Princess is a professional operation, but they're pinching pennies, and you can feel it. The Ruby is a beautiful ship, but it's getting tired. Rust is visible in many places, our head (toilet) seat was chipped, the outdoor movie screen malfunctioned and had many dead or dying tiles, and so on. The merchandizing pressure has increased too. Selling is front and center 24x7 -- in ships activities, TV programming, and port access: each port terminal is designed as a narrow tunnel/gauntlet, so passengers are funneled past the usual blitz of booze, poor quality jewelry and watches, and the omnipresent tourist crap, like refrigerator magnates and T-shirts, all at huge markup.

Disembarkation was invariably delayed by Princess staff in goofy costumes forcing every passenger to pose for pictures that could be sold later on... We'd rather just pay a little more up front and avoid the constant sales press, but I guess we're in the minority.