The Ruby Princess has three main dining rooms that come in handy for the line’s Personal Choice Dining Program, which allows passengers to choose from Traditional Dining with early and late seatings for dinner or Anytime Dining. The ship’s 24-hour casual restaurant, the Horizon Court, offers a buffet alternative for breakfast and lunch; at night it becomes a sit-down bistro. Tuscan-inspired Sabatini’s is the ship’s venue for upscale Italian fare, and has established itself over the years as one of cruising’s more popular alternative restaurant concepts.

Ruby Princess's three main dining rooms—Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Botticelli—are similar in décor and size and where guests are pre-assigned a table at one of two seatings. The rooms and table settings are well appointed. Service is efficient and the food is tasty. (Breakfast and lunch are open shared seating and if you wish not to share a table with other passengers, you must request it.)

But guests also have a choice of other dining venues that allow them to eat when they wish or with whom they wish during the dinner hours. Their dinner options include the informal 312-seat Horizon Court that also serves breakfast and lunch at the top of the ship on Deck 15. Floor-to-ceiling windows provide stunning sea views and the comfortable furnishings are pleasing. Adjacent is the smaller Café Caribe that provides a themed Caribbean buffet with regional specialties such as grilled Caribbean rock lobster, spicy shrimp and a variety of Asian dishes such as a Rijstafel Rice Table Buffet. Sporting colorful Caribbean décor and live music, the space features an open kitchen where passengers can order their meals cooked to their specifications.

After, perhaps, a heavy lunch, passengers may prefer to eat a light supper down on Deck 5 in the three-deck Atrium area named La Piazza. Here, Princess has introduced the International Café that carries the 24-hour dining concept further with a changing menu of à la carte items served in the Italian village setting. The International Café menu features both complimentary and modestly priced items such as freshly baked croissants or beignets in the morning, pannini sandwiches at lunchtime, tea in the late afternoon or pre-dinner mini-selections in the evening. The café is also open for late-night bistro dining option with a selection of sandwiches, salads and soups.

Close by is an Italian gelateria serving a choice of ice creams as well as freshly made pastries to go along with the variety of specialty coffee drinks made from a selection of six different coffee beans.

Steps away is Vines, an open bistro that offers samplings of wines by the glass from 26 vintages. A selection of chilled seafood appetizers including sushi, gravlax or other treats from the sea are also available. There is a charge for the wines and the seafood appetizers served. And as you indulge in the food delights of the Piazza's food venues, "street performers"— jugglers, magicians, an a cappella group and other musical presentations—will entertain you.

For a special evening, the new 160-seat Crown Grill offers a menu of premium beef and seafood entrées. This cozy showplace eatery with its rich brown colors and leathery décor imparts a "New York steakhouse feel." An open, theater-style kitchen where chefs custom-prepare steamed shellfish and cooked-to-order steaks and chops takes center stage. Passengers can choose to sit at the kitchen's eat-up counter and watch the chefs as they dine, or settle into a comfortable booth with for a four course dinner. When I ate there, my entrée was a freshly steamed two-pound lobster. The Crown Grill also sports a dedicated cocktail bar that boasts a new signature 16-ounce Crown Grill Margarita concoction. A $25 fee per person applies for dinner, although some items may carry an additional charge.

The popular Sabatini's trattoria found on Princess vessels has a new top-deck location on Deck 16 to offer fine dining with a view. The restaurant has a grand entrance that leads to a three-sided windowed venue. There is also a small area on deck for al fresco dining. An all-new multi-course menu is offered; custom-made fine china and new stemware are evident; and dinner can take as long as two or three hours. Dinner costs $20 per person.

The new Adagio Lounge across the way offers a cozy venue for Sabatini's diners to enjoy a pre-or post-dinner Italian-inspired cocktail or have their after-dinner dessert as they listen to the pop/jazz pianist playing his tunes.

During the daytime, guests can enjoy lunch at the Trident Grill by the pool—the perfect place for hungry passengers to get freshly grilled burgers and hot dogs. Or they might want to opt for The Pizza & Ice Cream Bar located nearby for a tasty treat.

Guests can also opt to "stay in" for the evening and there is 24-hour room service for a fee available for those wishing to dine in their cabins. Special room-service-only offerings include an elegant three-course Ultimate Lobster Balcony Dinner featuring a choice of lobster or grilled beef tenderloin accompanied by a half bottle of champagne, canapés, a bouquet of flowers, and an 8-by-10 photo taken at dinner ($100 per couple). At breakfast time, a special Champagne Balcony Breakfast ($25 per couple) can be ordered.

As a tip of the hat to Brooklyn, Princess introduced the Brooklyn Balcony Nosh that is offered passengers on embarkation day. The Nosh—an authentic Nathan's Hot Dog with all the trimmings, an iced bottle of Brooklyn Brewery's Premium Lager Beer, and a generous slice of Brooklyn's famous Junior's Cheesecake—is presented to passengers on embarkation day in their cabin as a tribute to Ruby Princess's first homeport in Brooklyn. There is a $7 fee for the Nosh selections.

On sea days, Ruby Princess' nautical themed Wheelhouse Bar is transformed into an authentic English-style pub, serving a selection of traditional fare. A menu of British favorites, including bangers & mash, fish & chips, ploughman's lunch and cottage pie, will complement a selection of traditional pub brews such as Stella Artois, Bass Ale or Guinness. Pub lunch meal service is free of charge and runs from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

RUBY PRINCESS SHIP ENTERTAINMENT

Ruby Princess retains the many hallmark features that define the Princess experience, including the dramatic Movies Under the Stars poolside movie screen, multiple entertainment options, a Lotus Spa fitness center, an extensive children and teen's center, and a wedding chapel. On this vessel, there are three main show lounges (both theater and cabaret style) and 12 lounges or bars for refreshments, entertainment, or dancing. In addition, there is the Gatsby Casino for those wishing to try their luck, and an Internet Café with 25 computer stations located just off the Piazza.

