Alimariecruisin

I called them directly...much faster and the cruise rep was was soooo helpful and knowledgeable! 

We are sailing on Ruby on Monday when you get back and I'd be happy to have that cabin! No lifeboat to look at out your window! Enjoy!

The covered pool is on the Star and adult only. Ruby and Royal both have only open air pools.

 

In answer to the OP my choices in order would be Royal, Ruby and then Star.

 

Keep the questions coming.

Last time I was on the Star, the covered pool was full of kids and not Adult only so when did that change???

Princess has "set" menus that are interchangable cruise to cruise depending on the availability of the raw ingredents. Rather hard to serve scallops if they are never delivered to the ship. Several days before YOUR cruise, menus are verified and the order those mealswill be served. On embarkation day, you can watch supplies being loaded IN ORDER onto the ship. Now as to the original question, if you go to the desk MDR and ask politely, they will produce a three ring binder with the menus in order for the entire cruise. If your planning on going to specialty restaurant, this knowledge is very helpful in choosing which night to go.

Wow, that is very interesting that they will share menus ahead for you...however, after cruising many times on the west coast we have found the menus to be almost exactly the same since 2015...only difference is in quality, the omission of the best items, and lack of interest of the dining staff due to the same old thing being served cruise after cruise. Yes they have set menus...I know them by heart now and that is not good for frequent Princess cruisers...I'm ready for a new experience after getting off the Ruby March 10th-17th. I'm very disappointed and totally bored with their menus...

In regards to our California Coastal cruise (Ruby March 10-17) the negatives we experienced did not stop our enjoyment of the cruise overall. The weather was either nice or rainy (very rainy in Monterey), our room steward Richard on Dolphin deck was outstanding, the food in the main dining room for lunch the first day (embarkation) was amazing but after that day just so so and we were seated all the time where wait staff had to almost crawl over my husband to pass him, touching him over and over throughout each meal. Pizza was bad, less offerings in the buffet, less wine in each glass of wine (especially in the Crown Grill), less staff overall to assist passengers. The staff rarely smiled nor seemed happy to assist anyone especially in the Crown Grill (except room steward Richard), the pool area and MUTS had NO music nor movie all day in sunny Ensenada where many of us did not get off ship. We, along with many others requested the entertainment department at least put music on and we all were ignored. We watched bar staff argue with each other in a foreign language off and on for hours...very tense. Room service was great and fast, I won in the casino (YEA!), we had a wonderful meet and great with our cruise critic roll call (sweet and fun people), San Francisco early was beautiful, San Diego was nice too...but Ruby has gone down in many areas compared to our cruises in 2015,2016, 2017. Sadly I just don't know if I'll book another cruise on Princess for a long time...maybe it's time to try another line for us.

Well, tomorrow is the last day on our California Coastal, which means the suitcases come out (booooooo:). Thought I’d confirm a few common questions asked lately along with some general observations.

 

Happy hour is indeed gone.

 

Blue tote bags are back.

 

No life jacket at Muster, which has been shortened and redone.

 

Salty dog cover fee down to $12 pp.

 

A glass of wine at Vines now gets you one tapas instead of two and there’s no choice - it’s whatever they have for that day.

 

Daytime activities seem to be more varied since our last cruise.

 

Coffee cards seem to be accepted regardless of their vintage.

 

The captains reception is just drinks - no passed apps anymore.

 

Overall service has been good, with a few outstanding folks that really go the extra mile.

 

Quite a bit of maintenance going on around the ship as usual. The Sanctuary pool has been empty and this closed all week - it looks as though it was just painted.

 

Food has been okay, not great. Less variety in the buffet, but we haven’t been on a grand class ship in almost two years so I could just be unfairly comparing it to the Regal.

 

We haven’t set foot in the MDR. Ate at the Salty Dog one night which seems to be better than the last time, and busier. Crown Grill last night - pretty good, but I’ve never been a huge fan so I’m a bit biased. We may try Share tonight. I miss Alfredo’s!!

 

The difference in size and Pax count is really felt in the piazza - very difficult to get a seat which is frustrating when you’re trying to grab a bite in the IC. I do like the use of the Explorers Lounge for nightly entertainment much more than Princess Live!

 

Overall a good cruise, despite colder than expected temps and some drizzle.

 

Off to Crooners!

 

 

 

 

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We too were on this cruise and agree with all above except the personal service via staff for me was truly upsetting...compared to our previous cruises the staff did not show much positive behavior nor caring of our questions, concerns, or requests. I'm too tired from just driving home from port to list all the negative stuff and really would rather forget much of it...but I'm not getting excited about cruising with Princess again after this 3rd cruise in a row of truly disappointing behavior of cruise staff. They were indifferent...not the Princess cruise experiences that always made me happy in the past before this past year...

How rough are the seas? I'll be on the Ruby this fall and she doesn't have azipiods (for stabilizing). I realize a spring cruise may be different, but I want to know how much bonine to bring. ;)

Was on same cruise, just off today...the seas were so calm I rarely felt any motion...really missed a bit of wave action!

We are going to be on Princess this Thanksgiving. Anything special to look forward to?

750 or so screaming kids everywhere! I'll never book another holiday cruise unless all my kids and grandkids come too, lol.:cool::cool::cool: :cool:

error...

Love the Ruby but agree cruises to Alaska are better spent on ships which feature a retractable cover for one of the pools...the Princess Star for example...

