Crown vs Diamond Princess to Hawaii

[eyegirl]

I have a choice to make on a Hawaii cruise....do we sail on the Crown or Diamond Princess? They are both in Jan 2023, Diamond is 1 day longer, same general price. Which would you suggest? Not familiar with these ships

Thanks

[JimmyVWine]

Positives for Diamond:

• Extra day at no real cost
• Smaller ship with lower passenger load
• Generally feels more spacious
• Main Dining Rooms broken down into more, smaller venues. They seem more like land-based restaurants instead of massive cruise ship dining halls
• Asian-themed public areas if you like that

Positives for Crown

• Has an International Café-one of my favorite PCL venues
• Has a Crown Grill instead of Sterling Steakhouse.  Crown Grill is nicer
• Sabatini's and Adagio Bar are up top with a great view.  Better location than on Diamond
• Does not have the Asian-themed public areas, if you aren't into that
• Has Vines Wine Bar whereas Diamond does not

Overall, I prefer the venues on Crown to those on Diamond, though I like the size and scale of Diamond.  With so many sea days, venues matter, so I lean toward Crown.  Still, an extra day of vacation at no extra cost is a factor.

 

[eyegirl]

Thank you so much for your detailed response. Is there a 24 hr venue on the Diamond? We've sailed on the Crown before and liked her, but unfamiliar with the Diamond.

[JimmyVWine]

28 minutes ago, eyegirl said:

Thank you so much for your detailed response. Is there a 24 hr venue on the Diamond? We've sailed on the Crown before and liked her, but unfamiliar with the Diamond.

The functional equivalent of the International Café on Diamond is the Patisserie, though I don't find them equivalent at all.  The Princess fact sheet shows the Patisserie as being open "6:00 a.m.-Onward", I am afraid that I do not know what "Onward" means, but I don't think that is 24 hours.  for example, the International Café is listed on the fact sheet as being open "24 Hours."  No other venue is so listed. 

[skynight]

Diamond Princess was redesigned for the Japan market.

Don't see any Patisserie on the Diamond Princess. Have not been on this ship, guessing that the Good Spirits bar will have specialty coffees. Probably no food except maybe some small Danish, cookies or cakes

Specialty restaurants include Sabatini's, Sterling Steakhouse which is similar to the Crown Grill but is located in an aft seating section of the Horizon Ct., and Kai Sushi with menu priced items.

The ship has a Japanese Bath on deck 15 aft. Believe there is a charge to use.

 

[JimmyVWine]

6 minutes ago, skynight said:

Don't see any Patisserie on the Diamond Princess.

The 2022 pdf of dining options for all Princess ships lists the Patisserie as being present on both the Diamond and Island.  But I agree that the current deck plan does not show one. 

 

https://www.princess.com/downloads/pdf/food-and-dining/dining-options.pdf

 

Edited March 24, 2022 by JimmyVWine

[cr8tiv1]

The Grand’s IC is not open 24 hours.  Heard the same with other ships.

[JF - retired RRT]

13 minutes ago, skynight said:

Diamond Princess was redesigned for the Japan market.

Don't see any Patisserie on the Diamond Princess. Have not been on this ship, guessing that the Good Spirits bar will have specialty coffees. Probably no food except maybe some small Danish, cookies or cakes

Specialty restaurants include Sabatini's, Sterling Steakhouse which is similar to the Crown Grill but is located in an aft seating section of the Horizon Ct., and Kai Sushi with menu priced items.

The ship has a Japanese Bath on deck 15 aft. Believe there is a charge to use.

 

On Pacific Princess (miss that ship), there was no Patisserie/IC at all. The bar outside the MDR had a small tray of pastries in the AM & IIRC finger sandwiches in the PM.

[Thrak]

I'd love the extra day for "free" but would choose Crown Princess hands down.

[eyegirl]

Thanks, Thrak...why do you feel that way?

[SNJCruisers]

Thought I had read that the Royal was going to be taking over the SF to Hawaii cruises.

[eyegirl]

14 hours ago, Thrak said:

I'd love the extra day for "free" but would choose Crown Princess hands down.

Thrak, why do you feel this way? Not sure what to do!

[westcoaster]

Personally, I would prefer the Diamond.  Like it's sister ship the Sapphire Princess, Diamond has a wider promenade deck with full loungers, and it has a covered pool - which would be a nice feature since it is often quite cool in January as you sail to and from Hawaii.

[Thrak]

2 hours ago, eyegirl said:

Thrak, why do you feel this way? Not sure what to do!

 

Crown has Vines, International Cafe, and Adagio. Crown also has Coffee and Cones on Lido which has actual ice cream - not just soft serve. That means I can get a shake or a malt (I ask for lots and lots and lots of malt and get one like I could get when I was young.)

 

Diamond has a better Promenade (extra wide) and also has the covered pool which is a favorite place to hang out and read. I don't have any interest in the Japanese bath.

