Diamond Princess -- Just off the Cruise

[katredd]

My family has just returned from 16 days in Alaska -- 7 of which were on the Diamond Princess. Here is the full text of my review from the Alaska Board: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=829259

 

Specifically for the Diamond Princess... we were very un-impressed with the ship and our comments are as follows: (maybe some of you can assure me they aren't all this bad).... Note that I did not do any Princess excursions... all were booked independently and so perhaps others gain value from using Princess to book things...

 

We chose Princess based on recommendations from trusted family and friends. We were overall extremely disappointed and are now canceling two rooms on a trip to the Panama Canal with Princess for next February. None of the things I mention below when taken alone would make me stay away from Princess, but cumulatively they are big problems.

 

Our room and steward were fine (mini-suite) but the rest had issues. Our cabin steward did a good job but I think he had a huge number of rooms to work and he was always looking exhausted. I think the line must have cut back on steward staff and made everyone cover more… it is unfortunate.

 

The public areas of the ship seemed somewhat dirty and in disrepair. When touching a table or the back of the chair it was likely to be sticky or noticeably dirty. The putt-putt course was ripped with broken speakers, no barriers around the holes… it was a joke. Compare it to putt-putt on Royal Caribbean and the difference is shocking. The shuffleboard sticks were broken; one of the pool tables had a broken leg…. Etc. When asking a waiter in the buffet area for silverware I was met with arguments about why I wasn’t allowed any…. Things don’t need to be that hard.

 

The food choices on the ship were very odd and eclectic. I understand the inclusion of things like duck, crabs legs, rabbit, buffalo, and other similar things is something most ships have, but I have never ever heard of them being the main-stay offerings. My family (and others I talked to) was aghast that there were rarely (if ever) main menu items like beef or chicken or pasta. Even on Italian Night, there were no offerings of pasta (lasagna, spaghetti w/ meat sauce) or what you would find at any Italian restaurant I’ve been too (and I’ve spent a lot of time in Italy). The Horizon Court Buffet was packed at every meal (perhaps a reflection of the menu issues). But even there they featured buffalo as the main meat at least one of the nights. I did meet a travel agent onboard who said she had been coming for years… she commented that the food on this itinerary was different than most Princess cruises… I can only hope she was right. At the Horizon Court Buffet, at every meal (breakfast, lunch, or dinner) we always struggled to find a seat and we often had to take our food out to the pool, up to another bar/lounge, or to our room. The large RC ships don’t even have that problem. The buffet was arranged in a confusing layout – causing issues for many of the older patrons in getting around and dealing with the lines. The food itself was often tasteless… from the steaks we could get to the garlic potatoes… everything was very bland. I love potatoes, but stopped getting them midway through the cruise because they had no taste… garlic potatoes, hash browns… no taste ever.

 

There were inconsistent rules enforced – an example. My daughter was able to get cranberry juice for free from the wheelhouse bar but not from a restaurant, and when I wanted to get cash for gambling using my ship card the table dealer said I couldn’t, but the cashier told me to go to the table dealer… Consistency should be a mainstay… why do they want to confuse passengers and cause us undue stress???

 

It was certainly not all bad... burgers and pizza near the pool were good, the laundry facilities were immaculate, I thought soda cards were a good value, coffee bar was OK (not as good as RC), bingo was fun... etc.

[melika091900]

I noticed alot of the same on the dawn princess , confusing crowded buffet no matter what time you went, we also would get food and go to the room, and BORING SALADS at the main dining !!! i love to try different salads while on cruises and all they had every night was lettuce and maybe a tomato, it was weird,

 

it was a nice ship and everything, but i was also shocked there was no ATM, and some other things about the stateroom attendent also, not friendly, rarely smiled, no towel animals, no re stocking the fridge after we drank the water and sodas, i had to leave him 2 notes asking for this, then he finally said we should order them from room service, im sorry im not going to wait 15 min for a soda,, in our room,

 

there were alot of things that made me suprised since alot of people i know RAVE SO MUCH about princess,,

[dforeigner]

Sorry to hear that Princess was not to your likings. I guess trying new types of cuisines is not your cup of tea.

