Embarkation was tremendously slow due to continued "computer glitches." There were not many people in line, but our guy simply struggled to get the information into the system that allows us to get on our way - nt a huge deal, but we stood at the counter for 20 minutes.
We were excited that "anytime dining" was offered. I don't know if this is new to Princess, but they had no clue how to do it. Some dining rooms allowed "anytime" while others were half "anytime" and half reservation & yet another was only "anytime." This was not communicated to the passengers & there were long waits at ALL dining rooms the first night of the cruise. I expected the food to be on par with Celebrity or Norwegian, but it was not even close. Even the specialty steak house (Crown Grill) was disappointing as my tough, fatty ribeye steak tasted more like bad prime rib - I sent it back. The remaining nights, we simply ate in the cafeteria as the food & service was better than what we found in the dining rooms.
There is a lot to like about the Ruby Princess. The ship is relatively easy to navigate & it has an elegant design. Our room steward was great & our room was kept clean & stocked with towels. Our bed, however, was as hard as the pool deck. Extra pilows & Nyquil allowed a little rest, but the mattress was not comfortable whatsoever. The entertainment was mixed. The highlight was a magician who was featured on Americas Got Talent. The comedian was good, not great. The singers & dancers had 1 very good show & 1 not so good. The theater was not slanted enough - so if someone sat in front of you, it was difficult to see. If you sat too close, you could not see because the stage is unusually high. There was not much going on outside of the shows. This is the 5th different cruise line we've sailed with & there were not as many scheduled activities as we're accustomed to on the other ships. If there was an event, the common areas on the ship were to small to handle a large number of people - so we either left, or tried to find an area where we could see what was going on. We traveled with friends & we enjoyed ourselves due to the company. But, this is not a cruise line we would select for future travels.
We loved the view of our Aft stateroom with a balcony. But, due to its location next to the pool, we were awakened every morning around 5 a.m. to banging & sliding of deck chairs & furniture above & beside our cabin.