Diamond Review - alaska 8-2

[dennis99ss]

We left IAH on 8-1 for the 8-2 departure out of Vancouver. Flew SW on rapid reward credits, so made a scenic stop in Phoenix on the way up. In Seattle, we stayed at the Crowne Plaza downtown. It was a very nice hotel, and had a good location. We were not in Seattle long at all, just enough to sleep, so we cannot talk much about the city itself during this trip.

On the morning of 8-2, we took the Amtrak train to Vancouver. The train was very nice and relaxing. Better than fighting customs at the border. We left and arrived on time. There is no coffee shop in the Seattle train station (could not figure that one out, being in Seattle). The train station was a typical US Station that has seen better days. The Vancouver station was much newer and nicer. There is a money exchange, but the cabs indicated they would accept US or Canada. The exchange rate was close to 1 to 1. There is a taxi Queue out the front doors, and to the left. If you have a lot of luggage, which we did, (5 bags, plus carry ons) you need to ask for a mini-van. While on the way to Canada Place, where the Diamond was docked, we made a side trip to City Cigar (check the net) and bought a box of Monte Cristo’s from a little island in the Caribbean (Not allowed to tell you which island ;) )

 

At the pier, we arrived about 1pm, and there was nearly no wait. The porters took care of the luggage at the curb. We waited about 5 minutes to check in, and then were off to the gangway, and the boarding picture. Before check in, there was a decidedly obvious show of “Health Precautions/ Conditions” in that each family was required to answer a questionnaire about health, being sick, etc. There was also hand sanitizer present. There was no customs, but you did go through immigration.

Once aboard, we checked out our stateroom, which was a mini-suite, D119, starboard side. The room was clean and well kept. Our room attendant was very nice, and throughout the cruise was very attentive, kept things clean, and was very fast. The room was made up of two singles, pushed together as a queen. You could tell that a connector was present, but it did not affect the bed. There was enough room for all of our luggage, and clothes once removed from the luggage. There were more hangers than we could use in the closet. The bathroom was tight, but it did have a full bath with massage shower head. Water pressure and temperature was good.

 

The bed for one of our two boys was made up out of the sofa in the room. The sofa was good sized, maybe 5-6 feet long. It folded out into one bed that would be similar to a super twin, and a second bunk folded out of the ceiling. During the day, the area was open, at night; there was just enough room to walk on the sides of the lower bunk, but a couple of feet between the foot of the bed and the wall.

The only thing missing in the room was a fixed bottle opener. The beer bottles, at least the bud light, were sold with a pry off top. When sold in buckets, they were cheaper, so we would buy a bucket or two and place the remainder in the cabin’s refrigerator. To open the cap, you were required to find a metal edge to pop the top, or to walk to a bar a number of decks away.

The balcony was great. It comfortable sits 4 people, 2 chairs and 2 reclining chairs, along with a small round table. The balcony is enclosed with a see through barrier to the sea, with a wooden rail top. The sides are 7 ft tall or so, non-see through. There are doors on the side barriers, however, that do not lock. As a result, if someone wanted to, they could arguably walk on the balconies from one balcony to another down the ship. (at least, both sides of our cabin did not have locks/latches, although it looked as if at some time they did exist. The doors did have a heavy molding, however, that did keep the doors closed unless manually opened. There is a lock on the balcony door that leads to/from the stateroom.

 

Vessel Movement

We felt almost no movement on this trip, even in the Gulf of Alaska. In our cabin, we could feel no engine vibration, but, in the stern, in restaurants and the like, we did feel vibration. While it is personal preference, we preferred the no vibration at the front.

