So I've read a lot of bad reviews about this ship and they are not true at all. I've cruised Costa before as well as Princess, Celebrity, NCL, RCI etc.. To start with it's worth saying that this is not an American cruise line, its quintessential European (Italian) and you get what you pay for! We paid for a suite for the same price of an ocean view on a similar Celebrity cruise itinerary of the far east. Pro's: - Free room service breakfast (for suites) was well worth it. It avoided the queues and the rather bland breakfast buffet. Really good option! - Staff were generally amazing. Especially restaurant staff, our Butler Angelo and our room steward Babbo (?) - Lunch buffet and dinner buffet were good. Not amazing but on par with carnival cruises -Evening meals at the speciality restaurant which is included for suite guests is good! Some really good options especially if you are a fish eater! - Clean ship with lots of pools and hot tubs, plus a free spa which is good -Suites are awesome and worth paying the extra for! Huge balcony and shower room, plus priority boarding , tenders, disembarking etc.. Con's: - Entertainment is generally terrible. I don't go on cruises for the entertainment, but if you do then please note this! You get what you pay for with the entertainment - The food is generally geared towards meat eaters at the sit down restaurants. Just a note for any vegetarians or vegans. I coped ok, but with a lot of cheese and pasta - The experience would have been considerably different had we not had a suite. Our friends had a standard balcony and said they didn't enjoy it as much due to not as great food options, queuing, no free drinks package , no butler etc.. we had such an awesome deal it made sense. Could never afford it on NCL or princess etc.. Generally very good, great itinerary and I would recommend it for anyone looking for something slightly different and cheaper. Read Less

-smoking area is situated next to swimming pools. Under a roof & not on open deck. Where children & families spend a lot of time. As an asthmatic I found this disgusting & a trigger for my asthma - billing issues , My advice track your spending & keep an eye on your account. Extra charges were put onto accounts such as pool towel usage $100 & alcoholic beverages, supposedly purchased by a non drinker -unable to keep fresh milk Or juices in cabin fridge, fridge cleaned daily & contents thrown out by, I am assuming room staff -a lot of “extras” on board. And extras are expensive e.g. $12 U.S to hire an in-cabin movie. -we had an unfortunate issue on board which I am in the process of going through the correct channels of complaints. RC need to look at and amend the code of conduct policy it seems a young intoxicated male who causes an incident by verbal aggression and harassment towards women gets off with a guarantee from his parents he will behave for the remainder of the cruise. While other men who were provoked by this male were removed from the ship. Read Less

Third cruise overall, third with Royal, first through Asia. The overall experience had pluses and minuses when compared to previous sailings through the South Pacific (on Radiance and Explorer). Pros - the indoor pool was a great space to relax with the kids outside of the harsh SE-Asian sun, with the air-conditioning just right (not too cold, not too hot). The Solarium was a beautiful space when I got the child-free opportunity to spend time there, which was not often. The 270* theatre is a peaceful location by day with gorgeous panoramic views of the sea. And lastly, the Music Hall is a terrific venue not found on other ships. Cons - The central Esplanade is a poor substitute for the Promenade or the Centrum found on other classes of RC ships. It felt like a soulless, exclusive shopping mall. There were very few areas on the ship where I felt like I had a connection to the ocean (in contrast to Radiance class ships where you can't escape sweeping ocean views). The staff service (Stateroom Attendant excepted) was poor to fair. Example - the Adventure Ocean staff were stern, unhelpful and appeared put out that you would even use their services. Bar staff were similar, sadly. I'll just put this down to a symptom of sailing an Asian cruise targeting international clientele, perhaps? I missed the Main Dining Room experience, which on Quantum Class is divided up into separate restaurants. It doesn't quite work, for me. Other observations - the Windjammer was constantly crowded. Bigger ship, bigger crowds I guess. The North Star was interesting, but really just a gimmick. iFly similar - good to try it and say 'I've done it'. Some terrific shows, including Sonic Odyssey and Starwater. Comedian Sam McCool played some gigs and was a standout. Conclusion - A cruise is a cruise and it's hard not to find something or somewhere enjoyable to spend your time. And this was certainly my experience. However for the first time I was not unhappy to disembark at the end. I will likely stick to smaller to mid-size ships in future. Read Less

Went on Costa Fortuna for about 2 weeks (2 adults 2 children) just came back. We have great things to say about the staff in restaurants, buffet and room service. The food was good and catered for food allergies. Although that’s it for the positives the rest was terrible. Spa manager was very rude, not all the gym classes booked online are available on ship. Took 6 attempts to get refunded. Kids club catered for Italians speaking mainly, even if on occasions the majority of kids spoke English. Entertainment very limited, musician accompanied by audio music. People complained for extra cost for water and gratuities. Pool deck unmanaged people leave towels on chairs all day (yet not used) leaving no seats available. Air conditioning in rooms hot and stuffy, reported 4 times no change. We had pina colada on board it was very watery no taste. Excursions on board way too expensive. Read Less

As a group of 9 people 4 young teens and 5 adults we chose this cruise to spend some relaxing time enjoying other countries. One of our group has special dietary needs which we were told would be catered for. Thanks to the maitre d of the Savoy it was. Everywhere else it was a constant battle. Boarding and disembarkation in Singapore was painless and well organised. Although several emails were sent requesting alcohol free white wine the best that could be located was blush . Shore excursions were taken. It's obvious that the cruise company only passes on info that suits them. Catering for specific tours only. At two ports we had no idea that a shuttle service would be available. If we'd known we would have had our own trip not the shopping trip the "tour" turned out to be. The unfortunate loss of the radars as we transitted the straits caused a change of port, the cancellation of Phuket and insertion of Langkawi meant tours had to be rearranged. Again a lack of info to the passengers until arrival meant the local bus to a beach was not common knowledge. The menu in the anytime dining area area far too repetitive. My previous cruises have provided a far wider range and better presented meals. I took the coffee package which was just okay - I drink long black (americano) however I was frequently asked if I wanted cream or milk ?? Very odd. Read Less

