Itinerary around Japan was appealing and had previous enjoyable cruise on Diamond Princess. Our mini suite was spacious and well appointed but air conditioning almost non existent even after two technicians visits saying it was fixed. Shower rose only dribbled out through centre stream with only two settings...hot or very hot. two widescreen TV's but very slow and cumbersome to change channels. These complaints were common issues with several other passengers on our Dolphin deck 9 (mini suites). Dinner only at fixed time no any time dining available. Dinner food and service good. However dining room breakfast food and service poor. Limited Japanese and western menus and delays and mistakes with orders some taking up to an hour and then wrong. We ended up going to the buffet to get greater choice and take much less time. Best meal and service was enjoyed at Sabatinis Italian speciality restaurant. Communication non existent for independent shore travellers. Needed to get onto dock to find out options from locals. Had to join long queues on wharf on often very hot days to get shuttle tickets which more appropriately should have been able to be purchased earlier onboard. On board entertainment enjoyable particularly jazz pianist and band.
Had been on Diamond Princess before around 5 years ago and standard has slipped noticeably. Perhaps a mixture of cost cutting and catering more for Japanese market. Would not recommend when compared to offerings from competitor cruise lines we have experienced in recent years.
See comments above.