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Diamond Princess Mexican Riviera Review--9/25 Sailing

DivotMaker

By DivotMaker,
in Princess Cruises

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DivotMaker

DivotMaker

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We just returned from the inaugural sailing of the Diamond Princess to the Mexican Rivera. This was our fourth cruise, having sailed with NCL twice and Carnival once before. We stayed at the Sheraton, just a few blocks away from the port in San Pedro. They had an excellent park & sail package for $149 that gave us one night's stay and parking for the entire week in their covered garage. Now, on to the review:

 

Embarkation:

Our tickets said the ship started boarding at 1:00pm, so we (wife, and 2 children, ages 6 and 9) arrived at the pier around 11:30pm. From the time we walked into the terminal, to the time we were on the ship was about 30 minutes. It was absolutely amazing. Princess staff really had their act together on this. Our last cruise with NCL to Canada/New England had us in the terminal for about 4 hours due to delays. Anyway, we were very impressed with the organization of Princess for embarkation. We were on the ship 1 hour prior to the time stated on our tickets, and it certainly was a good way to start our vacation.

 

Cabin:

We were in a mini-suite on Dolphin Deck, cabin D717. It was on the starboard side, and had a pretty open view above us, unlike the suites below us which were covered by our balcony. To be honest, we really didn't mind having an open view above us. It wasn't really intrusive, as long as the people directly above us weren't looking over their railing. The cabin itself was amazing. Plenty of room for all four of us, and very nice floor plan. Great lighting and a very nice bathroom.

 

Staff Experience:

Our cabin steward was awesome. He remembered us by name after the first day, and was always very pleasant. He had an uncanny ability to clean our room in lightning speed and we never caught him in the act :-) His name is Paul, and he's a great guy! 99% of the ship's personnel were exceptionally friendly. We ended up purchasing those soda drink cards (we're soda junkies), and a couple of the bartenders weren't overly friendly when we used them at their bars for drinks, so we just went elsewhere and found a few good bartenders that we went back to each time we needed a soda. The dining room staff did an outstanding job. I can't say enough about how pleasant and courteous everyone was.

 

Ship Experience:

The ship was breathtaking! For the first few hours, I walked around in awe at how massive everything was and how well organized the ship was. I'll try and list off everything I can remember: The gym was massive and had plenty of workstations/treadmills/etc. We're not big pool fans, but there were plenty of pools and they never really seemed overcrowded with people. The theater was incredible. There wasn't a bad seat in the house, as the theater was slanted from back to front and allowed excellent viewing from any seat. The four themed dining rooms (Vivaldi-Italian, Sterling-Steakhouse, Pacific Moon-Asian, and Santa Fe-Mexican) were attractive and served wonderful food.

 

As for the International Dining Room, we did have a problem. We booked with another party of 2, for a total of 6 people traveling together. We requested a 6 person table, and were told by our travel agent that would be accommodated. I called Princess twice before we sailed to confirm the table of 6. The first night there, we were taken to a table for 8, with another couple already seated there. We requested the table of 6 because we had our children with us. Anyway, the other couple was not very friendly at all, and seemed put out at having children at the table. Needless to say, the conversation was not very rewarding. On the second night, things got worse and the couple was overtly rude to our children. We then spoke to the maitre'd and requested that we be moved to a different table for 6. Unfortunately, the first seating was completely full, but he was able to find 6:00pm reservations at all four themed dining rooms for the rest of our cruise, which was a huge relief! We still were able to eat off the International Dining Room menu while in the themed dining rooms. His customer service was great, and we even received support from out waiter/assistant waiter who spoke to the maitre'd on our behalf and said the other couple was out of place in their behavior. They were very apologetic, and seemed to think it was their fault that the couple was so rude. That said, our dining experience was very memorable! One last note on the Sterling Steakhouse--their New York Steak was superb. It rivaled our local steakhouses in town in terms of taste.

 

The buffet was standard, not exceptional, and not poor. We tried to limit our meals in the Horizon Court, as the food just didn't seem that good compared to the real dining rooms. We either missed out on the chocoholic buffet, or it wasn't offered on this cruise....?