Not our first cruise, but has been a while. We decided to celebrate NYE cruising with our two teenage boys, and for the most part, the cruise was really enjoyable. THE GOOD Fully booked cruise, 2600 passengers, yet the ship never felt congested (in fact, at times it felt half empty). The shear number of public areas is fantastic, which effectively spreads out the guests and creates a really open feel. Sure the Horizon Court Buffet can get busy at peak times, but we never had trouble finding a table, and the vibe was actually really good with no issues sharing a table (which we enjoyed, as it was a chance to chat to other travelers). Contrary to some reviews I have read recently, I felt the food was at a very high level. The Horizon Buffet had a good variety, and I never was bored of the choices (I did the 10 day cruise, I suspect after 21 days it could get boring... but hey, better than cooking and washing up at home). The three anytime dining restaurants were excellent, with each having the same menu (Pacific Moon, Vivaldi and Savoy). I could not fault the food or the service, and it was a highlight of each day. The Creme Brulee was a particular favorite of my family. The Cruise Director (Matt "Gooooood Time" Baker) were funny and upbeat, and did their best to keep the party going (particularly on NYE). This is a really tough gig, as the demographic on cruises is so varied. All in all, hats off to them, they did a great job IMO. The decor and layout of the boat is OK, and comments that it is dated are a bit harsh. I have seen pictures of some really new ships, and yer they look pretty amazing, with GoKart tracks, and wave pools and sky diving, but read the reviews, who likes lining up for 1 to 2 hours on a ship to have a go at a showground attraction?? No lines for activities Sapphire. We had a Quad Bunk room with an Obstructed view.... no romance on this cruise, but hey, it was a family experience and the room was spacious and well appointed. No complaints here. The daily shore excursion enrichment seminars were fantastic, and the lady that ran these was excellent, with honest advice and a real knowledge of each shore visit. Hygiene was taken very seriously, with staff constantly reminding passengers to wash their hands. No illness outbreak that I was aware of. THE AVERAGE Christmas Cruise meant lots of kids, and for us this was great. My kids are 13 and 14 and in their Teen "Surf Club" program, there were 180 kids, and 500+ kids all up. For us, this was fantastic, as a big part of the cruise was our kids meeting friends and having a great time. The young lady running the Teen program (Valeria) was amazing and patient. Unfortunately I just don't think there was enough in the program to keep this age group engaged (another tough gig to be honest). My kids really wanted to participate in group activities, but many were a bit young, and they often opted to swim or catch up with kids outside the program. I felt this was a missed opportunity from Princess Cruises to really excel and have activities that were age appropriate and engaging. It wasn't bad, just not great. Entertainment. Sapphire has a pretty big auditorium, that largely sits empty. I felt there could have been more entertainment in this area. As someone has mentioned, rather than cinema outside in the hot, a daily Matinee Cinema would have been great, especially if the movies were current. The comedian was OK, and missed the mark a lot, and some shows felt flat. The Dance/Singing troop were pretty good, but under utilized. The Band "Xtasea". They were competent, but looked really tired. I think 2 bands were needed, as the play list was pretty repetitive. Two 45 minute sets a night, and then that was it, pretty much the only night time entertainment after 10:30pm was in the nightclub with a DJ, and it was pretty flat most of the time. THE BAD Internet. Pretty much non existent. Paid $99US for 240 minutes, barely had a chance to browse of download an email. Was told in the internet cafe that they had problems, and I was refunded the $99. ITINERARY The ship got struck by lightning on the 2nd sea day out of Bali, and that crippled the ships Radar. We had to anchor while repairs were conducted, and we finally got underway at around 2am the next day. This meant no KL port call, and the ship sailed to Penang, then cancelled Phuket and instead made a port of call at Langkawi. Personally, they should have just skipped KL and continued on with the set itinerary (Penang, then Phuket). Many passengers were upset about this. KL port is terrible, and the nearly 2hr coach ride to anywhere eats into any shore time. I feel it should be scrapped as a port of call. All in all, we had a great time, and I would not hesitate to book a trip on the Sapphire again. Read Less

This was our first experience on Norwegian. It was chosen mainly to perfectly fit over Xmas shutdown and for itinerary, despite overpriced airfares from Sydney to Singapore during busy holiday time. Overall , it was a very pleasant experience and I would recommend it. I could have done better for the shore excursion value but you pay for convenience. From start: We arrived to Singapore late at night and had a decent stay in Holiday Inn Express. We left at 11:00am , for MSC embarkation. Embarkation was challenging as NCL does not allocate time slots as other cruise companies, so this took two to three hours. Signing for Vietnam and Cambodian visa was easy but pricy and I was prepared to pay. We are Australians, so it costed us about A$200 each. We stayed in a balcony cabin 9112, which was of a reasonable size and clean. However there was a weird tapping noise all night probably from air conditioning. I have requested a fix or a change and we were moved to 10100 before lunch time following day. It was inconvenient to have to pack and move all our stuff but we did have some help from NCL. Jade was nice, smallish ship, adequate for our needs. First port was Koh Samui , and we opted for the beach, to have nice relaxing experience. Be aware of dodgy prices for cabs. We went to Nikki Beach Club, the cab fare should be around 300tbht. For Bangkok, I have booked shore excursion for two of us at A$482.00. I was not able to find anything prior to cruise privately. This was a little overpriced, it was a long but pleasant drive to the Grand Pallace, then nice lunch in a nice hotel then stop at an overpriced souvenir shop. We had overnight at Laem Chabang, we could have gone to Bangkok and stayed overnight and do a bot more sightseeing on our own. Following day we spent in Pattaya , we did shore excursion Pattaya on your own, overpriced US$59 ( same trip at the dock with a local tour $20). Then we had what was supposed to be two days in Singapore, we haven’t paid for any excursion, we moved around via metro. All you need to do is tap your credit card, no cueing for tickets. It was perfect, such a lovely city. Visited usual hot tourist spot, had lovely lunch at Marina Bay Sands, went to Gardens at night for light show, it was New Years Eve , it was perfect. Then onto Jade for a massive party. However the following morning was disappointing as we were sailing, I thought we had until 5:00 pm in Singapore. NCL mislead us in advertising, they did not advertise 5:00am, and 5 hours in a day hardly constitutes a day at port. Anyway we were going back to Singapore at disembarkation so I did not let this ruin my day. Cambodia was interesting, but so dusty due to massive Government projects. Bathrooms are challenging.... Market too busy, did not feel very safe and looked forward to return to Jade’s. Overpriced shore excursion at A$382.00 for two of us. Vietnam was a highlight of this trip, beautiful cities, I wish we had more time. Booked through shore excursion , it was excellent. We did Malaysia KL on our own, we wanted more freetime. If itwasn’t that hot, would be perfect. Phuket, we took a cab to the beach to enjoy the sunshine. I wish I had more time for shopping during this trip in general. Shops on the ship are very basic, nothing like Celebrity, but it is mainly due to ship size. Food on the ship was extraordinary. My gluten free needs were taken care promptly with preordering day in advance (thanks to Mary). Staff at the restaurants are amongst friendliest I’ve ever seen. We did not have set time for seating, and walked in every day. Lovely Paola was allocating always beautiful window tables for us and we thoroughly enjoyed the experience and ate at the main dining whenever available. Also, beds were not as comfortable as in the previous cabin and lovely staff gladly replaced the mattresses for a brand new ones. Internet is slow when everyone is on ship, overpriced for $450. If you don’t have needs wait until you come off the ship and use free wifi elsewhere. Entertainment was relatively good , some shows are exceptional, some I left at the beginning. Overall we had a wonderful experience and looking forward to cruise with NCL later this year ( should have taken advantage of Cruise Next !) Read Less

