Diamond Princess in Sydney, Australa today - 26th September 2024

[arxcards]

5 hours ago, CDaze71 said:

I just drink the free coffee. 

Your my hero. 🤣

[OzKiwiJJ]

12 hours ago, arxcards said:

I found a better barista on one of our Majestic ones. Good staff come and go. With Diamond, Emerald, Discovery and Crown on the books over the next 18 months, I might be using up a bit of Bailey's to resurrect some of our coffees. 

 

There will be lots on Diamond before us too, so my eyes are peeled. Also seeking Onsen info. 

When we embarked on Diamond in 2018, Sydney to Yokohama so still operating under Aussie conditions, they had the Onsen area open for people to have a look at it. The pools weren't hot enough for me so I didn't think it was worth paying the extra to use it but it looked nice. From memory there were certain times that were segregated nude bathing and certain times where swimsuits were permitted. I'll check my files and confirm that. 

[dreamin'ofthesea]

19 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Yes, I know those ships no longer cruise here - I just used them as examples. We didn't have time to suss out the perfect place for coffee on Diamond last year as we only had two sea days. Rolf was muttering under his breath about the coffee in the MDR and buffet and actually had to stand over the barista at Good Spirits to get a proper espresso! But it was a Japan cruise so ...!

 

Typically we avoid the International Cafe on ships that have it (if we can) as it's always too busy. When a cafe is too busy it usually means they skimp on cleaning - even simple things like flushing the group and especially the head before making the next cup so any grounds that have stuck to the head don't become burnt and taint the coffee.

 

I only drink espressos on ships. I can't stand the taste of steamed long-life milk.

Ohh so it’s the UHT that is giving it the taste. I could tell it was something. That makes sense.

[OzKiwiJJ]

2 hours ago, dreamin'ofthesea said:

Ohh so it’s the UHT that is giving it the taste. I could tell it was something. That makes sense.

Yes, or more specifically the fat in full cream milk that has been UHT treated. The taste isn't as strong in low fat milk.

[OzKiwiJJ]

3 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

When we embarked on Diamond in 2018, Sydney to Yokohama so still operating under Aussie conditions, they had the Onsen area open for people to have a look at it. The pools weren't hot enough for me so I didn't think it was worth paying the extra to use it but it looked nice. From memory there were certain times that were segregated nude bathing and certain times where swimsuits were permitted. I'll check my files and confirm that. 

I found my Patters from the Sydney to Yokohama repositioning cruise we did in 2018.

 

On embarkation day Izumi was open 12 noon to 8pm for Open House Viewing. This is when we went to have a look at the pools.

 

On all the cruise days it was:

Nude Time (Gender Segregated) 8am - 10am

Bathing Suit Time 10am - 12 noon & 1pm - 8pm

Open House for Viewing 12:15pm - 1pm

 

I expect it will be similar to this while cruising in Australia and back up to Japan. 

 

On our Japan cruise last year it was just listed as being open 6am - 11:30am & 1:30pm - 10pm, and I imagine these will all be gender separated nude bathing as that is the norm in Japan.

 

[arxcards]

8 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I found my Patters from the Sydney to Yokohama repositioning cruise we did in 2018.

 

On embarkation day Izumi was open 12 noon to 8pm for Open House Viewing. This is when we went to have a look at the pools.

 

On all the cruise days it was:

Nude Time (Gender Segregated) 8am - 10am

Bathing Suit Time 10am - 12 noon & 1pm - 8pm

Open House for Viewing 12:15pm - 1pm

 

I expect it will be similar to this while cruising in Australia and back up to Japan. 

 

On our Japan cruise last year it was just listed as being open 6am - 11:30am & 1:30pm - 10pm, and I imagine these will all be gender separated nude bathing as that is the norm in Japan.

 

Thanks.

As a nod to another thread, a mental note to avoid pineapple hour. 😉

On a longer cruise, we usually pick on a sea day for a spa day, and the hours suit being suited. I am curious as to how different the space is, but we will suss it out after embarkation anyway.

[arxcards]

2 hours ago, dreamin'ofthesea said:

Ohh so it’s the UHT that is giving it the taste. I could tell it was something. That makes sense.

Can be somewhat overcome with flavouring - caramel, vanilla etc.

Or Baileys.

[OzKiwiJJ]

39 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Thanks.

As a nod to another thread, a mental note to avoid pineapple hour. 😉

On a longer cruise, we usually pick on a sea day for a spa day, and the hours suit being suited. I am curious as to how different the space is, but we will suss it out after embarkation anyway.

It's very much Japanese onsen style, different to what I've seen of the regular spa areas. One of the pools was outside - not sure how that works with the nude bathing!

[OzKiwiJJ]

If you look at the deck plans you can clearly see the layout of Izumi. My guess is they switch sides everyday so both men and women get to try bothe the cypress and stone pools. Izumi is aft and they still have the standard Grand Class spa area forward underneath the Sanctuary.