Check the actual views from the cabins on renmar's site located HERE

Just select the cabin range you are interested in and voila! I love renmar's site. It's so incredibly helpful.

Yes that is a great site to check out obstructed cabins! Hey Thrak, how can you not be elite by now??? Hopefully soon?

California coastal cruise has 4 fun port days from the San Pedro Port- San Francisco, Monterrey (or Santa Barbara), San Diego, and of course Ensenada, Mexico. Thus, I believe it is a great cruise for a multi generational group. Only 2 sea days and weather is mild to great any time of year (usually). That would be the cruise I'd take my kids and grandbaby if it ever works out for us all at the same time...

Either way, you're now set for relaxation.

 

Enjoy, and let the stress wash away.

Thank you, and yes I'm finally ready for the cruise...we leave for the port in 14 hours!!

I'm surprised that you didn't find the original.

 

Glad it all worked out for you.

Oh I wanted to share with you he lost it at the beach we figured out...never to be found again!:cool:

Great that the license made it so quickly. But you know that if you had depended on it arriving on time, it never would have. JS

Yep, it would have been in our PO Box on Saturday AFTER we left, lol. :cool:

I'm so glad you were able to get everything taken care of, and that's so funny about getting the new driver's license in time too. About two weeks before our first family cruise, my daughter's wallet got stolen out of her car (which she had accidentally left unlocked parked in front of her dad's house). We applied for a new one right away, but didn't think it would come in time, so I also called Carnival who assured me her school photo ID would be fine since she was under 18. As it happened, the new driver's license came the day before we left. AND, when we got home, my friend who was feeding our pets told me that a County Sheriff showed up at our house looking for my daughter. Of course my friend was concerned, and he wouldn't tell her why he was looking for my 16 year old daughter, just left his name and number. Turns out, he found her DL along the side of the road near his property out in the country, miles from where it was stolen. Just coincidence that he was a sheriff. So after all that, she now had two driver's licences!

LOL that is too funny! Princess said his VA ID card would "probably" work but we didn't trust a "probably"...

Would you post the link to this? I'm interested in it! Thanks!

I have to admit I don't know how to do that! So sorry. however it's on this site 2nd page as of now...:cool:

Wonderful to hear about all those great roll calls...it is amazing!!

So you must be cruising on Ruby...The CA Coastal?...we leave on the next PC March 31st...Glad you have had a great roll call often doesn't happen for Mexican Riviera and PCs. Our RC did start over a year+ ago too... we have a great group and have enjoyed many laughs....less then ten active on ours, we are planning an informal M&G at sail away.

 

 

Enjoy....and get your passport soon...don't want DH planning a trip without you:D.....it will be easier for renewal if they are closer in expiration date.

Yes, California Coastal on the Ruby...so happy to hear you too have great roll call, no matter the size!!!

Start a thread and ask your question.:D

Hey, great minds think alike, lolol:cool:

Start a thread and ask your question.:D

I did!!! LOL

My roll call for this Saturday, March 10th, California coastal started way over a year ago and has so many pages of text I couldn't read them all since joining just less than a few months ago...WOW, what a great group and new friends to meet this Saturday at our mingle at sailaway...just wanted to witness any other great roll calls any of you have enjoyed and for others to be encouraged to join their perspective roll calls...

But an interesting story to tell....thanks for the update and have a wonderful cruise.

Yep, it was interesting (but hope never to do again)...and we will enjoy this cruise...wonderful roll call...who else has over 145 pages of roll call from over a year ago with 40 or so members...I wonder now which roll call has the most pages with the fewest members????

Well, I feel I need to share this bit of drama with you all...as many of you may know my husband lost his pic id for our next cruise (in less than 2 days from now but at the time it was almost 2 weeks ago) and so we were freaked out because he didn't have a passport. (we've only cruised closed loop from California which only requires Dr. Lic photo ID and a birth certificate). So we get emergency appt. for a passport, took 2 days traveling to San Francisco...and yes he got the passport! Then today, less than 48 hours before boarding his new California Dr. Lic. arrives!!! In record time! I've never received any CA Lic. new or replacement in less than 2 and a half weeks...however we'd do it all over again the same because you can't trust the replacement to come in time! But it is kinda funny after the fact, and after all the stress...

Yes, it depends on which ship you are sailing...

L102 and L104 are the two ocean views left. Agree that L104 looks huge. And it looks like it is under the workout class area. L102 is the smaller one as noted. And it might be under the treadmills. There are 4 of us in 2 cabins and we just might give this a go........ it is two moms and we each have 2 special needs young men who get along great. We did a 10 day Mexico cruise on Ruby princess together and had a blast. Being by the pool as mentioned would be great. Plus they are both over 6 foot eating machines. So being by those places would also be great. Thanks to you all for your help.[/quote

 

All of the cabins in the front of Lido deck (L101, L102, L103, L104 and the 2 suites on either side of L104 and L103 are DIRECTLY below the treadmills...on our cruise all of us in those front cabins complained daily to both the spa and then to Passengers services...nothing was done...OH, and when we went up to the spa/exercise area at 6:30ish am to complain...we found people on the treadmills directly above L101, 102, 103, 104 but SIGNS on the treadmills above the 2 suites that stated no use till 8am...I was livid!!! So if you're not a morning person I wouldn't book it...but if you're up and outta there very early then yes L103 and L104 are great cabins!