We chose Diamond Princess because it tied in with a Japan cherry blossom tour, but were somewhat concerned by some negative reviews about the state of the ship and its service. However, we found the ship to be spic and span, just out of a period in drydock in Singapore where it received a spruce-up. Cabins, food, dining service and the general program were quite good although some of the land excursions at minor Japanese ports and Busan Korea were not exciting and quite expensive for what you got. The fellow passengers were mainly Australian/American/European with Japanese and other Asian guests making up maybe a third. Some reviewers have felt that the ship is too Japanese, but we found it to have a sensible balance of Western and Japanese cuisine and activities. We were however quite disappointed that a number of the usual Princess specialty restaurants were not offered - no Chefs Table, no Steakhouse. Only Sabotinis Italian was offered for online booking. We dined there but found that while pleasant, it had a limited menu and was nothing special. Drinks are expensive on board. There were some good shows. We have two specific complaints. The first was that it often was difficult to find a quiet space for reading as the lounges are used for activities or have video screens blaring all the time. The adult lounge (The Sanctuary) requires booking at $40 per day, and appeared empty most of the time. Our other complaint was that they put out bowls of fruit which looked appetising, but were unripe, hard and inedible. Read Less

Chose the cruise for the itinerary. Wonderful ports. The food never disappoints. Cabin service was great. The entertainment was varied. My favorite is always the production numbers and Secret Silk was outstanding. I would have liked the others to be a bit longer. The ship seemed to have issues. There were a number of leaks with buckets around to catch the water. There were power issues in some of the rooms. Our dining experience is always good. The food was varied and prepared to order. The wait staff was attentive, courteous and friendly. They seemed to enjoy their work. The shore excursions were awful. We only did 2 and that was too many. The experience was terrible. Everything seemed to be very unorganized. We did private tours in most ports and had great experiences. I love Princess and will continue to sail with them. I hope this was just a fluke. Read Less

We chose this cruise based on a couple of the cities that were on the itinerary that we had never been to before. Unfortunately, when we arrived onboard to our stateroom, there was a letter stating that Koh Samui had been removed from the itinerary and they had replaced it with Sihanoukville in Cambodia. This was not a huge issue, considering we had not been to Sihanoukville before, so we were looking forward to going there instead, as an alternative. In relation to the shore excursion, we opted for the free shuttle that was offered. After waiting 1.5 hours in the baking sun on the port in a huge line, we were informed that the shuttle buses were stuck in traffic and they didn't know how long it would be till they arrived. A guest suggested that a drink of cold water and some umbrellas for shade would be a good idea for the elderly and the children stuck in the line (this was after waiting for over an hour) and finally we received them. When one shuttle bus finally arrived back in port, the passengers who got off it said they had been on the bus for 3 hours. They had been stuck in traffic in the one spot for 2 hours going nowhere and then the bus turned around and brought them back to port. They didn't get to the market at all. Another passenger who had gotten a private taxi to the market said that it wasn't even worth going to. Very busy, crowded and only items relevant to the locals were being sold there. We had been keen to go to the market and then get a tuk-tuk down to the beach for a few hours. We thought they should have found out beforehand how many people were interested in going on the free shuttle so they could have had an idea of numbers instead of just waiting to see how many people lined up to get off. We were very disappointed to have missed out on this opportunity, especially after the disappointment of missing out on Koh Samui. The reason they had given us for bypassing Koh Samui was that there would be too many ships in port on the day of our arrival. These itineraries are arranged a year in advance. This did not seem like a very valid or viable reason, given that if Koh Samui were going to turn away a ship, it not likely be 3,000 cashed passengers. The tv advertisements for the cruises always show just a couple of people enjoying privacy and space on the ship and on the shore excursions. this is not the reality. But if you go with that in mind, you wont be too shocked at how busy it is and the shore excursions are always a bit of a rush and expensive. The food is very good and I loved having the formal nights. It is lovely to get dressed up and have a fancy dinner. It was also really good that everyone else was dressed up too. It wasn't just a few people, nearly everyone joined in on the formal nights. We were also pleased that once a movie had been shown on the outdoor cinema that it was then available to watch again in your stateroom on your tv. There was a great variety of movies and shows available in your stateroom. We purchased the soft drink package before we left. We had a note in our stateroom that the complimentary tumblers that came with the package were all gone and more would be arriving soon. In the meantime, they gave us a bottle of water each for our room as a thank you for our patience whilst we waited for them to arrive. A few days into the cruise, we went to the reception desk to enquire about the tumblers only to be told that the bottle of water was all we were being given. The card we had stating that we would be receiving the tumblers was wrong and there was nothing we could do about it. Again, a bit disappointing, but it didn't detract from our overall relaxing holiday that we enjoyed. Read Less

