partybarbie

My husband still wears a suit and tie on formal nights. On smart casual nights he wears docker type pants, or a dark wash jean, with a collared shirt. On formal nights , I wear a long gown or cocktail dress. For smart casual, I wear mostly dresses, but maybe nice pants and a blouse. I pack everything in two suitcases and keep them under the 50 pound weight limit. You don’t have to dress up for dinner, but if you decide to, you won’t be the only one.

Congratulations to you and thanks for the live report. Loved following along on your adventures. Best of luck to you and safe travels home tomorrow.

Which ship are you referring to?

OMG, I love a nice pate, but that is a hard “no”.

Hard to say what you will get. I like Crooner’s piano bar. There’s normally a “party band” playing somewhere. The Grand has a DJ at night in the One Five nightclub. The music will vary based on passenger requests and the skill of the performer. Our friend, Paul Holmes, is the current piano man on the Ruby Princess. He played Dark Side of Moon and Zombie for us. He also does Elvis, Neil Diamond, Elton John, George Ezra, Johnny Cash, and Darius Rucker. The good ones play a little bit of everything.

I would probably go with the flight you have. The odds are in your favor. If something does happen the day of, you might also try getting a flight into Oakland. There are cabs, and public transit, there that can get you to the ship.

Enchanted is newer, so if the itinerary is similar, I would pick Enchanted.

Ours are in AUD.

IMHO, this cruise is not happening.

I couldn’t agree more. If the OP boards by herself, she will be charged full price for the cabin.

Even if you don’t get the credits until your second cruise, this is what you need to do. Make sure your travel agent has linked the reservation numbers for both cruises. Once you are on the ship, go to guest services and let them know to carry over the balance from your first leg to the second one. Make sure that they have your account and your wife’s account linked too. This way if you have a balance due from the first cruise, the credits from the second cruise will kick in and cover that balance. This is how we’ve done it and we haven’t had any problems with the credits being applied correctly.

I would probably save the money on the cabin and use it towards doing things in the ports. We like the aft inside cabins on Deck 14. It’s only a couple of steps to the pool, aft bar and buffet. If I need to see the weather from the cabin, I turn on the stateroom television and watch the bridge cam.

I like the Ruby. I’ve done multiple cruises on her. She looks good after the recent refurbishment. The weather will probably be a chilly on the first and last sea days. It should be nicer in Southern California and Ensenada. We normally stay on the ship in LA. In Ensenada, the winery tour up into the foothills is good. There’s plenty to do in San Diego and Santa Barbara, it just depends on your interests.

Thanks for taking us along with you both. I love the Ruby. I was on her in October last year, and have a month booked in January 2025. We also came down with Covid at the end of our cruise. We are all recovered, with the exception of my 78 year old aunt who has long Covid. Hope you’re all doing well now and happy cruising.

I’ve done this tour a few times on the zodiac rafts. It’s bouncy, but I’ve never seen anyone get sick.

There’s a sign posted saying that 2.5 times around the Promenade deck is one mile. I usually do five times around to get two miles.

That’s so good to hear. We have enjoyed sailing with Paul on past cruises, so it’s always good to know that others do too.

Princess has a three-day promo, January 18-20th, with the $100 deposits. It’s possible that it is being extended. I just booked two B2B cruises, on the Ruby, for January of 2025. Pricing for an inside cabin, with Princess Plus and port taxes, ran us $136, per person, per day. I’m happy with that, as we don’t qualify for casino rates.

We received a similar notice for our February 18th cruise. The notice is saying the delay is due to immigration delays. As we are boarding on February 14th, I hope we can get off the ship on time for our private tour.

I think the majority of the employees manning the customer service phones know absolutely nothing. It sounds like you haven’t boarded the ship yet? I would ask customer service onboard, or see if there is a suite concierge that can help you.

We had booked the Crown because my sister lives in La Paz and we love Loreto. That 10-day Baja itinerary out of LA is the best. The ports kind of made up for the older ship. It’s not like anything was really terrible, but it was mediocre at best.

I was on the Crown last January. She’s really showing her age. We’re going with the Ruby for January 2025. She’s back in SF then.

Did you have a chance to see the piano man in Crooner’s or have a martini there? It might not be your thing, just curious if you ever went there.

Found some scenic photos from the Royal. We didn’t have any problem finding places on deck to take photos.

I’m glad you mentioned the dog. On the Royal Princess, we normally stay on Deck 16 Forward. There’s a crew only door up there, but a passenger that stayed near us was able to access that area. Turns out that is where the potty box for her dog was located. It seems much better than having the box on the balcony.