2 weeks sailing from Singapore 17/12/19 to 30/12/19. Paid extra over Christmas (nearly $5000 AUD. And so it went as follows: Air conditioning not working in cabin. No soap in cabin..had to ask for a $5000 cake of soap. mediocre room cleaning. No clean sheets for 2 weeks. Evacuation drill was a confused mess with no communication or guidance from staff. No help from staff to put on life vests as maintained that information regarding life jackets provided in writing in cabin. A member of the staff shoved me and yelled at me to move over during drill, despite there not being any room to move. To be manhandled in such a way made me feel like I was a cow in a feedlot...I'm 60 years old...I don't want to be deliberately pushed. Could not activate pre-booked wifi (that cost 113 Euro) as instructions in the cabin are totally wrong. Queued 3 times at hospitality services to get help with logging onto wifi & was given 3 different pieces of advice...all were wrong. And after 9 days of being extra frugal with the wifi and barely using half of our allotted 3G...the remainder was totally wiped out overnight via an unknown source. The hospitality services desk maintained that they had records from the server but could not provide us with the records as they were purely for Costa's information...another $180 AUD down the drain...couldn't even argue the toss without evidence. The staff were consistently rude, short-tempered and lacking in social skills. I witnessed a senior petty officer dressing down a junior member of staff in the buffet in full view of passengers.His behaviour was unbecoming of an individual in a management position and totally inappropriate. It was an embarrassment to watch and made me feel sick and saddened that someone could be humiliated so badly in a public arena. The tender to Koh Samui is privately contracted through a Thai company by Costa. The life vests were in a large plastic bag on the top deck. They were totally out of reach of lower deck passengers and inaccessible to upper deck passengers. There appeared to be no life vests for children and there was no Costa member of staff on board to guide and help passengers in the event of an emergency. All other crew members sonly spoke Thai. The thought of Costa allowing this situation to continue with the potential for children to drown is beyond belief and CRIMINAL! The tap water in the cabins was undrinkable. It looked like it had been mixed with raw sewerage. The water was turned off on one occasion without advice to passengers over the PAapparently because it was an emergency, however, they can always manage to blastpassengers with PA announcements that make money...Bingo, Bingo, Super Bingo!!! Theafter-hours water dispenser on the outer deck was frequently malfunctioning and other thanpaying for bottled water with 15% surcharge there was no water available as passengers were advised not to drink the tap water. The attention to hygiene on the ship was disgusting...the hand sanitizers in the eating areas were often empty. Most other cruise lines have addressed the issue of onboard hygiene with the veracity of a wounded COSTA! The poker machines in the casino did not work for 2 days...not because we were inport but because they were broken. The onboard information display booths were mostlybroken. The food was mostly pizza, pasta. No variety in cuisine despite there being a large Asian and Chinese passenger component. Even P&O can pull off a stir fry or a curry. NOT COSTA. But to be fair...the last 7 days Costa put on some Indian fare...but it was purely for a special Indian tour group and no-one else on board was permitted to eat it...totally speechless on this little gem of Costa brilliance! So as the smell of Marsalla wafted through the buffet the peasants who had paid $5000 AUD got to eat pizza, pasta. The entertainment...there was one movie screened in the 2-week festive season of Christmas and that was....wait for it...The Three Tenors in LA. Every kid on board was over the moon with excitement. Constant Italian music, daily games in Italian, Italian nightly shows in the theatre, Italian flags everywhere...nothing to embrace the global family. Every night at the buffet you had to queue for lengthy periods but the 11 pm christmas night buffet stole the show...crowded, disroganized, conducted in a venue where people were trying to dance and walk from one end of the ship...TOTALLY STUPID BUT SUMMED UP COSTA TO A TEE!! As a result only the greedy got fed...like they needed it!! to the other. Christmas night buffet was disroganized, crowded The dining room...only a photo could tell the story of that experience. And on top of all of that got slugged with a daily mandatory service fee for crap service (which I prepaid because I knew it was coming despite every other cruise line either abolishing or permitting waiver on this otherwise named "gratuity"). I feel so sad that I have wasted my money, our Christmas was an absolute disaster and Costa has gotten away with it. I would rather see the embarkation process stuffed up than small bodies floating off Koh Samui. Oh and another thing...yes you will be charged for visa to Cambodia whether you get off the ship or not and you will have to get off the ship in Singapore even if you are traveling on for another 7 days AND you will be instructed at the end of cruise disembarkation briefing to rate Costa a 10 because it will reflect badly on the crew members if you do not...NO PRESSURE, NO GUILT, NO WAY! Read Less

Having been a frequent cruiser for 20+ years, this was the first time I've tried Princess. Absolutely regret giving them a try! Stay with the top tier lines! * Ship was outdated and everything looked old and run down. * Food was mediocre and service was SLOW!!! * Entertainment was awful! Many nights featured a single performer playing an instrument. May be appealing to some but lack of musical shows was a huge disappointment. * Most ports were commercial ports that were filthy and disgusting, * Most of the ports were 1.5 to 2.5 hours of the destination city. Travel times ate up most of the time in port which left very little time to explore. * One of the cities in Vietnam was nothing but dirty backwoods feeling city with dirt roads covered in trash, feces and hypodermic needles. Completely shocked a major cruise line line would one, go into a commercial port that is dirty, noisy and dangerous by nature, but two, bus it's passengers into a filthy city. How is that making memories?? STAY AWAY from this cruise line if at all possible!! Read Less

I was really excited to go on this cruise ship, as it was going to Thailand and Cambodia and starting at Singapore. It was for an affordable price and it was going to Asia, so why not! First off, the food was beyond horrible, and that’s an understatement. I’ve been on around 10 cruises and I know what good food tastes like on cruises, so when comparing it to other cruises, this one was at the very bottom. Every day they had the same exact thing for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the buffet. Usually, other cruise ships change it up a bit, but no, this one had the same exact food for 8 days... Also, the times were so short for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We basically only had 1 hour to 2 hours to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. On the other cruises we had either 4 hours or they offered a 24/7 option for those late night snacks. Dinner ended here at 8:30 and it opened at 7, the dining area was always so packed and filled with hectic people because everyone was trying to get some food at the same time... horrible. This happened every single day. Whenever we arrived back from a city we got dropped off at, it would be around 3/4 pm and we were getting a bit hungry at this point, so we would go and look for some snacks, BUT WAIT! THEY DIDNT SERVE DINNER UNTIL 7! So we had to starve and wait until then. This made me even more frustrated because they didn’t serve snacks like other cruises did at a time when people would come back from a city outside. They however had “tea time” from 5-6, but they would serve some desserts and tea and coffee... the desserts tasted like leftovers from the day before throughout the whole trip. They also only served coffee and tea during tea time and breakfast, it wasn’t served during lunch and dinner at the buffet and restaurant like how other cruises have it. Now, for the dinner reservation at the fancy restaurants. Sadly, it was also horrible. The food was just not good, it wasn’t seasoned well, their asian food was cooked by an Italian chef and he butchered it (no offense). Usually the food at the restaurant is supposed to be better than the buffet, but this cruise made it that the buffet food was a bit better than the restaurant food, which is not saying much AT ALL. I barely ate my food at the restaurant because it truly was that bad. Another thing, some crew members were so rude to me, especially the older Italian (I think?) buffet chef. I was grabbing a piece of fruit from the buffet that was closed but I didn’t know, then he goes and yells at me and just keeps raising his voice and saying “What are you doing? No, no no you can’t do that what are you doing, go to the other buffet just go” like is that how you are supposed to treat your guests? How rude. I did not appreciate that AT ALL. Just tell me excuse me but we are closed. That is all you need to tell me and I would get the point. These things made my experience unenjoyable in my opinion. The shows are good but that is about it. Restrooms are so hard to find, they either blend in with the wallpaper or they are hidden outside in a corner you can only access when going through a little alley. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Read Less

