talkorpi

MDR lunch menu today

Just now, phatlad said:

They are not giving any OBC. Refunding port fees and any excursions booked through the ship. This is my first princess cruise and to say I’m underwhelmed compared to other lines is an understatement. (Not because of the missed port; totally understand that. Safety first. But because of many other comparative reasons). 

I’m sorry that you aren’t having a good time. I will definitely say that Princess is a very traditional cruising experience. I have generally really enjoyed everything so far. I find the food, service, and ship much better than my time on Carnival. The entertainment is a mixed bag - main production shows aren’t as good but I do enjoy the game shows. 
 

Today’s missed port and the lack of activities scheduled to make that up has been the first and only disappointment so far in my eyes. Of course any day at sea is still better than a day in the office so I’m still having a great time! Just trying to ignore the live threads of the ships that were able to dock today 😂

Ugh! Making me jealous! I have generally been impressed with the food and service on Princess but at least Carnival got us where we were supposed to go!!! They didn’t even add any onboard activities to make up for missing Mahogany Bay today. I don’t think we’re going to get any OBC or anything either…
 

Get a hurricane for me at Fat Tuesday 😢

Drinking the pain of missing Mahogany Bay away 😂

Here’s todays new patter. They didn’t really add anything to the schedule to make up for skipping the port of call.

Just now, Woosgirl said:

Hey there! I’ll be on the Ruby next month, and wondering if they have a smoothie juice bar?  Have you seen one?

I haven’t found one but they do have premade smoothies in the buffet for breakfast as well as in the international cafe. 

Just now, satxdiver said:

Just looked at the map Alure OTS and NCL Dawn are in port at Coxen Hole.  Mardi Gras is in port at Mohagany Bay and the Ruby is on a slow path to Costa Maya where the Alure OTS and Caribbean Princess will join us.  I think the captain gave up too quickly.  We have been to Roatan many times both to Coxen Hole and Mohagany Bay so sad we missed this port.  The entrance to this port which must be done in reverse is a very narrow channel and wind has canceled it before.  Tugboats are not available and cannot be used due to the narrow channel so if we ran aground it would be disastrous. 

Thanks for explaining it better than I could. I do agree that I think we gave up too early. I have a hard time believing that three other larger ships could dock but we couldn’t. 
 

This stinks as MB is by far the best port on this itinerary IMHO. Also means I probably won’t be getting a beach day anymore since all the Cozumel clubs are likely sold out. 
 

Huge bummer

Just now, Thenagers said:

So I typed all that stuff yesterday and it never posted! Sorry. Took a Bonine again before bedtime and slept way better. Super rocky again last night but didn’t bother me. We were late docking this AM in Mahogany because of the winds but we get some extra time before all aboard. I rented a cabana today here at Mahogany but might go see the sloths. 

Hey @Thenagers! Enjoy your day at Mahogany Bay! I’m currently onboard the Ruby Princess and we were supposed to be there with you today. The captain just came on and told us that he thought it was unsafe to dock so we are skipping the port entirely and just having another sea day.
 

We are NOT happy - Roatan is my favorite port on our itinerary and it sounds like the other three ships in port today were able to dock so idk why never tried again. 
 

Wish we could be there to enjoy Mahogany Beach with you! Looks like I will have to wait another year or two to be back 😭

Well we just got our announcement.

Wind was 35 knots with 50 knot wind gusts when we approached which was higher than forecast. The swell conditions combined with the wind created unsafe docking conditions. 
 

We are not calling in Roatan today and are going to Costa Maya at a reduced speed. 

I’m not really a skeptic but the Mardi Gras did dock like 30 minutes after we did with absolutely no problems so that kind of stinks. Not sure why we couldn’t just try again.
 

The whole piazza let out an angry sigh when he announced we were skipping Roatan. I had the same reaction😠

Not a great start to the day!

Just now, princess76021 said:

Where did you go? Inquiring minds want to know!!!!

We are still just sailing in a straight line in the opposite direction from the port. I asked Guest Services and they said they did not know what the plan was and had no information.

At this point a late arrival would be better than no arrival but an announcement would be nice. We were supposed to be going ashore at this time so I feel like they would’ve told us something by now. 
 

Fellow passengers are also getting angry

Morning @partytimeson! I’m on the Ruby right now in the Buffet. I just asked one of the dining staff and they told me that they do in fact have prune juice. 
 

Enjoy your cruise next week! She is a beautiful ship. If you want to get a glimpse of food and activities make sure to check out my live thread!

Still no announcement or anything but this is not a good sign

Good morning from Roatan*. I’m a little confused this morning. We are supposed to have the all ashore time in just an hour. Well we are currently sailing PAST the Mahogany Bay terminal but the Carnival Mardi Gras (which was supposed to arrive two hours after we did) is backing in to MB right now. 🤔🤔🤔
 

Are we just waiting for a pilot? Are we going to Cartagena instead? Will we dock at Mahogany Bay or not?

We’ll be right back with the answers and more after a short commercial break!

Just now, CarlieInSF said:

@talkorpi Any idea how many kids are on the next sailing? We are on the 80's cruise with our 13 YO and really wondering if there will be kids.  Thanks for all your info.  Excited to get on the Ruby in a few days!!

 

Not sure but there are quite a few children on this cruise. Way more than I expected. I imagine it would be the same but I can’t say for sure. 

We are rocking a lot more right now than we have been the last two days. It’s getting really windy outside. I am a little worried about docking tomorrow at Roatan - we are supposed to have 30+ MPH winds. Right now at sea it’s only like 22 MPH and I can barely stand on our balcony.

I guess we’ll find out in the morning. Goodnight!

