This is my third cruise on the beautiful Diamond Princess totalling 44 days so I feel very familiar with this ship and obviously am a fan as are many others.

Embarkation was changed from Bangkok to Singapore due to unrest in the Thai capital earlier this year. Unfortunately for many this was an inconvenient to change to their travel arrangements. As destination Singapore is a beautiful city but does not work too well as a departure port for a ship the size of the Diamond. Hotels in Singapore are quite expensive but we were able to secure a great price through on line bidding for rooms so stayed at the beautiful Conrad. This hotel is wonderful and for a few dollars more upgrade to the executive floors with its private members area, free drinks and wonderful snacks. Embarkation was a bit of a mess with the departure day clashing with the Singapore Marathon..the F1 Pit area was the end point for the marathon and so the area was still clogged with competitors closed streets etc. as we were all arriving to check in. Many without priority waited a considerable time and I did not feel comfortable just dumping bags outside without visable security etc.

We were then taken by bus to the container port to board the ship once onboard things went smoothly and we were quickly checking out our minisuite on D405. I will post pictures of this cabin and the various cabins of some of the roll call for future reference. The AA minisuite was well located just a few cabins from the main mid ship elevators. Very quiet, large uncovered balcony with 4 chairs and table, sitting area and twin or queen sized bed, large (by cruise ship standards bathroom with shower over the tub. Plenty of storage. Read more