I chose this cruise because of 10 sea days plus 5 days of Hawaii islands. We have always had balcony staterooms in the past but I got a great price for inside A729. I booked on the Princess website right at 2 months prior to the cruise. This was our 7th cruise. Two on Celebrity and our 5th on Princess.

When I booked the Diamond Hawaii cruise I knew we could live with the inside because the aft deck and Terrace Pool were only a few steps down the hall from our stateroom. Hurray!!! Plus, the Horizon was just one deck straight up. On most sea days we picked up our breakfast or lunch meals and walked them right out to the bar area that overlooks the Terrace Pool and enjoyed the wonderful deck area and view of the Diamond's wake.

We flew into LAX a day early and took a Prime Time Shuttle ($17 each) to the San Pedro Vagabond Inn. I think our total Vagabond Inn bill was right at $65. The Vagabond offered free shuttle service to the pier. The room was clean. I had to get a hair dryer from the front desk. The next morning, right at 10:00, we took the 1st shuttle for the short ride to the ship. It was fun arriving at the pier so early...some of the passengers who just got off were still finding shuttles and taxis...and we were there for OUR TURN. Of course we were excited. We checked our bags with a ship porter and went right inside the cruise terminal, showed our express boarding passes, went through security, checked in, got our cruise cards and were ushered to the Platinum/Elite lounge where we relaxed and enjoyed complimentary coffee and rolls. We were called to the boarding area around noon and walked up the gang plank onto the ship shortly thereafter. I must say, our inside stateroom was JUST A STATEROOM...and no big deal, like it would have been if we had of walked into a balcony cabin; opened the slider and walked out on the balcony. Since we didn't have a balcony...we waisted no time. We promptly put our carry-ons in the closet area and just headed out to the Horizon and to explore the ship. Read more