First long cruise... did not disappoint!

My husband and I sailed on the Ruby Princess for our first long cruise which was a transatlantic repositioning cruise.  The ports of call were appealing to us- Bermuda, Lisbon Portugal, Bilbao Spain, LeHavre (Normandy) France, and Southampton (London).  The Ruby is a beautiful ship, in impecable condition and the staff was friendly and attentive.  We were pleased with the amount of activities and entertainment during the whole duration of the cruise.  Our stateroom was a standard room with a balcony.  While on the small side, it was comfortable and adequate with plenty of storage.  It is very functional in its design.  We are tall people, and the shower was very small, but it did the job.  The bed was fine, although I did ask for a pillow top from our steward, as it was a little hard for me.  This addition made it great (some people ask for two, I've been told.)  The linens were fine.  The pillows, however, drove me nuts... they were SO lumpy!  In spite of this, we slept very well, which is important, right?  Our room was across from the laundry room and we were nervous about this, but it was fine...  we would never have known.  We enjoyed the balcony; for us it was worth the extra cost.  The passengers were definitely an older group.  I am in my 50's and felt like the teenager.  QuIet, quiet, quiet... almost too quiet for me.... and I am by no means a big partier.  But given this or bedlam, I would settle for an older, quiet crowd.  My husband and I are non professional performers (singers and musical theater) and we found the evening shows to be good.  They were creative and entertaining (and short- usually about 30 minutes in length.)  The lead singers were just okay... not bad, but I thought they would have been better.  Now for the food...  I am a total foodie and cook so I am critical.  All is all, I would say that the variety is great, the presentation is great, the effort is great.  It is incredibly difficult to cook in such large quantities and I think they did a good job.  For me, some of it was rather bland and not of the best quality, but much of it was excellent.  For my tastes, kind of hit or miss.  Some items were terrific, some flavorless.  It all looked great, but I found myself trying lots of items, not eating some, and wanting more of others.  We chose "Anytime" dining which worked well for us.  We found 1 1/2 -2 hours in the dining room every night was just too long for us... so about half the time we had dinner in the buffet upstairs.  It suited our casualness and I liked this because I could sample lots to see which items I found to my liking.  The array of foods is amazing.  I had read about the buffet station crowding, but we never expereienced this.  Perhaps it was because it was a transatlantic crossing and people were older and mellower, and maybe more going tot he dining room instead of buffets??  Don't miss seeing the pastry displays-- they are incredible.  (They look better than they taste, but they are gorgeous.)  I also enjoyed the culinary demonstration and galley tour.  We enjoyed two nights in the specialty restaurant (25.00 per person extra) and they were very good and to us, worth it.)  Embarkation/disembarkation were all quick, organized, and easy.  We would definitely recommend the Ruby, and this type of cruise, and will most likely go again on a transatlantic cruise.  This is our first time on Princess, and we really enjoyed it.