Dissertations from Diamond Proncess repo to Japan Mar 2018

[Expat Cruise]

It is a great ship and crew you should have a good trip. You will have limited internet once you are a three to four hundred miles off Australia but it will get much better when you get closer to Singapore and stay good until Japan. Have a great trip nice reports.

[Esilef]

Enjoy your cruise!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[OzKiwiJJ]

Greetings from Darwin. I didn't post yesterday as I've been using up my internet minutes a bit too quickly. I might have to restrict myself to posting every second day.

 

It was very windy the other day. Luckily the front section of the Sanctuary is relatively sheltered but even so we were blown about a bit. At one stage I felt this strange sensation on the soles of my feet, like small objects hitting me. It was raindrops blown horizontally through the narrow gap in the glass screens! It was a very weird feeling! Luckily it was just a brief shower so it didn't disrupt our relaxing afternoon.

 

We had a delicious dinner at Sabatinis - vitello tonnato, mannacotta, lobster three ways, and espresso creme brulee. We treated ourselves to some champagne with the meal. The lobster was different to the usual MDR offering. Still fairly small, so we actually got two tails, but sweeter firmer meat. Very, very nice indeed.

 

The Buddy Holly tribute show was excellent. Really worth seeing. The theatre was standing room only for both shows. There were a few grumbles from people who couldn't get into the theatre. We went to the early show and made sure we got there early.

 

The late shows are at 9:30pm and are a rush if you dine late. On previous cruises the held the late shows at 9:45pm or later.

 

We're really enjoying Diamond. The service has been very good most of the time. We love the Club Fusion layout for trivia - much better than the Vista Lounge style of seating.

 

Like on Golden, Crooners is way too small on Diamond so often impossible to get a seat in the evenings. However it's the best place for coffee in the mornings - much better than the Piazza cafe.

 

I really like the Wheelhouse Bar. Even though it's quite large it has cosy areas so is a pleasant place to sit.

 

We have late traditional dining in the International Dining Room aft. Breakfast and lunch are also in that MDR so we haven't seen the smaller ones forward. I think one is dedicated to Club Class now.

 

The food is excellent and there seem to be some new items on the menu.

 

We're still having a few issues with the wine package so will need to visit guest services again tomorrow. Ah well, the discount on wines is worth it. We're well under budget on our drinks purchases - a significant amount below the drinks package price. We would definitely not have got value for money from that.

[MMDown Under]

Heres a grab from Marine Traffic AIS of their transit around Cape York ,Torres Strait and the Islands they sailed past.

 

 

 

Thanks David That is a great grab from Marine Traffic.

Pity more Australians can't enjoy that beautiful region of North Queensland on a cruise.

 

Sounds like you are enjoying your cruise on Diamond, OzKiwiJJ.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

They have now left Darwin to thread there way north to Kota Kinabalu,,

heres a plan of the route forecast from AIS

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

Greetings from somewhere in the Celebes Sea. All is well at sea, we're having a very peaceful cruise. It's been quite windy the last couple of days but that has helped to keep us cool. Not much to see at sea at the moment - a couple of large seabirds, a couple of floating logs, and a few small boats, presumably small fishing boats.

 

The ship is decorated for Easter with a big easter egg display in the atrium and balloons around Crooners.

 

We had the equator crossing ceremony yesterday. We'd seen it before so didn't watch it this time. It was held late morning so they moved trivia to 9:15 which was a bit of a scramble for us. Just as well that wasn't today as we slept in this morning and missed breakfast in the MDR!

 

We've teamed up with another couple for trivia now and are having great fun. We're getting respectable scores but no wins yet.

 

We went to the Sterling Steakhouse last night. OMG that black and blue onion soup was divine! The steak was excellent but, as usual, there was far too much food. We tried one of the speciality salts - a brown smoky-tasting salt from Washington (I think). It added a interesting flavour to the steak.

 

A couple of minor whinges:

- The lighting was far too bright, it really ruins the ambience and despite the nice tablecloths and some screens it doesn't feel like a restaurant in the same was Sabatinis does.

