Princess Cruises
Diamond Princess Cruise Review
Mexican Riviera

Kim
Age: 43
Occupation: Engineer
Number of Cruises: 9
Sailing Date: March 17th, 2007

The Diamond Princess Mexican Riviera cruise was my 3rd cruise and 1st time on Princess. I had only been on Carnival cruises and thought I’d upgrade. Well let me tell you, I did and didn’t. The ship was magnificent!!! Truly a jaw-dropping site at every turn. BUT, it was BORING!!!! I’m in my early 40s and like to laugh, giggle and literally roll on the floor laughing but I didn’t experience that on Princess. Most public areas were lined with well-to-do vacationers which is another term for quasi snobbish people. Folks were more interested in dressing up than letting there hair down and having fun. I don’t drink alcohol, but I know how to shake a tail feather.

The casino was like a mausoleum very quiet, very BORING. They didn’t open the crap table until 9pm every night. Then no one showed up. Many times I was the only one rolling the dice. They had 1 Texas Hold Em table and it didn’t open til 7 or 8 pm. Usually you hear happy people in a casino, but not on this particular ship. I love to gamble on cruises but found that I did more eating because of the uneventful casino.

But anyway, I have to tell you that the food beats Carnival-hands down. We ate at the traditional dining room 2x and opted for the Horizon Court Buffet for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. The food was FANTASTIC. Different choices every day and night. Plus it was opened 24x7. Oh and on certain days they have a Sweet Buffet-rows of indulgent sweets that’s worth the wait and weight. And whatever you do, please do not miss the Hypnosis Comedy-it was great!!!!

The same blah blah faire for the room steward. He was great and all but I couldn’t help notice that he seemed terminally sad. He spoke and all but his eyes were as dead as a 3rd grade math teacher reciting the multiplication tables. I did ask the room steward on Carnival how much money they earned and he said that Carnival paid them $100 a MONTH!!! And the rest came from tips. Maybe that’s why they have to register the ships in other countries so they don’t have to abide by the US Labor Laws.

The best port was Cabo. Oh was it gorgeous. It reminds me of Key West. Great breeze, beautiful sunshine and gorgeous scenery. Puerto Vallarta was just ok for me, but I don’t know why they have Mazatlan as a port. Probably some kind of contract with the Mexican Government. It was dumpy, crowded and smelly. We saw a skinned horse head in the meat section of the open market-EWWW. I can’t say anything about shore excursions because we didn’t take any, we just wandered around each port. But I’m not one who cruises for the ports. I cruise to cruise! I love the open sea, the ocean breeze and gambling.

In short, I think I will wait til my 50s or 60s to take another Princess Cruise, maybe I will mature by then. Let’s hope not!






 

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