Enjoy reading about Donna Schellenberg's experience onboard the Diamond Princess, as she sailed roundtrip from Los Angeles to Hawaii on Feb. 1/08.  ...

 

My husband and I, along with my sister and her husband, were onboard the Diamond Princess, as she sailed roundtrip from Los Angeles to Hawaii on Feb. 1/08.   We were looking forward to 4 relaxing days at sea before we arrived at the first port of call, and we were not disappointed.  The weather was a bit cool with scattered showers for the first 2 days but after that warmed up quite nicely.   

We decided to spoil ourselves on this cruise, and booked Category AB mini-suites, side by side.  The balconies were larger than regular balcony staterooms with room for 4 chairs and a small round table.  A partition opened between the 2 decks, so we were able to move freely between the two suites.  These suites were quite spacious with a queen-size sofabed in the sitting area and a full tub/shower in the bathroom.  The twin beds pushed together to make a queen bed as well.  

 

This was also the first time that I had experienced "Anytime Dining" with Princess and I quite liked it.  There was 1 Traditional Dining Room and 4 Anytime Dining Rooms.  Although the menu in all of the Dining Rooms was the same, each of the Anytime Dining Rooms did have a specific theme.  Santa Fe Grill specialized in Mexican/Southwestern while the Pacific Moon was Asian cuisine.  We made a reservation on the first formal night but found that we could show up pretty much anytime we wished, and there were no lineups or waits to get into these dining rooms.  We normally ate between 6:00 and 6:30 pm each evening.  

 

In addition to the Anytime Dining choices, there were 2 alternate dining rooms with a nominal cover charge.  We had an excellent steak dinner at the Sterling Steakhouse @ USD $15.00 per person and an absolutely fantastic dining “experience” at Sabatini’s on Valentine’s Day.  We lost count at 23 courses ... a small sampling of each ... but none the less 23!  At USD $20.00 per person it was well worth it. 

 

On one of our days at sea, we also had the Ultimate Balcony Breakfast.  We were disappointed with this, not with the enormous volume of food but the fact there were no choices.  The breakfast is always the same, seafood quiche, smoked salmon, along with pastries and fruit.  We aren’t great seafood eaters and certainly not fish for breakfast. Chilled champagne was great though! 

 

The entertainment onboard was excellent, as it usually is with Princess Cruises, and was certainly a credit to the Cruise Director and his staff.  I’m sure keeping close to 3000 people entertained for a total of 9 days at sea is not always an easy task.  One observation I did make while onboard is the difficulty (and the Cruise Director admitted this) in co-ordinating the different entertainment venues with both the Traditional and Anytime Dining options.  We found there was either a gap in the choices of things to do or several things overlapped and you missed things. 

 

It was definitely a fun time to be onboard with the Superbowl game and Valentine’s Day.  The game was shown on big screens throughout most of the lounges and lots of nachos, popcorn, beer, etc. was consumed by all.  The ship was all decked out in both of the team’s colors.  It was a great party atmosphere!  The staff also made a great effort on Valentine’s Day, decorating the ship with red and white balloons and lots of flowers.   

After spending 4 days at sea, our first port of call was Nawiliwili, Kauai.  This was the first time I had been to Kauai and was looking forward to a tour on the Wailua River and seeing the Fern Grotto.  I’m sure many of you have seen the Fern Grotto in the past and would be very shocked to see it now.  Not only was it hit very hard by a hurricane in 1980 but Hurricane Iniki in 1990; nearly destroyed it.  The once lush vegetation covering the rocks is now very sparse and you can no longer go right up close and inside the grotto.  Floods and heavy rains in the last few years have weakened the rock above and it’s close to collapsing.  We still enjoyed the beautiful rendition of the Hawaiian Wedding Song that was performed by local musicians. 

Our next port was Honolulu and as we approached the island in the early morning, what an unbelievable sight to see the twinkling lights and the outline of Diamond Head rise out of the inky black sea and sky!   We had a great golf game at the Ko’olau Golf course….the hardest course in the U.S. to play in the winter!  It is carved right out of the jungle at the base of the Pali Cliffs and you do not keep score…you “win” the hole if you finish with the same ball you started with.  It poured rain half way through the game, but we had a great time anyway. 

Our third port was Lahaina, Maui where the ship had to tender.  The pier was located right in the heart of Lahaina at the Banyan Tree.  A friend of my brother-in-law met us under the tree and provided us with a private tour of the Kaanapali and West Maui areas.  Although Maui has seen significant growth and development since I was last there in 1994, it is still my favourite island to visit.   

The next day we were in Hilo where we had booked a sightseeing tour of the island called “The Land of Fire & Ice”.  It was very interesting, visiting old lava flows, black sand beaches and listening to the driver/guide provide us with details of living on the island.  Hilo is located on the wet side of the island and it poured all day long.  Hilo is a port where you would need to book a shore excursion as the city itself is really nothing to see.  The highlight was passing by Kilauea Volcano during the evening on our way to Kona.  Again, out of the inky black sea and sky, was the red glow of the lava running towards the sea.   

Kona was our last port of call and Hawaii saved its best for last.  Absolutely beautiful, hot day where we golfed the Kona Golf & Country Club – Mountain Course.  The Kailua-Kona area of the Big Island has grown significantly since I was there last in 1979 and next to Maui, would be my second choice for an extended stay in the islands. 

One of the reasons we chose this cruise was to play golf at some of the best courses available.  The 2 rounds of golf that we played were booked with Princess and I have to say, we were very impressed with the golf program that Princess has.  Not only was everything organized from the taxi’s that picked us up and returned us to the pier, but onboard was an incredible golf pro, Rob Bernard.  Rob was from PEI and one of the top pros in Canada and a former PGA player.  He offered several seminars onboard to help us with our game and even played the first 4 holes at Kona with us, giving us pointers and generally providing  us with a great golf experience.       

After five full days in the Hawaiian Islands, we were looking forward again to the relaxing days at sea cruising back to Los Angeles.  On the last day of the cruise, there was a stop at Ensenada, Mexico to satisfy the Jones Act but we stayed onboard.    

To summarize this cruise, I would highly recommend it to REPEAT cruisers who really enjoy consecutive days at sea and not at all to first time cruisers.  First time cruisers tend to like lots of ports and not many days at sea.  Although the seas were higher than on other cruises I have taken, we were not bothered by seasickness at all.

This cruise was 16 days in length but next year Princess is shortening it to 14 days and will be offering it on Golden Princess. 

It was a great way to sample Hawaii if you have not been before; and a great way to revisit the highlights if you had.