Diamond Princess

[RichC]

I haven't heard much about the Diamond Princess lately & we've booked a cruise for November. Has anyone in this group been on the ship recently? Although we're not that demanding I assumed the food quality, shows, etc to be similar to the other Princess ships.
Any comments.

[RichC]

I haven't heard much about the Diamond Princess lately & we've booked a cruise for November. Has anyone in this group been on the ship recently? Although we're not that demanding I assumed the food quality, shows, etc to be similar to the other Princess ships.
Any comments.

[f-mattox]

RichC, I know you and I were both on Island Princess recently, so we have a good point of comparison.

As I just pointed out on rbum's thread, my wife and I both agreed that the food, both dining room and buffet, was better on Sapphire Princess and Diamond Princess. The staff, especially the dining room staff, was friendlier and more cheerful on Diamond Princess.

I think overall the music and entertainment was better on Island, although inconsistent; some great, some pretty bad.

I'd say the level of service-except for the dining room--and the overall condition of the ships was equal. Both were immaculate and well maintained.

I like the Terrace pool, aft on Diamond much better than the aft pool area on Island (I notice Island didn't even give the area a name). I didn't find anything appealing about it. But I loved the Lotus pool on Island--particularly the teak furniture.
There's nothing like the aroma of a hot teak deck and real teak furniture!

I think Diamond is laid out a little better than Island. I always seemed to wind up on the wrong deck when going through the Atrium on Island. And Diamond's internet cafe is MUCH nicer, though no faster.

So as I'm sure you know each ship has it's little pluses and minuses but overall I think you will find the Diamond Princess
every bit as, and maybe even a little more terrific than Island Princess. I'm pretty sure you'll like the food better.

Rick

[RichC]

Thanks for the reply Rick. The only info I could find about the Diamond is the typical responses that some people write on cruise critic where they say everything was wonderful, the waiter was the nicest, the cabin steward was the best, etc.
It appears that the ship is very similar to the Caribbean Princess in layout which we did like except for the large number of people. The food on the CP was great, especially the Horizon buffet. We hated to see the IP go to Australia as we do like the smaller ships & there aren't many of them left lately- Even the Sun Princess which was in Florida for a good portion of the year is gone for now.
My wife enjoyed Hawaii so much last year that she talked me into it again. If we lived on the west coast I think we'd be in Hawaii at least 2 times yearly on a cruise.
Thanks again.
Rich

[f-mattox]

I guess I forgot that you were also on Caribbean Princess; if you liked her you are really gonna' love Diamond Princess. Diamond is larger (116,000 gt v. 113,000 gt) yet carries less passengers (2670 v. 3100). Not huge differences, but differences you will notice in the overall feeling of roomieness.

Rick