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 itWe are two guys aged in our late 40's who live in Sydney Australia and this cruise was our 15thWe 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 goodWe 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 boardDiamond 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. Read more