Greetings all, We, my wife Kathy and me, have cruised previously, 4 times with Carnival and once with Royal Caribbean. We have been talking of going to Hawaii for over two decades, we booked the 15 day round trip cruise out of Los Angeles to Hawaii, then to Ensenada and back on the Diamond Princess, now it was finally time to start the planning. Due to increasing pain in my ears when flying, we would have to drive from Florida to California. We contacted the Double Tree Hotel in San Pedro and were advised that we could leave our car parked there while we were on the ship. We booked one night with them prior to our cruise and their courtesy van took us and our luggage to the cruise ship the next morning. We left the hotel at 11:10 AM, March 17th and we were at the pier at 11:25 AM and handing our luggage to the porter. These folks from Double Tree were absolutely outstanding, the accommodations were very nice and they made the beginning of our cruise very enjoyable. Upon leaving the porter and getting in line for embarkation, we noticed that the lines were not exceedingly long. We breezed through embarkation and were standing on the ship by 12 o'clock noon, again, outstanding. We dropped off our carry on luggage in our cabin and then went to the buffet and had lunch. I then went to the top deck of the ship and began to take a video tour of the ship and kept working my way down the ship one deck at a time. Upon getting back to the cabin I learned that most of our luggage had arrived and my wife was busy putting our things away. The last piece of luggage arrived and we were done unpacking and all things were hung up in the closet or placed in the drawers by 3:00 PM, again, outstanding. We went to our assigned location, the Princess theater, for the muster drill, that went very well; it was well organized and was brief but effective. We had a group of us from Cruise Critic that had pre-arranged a first meeting in the casino, since it must not open while in port, right after sail-away. It was great to finally meet the folks that we had been online with for those many months prior to the cruise. We had requested traditional dining but there was no room for us so we went to the anytime dining rooms. There were three of them and we tried each one but after 3 nights still wanted to be assigned to the traditional dining room. Upon meeting with the staff we were able to be assigned at a table at the first seating in the traditional dining room where another couple had abandoned their seating there. It was a fabulous choice; we had much fun with our tablemates. Our days at sea were filled with a number of options to select from. We got with a group of people that we met one day and we were frequently involved in the trivia games (the MC was Cameron, he was most excellent at this) with them (our group won 3 times). I also enjoyed going to three different lectures from the golf pro, Rob Bernard, I got many tips that I plan to try out later on. My wife signed up for a computer Photoshop elements class. It was composed of four classes and she found it very helpful as she is arranging our many photos and learned how to "manage and adjust" these photos before placing them in a photo album. I signed up for the onboard Ryder Cup golf competition, a version of putt putt golf, but with the added challenges from a moving ship and the ever present wind it became very tricky (and lucky in some cases). There were some very skilled golfers there, but if the ship made a move at the wrong time, it caused a missed putt. I was very fortunate to win this event, the competition was very tough, but there was much fun had by these fine folks. I enjoyed the comedian, Jack Wilks, and his family style of comedy, it was very entertaining. On another evening there was a ventriloquist, Willie Tyler & Lester, another very entertaining evening. Another evening there was a comedian, Jeff Wayne, who was VERY funny; I thought that he was the best yet, I just loved the show. On another night there was a hypnotist, Terry Stokes, and it was another very entertaining evening. There was also bingo, the always present horse racing, as well as the casino. There were other options that we are not particularly interested in such as karaoke, passenger talent shows, bands, singers & dancers. There were so many things to do that often we had to make a difficult choice as to what we wished to do the most. We had a Cruise Critic Meet & Greet the second day of the cruise and about 36 of our people were there. Also the Cruise Director Dan and Asst. Cruise Director Andre joined us and added much fun to our gathering of cruisers. Our first port was at Hilo and we took the Volcano National Park excursion through Princess. We had hoped that the Kilauea Volcano would still be active for us to be able to photograph, well; it blew its top about 3 days prior to our arrival. The authorities moved all excursions back from the volcano about 25 miles for their safety. We could easily see the smoke and steam rising from the crater from that distance, and were able to get some memorable photos and video from there. Upon being back aboard the ship, and as we were leaving the island we went past the area where the lava was running down the island and entering the sea. This was night time by now and again I was able to get some meaningful photos and video of this event, again, outstanding. Our next port of call was Kona where we had booked a snorkeling excursion with Seaquest Tours, a private excursion. We had a great time with these folks and I was able to get many great underwater pictures of a variety of brightly colored fish. While there several Spinner Dolphins arrived (the guide guessed that there were about 80 of them) and were jumping out of the water straight up in kind of a corkscrew manner. They were also swimming in pairs, jumping out of the water side by side and putting on quite a show for us. We were told that it is very rare for them to come into the area where people snorkel, that made this a special treat for us. The guides also took us too many points where there was lava and caves that had been hollowed out by the waves coming ashore. They were very good at this and added much fun and points of interest to the tour. Thank you Dre & Shawna, you two were just wonderful and added much to our tour. We were back aboard the ship and then some whales began to surface and splash around a bit while we were still in port. I was able to get some more memorable moments captured on video right from our balcony, again, outstanding. (I've got to quit saying that) Next we went to Lahaina and we had signed up for a tour through Princess to the Iao Valley and Tropical Plantation Tour. This was very different from what we had seen so far, but also provided some great