Activities

 

The staff puts a lot of effort into the activities onboard. However, some of the items planned either did not happen, or seemed to be at a different time, etc. On some things, we had the impression that the crew did not know what was planned for them by the cruise director. As one example, the art shows/auctions. They never seemed to be at the time, or what was advertised. An auction was advertised, but the art guy is nearly giving a lesson on some artist that he is not auctioning off on this cruise, but will be doing so in a couple of weeks. On another day, he has 8-10 tables in the audience, and cancels the auction because there is not enough interest. However, word for the wise, I felt the prices, and opening bids were high. Do your homework before getting onboard. There were times that a library attendant was supposed to be around, but was not. There were times when stores were supposed to have items on sale on tables, either in the foyer or on deck, and were not. There were some music groups scheduled, that, when the location was walked into, were not playing music, but were involved in trivia or other show type activities. All in all though, the entertainment was good. Because the ship is so big and has so many venues, even if one location did not have what the patter stated, you can find another to do something else. So, while we told each other on a couple of occasions “the patter is wrong again” it did not really upset our trip or the enjoyment of it.

 

The boys did pottery, where they paint a plate and then the ship fires it for pickup later in the voyage. That was fun for them.

The trivia, Bingo, theater, and live shows were all good. There were three musical shows, Lets Dance, Piano Man and I forget the final one. One big peeve we had was that the live shows were never at a predictable time. There were not set show times. One day the show was at 8 and 10, and the next it was at 9 and 11, or something like that. It was difficult to plan the evening due to the changing show times from day to day. Besides the dance/music shows, they had a couple of comedians, a juggler and a ventriliquist, who were good.

 

There was a naturalist onboard who gave speeches, but some of her speeches seemed to be a little off topic from advertised. She also provided commentary over the PA when in whale country and at the glaciers.

 

We did not see a lot of wildlife in the water. We did not see a lot of ice in the water. In 95, we took this same itinerary (before kids)(at the end of August) and there was definitely more floating ice, and more sea life, otters, seals, etc. The lack of ice and wildlife was disappointing, but it did not ruin the trip. It is just something that we could tell has changed in the last 13 years.

 

The cigar bars close about 11 or so, so in order to enjoy a cigar and a scotch, after the night is over, you need to either sit in an empty bar and order from another bar, or, enjoy it on the balcony of your stateroom.

While I do enjoy smoking a cigar, I do not enjoy smelling cigarettes, etc. I know, it is hypocritical, but that’s the way it is. On this cruise, we hardly ever noticed cigarettes. The casino smelled like an ashtray, but besides that, you really were not confronted with the stale smell. Even the cigar bars had a slight cigar smell, but not an overbearing one like you find some places.

 

Excursions

We did a lot of these. All thorough the ship. I went rock fishing - Alaska wilderness and fishing and eating? Don’t know the name of it, but it was the smaller tour, on a boat with a guide, ending at a camp to eat the catch. Had a blast. Our guide may not have been the best, as we did not catch nearly what others in the group caught, but the day was very enjoyable and very “Alaskan” or so it seemed. The family did the totem poles which they enjoyed.

 

In Juneau, we did the mendenhal glacier helicopter tour, and enjoyed walking on the glacier. We then also did a Juneau tour with stops at a native plant botanical garden and the mendanhal glacier park and visitor center, as well as a salmon hatchery. There were bald eagles all over, which was nice to see.

In Skagway, we did the bus trip to the summit and a visit to liarsville. The boys enjoyed the liarsville and the summit is a nice view, and very interesting both from a beauty standpoint but geologically as there is one place where five faults intersect.

 

After the summit tour, we went on the dog sled tour. The kids loved this, but we were just ok with it. It helped that the kids thought it was great.

 

We shopped a bit in Skagway, and found a local artist shop, at the far end of the main drag, that had carvings from numerous local artists, at prices that were much more reasonable than the other bigger/fancier stores. One boy wanted a carved whale, and the other a carved walrus, so we got them, and then we saw a fossilized whale bone carving, all out of the same piece, of four bears at a stream grabbing for salmon, so we took that as well. They are being shipped, so hopefully all will arrive safely. DW also was able to find a nice Alaskan carved wood hanging of a frog which she liked.

