I love this cruise, not only you visit many exceptional cruise ports, you experience the Japanese cuisine and interact with many Japanese guests (60%) on the voyage 80% of The cruise ports are far away from the port terminals. Cruise port shuttles are expensive. It would be nice if Princess to cover this cost The services are exceptional but the ship shows it age The layout of the main decks 5, 6 are so confused. You have to use deck 7 or 5 to go to a certain restaurant or spots on deck 5, 6 The 7:30 pm show is at the preferred time schedule. Seats all are taken 15 minutes before the show. The seats are very tied, narrow, no room to serve drinks before the show I love Japanese cuisine served on the cruise. There are more Japanese guests than American guests, we feel like we are submerged Japanese culture totally. Love it Read Less

My parents and I chose this cruise because of the enticing marketing brochure we received in the mail. It was a disaster the first day -- at embarkation. While there was a looming storm, the embarkation staff and procedures were a nightmare. No one could give us any accurate information on when embarkation was to begin. We were advised early on that we had to be at the dock by noon to check luggage and get settled. Well, five hours later, we are all like caged animals in the waiting room that must have been over 100 degrees with thousands of passengers waiting. There was no airconditioning and the Princess staff didn't even offer any courtesy water to drink or anything. We could not go out of the pier because embarkation could start anytime -- again, no one could give us any definite time. My 81-year old parents were both disabled and this cruise ship is not the friendliest to disabled people at all. At embarkation, there were no available wheel chairs until we got into the ship already. Next, they nickel and dime you for everything -- from wifi, which is free on most cruises we've been to; to bottled water -- in the room, in the dining areas! It would have been better if Princess just charged for everything upfront with the package than charging extra for everything. Also, their shuttle buses from the ship to the town center of various ports were quite expensive. Again, this is usually a courtesy-free service with other cruise lines. The only saving grace of the cruise was the food and the staff. The staff was excellent especially the dining staff and the food was excellent as well. It was also chaos at disembarkation in Yokohama. The line at the customer service desk was so long and they were short-staffed. It took us another two hours before we were able to disembark. I had a very bad incident at the lobby bar. I had ordered a VIRGIN drink as I am highly allergic to alcohol. The people around us all heard me clearly when I asked the wait staff to make sure and ask the bar tender to mix a non-alcoholic beverage. Those around me were teasing me about being always the "designated driver". When my drink arrived, it was spiked with alcohol. I went into anaphylactic shock and had to be rushed to the ship's infirmary were I was given high doses of anti-histamine. I didn't have my epi-pen handy at that time. I didn't like the fact that the waiter lied and continuously lied about my ordering a non-alcoholic beverage when he said he would ask the bar tender if it was possible to order my drink as a non-alcoholic beverage. The tours were also expensive and not worth the money we paid for the tours. Read Less

itinerary was what we wanted in Japan , but Russian port a waste of every ones time and money. The ship is dated as are the cabins , hard to see what had changed since a refit a few months ago, seems the same as it was few years ago. Staff were all good. Food average Princess , quality not up to past Celebrity cruises.Buffet ditto and main dining rooms dated as were cabins. Lost one port due to Typhoon , but crew handled it well. Entertainment was handled well with both Japanese and English spoken at all shows and else where on board. Princess still doing nothing for Cruise Critic Roll Call groups , unlike the opposition ! Vegetarian had limited choice in the main dining rooms and not much changed today to day in the buffet. The production shows were average to say the least and we had seen they before anyway.They only had three of these so if you are on board for more than a 8 days they are repeated ! Read Less

We chose this cruise because it was next on our bucket list. We really wanted to know Japan, not just from Tokyo, but from the aspect of the people in the smaller towns and ports. We have also had great experiences with the Intensive cruise on Azamara in the past. We hold Azamara to a very high standard based on past sailings. This cruise met and exceeded our expectations. The high points are as follows 1. The food in Discoveries has greatly improved with Azamaras new policy of giving the executive chefs free reign. Chef Colin and his crew executed imaginative menus. The food and service in prime C and Aquafina was as expected....flawless and delicious! 2. White night was a blast! The captain delayed it twice due to weather concerns. He was right and the weather was perfect. Again, freedom to act. 3. The azamazing evening in Busan combined unusual and imaginative Korean traditional music and dance with a truly amazing performance by the Korean university Tae Kwan Do team. 4.Shore excursions were executed flawlessly. My Daised and Kyoto were 2 of the many highlights. 5. The visibility of the officers of the ship makes the Quest different from all other cruise lines. They are always there to give a helping hand or just to talk. A perfect example was clearing Korean customs. I could go on but I think you all get the message. Go for the adventure. If you expect shows and glitz and the other trapping of superficiality, choose another cruise line. If you really want to have great food, great service and immersion into culture, this is your ship! Read Less

