Princess Cruises has cancelled the first sailing of the 1995 built Sun Princess after a major refit in Singapore due to technical problems, UK based Travel Weekly reports on its website.

“Sun Princess was due to embark on a 14-night Asia cruise ending in Fremantle, Australia, but Princess Cruises has cancelled the sailing following a malfunction in the ship's switchboard. About 2,000 passengers were due to sail on the ship,” the report said.

The cruise line said the issue resulted in limited onboard power, which hindered its ability to run hotel operations. A statement from the line said: "Regretfully, we've made the decision to cancel the cruise scheduled to depart today in order to make the necessary repairs.” The ship will resume service on 3 September.

"We're providing all passengers a full refund and a 100% future cruise credit. Additionally, we're covering the costs for all return flights home and incidentals. A special team has been sent to Singapore to assist passengers."