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Hi,
We are going on the Diamond Princess April 9. Has anyone been on the Diamond
recently? Can you advise what the weather was like and what we might expect?
We have never been on the Diamond and would like to know about the four
alternative restaurants. Are they crowded? Do we have to book early? Please
advise.

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"William Pfeiffer" <goakey2@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:ZZOdnfH8KdBNVdjfRVn-jw@comcast.com...
> Hi,
> We are going on the Diamond Princess April 9. Has anyone been on the
> Diamond recently? Can you advise what the weather was like and what we
> might expect? We have never been on the Diamond and would like to know
> about the four alternative restaurants. Are they crowded? Do we have to
> book early? Please advise.

The weather *should be* pretty good, especially Cabo and below.. A little
luck, and you'll get great weather the whole way.
I'd be really surprised if it rained, for instance, although I've seen it
rain in April in S.Diego before--but it's rare. We'll be interested in
the answers you get on the restaurants, as we will be on that ship too.

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On Sat, 26 Mar 2005 22:03:36 GMT, " BruceB" <dontwriteme@tshirts.nu>
wrote:

> We'll be interested in
>the answers you get on the restaurants, as we will be on that ship too.

Bruce,
My buddy talked me into taking this cruise also because he had been
on it last fall. The first thing He told me was to make reservations
for dinner as soon as you get on ship. They would only take the
reservation for the first two days. So that is my plan when I board.

I also think (Hope) that the weather will be fantastic. We all should
have a great time.

Vince Wirth
http://home.earthlink.net/~vincewirth

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Did the cruise in Dec and the weather was great. Make dinner plans as
early as you can but if you can't get reservations the buffet is great.
Also we found getting another couple and use a taxi for your tours. You
see what you want. .

William Pfeiffer wrote:

>Hi,
>We are going on the Diamond Princess April 9. Has anyone been on the Diamond
>recently? Can you advise what the weather was like and what we might expect?
>We have never been on the Diamond and would like to know about the four
>alternative restaurants. Are they crowded? Do we have to book early? Please
>advise.
>
>
>
>

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William,

My wife and I were on a 10-night cruise to the Mexican Riviera this
past Dec. 29 to Jan. 8. The weather was fabulous. Once we left LA and
got south of the border, the temperature ranged from the mid-70s to the
high 80s or low 90s. I agree with everything that David wrote except
"the buffet is great." If you like eating in a mediocre cafeteria, then
the buffet is OK.

For dinner, we ate in the Sterling 7 times, the Vivaldi twice, and the
Sante Fe once. We ate in the Vivaldi and Sante Fe only because we could
not get reservations in the Sterling for those evenings. For breakfast
and lunch, we ate in the main dining room.

The Diamond is a beautiful ship. Would not hesitate to book another
cruise on it. My only complaints were that we could not get traditional
dining and the entertainment left something to be desired.
Entertainment was far better on a HAL Amsterdam sailing to the Alaska
Inside Passage and the Carnival Conquest sailing to the Western
Caribbean. However, there were other aspects of the Diamond that my
wife and I preferred over the Amsterdam and the Conquest, especially
the pool areas. My wife especially liked the retractable roof over one
of the swimming pools.

While on the Diamond, I booked a reservation on the Star Princess to
the Southern Caribbean for next Dec. 28 to Jan. 8. For booking while on
a Princess ship, I received a $200 shipboard credit, paid a deposit of
only $200, and had the right to transfer the booking to a travel agent
of my choice. When I returned home, I transferred the booking to an
online TA I use (transfer was done via phone and e-mails, not online,
and required that I fax Princess requesting the transfer). As a result,
I got a price reduction of about $700 for two while keeping the
shipboard credit of $200 and having a deposit of only $200. As a
result, my wife and I will be on the Star Princess next New Years in a
category BB cabin with balcony on the Caribe deck. Counting the days,
hours, minutes, and seconds til embarkation on Dec. 28, 2005.

John

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I think we like the Diamond. We are doing back-to-back in April which will
be our 6th and 7th cruises on that ship in 13 months. It is sad that we
don't see many of the same crew members on multiple cruises. Most of them
seem to do just one contract.

