DIAMOND PRINCESS - LIVE / ON BOARD REVIEW 6 May - 16 May

[arizonaperson]

@chepar

it’s a little confusing with Princess as far as their packages.
They have what they call a plus beverage package and one can get beverages up to $15 USD. And they also have a premier beverage package and it’s for top shelf premium beverages up to $20 USD. 
They also have packages where they bundle ( called plus & premier cruise packages) certain items as you mentioned. If you just go to princess.com and use the search function you may come up with what you’re looking for. Not always ,it’s not an easy site to search. I don’t think. The Princess website tells you how much the package is and that price is usually per day for the length of your cruise. It also describes all the ins and outs of the package.

Edited May 14 by arizonaperson

[Ombud]

@trintrav I've booked an Asian cruise on this ship in particular hoping that I can still roll my own sushi and make my own Ramen. So ~~ are those DIY options still available in the buffet?

[trintrav]

6 hours ago, arizonaperson said:

@chepar

it’s a little confusing with Princess as far as their packages.
They have what they call a plus beverage package and one can get beverages up to $15 USD. And they also have a premier beverage package and it’s for top shelf premium beverages up to $20 USD. 
They also have packages where they bundle ( called plus & premier cruise packages) certain items as you mentioned. If you just go to princess.com and use the search function you may come up with what you’re looking for. Not always ,it’s not an easy site to search. I don’t think. The Princess website tells you how much the package is and that price is usually per day for the length of your cruise. It also describes all the ins and outs of the package.

The premier package includes everything the plus package has but more  ie 20 dollar limit on drinks, 4 devices inn WiFi instead of one, specialty dining etc 

[trintrav]

3 hours ago, Ombud said:

@trintrav I've booked an Asian cruise on this ship in particular hoping that I can still roll my own sushi and make my own Ramen. So ~~ are those DIY options still available in the buffet?

Yes. There are those options at the buffet 

[trintrav]

8 hours ago, chepar said:

I am looking to sail on the Diamond Princess next March and it will be my first time on Princess.  Most of my previous cruises have been with Celebrity with a few earlier ones on Holland America and Royal Caribbean.  The last cruise I was on was pre-Covid (2018) and the one I had scheduled for fall 2019 was canceled.

 

I always get the highest level drink package offered because I like single malt scotch and the lower tier drink package price limit wouldn't cover it.  I have been searching this forum to see if anyone had posted a drink list anywhere but haven't been able to find one yet.

 

I'm really only considering a drinks only package (not adding Wi-Fi and other benefits).  Are the drinks selections above the $15 that you've seen of the mixed drink type?  I'm not a mixed drinks person.  Just trying to figure out which package would cover my single malt scotch.

Plenty of options for non mixed drinks with the plus package  Good selections under 15 and not worth the price for premier package imho

[arizonaperson]

@trintrav I’m enjoying your Live.

 

As far as packages for @chepar they said they were not interested in the cruise packages that include Wi-Fi,tips, speciality meals,etc.
So I was providing information about beverage packages and the confusion some may have because the names are so similar.

Maybe @chepar wants no package and pay as they go for their Scotch? I think they are investigating & gathering information & options at this point.

 

[chepar]

24 minutes ago, arizonaperson said:

@trintrav I’m enjoying your Live.

 

As far as packages for @chepar they said they were not interested in the cruise packages that include Wi-Fi,tips, speciality meals,etc.
So I was providing information about beverage packages and the confusion some may have because the names are so similar.

Maybe @chepar wants no package and pay as they go for their Scotch? I think they are investigating & gathering information & options at this point.

 

I'm greatly enjoying the live report also.  It's fun and a great way to get the anticipation going for this trip, especially since I had no idea I would be going on it until just a few days ago lol.

 

I did some poking around on the Princess website yesterday re the beverage only packages vs the cruise packages and apparently the cruise packages with all the extras bundled into it are less expensive than the beverage only packages.  Or at least what I can tell.  Which is . . . weird, imo but I'm not going to complain about extras thrown in at a lesser price.  😄

 

So it looks like I'm going to get a cruise package if that turns out to be the case.

[arizonaperson]

@chepar

well, glad you did some more investigating and yes, the cruise packages can potentially be a good deal.

