First off, the worst part of the entire trip, the embarkation process......in a word....terrible! We can't be sure but we heard the Princess where trying a new procedure for Singapore but whatever the case it was a painfully slow and poorly implemented process. There was an option available to check in for the cruise at the Shangri La Hotel in Singapore on the night before the departure but as the hotel that we were staying in was quite some distance away and as we only had one night in Singapore anyway it was an option that we didn't take up. So the next day we arrived at the cruise terminal at 1pm to stand in a queue for an hour just to drop our bags off. Then it was another queue for an hour to check in when we were given a numbered ticket for a set time and hour or so later to come back to catch a bus for the half hour or so bus ride out to the container terminal where the ship was docked. Finally the end of queuing we thought. But we were wrong! On return after having some lunch we found that the ticket system for the buses had gone out the window and it was just a free for all so again we queued for half an hour for the bus. I might add that the first and last queues were outside in the tropical heat although in the shade. The whole area was extremely congested with different groups of people having to pass through the queue and the usual low life's that think it's their right to push in somewhere. At no point did anyone from Princess make an appearance to explain the proceedings or offer at least some cold water even after it must have been clearly apparent to them that things had gone badly wrong. Boarding was finally accomplished three hours and forty five minutes after arriving at the terminal. We heard from several people afterward who were making their first princess cruise that it would definitely be their last!

Anyway, now that part is out of the road, I'm happy to say that it was all good sailing after that and the captain did apologise in his welcome aboard speech.

We have previously travelled on the Diamonds sister ship, the Sapphire, and love the general layout of decks. Our cabin this time was a balcony one on Baja deck. Cabin B703 to be exact and were very happy with it's location. As a note don't pick one with a balcony directly underneath on Dolphin deck as they protrude much further out and are constantly being inundated by water dripping off the Skywalker lounge which projects out over the ships sides overhead.making them unusable for much of our cruise. The ship had just come out of dry dock on the day prior to our cruise so everything on board was spick and span. Lots of new carpet everywhere and an outdoor cinema screen had been added. We didn't make use of this as the last half of the cruise had some rather brisk windy nights (blankets are provided) but they still had movies on indoors for those that prefer them that way. They have also added an area known as the Sanctuary which is located where the tennis court and I think jogging track used to be .Above the gym and spa area. ( the ship no longer has a jogging track so you are confined to the treadmills if that's your thing)This is of dubious value and requires you to pay either 10 or 20 dollars for a half or full day to use plusher deck chairs and sit around some potted palms. It seems they may do massages and such like there as well. Whatever the case we never once saw the area being used so it seemed a bit of wasted deck space to us. We like the fact that so much of the ship is off limits to smokers though the fact that they gather in the casino makes this area a no go zone for us anyway. Read more