Would not be shy to admit that kids travel free was a bid draw for me. Secondly, was attracted to the itinerary from singapore to Koh Samui to laem chabang(ie. Bankok or Pattaya) and Cambodia. Love the fact that it was docked at Laem Chabang for 2 days so had more than enough time to explore and enjoy the stopover, which we did by signing up for a 2d Bangkok & Ayutthaya tour. It was a pretty enjoyable tour except for the fact that there were just too many visits to temples. Food was good but one needs to be selective about the food. The self service buffet was surprisingly better than the restaurant. The pizzas (paid) were very good. Cabin was very clean and water pressure was good. Loved the nightly entertainment shows. However, the air-con was not cool enough and it was quite warm. Secondly, the bar fridge in our cabin was not working throughout the trip and inspite of several reminders, no action was taken nor any explanation given. Third, one would have noticed the water slide on board the ship but can't help but think it is merely for decoration only as even though there was no sign indicating that it was not operational or out of order, it was never open for use at all thoughout the 7 days we were there. Overall, it was an ok trip and except for the issues mentioned, would have been much better. Read Less

Being on Mariner of the cruise a couple of times with amazing experience , we opted for quantum of the seas (having seen it being advertised 4 years ago) for our maiden sailing experience with our extended family . Pros : -Quantum is beautifully built , she’s majestic , stylish , modern , clean and well maintained - Staterooms were comfortable and well designed with good use of space - Wonderland specialty restaurant was a nice surprise - its menu comprising of deconstructed food served in western Omakase style -No stinging on food . For the price you’re paying , you can get a flavour of some pretty decent quality steak , though standards vary across restaurants . -Selected staff were very friendly and went out of the way to make passengers feel at home . Examples include the head waiter of my time dining , our stateroom organiser , waiters of specialty restaurant - Good line up of musical acts ( piano , guitar , jazz band , pub Singer Carlo etc ) - pleasant onboarding experience typical of our other RCI holidays -swift and smooth , on time delivery of luggage -North Star was a nice experience , well allocated with no need for queuing . Memorable birds eye view of the majestic ocean. Cons : - very poor crowd management . Despite the big ship, it feels very crowded all the time with fellow passengers scrambling for literally everything ( free pizza , water , shows) - Poor allocation of crowd to allow passengers to have a flavour of most activities on board : Bumper car has a snaking queue , royal theatre is always packed with some shameless fellow passengers reserving rows of seats for phantom friends ( who never appeared ), everywhere felt like a market place . Sorentos pizza , cafe promenade , windjammer perpetually filled with hungry souls with very limited seats -Not family friendly . Not sure if dreamworks is no longer a partner but there were very little activities catered for kids . ( instead there was a random LGBTQ party ) . Extremely difficult to get around with a pram due to the crowd and the throngs of able bodied adults fighting for the lift. A segmented priority lift / ramp will be most helpful . - only a few areas to refill water , a water dispenser at every stateroom level will make it more convenient and less crowded to obtain this necessity . - Pre-allocated ‘My time dining’ but only allowed to book a slot from 845 pm onwards , otherwise the other option is to join the snaking queue . Never experienced this with my time dining before , we were told to pre book one year ahead of time in order to get earlier slots (?!) . It’s either a very poorly set up booking system or a main dining hall operating over capacity not befitting of its passenger volume . - Key entertainments were so so . Peng Fei magician , Starwater were the only shows worth watching. Aussie boys was cringe worthy with their twisted rendition of old Chinese pop songs , sonic odyssey was a mix mash of Bollywood / can can / drums , sparklers and feathers was an out of fashion broadway theme singing show with little wow factor . -Had to queue immediately once on board to book the Starwater show and some activities . Not sure what’s the purpose of booking as the show hall was packed despite the booking . Some of us had no seats . -Poor announcement of activities . No formal night for the first time ( maybe there’s one but it was Super unclear when it was held) -You have to pay to take a picture with the captain! iPhones not allowed . - Service was sub-par to say the least. This was the main killing factor . except for the few staff mentioned above under pros , most staff appeared listless, irritated and condescending . The Chinese staff spoke very little English and behaved in a rowdy manner as though they work at the fish market, some of them more keen on watching their fingernails grow than to smile and greet customers . I had one Chinese staff who tried to pressurize us to purchase a dining package , likening the price of it to a few packet of cigarettes ! Indian staff at two 70 was perpetually angry , irritated and threw our sailpass card on the table when we made payment . Staff appeared to be obviously overworked , underpaid (perhaps) and badly trained - and it’s evident . There’s also very little attention to client’s needs such as helping parents with toddler ( eg I was trying to get warm water to make milk but was told to wait in the queue after a fire drill has ended , though I had no intention to dine). Perhaps my expectations were too high after seeing ad shots of this ship or drawing too much positive experience from mariner of the seas , quantum overall, fell flat and was average at best . Read Less

Have sailed on majestic princess, sapphire princess , and the sun , the sun was old and time for it to retire, most disappointing cruise ever.Cruise staff were great though the food went begging / not a great experience, horizon court , very poor more like some soup kitchen in quality , entertainment was average though the crew dancers and band were very good, as for the so called international acts [ never heard of any of them and not that great apart from a couple of acts, one of the service staff seemed to have an issue with serving females, quite rude to my wife / unless he was just having an off day ??? OTHERWISE WE COULD NOT FAULT ANY STAFF IN FACT IF IT WASN'T FOR THEM THE WHOLE CRUISE WOULD HAVE BEEN A WASTED,Thew crew on all Princess ships we have sailed on are wonderful I'm sure they are the main reason the Princess line keeps going, The things that were good on the ship were the casino at night , 24hr coffee in the Atrium, movies at sea under the stars on the top deck ,Our cabin was old and in need of refurbishment, Had trouble with our TV remote and needed to be replaced, trouble with the shower / toilet [ $25 ] awarded us for the inconvenience, not enough clothes hangers so we were given cheap wire hangers as extras, had to have light bulbs in overhead reading lamps replaced twice, Door handle on cabin fridge broken so was hard to open [ reported several times though nothing done about it ] Read Less