 

Entertainment:

The ship's entertainment was definitely above par. Unfortunately, the entertainers were in transition this cruise and were right in the middle of learning a new show, so we only had one production show all week. If you were a fan of comedy shows though, this was the cruise for you! I believe there was a comedy show every night but one, and for the most part, the comedians were pretty funny. The ventriloquist was hilarious and had us laughing so hard we couldn't stop! And what's good is that the comedy was very clean and didn't use any excessively foul language. The "Newlywed Game" was the funniest we've ever seen. I know it's dependent on the people playing the game, but I don't think I ever laughed so hard during anything else that week.

 

Ports of Call:

Well, for this topic, I refer you to the excellent post at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=44789&page=1

With the exception of Cabo, we followed the other two recommendations and couldn't have been more satisfied. The Canopy tour was very exciting and entertaining. My oldest daughter and I rode Randi's Happy Horses and it was a very memorable experience. As everyone else has said, Randi is a very genuine person and her tour is top notch. We do wish our stay in Cabo would have been longer. It was so nice there compared to the other ports, and the street vendors were nowhere near as pushy as the other ports. Speaking of which, and this is no way intended as a slight against Randi, I counted 16 vendors surrounding us while we were eating at Victor's after the horseback ride. It was amazing. Randi did try and shew them away, but they didn't budge. We just ignore them, but a few people in our tour bought things from them which seemed to encourage them even more.

 

Disembarkation:

We were scheduled to disembark at 9:45, but didn't actually get called until 11:15. We waited in the line for customs for another hour, and then caught our shuttle and were back at the hotel at 12:30. Not the smoothest disembarkation, but hey, we did get on the ship an hour early :-)

 

Kids Program:

Our kids loved the kids program offered by Princess. It was open from the early morning hours (I think 8:00am) until 12:00pm, then reopend from 2-5, and 7-10. No charge for these hours. Children could stay from 10:00pm until 1:00am for a small charge. Our kids simply did not want to be around us whenever the kids program was open! And they seemed sad when we came and picked them up. The staff in there was awesome! You could tell they really enjoyed working with the kids. All we would hear about from our kids was what they would be doing at the next kids meeting. Top ratings on this superb program!

 

Final Thoughts:

This was our first cruise with Princess, and we couldn't have been more pleased. Aside from a few small bumps, everything was wonderful. We're the kind of people that expect a few things to go wrong, and just flow with it.

 

We went and talked to the booking staff about a future cruise to the Western Caribbean, only this time it will be 5 people in our party (my wife's expecting), but Princess said we'd have to get 2 separate cabins as they didn't have anything for a 5 person party. We were a little disappointed in that. We ended up calling our travel agent and RCCL has a grand suite for about $2800 that would accommodate all of us aboard the Rhapsody of the Seas (which I still have to read the reviews on :-)

 

Overall, a great cruise and one that we'd highly recommend to anyone considering cruising to the Mexican Riviera. I'll try and get my pictures posted in the next few days. If anyone has any specific questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

 

P.S.--If anyone would like a copy of the "Princess Patter" (daily events on the cruise), just let me know and I'll scan them and e-mail them to you.

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marciemi

marciemi

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I'd also love the Patters - going on this cruise with my mom in Dec. Do you think the Canopy tour could be done by a fairly active 60 something? She isn't afraid of heights, but is claustrophobic (this tour doesn't seem very confined to me!). Also, what exactly did you do in Cabo? Can you walk to a beach or shopping area right from the dock or did you take a cab? This is the only port we're considering not doing a tour due to the short time there and just exploring on our own. Thanks so much for any help!

 

Marcie (roycemi@comcast.net)

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LetmeCurise

LetmeCurise

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Hello,

Loved reading your review on the Diamond sailing,

We are sailing on the Diamond in 2 weeks and i was wondering if you can tell me what resturant would have the best seating for a table for 2. I have a bad back and some seats are just awful in resturants hear at home. I have found that booths are the best for my back. Are there any booths avail in the resturants at dinner for 2 people ?