Okay, I know that was a lot of posts in a row about food but I just wanted to express how incredible our dinner was tonight. Again, huge thank you to Milos and the entire chef’s team at Sabatini’s for producing such an incredible meal. The service lasted about 2 1/2 hours but I was completely fine with that. Truly magnifico!

Dessert
 

Our waiter also said “I have your dessert order handled” and proceeded to bring out ONE OF EACH DESSERT (😨) for us to try. Oh my lord, it was so much food but it was TO DIE FOR! Unfortunately I didn’t get a photo of the dessert menu so I will describe the best I can:

Tiramisu: this is not traditional tiramisu but it tastes delicious. Had a very elegant presentation and had such rich complex flavors with layers of coffee, chocolate, and mascarpone vanilla cream. 

Panna Cotta: Silky panna cotta with Marsala wine and tart blueberries. It was really, really good. It usually comes with an almond biscuit but we had a nut allergy so didn’t get that part. 

Vanilla Custard: this was a softer vanilla custard with some fresh fruit added. It was one of the most delicate vanilla flavors ever. Heavenly. 

Rocher: This dessert literally changed my life. It is a base of chocolate hazelnut mousse, then a dark chocolate ganache, then a decadent chocolate hazelnut cake, and then some chocolate hazelnut ice cream that is also coated in chocolate. Oh and add on some chocolate shavings and toasted hazelnuts too. I think I will be dreaming of this dessert for the next twenty years.  I was so full at this point but in between each bite I kept stretching to see if I could fit more Rocher in my stomach!

Entrees

Branzino: Perfectly cooked fish that just flaked and fell apart perfectly. Had a great bright lemony flavor and was accompanied by delicious vegetables that had great herbs and spices. 

Ossobuco: Y’all judge me all you want but I almost cried when I took my first bite. I felt like my Italian Nonna was giving me a big warm hug and I’m not even Italian. The meat was fall off the bone tender and the rissotto was perfectly cooked and had an incredible saffron flavor. Can’t get over how good this was!

Pasta 

Pasta Primavera: This had lots of fresh seasonal veggies in a nice basil and olive oil sauce. The penne was perfectly Al dente and everything had a nice bite to it. While this was probably the least impressive thing we ordered, it was still a solid 8/10 which shows how great this whole meal was. 

Lobster Tortelloni: This was really rich so 3 was the perfect amount. The lobster sauce was so savory and the pasta filling was light and tangy. Really good!

Appetizers (not even going to attempt this in Italian)

Panzanella was interesting version of panzanella featuring grilled shrimp and olives. Very flavorful and I wish I had the foresight to pick this light of an appetizer considering how full I would become over the course of the evening!

Buratta Caprese: Velvety, delicate, and insanely fresh cheese had such a great taste. The fresh shaved tomatoes and basil oil rounded it out to be a simple yet incredibly delicious appetizer. They gave me a LOT of cheese so I did not eat it all but it was very tempting!

Okay, now onto the food and drink:

Arancini was delicious. Had a nice flavor from the cheese inside, a nice crispy texture, and the tomato sauce was the perfect accompaniment.

The bread service consisted of fresh focaccia and a garlic Parmesan roll. It is accompanied by some olive oil and balsamic. I tried not to fill up on that to save room but it was great bread and hard to resist (you’ll notice this theme through the whole meal.)

We skipped the soup/salad course to save room for later courses - this turned out to be a good idea but I’m sure the quality of those items would’ve been top notch. 

Oh my LORD y’all. Just finished dinner at Sabatini’s. I feel like a whale because I am SO FULL but it was one of the best meals I have EVER had!

The new menu is fantastic and everything was seriously delicious. Our server was Milos and he made tonight extra special - truly incredible service. He said this will be his 10th year on cruise ships and he only has two more contracts until retirement - you can tell he is a professional and he was truly a world class waiter!

Sabatini’s on Ruby is also a beautiful space as it was completely redecorated in her last dry dock. It actually became the restaurant “Share” for a while but has since reverted back to Sabatini’s albeit keeping the nice modern but rustic atmosphere. Probably one of the most beautiful rooms on the ship. 
 

I will be posting in segments by course since doing it all in one swoop will probably make my phone explode

6 minutes ago, FrankieJayIII said:

can you explain to me how future cruise credit's work and why do people get them ahead of time and book them etc. etc.

This is my first time buying them. The way it was explained to me is that if you pay $100 PP right now, it covers your deposit for any Princess cruise you book in the next tow years. Depending on your cruise length and cabin category, you’ll also get some onboard credit as an incentive. If you don’t end up booking within the window then Princess will just refund you the money when it expires.
 

Policy change goes into effect tomorrow that shortens the booking window from two years to one year. I’m very glad I did my research because I would’ve been oblivious if I hadn’t. Being a recent college grad with a pretty gross student loan I have to pay monthly, I’m trying to limit my travel budget to lower than I would like, so that extra year that I snagged on its last day today really helped. 

15 minutes ago, jaycruising said:

I feel you… I am Nordic/Scandinavian and a ginger, I just look at the sun and burn!  
 

‘’thanks for sharing your trip!

Haha, yeah any sun is a problem. My ancestry is German, Finnish, Swedish, and British a.k.a. four of the fairest-skinned countries on earth so I will cook quickly outside. Hoping I can get a lounger in the shade in Roatan tomorrow 🤞🏻

Just got two FCCs at the Future Cruise Planning Desk. They were not really advertising that today is the last day to get them valid for 2 years and that tomorrow it will shorten to 1. 
 

Not sure if I will even use them but it doesn’t hurt to have just in case!