Experience on Diamond Princess, Meals, ETC, First Cruise

[EDMOND]

Would appreciate any information on Diamond Princess tour, first time on a cruise. Leaving June 10th Northbound. Boarding, Meals on ship and other interesting things to do on ship. Appreciate any tips for first time cruise.

[ladysheri]

Edmond,

Took the Diamond Southbound on May 20th. It is a fantastic ship...very beautiful with LOTS to do and with many spaces all over to get lost in. I was partial to the Thermal Sanctuary in the Spa. A weeklong pass is $70, $109 for a couple. It has warm mosaic beds, suana room, aromatherapy room, serious steam room and fun showers. You can go as many times during the week as you like. If you are a wildlife lover, the deck above the bridge was the preferred spot for our group. With the virtually everlasting sunlight that you get this time of year, you have great views from up there early, EARLY in the morning and late, LATE at night. In Glacier Bay, I got a stunning sunset shot at 11:30 pm. We saw many whales, eagles, sea otters, puffins, mountain goats, and other wildlife up there.

 

The outdoor pool seemed much warmer than the indoor pool so that was where our 10-year old spent quite a bit of time. We also visited the Jacuzzis a couple of times....nice and warm and never too full.

 

We were quite pleased with the food the entire week. Wide variety so you should be able to find something you like. We ordered room service virtually every morning for breakfast....great to have without having to get dressed. If we didn't order it from room service, we ate at the Horizon Court Buffet. This is where we virtually always ate lunch as well. The selection up there is incredible....lots to choose from and with an awesome salad bar. Dinner a few nights in the Anytime Dining Rooms. Loved the shrimp cocktail! Lobster was heavenly as well....and Lobster Night was the one night I splurged on desert...chocolate mousse assortment. Yum!!! The nights we did not go to a dining room, we ended up at the buffet. Most of the entrees from the regular dining rooms were in there as well. We preferred the informality of the buffet which is why we chose it so often.

 

If you like shows, etc., check out the Princess Patter (delivered to your room for the next day every evening)...it will list times and locations for everything. There were shows, demonstrations, movies, a magician, line dancing lessons, art auctions, ceramics, etc. the week we were on board. I am not a big participator in those, but did a few. The one I liked the best was when Libby Riddles (first woman to win the Iditiarod) came aboard in Juneau and talked about her experiences/showed a little video/signed copies of her book. It was very educational and thoroughly enjoyable.

 

Other questions....just ask. I am always glad to relive it. :D

 

Happy Cruising!

Sheri

[Epp]

Thanks for the overview. Do you remember what time Libby was scheduled in Juneau?

[EDMOND]

Did you dress up for the two nights or go casual?

It seems little respones from the Diamond Princess Group, concerned about experience of people on the trip.

[emarismom]

Hi Edmond!!

 

I will be cruising with you and plan to dress up at least the first formal night. The second one I'm not so sure about. I'll take formal clothes and see if I feel like dressing up again. I definitely will only make my kids dress up the first time, there is no way I'm going to try that one twice;)

[ladysheri]

Epp....Libby was at 2:00 pm in Juneau. So, we had time to do whalewatching, grab a latte in town :) , do a little sightseeing and shopping before getting back to the ship.

 

We dressed up both Formal Nights. My DH had rented a kilt (hates tuxes and does not own a jacket or suit--Microsoft employee) and he was such a hit. While walking the Promenade deck after dinner, we had a number of people (many from outside of the US) ask to have their picture taken with him. I believe he would wear the Kilt every night....he swears it's incredibly comfortable. I will say that we did not ask our DDs to dress up on the 2nd formal night. Once was definitely enough for them. We fed them at the buffet earlier and then they went to the kid's area while we went to dinner. Nice break for all of us. That said, in September on the Sapphire, we only dressed up the first formal night. Just weren't up for it on the 2nd night. So, we ate at Horizon and hit one of the Lotus Pool hot tubs around 9:30 pm....had it and the pool completely to ourselves. Very nice!

S

[tbears]

Sheri, was that your hubby I saw in the kilt? I was also on that cruise! My friend told your hubby that he looked so handsome in the kilt. We were trying to go up the stairs to get our formal picture taken while your group was heading down.

 

This was my first cruise and I loved it! I even put a deposit down for a future cruise. I had the time of my life cruising with 3 of my high school friends to celebrate our 50th b-days. We were the 4 Asian gals who look more like we're in our 30's than 50.

 

The Diamond is beautiful and we all thought the food was sinfully delicious. We always ordered more than one entree and dessert to share and sample. Our waiter Miguel and his assistant, Paul, gave us the best service and made us laugh so hard every night. At first I dreaded having to dress up for formal nights but I ended up enjoying it since I never get to dress up like that. Don't miss the champagne waterfall on the 2nd formal night and get your picture taken pouring champagne.

 

I couldn't believe the fantastic weather we had. Even the drizzly day at Ketchikan worked out better for me. I took the floatplane trip to Misty Fjords with Michelle with Island Wings. She said that we had perfect weather for photography. The mist provided more dramatic scenery. Her photographer was bummed because our flight was full and couldn't come. By the time the flight was over the rain stopped and the sun eventually came out.

 

If you get a chance, book a couple of sessions for the Alpha capsule in the gym area. My best friend treated me to two sessions and it was sooo relaxing. When I was done, I felt like I was floating.

 

Be sure to bring lots of film or memory cards to take lots of pictures. I took 475 shots and still wished that I had taken more! I was really, really sad on our last night when I knew the trip was soon coming to an end.