We booked last minute as the cruise was a great price. We had 4 days in Tokyo before the cruise.The weather was very hot and humid but it was good to leave our winter behind for a couple of weeks.we boarded the ship very smoothly only took about 10 minutes.Our balcony cabin was a nice size and very clean.We missed a port and the fireworks were cancelled due to the typhoon.We were given a future cruise deposit off booking another cruise by nov 2020, a nice gesture from princess. We did our own exploring and found it easy to get around and the Japanese people are helpful and courteousThe highlight for us was Miyazaki(aburatsu) We got the local bus from the bus station where the shuttle had dropped us Went to Obi castle So much to see coy-carp swimming along the storm water channel we also visited 7 museums all in the same area,it was very peaceful and hardly any tourists.The ship was very nice ,food in both restaurant and horizon was mostly good.We went to the crab shack which was very good.All the crew were great especially our cabin Stewart Silawan.our room was lovely and clean and she kept it nice for the whole cruise.Found the princess shuttles quite pricey.would have been better to pay per couple not pp. As we were on the Sapphire last year the entertainment was almost the same found the sound system very poor on this cruise.Missed not having the international cafe. My only regret is that the cruise wasn’t long enough.wish we had booked the next leg. Read Less

We booked a 17 day cruise, which was actually two back-to-back cruises from Yokohama. Prior to joining the cruise, we spent 3 days in Tokyo. With hindsight, we might have been better with one cruise then time in Kyoto, as the menus and entertainment were basically repeated after 8 days. Diamond Princess has been given a Japanese style make-over but is still a really nice ship. The original Crown Grill is now a Japanese speciality restaurant and about half of the passengers were from Japan. Unlike its sister ship, Sapphire Princess, there is no International Café and we missed the Any-time Dining offered by the rest of the fleet. Japanese food was always available, to cater for everybody’s taste. With Australians being the next largest group, we sometimes wondered which country we were circling. UK and USA passengers were minority groups. Rough weather delayed our start by one day and, sadly, the firework display in Kumano was cancelled. As independent travellers, we were frustrated by the lack of information provided for each port. On all previous cruises we had found the nightly port briefing summary sheet useful but virtually nothing was provided. The “port experts” (Wendy and Dave Upton) were both hopeless and failed to answer most of our questions. Wendy had a scatter-gun approach to her presentations and Dave’s were largely motherhood information. Before stopping at the port called Aburatsu (Miyazaki), they said that the city was just 10 km from the port but it was actually an 80 minute train journey. None of the Princess trips go there and, fortunately, we did not attempt it. Entertainment was average but we enjoyed the Bravo show (both weeks), which is one of the best we have seen on our many Princess cruises. The Born to be Wild production was also good, as they managed to use the big LCD display sensibly. Princess have economised by using singers from their production shows to give a solo performance in the theatre and there was very little alternative entertainment in the Explorers lounge in the evening. Service and food were consistently good but cut backs are more noticeable on each cruise. Lobsters on formal nights are so small that you need two and wine prices are high for very average wine. The itinerary was a bit variable, with several interesting ports and a few with very little of interest. We found the trains and trams easy to use and the locals were extremely helpful, especially in the tourist offices. The two stops in Busan meant that we had to go through the immigration formalities twice, which was a bit tedious, but we liked the town. With the August heat (30 degrees C) and rain we were glad that we had not opted for a balcony. We find the Princess beds to be very comfortable but the duvets are far too warm and the ship is invariably too cold. Overall, it was a really enjoyable cruise but the lack of port information was clearly avoidable and we were glad we had done some earlier research and come prepared. We found there was no need to opt for any of the over-priced Princess excursions as we could reach the same sights independently. Using the Princess shuttle bus is, however, generally unavoidable, and the 10 to 20 USD charged sometimes seemed a bit steep for these short trips. The menu and entertainment for the second cruise was basically a repeat of the first, even though 900 passengers stayed on. Read Less