 

Also i understand you can make reservations for each evening of the cruise at a certin resturant but still get a menu from the other resturants. Is this true ?

If so could we make a reservation for one resturant for all week but still eat off the other menus in that resturant ?

 

Or will i be stuck with room service all week ?

 

Any info you can provide will be great.

 

Thanks ever so much.

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taxatty "Live from...." Rare

taxatty

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The Sterling on the Diamond has tables for two, and if I recall correctly, with booths for the back seat. We did not eat in the other PC dining rooms, but my guess would be that they would have a similar arrangement.

Les

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Happy2cruise

Happy2cruise

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Divot Maker, thanks for the review. Sounds like you had a great cruise. We are sailing 10/9 and can't wait.

 

I assume by your post you did not have a flight to catch right after disembaking and were not in the first groups to be called off the ship. One question, do you know what time the first group (red tags) were called for disembarkation? Just wondering how tight our flight will be out of Long Beach. Thanks.

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DivotMaker

DivotMaker

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Hi Marcie,

 

As for the Canopy tour, an active person not afraid of heights is the perfect candidate for this tour. In a nutshell, there's a fair amount of uphill walking to a few of the zip line spots, say about the equivalent of 4-5 flights of stairs. The guides are great and will not rush anyone. They were also very entertaining and had a great sense of humor.

 

In Cabo, we just walked to the mall and then walked around some of the other shops. It was about a 15-20 minute walk from the pier. If I remember correctly, the closest beach is Medano beach, but it looked like a cab would be necessary (probably about a 10 minute cab ride). Like yourself, we didn't want to book an independent tour due to the time constraints. However, if you are into water spots (parasailing, kayaking, etc), there were several tour operators right off the dock offerings decent prices. I talked to many people who booked with a tour guide right off the dock and they all said it went very smoothly and they were able to get back in plenty of time. If I had it to do over again, I think I would have parasailed in Cabo...There's always next time! :-)

 

Hope this helps. Let me know if you have more questions. Thanks!

I'd also love the Patters - going on this cruise with my mom in Dec. Do you think the Canopy tour could be done by a fairly active 60 something? She isn't afraid of heights, but is claustrophobic (this tour doesn't seem very confined to me!). Also, what exactly did you do in Cabo? Can you walk to a beach or shopping area right from the dock or did you take a cab? This is the only port we're considering not doing a tour due to the short time there and just exploring on our own. Thanks so much for any help!

 

Marcie (roycemi@comcast.net)

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DivotMaker

DivotMaker

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Yes, you are correct about the inaugural cruise being in March. However, I thought the inaguural cruise to Mexico was the 9/25 cruise...At least I thought that's what they told us. They had many plauqes on the wall on the first cruise back in March, but I thought it was to a different port...? Either way, it was great to be on such a beautiful ship!

 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise, I wish I could be back on the Diamond. One minor point, the inaugural was back in March and I was on it :-)

 

Greg

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DivotMaker

DivotMaker

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Yes, you are right, we drove home to Sacramento. The red tags were called off at 8:00am according to the schedule, and I'm pretty sure they were called off right on time. I believe there were 8 customs officials handling paperwork in the terminal. They seemed to be on time for the first few tags, then fell behind after that. I think if your flight was around 11:30am or later, you'd have no problem at all. Have a wonderful trip!

 

Divot Maker, thanks for the review. Sounds like you had a great cruise. We are sailing 10/9 and can't wait.

 

I assume by your post you did not have a flight to catch right after disembaking and were not in the first groups to be called off the ship. One question, do you know what time the first group (red tags) were called for disembarkation? Just wondering how tight our flight will be out of Long Beach. Thanks.

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DivotMaker

DivotMaker

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Hi!

 

The tables for 2 seemed to be in all 4 restaurants, since the layout looked the same. If I remember correctly, they were against the wall, so one seat would be on the bench seating, and the other would be on a regular chair.

