Here is our review of the Ruby Princess Eastern Caribbean January 22-29, 2012. By way of background, we are 43yo and 54yo and this was our 12th cruise in the last 10 years on Princess. I am the one who reads all the reviews and posts here on cc so I am going to try to hit all the relevant points that seems to come up often.

We flew in to FLL the day before as always in case of weather. This was the first time we actually were slightly concerned as we were flying from Hartford, CT and we got a snowstorm Friday night into Saturday. Flight left on time and we stayed the night pre-cruise at the Hyatt Pier 66 (Hotwire -- see threads in Departure Ports). Quick note on Pier 66, nice property, convenient to both the airport and the cruise port. The bar/restaurant at the end of the Pier, Pelican's Landing was very good and very reasonable.

Embarkation: We left the hotel at around 10:30, hopped a cab to the cruise port, stood in line for security about 10-15 minutes and we were through and directed to the Platinum Lounge while we waited to board. Boarding began around 11:40am and we were on the ship and in our cabin by 11:55am. D604. If we have a choice, we eat every meal in the dining rooms. I paid for the service, I am going to enjoy it. Therefore, no longer hidden is the fact that one of the dining rooms is open for lunch on embarkation day. In this case it was Davinci on deck 6. (Princess also lists this fact on their website now). It was a wonderful way to start the cruise, great lunch, try the salmon if you like fish, perfect. The ship is in great condition as it was just refreshed in dry dock. We had no issue with finding anything as we have been on the sister ship, Crown, multiple times. Read more