We always love the Princess cruises, they offer information on other cultures through their excurisions. We love to visit other lifestyles , eat local cuisine and buy some hand made tems for rrat memories. The staff is usually head and shoulders above any vacation resort. A floating city with plenty of choices for things to do and eat and someone to take pictures in a cute way so you may remember the moment. You could relax by any of the pools , restaurants, bars ,or fitness spots. You can spoil yourself with a spa treatment play on the internet read a book from the library or just relax and soak up the sun on a deck chair. There is usually high quality entertainment to enjoy or even participate in. If you are a jewelery junky, you will be in heaven. High quality designer pieces at ressonable prices. In all it is a wonderful way to travel and relax without having to drive where you are going. A definate way to get away. Always two thumbs up. Read Less

We choose this cruise for the itinerary. Singapore is one of our favorite destinations. This cruise offers the variety of visiting Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Thailand. The production shows on this ship are excellent. The "Club Class" dining for suite guest is amazing. The staff is very helpful and friendly. The ship offers excellent shore excursions at a fair price. We were in a VISTA Suite (C750-Vancouver Suite).....we really enjoyed high tea service on the balcony. This is truly the best way to visit Southeast Asia. The suite guest get "Any Time" Club Class Dining in the Santa Fe Restaurant. The restaurant staff is excellent. We ate in two other specialty restaurants.... Sterling Steakhouse & Sabitini's Italian...both venues were excellent. We bought the "Gorumet Coffee Package"....the special coffees were excellent. The ship shore excursions and well done and at a good price. We took a ship's excursion at each port of call and were completely pleased. The casino favors Asian guests. Overall the food, accommodations, staff and service were excellent. I would highly recommend this cruise vacation. Read Less

This cruise went in and out of Singapore. All wheelchair access cabins from Fremantle (our home port) were booked to 2020 for school holiday periods. Singapore is a direct flight, 5 hours from Perth about the same as flying to Brisbane. The cruise itinerary was perfect for Mum and Dad, lots of ports where they could see all the bustle from their balcony. Dad spent a lot of time on the balcony or in the cabin listening to the sea. He could get to a bar easily from his cabin with his walker. Getting to restaurants was much more difficult as they were much further from the cabin. He did build stamina getting to dinner every night. The restaurants had good meals and great service. A couple of times they realised the helpings for a dish might be a bit small for our teenage boys and offered and supplied something more. They also kept topping up the bread rolls for them. We mostly went to the buffet for breakfast and Dad had breakfast in the cabin. For lunch, we sat near one of the pools and got a selection from the buffet, pizza and burger places. Going around the buffet, after the walk there, was too much for Mum and Dad. But what about the electric wheelchair? Well, we booked one just like the one Mum uses at home through Special Needs at Sea Group (SNG). It would be delivered to her stateroom and there for her on arrival. It needed to be left in the stateroom on departing the ship after 10 days. All sorts of penalties for us in the paperwork if we weren't there, if we didn't get everything right. BUT IT WASN'T THERE. No electric wheelchair. Princess Cruises knew it should be there but were having trouble contacting Special Needs at Sea. We left without it. We hoped it would be at the next port. It wasn't. SNG could only be contacted through the night because of the time difference. My nights were spent emailing and ringing SNG to find out when and where we would be getting our electric wheelchair. Eventually, nearly a week into a 10 day cruise, they said we wouldn't be getting one. This meant that Mum was left with me pushing her around in the wheelchair we had brought for getting to and from the airports. She could not move it around by hand (arthritis in hands and shoulders) any more than she can walk. I had to take her to the toilet all through the day. Shore excursions could be no more than 2 hours for me or she would have an accident. The cruise would have been wonderful for the whole family to spend quality time together if the electric wheelchair (powerchair) had been supplied by SNG as promised. This wrecked the cruise for us. It wasn't as though we could just get off and go home which was what we wanted to do. Read Less

