Sapphire Princess, Bangkok to Beijing, 26 Mar - 11 Apr 2005.
To open, my advice to everyone is to use this resource (Cruise Critic) as much as possible, in particular the roll calls. For a first time Princess cruiser we found this forum invaluable for picking up tips and meeting fellow cruisers prior to departure.
On board there are your standard set of serial whingers, the ones that complain about the smallest thing that goes wrong and blame everyone else but themselves. Our advice is - make the best of the dollars you have spent on this dream trip and don't let the little things phase you. Things will go wrong and some things don't live up to expectations. Get over it and enjoy what you have. Incessant complaints are only going to cloud your experience. Remember, you are only one of 2600ish passengers, be considerate and don't reserve seats and lounges when you have no intention of using them immediately, and relinquish them if you are going to leave for any more than 10 minutes. This way there will always be seats available.