A Very Ruby Christmas - Ruby Princess 12/20-30 review (very long)

[Infi]

This is our review of the Ruby Christmas cruise. Warning: this review will be long, more of a trip report than report card style. I’ll try to post it in four parts as quickly as I can, but forgive me if I write too slowly! I’ll also post some photos, as soon as DD finishes doing her photo organization process, whatever that is. :)

 

Ship: Ruby Princess, 12/20-30, 2009

Itinerary: Antigua, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Kitts, St. Thomas, and Princess Cays

Part 1

 

I took this cruise with my daughter, my 51st and her 22nd. This was our third cruise on Princess, and we enjoyed it very much. After two Christmas cruises (last year on the Emerald) and one Alaska cruise on the Star, we both agreed that Princess does the holidays perfectly and we love sailing with them during this time. These two trips rank as some of our favorite cruises. If you are thinking of booking a holiday cruise – do it.

 

Although we live in FLL, we took a car service to the port. I was concerned with parking, considering the amount of ships in for the holidays (eight ships on 12/20, and similar the day before). Ruby was docked at terminal 2, and we had to wait outside for the doors to open (we arrived at 10:30). It was an unusually chilly morning, so it was a bit amusing to see the varying degrees of dress: people who had just flown in were wearing coats and those who expected warm weather only had shorts and tshirts on. We ended up sitting on the benches outside with passengers who had just disembarked. After reading on CC that there is a separate entrance for platinum/elite, DD asked around where the doors were for embarkation as none were clearly marked. She was met with a lot of confused looks and finally a “you mean the door to get on?” LOL! To be honest, the embarkation door isn’t as clearly labeled as I expected and I think we still must be missing that mythical side entrance as we everyone used the same door.

Thankfully, the staff let our shivering selves in at 11am. Once through the metal detectors, we were directed to the priority waiting area. This was slightly confusing, as the area was labeled “elite guests”. Not being elite, we sat across from the area until one of the agents told the group of us that it was for platinum also. The terminal agents constantly walked around making sure everyone was there for the Ruby, and not the Emerald, who was clear across the port. You have to wonder how often those mixups happen! We filled out our health questionnaire while we waited. The staff opened the door to the check-in area a little after 11:30. I always have to laugh when I see all of the priority boarding passengers rushing towards the same priority check-in booths. Check-in was fast, and we were upstairs in the waiting area before we knew it. We barely sat down in the chairs before they allowed us to board at 5 till 12. There were two gangways, both midship on decks 5 and 6. Kudos to Princess for a smooth, fast embarkation.

 

Our cabin was an outside, P301. It was an easy walk from where we boarded on Plaza deck, and you get the “wow factor” from seeing the Piazza decorated for Christmas, complete with Santa and Dickensian carolers. We got this cabin almost by accident last year, and we absolutely loved the location. Easy access to the forward and midship elevators, Piazza, and hardly any foot traffic or noise from above. We also prefer the layout of the room compared with the balcony cabins, it's much more spacious. Our only complaint was that the window was filthy, but what can you do?

 

Our first stop was the Horizon Court, which was shockingly empty. We did our usual routine of one-saves-a-table-while-the-other-gets-food and it was unnecessary (for once!) Neither of us likes the buffet (embarkation day is the only time we eat here during a cruise), but we agreed that the food was better than usual. The desserts, however, are always flavorless and awful on embarkation day – DD has given up on them entirely. After we had issues getting lemonade on our last cruises (“it’s only available with the ultimate kids’ card” excuses etc.), it was a breeze here – if you could get ahold of a waiter.

 

Afterwards we tried to take care of shipboard business, making specialty reservations and checking our dining room reservation. I (along with most CCers) always want to know the menu order prior to booking the reservations, but it’s really not necessary. The restaurant staff has the menu order available, which is great. Made reservations at Sabatini’s for Italian night (night 4, 12/24) and Crown Grill for Chef’s dinner night (night 7, 12/27).