Supposedly a 21 day cruise…….. My wife and I have just returned from our cruise together with another couple that we invited to come along. When we planned this trip it was supposed to be a gift from me to my wife and from her to me as a 55th anniversary present and our mutual 75th Birthday present. It turned out to be anything but pleasant. Princess has lost all consideration from us for any future trips as their status in our eyes have dropped by at least 50%. This is not only our viewpoint but also from many people we have talked to during the cruise. After our last email to Princess they did some good as they cleaned up a few things that were wrong including a new shower head and the leak under our bathroom console which they did not admit to, but my wife’s make up bags were completely soaked and her make up was damaged. We found most of the staff throughout the ship not pleasant as they normally are with the exception of our room stewart and our waiters. To get someone at the main desk we either had to line up for an hour since they never answered any calls, and if they did they were very unfriendly and hard to understand their English and one that identified herself as May was very rude. When we booked this cruise it was advertised as a 21 day cruise. Well it wasn’t. It was a 10 day and 11 day cruise which meant that after the first cruise was completed we all had to leave the ship in Singapore and re-board even though we didn’t want to go through the hastle in Singapore for Immigration and Customs. As well as that all our records were deleted from their files on the ship after the first segment which they called it and we had to start again such as in the Doctors office. The second segment they wanted to charge another $ 200.00 fee for checking us out which we had already paid on the first segment. The casino cashed out and cleared our points from our cards etc. etc. etc. The menu’s in the restaurants were the same as the first leg of the cruise and just repeated. Even some of the entertainment was repeated. So Princess’s sales pitch was not factually and they deceived people including us. The noise from over our cabins was never fixed. We were told that the sound insulation was very poor and there was nothing they could do to fix it. I told them that does a lot for my sleeping of which I got very little over the entire trip. Adding to this was the fact that I had a bad cough which once awake did not help me go back to sleep. They gave us a $ 250.00 on board credit but this was no appeasement whatsoever for the lack of sleep we had on this long 21 day journey. The second segment we were upgraded from Ruby status to Platinum status because of our mileage. No one explained to us what was included. We finally found out and tried to use our free internet which apparently was included but it was so slow as Princess already had over a hundred contractors on board for refurbishing this ship which was old in many respects. So your paying customers ended up having to suffer because of contractors Princess hired to refurbish this old ship. Some passengers could not even get their flight boarding passes because the system was over loaded. Our last excursion was also changed since apparently to many ships were in the harbour at Ko Samui Thailand and we ended up in Cambodia which was the dirtiest place that we ever seen. One of our friends told the Captain that if he ever stopped there again he might have a mutiny on his hands. Not much fun at all. You would have thought that a large liner like Princess could have foreseen such a change in the first place much earlier and stuck to its planned voyage. Our friends were extremely sick on board and saw the Doctor as well. They were stuck in the immigration line at San Francisco airport in Custom and Immigration line for 3 hours only to miss their flight home. United rebooked them but they had to pay an extra $1,000.00 for this re-booking. Whether this was charged to them still has to be verified. They did not offer them accommodation but as sick as both of them were they had to stay at the airport. I was under the impression the since Princess booked their flight this was Princess’s liability. And all of us carried the Princess Platinum insurance policy. Great help that turned out to be. We also want to send our medical bills in for repayment. Both our rooms had substantial medical costs. We were given a form of the policy and no other form to fill out or policy number etc.for Canadians. As far as we are concerned we will not book any future trips with Princess and we will let everyone we know about our experience in this cruise. We loved Princess but that love affair is over. I am a member of Trip Advisor and will post this letter on their website. We have been contacted by Princess customer service with a lot of apologies for what we went through. They were gracious enough to offer us $ 250.00 Credit towards our next cruise. What does that do n for the lack of sleep and besides I was very emphatic that we would no longer book anything on Princess. I think there are plenty of cruise lines out there that would appreciate our business in future. The Doctor aboard this ship also told one of the passengers that this is not a hospital ship and that they were to old to cruise. One year older than I am. WOW. To all Princess customers be aware, cautious. It is obvious Princess is not trying to solve any of these issues with sincerity. Read Less

We were limited on dates that we could go on a cruise so chose the Malaysian Peninsular. Some of the ports were really disappointing, particularly Phuket. Our cabin was dated and needed refurbishing, the carpet was very worn. Typical Princess layout in the atrium. The staff and service was excellent and no complaints with the buffet food in the Horizon although many passengers did not wash their hands as they should when entering. We were around the pool every day trying to find a lounger that offered shade, it would be good if they could provide more shade. People still reserve loungers for hours even though they are requested not to. To save washing and continual re stocking of pool towels, passengers should be asked to take just one towel instead of 2-4 each. The captain of this ship and cruise should be applauded, he was a very caring and thoughtful person, went over and beyond with explanations, information apologies and as another passenger said - a true gentleman. The cruise was okay, we wouldn't do a similar itinerary again. Read Less

This ship needs a major overhaul as it really starting to look ragged the cabins decor need a major revamp shower head kept falling down aircondition in cabin did not work properly we had it set on the highest possible but still woke up sweating at night. Very poor quality food in the Horizon breakfast always the same Now they changed the coffee card system when you buy this it goes on your cruise card what you don;t use you loose no more paper card that you van use on all ships good rip off We have travelled many times on princess over 500 days but the standard s have dropped .to a new low. the shows were very good and the entertainment fine. the staff were fine both cabin and dining room service was good Ports were fine what we expected. Would we sail princess again not for a while Read Less

We wanted to experience a Christmas Cruise. Unfortunately Christmas Day was not as expected, just the usual meals. Christmas Eve there was just Christmas Carols. I expected to have events leading up to Christmas where we could all do things together and make craft things or just do something Christmassy. If you wanted to do anything extra during the cruise, it was so expensive, everything you had to pay extra for. The off board activities were a rip-off. But worst of all we were talked into purchasing some art and told if it didn't suit the house we could return it and receive a refund. 3 months later we still haven't received a refund and worse than that, they actually keep 25% of the refund for us to purchase more art. They are not accountable to anyone. The entertainment was below 3rd class. Why would I want to go to Yoga at 7.00am on a holiday? There was nothing to do while at sea I will never ever go on a Princess Cruise again. Read Less