[dforeigner]

I noticed alot of the same on the dawn princess , confusing crowded buffet no matter what time you went, we also would get food and go to the room, and BORING SALADS at the main dining !!! i love to try different salads while on cruises and all they had every night was lettuce and maybe a tomato, it was weird,

 

it was a nice ship and everything, but i was also shocked there was no ATM, and some other things about the stateroom attendent also, not friendly, rarely smiled, no towel animals, no re stocking the fridge after we drank the water and sodas, i had to leave him 2 notes asking for this, then he finally said we should order them from room service, im sorry im not going to wait 15 min for a soda,, in our room,

 

there were alot of things that made me suprised since alot of people i know RAVE SO MUCH about princess,,

 

The ATM is in the casino if I am not mistaken. Also, it is not customary for Princess to make towel animals as with other cruise lines. On a different note, I have yet to go to a hotel where the cabin attendant restocks the mini bar or in this case, the sodas and bottled water. The only exception is in those hotels where bottled water is free. But still, sodas need to be re-ordered through room service.

[rdsqrl]

I'm a bit puzzled by your comments about the food; did you ever eat in the dining rooms, because there IS an always available menu that has steak, chicken, and salmon. Plus there's always a featured pasta dish. And for most of us, the layout of the buffet actually makes things easier as it eliminates having to stand in lines. I'm sorry you didn't enjoy your cruise; good luck with your next one.

[caribill]

 

When asking a waiter in the buffet area for silverware I was met with arguments about why I wasn’t allowed any.

 

 

Any why did he say you were not allowed to have silverware to eat with?

[sunsetbeachgal]

We are regular Princess cruisers and frankly I am quite surprised about your comments about the dining room food. On our recent cruise on the Coral (alaska) there were plenty of dinner choices that I would consider as traditional foods-prime rib on two nights, beef tenderloin, lobster, and of course the Always Available entrees. There was always a pasta or two, and the choices sounded so good that I often ordered a small serving of pasta as a appetizer in addition to a main dish. Princess is known for good pastas, and I was not disappointed. We sailed on Royal Carribbean last year, and, while we consider ourselves easy to please, I liked the Voyager class ship layout, but definitely did not consider the dining room choices or food on par with Princess.

[luv2swim]

I'm sorry to hear things didn't work out for you on this cruise. I hope your next cruise--no matter what line it is--turns out to be wonderful.

[pungo3]

I'm very sorry you found things not to your liking on your cruise. I haven't been on the Diamond so all I can say is the Star and Sun always had beef, chicken and pasta items on the menu each night. It sounds like the putt-putt golf needs some attention and the cleaning attendants need to be more diligent. I hope you have better cruises in the future. Thanks for your review.

[coiran]

Strip steak, tenderloin, chicken and salmon are always available on the dinner menu. Ceasar salad, shrimp cocktail and a pasta dish are also always available. Perhaps you didn't study the menu close enough.

BTW - the crab legs are excellent and is not an unusual main course.

Parrallel worlds!

Ron

[Spikesgirl]

It was a standing joke with our GD on our last cruise. Every night she ordered the pasta dish (always different) until it came to the lobster.

 

Haven't been on the Diamond because we prefer the smaller ships, where the crew people don't seem quite as harried.

 

However,your comments are valid - I couldn't believe being told I could have silverware - a language problem, perhaps? Perhaps someone was afraid that a passenger would try to hijack the ship with a spoon and fork!

 

I'm sorry you weren't happy, but at least it's good knowing that there are other lines to choose from.

 

Cheers!

[Clutterlady]

So sorry to hear you did not enjoy your Diamond Princess cruise, especially since you were cruising to Alaska!

 

We have friends who did the Diamond to Alaska in June and they are die hard Royal Caribbean fans. They honestly raved about the Diamond and liked Princess so much that they booked their next cruise on Princess.

