Our first trip with the Princess line got off to a bad start. Unfortunately our plane out of Heathrow had a problem and after sitting around waiting onboard for 3/4 hour was off loaded and appointed another plane approx 3 hours later. Whilst these things happen it would appear it happens on a regular basis for British Airways. We had been looking forward to our trip (60th birthday) and especially Singapore however due to our late arrival and mix ups with Princess booking in system we only had a two hour window to see this beautiful city even though we had an overnight stay. The following morning after being given many different times to report and conflicting information, we duly waited for our coaches to take us out to the ship. We can only say this was a health and safety nightmare. There was no organization, whilst waiting on the pavement people behind would push forwards placing those waiting at the front into the path of oncoming coaches and traffic. Those in wheelchairs were left on the side of the road and when I finally got a seat on the coach it wanted to pull away without my husband. Boarding was a very long process and we do appreciate that getting everyone onboard is a tactical nightmare however Princess have been doing this long enough to be able to get it right.

Diamond is a great ship with lots of space and a nice layout. Our cabin was at the front of the ship (not good during bad weather) and by the staff stairways which made it noisy during the night.

During the trip the ship was overtaken by the Norovirus, and whilst efforts were made to contain it, not everyone played by the rules and kept to their cabin. My husband was quarantined to our cabin for 4 days in total and I unfortunately had to have an injection to stop the sickness by a very indifferent male nurse who did not even wipe my skin with an antiseptic wipe before or after the injection and promptly charged $100. Read more