Diamond Princess Cruise Review by WillNeil

DIAMOND PRINCESS – FEBRUARY 2009

AUCKLAND TO SYDNEY

This is the first time we have put a review on here so we hope you all enjoy it
We are two guys aged in our late 40's who live in Sydney Australia and this cruise was our 15th

We flew across from Sydney to Auckland the night before the cruise onboard Emirates great new super jet the A380. We had Business Class and enjoyed a quick checkin and headed through to the Emirates Lounge at Sydney Airport for breakfast. Sadly this was the weekend of the terrible bushfires in Victoria which made very grim news on the tv and the papers. Emirates Business class was very good

We were at Auckland's pier about 11.30am the next day and as always with checking in for a cruise both of us were getting excited. Check-in did not open until 12 noon and one thing that Princess does need to fix is to have clear signage on where to drop your bags at this pier. This ship is in and out of Auckland all through our summers and no one was really clear on where to drop suitcases.  We are both Platinum cruisers with Princess so we were swiftly check-in and welcomed on board

Diamond Princess is HUGE The ship is one of a number of the same design which are in the Princess fleet. What look like a pair of jet engines on either side of the funnel are just decoration! Talking of size we never once had to queue during this cruise. the passenger movement is great especially getting on and off at ports. Although the ship is huge (we did get tired the first day walking from one end to the other and when exploring all the rooms - a bit of planning is needed) you have no real sense that it is so big.

We had booked and paid for an inside cabin and Princess had upgraded us to an outside with a Balcony which was really awesome. Our cabin was A108 on Aloha deck. Very comfortable, good wardrobe space. adequate shower and really good bed Please note that this particular balcony cabin has a metal balcony being right at the front of the ship and not glass like most on this ship. We had a great view of the bridge and often saw the officers doing their stuff.

The public areas are well spaced out with comfortably sized bars and lounges. Our favourite is Skywalkers which is located 16 stories above the sea and stretches right across the back of the ship. Sitting up there with 360 degree views was awesome. We sat here sailing the 3 hours from Melbourne City down the length of Port Philip Bay which was an amazing evening. Also we never ever felt crowded.There were always chairs available in bars, our restaurant was only ever half full, the pool areas were never crowded.

Breakfast and lunch buffets in the Horizon Court were good , an ever changing range of foods particularly at lunch were well presented and tasty. Our criticisms for breakfast in Horizon Court were that it wasn’t clear that you could ask for different styles of eggs or bacon to be cooked to those served in the buffet and the service in Horizon court was a bit hit and miss. This ship is based in Australian waters for 3-4 months each summer and the ship carries large numbers of Aussies and Kiwis. We did find, especially for breakfast that Princess does not seem to take this into consideration. For example things like bacon. Us two aussies arn't that keen on bacon burnt to a crisp and it took a few days to work out that we could ask for aussie bacon nice and soft!. Also they need to teach the formal restaurant staff how to serve a proper pot of tea at breakfast. We always had to keep asking for a pot of extra hot water as the tea was so strong

Part of Horizon Court becomes the Sterling Steakhouse each evening (US$20 surcharge) The rest is set as an evening buffet. There is also Sabatini’s Italian Restaurant which charges a US$20 per person dinner surcharge. We decided not to spend the money as we were enjoying our restaurant so much each night. The ship operates a number of other evening dinner options. There is the main dining room which operates on a traditional 1^st or 2^nd seating or four other restaurants one deck up which operate as they do here on land. You make a booking for a table size and time each evening. There may be a wait of upwards of half an hour for your table and they give you a buzzer whilst you head off and have a drink.

We dined each night in the Vivalidi Restaurant and had a table for two every night. Elegant décor and loads of wood. However being called Vivaldi the waiters were attired in odd looking Italian coloured outfits most nights. Swap those for starched white tunics and it would be sensational. The quality of the food and the presentation excellent with a choice of eight to ten main course dishes each evening. A well priced wine list starting from US$22 bottle. Cocktails or Martinis are around US$6.50

We purchased a soft drink package at the start of the cruise which was great value giving us unlimited soft drinks. All the bars are great and two of the bar staff remembered our names and our drinks by

the second night , not bad considering how many people were on board. One of the waiters in the Vivaldi restaurant recognised us from another cruise and asked to look after us each evening.

There was a "Rainbow get together" advertised in the Princess Patter for the Wheelhouse bar the second day of the cruise. We both thought - Great! This would be a way to meet any other gay people on board. This was not hosted so it was a bit of a disaster as no one spoke and no one was actually sure who was there for the get together. A quick note to the Cruise Director solved the problem and there was a hosted drinks the next evening. Its a great way for us to make new friends and break the ice

The entertainment production shows were sensational. The ship was always full of music in the evening. A string quartet in the atrium, lounge singers in one bar, a pianist in the Martini bar. The ship is also designed to bring the outside in so you feel connected to the sea . Lots of windows where you can sit with a coffee, read a book and look out.

There is a wedding chapel on board (we both thought it looked more like a funeral chapel!) and on this cruise we saw two lots of Brides and Grooms and assorted families.

There is a great gym and quite a large Spa complex with an adults only outdoor pool and spa pools. One thing we both really like about Princess is they have proper wooden steamer chairs which are really comfy to lay out

Having lived in New Zealand for 4 years it was nice to get back into Christchurch and Dunedin. We hit a jackpot in Dunedin as there was a huge fair on in the middle of the town.

The highlight for many on this cruise was the day sailing in the Fjords. Unfortunately mother nature was not kind and we had low clouds and lots of rain but its still an amazing day

Mother nature was on the other hand very kind with the Tasman Sea and we had remarkably smooth passage for the two day crossing from Milford Sound to Hobart. The day after Hobart we could smell smoke, a lot of it. A mild panic at first but we soon realised that this was the smoke from the terrible fires in Victoria that had drifted out to sea.

In Melbourne, as in the other ports, we paid for small charge for the princess coach into the heart of the city. Well not quite the heart. the coach drops you off outside the National Art Gallery of Victoria and if its your first time to Melbourne you need to get off the bus turn right and head over the bridge into the city. We took a tram back from the city which went right to the pier.

An early arrival in Sydney and we were home. We had use of the Platinum disembarkation lounge onboard as we waited for our sequence to be called.  Then off the ship through customs and we were sitting back in our lounge room at Kirribilli looking back at our "home away from home for the last twelve days" within 15 minutes

Overall a really great 12 night cruise and one that we would recommend to anyone. There was such a diverse range of people on board and also of age groups.

We are back on Diamond Princess this December to do the reverse itinerary from Sydney to Auckland and we can't wait

Neil and William