We booked this Diamond Princess cruise because it offered us to see all the four Japanese Autumn festivals in one go. If you were making this tour a pure land tour, it would be very tiresome. Cruise along the coast of Honshu, the major island of Japan was very relaxing. The cruise gave you ample of time to see each of the festivals, and brough you back to the comfy on board environment in the evenings to enjoy dinners and good sleeps. Ship cabin is very clean and maintained up to par by the hardworking cabin staff. Whenever you are out, they make sure that your cabin is put back in good order waiting for your end of the day return. Food were fine but a bit disappointed at the Japanese food they offered, which are not up to the basic Japanese food requirement at all. It is better to have sit down meals than having buffet because food served in the former restaurants are of better quality. However be aware sometimes the meat served is too salty and one or two of the dessert items are outrageously sweet! Better ask the waiters before making your choice. Things in general are fine, except we met with a typhoon that has forced the ship to cancel two ports visits. There goes with the cancellation of two of the four Japanese Festivals. This is a bit unlucky. Add to this misfortune is that Diamond Princess did not return all the unused port expenses due to the cruise clients. I wonder what Ms Jan Swartz, President Princess Cruises, would have to say. Read Less

Tokyo to San Francisco, 23 days of being pampered, educated, and involved. This was our first Crystal cruise, and hopefully it will not be our last. This “Movie and Theater” themed cruise offered speakers, documentaries and entertainers. Our days at sea were filled with lecturers and performances. Tours from the ship in various ports were a little bit pricey, but enjoyable. The ship is small enough to be able to meet people more than once. Dining room staff was friendly. Special meal orders were served graciously. Symphony is an older ship, but is very well maintained. A few more electrical outlets would have been helpful, as would have been more prompt repairs to malfunctioning washers and dryers. Over all, cruising on Crystal Symphony was a wonderful experience! Special kudos to Saleh, our waiter who anticipated our every need. Remi, the head waiter, was a miracle worker who brought my the next day’s menu so that my requested salt free meals could be prepared for me. Read Less

What a wonderful experience!! This was our second Viking cruise on their luxurious 930 passenger max vessel. We are so proud to have been passengers aboard the Orion. The Viking Ocean cruise Team was outstanding in planning, execution, frequent pre-trip communication, airport transfer process, and the luxurious on board experience. Our cabin was a deluxe veranda style and very comfortable. Having been guests for cocktails in a friends cabin suite, we have recently booked our next cruise for a penthouse junior suite. The excursion selections were numerous and covered a nice variety of time and exertion. Our area helicopter tour at Valdez was excellent. The on board Viking Resident Historian lecture program was absolutely a “cannot miss” daily experience. Great subjects, content and presentations by Mr. William Simpson, resident historian and Howard Parkin, astronomer. The post lecture round tables were perfect for our more detail questions. The on-board planetarium was like being on a space flight to the cosmos. We even met for a midnight viewing experience of the International Space Station fly over and searched for Northern Lights viewing. Wow! Fitness center was excellent and equipment inventory was never a wait situation. Massage facilities and personnel were excellent. We enjoyed the wave pool facility. 4 PM tea was never missed. Our dining experiences in all restaurants was 5 star. Staff, selection, ambiance, and prompt service was outstanding. Manfredi’s (thanks to Ian and his staff), Chef’s Table, Restaurant were a great variety of cuisine. Evening entertainment was Hollywood quality and a great time. Overall the cleanliness and strict attention to sanitation was very important and they ship personnel did a discreet and outstanding performance. Thank you to Cesar, our Viking Tour advisor from beginning to end. The overall cruising experience provided by Viking Ocean Cruises was absolutely outstanding. Move this intinery up on your bucket list. You will never forget it. Read Less

