We had sailed the Inside Passage previously, but this cruise intrigued us as it sailed all the way to Whittier. We also knew one of the Assistant Cruise Directors from a previous Princess cruise, which was also one of the reasons for choosing this itinerary and ship. We made the right choice.

We flew into Vancouver the morning of the sailing and took the subway (Canada Line) to the cruise terminal (Waterfront Station). We were early and had to wait about 30 minutes in a holding area, but were on board by about 11:45. We were very pleased with our outside cabin on the Plaza deck. There was plenty of space for our belongings. We opted to not have a balcony, but be close to the water line, which suited us fine for this particular cruise because we had excellent views of the wildlife in the water, and could easily go up on deck for a broader view of the glaciers and land.

We had sailed Princess twice before with differing experiences. We had taken the Golden Princess to Hawaii and loved it. We had sailed on the Sea Princess to Alaska and found the ship to be too small and crowded. Our first impression was that Diamond was very similar to the Golden Princess because of its size, layout and overall vibe. Read more