 

Food

The food onboard was very good. Not quite the four or five star restaurant quality, but certainly the quality of a brio Italian, Grotto, Rockfish. We had anytime dining, and tried the Savoy, Santa Fe, pacific moon. We did not like the Savoy. While the food may come from the same kitchen, the night we were in the Savoy, we did not enjoy it. We were at the Santa Fe twice and at the pacific moon once. Both were outstanding. Warning though, while the filet on the menu is a filet, it is not a top cut, but is not so low that it is tough. It is akin to a filet that you would by pre-packaged at the store instead of one from the market. Still ok though.

We ate one night at Sterlings, and was very impressed by the food. The service needed a lot of help, but, the food is on par with any high end steak house, such as Mortons, Ruth’s Chris, Flemings, etc. The service was similar to normal dining room service, so there were little mistakes such as letting the wine drip on the table, etc. But, food was great. It is well worth the $15 per person.

 

We ate at Sabatini’s, and were not real impressed. The food selection did not turn us on. They do serve in courses, and the courses are served as an assortment, but, the selection was not as good as it could be. The service at Sabatini’s was good however. Similar to what you would find at any higher priced restaurant.

 

The wine list was surprisingly good. We had a couple bottles of Caymus Cab. Sauv. Select from the reserve list for $165 per. This is about the same price as it is at a local liquor store. Opus was going for 175. The Caymus cab. Sauv. (non-select) was 85. Silverado cab. Was about $50. The Riesling was about $30. We had a very nice3 Sauv. Blnc. From new Zealand as well for about $30. Had a reserve Chianti for about $30. All in all, I was surprised by the quality and the reasonable prices of the wine list.

They also stocked my B&B as well as my Glenfiddich, and Bud Light, so all was good in that department.

We thought the pizza from the pool deck was very good. I know it is personal preference, but we thought it was good. We did not try it from room service. The hot dogs were just ok from the deck grill. The hamburgers were good. The Horizon Court has the other buffets, and was normally good. Breakfast was good, and, while I normally do not eat breakfast, I did on this trip. They had the assortment of breakfast fruits and cereals, as well as bacon sausage, ham, grits, eggs, omelets, eggs benedict/fried eggs, corn beef hash, pancakes, French toast, toast, bagels, etc.

 

At lunch, we ate only once or twice, they had a variety of three or four main dishes, with one being asian or Indian, and the others being meat, pasta, poultry and fish. Deserts were very good.

 

We did not try the sushi bar. We did try the chili on deck for Alaska day and it was good, although it had beans in it, and they wanted to serve it over rice (?) The chocolate buffet was very good as well.

Miscellaneous

We did not do the Champaign fountain as it was held at 11pm and we thought it was a bit late as it was towards the end of the cruise, and the boys were getting little tired.

 

My oldest (10) went to the doctors for an ear ache, which we wanted to clear before the plane trip. We went after hours, and the visit and antibiotics and Tylenol type pain medicine was about $160. About the same as a visit to the doc in the box here would be plus the co-pay for the drugs. Not a bad price we thought, considering we were at sea.

 

We had a couple of portraits taken, and at $25 per for an 8x10, the price is unbeatable. So we had a couple of them of the family in different backgrounds, and couple of just dw and myself and of the boys by themselves.

 

The ship does a video of the cruise, but we did not buy it. We took a thousand or two pictures, on three different cameras. Have not yet downloaded them, but it should be fun to go through them.

 

We disembarked at Whittier, and it was easy. Took the bus to Anchorage, where we rented a car and got a room at the Holiday Inn Express. Typical HI Express room. We were going to go to the zoo, but Anchorage was the only day it rained, and we did not feel like getting sick, and the boys ear ache was doing well with the antibiotic, so we stayed in and watched movies on the TV, went to Fridays for dinner, and then to the airport at 130 or so. Checked in for our 1230am flight to Seattle, where we switched flights and airlines to Southwest for the flight south and east from Seattle.

 

This has been a long review, but, hopefully you will find something in here that will help you.

[NeurosurgeryNP]

Thanks for taking the time to write thhis informative review!

[dforeigner]

Thanks for taking time to write a review.

[tequilasunrise]

Thanks for the review! Glad you all had a good trip :)