Chose this cruise because we wanted to visit Japan, Eastern Russia and the Behring Sea. The ship was second to none, and I've sailed on many ocean cruises: 4 times on Princess (reasonably good for the money, but certainly not great), 1 time on Celebrity (very good cruise line!), 1 time on Orient (now out of business - and with good reason), and 3 times on Oceania (also a very good cruise line -- but with several negatives which makes me wonder if I'll ever sail with Oceania again). But the best, by far, was Viking's Ocean ship - the Orion. Here's why: OLDER TRAVELERS. I'm a senior citizen (age 67 at the time) and this ship was great for older folks -- which is not to say that it's not also great for folks from about 35 years and older. But no children are permitted, so there was no crying children to cope with. My wife and I interacted with many others on this cruise and everyone was pleasant or nicer. I can't, of course, control who can sail on this cruise line, and one small group bothered me. I overheard them in the buffet restaurant complaining about a long delay to sail away from an Alaskan port -- and they were correct; it was a long delay. But they unanimously and loudly decided it was those "lazy union workers" at the port who were responsible even though there was no way for them to know. I've never been a union worker but to accuse anyone of something without evidence is just ignorant. I guess it takes all types to make a passenger list. SHIP. The ship is very well laid out. I love libraries on ships and on Viking there were little libraries all over the ship -- all with comfortable chairs and loungers, and friendly, attentive, unobtrusive drink service. Besides great libraries the décor was expensive but very tasteful. So many interesting pieces of art all over the ship, and great photos too. The interior of the ship was done in very warm, cozy colors. The gym was fantastic with just about any kind of machine you can want -- European style. I loved the fact that there was NEVER a line at the elevators! The stairs are right there, but if you want the ride, the elevators are fast and readily available -- even at meal time. FOOD. This is always of interest to travelers. I found that the food in the main dining room ranged from superb to rotten. Of course if you don't like your menu choice you can always get something else from that menu -- so you always have something at least "pretty good" to eat if not superb. The specialty restaurants were superb every time we went, and they don't cost extra to get in. But you do need reservations and at least BEORE the cruise you are limited in the number of reservations you can make in those specialty restaurants. After you're on the trip you can get extra reservations if available at the time you want. Another thing I liked about Viking Ocean cruises is the fact that in the restaurants (but not the buffet) if you're an anti-social sort (like me) you can always get a table for just you and your traveling companion. You can always opt to dine as part of a larger group, and if you want to dine with specific friends, that's always possible (if your friends like you enough). One other thing about the main dining room: it is NOT one large room; it is divided into five (or was it seven?) separate seating areas, so you never felt like you are eating in an airplane hangar or, ugh, a barn. The main dining rooms always felt cozy and service was great. CABIN: This was our first cruise with Viking, so I can't say much about the other cabins on the ship, but ours was enormous. Wasn't quite big enough for a full basketball game with referees and such, but very spacious and well-appointed. Of course the cabin steward and helper were so very pleasant, respectful (he wouldn't call me by my first name even though I insisted) and efficient. However, since my wife and I were in a large suite it was strange (after cruising on Oceania) that there was no "butler" service. I'm not a butler-type guy; I'm sweet and gentle and never demanding. But butler service on Oceania was so wonderful, and I missed it on Viking -- especially in our pricey cabin suite. But the cabin steward and his helper were great, and when we had laundry to do -- it always came back within 24 hours even though the schedule said it would take 48 hours. Go figure. POOL. I never went in the pool, but I loved the fact that the pool had a retractable roof so that when it was closed it was comfortable for swimming even in cold climates. As always on this ship, a library was right nearby and I did sit at poolside very content to read in peace and quiet. (Yes, fellow travelers did use the pool in every climate we visited.) ENTERTAINMENT. I can't say enough about the entertainment! I tend to choose lectures and science-oriented movies and there were 3 (count 'em, THREE) auditoriums (auditoria?). One very large one and there were always seats available for whatever was going on there, and two smaller ones for movies and lectures. Again, never a problem getting seats in these smaller places. The two smaller ones were closed off from the very large auditorium by a moveable wall - so during very popular entertainment presentations the seats in the small auditoriums became part of the already-large largest auditorium. FUTURE CRUISES. There is a "future cruises" office available (on a rather limited time schedule, unfortunately), and the discounts for those wanting to book future Viking cruises (both Ocean and River, I think) while on a current cruise are great! My wife and I were so impressed with Viking Ocean cruises that we booked another cruise at this "future cruises" office. The fellow who worked there could have been a little better informed on certain matters, but he was knowledgeable enough. Maybe he was filling-in for somebody else. But, as I said, his schedule in that office was very limited and you really needed to make a reservation in advance. Read Less