It all comes down to how much you think you’re going to drink & what or if you think you’ll want to use the Wi-Fi , also depends on how port intensive your cruise is -if you’re going to be away from the ship many, many days then you’re not going to get your drink or Wi-Fi package benefits for that day pretty much.But a lot of people do the cruise fare only and no packages at all. They just pay as you go and some of them feel that’s worth it to them.
Most people just leave the crew gratuities in place if they do the cruise only fare ,so just have to take that into consideration as well  & how much you think you’ll drink .Only you can decide if it’s worth the extra charge for you .

So many choices and price points to consider for some.

$80./ day x number of cruise voyage per guest for Premier cruise package. $60. For plus cruise package per day x cruise voyage per guest.

 

You didn’t say if all three of you were sharing one cabin, there might be some difficulty to that as far as the packages go, but somebody can chime  in about that. I’m not sure if the first two people in the cabin need to purchase the package but if you are in a cabin solo, then I think you can do your own package, but I’m not sure that.

Happy cruising.

[chepar]

11 minutes ago, arizonaperson said:

@chepar

You didn’t say if all three of you were sharing one cabin, there might be some difficulty to that as far as the packages go, but somebody can chime  in about that. I’m not sure if the first two people in the cabin need to purchase the package but if you are in a cabin solo, then I think you can do your own package, but I’m not sure that.

Happy cruising.

My sister is coming along and sharing a cabin with me because my parents knew I would refuse to third wheel in a cabin with them and probably would not want to pay "double" to have a cabin alone.

 

Prior to this my daughter was my cruise cabin partner but now that she's married I have to rethink future cruising plans.  Solo cabins from what I've seen are often more expensive than just getting a regular cabin and paying both fares.  I really enjoy cruising but given the costs of cruising solo I have to weigh it out against regular land based travel.

 

Interestingly, I was considering taking my daughter and her husband on a regular land based Japan trip next summer before my parents asked me to join them on this cruise.  I guess I'll use this trip as an intro to Japan for a future trip with them.

[cr8tiv1]

2 hours ago, chepar said:

My sister is coming along and sharing a cabin with me because my parents knew I would refuse to third wheel in a cabin with them and probably would not want to pay "double" to have a cabin alone.

 

Prior to this my daughter was my cruise cabin partner but now that she's married I have to rethink future cruising plans.  Solo cabins from what I've seen are often more expensive than just getting a regular cabin and paying both fares.  I really enjoy cruising but given the costs of cruising solo I have to weigh it out against regular land based travel.

 

Interestingly, I was considering taking my daughter and her husband on a regular land based Japan trip next summer before my parents asked me to join them on this cruise.  I guess I'll use this trip as an intro to Japan for a future trip with them.

 

All valid points and good ideas.  My sister (HNL) joined me on a cruise to Japan.  She usually goes with the local TA who does lots of land tours to Japan.  It was actually cheaper for her to fly to LGB to catch a flight from LAX to Narita (using EZ Air).  She's not a cruiser but enjoyed just walking around Japan:  eating and going shopping at Daiso.  She (and I) had been to Japan before to see shrines and temples.  

 

The Yen is really good now.  There is a tiny, tiny, tiny store front on Royal Hawaiian Avenue that sells Yen cheaper than anywhere on the island.  You may have missed the all time low.  

 

Japan was very good about using credit cards.  But I preferred to use Yen, especially at food markets.  

 

Check out my old thread.  It might give you some good information (at least I thought so).

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2914719-konnichiwa-japan-is-welcoming-home-the-diamond-princess/

 

Now getting back to regular programing.  Thank you @trintrav for your thread.

 

[chepar]

On 5/15/2024 at 10:10 AM, cr8tiv1 said:

Check out my old thread.  It might give you some good information (at least I thought so).

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2914719-konnichiwa-japan-is-welcoming-home-the-diamond-princess/

 

Thanks for the link to your old thread - it was very helpful.  I'm always the trip planner in the family but this time around (at least initially) I'm taking a back seat as I'm going along as support.  I'm still waiting to see the information being sent by the travel agent my mother is working with.  

 

I know further along the info in your thread will be really helpful, such as helping them set up their e-docs, the Covid test, etc.