Next, DD went to check out our table location (we had early traditional confirmed). The time and location for meeting with the Maitre D’ was not in the Patter, and none of the staff could tell us when/where it was. Very fishy! At 2pm, she checked out the Michelangelo DR and there was already a line of twenty people waiting. They didn’t open the doors until 2:30pm, not sure why, and by then the line stretched past the International Café in the Piazza. Finally one of the assistant waiters emerged from the DR to answer questions and inform everyone that the Maitre D’ would now be meeting with passengers. It turned out that despite our request for a large table, we had been given a table for two. The Maitre D’, Jose, insisted that there were no large tables available due to the large volume of families and the Christmas holiday, but if we came back tomorrow maybe he could do something. That didn’t sound too promising to me. We really enjoy traditional dining at a larger table, so this was a big disappointment for both of us. DD tried bargaining, offering to trade with someone who wanted a table for two, but nothing worked. Most folks went away disappointed, whether their request was a table change or switching from anytime to traditional. Also saw one woman pitch a fit over not having a large table for her family in traditional. She ranted for a good ten minutes at one of the headwaiters about how she was too important to wait in line, much to the shock of everyone standing there. You know the type, there’s one (or several) on every cruise! We later saw her throwing fits in the buffet, and at a Diamonds International in port. Regardless of the show put on for the passengers, this was not a fun way to spend over an hour on embarkation day.

 

Our muster station was in the casino, and the drill was quick and efficient. You still do need to bring your life jacket, and you only put it on at the end of the drill. People did pay more attention and were respectful, which is more than I can say for our drill last month on Celebrity, where we didn’t bring the jackets and watched a video instead. On our way up to the drill, we met a family we had sailed with last Christmas. It turned out they were our next door neighbors on this cruise! One thing I noticed is that there were quite a few folks from our previous Christmas cruise on this trip, so it was a bit of a nice reunion as we ran into them around the ship.

 

Went upstairs for the sailaway party. I had spent much of the afternoon watching everyone race around the ship filling out the treasure hunt cards and now was the time to turn them in. Considering the snowstorms and travel delays on the East coast, I expected we would leave very late today waiting for those passengers. Captain Tony Draper came on and announced that we would be leaving very soon. (We later heard rumors that we had left behind 400 passengers – I don’t think the number was that high, but we saw large groups of people boarding the ship in Antigua, Barbados, and St. Lucia, so we must have left behind quite a few people.) Celebrity Solstice and MSC Poesia left the port first and second. Sure enough, shortly after 5pm, we pulled away from the dock and left FLL behind. The coast guard and port police were out in full force, circling every ship as they left and keeping other boats far away. We also noticed increased security at the checkpoints to enter the port, so it was clear the port wasn’t taking any chances on the Christmas holiday.

 

Began our journey to the center of the earth for the traditional dining room. (If you’ve ever had traditional, you know what I mean.) We tried to see if our reservation had been changed since the afternoon, but the line to speak with the Maitre D’ was too long. Our table for two was at the rear of the Botticelli, so far back we felt the ship’s rocking very well. Dinner was quite good, and we enjoyed the prime rib and the always-delicious flourless chocolate cake even if the location left much to be desired.

 

Next on the agenda was the Welcome Aboard show. I have to say this was one of the best introductory shows I’ve seen aboard a ship. Usually it’s one song and dance routine and a speech from the CD and curtains. This one had a presentation about the ship and upcoming entertainment for the cruise, along with a set from the comedian and several performances from the dancers and singers. I will say they worked the dancers and singers hard this cruise, as they performed a number in Piazza almost every evening, in addition to the three production shows and Christmas show.

The CD is Lisa Ball, who came off a bit as trying too hard initially but improved as the cruise went on. She’s very personable in smaller groups. The deputy CD was Martin, who gave off a bit of a creepy vibe along with trying too hard. I feel a bit bad saying that, but others I spoke with felt similarly, so maybe it’s not just me.

 

Tonight on MUTS: football, football, and more football. We took to renaming it FUTS (football under the stars) because of the volume of games played at the beginning and end of the cruise. If it’s on Sunday night or Monday night football, chances are you’ll see it on your cruise.