As frequent travelers staying in many hotels locally here in the Philippines and hotel abroad in different countries, my wife and I tried to experience to cruise onboard which is Quantum of the seas. Every traveled that we planned, we always rely to read the comments and reviews to all hotels that we stayed in. This time, we decided to experience to choose to get onboard the cruise ship. At first, I was hesitant to choose Royal Caribbean Cruise- Quantum of the Seas because of majority negative reviews that we read, but to my surprised it turns out to be a remarkable experienced cruising at this luxury vessel. We travel Singapore cruise from November 30 to December 5, 2019, 5 days cruise from Singapore-Malaysia- Thailand-Singapore. We stayed in hotel in Singapore since we arrived on the 28th of November. Using our tourist pass which we bought at Changi airport for S$26 for three days is such a big savings using it unlimited at MRT lines and buses by simply tapping the tourist pass card as our ingress and egress on trains and buses. We took the advantage of using the tourist pass card visiting tourist places in Singapore. We observed that if you travel from station to another station it will cost you a minimum of S$0.83 –S$ 2.08 so having this tourist pass card is indeed a great savings. Quantum of the seas is remarkably a huge luxury vessel with superb facilities from cabins, classic restaurants, production show venues, swimming pools and entertainment venues. The Food and beverages staff went out beyond and above extraordinary services, kudos to Head Waiter ONUR from Turkey, Waiters Fely and Frederick both from India of SILK restaurant, Jidong from housekeeping, Bartender Mike of Sky Bar, Alvin of Sorrento, Regie of Solarium, Bar server KURL of Boleros, they all deserved to be commended for the excellent services they have rendered during our 5 days cruise. The cruise entertainment team is very active from the varieties of shows for the cruise led by Cruise Director Ken and Manager Troy. The Captain of the ship and the Hotel Director are always visible from embarkations to debarkations. Singapore embarkation process are very smooth and organized. Singaporean are also well- commended for their disciplined behaviors from dining to queuing on any events or entertainment production shows considering they are about 2,500 Singaporeans who was with us. Though we only stayed on inside cabin but the virtual balcony appears to be like you are staying in a real balcony cabin. The food that we have is so delicious from all the restaurants that we have dined. On our 1st day, we made a reservation to watch the STARWATER production show which is a Broadway’s presentations featuring world class musical show at deck 4 Two 7 venue. It is also recommended to watch SEQUINS and Feathers, another world class production show where reservation is not anymore needed. There is so much fun as in no dull moments from varieties of activities and unlimited dining experiences on board the Quantum of the seas. Over-all we really enjoyed our cruise and the money that we spent is worthwhile for the remarkable experiences that we had at Quantum of the seas. We will highly recommend this ship for our family and friends for them to experience what we have experienced. I would recommend to complete your online departure for Singapore immigration for a seamless process and avoid the long queues of passengers during debarkations. In about 20 mins we are already completed the immigration and down to Cruise terminal picking out of our luggage. Read Less

The ship indeed is a technological marvel. The advanced features such as the virtual balcony, SeaPlex (which transformed into a bumper car arena, laser tag course, basketball court, badminton court, etc.), North Star, iFly simulator, Ripcord and many others were truly an experience. The swimming pools were rather small and there were no water slides nor much play area for children. The food however could have been much better. We were already bored of the food at Windjammers (buffet) by the second day. The Chinese, Japanese and Italian food served lacked taste and were subpar in my opinion. The only type of cuisine that was good was the Indian food and burgers. We also dined at the main dining hall, Solarium, etc. but all were not much different. We had a specialty dining at Jamie’s Italian and that lived up to expectations. Nevertheless, our experience were marred by a norovirus infection (which ended up affecting all our family). We noticed there were other cases of it when we went to the Medical Centre. One can only guess how many people were actually affected. Despite being very careful and constantly washing our hands as well as sanitizing them, we all still ended up contracting it. Read Less

This was the trip that brought the Splendor to Australia so my fist comments will be on the ships suitability to that market. I am a fan of Carnival being a Platinum Cruiser (I am for Princess as well) but not a fan of this ship for the new home, its just a poor fit. We are used to the Spirit and Legend so I compare on that basis, Lido is to small, every cruise to and from Sydney generally starts and ends with 1to 3 sea days, this ship has one lido area and pool plus Serenity where as the Spirit and Legend have two. Unlike most ships it has an extra level above the lido which makes it very hot. As there is only one area, it will be full of kids most trips and there just is not enough room for events up there for the number of passengers, remember this ship has 60% more passengers. Bars all the regulars are there that we are used to the piano bar, Alchemy the Red Frog etc and after the refurb it looks very familiar there are a few other areas on the ship like a jazz bar that are just not used. The issue is, there is no more space or very little more space to cater for the extra 1600 passengers. Dining, there are two dining rooms the Black and the gold pearl. Gold Pearl was where we were with our friend and popular Desi running things as she always does, top marks here, I can not comment on the Black Pearl but if your not a fan of showtime, might be a good alternative. Buffet, this is good but little variety for breakfast, same every day. Lunches are great and you have an upstairs Bar B Que area as well, Out near Serenity you have Indian food (not that good) and a Deli that had amazing sandwiches. Then there is always the Pizza place and Guys Burgers so your not going hungry. Serenity, similar to that on Legend and Spirit but I prefer the older ships bar and seating area for a quiet pre diner drink and they have more pods. Only a small side bar on this but it does the job. Slides, the new water slides are excellent and were popular with the kids but we only had a few on board. I heard the next cruise had 1500 kids, no way the pools and slides could handle that. There is a small kids water zone we wanted to take our 14 month and 16 month kids to in swimming nappies but this was not allowed. Cabins, we had two balcony and one suite, they were all nice and as you would expect and looking into inside and ocean view much the same as the other ships however my daughters who has a 14 month son had a cabin with no hot water for 15 days no matter how many times this was reported, they did give her $150 credit but hardly enough as she had to shower in our cabin the full trip. Overall I look at this ship and it is perfect for the Alaskan Market where people rarely use the Lido but can on this ship with the roof closed, it has forward viewing again brilliant in Alaska but it is a poor choice for the Australian Market, to few pool areas and to many people, it felt crowded. Most ships people spread out on this one due to the lay out they congregate and it seems crowded. I will still cruise Carnival but my first choice will be the Spirit which has more pools and open areas and 1600 less people spread out over essentially the same internal areas. Read Less