We were on the ship in January and it was kind of cool in Mexico--high 70's.
I hope it gets warmer.
Have a great cruise.
Don

"William Pfeiffer" <goakey2@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:ZZOdnfH8KdBNVdjfRVn-jw@comcast.com...
> Hi,
> We are going on the Diamond Princess April 9. Has anyone been on the
Diamond
> recently? Can you advise what the weather was like and what we might
expect?
> We have never been on the Diamond and would like to know about the four
> alternative restaurants. Are they crowded? Do we have to book early?
Please
> advise.
>
>

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I checked the weather in Cabo and they show mid-80's for the next 5 days.
The other two cities are usually warmer so it looks like spring is in the
air. Enjoy all of those pools if there aren't too many spring breakers.
Smooth sailing
Don


"William Pfeiffer" <goakey2@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:ZZOdnfH8KdBNVdjfRVn-jw@comcast.com...
> Hi,
> We are going on the Diamond Princess April 9. Has anyone been on the
Diamond
> recently? Can you advise what the weather was like and what we might
expect?
> We have never been on the Diamond and would like to know about the four
> alternative restaurants. Are they crowded? Do we have to book early?
Please
> advise.
>
>

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> . Has anyone been on the
> Diamond > recently?
> I'm interested in the dine any time option. We are booked for Alaska later
> this year and I have not heard anything good about the Princess experience.
> NCL has done it very well. We have cruised with Princess many times but are
> wondering about traditional vs anytime dining.

> Comments?

Jerry in NJ

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Hi Jerry,
The Diamond and the Sapphire are a little different. First of all, most
Princess ships have one large traditional dining room and one or two large
pers. choice(anytime) dining rooms. We started out on the Star and always
had traditional early seating.
Once in a while, we would go to one of the PC dining rooms. We would usually
go between 6 and 6:30 and had no waits and no reservations were needed. We
later,on the Sun and the Coral, just asked for the Pers. choice when we
booked.

The Diamond and the Sapphire each have one large traditional dining room and
four small PC dining rooms. They are actually two large rooms with a wall
down the middle. There is a steak house, a southwest, an Asian, and an
Italian. They each have a small specialty menu, which is the same each night
plus you can order from whatever the traditional menu is for that night.

It was my understanding that the traditional dining room has the traditional
menu plus one of the specialty menus each night. The specialty menus would
rotate every four nights. I have been told on this newsgroup that the above
is not true. If so, imagine the traditional diners who would want to go try
the PC dining rooms. The result would be many empty seats in Traditional and
crowds in the PC dining rooms. I don't think Princess is that stupid.

In any case, it is important that you get reservations as soon as you can.

The ship is beautiful, the dining rooms are pleasant and the food is good.
Someone mentioned that the buffet is good. I agree.
Have a great cruise,
Don

"Jerry GaMarsh" <jgmash@attglobal.net> wrote in message
news:424AC70D.C44148E7@attglobal.net...
>
>
> > . Has anyone been on the
> > Diamond > recently?
> > I'm interested in the dine any time option. We are booked for Alaska
later
> > this year and I have not heard anything good about the Princess
experience.
> > NCL has done it very well. We have cruised with Princess many times but
are
> > wondering about traditional vs anytime dining.
>
> > Comments?
>
> Jerry in NJ
>
>

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Hi again Jerry,
I didn't mention that most of these ships also have one or two restaurants
with a cover charge as much as $25.00 each. I'm too Scottish to go to any
of these places. I figure that there is plenty of good food on the ship that
is already paid for.
Smooth sailing,
Don

"Jerry GaMarsh" <jgmash@attglobal.net> wrote in message
news:424AC70D.C44148E7@attglobal.net...
>
>
> > . Has anyone been on the
> > Diamond > recently?
> > I'm interested in the dine any time option. We are booked for Alaska
later
> > this year and I have not heard anything good about the Princess
experience.
> > NCL has done it very well. We have cruised with Princess many times but
are
> > wondering about traditional vs anytime dining.
>
> > Comments?
>
> Jerry in NJ
>
>

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