 

So, I guess different strokes:)

[cynbar]

Sorry to hear about your experience, we have sailed the Diamond in the past and had a great cruise, with none of the problems you mentioned. However, I think everyone realizes that sometimes things vary from cruise to cruise on the same ship -- different chefs, multiple new staff members, and so on. I can't say I remember too many comments on these boards about Princess ships being dirty. so it does seem that something was off on your sailing. And food, as we all know, can be very subjective. I sounds as if you prefer RCCL, and that's fine, all of the mainstream lines have their fans. Best of luck for a better time on your next cruise.

[katredd]

Great comments back -- yes, we could order the chicken or steak from the bottom of the menu (or even fettuccine each night), but my comment was really that they did nothing interesting with those mainstays on the menu. One night they did have turkey as a mainline and my daughter loved it. I love trying new food and would eat what was offered, but I was surprised at the lack of creativity with the "staples". Not a single waiter we had mentioned a daily pasta special and the pasta we had on the menus always had fish or seafood in it (except for the plain fettucine alfredo which was pretty greasy).

 

I don't think it was the language problem on not allowing me silverware -- I think they must get tired of passengers taking the silverware out of the dining area, but if there are no tables at which to sit then people need to go somewhere (with silverware).

 

Anyway -- that is the reason there are multiple cruise lines. The other three we have taken are above Princess in our minds :)

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for posting your comments.

[Colo Cruiser]

it was a nice ship and everything, but i was also shocked there was no ATM, and some other things about the stateroom attendent also, not friendly, rarely smiled, no towel animals, no re stocking the fridge after we drank the water and sodas, i had to leave him 2 notes asking for this, then he finally said we should order them from room service, im sorry im not going to wait 15 min for a soda,, in our room,

 

 

 

Most of which are discussed here on CC daily.

So most should not have been a surprise. :cool:

[dennis99ss]

We were on the Diamond 8-2/8-9. Your comments about the cleanliness are surprising. We did not see that. The food, we thought, was much better than rccl. The silverware may have been because they hand out silverware at the buffet most of the time and require the passenegers to use the anti-bacterial hand lotion first.

 

We played the minigolf as well. While there was some items that needed fixing-speakers, the course was set up as a "links" style course, and while it was not your normal putt putt, I do not believe it was designed with that in mind. We did see the shuffleboard sticks that were broken, but we never had an occasion where there were not sticks to use that were not.

 

We thought the pasta was good when we ordered it. While the filet in the dining rooms (with the exception of Sterling) was good, it was not excellent, but we thought it was as good as something you would get at a lower chain such as Outback.

 

Different strokes I guess.

[Northender]

To the OP, sorry that you did not enjoy Princess as much as RCCL. But that is why there are still so many cruise lines. Each has their own favorite and you now know Princess is probably not for you.

 

I did enjoy reading your report and while you restated most of your issues here also, I am glad that you enjoyed Alaska.:)

 

I just have one question for all the towel animal people. What is up with that? In the scheme of all thing relative, why are towel animals such an issue with people who do not get them?:confused:

[Colo Cruiser]

I just have one question for all the towel animal people. What is up with that? In the scheme of all thing relative, why are towel animals such an issue with people who do not get them?:confused:

 

Something to complain about maybe??? :confused:

[Paulchili]

Anyway -- that is the reason there are multiple cruise lines. The other three we have taken are above Princess in our minds :)

 

 

It is a very sad day indeed when Costa rates above Princess even in one person's opinion.

We have cruised on several Princess cruises in the past and have been quite happy in general, though the last one (Amazon) made us wonder if Princess was being "pulled down" to the level of its owner (Carnival).

We have several other Princess cruises booked and we'll find out if this was an aberration or a trend.

Happy cruising!

[sultan_sfo]

(Underlines Added in Reply)

Sorry you had a miserable time on Diamond Princess. Thank you for your frank and interesting review.

 

Some Brief Comments.

