SAKay

Has anyone had experience booking the Sanctuary on a full transit Panama Canal cruise ? Any hope of getting individual days after you board ? Or will it all be booked up also ?

Got it ! Thanks very much for the info ! 😃

My husband and I will be going on the Ruby Princess soon. For the first time, we have a substantial amount of onboard credit, both refundable & non. We each both have the same amount of total onboard credit, but different amounts of refundable vs non. I’ve heard you can get your refundable credit back, which for us would be $300, with part of that in each of our accounts. We will be going on some excursions, doing Crown Grill, sanctuary, etc. We have enough credit to do all those things & still get the $300 back. Can someone please tell me how that works ? As we spend onboard which part does it take first, refundable or non or both ? Do you have to designate which one ? Thanks for any help !! 😋

Thanks ! 😋

@CC Rider 69 Were they fun?

Does anyone know who the Cruise Director is on the Ruby Princess out of Galveston? How were they and their staff? We went on the Caribbean Princess in December and had Dan France as Cruise Director. He and his staff were great - so many fun activities, day and night !

@LouCoop We didn’t have CC. We were in the Coral Dining Room for the entire cruise. We had a reservation for 5:20, but usually showed up between 5:30 and 5:45 due to activities and excursions. I don’t remember the table number but we had Geronimo for our waiter, the BEST waiter we’ve ever had ! Ask for him and maybe you can get one of his tables.

@TexasBrit Hello, we also will be on the Ruby out of Galveston in April for the Panama Canal cruise. To allay some of your concerns, we went on our first cruise since the shutdown in Dec 2022 on the Caribbean Princess. This was our fifth Princess cruise. We had a wonderful time and are really looking forward to the April cruise. We were on the cruise with my daughter and her family, including my 3 grandchildren. We all loved our cruise ! While nothing is perfect in life, overall our cruise was great ! Here are some of our experiences: - the Medallion. We wore it, but didn’t really use it that much. We used the Patter to know what was going on. Never ordered food or drinks with it. Just went to a bar to get a drink. Easy ! Never had a wait. Worked great to charge to our Princess Plus. Never had any mistakes. - MDR. Food was good to very good. A couple of times I didn’t care for what I ordered, but waiter was happy to get me something else. I’ve never had so much shrimp on a cruise ! Some nights there were 3 shrimp dishes on the menu. They must have gotten a deal on shrimp for this cruise ! Also alot of fish. It was all very good. Oh, and Tenderloin. They had that many nights on the menu. Ordering Med Rare was touch & go. Sometimes too bloody & sometimes too overcooked. But waiter happy to get me a different one if I didn’t like the one I got. Waiter & Asst were best we’ve had in a long time, maybe ever ! Would do anything you asked. I did think they were overworked & didn’t get much time off. I tipped them extra at the end of the cruise. Also, we were able to get the same table & staff for the entire cruise. We also ate at the Grill & pizza places around the pool for lunches. All good. - Entertainment. We went every night. I thought the 3 big production shows were excellent ! Best we’ve seen in a long time. Coming from a musical background, I thought the singers voices were excellent ! And the dancers were very good, too. The other nights were comedians, magician, solo singers, a guest Soprano, musicians. Most were very good. Hey, in our opinion it’s 45 min out of your life, something to do each night. It was all fun. - Cruise Director Dan & his staff. Excellent ! The best we‘ve ever had. He & the staff made the cruise so fun ! So much to do each day. - Crown Grill. We ate there one night. It was all very good. - Room steward. Very nice & very good. Turn down service twice a day without asking. Tipped him extra, too. I’m trying to remember all the other things people complain about on here, but can’t think of any more things. I realize everyone’s opinion is subjective. But in my opinion, our cruise was great and we’re looking forward to our next one in April !

Hello -we are on this cruise, too. Overall, it has been great. Our room steward has been wonderful, responds to every request quickly. I always introduce myself on the first day and hand him a $20 bill. We get great service all cruise after that ! I also tip him again separately at the end of the cruise. There is turn down service at night. There has been lots to do so far on this cruise -lots of games & trivia,, if you like that kind of thing. We’ve been to ring toss, bean bag toss, 3 different golf contests, arts & crafts & steel drum class ( cost). There is a pickle ball court open each afternoon. We have grandkids with us and they are really enjoying everything. Also they had the Bravo show on the 2nd night. Wonderful ! It was also formal night. In the dining room we were able to ask for the same table after dinner on the first night. We were able to get the same table & same staff in the Coral dining room with Geronimo. Excellent waiter. We have the table at 5:20. They said the earlier the better when making the reservation. Check with Nicholas, the head waiter in this dining room. Very accommodating and friendly. By 6:15 every table is full. Food in the dining room has been so-so. A few good things & a few bad. I had a terrible Philly cheese steak sandwich for lunch the second day. Very little steak & a gross cheese sauce. Not like any cheese steak sandwich I’ve ever had. Also, last night’s prime rib was terrible -poor quality meat, like shoe leather. Don’t waste your time ! Wi-Fi has been OK for us. I have work to do from home. Took us a while to figure out how to turn it on & switch from one device to another - iPhone to lap top & vice versa. But working pretty well now. We have been able to make Wi-Fi phone calls home to family members who also have iPhones. I’m not a techy so not sure how that works. My husband and daughter figure out all that stuff for me ! Starting to see little tables in front of doors and got two of the hospital masks on our bed last night. So, I guess people are starting to get Covid. We are wearing our N95 masks all the time. Hoping to avoid it ! Well, those are some of the things I wondered about before we got on the cruise. I will post more later !

Thanks for all the suggestions !! The Jack Daniels might be the best thing to bring 😋

Hello All, I hope someone can help me. A while back I saw a good list of meds and things you should take on a cruise, to help you in case you get Covid. I thought I saved the list - Nope ! I tried to find it on here - Can't find it ! Did anyone else happen to save it ? Could you please post it on here ? I greatly appreciate the help !!

Wow ! What great answers and ideas ! Thanks very much !

Are kids allowed to wear shorts to the main Dining Rooms for dinner? Boys aged 8 and 10. How about on Formal nights or whatever it's called now ! I mean nice shorts and shirt, not athletic looking ones and T-shirts. Thanks for the info ! 🙂

She is a little girl, quite prim and proper. She likes to dress up and go out to nice places. The older two are boys. The only other cruise they've been on was a Disney Cruise when she was 2. They all did well on that one at 2, 5, and 7. Like I said, they are very well behaved, go to private school, and like nice things. They will be fine for an hour and a half and I don't think they will disturb other diners. I wouldn't take them if they would ! I just didn't know if kids were allowed in the restaurant, or the cost. Glad to hear it's half priced for kids. They really don't eat $29 worth of food ! Thanks for the info !!!

Are kids allowed to eat in the Crown Grill? My grandkids are 5, 8, and 10 and well behaved. So, thinking about taking them to eat there if allowed. Do they have the same menu? And what is the charge for the kids? Thanks very much ! 🙂

@Itchy&Scratchy What's in a Keywest Cooler? Do mocktails count towards the 15 drinks per day? All I ever thought of were Virgin daiquiris and Pina coladas. Are there other different mocktails and does anyone have a list? Thanks very much for the info ! 🙂

@Ombud Is it possible to contact you privately for the name you have ? I'd love to know her name.