mountain scenery and then some great viewing of the various plants and vegetation at the plantation. This was another day that was well spent and provided many photo opportunities. Once again everyone was very pleasant and made the tour very enjoyable. We then went to Honolulu, the capitol of Oahu. We had booked with a private excursion called The Duck Tour. It is an amphibious 6 wheel drive vehicle, formerly a military vehicle, now converted to a bright yellow tour vehicle, both on water and on land. We were treated to a tour of the area and then drove into the water and viewed the bay from the vantage point that usually just those in boats would get. Once finished with the water tour we were then taken to the USS Arizona Memorial and, after waiting a long time, we spent about an hour viewing a very moving video presentation, and then we were taken to the memorial. The entire experience was very moving; it was treated as a place of reverence by all and was a most solemn time for all of us. There really is an oil slick still coming from the USS Arizona which still remains under water, and I photographed that as well as the other points of interest there. May they all rest in peace. We went back to the ship and changed clothes and got ready to go someplace that we have talked about going to for a long time. We had contacted Germaine's Luau online, another private option, and we went there and had just a terrific time. It was as much fun as we had expected that it might be, a great variety of food, I enjoyed it all. The entertainment was also wonderful, what a terrific evening it was, we came back with many great memories and photo's as well. Our next port was Kauai, we had booked a 4x4 backroads adventure. I expected that it would be slow and show us some "off of the highway" scenery and provide some photo opportunities. The scenery was there, but it did not turn out to be the photo shoot that I had expected. When there are chuckholes and washouts that should be crossed over at 5 MPH, one should not take them at 25 MPH. It was impossible to take pictures when being thrown all over the place. The few times that we were allowed to get out of the van, I finally got some nice shots. We were definitely taken to some beautiful places that were off the beaten path, but there were times that I wasn't sure that I was going to be able to keep my breakfast down. This is the first time that I have ever been thankful that an excursion had ended. It's too bad; it could have been so much nicer if the passengers comfort had been taken into consideration. The next port was Ensenada, Mexico. We took the La Bufadora Adventure and City Driven through Princess. We saw some nice countryside and had many interesting things pointed out to us by our guide. We were finally taken to the "Blowhole" but had to run the gauntlet through the vendors in town to get to the sightseeing place. Once I took the video of this spot we had to run the gauntlet again. Some of those attempting to sell things were polite, some were not, and it was the only negative thing about this tour. We did find a pleasant gal at a shop there and bought some shirts from her. We then went back into the city and were given a tour of a building by our guide; it was another nice photo opportunity. The next morning, April 1st, we were back in LA and unfortunately we had to leave the ship. We were assigned to be at a lounge at 8:40 AM. While waiting there we were called at 8:55 AM and were led off the ship to the customs agents, we cleared there and then we located our luggage, located a porter and went to the curb where the Double Tree van was waiting for us (can you believe that?). Our luggage was loaded into the van and we were inside the van by 9:25 AM, again, outstanding. We were taken back to our car, the luggage was loaded inside and we were driving towards the expressway by 9:50 AM. Who would have thought that they could do this so quick and efficiently? We were very impressed as we have never seen anything like this in the past. Our cabin steward was Monchai, we tried to not request too many things, but when we did he was quick and efficient. We were often coming and going from one activity on the ship to another and would be returning to our cabin, then leaving again. He always managed to get in there and clean the place up and get out before we would get back. He was a pleasure and we were very happy with the service that he provided. Once assigned to the International Dining Room we had Ali as our waiter, and Ruben as the assistant waiter. They were very good, they worked well together and we were able to get them to join us in our jocularity. They were much fun and they would get us anything that was requested immediately. I am not particularly picky about food, sometimes I had difficulty trying to pick out which dinner option that I would like the most, but I very much enjoyed each thing that I had for dinner. Then it was always followed up by terrific desert offerings. I was totally pleased with the food in the dining room and in the buffet as well. The variety, the quality and the staff were all terrific. The only thing that I can think of that I would change is the bedding. We had ordered the egg crate mattress cover prior to boarding. It was in place when we got there but the mattress was still too firm for both of us. I frequently woke up after about 4 hours of sleep with an ache in my shoulder and or my hip. Nothing that I did seemed to help. What we use at home is an air inflatable mattress that can be inflated to a different level of firmness on each side of the bed. I have no aches or pains in the morning at home. My suggestion to Princess is to enter into a contract with that mattress company and install them on the ship. Then if passengers like them, have an agreement set up where that mattress could be ordered through the cruiseline and once the folks arrive home, they could set up an appointment with the local franchise dealer to have it delivered and installed. Not only would Princess have a better satisfied passenger due to a better nights sleep, but they would have another profit making line to sell and improve their bottom line. I wonder if they read these things, hmm. Kathy and I noticed that every member of the crew was always pleasant, whether it be those in food service, stewards, bartenders, game MC's, Officer's, electricians, just everybody. They were just as helpful and pleasant as they could be, I'm sure that many of us have relatives that could learn something from these folks. After having waited so long to go to Hawaii, I must say that those on the Diamond Princess met, and often exceeded, our expectations. It was a great cruise and has provided us with a wonderful collection of memories to remember for a lifetime. Randy