 

 

Day 2, at sea:

The cruise began with two sea days as we sailed towards Antigua, which was a great way to relax before having an island stop every single day. After sailing the reverse itinerary last year (one sea day and Princess Cays before our first port), I have to say I preferred this arrangement.

After a nice breakfast in the Da Vinci dining room (open 7-9am for breakfast, 12-1:30pm for lunch, and 3:30-4:30pm for tea), we split up. DD attended one of the Scholarship@Sea lectures from Richard Munroe on “the pirates of St. Kitts” and I people watched and read in the Piazza. She said although the lecturer wasn’t the most compelling, the material was interesting and worthwhile.

 

Our M&G was in Skywalkers at 11am, so we made our way upstairs. Special thanks to Linda (Umbarger) for organizing the M&G with Princess and inviting CD Lisa to chat with us. It was really great to meet everyone after chatting for months online, and seeing them around the ship was like seeing old friends. Another hi to HulaGirl, Denise, and Canuk Cruisers, who we enjoyed bumping into around the ship, it was a pleasure meeting you all. Lisa arrived after our initial introductions and had an informal Q&A with us. She’s brought out the Crown, Emerald, and Ruby so she seems to be in the know about future plans. She said that Princess has no ships on order currently, but there are plans for a possible “stretch Ruby” design in the future. Can you even imagine that? Still no confirmation on if the other older ships like Coral and Island will get the newer refits (i.e. Vines, International Café) – darn. She also confirmed that Princess has some employees who read Cruise Critic exclusively (something I always thought was a rumor!) and report back to the company and forward specific concerns to each ship. Interestingly, she said one of the changes made as a result of CC was to present multiple showings of each production show so everyone can have a chance to see it. So, for all of those who post suggestions to Princess – be careful what you ask for, you just might get it!

 

When we went down to dinner tonight, we were anxious to find out if our request for a larger table had been fulfilled. I didn’t have high hopes, given the Christmas sailing and that no changes were made yesterday. We waited in a small line to speak with Jose, and much to my surprise, he had moved us to a table for eight. The location wasn’t the greatest – in the corner, right next to the kitchen – but the company more than made up for it. We were seated with a lovely couple from Scotland and a fun couple from NC on their honeymoon, and we all got along great. Two seats were still empty though, despite the supposed demand for larger tables. Our waitstaff, Joey from the Philippines and Maribel from Mexico, were efficient and pleasant but never had much time to stop and chat. I really feel that every cruise, they work the waitstaff harder and harder and give them even more tables to take care of, which is unfortunate because we do enjoy getting to know the dining room staff. Dinner tonight was the typical Captain’s Welcome aboard menu, with standouts like the crab quiche appetizer and cookies and cream parfait for dessert.

 

Tonight was the champagne waterfall/Captain’s welcome party at 7:45pm. Truthfully, I’m not a fan of the timing or combination of the events, but what can you do? The only drinks I saw being served were champagne and mimosas, but I didn’t try asking for anything else, so I’m not sure if you could get it. CD Lisa introduced Captain Tony Draper, and he provided us with some interesting cruise demographics. 3,260 people aboard (full house!): 1400 Americans, 1100 from the UK, and 550 from Canada. Only 550 children, and from what I could tell, not too many young kids but more teenagers instead. We had met quite a few people from UK over the first day and a half, but had no idea there were so many aboard. I will admit that I’m jealous of the vacation time you folks from across the pond get – we met many who were doing B2Bs for Christmas and New Years.

 

Like most on the boards, we’ve adopted a strategy for dealing with the seating in the Princess Theater – arrive at least 20-30min before in order to get a decent seat. It worked well for us on this cruise again, but failed when we tried it in Explorers – more on that later. Tonight’s production show was Broadway Ballroom, which was highly touted as being designed and choreographed by a woman from Dancing with the Stars. It was good and we enjoyed it, but ballroom doesn’t translate as well on stage as the typical song and dance numbers. The costumes were exquisite, though. There were two showings, one at 8:30 and one at 10:30, with another on the following night.

