We got back a week ago today after two weeks on the Diamond Princess
visiting the Mexican Riviera. There were lots of negatives so I decided to
wait a week before I said anything.

Most of the problems fade after a while but there were things like elevators
that didn't work, doors that didn't work, toilets that didn't work. Our
toilet didn't work for about 6 hours. I heard of two showers that flooded.

There were two power failures on the ship, a 30 minute and a 10 minute.

The most serious problem, by far, involved Pers. choice dining. We choose
PC dining as a result of all of the talk about the four dining rooms where
you can "dine anytime with whomever you want." Anytme dining to me implies
"spur of the moment". Not true. The first night on the ship, after we had
discussed which dining room we would try, we found that we couldn't get into
any of the dining rooms without a reservation. The first night we had dinner
at the buffet, something we don't usually do. We have been on 17 cruises and
reservation never occurred to us.

The fun began the next day. My wife spent most of the day on the phone
trying to reach the concierge and so were many other people.. She did this
on and off for several days. The result was that the only times available
were very early or very late. Most of the time we got 5:30, a few 6PMs, and
most of the time we were in the Pacific Moon dining room.

Being quick to learn, toward the end of the first week, we bugged the
concierge to set up our reservations for the second week. can't do, the
system won't allow it, call Sat. afternoon. Of course, Sat afternoon, the
ship will be full of people again. Sat.,AM, the concierge said to call
after 1PM. At noon, we complained to the Passenger Services desk and a
young officer got the concierge on the phone and handed the phone to my
wife. We got the time we wanted and alternated the 4 dining rooms. So alls
well that end well. We noticed the first week that we would finish eating
around 6:30 or 6:45 and the tables would be mostly empty. The second week
they said that if you were more than 15 minutes late, you lost your
reservation. We noticed a big change the second week

So be advised, if you want to dine anytime, you have to nail it all down as
soon as you get on the ship. That doesn't seem right, does it?

Otherwise, the ship is great and reminds us of the Star Princess. It was
thrilling when left San Pedro. There were many people on the shore cheering
and we were led by a fireboat with all of the hoses shooting water.

Don