This was our third cruise with Viking ocean. We chose this trip for the itinerary. We had never been to Asia and liked the ports in both Asia and Alaska. Crossing the Int’l Dateline added to the attraction. We were in the Orion in Jan-Feb visiting New Zealand, Tasmania and Australia. This crew was better trained and worked well together. We were pleased with most aspects of the ship. A few little things need work, but nothing major. You know what you get with Viking-it is an older crowd but activities/entertainment were sufficient for us. While some of the entertainment was the same, they did a good job at adding new entertainers. As Viking enters new parts of the world they are learning their way with shore excursions and local customs. Shore excursions were well managed. They do a good job at calling people at the right time and keep waiting times to a minimum. Checkin staff did a great job. Local guides were good. A sufficient level of activities were offered. EMBARKATION a breeze. You can arrive well before your checkin time. You are greeted with a glass of champagne and invited to use the open restaurants. Your luggage will be in your room by your assigned checkin time. DISEMBARKATION-we had a curve thrown as we could not stay in port because of too many ships in Vancouver. Luggage was offloaded in the middle of the night. We didn’t hear a thing. We disembarked via tender according to flight times. Full breakfast services available. You had to be out of your stateroom by 10am. Tenders left according to schedule with staff assisting everyone. Our luggage was waiting at our terminal at the airport. One of the most efficient operations we have experienced. CABINS Deck 3. Be careful of location. Torshavn noise is audible almost every night. Not late into the night, but it may bother some. A very convenient deck. DINING-Dining room and World Cafe offered a varied selection. Soups could use some improvement. Replenishment of eating utensils/napkins was too slow. Chef’s table-staff could use better training. One visit we had two wine pairings and no food. The French menu was too rich; not a good balance between first and main courses. Manfredi’s was very good, but don’t try to have pasta as a separate course-throws them off! SERVICE in general was excellent. Lounges and bar waiters were great. Most were very personable-not long before they know your name and cabin #! Room steward was wonderful-Edwin. SHIP-beautifully appointed. Always spotless. This ship has a dome. I don’t think this is a feature that will be included in the rest of the fleet. Makes the 8th floor area very hot. Eliminates a nice viewing/drinking area. Don’t know if that is the reason why the 7th floor area of the Explorers lounge tends to be cold. The skins on the sofas are starting to shed. Most people rolled them back to protect their clothing! PORTS/excursions. Viking’s first visits to ports can present problems. Most of our excursions were organized. In cases where we took local shuttles the scheduled were mixed. We ended up seeing what we wanted to see. ACTIVITIES-a little more variety on sea days would have been good as this was a long cruise. Lectures varied and sufficient. Like the ability to view the port talk in your cabin on the following day. Very good selection of shows/movies on the in-room system. Free internet a great feature-reception was generally good. Suggestions-have hot water in the World Cafe for hand-washing. There were some illness problems. The internet system in the room for onboard account, reservations, etc needs immediate help. The ship can not control or correct any errors. The dining for Chef’s Table had the wrong info for almost 8 days. The general website also had errors for our trip. The map wasn’t corrected until a few days before we sailed. On board future booking-a great offer that we used. However, you need to book a specific cruise that you know you won’t be using. Mucks up the booking system for other Viking customers and the whole reservation system. Viking needs to keep its attention to detail at a high level as they release the rest of the fleet! We will sail with them again! Read Less

bad food, long queueterrible service, bad singer, snobish crews, we had been treated like cattle or a customer service staff said to me " she don't like me" without doing service, at port boarding took 5 hours for off board procedure delay. New guests from Tokyo waited 2hours at port standing without chair, toilet. Slow start of evacuation drill. Guests were waited one hour or more in long queues. 2nd sitting restaurant started 9:30 PM. Many customers waited in long My room was smaller than other room 4.5 square meter with ship shape. One bed was normal single bed, however, the other bed was extra bed smaller and hard cushion. Food was bad. Good food was very few. My wife experienced swelling in her face. We spent very terrible holidays. This ship is new. most of crews were unexperienced. Officers were lazy. I do not recommend this ship. This ship worst ever. Read Less

We took this cruise as a gentle way to go home to Canada from Japan. (We had done an around Japan cruise with Windstar beforehand) It was very enjoyable, food great, staff lovely, entertainment good. There were alot of sea days together but we got a routine of trivias, podium talks, hot tubs and eating in the day as the weather was too cold to be out on deck much or in the swimming pool. The speakers were entertaining, one gave talks on major trials. Another did Buddhism history and meditation and a third did varied talks from Rasputin to dog behaviour. The afternoon progressive trivia was fun if you had got a team together. It wasnt too rough so seasickness wasnt an issue either. We did have to change our clocks forward about 6 separate times to be on Vancouver time by arrival butbetter than getting full jetlag. So repositioing was worth doing, although the stop in Russia was a waste of time except to stretch your legs! Read Less

This cruise was a mistake.The cost of the shore excursions was over the top in price.We were following one shore excursion and you could not understand the Tour Guide anyway so thank god i didnt pay for that.Every time they had an announcement over the ships intercom you had to then listen to the whole thing again in Japanese and some times this could take up to 5 mins. Another let down was the rundown condition of the Club Class Mimi Suite we had.It is starting to show its age and for what you pay it just isnt good enough.You could hardly open the door to the balcony, the area around the fridge was horrible with screw caps hiding holes from who knows what.Cabinet doors that did not stay shut. Draws that did not slide to open and the list just goes on and on.But i think the main problem was the Shower being over the bath.Do they not get that most of the people on board are elderly and find it extremly hard to use this setup.The only thing that saved this trip for us were the people in the Club Class restaurant who were the best and they are George Gilbert and Pachi i thank them very much for making every meal experience amazing,Thank you again Read Less