 

Yes, you can eat at one of the 4 themed restaurants (Vivaldi, Sterling, Santa Fe, and Pacific Moon), and still get the menu from the International (main dining room). In fact, if you were to eat in the Internation Dining Room, you would receive the menu from one of 4 themed restaurants each night. They rotate all 4 of the themed menus for folks in the main dining room to try out. The themed dining room menu did not seem to change from night to night, but since we were able to choose from the main dining room menu, it worked out well.

 

A word of caution though: If you are in the traditional fixed seating dining room, and you want to make a reservation in one of the 4 themed dining rooms, they will cancel your fixed seating reservation for the rest of the cruise. So if you are interested in trying the 4 themed restaurants, get your reservations early, as you don't want to be stuck having to eat in Horizon court all week :-)

 

Hope this helps! Thanks!

 

 

Hello,

Loved reading your review on the Diamond sailing,

We are sailing on the Diamond in 2 weeks and i was wondering if you can tell me what resturant would have the best seating for a table for 2. I have a bad back and some seats are just awful in resturants hear at home. I have found that booths are the best for my back. Are there any booths avail in the resturants at dinner for 2 people ?

 

Also i understand you can make reservations for each evening of the cruise at a certin resturant but still get a menu from the other resturants. Is this true ?

If so could we make a reservation for one resturant for all week but still eat off the other menus in that resturant ?

 

Or will i be stuck with room service all week ?

 

Any info you can provide will be great.

 

Thanks ever so much.

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cactusrose

cactusrose

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Divotmaker. Thanks for your review and thanks for being so quick to post it. Between you and Bernie, I now have a pretty good picture. I'm on the 11/06 sailing with a 12:00 flight out. I hope the delays you experienced were due to this being the first docking for the Diamond this season at this port. Since I'm sure other ships come in to that port, that probably isn't the case. Just in case I have a backup reservation for 1:25 but I think I'm going to ask for Red Tags. Oh boy, if everyone cathces on to this, we're sunk.:p Thanks again and I hope we enjoy the cruise as much as you did. Sorry to hear that we probably won't see you back on Princess anytime soon, but congratulations on the news of the pending addition to the family.

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OCruisers

OCruisers

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DivotMaker .... What a wonderful review ... enjoyed reading!

 

Love your "Final Thoughts" and so agree!

 

Final Thoughts:

This was our first cruise with Princess, and we couldn't have been more pleased. Aside from a few small bumps, everything was wonderful. We're the kind of people that expect a few things to go wrong, and just flow with it.

 

Note on The Children's Program: Our younger daughter was not a "happy sailor" when we booked other than a Princess cruise. She STILL corresponds (via email now) with several she met on Princess when she was a child. She's out of Grad School now -- telling my age a bit here :rolleyes: Just glad this program remains as good as it always was for us!!!!

 

Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)

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DivotMaker

DivotMaker

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Hey, I remember you! Didn't you have the garlic shrimp at Victor's?

 

DivotMaker,

We DID meet you! Your daughter was the blond girl I said went speeding by me on the horse! Glad to hear you had a good trip. I didn't realize you were right down the hall :)

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bcs819

bcs819

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Of course I had the garlic shrimp :) Everyone said that's what you should have at Victor's :) I re-read your review and realized who you were when you got to the part about having to sail Royal Caribbean next year. Glad you had a good trip and got home safely :)

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DivotMaker

DivotMaker

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I just read your very detailed review too...Great job, and I feel for you on the dining part of the cruise. We were very bummed out as well about it. I know exactly what you were talking about on the 2 person tables that were way too close to each other. I even mentioned this to my wife and asked how in the world do people leave the tables without bumping into each other. Hey, at least we had a blast with Randi huh??? :-)

 

Of course I had the garlic shrimp :) Everyone said that's what you should have at Victor's :) I re-read your review and realized who you were when you got to the part about having to sail Royal Caribbean next year. Glad you had a good trip and got home safely :)
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sueandkent

sueandkent

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divotmaker, great review. My DH and I are on this cruise 11/6. You sound alot like us, people who for the most part roll with the punches so we are certainly expecting to have a great time. This will be our first cruise. I would love copies of the patters also and you may send them to me at smorin00@shaw.ca Thanks a bunch!

Sue

_______________________________________

Diamond Princess 11/6/04

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