We chose this cruise for the cheap price that was offered at the time of booking. It was disappointing from start to finish. The embarcation was a shamozole. No one seemed to know what they were doing. The food in the buffet section was very ordinary to some other ships we have been on. The lines were long and you had to be lucky to find a seat to sit down on. I will say that the restaurant's are very good and food is ok. I also was disappointed in the lack of communication from the staff when ordering a cake for my wife's birthday which never turned up. They did however try to compensate by decorating our room and supplying Chocolate roses to my wife to try to smooth things over. We probably will not cruise with Carnival again and go with the more upmarket ships such as Princess or Holland America. Read Less

Ship brilliant wonderland experience a disaster only good thing are the chairs and tables no wonderland ambience in this restaurant. Put some teacups and saucers on the wall dress someone up in a white rabbit suit all bit boring. Our food served cold and sweet disappointed. Will not sail will Royal Carribbean ever again billed for 50 dollars for towels we never had. Phone call after phone call still no refund and it cost a fortune to call them , always check your bills people. Paid full service charges, even though service was lousy apart from the open deck bar staff. The windjammer is a nightmare overcrowded tables, loads tables full dirty dishes. Entertainment definitely for the Asian and Indian passengers. Singer was awful. Magician had few good tricks but took far too long with boring information bits. Food on the boat not great mostly geared up for Chinese and Asian passengers. Sausage bacon very poor quality not much choice breads. Read Less

I would have given a 5 rating if not for the following reasons: 1. Error in billing and very difficult to get help post-sailing 2. We missed a key show because of lack of information on reservation 3. Information on the app are sometimes different from the daily newsletter or the Compass. The app is difficult to use in the first place Other than the above, the good news: 1. Excellent programs 2. Fantastic crew at the American Icon and Music Hall 3. Staff were generally friendly and passionate about their jobs 4. Ship was squeaky clean and well maintained 5. Gym was impressively equipped and had a awesome view 6. Solarium is an interesting concept but probably a tad too warm for Southeast Asia weather 7. Food is generally above average 8. Checking in and out was a breeze 9. Kids club was well equipped and staffed Overall a great ship for families Read Less

One of the reasons we chose this cruise is that we had never been to Darwin. Well. we still haven't! The Exit deck was changed from Deck 1 (as was widely advertised) to deck 4, and the ramp provided was incredibly steep. I hired a scooter for the express purpose of seeing Darwin, but it would not have been safe to take it down the incline, nor would I have been able to ride it back up. Several of the older passengers and those with sticks also had great difficulty in negotiating this ramp, and were completely winded by the time they got to the top. It totally spoilt my day, and several other disgruntled passengers felt the same. Also, don't bother getting a soft drinks package. Despite being issued with the bulky microchipped glasses, there are no soft drink dispensers on board the "New" Voyager. Total waste of money! Johnny Rockets is also a "no show". The venue is marked on the deck plan, but isn't open, and the free milkshake we were promised - "buy one get one free" - so much pie in the sky. BTW, the Windjammer seating arrangement appears identical to the old one. There are certainly no "extra seats", and getting a table can still be problematic. Also, the picture shown in the article is of the Deck 14 lounge, which is NEVER this empty. Read Less

It is nice to cruise into Fremantle and we scored a good deal for 3 adults sharing. We had enjoyed several trips on Sun Princess and were fully aware of its advantages and issues. I will tell it as it is, with credit and brickbats where appropriate. You only get one chance to make a good first impression and Princess Blew this one badly. We had Platinum seniority and swished past the queue to checkin until the local agents handed us our cards - then there was some problem and they ushered us aside to a holding area "for a few minutes". After almost an hour I told them to inform the ship that they had several dozen furious guests and they needed to get somebody ashore to take charge.The Singaporean Immigration officers were quite happy to allow us to board on the confirmation of the local agent staff that we had been accepted for boarding but Celebrity Security refused. There was NO security issue - simply Celebrity's inability to print boarding cards.This portrayed nonchalent contempt for senior loyal repeat guests who deserved better. They should have been capable of reprinting cards and there should have been a responsible officer down there to take charge and facilitate our prompt boarding. We should have been relaxing onboard while they sorted out THEIR mess. Some people had visa issues but at least two couples were sitting there with one anothers' cards. We never got to see ours and there was some suggestion that we were simply being delayed while they sterilised our rooms. We met the Guest Relations Director at the top of the gangway and I told him very angrily that it was a disgrace and there should have been a senior presence to take charge ashore. He said that there was - he had been there 20 minutes earlier! This was when the new cards finally appeared (he probably brought them down?) and the immigration process began. He thereby tacitly admitted the fact that there had been nobody down there for 2 hours before that when something could and should have been done. I acted on my assessment of whether it would be worth spending any more time with him and headed straight in for lunch - at a quarter to 4pm!. We knew by then that Nora Virus was already rampant on board. This happens occasionally in the best of cruise lines and Princess were obviously taking every possible step to reduce the spread of the disease. Sun Princess has had a long record of issues with shipboard waste plumbing - I was not aware of any such during this trip but it would have given a huge leg-up to the spread of any disease like Nora if there were any leaks. New infections gradually reduced but we docked in Fremantle with code Red still in operation, which was disturbing and very inconvenient in that it meant that staff had to serve everything to guests in the buffets. There was one other irritation in that Princess had switched the prepaid coffee cards onto the current cruise cards which were valid only for the current trip. We had a brand new $35 card from a previous cruise. It was a No Brainer that Princess should have switched our credit to the new scheme but . . . NON. They viewed the old card (which was clearly and specifically designed to extend into subsequent cruises) as expired and valueless and presumed to just appropriate the unused value. That amounts to something resembling Theft in my book and is not the way to reward esteemed repeat guests - or to earn glowing reviews! We were lucky to find a young man from Brazil in Guest Relations, who began with a textbook perfect version of the standard Princess . . "we regret that you began with an unfortunate experience and we hope you will be able to get over it" etc. However, he was prepared to listen and he accepted the validity of our concerns about being dumped in a barn for 2 hours and having our coffee card stolen. In brief, he upward-managed an arrangement with his supervisors which left us reasonably satisfied that we had been heard and compensated. Thank you Mauro. This is a young man who is worth cherishing and grooming for fasttrack promotion (in my view as an MBA and experienced manager). Overall, I have downgraded the total cruise experience from my previous Very Good to Average, taking account of the age and condition of the ship and the frustrations, but I would have chosen 3.5 Good if it was available as an option. The architecture still appeals, the Cruise Director and staff were still good and the Trivia in particular were very well run, as were the exercise sessions. The Princess bedding - and particularly the fabulous Pillows! are worth special mention. It is also a pleasant change for Australians to be free of the usual shipboard nonsense of 18% "service fee" (which does NOT go to the staff - you reckon the Balinese massage girls would get US$40 tip for a typical signature massage?) and "automatic gratuities" of $20 a day per guest for waiters and room stewards. The food had slipped from my previous assessment of "Best at Sea" 3 years ago. Still quite good but not outstanding. The whole industry is cutting costs and seafood and steak is less and less common. I must say we had a steady stream of very good Prawns/Shrimps. The desserts were relatively boring after the previous triumphs. It is still very pleasant to sit in one of the bars and lounges with a coffee or cocktail and enjoy the assortment of music options. Movies under the stars was very pleasant and there were a lot of excellent movies in cabins and the big screen. The entertainers all seemed to be comic jugglers or juggling comedians.. The American comic who boarded in Bali was utterly unfunny. The singers and dancers were good without being brilliant and they recycled home in Fremantle. The sets for the production shows were drab and uninspiring. The gym equipment was ok although the walkers seemed to be largely out of action. You could stay in shape if you wanted to. I noticed a few people swimming short laps in the pool. We thoroughly enjoyed the Curtis Stone "Share" restaurant which is well worth a $35 fee. Try it. Such a blend and assortment of taste sensations which cry out to be . . . yes "Shared" It needs to be said that other cruise lines are getting Australians ashore in Vietnam and Cambodia for Aus$10 per head - so why are Princess charging $80 in each country???. Also (and this applies to all cruise lines) most of the ports in those parts trend to be a long way from the supposed destinations (Hanoi Bangkok etc) and you are looking at hefty fares to get to those cities. It is worth mentioning that some years ago Princess continued to charge Indonesian visa fees (US$25) to passengers after they were fully aware that the fee had been discontinued. The fee first appeared on guest accounts on the final afternoon - several days after we left Benoa. They seem to regard this sort of conduct as fair game. And WHY, sweet Jesus, are they going to Cambodia at all???? The Captain apologised for the complete disappointment of what I will remember as "SianYuckVille" - some people paid for an "excursion" to a seafront building site at which there was nowhere that anybody would have considered eating or drinking anything. There are plenty of places in Asia where you can see and do something interesting without having to buy an $80 visa, presumably also a port fee, and then an expensive excursion to Nowhere featuring Nothing. A Sloppy Ripoff Princess!!! Shame on you. Get this nonsense off the itinerary NOW. Most of their cruises seem to stop there but most other cruise lines do not!. It is typical for there to be fewer events on board on Port days but on this cruise it seemed to be even lighter than usual. Would I try Sun Princess one more time - just maybe but only at WAY less than the cheapest fares being offered. There is a perceived premium for any cruise starting or ending in Perth. I would take some encouragement if Princess came out and declared that they have finally, once and for all, fixed the sewage problems. At least the engines and the lifts and the laundries kept working this time. And that is how I saw it. Our next two cruises will be on Celebrity. Read Less