- There are three appetisers - two seafood ones that are included in the cover charge plus a carpaccio which costs $10 extra as they use Kobe beef. It's a shame they don't offer this done with normal beef fillet as an included option, it sounded delicious. It would be disappointing for people who don't eat seafood.

 

It's my favourite dinner menu tonight. Escargot and duck a l'orange. Yum! Sadly the souffles on this cruise have been very disappointing. Very dense instead of light and fluffy.

[possum52]

 

We went to the Sterling Steakhouse last night. OMG that black and blue onion soup was divine! The steak was excellent but, as usual, there was far too much food. We tried one of the speciality salts - a brown smoky-tasting salt from Washington (I think). It added a interesting flavour to the steak.

 

 

OzKiwiJJ, the black and blue onion soup from the Sterling Steakhouse is the my favourite food memory from our Diamond cruise. It is just amazing.

 

We were amazed at how many small fishing boats we saw between Darwin and Singapore.

 

Leigh

[OzKiwiJJ]

OzKiwiJJ, the black and blue onion soup from the Sterling Steakhouse is the my favourite food memory from our Diamond cruise. It is just amazing.

 

We were amazed at how many small fishing boats we saw between Darwin and Singapore.

 

Leigh

 

That soup is indeed amazing. It seems to be just the standard French onion soup but the addition of the Jack Daniels and the blue cheese just lifts it from a good soup to an extraordinary one.

 

I think it depends which route the ship takes. I recall seeing heaps of fishing boats on the Golden cruise we did a couple of years ago which went via Bali and Singapore and passed many of the Indonesian islands. However this route has been quite different, very little land sightings and very few fishing boats.

[MicCanberra]

Friday 23rd March.

 

We boarded Diamond yesterday. It was one if the fastest embarkations we've ever had on Princess. We arrived at the OPT around 10:45 and were onboard around 11:20. Our cabin was ready so we dropped off our carry-ons and went up to the Sanctuary to book our sunloungers. We got the ones we wanted - under the solid roof so we should be able to sit there even if it's showery.

 

It's great not to have to cart the lifejackets to the "Passenger Safety Briefing" - it's not a muster drill anymore!

 

The food has been very good as usual and there was some noticeable heat in the Mexican soup we had for lunch. Usually spicy means bland on Princess but not this time.

 

Who says you can't get the Gold and Silver wine packages on the Aussie cruises? Just on the off-chance I asked about them and, yes, they were available. The 12 bottle Gold package is $336, less than $28 per bottle, for wines up to $45. Great value!

 

I suspect there are some rather unhappy people onboard. The TV system isn't working so no movies or anything. They are trying to fix it. We received a letter during embarkation about this and had an update from the Captain this morning. It doesn't bother us though, we rarely use the cabin TV.

 

Note: I have limited internet access so will only be popping in here briefly but I will try to note and answer questions when I can.

Hope you enjoy your cruise and great news about your wine package.

[MicCanberra]

Heres a grab from Marine Traffic AIS

Excellent work David with the updates.

[wishfulone]

We've had the wine package out of Australia before. I think it has something to do whether it's a round trip to Sydney, Brisbane etc or a cruise OUT of Australia. How's the air con issue? In your cabin and others around the ship?

[OzKiwiJJ]

We've had the wine package out of Australia before. I think it has something to do whether it's a round trip to Sydney, Brisbane etc or a cruise OUT of Australia. How's the air con issue? In your cabin and others around the ship?

It could be something like that with the wine package. They do seem to be having a few issues with it. I have to keep going to guest services to get some of the wine charges removed.

 

The air con is variable. Our cabin is still a bit too warm but the fan we bought in Darwin has helped. Most of the public areas around the ship seem OK but the International MDR has been a bit warm on the last few nights (late sitting).

 

We are having a perfect day at sea today. Very calm seas, warm temps with just a hint of breeze. Gorgeous!

[MicCanberra]

It could be something like that with the wine package. They do seem to be having a few issues with it. I have to keep going to guest services to get some of the wine charges removed.

