We just completed a 15 night cruise out of Sydney visiting Papua New Guinea and the Solomons. The experience on Sun Princess was first rate. The ship may be showing it's age in some regard with a few minor maintenance and appearance details but over all Princess presented a very good cruise. The staff and crew in all areas of the ship were excellent, professional and attentive. Food presentation and quality was also excellent in all the dining venues we attended including Horizon Court, Verdis Pizzeria, Regency Dining Room and the open deck grill on deck 14.

The ship was generally very clean and our relatively spacious balcony cabin was spotlessly maintained by our fantastic steward Ernie. Not once did we encounter a crew member who was not courteous and friendly. Princess have trained their crew well and morale seemed very good on board. A minor respiratory viral outbreak towards the end of the cruise was swiftly and professionally dealt with very good hygiene practices observed at all times helping to mitigate matters. These things are bound to happen from time to time with a majority of susceptible elderly passengers in relatively combined conditions.

Entertainment and activities provided suited the age demographic of the guests well as there were very few younger passengers noted on board for this cruise. The pool area and active games provided would have suited a younger set if present. The only area Princess may have improved on this cruise was in the provision of shore excursions. Granted, some of the ports visited in PNG were relatively remote as far as tourist activity was concerned and options were fairly limited but it was a little disappointing to find no shore excursions offered for Honiara which is a major center with a rich cultural and WW2 history. Maybe some reason for this? Overall the cruise was great. The itinerary very good and we'll be happy to sail with Sun Princess and her fantastic crew again.