We love cruising and Alaska was always on our list of places we'd like to see. We traveled with my husband's sister and her husband, my mother-in-law (the cruise was a gift for her 80th birthday) and our daughter who was Grandma's 'cabin mate'. Flying to Vancouver had a high price tag, so we flew Southwest to Seattle first, and spent 2 days in the City (ComfortSuites downtown)seeing the sights, which was marvelous. The City far exceeded our expectation! We loved all the local sights of the Space Needle, Pike Place Market, and the Waterfront. We enjoyed great food and also did a Harbor Cruise which was fun and informative. The ConmfortSuites was nice. We booked a suite and put 3 folks in a room, which saved us money per night versus 3 rooms. Each suite had 2 beds and a pull-out couch, so it worked out great. When we flew into Seattle we used the Light rail, and then the Monorail, which got us from the Airport to the Hotel for minimal cost, plus it was fun to see the sights along the way. Using this transit is a cost-saver and fun. We pre-booked the Amtrak Cascades train ahead of time and the original plan was to take the train all the way to Vancouver to meet the Ship. The train station was a bit chaotic, so my advice would be to get there extra early if you go this route. A little SNAFU occurred when we found out that the train could only go as far as Bellingham due to a bridge needing repair for an upcoming inspection. Amtrak provided luxury buses to take us the remainder of the way. They were waiting in Bellingham, so we had to de-board the train, get all our luggage to the buses, and of course then we had to go through Customs at the Canadian Border which took forever since they again made us take all our luggage out of the bus and carry it into the Border station. It went without a hitch, but we knew we would have arrived at our Vancouver destination much sooner had we been able to stay on the train. Once in Vancouver it only took a few minutes to catch a cab to the Canada Place Pier to board the Diamond Princess. There is no WOW factor when you board this ship since you walk into just a hallway area, but that didn't bother us. Embarkation: The lines were long when we arrived, around 2-230 PM...but moved quickly and we were on board in no time at all...seemed pretty painless, especially if you do your cruise personalizer on-line ahead of time.

Ship:

The ship layout is easy to maneuver around and since we had been on 3 other Princess Ships, it took no time to get our bearings. We were on the Lido deck, Starboard side. Our balcony proved to be wonderful to be so high up for beautiful views of Alaska. The Ship is a little older, but well maintained and very clean. We heard its going into the "yard" after the summer cruises and will get 'Movies Under the Stars' as well as a renovation. The cabin wasn't huge, but we had plenty of room for storage, the luggage fit under the bed,and between the drawers in the room, the closet, and more cabinets in dressing area near the bathroom/closet, it was plenty for us...and I am known for over-packing! Small bathrooms are expected on cruise ships...the newer ones have a tad more room, but this was fine. We love having a Balcony and that is the best part for us. We sat out there for cocktails and coffee and enjoyed that very much. Our room steward Ben was OK...we've had more personalized attention on other cruises, but we aren't demanding people, so can overlook a few small things here and there that may have taken a little longer to get something, or something was forgotten. Everything was resolved in a timely manner and we would not give bad ratings to the service. We know how hard they all work so we are pretty forgiving for small things that don't matter. The cabin was clean every day with fresh towels etc..so we were happy. Read more