Onboard Princess Cruises Diamond Princess

Auckland had the first ship visit for the 2015/16 summer cruise season with the beautiful Diamond Princess in port.

Princess Cruises' Diamond Princess is certainly an impressive ship with gross tonnage of 115,875 tons and a length of 291 metres (3 football fields!). Diamond Princess is a big ship choice with a small ship feel. She can carry over 2670 passengers and 1100 crew members, however she has a great passenger/space ratio which means it never feels too crowded. There is plenty of space onboard with a wide choice of public spaces and there is always somewhere you can go and sit back relax in peace and watch the world sail by.

Diamond Princess was built in 2004 by the Mitubishi Ship Building company in Japan. She is one of only two Princess ships (the other being her sister ship Sapphire Princess) ever to be built in Japan.

Want to learn about why you should choose a cruise for your next holiday? Click here. 

Diamond Princess is an elegant ship with contemporary but relaxing earth tone decor along with some traditional and Asian-Style finishing touches. In 2014 she had a $30 Million refurbishment and is looking great. During this refurbishment she received a new Japanese 8,800 square foot Bath and Garden complex, Kai Sushi restaurant with 66 person capacity, enhanced duty free shopping area, a revitalized Horizon Court buffet, 14 new cabins and a relocated internet cafe.

There are a number of dining choices onboard including traditional two seating dining in the International Dining Room (the largest of the restaurants) and Anytime dining in one of the four themed dining rooms; Vivaldi - Italian, Santa Fe - Mexican, Pacific Moon - Asian and Savoy - English. There are also a choice of speciality restaurants (with a small cover charge) and these include Sabatini's which has a wonderful Italian Menu, Sterling Steakhouse which is perfect for meat lovers and the new Kai Sushi restaurant. Alternatively if you're after a casual meal or snack the Horizon Court Buffet is open 24 hours a day and there is also a poolside Hamburger grill and Pizza Bar.

There are plenty of onboard activities to keep you busy including; 5 swimming pools, mini golf, sports court and a state of the art gym. There are also dancing lessons, yoga classes, lectures, trivia quizzes, wine tasting and Movies Under the Stars (complete with popcorn and ice cream).

If you're after complete relaxation there is the Lotus Spa where you can book a massage or spa treatment in one of its' 30 treatment rooms, Sanctuary an adults only haven or the new Japanese Bathhouse.

In the evenings the ship comes alive and the many onboard lounges and bars have live music, dancing, karaoke and theatre shows. Late at night Skywalkers Night Club is the place to be with a DJ from 10pm. Skywalkers is located on deck 18 and is 63 metres above sea level - it is also a great place to go during the day as it has amazing views.

For children there this an onboard Kids Clubs which offers programs for all age groups; the Princess Pelicans (ages 3-7), Shockwaves (ages 8-12) and Remix (ages 13-17). The Kids Clubs are a great place for all ages to hang out and they offer everything from the latest video games and movies to arts and crafts, board games, pizza parties, pyjama parties and other fun organised activities.

Diamond Princess will be based in Sydney until March 2016 offering a number of cruises around New Zealand including an ex Auckland roundtrip departure on 17th December 2015.

Fine Travel is a Princess Academy Certified Expert Partner.  We have direct access to Princess Cruises reservations system so can provide you with direct pricing from the cruise line and the latest special offers.