We chose this cruise to celebrate a friend's 50th Birthday, The cruise did not get off to a great start, as we were advised as we embarked that we would not be stopping at Kuala Lumpur as there was a problem with the ships generator and they could not operate at full speed so had to cut out one of the stops - very disappointing! We then waited on deck to watch the ship leave dock, only to find we were 2 hours late leaving!

The ship is showing it's age, even though it has just spent 2 weeks in dry dock! There were numerous minor problems throughout the trip. At times some of the lifts doors were not closing, some people were stuck in one lift for a couple of hours, or they often just did not work. Our cabin sink tap only ran hot water, the laundries were a joke as there are only 2 machines per deck, and one was often broken, as well as the machine that dispensed the tokens for the machines were also broken for the majority of the trip, so we had to queue at reception for the tokens (often for half an hour) to actually use the machines.

There was a water leak problem, leaving some of the carpet in the corridors wet at times. On the main outdoor deck (deck 12) there was a constant smell of rotting food, especially around the pool area which made it unpleasant to sit in the spa for any length of time. However, most of the staff onboard were very good - our cabin steward Ricky was excellent, as were our waiters Martin and Hendri in the Regency Restaurant. We felt the entertainment was aimed at the 65 plus age group (which was probably 70% of the guests onboard), however we did enjoy the Japanese cowboy and Jo Little. We would certainly think very carefully before booking another Princess Cruise