and I enjoyed which were not very expensive but still gave you the flavor of the town was the Skagway Street Car http://www.skagwaystreetcar.com/ and then we did the Horse and Buggy tour in Ketchikan. One nice thing is that they are short and they gave you the brief history of the town so if you have never been there before you knew a little bit about the town before you left and you didn't spend a fortune doing it. We didn't do the horse and buggy ride in Victoria but instead took the bus shuttles off the pier downtown. We probably would have rather done the horse and buggy tour as we liked the others but it was not available.

 

We arrived at the embarkaation about 10:45 and were in our cabin by 12:15 watching the line grow. We were glad we were there early as by the afternoon the line was out the door into the sun. We also were able to get on board grab a bite to eat at either the outside pool (pizza) or at Horizons Court.

[sooner2]

we were on the Diamond with Lori June 25th- rented the car in Skagway (hope you found the coupon mentioned earlier- it saved about $23! We drove all the way to Whitehorse, Yukon just to say we'd been there! Stopped at Miles Canyon just outside Whitehorse- enjoyed getting a Diet Coke at McD's in Whitehorse since we didn't have any on the ship- print out the Murray travelogue- it was great help! Our other CruiseCritic friends saw the bear right where Murray said it might be, but we didn't- it's 220 miles rt to Whitehorse- we left about 9:20 and got back about 3:30

 

there's not a lot to see past Emerald Lake but it was fun to go to a town that size up there (30,000)

 

 

 

rented an intermediate but got upgraded to a Camry

[emoki3]

We got off of the Sapphire yesterday and had the suite on the other side of the aft deck (D739). The balcony is completely private. You do have a cabin next door, but there is a wall there. The only way that you would be able to see your neighbors is if you and they are leaning over the railing at the same time. We saw everything from our balcony. The best stuff was Tracy Arm cause we got such an amazing view and we could be comfortable and private.

 

As far as embarkation, because you are in a suite, you should be eligible for Platinum embarkation and disembarkation. We were. We got there at about 10:30 or so. We told the porter that we were Platinum and we by-passed the first line and we were brought directly to an agent who checked our passports and tickets. Then we went inside, by-passed another long line and went to the Platinum check-in desk. There was no line there. That took some time cause you have to fill out a medical release form and they check the tickets, passports, and give you some info. After that you are taken into a large room. We were lucky, they opened the ship early and we were in our room no later than 11:15 that morning.

 

As far as the excursions go, doing one per stop is the best thing. We only did 2 on this trip. We did gold panning in Juneau and we did the Mushers Camp in Skagway. Both were great and definately worth it (the kids had a blast).

 

Hope that you have a great trip!!

 

Evie:)

[custompcsys]

We just got off the Diamond this past Saturday. Can't help much with your cabin as we had inside cabins on the Baja deck, but embarkation was nowhere near as bad as we expected. We got to terminal 30 a little after 11:00 and were on board having lunch in the Horizon Court by 12:30. That was with waiting in the regular line since we didn't have any perks :)

 

We did one excursion each in Junea (Mendenhall Glacier and Salmon Bake combo), Skagway (Yukon Expedition and White Pass Railway), and Ketchican (Misty Fjord and Wilderness Explorer). It was fortunate we chose not to pre-plan an excursion in Victoria as we missed the port call due to high winds. I highly recommend the White Pass Railway, its an awesome ride!

[Budget Queen]

Your balcony sounds great. But a great deal depends on when in Sept you are going. Can get real cold if going past the first week, so no dining on the balcony? Be well prepared in your attire. I would however recommend you get to a front deck at least part of your Tracy Arm sailing, nothing beats those views. Call Orca Enterprises, remember the Alaska time difference.