The roughly 800-seat Princess Theater is the ship's main venue, and it also showed movies from time to time when not featuring production shows and comedy acts. Broadway-style production shows have included "Motor City," a tribute to Motown, and "Destination Anywhere," a mishmash of songs and sets from different eras and locales that takes you on round-the-world journey, and "What a Swell Party," a compilation of Cole Porter tunes and other music from the Great Gatsby era.

Introduced to the Princess fleet on Ruby Princess, the Piazza atrium is a marvelous destination. It serves as a mini-performance venue, demo area and, during down times, adjunct to the International Cafe. For instance, there might be a sushi, fruit and vegetable demonstration, "comedy juggler," and string quartet. At another time, the Princess singers and dancers offer a few numbers from "Motor City," the Motown production show. On the second formal evening, people throng all three levels to watch the fabled "Champagne Pour," a Princess tradition.

Beyond that, the ship has so many entertainment options that your head might spin as you try to figure out which to choose. Each lounge has a different personality. Crooners, on the promenade, is right in the heart of the action, overlooking the Piazza, and usually features a vocalist or pianist. Explorer's Lounge is primarily an events' venue for just about everything, including art auctions, dances, standup comedy and guest lectures. Club Fusion was also busy during the day -- with Ballroom Blitz, line dancing, bingo and Jeopardy -- and into the evening with music-related activities, from trivia and the Newlywed, Not so Newlywed Game to "Princess Pop Star," a take-off on American Idol.

The Speakeasy, adjacent to Gatsby's Casino, is the only place to smoke a stogie. The Wheelhouse Bar, a Princess tradition, has nautical character but lacks the intimacy associated with smaller versions on other ships. And Adagio, tucked into a light-filled corner on Deck 16, is an elegant, Ritz Carlton-esque venue -- ideal for a chat -- with low-key piano music. Late-night action is to be found in Princess' trademark Skywalker's. (This version has a nice balcony off the end.) It then becomes a kids' and teens' disco early in the evening; it turns into an adults-only hangout later on.

Movies Under the Stars, in the Calypso Pool area, is a major attraction and is on all day (with family fare), as well as into the night.

During the daytime, beyond the aforementioned entertainment, Princess is definitely committed to its ScholarShip@Sea program. Some classes are more light-hearted -- you can bring out your "inner artist" during Ceramics@Sea (tucked into an alcove by the Neptune's Reef pool); you pay only for the plate or frame or whatever you choose ($15 to $30). The paint is supplied, and staffers fire your piece for you to take home. Other facets of the overall program include culinary arts demonstrations (wine-tastings, ice-carving and the like), an extensive array of Computers@Sea classes ($25 for a Photoshop class) and a guest lecture series (free).

A number of new ScholarShip@Sea enrichment programs debuted aboard Ruby Princess including: Navigation@Sea focuses on the history of navigation; Mixology@Sea offers a hands-on course taught by the ship's bar manager; Astronomy@Sea program explores the night sky through a telescope on the top deck; Art History@Sea: Botticelli to Warhol, The Evolution of Art makes 500 years of art come to life with a special hour-long presentation.

The Grand Casino has the usual array of slots and table games, including one for dealerless Texas Hold 'Em.

Three new fun competition events have also made their debut on Ruby Princess. The first, Ballroom Blitz, usually held in the New York nightclub-style Club Fusion on Deck 7, offers participants the opportunity to learn a variety of basic ballroom dances at lessons throughout the cruise and can then show off their moves in a series of evening competitions inspired by the recent popularity of ballroom dancing on television. In the Princess Peer Factor—Friends, Family or Foe?—two teams of peers square off in fun events where they can try out their skills at a variety of interesting shipboard tasks, such as pizza making, casino dealing, ice carving, cocktail mixing or trying to keep up with the ship's entertainers.

The third is the Spelling Bee at Sea, a two-day competition for both youths and adults, held in the Princess Theater. Popularized by the Broadway hit musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, the public's fascination with spelling contests has grown. On board, passengers can test their spelling acumen with the winners receiving a special dictionary autographed by the ship's captain. Bee finalists will also enjoy a larger audience for their 15 minutes of fame when the final rounds of the spelling competition are shown on the giant Movies Under the Stars.

RUBY PRINCESS SHIP SPA AND SPORTS

First introduced aboard Golden Princess in 2001, the Lotus Spa concept is featured in state-of-the-art facilities designed to give both female and male passengers the opportunity to renew mind, body and spirit. The Asian-influenced spas offer a full range of body and facial treatments, relaxing steam and sauna facilities, and a salon featuring hair and nail services. Unique is the spa's hand- and foot-soothing therapies such as an Exotic Hand Ritual or a Sole Delight Foot Treatment and paraffin wax dips. Lotus Spa treatments may be reserved prior to the cruise.

As the Lotus Spa was moved forward on this ship, the windowed fitness center was expanded with the latest cardio and weight machines. Other fitness activities include a variety of classes for body conditioning such as Step Xpress, aerobics and power walks as well as, for a fee, Pilates, pulse cycling and KickBoXpress. Personal trainers are on hand and a series of health and nutrition seminars also scheduled during a cruise.