 

Tonight on MUTS (FUTS): you guessed it, Monday night football. 50s party in Club Fusion, and comedian Phil Tag (who had done a short set the previous night during the welcome aboard show) in Explorers (repeated again 3 times the next night).

 

 

Day 3, at sea:

Another relaxing day at sea. Stopped off in the Piazza for a pastry from the International Café this morning. The IC is one of the things we love about Princess. We discovered they now offer two new items for breakfast, an egg mcmuffin style sandwich and a yogurt parfait. Nice additions to the pastries they already have, and also complimentary. Watched (and had a good laugh at) the turkey carving demonstration put on by the MD Jose and head chef Joel Directo in the Piazza. DD attended another one of the Scholarship@Sea lectures, again on pirate life and ships – basically, if it has anything to do with ships, she’s interested in it, so it got another thumbs up from her.

 

And now, for the main event. We had a quick lunch in the MDR, and headed down to Club Fusion for the gingerbread house building contest. DD has been looking forward to this since our last cruise, and the big day was here. The event is free, and the patter made it sound mysterious – 25 participants would only be selected by a draw. When we arrived, the staff was working hard to cover up the dancefloor with sheets and setting out 50 gingerbread house kits on tables. CD Lisa “drew” team names and assigned them each a house number. I don’t know if every team who signed up got a house (I would hope so), but there was a lot more people there than I remember from the previous year on the Emerald.

Believe it or not, they had all 50 teams (each with at least 2-3 people, if not more) crowd onto the dancefloor to build those houses. It was a sight to see, everyone had barely an inch to spare around them. They had about an hour to make the houses before a team of chefs judged them. You may think this event is just for kids, but I saw many more teams made up of adults who clearly knew their gingerbread houses. People got very creative, adding lights and bringing in their own reinforcements for decorating: special tools, candy, fruit, frosting, you name it, they used it. Sadly, DD’s team did not win, but the activity was fun regardless. You could either keep your house or the entertainment staff displayed the winning house and others on a table in Club Fusion for the next few days.

 

We tried tea for the first time this afternoon and loved it. It’s easy to forget about afternoon tea with all the other activities going on, but try to make time for it at least once during your cruise – you won’t be sorry. It’s open seating, similar to breakfast and lunch, and the waitstaff circles with trays of sandwiches, cookies and cakes, and scones. The scones are very good, served warm with jam and clotted cream. If you order milk at teatime, prepare for some funny looks, as DD got them every time she attempted this, LOL. Heard some interesting stories from our tablemates about move over offers. Our cruise was sold out, and prior to sailing we knew FL locals had been getting calls from Princess. We heard about offers from a replacement Christmas cruise on the Grand for 14 days, a Jan or Feb cruise on the Ruby, and room upgrades. But the best offer – by far – that we heard was this: a replacement Christmas cruise on the Grand with an upgrade to a full suite, and $5000 OBC. Where can I get on the list to receive these calls? Let me know, Princess!

 

At tea, we also met two ladies who live very close to us at home, and who had the same problem with table assignment that we had. We told them about the two empty seats at our own table, and encouraged them to speak with the Maitre D’ again and hoped they could join us at our table. They managed to make the switch and we had two new tablemates to fill out our table of eight. Our table was so much fun, we really looked forward to going to dinner each night and often spent our evenings together too. You have to love it when you really click with your tablemates, it makes a great cruise even better

Tonight’s menu was the Caribbean dinner, which is alright for starters but a bit weak on the entrees IMHO. After a nice mango and pear soup, we ordered salmon from the always available menu, which was okay, but not great. As for desserts, the key lime pie didn’t have much flavor, but DD enjoyed the fudge cookie.