First time cruising with Princess so was surprised thru out the cruise the food in dining room and buffet was cold Including the coffee One morning ordered a omelet in the dining room which is cooked to order and it arrived cold I feel there is a problem when cooked to order food is being delivered cold We could see the plates in some instance being delivered out with lids and then they just sat there not being deliver to table getting cold as they sat but I think they were also bring cooked a head of time in the kitchen as they were stone cold Our stateroom was good and our steward was wonderful A lot of sickness on ship during cruise Stops in Asia which were interesting and easy to organise day out in port Service at the bars was good and we enjoyed the coffee/food at the international cafe We enjoyed the different quizzes, horse racing and bingo Enjoyed the shows, the dancers, orchestra and costumes were amazing Read Less

Foreign exchange conversion a rip off on ship. Exchange your currency and pay cash. The staff looking after our suite were great. Our towels were always ion a new creative shape which was amusing. We didn't like having to walk through the casino areas with our children. The food was hit and miss. Pretty average and then every now and then you get a good meal. Activities were fun and well managed. Other passengers would push in, but the staff couldn't cope. The pool closed a few times for 'cleaning'. The staff said probably poo or vomit in pool.....'yuk!'. Unfortunately the passengers push in at every opportunity - dinner queues, each port, embarkation etc etc. The staff try to manage them, but they just keep pushing. The staff said this is a problem on every cruise. i was left with a sour taste when they over charged my final payment balance by more than $200 (20%) because of the currency conversion. Not a good way to finish. Read Less

We chose this cruise because we wanted somewhere different to the Pacific Islands and it suited our timeline. We flew to Singapore and had a few days there before embarking on the Dawn which was an easy process except for the “Taking” of our passports, with no receipt of SUCH. Wasn’t impressed by this. Our cabin was OK. Plenty of room for 2 people. I think it went downhill from there. Went to the Pantry to have a look, well if you call it a look. We could not see out of the very dirty windows. Can’t take decent photos through windows as they are all almost opaque, we were told it is because the ship is old and it’s on the inside of the double windows and can’t be cleaned. Just terrible. The whole ship is like this. Have to go on deck to see clearly, and not on the smoking deck or you almost suffocate in the smoke. Air conditioning, or lack of it in our room from day 1. Was eventually fixed albiet, could not adjust it at all, till the second last day when it died again and then we were offered a fan as a replacement!!!!! A couple of days in and our sink plug would not unplug. Their solution to this was to pull it right out and sit it on the side of sink which left a gaping hole, we could not fill and heaven help if anything fell down the hole. Then our toilet would not flush, first thing in the morning, both busting to go. It really was a nightmare with the plumbing. The rest of ship had many, many problems with toilets not working in public area and cabins, air conditioning only worked overtime in the Marqui area where it was freezing cold every day for activities and entertainment. No wonder everyone was coughing by the end. Apparently this virus has been on this ship for years as per other reviews. Now for the food, was fabulous the first night in the Waterfront restaurant, but it went downhill from there. Very strange combination of described flavours. Mostly you could not taste any of these. Fresh basil was described on one, well one miniscule flake of green was probably basil? Meat is also inedible. Veal saltimboka was full of gristle and unchewable. Orange, marzipan bread & butter pudding had no orange at all and not sure on the marzipan, I couldn’t tell. And, their signature “crispy cream puff” with passion fruit. What a joke. Dense, doughnut like ball with no passion fruit in sight, just maybe a touch of orange colour with no flavour is on the menu every night. YUK!!! The Pantry has a wide selection of different cultures of food but usually it is cold. All the food is out by 5 o’clock to feed the under 15 kids, but is there for the rest of us. It sits for hours if not popular. I had Indian food on the last night and when I tried it the rice was dead cold, the curried veggies were tepid and the curry almost cold. Could not eat it. So much waste. The bacon at breakfast is almost unchewable, the toast is cold and you have to go two or three stations down to get rock hard butter for your toast. Ridiculous!!!!! Now to the swimming pool. Postage size pool. Over 6 foot deep with vertical ladders at the sides. People could not stand in it, kids who could not swim could not use it. Very, very difficult to get out of it. There is a kids water play area next to it that used to be a pool. I think I only saw kids playing in it about 3 times. What a waste, could have been a shallow pool for the kids. Activities, they had lots of trivia but was so hard to get a seat or join in as there just isn’t enough seating areas except for the Marquis which they only used for bingo and night entertainment. Only had 1 movie in the Marquis area and it was packed. Should have used this area more but it was always freezing in there. Shore excursions are very expensive, but did one in Bali and the Komodo tour. Very well organised and enjoyed them both. Only got off ship yesterday morning so this is very fresh, had to be out of cabin by 6-30, what is with that?? Needless to say I will never ever do a P&O cruise again if this is there standard of service. Oh, almost forgot, on the morning of disembarkation we had our onboard account in our box outside door. There was a $30 onboard credit stated on there. I queried this and it was for compensation for aircon, toilet issues. I asked for it in cash, but no they said I could spend it onboard. On what, nothing is open when in dock. Laughable!!!!!!!! NEVER AGAIN Read Less

