Diamond Review Dec 2-9 Part 1

[Seagarr]

Just back from the Diamond today, exhausted but will be sleeping in tommrow.

First of all I want to say, DW and I have cruised 9 times, 2 Carnival 85 & 89, 1 on NCL 91 and 5 times on RCCL 93,95,97,99 & 2001.

All were out of Miami with varied itenaries.... I point this out to let you know I will be comparing RCCL and Carribean as opposed to Mexican Riveara during my review.

 

First we had made arrangements to fly in on Midwest the same day since I had a direct flight and we did not sail until 500pm. MISTAKE... our flight originated in Boston with a stopover in Milwaukee... by the time it got to Kansas City it was running 2 hours late. I was on the phone to Midwest, Princess & my Travel Insurance company just in case. We arrived at 430pm for a 500pm sailing, in front of us were 40 people who were on a bus using Princess Transfers and the Driver did not kow the way from LAX to the Pier! At least our Towncare driver new the way.... and drove like a banshee.

 

Suite

We had a full Suite, E 730 aft, very nice just what we expected, lots of closet space with a door between the shower area and the bathroom.Teh Deck was very spacious, I know there have been several post complaining about the BEam that goes through this balcony, we actally forund it helpful in that we put a table in the corner and it protected items from blowing away. I'm fairly certain those beams are important to the integrity of the ship... its almost a NIMBY issue to complain about that. 2 other issues... we were never exposed to any foul oders nor did the noises from the Fusion bar or the engine bother us. The bed & bedding were fantastic, we slept like babies... as for perks we really used the free internet and free Laundry & Dry Cleaning. We changed out our bar s/u to all Diet Coke and Bottled water... the chocolate dipped strawberrys were excellent... the canapes.. so..so. Our Cabin Steward Luis was very attentive and efficent.

 

I will have to add to this later.... sorry the eye lids are failing me.

more tomomorow.

 

Seagarr

[Coolmama_1]

Glad you made it on time. What a way to start a vacation!

[mmsoko]

Can't wait to read more.

[Colo Cruiser]

Welcome back. :)

[Seagarr]

Food

 

We ate traditonal Dining in the International Room, Early Sitting. We were seated at a table for 12, 1 couple never shoed up and another only dined with us 2 Nights so it was basically 4 Couples. We had a marvelous Waitress, Owana from Romania...frankly the best service I have ever had on a Cruise. So many changes some subtle and some not so subtle. I notice they have done away with the Wine Sommlier (sp), the Waitress and assistants now take your drink order instead of Bar Staff. While the service was grea the food, well... I cant put my finger on it but I just found it lacking in creativity and taste. Several choices were offered every night as alternatives which I chose but they were also dissappointing. The Steak was tough, Salmon was dry. The Lobster on the 2nd formal night was very good. As for other venues, the Horizon Court was OK... breakfast was the normal fare, they did have freshly fried eggs, no Omlet Bar... the fow through the Horizon food area was confusing with people going oppisite ways. As a Lunch alternative the Trident Grill and the Pizzaria was a nice alternative... good food and fresh. We did not try the specialty Resturants, we enjoyed our tablemates so dined with them for the week. We stuck to bagels and coffee for room service in the mornings. Ok.. gotta say it... I thought RCCL food was superior.

 

Entertainment

 

Entertainment was really spread out, the Princess Theatre would fill up during early setaing which was dissappointing. We enjoyed the productions shows, Piano Man and Undercover... I understand Piano Man is aboout to end its run. We also saw a comedican the last night, Jim McDonald who was good... there was a Magician 1 evening Alexander and Pam who were very good. In the Explores Lounge we went to the Hyponist show, John Bayner I believe...very entertaining as he put 10-12 people under and had them performing various embarrasing acts. The best seats in the Princess Theatre in my opinion are 2 Opera boxes that have 6 seats each on oppisite side of the room... the seats are farther apart and offer a nice view. Many venues I did not make it to, did not go to Karaoke in Fusion Lounge, or Ball Romm Dancing in the Wheelhouse Bar. I would rate the entertainment good excellent, many choices.

 

Casino

 

Ok, its true I spent much time in the Casino... large by Cruise standards. I found the delaers and line staff to border on rude. I think it is there job to chat up the customers.... they rarely said a word or made eye contact. The Pit staff was very congenial... but a poor attitude seems to have permeated the worker bees. They have a Texas Hold Em Table, primarily the same people playing.... and it appeared the same people winning. I sat in for an afternoon.... it was difficult to play with such a wide range of talent. My DW and I played Bingo the last 2 days and discovered that Snowball Bingo only went as high as $2500.00.... a few years ago my son won over $8000.00 on the last day in Snowball... this has obvioously become a big profit center with the payout in know way tied to the income generated. the same goes with the Slot Tournaments. My wife won a nice Slot Jackpot and I did well at both 3 Card Poker and Roulette so I have no sour grapes... just prefer a more jovial staff.

 

Ship in General

 

As I mentioned I ahve been on numerous Cruise ships and found the Diamond the most difficult of any to get around on. There is only 1 public deck that you can travel from forward to aft... Deck 7. (someone may correct me on that) Shops were spread between to decks midship with an atrium. The Photo Gallery and Iternet Cafe was located just off midship.... WARNING the photo Gallery gets very crowded the last couple of days, get your phot business wrapped up sooner. The Internet Cafe was very nice and roomy... much improved over what was on RCCL... it was also well used with stations for those who brought there own computers. I found some rooms bordered on ridiculous, Churchhills Lounge which had both Cigar Smoking and Sports was a smallish bar that opened to on both sides of the room to the hallway... it is located between the Casino and the Princess Theatre... poor choice because the doors were always kept open with Cigar smoke wafting into the halls. The Sports bar theme and the clubby cigar crowd is not a good mix in my opinion.

Under the Fusion Lounge, Aft is a bar called "Wakeview Bar" although you cannot see the wake unless you look through a single porthole. Its a nice little bar that allowed cigar smoking...but rarely used since you had to cross the Fusion Dance floor to get there.

 

To wrap up (applause)... we preffered first of all the Carribean ports to Mexico... we found the weather to be more consistent... it seemed if your sailing from LA its cool and windy for 2 days... heading out and back. I also missed the beautiful aqua blue water of the the Carribean as opposed to the murky brown of the Pacific off Mexico. We found our Suite to be far superior to the suite we had on RCCL but enjoyed the food more and the passengers seemed to be closer to our age group. Of course some of our observations may have something to do with the time of year we chose to travel... we have never cruised in fall... always Jan, Fed March or in summer months.

 

Hope ths helps... if you have any questions feel free to ask away.

 

Sorry about the spelling.... I have not found spellcheck on here.

[AZAaronBoy]

Thanks for your review...

 

I was on the same sailing and I think that we overlooked your balcony.

 

Working on my review but it probally won't get posted till later in the week.

[Seagarr]

We were Aft, E 730.... no one could actually look into our balcony.

Look forward to seeing your review