Embarkation . Stayed in Syndey 3 days prior to cruise so got to the port early around 11am prepared to wait but was on the ship by noon. All I can say about Syndey it is absolutely a wonderfull city and enjoyed our stay there and our trip to the Blue Mountains. Once on the ship we had an aft cabin and it was what I expected. Cabin steward did a great job. Did not see him much but din not need to because everything was up to par. The princess production shows were excellent and the rest of the shows ok. Problem was in order to get a seat you had to get there early. I got there early once and saw many people reading books. Ater a couple days I was not going to sit there for an hour and just got there 10 minutes before the show and just stood in the back. Seem to me they did have a design problem. They just do not have enough seats. I will say this about food on this ship and since it is a subjected topic and I say that the food in the buffet was disapointing and the dining room good. We have learned to lower our expectations regarding the the food. In the buffet i took a pre-maid ham and cheese omelet but the princess found a new way to make then without the ham and cheese. I had clam chowder without any clams one day and I took a pre-made wrapped BLT but no bacon in the sandwich. The only real issue I had was after 3 days I check my bill and found I was being charge for one thousand dollars for shore excursions that I did not book. I told the Purser that I did not book any with Princess and then he told me that I had to go to the Shore excursions desk to to see what was going on. After standing in line for 45 minuted I showed the girl the bill and told her that I did not book anything and her answer to me was (exact words) sir you must have booked them or they would not be on your bill. I tried to explain that they were all on the same days and there was no way I could even take them and then she asked me if I had the tickets. I kept my cool at this point but was ready to explode and told her to get someone out here who I could talk to and she went and got some guy and I explained the issue to him and then he went in back and came out in about 30 minutes and told me he they were billed to wrong room and he would rectify the situation. They have some real jerks working this counter. The rest of the cruise was very good and anyone considering this itinery you will not be dissapointed. The casino was very good to us and I won a lot of money at the craps table. After the cruise we stayed for 3 days in Auckland another great city. Any questions i will answer them. epoulos7654@sbcglobal,net