 

The food items you mentioned (underlined below) are "interesting" to many diners who like to try different food. Lasagna, spaghetti w/ meat sauce are not quite gourmet Italian dishes but I am glad you like those. All of them are available everyday on Princess. By the way, I just finished reading John Grisham's Playing for Pizza. Grisham was in Parma, Italy, (the setting for the book) when he got the idea for the book. For those who like Sabatinis or Italian Food, I highly recommend the book just for the description of the dinners! Now that is "Italian". Football fans will also enjoy the book. I do agree that all cruise lines need to include "hearty" American (or any other country's everday dishes) such as stews, fried chicken, fish and chips, pot pies, etc. along with those fancy items. May be some of us should mention this in the questionnaire we fill out at the end of the cruise.

 

For future cruises, no matter which cruise line you choose, please do discuss your food preferences with the Maitre D and you will be surprised how accommodating they can be.

 

About the buffet, there were probably too many first time Princess cruisers or those who prefer the school cafeteria type set up. Princess has a station style set-up that is easy to use. But I agree that the buffet gets crowded in cold weather cruises because people tend to just hang out there instead of the swimming pools and outside decks.

 

My family has just returned from 16 days in Alaska -- 7 of which were on the Diamond Princess.

...

The food choices on the ship were very odd and eclectic. I understand the inclusion of things like duck, crabs legs, rabbit, buffalo, and other similar things is something most ships have, but I have never ever heard of them being the main-stay offerings. My family (and others I talked to) was aghast that there were rarely (if ever) main menu items like beef or chicken or pasta. Even on Italian Night, there were no offerings of pasta (lasagna, spaghetti w/ meat sauce) or what you would find at any Italian restaurant I’ve been too (and I’ve spent a lot of time in Italy). The Horizon Court Buffet was packed at every meal (perhaps a reflection of the menu issues). But even there they featured buffalo as the main meat at least one of the nights. I did meet a travel agent onboard who said she had been coming for years… she commented that the food on this itinerary was different than most Princess cruises…

...

The buffet was arranged in a confusing layout – causing issues for many of the older patrons in getting around and dealing with the lines.

...

[Casshew]

When asking a waiter in the buffet area for silverware I was met with arguments about why I wasn’t allowed any….

 

So why weren't you allowed silverwear? That makes no sense at all :eek: Maybe he thought you were going to throw a knife at someone?

 

also, was there not steak and chicken on the anytime menu every night?

 

I am surprised to hear about the disrepair on the mini putt and other things, Diamond is fairly new, right?

[Spikesgirl]

(Underlines Added in Reply)

John Grisham's Playing for Pizza. Grisham was in Parma, Italy, (the setting for the book) when he got the idea for the book. For those who like Sabatinis or Italian Food, I highly recommend the book just for the description of the dinners! Now that is "Italian". Football fans will also enjoy the book..

 

Thanks for the heads up - I'm on my way out to find it now!

[Pam in CA]

Thanks for the heads up - I'm on my way out to find it now!

I read this book a couple of years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a quick read and very enjoyable. :)

 

To the OP, I'm sorry you had such negative experiences. I've found that rather than basing whether or not you will sail a cruiseline again on one experience, two cruises on even the same ship can be completely different. Heck, we've seen reports of people on the same cruise at the same time having completely opposite viewpoints. I've been on Royal Caribbean four times and IMHO, it's nowhere near as good as Princess, but that's based on my experience. On my HAL cruise a year ago, I had the worst cabin steward I've ever had, the cabin was filthy, the bathroom was all mildewed, the buffet set up was a joke and my waitstaff in the dining room was mediocre at best (and they served the Captain and staff when they ate in the dining room -- go figure) but overall, I enjoyed the ship and the cruise so I'm booked on the same ship for 28 days in October.

 

I wish you luck and good cruising wherever you go.

[bdjam]

To the OP, sorry that you did not enjoy Princess as much as RCCL. But that is why there are still so many cruise lines. Each has their own favorite and you now know Princess is probably not for you.

I agree - I think the differences the original poster identified between Princess and RCI aren't so much around quality but around the differences in the cruise lines and they markets they are after. Right "putt-putt" golf on Princess is different than on RCI - and there's a reason.

I’m not sure why they could not find the always available choices on the menu.

There is no excuse for the ship being unclean and I certainly would have commented about that. But given that buffalo is healthier than either chicken or beef, if you’ve gotta have your meat, Princess is offering a good choice.