Booked a Diamond Princess 9-day cruise around Hokkaido. Traveled with my husband and sister, sharing a Penthouse Suite. We upgraded from Mini Suite at the last minute due to a Princess promotion. So glad we did! This was only my 2nd cruise, so I my expectations may be too high. The ship had 2,800 passengers and was very large. Check in went very smooth.

The ship seemed well maintained in the atrium, restaurants and other public areas. The speciality restaurants are very nice and the food very good. My favorite is Italian, but the steak was excellent too. Desserts on a ship seem very decadent and beautiful; Princess lives up to good desserts. Our suite came with extras such as breakfast dining in a select restaurant, complimentary laundry and dry cleaning, very nice toiletries, chocolates every night, a set of complimentary mini bar that lasted us all 9 days, corsages and a boutonnière, and slippers. No toothbrushes were provided like in the Japan hotels.

The sofa bed had a sparse foam for a mattress. It seemed lumpy & hard to me but my sister who is very small said it was comfortable. I can't imagine a 4th person fitting comfortably on that same sofa bed! I don't think they changed the sheets on the sofa bed the entire 9 days. Guess we should have asked them to do so. The beds' sheets were changed once. The bedding decor seemed dated as did the sofa cover. Time to update! The walk-in closet was large which held all our clothes and suitcases. The drawers were adequate. Read more