K.T.B.

I keep reading about all these issues in SF and Ruby, but when my wife and I sailed out on February 25th we had zero issues.  

Arrival time was "scheduled" between 11:00-12:00, but we got there at 10:45 with an expectation of having to wait, though we didn't need to.  Dropped off our luggage, walked right in, started the process, which included Covid testing.  We were on board by noon.  Even with the additional step of testing, it was the quickest we've ever boarded a ship on any line from the time we got out of the taxi until we stepped on board. 

My only guess as to why it's taking so long now is staffing.  When I embarked they looked to fully staffed or darn close to it.

48 minutes ago, Joy_K said:

I am staying onboard the Ruby for final leg of B2B2B with my husband.  There were 120 cases of Covid on the ship this morning when we arrived in San Francisco.  My husband has Covid and is in isolation on Deck 12.  I could not join him.  I have been going to medical every morning to test and will continue to do so for a total of 5 days as long as I stay negative.  I can go anywhere on the ship as long as I wear my KN95 mask but must eat in my room only to remove my mask until my 5 days are up.

 

Last night was very stressful for those in quarantine to be able to place their dinner order as the dine line phone rang for over 2 hours with no one answering.  I called guest services twice to complain as my husband was texting me about being on hold for so long.  Finally at 9 pm I called guest services a 2nd time and got rude with them and demanded they do something to get food to my diabetic husband before they had an emergency on their hands.  They had me text him to hang up and someone called him to take his order and by 9:30 he finally got dinner.

 

The reason people for this:  when the mask mandate came back people panicked.  Everyone decided they wanted room service dinner yesterday and that overwhelmed them.  Also when the letter came out that the numbers were up people who had brought test kits with them started using them and asystemic people found put they had covid and 911 was overwhelmed with calls for hours.

 

Some people think Princess should keep passengers updated daily to the number of cases onboard.  Imagine the panic if they did......just my opinion.

Dammit.  I hope your husband feels better soon.  It's a shame you're having to deal with all of this.  As wonderful as our cruise was (your first leg), it sounds like it's really gone to he'll.  😢

When someone says it's not about the money, it's about the money.  

Yeah, the long hold times currently are awful, but they're also incredibly short staffed and most likely not well trained.  It's not an excuse, but these are people on the other side of the phones trying their best to assist you on your bad day.  Perhaps I've been extremely fortunate, but every Princess representative I've talked with on the phone has be very nice and accommodating.  Especially on the day before I was to fly out I discovered American Airlines cancelled my flight.  While I had already re-booked through United (because of the hold times), they still refunded my money with no fee and apologized for inconvenience, even though they didn't cancel.

I wholeheartedly recommend Supersonics (they generally perform in Explorers Lounge) and Danny Rembadi (an acoustic guitarist who plays a lot in both Crooners and Explorers).  Pretty much saw them both nightly the majority of our cruise.

I used Whats App to remain in contact and it worked great for that, including video chat.  Loading of websites was hit or miss. Uploading pics to social media was rarely successful.

The newest/most recent movie they had on my just ended Ruby cruise was Free Guy.  So that should give you a decent idea.

Doesn't work.  I tired it on my cruise and I think the HDMI port had been disabled. I was slightly disappointed, but I at least tried.

44 minutes ago, Cruzinnana47 said:

Sorry to hear buffet back to self-serve on the Ruby, as we're sailing on her in May and we actually liked the idea of items served by crew.   Personally never cared for the chaos of all self-serve.  Would rather be in a line and have thing more organized....and less confusing.  Not to mention less chance of food contamination.

 

To each his own.  Guess I'll spend less time in the buffet and more in the IC.

In all honesty, it was a bit of a PITA with the crew serving.  Granted, we only ate at the buffet for breakfast and the breakfast service was quite lacking overall.  That is/was my only complaint about my cruise.  There were numerous times I had to get the attention of the crew behind the stations to get served.  It seemed they were too busy talking amongst themselves. And the beverage service for breakfast was nearly non-existent.

If not for that, my time on the ship would have probably been nearly 100% perfect.

Well, my intent when I started this thread was to post quite a bit, but that turned into a cluster****.  Uploading pics was nigh impossible for me and posting also had its own challenges.  I'm very glad others were able to do so. Thanks to PescadoAmarillo for all the pics.

Suffice it to say, it was a great cruise.  

On 3/2/2022 at 10:19 PM, c-boy said:

so my Blackhawks fan, you won't mind if the standards in service and food quality follow suit .

On 3/3/2022 at 8:48 AM, c-boy said:

" Seriously, how hard is it to just be nice?"

 

😦for some people it can be an immense task

Um, yeah.... I can see that.....

As for food and service, Ruby has been the best of both for any cruise we've taken.  Period.  Despite shorts being allowed in the MDR.

Ugh, so aggravated here.  Completely unable to upload pics in any way....  I'm glad others can.

As for the new captain, he's not nearly as enjoyable to listen to....  😕

48 minutes ago, c-boy said:

 " Please......Princess is the Target of cruising.....it is not that high end....and does not enforce these supposedly "high standards" you talk of....maybe if people do not like what is happening they should go cruise Regent, Oceania, Viking, Seabourn to name a few.....some people take themselves way to seriously..."   

 

  The  effects of  Carnivalization of the Princess brand 

Having been on numerous Carnival cruises and currently on my first Princess cruise, you're dead wrong.  Carnival was never this good in terms of food, service, and product. Period.

And, yes, Princess is allowing shorts in MDR.  So what? Doesn't bother me in the least.

25 minutes ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

Avi the deck steward’s artwork for today. This may be my favorite!

 

 

I watched them assemble that.  All free hand.

20 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Just curious, has anyone found out yet how many passengers are on the cruise? Also, have you heard if everyone still has to take another antigen test before the ship will be allowed to pass through the Panama Canal?

20 hours ago, txjim09 said:

We took a test today, no word of additional.  Depending on who you talk to, either 1700 or 1900.  Guest lecturer said half occupancy.  One of the staff stated future cruises would have a higher load

They announced via the PA that it's just over 1,700.  

And an apology to all, I was hoping to post many more pictures, but I'm having difficulty in doing any type of posting. I'm having the same issue on my phone and my tablet with both CC & FB.  I'll definitely keep trying though!

EDIT: It took me 3 tries to get that posted,  by the way.

Decided to do screen shots of tonight's dinner off the app.  Much easier!

First sea day is a bit chilly, but once you're in sunshine it's glorious out.  I haven't done much exploring yet, but I will!  Tonight is also the first formal night.

10 minutes ago, 2 cruises a year said:

They would absolutely NOT retest. Believe me, I tried.  I was nice, I was belligerent, to no avail.  How could my wife test positive and me not? We are practically attached at the hip.  Especially the last week.

This will be my last comment, it is history, we're moving on and planning our next cruises. 

ps she shows no symptoms. 

So sorry to hear that!!!  Damn....  😢

Just do NOT book American Airlines!  They canceled my booking, even though it was ticketed, the day before we were to fly out.

Sailing under The Golden Gate Bridge.  Posted to my Twitter:

https://twitter.com/KevTBrown/status/1497597786849792002?t=tKej7W2OFCQOcHGRBr1FsQ&s=19

Going to try to upload some pics here!

Leaving the hotel in an hour.  I'll try to post some SF pics a bit later.  Right now this waiting is quite arduous!  😁

Joy we made it!  I hope you're able to get to SF with no further issue!

On our flight right now!  🥳

And our Covid tests were negative!!!!  🎉