We choose this cruise, as I wanted to take a friend who has never cruised to see if she enjoyed it before booking a longer one. I have been on several cruises (mostly Celebrity), and really enjoy the experience. So this small comedy one came up. Was a fabulous price (back to you get what you pay for?). Firstly, there was a 4 hour delay in us getting on the ship, due to bad weather beforehand, yes, not anyones fault, however, it meant hanging around Sydney with our bags for an extra 4 hours, not fun!! Secondly, the air conditioning in our cabin (5203) was so noisy, it sounded like jet engines taking off! It was also not working and making the room extremely humid! We complained several times (once using our phone, which reception responded, "I am sorry, but we cannot hear you over that noise!" So, over to reception I went, to explain yet again, our horrible our room was due to the noise and humidity! We will fix it was there response. Well, no sleep that night, stinking hot, and the noise! So next morning, back to reception, still not fixed! Then we get told we have to vacate our room between 10am and late afternoon, so they can fix it. OK, plenty to do on board, (even though we were so tired and just wanted to sleep), off we went! Came back at 5.30pm TO THE SAME PROBLEM! They didn't get time to look at it!!!! They brought us a FAN, lol, yes a FAN, this was their solution! When they dropped it off, he even said, wow, that is noisy, and it is very hot! YES! WE KNOW. Reception then promised to have it fixed whilst we were at dinner, and yes, it was fixed then. However, we had missed out 4 hours to start with, and now 1 night and day. No compensation, not even a "we are sorry to inconvenience you", nothing, zip. Things did improve from here on. The Pearl is a old lady and is showing her age, obviously maintenance is something that she will not receive now, as she is due to retire early next year. One set of lifts were out of action the whole time as well. The food was "ordinary", but who cares, I didn't have to cook or clean! lol.. I won't go P&O again, rather save a bit more, and go Celebrity, the difference is worth the extra $.