.We boarded the Sun Princess after 5-00pm in 38C heat in an building without aircon because of a ship sanitisation caused by the norovirus. Third cruise in a row as it turned out that the virus was on board and the third ship sanitisation. Sometimes 70 plus cabins reported illness overnight and so it went for the entire cruise. A challenging time for guests and crew. But when no-one was checking that guests washed their hands on day one so perhaps no surprise. The virus struck 2 days after embarkation and cases were reported on the last day of the cruise at sea. Questions have to be asked about food hygiene and cleaning procedures as the same cloth was used to wipe down seats and the tables in the buffet as well as clean up food spills by serving staff. Also the buffet offered almost warm and sometime cool food and the servers could be seen scaping cold food from near empty platters onto fresh food. The ship itself was in good condition and our cabin A352 cramped with a small TV and was just below the pool deck which made the cabin noisy early in the morning while crew set up tables and chairs above. So much for an unrequested upgrade given to us less than two weeks before the cruise so we could not ask that no change be made as we selected our cabin 7 months ago after checking Cruise Critic cabin reviews. Dining has fallen dramatically on the Sun P since our last cruise. No pizza bar, no pizza restaurant, no free ice ream. It was ironic that PL was launching the Curtis Stone Share Restaurant in the old Pizza free restaurant space during a norovirus crises where the spin was pushing the charm of passing around and sharing plates of food. The dining room food was uninspiring with small portions. The buffet. Well one had to be particularly ravenous to even contemplate many dishes presented. Cold, poorly presented, repetitive dull food with little taste and sometimes undercooked. Couldn't really spot much difference between lunch and dinner menus.Our airline food on the flight back home was gourmet in comparison. If the buffet was competing for business at our local shopping mall they would fail miserably. A vegetarian would go without on occasion and vegans would starve,healthy choice diners and low carb enthusiasts would suffer despair at what they saw. The entertainment was patchy but the PC dancers and singers were good. Maurizio in the atrium was a breath of fresh air and pleased everyone, what a cruise treasure he is.Good cabin TV programmes. Good to see deck chairs on the prom deck although the cruise staff failed in enforcing the smoking guidelines as smokers were smoking all around the prom deck unchallenged. Service was inconsistent as all crew were busy fighting the invisible norovirus which meant some crew had two jobs at peak times in the buffet and others were filling in for ill crew. Not many smiles and friendly service on this cruise nor a Captains cocktail party for past cruisers due the norovirus. Cruse director staff were invisible as none wanted to be in contact with the infected passengers. Many past guests expressed the view that they would now look to another cruise line. We enjoyed the Indonesian itinerary and the Komodo Island tour . The other tours were overpriced and we did our own thing on shore, a wonderful experience being shown around by the locals.. Would we go again? We are thinking hard about PL now as they appear to have made so many cuts the enjoyment on board is fast evaporating. Read Less

We chose this cruise as it was its first time in Australia they over emphasised the fact because when we got on our interpretation from the advertising was different the services were appauling. When we embarked we waited 3 hrs just to embark the line was huge and there was no effort to keep the line moving. We eventually got on and on one of the nights the ship movement was bad mostly everyone was sick, a ship like this isn't designed for Australian waters, during the night of a couple of the nights the noise from the ocean was bad as the walls and windows aren't sound resistent. Our stateroom attendant was very helpful all the way through and was very assitive. The food was appauling as they all had similar or same menus , windjammer was just basic and waiting for resturants was dissapointing. The cruise was good for those injured on crutches or in a wheeelchair as they would get priority. Entertainment for kids was good but to line up for activities was rediculous we waited 1 and a half hrs for bumper cars , had to book for Ifly, limited availability for roller skating sessions. Being on deck 3 was terrible as you could here everything. I would never travel on this ship again and it was my children's first time so we were dissapointed and unsure whether we would cruise again with royal Caribbean. Read Less

