Our cruise aboard the Sapphire Princess was my second and my husband's first cruise. It was however a first for both of us on the line. We toured south east Asia, on an eight night journey from Hong Kong to Singapore.

Unfortunately there has been a gastro outbreak just prior to boarding which meant slightly annoying overattentive service during casual eating times for the vast majority of the cruise. You were not allowed to serve yourself at the buffets at all and, without being annoyingly demanding, it made it difficult to get the servings you desired. I myself suffered from vomiting on the last day, though, due to the severity, I contribute this to bad seafood rather than gastro. It did somewhat darken the overall cruise experience.

The food was very hit and miss. I was lucky enough that was my very first cruise was on Disney. Unfortunately this also means I compare every other cruise line to what came before. Princess food is not even in the same league. The Horizon Court Buffet was just decent: it was a fairly stock standard buffet at both breakfast and lunch, offering a variety of different options that varied considerably as far as taste and quality is concerned. By the third day at sea I stuck with cereal for breakfast as the hot food options just weren't that great. Though we had allocated dining times after the first night we decided to opt for the anytime dining as our cruise companions were doing the same. Compare most meals to your average pub food and you're pretty much there. Though some dishes did stand out and excel my expectations these were few and far between. However, I did like that you rarely had to wait to be seated and some of the wait crew went above and beyond in regards to service. Read more