This will be short and sweet, Princess has entered the 4-5 day cruise market. And this is NOT their forte. Leave the shorty cruise to momma Carnival. For those Princess die hards used to the 7 day cruises, let me tell you what you WON'T find. No welcome back parties on the 4 day cruise. No liquid soap AT ALL for non-Elite or suite guests. No towel figures in your bed at night. Nightly premium lounge food reduced down to "chips and guacamole" (just an example). Reduced entertainment in the evenings. There were a group of us who had cruised Princess in the past and we noted the decline in the food on Ruby Princess. One man said it best, "I go by a successful meal if I truly enjoy all 4 courses." He never once had that happen. The evening we ate at Sabitini's was 169 minutes (yes, almost 3 hours) of mediocre food and skimpy service. I was expecting something fancy, but this wasn't even up to Olive Garden on a Tuesday night.

Now for the good stuff: decent comedian, but why oh why did Princess stick the overpacked adult show in the lounge instead of the showroom? The G-rated show was almost full when it was held there! People were wall to wall, and sitting on the band instruments in the back in that stuffy lounge! Poor planning there. There was plenty of deck space to spread out, and MUTS was good at showing different venues for different folks. Please note that if you take the back-to-back cruises you are getting the same food, and same menu. Stick with Carnival for the short cruises, leave Princess alone for the longer ones. Mixing the two together isn't pleasant.