We chose Diamond Princess because it tied in with a Japan cherry blossom tour, but were somewhat concerned by some negative reviews about the state of the ship and its service. However, we found the ship to be spic and span, just out of a period in drydock in Singapore where it received a spruce-up. Cabins, food, dining service and the general program were quite good although some of the land excursions at minor Japanese ports and Busan Korea were not exciting and quite expensive for what you got. The fellow passengers were mainly Australian/American/European with Japanese and other Asian guests making up maybe a third. Some reviewers have felt that the ship is too Japanese, but we found it to have a sensible balance of Western and Japanese cuisine and activities. We were however quite disappointed that a number of the usual Princess specialty restaurants were not offered - no Chefs Table, no Steakhouse. Only Sabotinis Italian was offered for online booking. We dined there but found that while pleasant, it had a limited menu and was nothing special. Drinks are expensive on board. There were some good shows. We have two specific complaints. The first was that it often was difficult to find a quiet space for reading as the lounges are used for activities or have video screens blaring all the time. The adult lounge (The Sanctuary) requires booking at $40 per day, and appeared empty most of the time. Our other complaint was that they put out bowls of fruit which looked appetising, but were unripe, hard and inedible. Read Less

We have only done 2 Princess Cruises with the first being on the Star Princess in Alaska. We rated that cruise 9.5/10 where the Autumn Cruise in Japan is 7/10. Be aware...the autumn colors are not until the end of October so we only saw some glimpses ...Everyone told us "come back in 2 to 3 weeks! The cabin and our steward was really good. The entertainment was middle of the road and would not suit all people with juggling, opera, blues/soul. The is no choice with evening dining. You are allocated a restaurant and table for the whole trip...We prefer anytime dining. The ship was low on supplies and we ordered four different wines before getting one that was available. I have never before had a MaitreD who was derogatory and defensive but I did on this trip. The port stops are fine with plenty to explore on your own or with a tour. Our stop in Nagoya was a complete waste of a day because they processed us for immigration and it took over 2 hours in line then we ran out if time because the ship was leaving port at 3pm. The crew generally seemed a bit tired and the ship lacked the verve and energy of our Star Princess experience. Read Less

Where to begin, the worst cruise we have done over the years Began badly with the Princess bus to take us to port for ship not collecting us or over 100 passe gers for five long hours, stuck at Nerada airport after a ten hour night flight. We paid for the service but the agent was totally disorganised and out of his depth. We had to miss two ports due to a typhoon - remained in port until 12 next day then had to miss next port due to an earthquake! Captain was very good in keeping us informed We found the food in the MDR dull and repetitive, as it was a back to back cruise cia Yokohama, we had the same menu after 7 days then again after 5 days. No Japanese food in MDR , same old meals as served everywhere, signs of cost cutting with mimited choices and food poor quality. Our dining room servers were kind and helpful but they couldnt make us for dull food. The worst Experiences was when we returned from going to Busan in S Korea and had to go through complete Japanese immigration, even if passengers never got off the ship! Forms, passports, fingerprints and photos, 3000 passengers having to sit around for over an hour to be able to get off ship for tours! This fiasco was repeated a few days later when we went back to Busan, which is a nothing port, not worth going to for all the trouble So we were glad to get off the ship, it caters for the Japanese passengers who spend a lot of money in the shops on board and have photos taken. Read Less

We recently had a 13 night cruise around Japan on the Diamond Princess and it was just wonderful. Events out of the control of the Captain forced a couple of cancelled Port visits but that goes with the region, typhoons, earthquakes and landslide - safety first. After receiving a complimentary upgrade to a Suite we were very excited to find our cabin was a the back of the boat and had a lovely balcony with table, chairs & 2 sun beds, the cabin itself was lovely - large bathroom, lounge & bedroom - very spoilt. Our cabin attendant was a marvel, Lauro, went out of his way to make us feel welcome & at home. We didn't eat in the restaurants as we like the buffet - and the food there was excellent, got the shuttle bus at most ports of call and did 2 tours which were both very entertaining and enjoyable. The entertainment was ok, think the Royal Carribean have the edge on that aspect but it certainly wasn't a negative. Found the cleanliness was maintained at a high level, attentive staff, helpful and friendly. The duration was 2 cruises back to back, going to Bussan twice. We had a few days in Yokohama before joining the cruise and loved it there and the day in port with the cruise enabled us to cover a couple of things we hadn't done earlier. Overall a very enjoyable break & a great way to see Japan, probably wouldn't cruise that region again but would book with the Princess line again if they covered a region we were interested in. Read Less

