I sailed on the Ruby Princess on April 7, 2013. Although this ship is a little old, I found the facilities to be adequate. I was with a large group of 300 single people over 50. The food and service in the regular dining room was not very good, being rather bland so we decided to try a specialty restaurant. The second night we went to the Crown Grill and was so impressed by the service, delicious food (filet mignon, lobster, tantalizing desserts), and ambiance of the restaurant...totally worth the $25.

We had most of our parties in Club Fusion located at the back of the ship. Because your group was so large it was difficult to get drinks. The ship needed to provide more servers to our large group. Naturally by the last party all was solved.

If you're a smoker the Ruby Princess is not smoker-friendly. There were only a few places to smoke. Deck 16, Tradewinds bar is where all the smokers met each morning for coffee and bloody mary's. Deck 18 had a disco which had an area available to smoke, and deck 7 on the side had an area designated area where we found to be the most private area to smoke. You could also smoke in the Casino and the Cigar bar. The service in the Cigar bar was the best on the ship, in fact, this is the only place I tipped on the ship. The staff was friendly and remembered me and what I drink each evening. Read more