Just off the Diamond today

[cactusrose]

Just returned from Mexico on Diamond today. She is really lovely, but I didn't get the special feeling that I've always had on Princess cruises. It may be the difference between traditional dinning and anytime dinning or it may be the itinerary. Or . . . it may be that this cruise was with my sister instead of my husband. What ever it was, it wasn't the Princess that I have grown to love. There were many wonderful things, but there were some not so wonderful moments. Let me know if you have questions.

[LARGIN]

Can you be a little more specific ??

[christinelee]

How did the disembark go? Slow again?

 

Terry & Christine

 

 

2000 Ocean

2000 Ocean

2001 Grand

2002 Grand

2003 Sun

2004 Caribbean

2005 Diamond(1/22/5)

[Beryl]

Were the "not so wonderful" moments be ones that you are willing to share?? I'd love to hear about the good times as well!

[sailinglisa]

Ditto what the others have said!!! How was debarkation? I have a 12:00 flight booked out of LAX - taking a risk I know, but had to do it!

[cactusrose]

Largin,

 

The sales pitches started the minute we appeared in a public area. This has never happened to me before. This was the first time I've tried anytime dinning and found it to be too impersonal of me. I've been spoiled by the wonderful service in traditional dinning. Service in the anytime dinning rooms was slow and on two occasions I had to ask if we had been forgotten as we were there for more than 30 minutes before our order was taken. I did notice that people who frequented the same dinning room received excellent service. I guess the thought of receiving the additional tip from those that come every night to the same dinning room and table, makes the difference. Our cabin steward was not interested in finding out if there was anything we needed. On the last night, she remained in our cabin to start cleaning for the next voyage, even when we asked that she give us a few minutes to finish dressing for dinner.

 

This ship was lovely and I will not hesitate to sail Princess again. I even booked two future cruises while on board. However, the woman at the future cruise desk was not very helpful as she didn’t seem willing to help me figure out how to book these without my husband being on board. She just kept saying that she couldn’t book for someone not on board. I kept trying to explain that I just wanted to book a couple of future cruises with the second person TBA but she wasn’t listening. We finally got the bookings made, but I don’t have a very good feeling about the information she gave me.

 

I honestly think the problem is with this ship and not Princess. At least that’s what I’m hoping as DH and I will be on the Dawn in April and I plan to book a back to back for next September.

 

Christinelee,

 

Disembarkation wasn’t as bad as I expected. We had red tags and were through customs by 9:30. Embarkation didn’t start for us until 1:00 due to delays with the previous cruise, but once started it went very smoothly. Princess does know how to move people.

[Irishjayne]

Sounds like you were really missing DH.

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Glad you are giving Princess another chance, this is our first Diamond cruise and first west coast so hoping it is great, also plan on making some open bookings.

Thanks for the reveiw and hope you next is more up to your expectations.

[phelina]

How was the food compared to other Princess cruises you've been on? Were there enough tables for two in anytime dining? Just returned from the Coral on the partial Panama Canal transit and had anytime dining for the first time. Only once could make a reservation for an early table for two. Liked the traditional better.

[sueandkent]

We were on this sailing with Cactusrose (hi Cactus) and we are first time cruisers. We have nothing negative to say about the whole experience. We were blown away by the service, quality of the food, shows and everything. We did have personal choice dining and loved it. We enjoyed the flexibility of eating at different times each night and had no problems getting bookings and we ate with new CC friends pretty much every night. We often needed a table for 8 and didn't have any problem doing so. We also booked a future cruise on board and look forward to seeing the Carribean next year.

I will post a full review in the next day.

Sue

__________________________

Diamond 11/04

[Beryl]

Thanks for taking the time to give us a fuller picture of your cruise.

 

I am really looking forward to our sailing on the Diamond Princess in February....there is still a lot of winter to get through before we sail :(!! I was interested to hear your opinions of the anytime dining. We have opted for that choice because we enjoyed it so much on the Grand Princess. We will see how it compares on the Diamond with their four PC dining rooms.

[cactusrose]

Hi Sue. . Hope you're trip home was uneventful. I knew you would love cruising and Princess in general. I really think they are a class act for the price.

