My husband, and I planned on this cruise for over 2 yrs. We were so excited to visit a part of the world we did not see before, and like the list of ports we would visit. When we booked this cruise (on board the Regal Princess on a prior cruise), we were given information the Diamond Princess was going to be a newly refurbished ship, with upgrades throughout. What was not told to us was the Diamond Princess did not have the Princess exclusive International Cafe, Vines, or the Pizzeria! These are Princess passenger favorites! The Piazza had always been a great meeting place with friends for a coffee/pastry/dessert/wine & pizza, and all of the above. While that was disappointing, we made the best of it, and found other places to meet.

The weather was uncooperative at best. We missed not one, but two ports. Excursions were cancelled, we had more consecutive days at sea in rough weather. There were more than two times the doors were roped off so that we could not exit the ship to stand/walk outside. I realize it was in the nature of safety, still it was disappointing. The pools were drained, again due to the poor weather. The movies under the stars played but you couldn't enjoy due to high winds, and rain on, and off. The rug at our slider door (D409) had to be pulled up, and towels placed due to water getting into our cabin from the high swells. This went on for a couple of days. The bathrooms are old with mildew on the shower walls. On days you could stand on your balcony you could hear "crickets"..no literally..Crickets! I thought it was my imagination hearing cricket all above me. It was while I was walking on the 15th deck did I actually see them! Alive, and dead - crickets everywhere! When questioned about it, I was told they always get bugs from Auckland! That would be yet another thing we were not informed about when we booked. It would have made the difference of booking this particular cruise or not. Princess did not seem concerned with it at all. No! Bugs, and critters do not belong on a luxury cruise liner no matter where it sails!To soften the blow of the many disappointments on this cruise, the Cap't. relayed a refund of $100 AU to be used on the ship, as well as a 15% discount of what we paid for this cruise to be used on a future cruise. While you have 2 yrs. to book when you purchase a future cruise on board, this 15% discount needs to be used by end of 2018. Poor planning in my opinion. Keep it consistent with rules of the future cruise program. So while we had a great time with friends, and the food of course was terrific, the service staff always wonderful, after being excited for 2 yrs. waiting to sail in this part of the world we left feeling we didn't get to see what we planned for.