Summary:
We have just returned from a cruise (April 11th to 19th) that took in both the north and south islands of Japan and which saw us visit ports of call that were in the various throes of the Blossom season. In terms of Diamond Princess, she is a large ship that hold c3000 passengers and is a well balanced, comfortable vessel. We had an ocean-view cabin towards the front of the ship on deck 8 and were very pleased with its layout - which is a typical Princess cabin with plenty of storage space and a very large queen size bed and a large TV and functional shower and bathroom. Everything in the cabin looked in good condition and we were very pleased with the steward service in keeping the cabin clean and tidy. We were allocated fixed dining because the Japanese market prefer a more formal dining structure - we would normally choose flexible dining - but were very fortunate to be seated with John and Andrew who were excellent company for dinner each evening. Food on the ship was a little variable, improving markedly in the second half of the cruise having been a little disappointing in terms of choice and cuts of meats to start. On this particular cruise there was also no International Café, which we have always used on the other Princess ships for its excellent range of croissants and pastries for breakfast/snacks. However, when we ventured to the Horizon buffet, it was better than I can recall from previous cruises and seemed to have more variety. Evening entertainment was chiefly the normal array of singers, illusionists and production shows and on the whole were fine, but because we were dining at 7.45pm there was only really one option for entertainment in any event - if we were on flexible dining I suspect we may have felt the entertainment options were a little light. Overall, with the excellent ports of call (and early starts) available on this cruise we went to bed relatively early compared to what we would normally do on a cruise, but we didn't feel short changed in any way. Besides, there was always a good choice of recent movie releases to watch in the cabin if we anted to stay up a little later. Overall, an excellent ship to have cruised on and a thoroughly enjoyable cruise itinerary too.