I've been on Princess Cruise once before with , it was enjoyable . This trip generally was ok but the trip had to cut short because of the Jebi Typhoon . The captain made a decision not to stop at "Hakodate" which was the best decision , everyone was safe. The Princess Cruise refunded $ 50.00 to all passengers who booked " Hakodate " tour. The Princess Cruise should have given the passengers choices of either taking $50.00 or putting the full amount of the Hakodate Land tour for future cruise. I found services is very good Irwin the Baja stateroom staff is responsive and keep our room clean and tidy twice daily. Dining room staff are friendly and helpful, they made us fell so special. As we're looking around the Kushiro fish market Phatchakorn and Sopon approached and offered their help . They treated us as we're on the Ship. Phatchakorn's enthusiastic and knowledgeable , he's very good in what's he's doing. He's a great asset to princess cruise. I cannot leave these 2 ladies Ms Rungtip and Ms Maliwan . They're friendly and very helpful. Thanks to all theses people. We love to see them again on our next Princess cruise. Shore excursion at Kushiro was not good enough especially the walk on the wet wooden path to Hushiro National Park . My sister landed on her back , it was dangerous walk. I found a few people fallen over this path. Read Less

This is a terrific cruise ship, some of the ports were a bit disappointing but the ship and the staff could not be faulted, it was a floating palace, so clean, terrific food and kind and helpful waiters and cabin stewards who made sure we were well looked after, the cabin was so comfortable and kept scrupulously clean twice a day, the waiters in the dining room were not only very professional but entertaining as well especially at breakfast in the International dining room with Jay- R, We thought that there would be a happy hour and were a bit disappointed that this was not so, be careful when you use your cruise card at the Casino, if you win on the pokies and you don’t cash in at the Casino, before the ship docks, you will lose your winnings. It is not taken off your account. All in all though this is a great ship. Read Less

Sailing on the Diamond Princess was not only memorable - but something that in my mind simply indelible! First, our stateroom welcomed us with the most comfortable bed and plump pillows everyday - with the added bonus of having fresh linen everyday! The Horizon Court lured us every morning with the delicious aroma of both cold & hot entrees to entice us out of our resolve to stay on diet plus the fact that the wait staff made each morning a good one with their smiling faces and offers of help every step of the way. Our sit-down dinners at the Vivaldi combined elegance of the dining room, trained 'formal' wait staff and thoughtfully prepared food to give my group a nightly delight that we looked forward to every night. Although we could not be as gung-ho as all the other guests on board as far as the numerous activities are concerned, we did enjoy the more relaxed activities of playing bingo, attending the port information sessions, lounging by the pools to chat or just even read our books till we fall asleep for our naps! There is no chance for you to wonder what's up because of the PA announcements that encourage you to come to the Atrium for a game of ring toss or paper plane chase. All in fun - there's so much fun even as a spectator! The shore excursions we went on were perfect for a group with an elderly with walking difficulties - the ratings which identified the type of excursion helped us a lot! Loved the fact that the ship docked at Aemori-shi on the first day of the Nebuta Festival! The only blemish in our Diamond trip is the fact that there was a storm at our "tail" which followed us to Ishinomaki, the scheduled first port. My group applauded the Captain's decision to "skip" said port because the Port Authority communicated to the Captain that they will be closing the port - so if we docked, we would have been forced to stay the course of the storm! Another blemish was the long queues and seemingly disorganized way our re-entry to Aemori, Japan was processed. Took us 2 long hours to get to the desk of the Immigration Officials to get our re-entry stamps! Still do not understand why this process took that long when our entry to Vladivostok, Russia was seemless! As for service, from embarkation to disembarkation, I bow to the type of service the Diamond crew offered to all the guests. After all is said and done, this Diamond sailing may not have been perfect - but what Diamond is worth its salt without some imperfection? This Diamond still sparkles! Read Less

We were interested in seeing more of beautiful Japan...and the thought of visiting Russia was very interesting...We found that the Russian tour was lovely, however perhaps a little bit more free time would have been appreciated. We had some great weather and it only rained in one of the ports but it was still fun. The actual cruise was very lovely and relaxing and the highlight of the cruise was seeing some dolphins swim by while we were on the open deck. The itinerary was really great and we loved the Japanese culture . We loved browsing through the morning markets.Japan is a beautiful country to visit. Its very clean and the locals seem to take pride in keeping their country beautiful and also they are very helpful when you approach them with a query. I will definitely recommend this cruise to my family and friends. Loved every bit of the experience. Read Less

I thought Japan would be exotic beauty with Japanese gardens manicured and admired by all. The itenerary is weak. Cities visited are basically uninteresting and there is no particular beauty in anything that we visited. We went to Sapporo and spent the day wandering around looking for something to do. May have been my fault, but it was pretty uninteresting overall. Russia is a horrible stop. The Diamond Princess is geared toward Japanese cruisers which is okay, but needs to be considered if you plan to take this cruise. The entertainment staff onboard was really good the production numbers were exceptional. Especially the Bravo show. Awesome performance. The other production numbers are really older Princess shows that have been replaced on most other cruises. The Piazza is small and there is no International Cafe. So, after eleven each night, there is nowhere to get anything to eat. Nowhere! Amazing...cruises are know for food normally...but I was told that Japanese people do not like to eat late at night. O well...better for my health, but not so much fun. Read Less

