Our first cruise on Princess was aboard the Golden to Alaska. Our second was aboard the Ruby to the Caribbean. The Ruby was much more modern and showed less wear and tear than the Golden did. Service, across the board, was great, other than the Horizon Court. Out of 7 days we were on-board, we were only offered something to drink twice, maybe three times and we had to go fetch it ourselves when we weren't offered it and the help seemed offended when we finally gave up on them to get it ourselves. Embarkation and disembarkation was miles ahead when compared to the Seattle cruise port, which was terrible. Other than a terrible experience with Delta (who I'll never fly again) the entire experience with Princess was as I'd expected. I won't be looking for another cruise operator anytime soon, that's a fact.
Little noisy when stern thrusters were used but not a problem to us.