 

The air con is variable. Our cabin is still a bit too warm but the fan we bought in Darwin has helped. Most of the public areas around the ship seem OK but the International MDR has been a bit warm on the last few nights (late sitting).

 

We are having a perfect day at sea today. Very calm seas, warm temps with just a hint of breeze. Gorgeous!

Shame about the inside air temps for you but at least the weather is good.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Greetings from Kota Kinabalu.

 

We've had a lovely wander around the various markets this morning. I'm always fascinated by the local food markets. The produce looked very nice and fresh. We're cooling off in a cafe at the moment.

 

We had a minor drama last night. Just after 3am there was a "first response team" announcement ftom the captain, to a galley on deck 10 section 6. Eek! We're in section 5 on that deck. Apparently there was a small fire which was dealt with promptly. Although we didn't smell any smoke there must have been some that escaped as they cranked the air-con up for a while. The captain had to make a third announcement to ask the rubberneckers to return to their cabins! We heard a few people complaining about the announcements this morning. Luckily we managed to get back to sleep OK.

 

It feels a bit strange that we are half way through the 22 night cruise yet this is only our second port call. We've loved all the sea days though. Bliss!

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Thanks for the update . Great to hear its all going well .

Halfway already, amazing how the time flies. The bridge cam is still not working...(have a word with the Captain :D:D)

I found this one and only live webcam pic from KK . Looks like a great day.

 

[MicCanberra]

Love sea days and also KK, a wonderful place to explore.

[OzKiwiJJ]

It's a gorgeous day, David. Not too hot but very humid, of course. Luckily there are sufficient air-conditioned shopping malls to keep us cool between exploring outside.

 

We had a simple but delicious lunch at a local restaurant - nasi goreng and Penang kway teow. It cost just over AU $5 in total. Those dishes cost almost three times as much each in a local Sydney food court!

[Kiwi Kruzer]

They have arrived in Hong Kong...

 

[MicCanberra]

Cheers, looks rather gloomy.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Cheers, looks rather gloomy.

 

It was actually quite pleasant, although it was cooler than expected.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Greetings from the seas between China and Taiwan - I'm not sure if that's still part of the South China Sea. Maybe the Straits of Taiwan?

 

I'm a bit behind in my posts but am catching up now with one giant post.

 

Our first Vietnam stop was a bit of a fizzer for us. We'd been to Ho Chi Minh City before so didn't want to do an expensive excursion there. We decided to take the free shuttle to Ba Ria instead. This stopped at a "market" which wasn't very interesting. We attempted to explore a little of the town and had hoped to find a nice local restaurant for lunch. However the bad air pollution, combined with the heat and humidity, meant we had to flag that idea away. We headed back to the ship on the next bus.

 

Next day at Nha Trang was a little better. Still hot and humid, still bad air pollution (far worse than our previous visit there two years ago) but despite that Nha Trang is a lovely place to visit.

 

The downside is that this is a tender + shuttle bus port so it was 11am before we arrived in the town due to long tender and bus queues. I forgot my hat so had to buy a new one at the wharf market. I had a bit of fun bargaining for the one I wanted.

 

We enjoyed exploring a bit more of the town, walking though the back streets to the river then back along the beautiful beachfront. Unfortunately we couldn't find the great restaurant we'd gone to previously but had a pleasant, simple meal near the hotel the shuttle bus stopped at.

 

Then we headed back to the ship. Again there was a long queue for the tenders - at least 20 minutes standing in the hot sun.

 

We stopped at Crooners for a cold drink. Unfortunately there was a raucous group at the bar who had obviously been there for a while.

 

We decided to go up to the platinum/elite/suite lounge for sailaway as it was Stilton night. Yum! We had the pleasure of meeting ccrain, who has been writing the B2B2B blogs on the Princess forum. We had a great chat with him and his wife.

 

During the course of the evening I overheard a number of people commenting about the pollution at the two Vietnam stops. It really is quite unpleasant. Such a shame!

