We chose this cruise based on the fact it went out of Fremantle. Living in Perth this appealed to us. Although we have cruised many times we hadn't cruised with Princess so we thought we would give it a go.

The boarding of the ship was pain free and very well organised as was the disembakation in Singapore. The staff in the dining room and the entertainment staff were excellent. The cabin steward was very good and the room was nice and quiet and clean but Unfortunately there's not much else I can rave about on this ship.

It was clear it was in need of some TLC and was certainly evident that it was scheduled to have some maintenance work carried out. Some of this work was started before we docked in Singapore. Trying to relax around the pool with the crew dismantling sections of the ship around me wasn't my idea of a relaxing break. The drinks package was also very over priced and they started to run out 4 days into the cruise. These were not restocked as the ship was scheduled to go into dry dock in Singapore at the end of our holiday. This meant the only beer available was to be VB. with the drinks package priced at over $1200 per person and then capped at a total of 15 drinks per day I found this to be a complete rip off. The food was also very average in the main dining areas. If you were prepared to pay the extra and eat in the Share or steak house you could experience what most other cruise lines offer as standard. The laundromat facilities were often out of service and crowded. We found princess offer a loyalty program were they reward people who cruise with them multiple times to gain benefits like getting their laundry done and jumping ques at the service desk whilst making first time cruisers with Princess feel like 2nd class passengers. I have cruised with many different cruise lines but never experienced this before. I found the only people who didn't mind this were the people who had only cruised with princess and didnt know any different. These people were quick to tell you they were "elite" or almost "elite"??? And wore there coloured cabin key cards proudly around their necks even at dinner on formal nights, It's hardly the Queen Mary. Dress codes were not adhered to, ripped jeans and t shirts with sneakers is not my idea of smart casuall. We decided to join in with the fitness stretch and relaxation classes on a morning but had to give this up as they didn't have enough rubber mats to go around. Trying to do this on a hard floor wasn't ideal and I am still suffering with my back from the experience. Having to pay for soft drinks, water, coffee and ice cream came as a shock. The price of the photos and the hard sell to try and sell beauty products was a bit full on too. Trying to use the lifts became a bit of a chore as people would use it to go up one floor rather than walk up the stairs. Read more