 

Sailinglisa. . .I had a noon flight also. I was there in plenty of time. You must be sure to go to the Pursers office and show them you plane tickets (or email confirmation) so you will get the red tags. Watch for an announcement in the Princess Patter. You will be in the fourth group off the ship. I was at the airport by 10:00. The security line is long but moves quickly so you should be fine.

 

Please don't get me wrong everyone. I enjoyed the cruise. It just wasn't as good as my previous cruises with Princess. I ran into some to the crew that I knew from other ships and they also said the atmosphere on the Diamond was different than the other ships. They are hoping as it matures, it will get better.

 

The food in the anytime-dinning rooms was good. I don't think Sterling's was as good as on other ships, but then you pay extra for Sterling's on the Star and Grand so it should be better. I think the wait staff in the anytime-dinning rooms is just spread too thin. If this were my first cruise or even first one with Princess, I would have been blown away. The ship is beautiful and staff pleasant and efficient. I just know they are better on some other ships/itineraries. I'm still a Princess fan and unless there is an itinerary I want to do that is only offered on another line, I will always choose Princess.

 

Now enough of that.

 

If you have anytime dinning and want early bookings be sure to call two days in advance. We made reservations as soon as we boarded for the first and second night at 6:30. We waited until the morning of the third day to call and could only get 8:00. I will reiterate what others have mentioned. . you can't seem to get reservations for any times other than 6:20, 6:30 sometimes and 8:00. We ate once in the Horizon court and although I'm not a fan of buffets, I was impressed. The quality and variety were awesome.

 

Getting on and off the ship was easy in every port. We never ran into long lines. Even in Cabo, where you must tender, Princess was efficient and we got on a tender within 10 minutes to get off and probably less then a five minute wait to board a tender to get back to the ship.

 

Weather was a bit cooler than I was expecting based on prior reviews. It wasn't cool by any means, but not in the 90s. More like high 80s. The one sea day on the return was a bit windy and had a chill in the air so you might want to bring something a little warmer if you plan on going out on deck that day.

 

For all of you who don’t like the coffee on Princess, here’s a funny story. I bought a couple of pounds of Mexican coffee while in Puerto Vallarta. When I was coming back on board a woman grabbed me and wanted to know if it was the brand that Princess used. Seems she had been trying to find out what brand they use but no one would tell her what it was. She thought it was the best coffee she had every tasted. When I told her it was coffee syrup, she wouldn't believe me.

 

For all of you going on this cruise in future, I know you'll have a great time.

[Sheebah]

Cactusrose,

 

What was your favorite cruise of all time?

[cactusrose]

Sheebah,

It was the Australia/New Zealand cruise. We did a week land tour before which was so well done, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. It was the first sailing for the Star out of Sydney. We were docked right next to the opera house and when we salied the streets and and hills were lined with people seeing us off. They had a fire work display that rivaled anything here on the 4th of July. We had this kind of send off in every port. It was like people went on holiday to come down to see us pull in to port and leave port. There were bag pipe bands at each port and the atmosphere was the most wonderful I have ever experienced on a cruise. People with boats and even waive runners would follow us for miles out of each harbor. Everyone was happy. The ports were wonderful. It was a perfect cruise.

[sunsetme]

were there any problems with jellyfish in cabo that you know of? I'm going 11/20. can't wait!

[nhcruiser]

Cactusrose,

 

I can completely understand how your Australia/New Zealand cruise aboard the Star Princess was your best to date. While we were unable to sail with you, we have very good Australian friends that sailed on that cruise. We followed them from the sail away that you described in Sydney all of the way through each port. As some Cruise Critics may remember these boards were alive with reports from ship sighters in each port.

 

They told us that it was true that many Australians and New Zealanders did take time off from work to view this magnificent ship, the largest to visit both countries, enter and depart each port. In hind site I wish that we had made the time to experience this once in a life time opportunity!

 

Rod

 

[Sheebah]

Cactusrose,

That gives me goosebumps.

Sheebah

 

 

Sheebah,

It was the Australia/New Zealand cruise. We did a week land tour before which was so well done, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. It was the first sailing for the Star out of Sydney. We were docked right next to the opera house and when we salied the streets and and hills were lined with people seeing us off. They had a fire work display that rivaled anything here on the 4th of July. We had this kind of send off in every port. It was like people went on holiday to come down to see us pull in to port and leave port. There were bag pipe bands at each port and the atmosphere was the most wonderful I have ever experienced on a cruise. People with boats and even waive runners would follow us for miles out of each harbor. Everyone was happy. The ports were wonderful. It was a perfect cruise.