 

After dinner, we had an unpleasant surprise when we went to see the comedian, Phil Tag, in Explorers. Though we arrived at 8 for an 8:30pm show, there wasn’t a single seat to spare in the lounge. It felt like people had camped out there and were going to live and die in those same seats. I guess the repeat showing of Broadway Ballroom at 8:30 wasn’t a compelling enough draw to get people in the theater instead of Explorers tonight. We managed to get seats in the hallway outside the lounge, but it’s not quite the same when seeing a comedian. Phil was hilarious and we enjoyed his show, which was his last as he left the ship the next day. After his show was over, finally the lounge cleared out a bit (the only sure way to get people to leave is when they have to eat, I guess) and we managed to grab seats for his last set at 10:30.

 

Tonight on MUTS: State of Play at 7 and 10:30pm. 70s party in Club Fusion, with accompanying trivia and Princess Pop Star.

 

Next up: Antigua, Barbados, and St. Lucia, along with the Christmas holiday celebrations. :) Any questions, ask away!

[PescadoAmarillo]

An Infi review is like a new novel by a favorite author...pure bliss. Thanks very much for all the time and effort you put into it.

 

:)

[paintchip8]

Eagerly awaiting the continuation of your trip. We will be on the Ruby doing the same ports but reversed on the 29th. Love the info and tips.

[Colo Cruiser]

Excellent.

[regnig]

Me too, anxiously awaiting the next chapter!

[Hulagirl]

Hi Infi (Cindy):

 

Was so nice to meet you and your daughter on the cruise. Even though we had sailed together last year, we never actually met that day.

 

It was a fun Christmas cruise. The six of us enjoyed our time on the cruise and the islands. The two private tours we set up in St. Lucia and St. Kitts turned out to be excellent. Was very glad that we booked them. I wasn't sure what you did on the islands, so will be interested to read your review of them. I was so glad that past cruisers on CC had posted their thoughts on some of the private companies because they turned out to be excellent.

 

Can't believe the cruise has come and gone. It was a lot of fun.

 

Take care,

 

Susan

[LARGIN]

Great post.. Please continue quickly as we will be on the Ruby in a week.. :D

[Putterdude]

Great work, we look forward to the next instalment.:)

[Coolmama_1]

Looking forward to hearing more!

[jenonacruise]

loved reading your review so far. I will also be doing the same itinerary in March and now I'm drooling with anticipation. Thanks:)

[bun38]

Do you have any patters or menus from this sailing?

[SweetpeaOne]

Thanks for sharing....Can't wait to hear more.

[SweetpeaOne]

Thanks for sharing....Can't wait to hear more.

[jackdiamond]

Thank you for a very fine review. We will cruise the Ruby in March; and, I would be most appreciative of your impressions of South Friars beach in St. Kitts, Jolly beach in Antigua and Marigot beach in St. Lucia. We will visit Brandon beach in Barbados, which we visited three weeks ago; and, we will probably visit Emerald beach in St. Thomas if we dock at CB.

[jackdiamond]

Thank you for a very fine review. We will cruise the Ruby in March; and, I would be most appreciative of your impressions of South Friars beach in St. Kitts, Jolly beach in Antigua and Marigot beach in St. Lucia. We will visit Brandon beach in Barbados, which we visited three weeks ago; and, we will probably visit Emerald beach in St. Thomas if we dock at CB.

[Canuk Cruisers]

Hi Infi, nice meeting you and DD on board.

 

It was a great cruise and I've enjoyed reading chapter 1 of your review. Wow, I thought I wrote detailed reviews but you must be keeping a journal.

 

Funny what you said about the lady that is too important to wait, I think I saw her or her clone up in the kids club telling them how they had to change her child to a different age group because of her friends. Oh well, I guess it's just entertaining to watch.

 

Here's a link to my reveiw if your interested and I have posted a pic of our Meet n greet on the roll call. If you want a higher def copy just E-Mail me.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=61245

 

Canuk

[Canuk Cruisers]

Hi Infi, nice meeting you and DD on board.

 

It was a great cruise and I've enjoyed reading chapter 1 of your review. Wow, I thought I wrote detailed reviews but you must be keeping a journal.

 

Funny what you said about the lady that is too important to wait, I think I saw her or her clone up in the kids club telling them how they had to change her child to a different age group because of her friends. Oh well, I guess it's just entertaining to watch.