 

Just remember that you're there to have fun, so leave all your cares and frowns at home! Enjoy your cruise! :)

[Cathy Young]

I just came back today from our trip to Alaska on the Diamond Princess. There is lots to do! We ate breakfast and lunch at the horizon buffet and dinner in the dinning room (the food was very good). The ship is beautiful with lots of little bars and quiet places to sit and relax. The covered pool made it nice for swimming in the cool weather. There is a nighclub on the top of the ship called Skywalkers with lots of glass for great views (you can go there during the day and just sit and relax). If you like to gamble there is the casino of course, and bingo! On the second formal night they had twin lobster tails on the menu......very, very good. Libby came aboard our ship when we were in Juneau but it was not until 4:30PM. We missed seeing her because we were on the helicopter tour to Mendenhall Glacier (great tour). The best shore excursion we had was the exclusive flightseeing & crab feast in Ketchikan. If there is any way you can book it, it was fantastic, although I believe the most that they can take is about 24 people per day so it books fast, but no matter want you do I sure you'll have a great time!!!

[ladysheri]

Sheri, was that your hubby I saw in the kilt? I was also on that cruise! My friend told your hubby that he looked so handsome in the kilt. We were trying to go up the stairs to get our formal picture taken while your group was heading down.

 

 

tbears...Pretty sure that was our group. I never saw another kilt on board. We too booked a future cruise....I think cruising is now in our blood! Wasn't that just the best cruise???

[tbears]

Sheri, I agree that it was the best cruise, even though I have no other cruise to compare it with. We did take the ferry from Prince Rupert to Skagway 9 yrs ago and that was fun but definitely not as luxurious as being on the Diamond Princess. I couldn't believe how warm it was in Juneau. My best friend & I hiked down to the Nugget Creek Falls next to the Mendenhall Glacier and wished we had worn shorts because we got so hot. That hike wasn't strenuous at all and it was so awesome to walk right up to the waterfall. This cruise was one of the best vacations I have ever taken! I hope to go back to Alaska within the next couple of years. It's just so beautiful there!

[arctic cat]

Cathy Young- Did you go on the helicopter ride to Mendenhall Galcier tour with the cruiseline or on your own? We were thinking of this tour but there will be 4 of us so wondering if it is worth the price.

[Kat_in_Texas]

We were first-time cruisers on the Diamond last week, which left from Vancouver on 5/27. We're still not touching the ground!

 

The ship was awesome. We have nothing to compare it to, of course, but we loved it. We got very, very lucky and were upgraded from a balcony double to a mini-suite just 3 days before we sailed, and we thought we had died and gone to heaven! :p

 

We didn't think the food was "over the top" but it was very good, no complaints. We were "anytime dining" and loved the option to go when we wanted. We never made it to the Sante Fe dining room but the other three are beautiful. We celebrated our 30th anniversary on the first formal night! We had planned to participate in both formal nights but the second formal night we were tired and ordered room service, which was very good too.

 

There was a lot more to do on the ship than I anticipated. We enjoy spending some time in the casino but there are also plenty of other things to occupy your time. We went to the talks about the upcoming ports two different days which were not well attended but we enjoyed. We didn't make it to all of the evening events in the Princess Theatre but the ones we went to were great entertainment, even though the Crew Talent Show was a bit hokey! :rolleyes: We saw a great ventriloquist who was very funny. We even played bingo on the last day, which we have NEVER done before (and swore we would never do ... it brings to mind blue haired ladies, I guess) and my husband won $200, lol! That was held in Club Fusion which is very large and it was packed!

 

Since we had a balcony we spent more time in our room that we would have otherwise, and we didn't explore as much as we probably should have. We spent the last evening trying to find everything we hadn't seen before ... we didn't even find the spa until that night! I wasn't planning on going to the spa anyway, but I heard wonderful comments about it. I'm a "spa girl" at heart so next time I'll definitely plan to go.

 

We booked all of our excursions through independent companies so I can't comment on the Princess tours. I can say that (almost) every crew member we met was so nice and friendly. The only complaint there is the photo purchase desk. I know they were busy the last day or two, but boy were they grouchy and unfriendly! I heard several passengers complaining about those crew members' attitudes. But that was a small percentage of the crew so it didn't matter to us, we just blew it off.

 

The only real complaint that we had about the Diamond (perhaps Princess in general? or all cruise lines?) is that every free space in the atrium seemed to be taken up by tables of stuff for sale. It didn't really bother us until the day that there were 3-4 tables of cheap ugly watches, then the next day there was a "garage sale" of sorts in one of the dining rooms during the day, and then tables covered with t-shirts the day after that. Just seemed to cheapen the experience, but there again we just blew it off. I had read about that here on the board before our cruise so I know I'm not alone.

 

Anyway, sorry to write a complete novel here ... you will LOVE the Diamond Princess, and don't worry about not knowing what to do or where to go!!! There will be lots of first-timers, and as I said the crew is incredibly helpful and friendly. Just ask!

 

One of the things I really stressed about beforehand was my wardrobe. Not to worry! As one member here on the board so aptly put it in another post ... "you'll see plenty of people dressed better than you are and plenty of people dressed worse than you are, so stop worrying!" How true, how true!

 

Have a WONDERFUL time ... Alaska is just unbelievable! And we have 589 pictures to prove it!!! :D

[Cathy Young]

Cathy Young- Did you go on the helicopter ride to Mendenhall Galcier tour with the cruiseline or on your own? We were thinking of this tour but there will be 4 of us so wondering if it is worth the price.

 

Yes we took the tour through the cruise line. They used Temsco helicopters. There were 4 of us plus the pilot in our copter. We felt it was worth the price. We flew over the mountains and the view was wonderful, and then to land on a Glacier,walk across ice and look into the crevices was something we'll always remember.