Any reports from the Diamond Princess 1st cruise after Covid

[NownZen]

1 hour ago, Nobbi said:

UPDATE 11/26/2022

 

Well, it actually hit us also. Toilet overflowing today, last day before debarkation. Flush doesn't work. Apparently from top to 7 in Aft per our steward. However, they did fix the mess within 45 mi.

The toilets flush with a vacuum, not fluid. The fluid is to have some afterwards. If the toilet does not flush, do not keep pushing the button. Wait for it to be fixed.  Continuing to push the button will make it overflow.

 

[sfoh]

Noticed in the public men’s toilet near midship outdoor pool that it had overflowed. Was out of service this morning about 9-10am.

[sfoh]

Rounding back on this, now home from the cruise. Everything I said up-thread and in the Nov 20 roll call still feels valid. I'll add a few points from my last night on the ship.

 

- Final evening dinner service was EXCELLENT in the dining room. Great food and very fast, efficient service. Helped by the fact it was less crowded than any other night. If they can keep that pace with service going it'll go a long way to solving my biggest frustration onboard.

- Final morning breakfast was available as usual in buffet and dining room. Contrary to my memory of my May cruise on Discovery, they were offering room service (at least coffee/tea) and I saw several waiters tracking people down with coffee orders.

- Disembarkation was horrible. I did Group A walkoff, the first group off the ship. They packed everyone into the Wheelhouse Bar on Deck 7, when the gangway was on Deck 6. This meant everyone had to carry their bags down a flight of stairs or take the elevators. It was incredibly crowded. Use of one of the deck 6 dining rooms would have probably worked better. We were due to disembark at 7:45, but that was when the captain came on to give his goodbye message (5 minutes), followed the cruise director (another 5 minutes). By that time people were beginning to crowd the door. It was just chaos.

- Once off the ship, signage for bag collection was super confusing. We had carried our own bags so we went on our way.

- Consistent with embarkation, general signage in the port was lacking. It wasn't clear where shuttles were operating, where taxi lines were, etc.

 

All in all, I really enjoyed this cruise. I would rate it a 8 or 9 out of 10. The itinerary was great and hit some ports that were high on our list. The Sea of Cortez is beautiful and a worthwhile trip. We were disappointed that the whale shark excursions were cancelled in La Paz, but understand it was out of their control. The protected whale shark area is not currently open as there are too few of them. Grateful for the experience.

 

 

[treesah]

@sfoh  Thank you.  I'm feeling much better about our Diamond adventure on 12/17.

[omynameistaken]

@NobbiThank you so much for your detailed report. We are on the Diamond in January, sailing to Hawaii in an aft suite on the Dolphin deck, and while reading your post, I had to pour myself a big glass of wine. Holy smokes, it's either cancel our cruise or pack an extra bag of patience. The bathroom issues scare me the most, and I was looking forward to the Izumi spa and its benefits. 

 

Thank you, @HaveDogWillTravel, for all your information and advice, especially the room steward/supervisor part. We usually have aft suites, and I've always suspected they travel from floor to floor but never asked. 

 

@san diego sue, please give us updates if you can, they would be much appreciated!

 

Happy holidays and cheers 🍾 Noreen

Edited November 29, 2022 by omynameistaken

[HaveDogWillTravel]

6 hours ago, omynameistaken said:

Thank you, @HaveDogWillTravel, for all your information and advice, especially the room steward/supervisor part. We usually have aft suites, and I've always suspected they travel from floor to floor but never asked

You’re welcome. Prior to the pause it wasn’t like this on the Grand and Coral class ships anyway. I didn’t sail the Royal class at all until post pause. I really wish they’d go back to having the steward in that area do both regular cabins and suites. 

[CalLuvsCrusingToo]

@Nobbi Can you please explain where the Toilet issues were happening?

Floors?  Fwd? Aft?  I'm confused as to where this was occuring.... or was it all over the ship?

I can't imagine, it sounds terrible.

Or if anyone else onboard can give alittle more details, appreciate it.

 

[talltimbers]

We just got off the Diamond Princess on Nov. 27. At the pier it was chaotic as two ships were boarding. However, there were several workers  to help direct you to luggage drop off then back to the building to check in, we felt it was quick and our cabin was ready. We were in the room with our luggage by 11:15. 
Our main issue was the lack of communication when our toilet quit flushing on Saturday morning Nov. 26. We tried calling the service desk and could not get anyone to answer. It was the same with the crew chat-no answer. We tried again later and spoke with Luciana, who said they were aware of the issue on Caribe and were working on it. At 5:30 p.m. it still was not fixed so called back to Luciana who said she was not sure if it would be fixed before we got back to San Diego. At that point she said she could see if there was an available cabin to  move us to. This should have been offered much earlier in the day, not on our last night as we are ready to go for dinner and the show afterward and asked why we had not been notified at the start that there was a problem with the system. We had to spend so much time waiting for an answer as we understand these things happen, but the lack of communication is what we were upset about. It ruined our last day. 

 

[Candlerun]

Currently on board the Diamond Princess now and back in San Diego tomorrow. There have only been a few things happen on board that I feel are due to training brand new staff. These situations were not make or break the cruise at all and really only minor inconveniences. This is the third sailing from being out of service for 1015 days. They did not have full capacity and the workers I chatted with felt this is good so things can be worked in more and more attention to guests on board. The food has been great, the service (minus after the main dish at the dining room (just inconvenience and service was mainly very good), laundry (someone didn’t know they needed to get it same day that I requested - again, just an inconvenience). We could tell the workers are really trying. We had no water or toilette issues at all in an inside on deck 10. Our cabin was perfect. Most hot tubs were open and I was chatting with people in the outside Izumi pool and they said it was wonderful. I would come on this ship again. I will add that I was very impressed with all the holiday celebrations and that all 300 kids on board were able to get a gift from Santa (a cute stuffed husky dog that wasn’t tiny. I would have even lived to get one. From ugly sweater contests, gingerbread house making, eating Christmas cookies with hot chocolate, listening to the guest Christmas choir, and the list goes on. We really did enjoy our cruise. 

[cr8tiv1]

5 hours ago, Candlerun said:

laundry (someone didn’t know they needed to get it same day that I requested - again, just an inconvenience). 

Thank you for reporting in.  Not saying you didn’t, just trying to get clarification.  

Did you mark laundry chit with express same day service?

Did you give it to your steward the night before or before 9 AM?

Did you mention to Steward that you requested same day service?

 

The steward has to place it in the correct bin.  Laundry doesn’t really check to see if is same day or regular. 

 

Glad you had a good trip. 

[polmcs]

Suddenly I’m not so disappointed that our Sep 6 5 day Cabo cruise on the Diamond was canceled about a month prior to departure. I still have the 5 day replacement on the Discovery to look forward to in Feb. 

 

I’m also feeling pleased that I cancelled the 17 day Mexican Riviera cruise this December, also on the Diamond in favor of a 14 day TransAtlantic cruise on the Island last month.

 

I sailed on the Diamond to Alaska back in 2005 and even back then, the Sterling steakhouse was just a partitioned off part of the Horizon court.  

[mike&elena]

We took the 20-day Central America cruise on the Diamond on November 27th.  It was the BEST cruise ever!  The ship was so comfortable and, while the staff is largely new, they were amazing in every respect.  Best food, best service and best entertainment in our 28 cruises with Princess.  It's too bad that the Diamond is returning to asia soon and won't be available for other itineraries.  Our hats are off to Princess for returning the Diamond to service in such a spectacular way!