 

To me, these things make Crown an easy choice.

[donswife]

We are booked on the 5 day Cabo trip on the Diamond.  I figure it might be my only chance to try her, since she will be going back to Japan.  I like the idea of the smaller ship, the wide promenade, and for cooler weather, the covered pool would be a bonus (not a problem for us!).  I really like the idea of San Diego rather than LA as embarkation port!

I was concerned about no international cafe, but with Ocean Now, it is less of an issue.

[GottaLuvCruising]

On 3/24/2022 at 11:32 AM, JimmyVWine said:

Positives for Diamond:

• Extra day at no real cost
• Smaller ship with lower passenger load
• Generally feels more spacious
• Main Dining Rooms broken down into more, smaller venues. They seem more like land-based restaurants instead of massive cruise ship dining halls
• Asian-themed public areas if you like that

Positives for Crown

• Has an International Café-one of my favorite PCL venues
• Has a Crown Grill instead of Sterling Steakhouse.  Crown Grill is nicer
• Sabatini's and Adagio Bar are up top with a great view.  Better location than on Diamond
• Does not have the Asian-themed public areas, if you aren't into that
• Has Vines Wine Bar whereas Diamond does not

Overall, I prefer the venues on Crown to those on Diamond, though I like the size and scale of Diamond.  With so many sea days, venues matter, so I lean toward Crown.  Still, an extra day of vacation at no extra cost is a factor.

 

Very helpful.  Thank you!  

[eyegirl]

On 3/25/2022 at 6:38 PM, donswife said:

We are booked on the 5 day Cabo trip on the Diamond.  I figure it might be my only chance to try her, since she will be going back to Japan.  I like the idea of the smaller ship, the wide promenade, and for cooler weather, the covered pool would be a bonus (not a problem for us!).  I really like the idea of San Diego rather than LA as embarkation port!

I was concerned about no international cafe, but with Ocean Now, it is less of an issue.

what is ocean now?

[donswife]

29 minutes ago, eyegirl said:

what is ocean now?

It is the part of the Medallion app that lets you order things to be delivered to you,  wherever you are on the ship. You can do it from a personal device,  the screens on walls in public areas throughout the ship, or from stateroom TV. You don't want to be a moving target,  but if you order from a common screen you can go sit down and the delivery staff will find you via your Medallion. 

[eyegirl]

Just now, donswife said:

It is the part of the Medallion app that lets you order things to be delivered to you,  wherever you are on the ship. You can do it from a personal device,  the screens on walls in public areas throughout the ship, or from stateroom TV. You don't want to be a moving target,  but if you order from a common screen you can go sit down and the delivery staff will find you via your Medallion. 

I see that there is a place called La Patisserrie on the Diamond. Is that similar to the IC? Do you know if they have small salads in addition to pastries?

I don't see myself "ordering" food

[donswife]

1 hour ago, eyegirl said:

I see that there is a place called La Patisserrie on the Diamond. Is that similar to the IC? Do you know if they have small salads in addition to pastries?

I don't see myself "ordering" food

Sorry, I can't answer that one. When we were on the Grand in October, the buffet had lots of little salads and nibbles in individual portions.  It would be easy to collect a few of those to save in your refrigerator for later.  

[omynameistaken]

 

On 3/24/2022 at 7:34 AM, eyegirl said:

I have a choice to make on a Hawaii cruise....do we sail on the Crown or Diamond Princess? They are both in Jan 2023, Diamond is 1 day longer, same general price. Which would you suggest? Not familiar with these ships

Thanks

Coincidently, I posted this same question on a FB Princess page. We have the same dilemma and are also booked for a Feb. sailing on the Crown and Jan. sailing on the Diamond. Our booking was $800+ less on the Diamond out of SD for the same cabin aft Vista suite. SD is a lot closer to us, and our neighbor will drive us, which saves a bundle for parking. Yet still, it's hard to give up Vines and the IC; these are two of our favorite hangouts for cards and wine. Because of the big $$ difference, we have basically decided to do the SD sailing, but just in case, we have booked a five-day on the Diamond in Sept. 
Oh, and I received a lot of interesting responses, but most of them favored the Diamond.

Cheers and perhaps we will meet on board!

Aloha,

Noreen 

[Coral]

I would favor the Diamond Princess. 500 less passengers and covered pool. Wider promenade deck which is great for Alaska.

 

The Patisserie on the ships I have been on consist of breakfast pastries or snacks, nothing compared to International Cafe.

[VibeGuy]

No brainer:  Diamond, for the covered pool for the sea days.  It’s not even close.  
 

The dining rooms, the overall flow, the wider promenade, these are all fantastic features but you cannot beat Perfect Indoor Weather in winter crossings.   Diamond and Sapphire have the most space per passenger of any Princess ships, and it shows.