[cr8tiv1]

@chepar I believe covid tests are no longer required.  e-docs may also have been simplified.  But I do hope this may help you overall.

[chepar]

Just now, cr8tiv1 said:

@chepar I believe covid tests are no longer required.  

Ah, good to know.  Hoping that's the case but if they somehow reinstate the requirement at least I'll know what to do.  🙂

[cr8tiv1]

This is the money exchanger I used in Waikiki.

 

https://www.yelp.com/biz/pacific-money-exchange-honolulu

 

No parking (take 2 people).

Give them a call ahead to "reserve" your purchase.

 

The Japanese are not returning to Hawaii as Pre-pandemic.  Yen is not flowing into the islands.  You will be given big bills.  The Diamond was able to break up some of them.  I stayed at the Yokohama Grand Hotel.  Fantastic place.  They were able to make smaller Yen for me.

 

Daiso is so much cheaper in Japan as well as super fresh sushi.

 

@trintrav  I hope you are enjoyed your cruise around Japan.  Looking forward to a recap/review. 

[trintrav]

Although it seems this thread has been a bit hijacked, I will post this conclusion now.  Sorry for the delay.  Hella long travel day and still dealing with a bit of Jet Lag here in the Central time zone.

 

KUSHIRO -  Wow, I am not even certain why Princess stops here.  The city is largely industrial with factories and warehouses everywhere.  A relatively small downtown with a small fishmarket to walk around, but nothing else, unless you took one of the Princess excursions to see the nature area and Cranes.   Good thing is that there is a free shuttle to the downtown, but it’s even a 30 min ride.

 

We did research ahead of time and knew this wasn’t a great stop for sightseeing.  We took a cab to a local AEON mall. (thing huge indoor shopping mall with a grocery store). My wife loves to shop in second hand stores, and Japan has a great chain of them known as 2^nd Street.  They sell higher end, quality merchandise and even guaranteed authentic pre-loved designer bags.  We made quite the haul with 2 nearly new Louis Vuitton bags, a Gucci bag and loads of other things.  A handmade santuko knife, brand knew (was probably someones wedding gift).  Did some research online at the store, and discovered they sell for about 250.  I got it for 27 USD.  And the three bags for about 1K USD.  We also hit the grocery store and pharmacy there for some of the famed Japanese cosmetics, so we took quite a lot home with us from this stop.

 

DEBARKATION DAY – I mentioned earlier that the crew on the Diamond was the happiest ever.  I guess I spoke too soon.  The last night of the cruise, we ran into our cabin steward who was great throughout the whole cruise.  Nothing over the top, but very attentive.  He did his job well.    The last night, he was hanging around uncomfortably long, obviously waiting for a cash time.  (Our tips were included in the Premier Package), so I didn’t intend to give him extra.  (No need to flame on me, this was my choice with the pre-paid package).  Well, he was visibly upset, and when walking out the hall, he was yelling to a colleague in his native tongue (which my wife happens to understand) that he was very unhappy he wasn’t getting money.  I thought this was extremely distasteful and it left a bad taste in my mouth for sure.  Made me not regret my decision not to give him extra.  But, that was the only negative experience this whole cruise.  Everyone else was fantastic.

 

The debarkation process was amazingly easy.  We booked a Post Cruise Excursion to Tokyo with drop off at Haneda Airport.  This was a great option because it kept us occupied for the day with our luggage secured in the bus.  The stops were not that great.  A temple and a shrine.  I would have rather just the bus dropped us off in a popular shopping / sightseeing district and leave us there for a few hours.  All it all, worth the money it costs though. 

 

All in all, WE LOVED the Diamond Princess and the Hokkaido itinerary.  Loved we got to see the end of the cherry blossoms, and loved the weather this time of year.  The cruise was amazing and will probably be listed as one of our best of our 68 cruises.  So much so, we are looking to book her again next year on a different Japan itinerary.  I am so glad we didn’t listen to all the negative reviews posted.  That certainly wasn’t our experience.  She’s an older ship, but is well maintained, especially the inside.  And the happiness of the crew makes up for any of the ships shortcomings.

 

Hope you enjoyed!   Cheers.