 

Next day was a quiet sea day. Our main highlight was almost winning trivia. We missed out on the three-way tie breaker. Ah well! We were happy with what we'd achieved.

 

The lure of that black and blue onion soup was too great so we went to the Stirling Steakhouse again for dinner. This time we had the lamb cutlets which were delicious.

 

We'd been warned to expect 5 metre seas that night and it was getting a bit bouncy by the time we headed back to our cabin. Getting from our table to the lifts was tricky walking. Diamond handles the heavier seas very well, with no really uncomfortable motion, just a gentle rocking to give us a good sleep, although I think we were lucky that we'd made good progress during the day so the ship was able to reduce speed once we hit the heavier swells.

 

We had a lovely day in Hong Kong yesterday. We met a friend for lunch. She took us to a great restaurant on the 30th floor of a tower building directly behind The Peninsula Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui. We had wonderful views over the harbour and a delicious Yum Cha lunch.

 

After lunch we took the Star Ferry across to Central - I never feel I'm properly in HK until I have a Star Ferry ride. Then we took the train to Mong Kok to get a couple of things from the Ladies Market.

 

Hong Kong is getting so crowded these days. Of course being a Saturday during the Rugby Sevens didn't help. I think I must have some Asian genes though - I can crowbar myself onto a crowded train with the best of the locals! ;)

 

There was a light haze over the city but not as bad as it was two years ago. A cool change had come through in time for our visit and that cleared the air a little. Still, my throat was a bit scratchy by the time we got back onboard.

 

Due to our late departure from HK, sceduled for 8:30pm, Princess chose to make the International (traditional) MDR open seating for that night. I was not happy! This option appears to allow early diners to dine when they choose and late diners have to fit in where they can.

 

We are late diners who chose to dine at our regular time, and preferred to dine in our regular section as our waiters knew what wines we had stored. Our regular 8-seater table was full with what appeared to be the early diners for that table, who had obviously arrived about 10 minutes before us.

 

We were offered places at a smaller table where four other diners were just finishing their meal. This meant the table wasn't properly cleared between diners and was a bit grubby in places. Two others from our regular table joined us shortly after the first group left - they hadn't even realised it was open dining and weren't happy with the change either.

 

I'm beginning to think late traditional diners are second class cruisers as far as Princess is concerned. The show and entertainment timing, and the platinum/ elite/suite lounge timing, all seem to be aimed towards early traditional or fairly early anytime dining. It's very disappointing.

 

We departed later than expected, just after we'd finished dinner, so we were able to go up on deck for a while. Sailaway from HK is spectacular. The harbour is so beautiful at night with office buildings turned into giant video screens and the serried ranks of apartment buildings glittering like banks of gems. So pretty! The ship headed east out of HK so we saw some different parts of Hong Kong Island. In the past we'd only done ferry trips that went out the west side of the harbour.

 

We had middle of the night dramas again. A third engineer went missing. I presume s/he didn't report for duty and couldn't be found in their cabin or usual crew haunts. S/he turned up after two broadcasts from the captain. Oops!

 

We slept in this morning. We just had time to grab a quick breakfast before trivia. Judging by the crowd in the Horizon Court quite a few people woke late.

 

It's much cooler today so we're sittng in the Sanctuary all rugged up in fleeces and blankets. It's still very pleasant though!

[MicCanberra]

Thanks for the update, the pollution in some of these Asian cities can be very bad and I always find I get very headachy and a sore throat from them when they are particularly bad. Like smoking I suppose.

[cheznandy]

Thanks for the updates, loved to read about Hong Kong, we are there for the first time in August.

Our late deparures from ports Princess have usually had Anytime dining, doesnt bother us as we are Anytime diners, but a lot of Traditional diners are unaware.

We have 10pm departure from HongKong, so they will probably do the same.

 

Keep enjoying!

 

Chez

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Thanks for the update. Hong Kong sail away at night is spectacular .

Another on off the bucket list .:):)

[MicCanberra]

Thanks for the update. Hong Kong sail away at night is spectacular .

Another on off the bucket list .:):)

5 weeks away for us. Yay.