We are relatively new to cruising with this being our 4th cruise. After being told how wonderful Princess is by experienced cruisers on previous voyages, and reading reviews that were complimentary in the main, we booked this 12 day cruise home to Sydney from Singapore as a Princess sampler. We understood Diamond had just completed a refurb in 2014 and were looking forward to a newish ship experience.

The first thing we learned is that most Princess passengers are fiercely loyal to the brand and Princess in return gives it's Elite and above passengers the royal treatment, at the expense of all others. From embarkation, to passenger services, to tender boarding, we were left standing in queues while these preferred passengers were brought through ahead of us. Princess did not provide enough staff to service these preferred customers separately.

It appears the refurb was limited to public areas and suites and above. Our inside cabin was tired and linen threadbare. Wardrobe space was ample and we liked that our suitcases actually fitted under the bed. Bathroom was comparible with other cruise lines. Instead of the usual pitch black of an inside cabin, we had full mirrors on the back and front walls, so between the green night light, red TV standby light, blue DTV and the white hall lights under the door and through the peephole, all reflected to infinity by the two opposing mirrors, it was like sleeping in a disco without the music. Spare pillows stuffed against the door, tissue in the peephole, unplug the TV and problem largely solved, except it takes ages to reboot the TV. Read more