I have been cruising for more than twenty years with nine cruise lines. I'm at Elite level in Princess Captain's Circle. After some years away from Princess we joined four friends to board in Shanghai for a return cruise to Australia, celebrating two birthdays and an anniversary. I understand some adverse weather conditions led to the ship's late docking in Shanghai, which caused a queue to shuffle for two hours in the heat, though under cover.

On board we found a well-appointed mini suite, the best yet found on Princess. We had a large bathroom with big square, modern basin, ideal for washing small things and a full-sized bath. The walk-in wardrobe was spacious and for the first time ever, had enough coat hangers. Extra space in the stateroom gave it a large feel, though it had the tiniest balcony I've ever seen on a ship. There was just room to sit on a chair without having knees against the glass surround.

The ship is badly designed in several areas. Inside is almost completely enclosed with only occasional small windows to the sea view. The largest view to the sea is from the watch concession and that's to the starboard side only.There is no observation/panorama lounge fore or aft and the ship's wake can only be seen from an exposed, small Wake View Bar on deck 16. Our eastern itinerary prohibited enjoyable sail-aways there due to the heat and wind. It is also noisy due to the large number of passengers. We passed on pre-dinner drinks in the confines of dim inside bars. Our early arrival to a flare-decorated Sydney harbour could only be watched from private side balconies simultaneous with the ship's TV webcam, a shame. Read more