Diamond Princess

Princess back to her old self.

Having had a couple of post covid dud cruises with RC and P&O Aust I was nervous about a 22 day from Yokohama to Sydney. Yay! It was so good. The food was excellent. The dining rooms ran smoothly. The shows were great and our cabin steward was the best! I’ve been on 25 cruises and he was exceptional, quick thorough and unobtrusive such a professional. We did a couple of shore tours in Alotau PNG and in Taiwan. They were ok but high priced. In Manila we just got a guy with a car to show us around Manila. 3 hours and he helped my disabled husband up stairs and pick the easiest routes for him. What a sweetie. 2500 pesos. Bargain for the service we received. The Princess plus package was great and we met heaps of nice people. Good work Princess. Off to Antarctica in Jan on Emerald.

Hokkaido - North Japan

Fantastic cruise, the food, the entertainment, the route, the weather, etc. This is a Japanese cruise with 60% of the guest Japanese. The others tend to be USA, Australia, Canada, other Asian countries, etc. Like all Japanese weather, it was a bit damp at times, but also sunny and warm. Kushiro was the only place needing a light jacket. The food was also a mix of standard Princess and local Japanese. Miso soup and rice at every meal, along with many other Japanese dishes. The Entertainment was very good, 3 nights of Princess singers and dancers, a magician - kind of slow, Stevie Wonder impersonator - who goes too far with the blind and physical attributes, just do Stevie Wonder. Extremely talented cruise staff, they keep you busy. The Hokkaido stops were small to medium cities, with local markets ( fish being the prime mover ). If you love Sashimi then Kushiro is your place. There are parks and Museums all around the local area. I would recommend this trip to anyone.

Sailing Japan in style

The cruise was fabulous. The cabin was very well appointed and the steward kept it looking great. Service was always with a smile and everyone was friendly and helpful. We mainly ate into the Horizon Court and were very happy with the excellent selection available for every meal. We ate a couple of times at the more formal included dining rooms and service was very good and the meals lovely. There was always plenty of activities and you could join in with as few or many as you liked. There was always plenty of quality entertainment so you were never at a loss for, something to do. In fact you had to choose as it was impossible to do everything. For what they offered I thought the shore excursions were very expensive. At some locations it was cheaper to go by taxi and do your own thing. The few I did were good but too expensive. I would have done more if the cost was more reasonable. Thankfully at every port there was port side information and it was easy to get maps and more so that you could do your own thing. We used the roll calls on Cruise Critic and linked up with other travellers from around the world. We were able to coordinate and arrange a few private tours which was great and considerably cheaper and more flexible than the ship excursions. I recommend anyone sailing to join up to the Roll Call for your particular cruise. The medallions were great for easy access to your cabin. And downloading the app made it easy to locate family members or others you have shared details with. You could also use it to find your way around the ship, book dining times and more. With a full ship, embarkation and disembarkation was a bit slow but extremely well organised. We had a wonderful time and would happy sail on Diamond Princess again.

Don't believe the negative reviews!