Leisure 2 week cruising on two separate 1-week legs: first leg around Hokkaido and Russian Siberia (which I did not do). Second leg: cruise around Honshu with a stop in Korean port of Busan. Loved the grilled uni, whelk and scallops at the Hokkaido fish market stops. Same room,B408, on Baja Deck midships with a balcony, port side. Embarking at Yokohama unpleasant with a large air hangar- type building with no a /c. Port shore excursions expensive. Did my own sightseeing. Need to pay $10 per passenger for shuttle bus from most pier to downtown areas in Japan.Need to get local maps at the port terminals and know the Mass transit bus, train and applicable ferry services. Do advance tour book reading of Lonely Planets one month before and know some quick Japanese phrases in their glossary. I did Hiroshima Atom Bomb Museum and Memorial by tram and the famous floating shrine, torii, by ferry. I like the last stop, Sakata, where I had free sake and, a Green tea demo by friendly hs kids practicing their English and helping lost tourists get back to the shuttle (me). I went to the 100 yen floor of a local department store to get souvenirs for my friends and co-workers back in the States. The folks in Sakata gave us a farewell dance by ladies in traditional kimono. Saw a dragon dance. Saw a mock samurai sword fight. An orchestra played American military and patriotic tunes as they waved farewell to us at sunset dockside as the ship pulled out. Got that on video with balloons released. Touching. Overall food in the MDR ok. Buffet on Horizon Deck with a ramen noodle bar was better. Formal night ok as some folks dressed up to the max. Repeat fares and theater performances on both legs a minus. Another minus was a medical evacuation of a fellow passenger which caused a 6-hour delay in returning to Yokahoma for the completion of my first leg of cruise. Those passengers completing their cruise had to reschedule their airline flight departure for later flights if available!!! Lesson learned : buy travel insurance as most of those passengers needed it. Me, I got a $25 refund on my costly internet service in the event of calling my airline as I made my flights independent of Princess Cruises. A plus as I dragged my bags off ship first at 730am and hailed the first taxi to Haneda (not Narita) for $90USD for my wife and I, for a 1030am flight to Hong Kong. Flexibility is key for unanticipated delays like typhoons alerts and medavacs. Also add 2 days before and after for pre- and post-excursions of Tokyo and Hong Kong. JimWofFlushing, USA. Read Less

We certainly enjoyed the food in 'Le Bistro'. The trivia was very good. The itenery was why we chose to take our 1st Norwegian cruise. So much for the good. We bought an outside cabin, with an unobstructed window. That window was so dirty that details we inaccessible. We asked, I begged(!), them to clean the window. They actually told me that those windows only get cleaned during drydock! Seriously? I watched the lady who relayed this to me, and even she could not believe what she was saying. Why buy an outside if you cannot use the window [and in Alaska even!]? She offered me an upscale dining as 'compensation' [we already had 4] and I offered in return to have our charges reduce to cost on Inside cabin, since THAT WAS ESSENTIALLY WHAT WE HAD!!!! Dumbest crap I ever dealt with on any ship. We have had 25+ cruises on other lines and NEVER have, or would have, been told they could not clean out window! The food in the buffet was LOW! No salmon, no steak, no shellfish of any sort. Cheap! And poorly prepared, every piece of beef or pork I had was simply tough. Incredibly, part of the problem was that meat slicers cut WITH the grain instead of ACROSS the grain. A little training needed. Food in Main dining was repetitive, but slightly better. As I said, the Bistro was very good, but the one with all that meat was giving us stuff clearly kept under a sunlamp and was dry and tough, i am sorry to say. As an aside, we both got sick with colds, very bad ones, after Russia, and we certainly do not hold Norwegian at culp for that. I will not say I will never be on Norwegian again. But it will take a truly great itenary at a great price to tempt us from other cruise lines like Princess, Holland, Celebrity, or RCC where service is SO MUCH better. Only our room steward, who did go out of his way to help, was an exception to the 'poor service' experience. I truly hope you reconsider the 'clean window' policy. Only an outside cabin has this problem, since folks with balconies can still see without going updeck. Seriously, this cannot be a rational policy in your mind. And I hope I never sail again on a ship where I cannot get my beloved smoked salmon for breakfast in the buffet. Doug Ralston Read Less