Our 30th wedding anniversary cruise had been 18 months in the planning, and it was well worth the wait! We chose Sea Princess for this cruise as we had fond memories of our very first cruise aboard her, and she was leaving from our home port, Fremantle. We also were keen on the itinerary as it visited some ports we had been to previously, but included some new ones for us to experience. Embarkation: This was a little slower than previously, and the time schedule given in advance for boarding seemed to bear no resemblance to what actually took place. Having said that, we were on holiday, so who really cared! Stateroom: We chose a balcony in Baja deck and were very satisfied again. Please note my comments below. Dining: We mainly used the MDR for dinner, and the Horizon for breakfast and lunch. The standard of food again was excellent. Because the cruise was, in effect, two separate cruises back-to-back the MDR menu was repeated in the second leg of the journey, but this allowed us to try a variety of dishes from the same menu. Special mention needs to be made of the Ultimate Balcony Dinner which was a real treat and one we would highly recommend. Entertainment and activities: We enjoyed MUTS, although we felt the range of movies was somewhat limited, and the stateroom TV options also were not as expansive as previously experienced on other Princess ships. The piano shows in the atrium were excellent and the art auctions were interesting and well supported, although there did seem to be more of these than on previous cruises. We made daily use of the gym and really enjoyed the facilities. Service: The stateroom steward, Kenneth, was very professional. He was right on the ball, very efficient without being intrusive, and responded quickly and happily to any requests we made. Our MDR waiters, Lohita, Denchai and Angelito also gave excellent service and added to the pleasant dining experience. Ports and shore excursions: We chose carefully which ports we would visit (not ones serviced by the tender boats) and used Princess organised tours at two of those. Penang: We did the Royal Selangor Pewter, Spice Farm, and the butterfly farm, Entropia. We would really recommend this tour! It was interesting, informative and good value. We had visited Penang previously independently, but this tour gave us a fresh look at the island and piqued our desire to visit again. Singapore: We did this independently and visited Sentosa Island. The highlight here was the cable car around the island, giving us a wonderful overview. Again, we will need to pay another visit now to explore further! Ho Chi Minh City: Our first time in Vietnam and we thoroughly enjoyed it! We did the organised tour to the lacquerware factory plus a city tour including time at the markets, and two hours in Dong Khoi Street to shop independently. Again, we would thoroughly recommend this tour. The guides on each of the Princess tours were very articulate and informative. Bangkok (Laem Chabang): We took the shuttle to Pattaya as it was much closer than Bangkok. We enjoyed a day at leisure in Pattaya at the mega shopping mall, and the highlight there was trying the Thai equivalent of a laksa in an authentic Thai restaurant where no one spoke English! The resulting meal was fiery hot, but very enjoyable! The remaining days were either sea days or days we stayed onboard. These provided opportunities to read, play scrabble, star gaze, and generally fully relax. All too quickly the cruise came to a successful finish. Disembarkation at Fremantle was smooth and problem-free. All in all, this was a memorable cruise, and one from which we returned feeling very refreshed. We will definitely be travelling with Princess again. Read Less

Having sailed on the Sapphire and Emerald we dis not think we would be in for such a disappointment . MANY people had their rooms flooded, toilets not flushing, lack of hot water and the list goes on. Many mornings , early hours, there would be noises like you were in an industrial area. Grinders, chipping hammers,paint odour and voices. I had read this type of complaint by past passengers butt it was too late. We had already paid and the cancel date had passed. The food and service was more than satisfactory. Would recommend but this review is directed at the ship. Incidentally this vessel has been sold to P & O. I heard it goes into dry dock around May 2017 and will be launched under a different name. As a cruise liner in its current condition it would make a great imitation reef. Be aware the photo shown of " your room" may not be accurate. Ours showed one thing and it was considerably smaller to the point one person could go to bed walking alongside the bed. The other side was absolute minimal room , about 200mm with a chair blocking access so you had to climb into bed from the end of the bed. DEFINATELY avoid this vessel for now. Certainly pay attention to passenger reviews. Our room was not as advertised but luckily we didn't have the inconveniences that many passengers encountered. Very disappointing as we have enjoyed previous tours with OTHER princess ships. Read Less

My husband and I embarked on the Queen Elizabeth for a 18 night Asian leg of her Maiden Voyage. We have both cruised before, my husband with P and O and myself with Star Cruises on the Virgo. Our balcony stateroom was very comfortable but the bathroom tiny, much smaller than the Virgo s. The sulleness of parts of the crew became evident almost immediately and this continued throughout the cruise. We found the housekeeping staff and the barstaff to be extremely friendly quitte different from the wait staff and the reception staff. My husband has had on-going problems with our on-board account with numerous errors being made and repeatedly repeated. The tender way of getting to shore cannot be avoided at some ports I accept that but when the Queen Elizabeth goes into HongKong on her Maiden Voyage one would think we would be docked for the duration, not so, we spent a night in Junk Harbour having to be ferried in by the tenders which takes up so much of one s valuable time when in port and is an extremely uncomfortable way to travel. My husband and I are in our early 60 s but the majority of the passengers, by far, were in the 70-85 age group which became quite depressing. They were quite snobby which added to our dis-enchantment. Consequentally the activities and entertainment were aimed at this age group. Would I travel with Cunard again, that s a no but to each his own. Read Less