For a little perspective, this is our 68th cruise, but first on Princess. We are Elite/Diamond members with NCL and MSC (Yacht Club only), and have cruised also with RCL, Carnival, Azamara, Viking (River only), and some others that are no longer around. Japan was on our bucket list and had a cruise booked there with NCL during the end of Covid, but that was canceled as Japan was not yet opened. Then, this deal came up with Princess and we couldn’t pass it up. We originally booked an Oceanview cabin, but bid the minimum for an upgrade and got it. We also purchased the Princess Premier package, More on that later. After reading some recent reviews, we were a bit concerned about booking this 20 year old ship. Driving up the ship n Yokohama, you cant help but notice the exterior is “tired”. Some rust lines visible, glass is faded, etc. All those expectations dissolved once we were inside. The inside is immaculate. Carpet is all new, as is most of the upholstery/fabrics. Yes, some of the rails need to be refinished, but all in all, the Diamond is spectacular inside. She reminds me of what cruising was when we started cruising in the 80s. Our particular sailing is a 10 night calling on Kagoshima, Jeju Island, Otaru, Hakodate, and Kushiro. This sailing was the week following Japan’s Golden Week, so I think the sailing was far from fully booked. Id say about 80 percent of the guests were Japanese with the balance being from Australia, Canada and the USA. We flew into Japan from the USA two days in advance and stayed in Yokohama. Fantastic city with a lot to see and do. We stayed at the Sheraton Yokohama Bay and it was an amazing stay. The pier in Yokohama is pretty cool. Unique in that people/locals can line top deck the pier to wave farewell to the ship. We arrived at about 1pm and check it was super efficient, even though we did not have status and board with the masses. We ordered our medallions in advance and had the “Green Line” which helped speed things up I’d say. We are ones that typically don’t take the ships excursions, but this is unlike other cruises where it is easy to DIY at the ports. It can be done with some advance planning, but we only booked this two months in advance and many excursions were sold out. I will try to keep this review chronological, and comment on things like food, service and entertainment at the end. KAGOSHIMA – We hired a private guide, and she was amazing. Highly recommend her. She was inexpensive and took us to all of the major sites in her own vehicle. I can provide her information, but we booked her with GOWITHGUIDE The weather in Kagoshima was amazing. PRINCESS CHEF’S TABLE - We consider ourselves “foodies” and love the chefs table experience. This was no exception. It was an amazing evening and the food really good, and presented very well. We had the Premier Package, so we opted to choose our own wines from the package rather than pay an additional 40 dollars for the wine pairing part of the package. Without the wine add on, the cost was 100 pp. Well worth it. MAIN DINING ROOM FOOD - Very impressed. The food is the same in all four of the main dining rooms. Service is consistently good. Some waiters are faster than others, but all good overall. The food was plentiful and many options each night to choose from. There are Japanese options as well as more western dishes. SUSHI Restaurant – Amazingly fresh and inexpensive. With the Premier Package we could eat there every day for free if we wanted to. With so many options for lunch / dinner, there is not a bad choice. MAIN BUFFET – Wow, I expected this to be an area that was lacking. Not at all. The food was always hot, well presented and tasty. So many options including Japanese, Filipino and western food. Breakfasts has so much more variety than any other cruise we’ve been on. SEOGWIPO, Jeju Island – We also hired a private guide here that picked us up right at the port and took us to all the major sites ended at a local market. Money well spent. We especially enjoyed the local lunch stop that was included in the price we paid. IZUMU JAPANESE ONSEN - This is a unique feature of the Diamond Princess. A semi-authentic Japanese Bath separated by gender. There are four large tubs on each side along with sauna and/or steam rooms. In true Japanese custom, there is no clothing allowed. Its no where near as authentic as the onsens in Japan, but you get the feeling. On this particular cruise, there were no days where bathing suits were worn or mixed bathing hours. It was not very well used. I purchased a pass for the 10 days, and most times, I had the entire onsen to myself. For those that enjoy FREE sauna/steam options, there are those facilities available in the Lotus Spa locker rooms. You can go anytime from 6am – 10pm without a reservation or check-in. ITALIAN RESTAURANT – This came as part of the Princess Premier Package and after reading many reviews on this experience, I was disappointed. Probably my least favorite meal in the five days we’ve been on board. The food was bland. I had the Eggplant Parm and it the eggplant was chewy. The pasta dish was the Lobster ravioli and that was pretty good. You only got two through. Service was slow and inattentive. PRINCESS PREMIER vs PLUS package - We chose to upgrade to the PREMIER package mainly for the extra wifi devices and included gratuities. The internet is blazing fast considering it is satellite. You are able to stream movies, facetime, etc with no issues. I even tried to connect my firestick to the TV and it would have worked, but couldn’t get the fire stick to attach to the wifi for some reason. I was able to stream anything from my phone and ipad. The Princess Prizes piece is a joke. It never worked for us and the app would lock up.. The free juice and specialty coffee was a nice feature and we used it every day There is reserved seating on the main level of the production shows only. The drink selections above 15.00 were few, but interesting. That said, Princess has the largest drink menu of any ship we’ve been on in the