Diamond Princess Reviews

Summary:  Food and service good but embarkation chaotic. There was a major delay when embarking but no information was given to customers for the 3 hour delay! Numerous bars on ship but all very noisy with no where to go for a quiet drink t drink. Disembarkation for trips also disorganised - all trip seemingly dispatched at same times. Really disliked use of plastic crockery in the buffet!

Summary:  Joined this ship in Tokyo fro an eight night cruise around southern and western Japan. Retained a lot of its attraction despite its growing age, the ship was ideal for this type of voyage. Friendly efficient staff with excellent meals in a range of settings. Shore excursions as usual are expensive and don't represent particularly good value. All areas as promised covered although one day was almost totally spoiled by an inefficient Japanese immigration service which saw almost 2000 passengers queuing for almost 2 hours in some cases, just to have passport and finger prints checked. Ludicrous. Entertainment on board is particularly good.

Summary:  When we booked this cruise we knew it would be geared to Japanese tastes and so it proved to be. It did make the cruise more interesting and things like the entertainment were well chosen to appeal to a wide variety of tastes. We had two problems on the cruise the first being Iglu's fault. They sold the cruise as a 13 day cruise. In fact it was two cruises, so the menu and entertainment were repeated in the second week. As half the menu was geared to Japanese tastes this did mean a very restricted choice in the second week. The other problem was the Captain. In the first week we were aware of a typhoon risk and for two consecutive evenings the Captain gave dire warnings of very high winds and rough seas. To many of us who had tracked the typhoon on the Japanese warning website it wasa suprise as the the predicted typhoon course we saw was not close to the ships course. All we experienced was lumpy seas for 16 hours, nothing like the Captain had predicted and nothing like the Bay of Biscay on a bad day. The second week a second typhoon was shown as crossing the ships course and the Captain's decision the turn the ship around and miss Busan seemed justified. The ship is showing her age but is well maintained and we like the design. It is also a nice size having more facilities than the small ships but not too big to get lost on.

Summary:  Shore Excursions Fell Well Below Expectations, Descriptions Were Misleading To The Point Of Being Dishonest. They Even Charged $10 For The Shuttle Bus When There Was A Free One Supplied In All Ports. Disgraceful !! Dishonest

Summary:  U fortunately this ship did not live up to our expectations at all - the std of cleanliness in our room was poor- there was a constant urine odour on the bathroom and we had to ask the steward to address it - the steward only came to our room once a day instead of twice and in the afternoon we would come back to find our bed turned down and the chocolate on the pillows well before dinner The entertainment was poor and the activity schedule repetitive and boring - the standard of good available was adequate but there wasn't much of it with regard to choice although the Japanese customers appeared well catered for with separate menus onboard The weather also affected our trip with the cruise delayed by one day due to typhoon- we then missed our first port due to an earthquake making it unsafe to visit The weather continued to misbehave throughout our 13 days and put a real negative feeling onto our holiday The biggest problem with this itinerary is the constant immigration checks in Japan which take forever resulting in a loss of up to four hours of port time and no compensation for this either Certainly wouldn't recommend this itinerary but enjoyed our time in Dubai in Tokyo - loved the Mount Fuji trip

Summary:  We thought this was an older shop, but were pleasantly surprised it exceeded our expectations. Well appointed, good variety of activities and shows. Staff handled the mixed nationalities of Japanese and western customers really well. Food good not fantastic as they ran two menus Japanese and western . Definitely recommend this ship

Summary:  Just returned from 8 days around Japan, despite missing the first two stops due to a typhoon and earthquake! We thoroughly enjoyed the Diamond Princess, well appointed and plenty to do, staff excellent particularly when there were several hundred Japanese on board as well. Would definitely recommend. Embarkation and disembarkation were the best we have ever experienced in over 25 years cruising.

Summary:  Ship looking its age in places, definitely needs a refit but having said that the service and food was excellent. Great staff throughout the ship. Entertainment was bit poor, but as the ship was mostly Japanese, it wasn't a big issue I guess. Obviously the constant flogging of tat is a bit annoying but I expect is standard on most cruise lines theses days. Tours expensive, but over a barrel in Japan as most attractions are miles from port and you probaly will struggle with the language barrier with most taxi drivers.

Summary:  My wife and I went on the Diamond Princess cruise from Singapore, embarking on 23rd October 2016. Iglu arranged flights and two nights pre-cruise stay in Singapore which was an excellent start. We would strongly recommend that you stay in order to see the amazing sights in the city, including Gardens by the Bay, Emerald Hill and, of course, afternoon tea at Raffles Hotel. Our Ports of Call were Bangkok, Vietnam, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Pusan (Korea), Nagasaki and ended with a 7 day tour of China. All destinations were very interesting with a good range of excursions although we only did 3 organised tours. The cruise terminals in some ports are a considerable way from the destinations, Bangkok being the worst with 2 hours journey by bus, so watch out! Hong Kong has a modern terminal building but this obliges you to walk an unnecessarily long way to exit before finding out that there is no public transfer link into the City which obliges you to take shuttles! All fur coat and no k------s springs to mind! But HK is well worth a visit. Pusan was the pleasant surprise as the shore excursion to a Temple and Culture show was great value! Nagasaki terminal in City Centre so easy to visit without need for shore excursion. The Ship had a great mix of Nationalities who created a great party atmosphere on board. Crew were very attentive and friendly. Food was very good and we shared a table with four other Brits who proved great companions. Ship was clean, entertainment was better in second week when we finally got some great song and dance shows, mixed with very good soloists, including Chinese acrobats, and a great selection of films. Afternoon and evening Happy Hours provided good value drinks in a friendly atmosphere. This was our first time with Princess and we really enjoyed it; excellent value for money and will travel with them again (we have cruised with P&O and Cunard previously). The China tour proved to be a delight and an ordeal! Organised by Wendy Wu they made sure you saw the best of China which included an amazing day on the Great Wall and the Terracotta Warriors. Hotels were fine but the food was horrible and several restaurants were actually dirty. Most of the tour group were disgusted by the low standard of food and the fact that no alternatives were offered. If you are thinking of going to China then please be aware of the following- Air pollution and traffic congestion in cities (wear a breathing mask at all times, my wife came home very ill). Likely you will get poor and repetitive quality of food. Streets and sights teeming with people! Very cold in November so take warm clothing! Great Cruise and fantastic holiday overall. Thank-you Diamond Princess. David & Anne (UK)

Summary:  Sailed on the Diamond Princess last year sailing from Osaka in Japan and sailed around much of Japan, and Taiwan, and also Russia, we had a lovely time and the Crew were fantastic and very welcoming. We have booked another Cruise sailing from Tokyo on the Diamond Princess again on the 9th October and visiting Osaka and South Korea, and Shanghai and Hong Kong, then to Vietnam, then to Thailand and ending up in Singapore. We were only two of eight English Passengers on Board, mostly Japanese about 2500 of them and they were so polite and friendly this has prompted us into doing s similar Cruise again this year.