Cruise News Daily Newsfile
April 19, 2004

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Diamond Princess

Diamond Princess was the first of three ships Princess is entering into service within a four-month period. Diamond Princess is the largest cruise ship based at Los Angeles and the largest sailing on the West Coast, at 116,000 gross registered tons and carrying 2,674 passengers (double occupancy - the vessel also has 616 berths for third and fourth passengers in the cabin).

The atrium is similar to those in the Grand-class.
The Diamond design was based upon the Grand-class, but it was widened. Changes include moving Skywalker's dance (on the rear of the vessel) down a few feet and forward a bit, and the supplementary gas turbine engines, the air intakes for which can be seen on the stack.
One of the interior changes was moving the trademark Wheelhouse bar forward and enlarging it.
The Explorers Lounge, shown here lit more brightly than normal, is in the midships area and is the ship's secondary showlounge.
Club Fusion replaces the ship's aft showlounge. It contains a large bar and various types of seating. It also is laden with lots of electronics and large video screens, that can show prerecorded video and close-ups of live action from around the room. The concept is that the evening functions will run continuously, involve the audience, and it's a place where you can go and spend the entire evening.
When you need to get away from Club Fusion, you can escape to a quite bar just below, the Wake View bar, at the aft of the ship, and accessible via a large spiral staircase from Club Fusion.
The decor in the Grand Casino won't be fully appreciated. If passengers spend some time looking around, they will find an African motif which can be seen here in the "trees" (supports) which grow up and into the ceiling, and in the specially-designed carpeting. If you visit when the casino is closed, you can hear the African sounds in the background.
The teen dance club, Off Limits, has been upgraded to make it look more like an adult facility.
The restaurant serving those requesting the traditional dining option is the International Dining Room at the aft of Deck 6. It is reached by passengers from the aft stairtower and elevators. The International has a traditional Princess look and ambiance about it. In an improvement over the Grand-class ships, there are restrooms available just outside the door without having to go up one deck.
Those choosing Anytime Dining can nightly choose any of four Anytime Dining Rooms, each serving its own specialty menu in addition to the nightly-changing traditional menu. We described the new expanded Anytime Dining program was in an earlier Cruise News Daily article.

At left is the Pacific Moon Restaurant, serving an Asian fusion menu.

The Santa Fe Restaurant serves Southwestern specialties. Typical of the workmanship in the entire vessel, the Japanese builders at Mitsubishi have included fine detail throughout the ship and can be seen here in the stone work on the room dividers and flooring. (Again, this room is shown lit more brightly than normal.)
The most popular of the four Anytime Dining Rooms is the Sterling Restaurant specializing in steaks.
The Vivaldi Restaurant's specialty menu includes a selection of Italian cuisine from various regions of Italy.
An alternative dining option is Sabatini's Restaurant which is a premium option requiring reservations and a $20 per person fee. 
A casual alternative dining option is the Horizon Court buffet. The evening menu there now includes selections from the traditional menu in the International Dining Room, so it is no longer necessary to dress up on formal night to have your lobster.

 

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