[Sheebah]

Jdechter,

Regarding the jellyfish. I'll be interested to see if CactusRose encountered them as well.

 

Our entire boat was stung repeatedly when snorkeling in Santa Maria Bayon the 10/30 cruise 2 weeks ago, however I don't know if this is normal for Cabo. I wonder if it has anything to do with the warm water season.

Wear a wet suit if you can, or buy jellyfish repellant.

 

Sheebah.

 

were there any problems with jellyfish in cabo that you know of? I'm going 11/20. can't wait!

[Lynda90]

Thanks so much for the reviews. I'm going on 11/27 and can't wait.

[christinelee]

Christinelee,

 

Disembarkation wasn’t as bad as I expected. We had red tags and were through customs by 9:30. Embarkation didn’t start for us until 1:00 due to delays with the previous cruise, but once started it went very smoothly. Princess does know how to move people.

 

 

 

Thanks Dear for the quick response.

Terry & Christine

 

 

2000 Ocean

2000 Ocean

2001 Grand

2002 Grand

2003 Sun

2004 Caribbean

2005 Diamond(1/22/05)

[sailinglisa]

Thanks for the info on debarkation and the noon flight. Will be hoping for the best!

[sueandkent]

Sheebah,

We swam in Cabo and Mazatlan and never were bothered by jellyfish at all. We had that same jellyfish problem last year during an all-inclusive in P.V. and they make swimming not very much fun.

Sue

[cactusrose]

Sheebah. . .never saw a jellyfish and didn't hear anyone else talking about them. I would hope that if there is a problem, the ship will inform you before you off board in port.

 

nhcruiser. . .I can honestly say that the people in Australia and New Zealand are the friendliest I have ever encountered. They made every aspect of that cruise a wonderful experience. I'm sorry you missed that one, but I'm sure there will be other wonderful opportunities for you to experience many special cruises. I'm just so happy to have had that particular experience. I will never forget it. The kicker was at the end my 64 year old DH bungeed off the Auckland Bridge. :eek: What a man!:D

 

Hey Sue, now I know you're hooked. On these boards immediately after you got home. You're going to love your next one. Maybe even more.

[gipper77]

Hi all. Also just off of the Diamond Princess 11/13. We were red 2 and we were in our cars and entering the freeway at 9:30. Brown tags are for the early flights out of LAX and are called first. Red tags are called after the brown tags. Red tags are issued by deck. Deck 12 (aloha) is red 1, deck 11 (baja) red 2 and so on to red 4. In the past we have been off the ship and on the road by 8:30 but now with the feds doing their things, it is slower. Good luck with the early flight.

 

Reservations for the PC dining can only be made 2 days in advance. In the past you could make them for the entire cruise. Also, you may have a problem making reservations for the same Dr for more than three nights on the cruise. PC is the only way to go on the Diamond, its great.

There are plenty of table for two in the PC dining rooms. The only problem is that the tables are close together and conversations are not very private.

 

Weather the first and last days you can plan on being cool. All other days will be warm and moist for winter sailings. Hope this helps.

Dave and Mary

[marciemi]

Cactusrose/Gipper - thanks for the info/review. I have just a couple questions I hope you two (or anyone off last weeks sailing) can help me with. First - how did you get to the airport (Cactusrose - you said you had a noon flight?) We have a 12:30 flight and are really stressing about it. Princess said we couldn't take their transfers, then said we could but we'd miss our flight. We're tentatively planning on a cab or some other CC'ers on our roll call said they'd give us a ride. What did you do? Do I need brown or red tags? I kept hearing red, but it sounds like brown now!

 

Second, do you have your Patters? At least the first day? My question is did you move your clock forward an hour that first night, then back the last night? All the Patters I've seen so far have, even the ones back in March (pre-daylight savings), but people last week said they didn't. We're coming from Michigan and concerned about the time change/adapting, etc. Also, what time was early traditional seating if you have that first Patter (I know you guys were all PC)? The old Patters I have say 6:15 but our docs said 6:30.

 

Thanks for any help!