Having done the Christmas/New Year cruise from Fremantle to Indonesia last Christmas on the Sun Princess I couldn't help but compare both the ships and the cruise. Found the larger ship a bit disappointing - the layout seemed very disjointed and harder to get around. The overall atmosphere onboard was not as celebratory, perhaps a reflection on the departure port - ie more international guests and less 'Aussies'.

Mostly, I found the entertainment frustrating and lacking. The Cruise Director and cruise staff were great however the standard of the Princess singer and dancer performances were not to the standard experienced on three previous Princess cruises. The guest entertainers, whilst mostly talented, were quite repetitive (eg two separate middle aged female singers with great voices and enjoyable repertoires that were however very similar).

The scheduling of all of the entertainment and activities was also frustrating with many a time up to three activities I was interested in attending taking place at the same time. I have not experienced this on previous cruises, but again, perhaps this was a consequence of the bigger ship. Read more