First impression for this ship was not good. Boarding in Singapore was horrendous. Our boarding time was 8pm, we arrived at the terminal at 7 as we had checked out of our hotel and had no where to go. Upon arrival, lots of people had already started checking in. We dropped our bags and checked in and was given a boarding number. We were then moved upstairs to wait for our boarding number. 2 1/2 hours finally pass and our boarding number is called. Being from Australia, we are not used to pushing to get our way, so we had a rude awakening! There was no such thing as lines, and we had people quite literally push us out of the way to get in front. It was a hot mess getting down to customs. After passing custom, we had to once again line up to get onto the boat. Another hour later, and we are finally on. We had booked a Balcony Cabin but it was always my intention to see about an upgrade once onboard as I heard palace suite was worth it. Once on the ship, we went right to customer service and upgraded to the Palace Suite for about $670SGD per person. By this time, it was past 11pm and the restaurants were closed, but the buffet was open till midnight. We quickly ran to the buffet for dinner, then check out our rooms. Rooms were massive, bathroom was huge and balcony was narrow. The benefit is of booking a palace suite was deluxe drinks package, specialty restaurants, palace suite pool, restaurant etc. We mainly wanted to upgrade for the drinks package and the pool, as we know the main pool can get very crowded. The first night, ordering drinks at the palace bar, we realised that the drinks package wasn’t as inclusive as we thought. We were given a menu on what drinks were included, and for us cocktail drinkers, there wasn’t much to choose from. We seen drinks coming up on the TV that looked amazing, and we asked to have one, but was told it would cost. What we couldn’t understand is that this drink was $8, and some of the drinks on our menu were $13, so we couldn’t understand how we couldn’t get a $8 drink in our package. It also took about 20mins each time to get a drink. For breakfast the next morning we ate in the palace resultant. We could only order eggs pancakes etc of the menu, and the rest like bacon and bread, we had to fetch ourselves from the buffet. I ordered pancakes and they were cold, my dad ordered a omelet with everything included and it was plain. After breakfast we went to the palace suite pool. We were pleasantly surprised that there was no one there!! In Australia, this area would have been packed. We wanted to order drinks, but there was no bar man in site. We had to ask the life guard to call someone and then about 15mins later, the bar man arrived. On any other cruise, we would be served our by the pool from the spa or our day beds, but here, we had to go to the bar to order a drink. We also weren’t allowed our drinks with us at the spa, which is strange as no other cruise I have ever been on has this rule. Drinks again, look at very long time. Tonight we were booked in to the steak house for dinner. We were all pretty keen for some meat!! Once we arrived, we realised that it was a set menu.. we weren’t told that there would be a set menu for the specialty restaurants so this was very disappointing. The options were either seafood, or ribs. None of us eat seafood, so ribs it was. The entree was great, but the main mean, ribs, was bad.. no meat in site. Pure fat and nothing to serve with it. This mean was very disappointing, we contributed after this to the buffet for food as we were all very hungry. The show tonight was amazing!! By bar one of the best cruise shows I have been to. Day 3 we were docking in Koh Samui, our butler organised for a private’s transfer into the main area, Chaweng beach. This was complimentary. We had priority disembarking which was a plus. We were transferred by bus to Chaweng beach and spent the afternoon at a resort. When we arrived back at the port to re-board at about 3pm, the lime was enormous. Last render was for 3:30, so this was to be expected however there was no shade. They did hand out water and cold towels. As we were palace, we were expecting to have priority embarking. After asking around, we were told we had to join the long line. There was one shaded area which a lot of people were pushing wash security gates to get to. We were told this was for children or elderly only so that they didn’t need to line up. Luckily, one crew member seen our frustration and let us in, but quickly closed the gate and said that he shouldn’t be doing this. After some people seen us get let in, people stormed the gate and ignored the staff and pushed and shoved to get onto the tender . I am so thankful this young crew member let us past, as I assume we would have been lining up in the hot sun for over an hour. Tonight we were booked in for Chinese specialty. We went down prior to our booking to check the menu and were disappointed to find that there was only one choice, and that choice was Seafood for the set menu. We told the staff that none of us eat seafood, and asked if we could just order meat and rice, but they advised no, only set menu for palace suite. So, we cancelled the booking. We instead went to dinner at the main dining room, it was loud and busy, but the food was good! Again, not a lot of option, but I had lamb shanks and the meal was much better then the night before at the steak house. Again, the show tonight was great. Day 4: Redang island. We were hesitant about getting off the boat as we didn’t want to be stuck lining up in the heat to get back onboard. Our butler advised it was a beautiful Island, so we decided to get off and have a look around. The beach is Beautiful and I hear the snorkeling is good. We spent about an hour on land to have a look around and returned to the ship. Spent the afternoon by the quiet pool until some noisy young kids with no Parents inside interrupted us. This area really should be a adults only area, or at least ask the kids to stop slashing and jumping in and out of the pool. Dinner tonight was japense tepenyaki. We checked the menu and were very happy with what we seen. The food was amazing, meat was so soft and probably the best steak I have ever had. This experience was the best and I would highly recommend it. It was my partners birthday, so our butler organised to have a cake delivered to the restaurant, which was lovely. Last night onboard and we were expecting another fantastic show. There was advertisements everywhere to watch dream girls, so we asked our butler but she advised this show was chargeable at 98SGD as it was adults only and the girls would be topless. We kindly declined, so no show for the last night. One thing I forgot to mention, being palace, you don’t need to book for the show. The first 3 rows are reserved for palace guest, so you only get to get there about 10mins before to get a good seat. The seats are released to public about 5mins before the show starts. On our last night we thought we would Play some pool, but were surprised to find you had to buy $20SGD worth of drinks to play. And being we had a drinks package, we didn’t need to buy drinks, so we weren’t able to play. Day 5: Our last day, the ship docked around 1 and we had priority disembarking. We could have stayed as late as 3, but our butler advised that custom would be very very busy with long lines, so we disembarked as soon as we arrived at port. If you want nice cocktails, visit the tributes bar. The bar tenders in there made us almost anything we wanted, even if it wasn’t on the palace menu. Read Less