We sailed on the Ruby in October, 2009 and liked the ship and our stateroom so well we booked the same stateroom this time. The night before we embarked, we stayed at the Marriott Courtyard Cruiseport hotel. This hotel will shuttle you free from the airport to the hotel and then free from the hotel to the ship. Good hotel rooms but this year we had to pay for breakfast. It was a nice breakfast buffet and we think it was about $11 per person. So, the savings on taxi fares were spent on breakfast.

Embarkation was absolutely easy! We arrived at the cruiseport at about 10:30AM and were seated inside with a number 1 in our hands! There are restrooms inside and chairs were comfortable. At exactly 11:30AM, we boarded the ship and went directly to our stateroom. We have found we love this stateroom which is on the absolute back of the ship, looking out at the wake. It is covered, 1/3 larger than other balconies, private, and you never have cigarette smoke to smell because of how the wind is while sailing! The stateroom itself is very standard and the storage is very plentiful. Bathroom was not a problem. It's a small shower, but the water was always hot! Our stateroom steward, Cristian, was by far and away the happiest Princess employee we have ever encountered on any cruise. We wanted to adopt him! We went upstairs to the Horizon Buffet for lunch and found it to be very good.

We did the Scavenger Hunt prior to the Sail away. It is a great way to find out where all the good places on the ship are and then there's a fun party and drawing for prizes at the Sail away time. Read more