First Princess Cruise Won't Be Our Last

[HockeyBoysMom]

We are just back from the Diamond Princess this past week, and all I can say is that it completely exceeded our expectations. In fact, we loved it so much, that we put the future cruise deposit down while onboard. We can't wait to take another cruise and take our son with us.

 

The Diamond was a beautiful ship. We thought it was well laid out and it didn't take too long to get the hang of where everything was. We had been a little concerned about being with so many other people, but it rarely felt crowded at all. We did anytime dining and never had to wait for a table for two. We had intended to try all the anytime dining restaraunts, but on the second day, we went to the Santa Fe and we went back every night. The staff was so attentive and accomodating. I had no concept of how hard the staff work. I couldn't believe that the same waiters would be serving me at breakfast and then again at a late dinner. Our cabin steward always greeted us by name, and made an effort to ask about our day and activities each day. Both he, and the head waiters in the Santa Fe also made a big deal of our anniversary. (By the way, towel animals do exist on Princess, I got a monkey and a bunny) I developed a real appreciation for how hard the staff work to make sure that I have a good time.

 

There were only a few minor annoyances the entire week, but certainly nothing to worry about more than a second. The largest one was the constant announcements after the first port day for several passengers who had apparently failed to return or check in. It did get a little difficult to enjoy my dinner with them paging every few minutes. We sailed a little late that day, but we still stayed on schedule. After a few times, the people eating around us started to make jokes about it in order to not let it bother us too much.

 

The entertainment on the ship was also very good. We did not go to either of the production shows, but did attend two comedy shows and the ventriliquist in the theater, as well as a magician and a juggler in another venue. We thought that the comedian was hillarious and the ventriliguist was very talented. People were talking about him all week. I was a little surprised at some of the PG-13 content at some of the shows, but it didn't bother me as we didn't have our son with us. There were some people with children at the shows that certainly had some explaining to do after the shows. The musicians around the ship were also good. It was nice to be able to go to any number different bars and hear a different type of music.

 

We were also impressed with the food. While it wasn't five star dining, for the production that would be necessary to serve that many people in that amount of time, it was very good. It was also nice to be able to ask for almost anything and receive it. One night my husband ordered something different than me, but when mine arrived, he realized that he liked my vegetables more than his, so he asked for some and a plate of veggies promptly arrived. I took some risks with my orders, knowing that if I didn't like something, I could get something else, and was always pleased with my choices. The desserts were excellent. My husband ate a bunch of Love Boat Dreams! One night he ordered an extra to take back to the room and when we tried to leave with it, someone immediately took it from us and had it sent up to our room so that we would not have to do it. That was just an example of one of the times we had excellent service.

 

We are hooked on crusing and will become loyal customers of Princess. Thank you to everyone on this board who helped us plan our trip and gave us great advice!

 

Dusty

[judynorth]

Funny how your review differs so much from apfra.'s for the same cruise:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=376374

Having cruised on the Diamond to Alaska, I think I would agree with your review more than apfra.'s. But I guess different people have different expectations. There were some serious problems with our Diamond cruise and it was our first cruise but we still loved it and went back to Alaska the following year. We will continue to cruise as often as we can. We just love it!

[dct]

What is the difference in the anytime dining dining rooms? Do they offer diffrent menus?

[judynorth]

What is the difference in the anytime dining dining rooms? Do they offer diffrent menus?

 

No, the menus are the same. However, when we were on the Diamond 2 years ago, there were 4 PC dining rooms with theme menus. Each had several selections in addition to the regular menu choices that fit the theme (Asian, Southwestern, Steakhouse, Italian). I think it is different now. On the Coral there were 2 dining room, one for PC and one for traditional, with identical menus. So I suppose it depends on the ship to some degree.

[Fuzzzy]

Great review. It sounds like you had a great time. I will be anxious to hear if future cruisers have towel animals appear in their cabins. :)

[HockeyBoysMom]

The dining room options for anytime dining all offered the same menu, and each dining room had one speciality dish that they prepared that related to their theme. However, I was only aware of this because of this board and I asked about them. Our waiter the first night didn't even mention it to us. Later I did hear another waiter mention it to a table. That part may be hit or miss. I had the pork chops in the Savoy and they were very good. My hubby had the fajitas in the Santa Fe and liked them, and then as I mentioned, we ate in the Santa Fe each night after that as the service was so good, so I don't know about the others. We did eat breakfast most mornings in the International Dining room and that was excellent.

Dusty

[spongerob]

Thanks for your review, Dusty. I think you'll find that next time, a land tour makes the entire trip an even better experience. Make sure you get some time on the train between Anchorage and Fairbanks - I think the section between Fairbanks and Denali is the best.