past. Plenty of selections under 15 for the Plus package. The wines however were a problem. I always tried to order wines from the Premium list only to be told they were not in stock This happened just about every night. A bit disappointed in that. With the Medallion Class, you can order anything from anywhere on the ship and what you ordered is brought right to you. Plenty of included selections in the PLUS and PREMIER package and gratuities are included in the package price. Room service orders (including cocktails) were never more than 10-15 mins away. Would I opt for the PREMIER package again on a future sailing? Probably, but mainly for the 4-devuce wifi option. THE CREW – With maybe one exception, this is by far the happiest crew that we’ve experienced as a whole. Truly, always friendly and caring. Its amazing to see. Many have been on the Diamond for many contracts, and even were on during the Covid Ship crisis. The cruise directors, (Dave and Keiko) work well together and are both friendly and approachable. The bartenders are always attentive and willing to help with drink selections. OTARU – One of our favorite ports. We hired a private guide/interpreter who happened to be a retired school teacher from Sapporo. The cost for the day for his services was less than 200 USD. We saw some local sites around Otaru, and rented Kimono’s for an hour for some great pictures with cherry trees around, and along the canal. He took us off the tourist trail to a local mall for some shopping. He was so helpful with helping us find things HAKODATE – We coudnt find an available guide/interpreter, so opted for the Best of Hakodate excursion offered by the ship. It rained the first 2-3 hours, but cleared up and turned out to be a nice day. The guide was excellent, as were the stops and lunch. It was a stress-free, albeit expensive tour day. The SEA DAYS for us are for relaxing, staying in bed, going to the SANCTUARY for a bit, back to bed, etc Just overall relaxing days with plenty of options for those who want to stay active. STATEROOM – We had a balcony stateroom kinda forward on Deck 11. The room, like the ship itself, is 20 years old, but has been upgraded with a large flat panel television with the medallionNET features. Free Movies, live television, FOX NEWS, MSDNC and some others. Plenty of TV options. Kudos to Princess for the movies being free. The Wifi is blazing fast and I had no problem getting on my VPN for some work. The bed super comfortable, and AC cold. We slept the balcony door open most nights. I love the room layout. Different than most ships with plenty of closet space. The closet is sort of a walk in style next to the bathroom. I LOVE LOVE LOVE how the cabin door unlocks as you walk up to it. No fumbling to find your room card, or having to touch the medallion to the door panel. KUSHIRO - Wow, I am not even certain why Princess stops here. The city is largely industrial with factories and warehouses everywhere. A relatively small downtown with a small fishmarket to walk around, but nothing else, unless you took one of the Princess excursions to see the nature area and Cranes. Good thing is that there is a free shuttle to the downtown, but it’s even a 30 min ride. We did research ahead of time and knew this wasn’t a great stop for sightseeing. We took a cab to a local AEON mall. (thing huge indoor shopping mall with a grocery store). My wife loves to shop in second hand stores, and Japan has a great chain of them known as 2nd Street. They sell higher end, quality merchandise and even guaranteed authentic pre-loved designer bags. We made quite the haul with 2 nearly new Louis Vuitton bags, a Gucci bag and loads of other things. A handmade santuko knife, brand knew (was probably someones wedding gift). Did some research online at the store, and discovered they sell for about 250. I got it for 27 USD. And the three bags for about 1K USD. We also hit the grocery store and pharmacy there for some of the famed Japanese cosmetics, so we took quite a lot home with us from this stop. DEBARKATION DAY – I mentioned earlier that the crew on the Diamond was the happiest ever. I guess I spoke too soon. The last night of the cruise, we ran into our cabin steward who was great throughout the whole cruise. Nothing over the top, but very attentive. He did his job well. The last night, he was hanging around uncomfortably long, obviously waiting for a cash time. (Our tips were included in the Premier Package), so I didn’t intend to give him extra. (No need to flame on me, this was my choice with the pre-paid package). Well, he was visibly upset, and when walking out the hall, he was yelling to a colleague in his native tongue (which my wife happens to understand) that he was very unhappy he wasn’t getting money. I thought this was extremely distasteful and it left a bad taste in my mouth for sure. Made me not regret my decision not to give him extra. But, that was the only negative experience this whole cruise. Everyone else was fantastic. The debarkation process was amazingly easy. We booked a Post Cruise Excursion to Tokyo with drop off at Haneda Airport. This was a great option because it kept us occupied for the day with our luggage secured in the bus. The stops were not that great. A temple and a shrine. I would have rather just the bus dropped us off in a popular shopping / sightseeing district and leave us there for a few hours. All it all, worth the money it costs though. All in all, WE LOVED the Diamond Princess and the Hokkaido itinerary. Loved we got to see the end of the cherry blossoms, and loved the weather this time of year. The cruise was amazing and will probably be listed as one of our best of our 68 cruises. So much so, we are looking to book her again next year on a different Japan itinerary. I am so glad we didn’t listen to all the negative reviews posted. That certainly wasn’t our experience. She’s an older ship, but is well maintained, especially the inside. And the happiness of the crew makes up for any of the ships shortcomings. Hope you enjoyed! Cheers.