 

Here's a link to my reveiw if your interested and I have posted a pic of our Meet n greet on the roll call. If you want a higher def copy just E-Mail me.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=61245

 

Canuk

[Infi]

Hi Infi (Cindy):

 

Was so nice to meet you and your daughter on the cruise. Even though we had sailed together last year, we never actually met that day.

 

It was a fun Christmas cruise. The six of us enjoyed our time on the cruise and the islands. The two private tours we set up in St. Lucia and St. Kitts turned out to be excellent. Was very glad that we booked them. I wasn't sure what you did on the islands, so will be interested to read your review of them. I was so glad that past cruisers on CC had posted their thoughts on some of the private companies because they turned out to be excellent.

 

Can't believe the cruise has come and gone. It was a lot of fun.

 

Take care,

 

Susan

 

Susan,

It was so nice meeting you, Steve, and Lindsay onboard, along with Denise and her family and running into you around the ship. I'm glad we got a chance to meet this year - how funny is it that we were at the same M&G last year and never even met.

It sounds like you all had a great time on the islands. What private tours did you go with? I had planned to go with one in St. Lucia, but unfortunately it fell through. On some of the islands I didn't find much on CC so I was kind of at a loss. I am happy with the taxi tours we took, but I prefer to plan ahead a little so I know what to expect.

And now I have to ask. Have you booked your next Christmas cruise? :) Denise mentioned you all were thinking about the Emerald...I loved the ship but I don't think I could do the exact same itinerary two years in a row. I can't believe the cruise is over either...seems like this time last year we were wondering if it would ever get here.

Happy new year to you, and please keep in touch.

 

 

Hi Infi, nice meeting you and DD on board.

 

It was a great cruise and I've enjoyed reading chapter 1 of your review. Wow, I thought I wrote detailed reviews but you must be keeping a journal.

 

Funny what you said about the lady that is too important to wait, I think I saw her or her clone up in the kids club telling them how they had to change her child to a different age group because of her friends. Oh well, I guess it's just entertaining to watch.

 

Here's a link to my reveiw if your interested and I have posted a pic of our Meet n greet on the roll call. If you want a higher def copy just E-Mail me.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=61245

 

Canuk

 

Canuk, it was nice meeting you and yours on the Ruby as well. We saw you two so often around the ship, we must have been on similar paths. And I can't believe you saw the same "important" lady - it certainly sounds like her! There's one in every crowd I guess. I'm going to save your review to read later, it'll be great to hear how your cruise went.

And thank you for sharing the photo...I will have DD email you for a copy of that photo for her album if that's okay.

[Infi]

First, thanks to everyone for reading and glad you're enjoying the review. I'll post the next installment after I reply to some comments here.

 

PescadoAmarillo: Thank you, you're making me blush! I enjoy your reviews very much, and am looking forward to hearing about your ultimate B2B2B (and am very jealous too!) when you return.

Hopefully this next installment isn't too long, it's beginning to feel like a novel. :eek:

 

Jackdiamond: We didn't do the beaches in any of the ports, though we did see Marigot from a distance. It's pretty, but small. Our tablemates went there and said it was nice and clean, just small for the amount of people that it attracted. Jolly beach in Antigua is pretty as well, but crowded the day we were there (3 ships in).

Bun38: We have the Patters and the menus...the menus are done, but I would have to scan/upload the Patters if you want them, so it will take awhile. I'll work on it tonight.

 

Largin, Jenonacruise, Paintchip8 - have a wonderful cruise on the Ruby. She's a great ship and I'm sure you'll love her and the great itinerary. Bon voyage!

[Infi]

Part 2

 

Day 4, Antigua:

A beautiful, sunny morning greeted us in Antigua. Celebrity Summit was beside us at the pier, and MSC Poesia joined us later in the afternoon. I had researched the island on CC, but oddly there weren’t many notable or highly recommended tours. So, I decided to rough it and just go with a taxi driver on the pier. The tour was $60 for the both of us for over 3 hours, and we were very pleased. Our driver, Mike, was friendly and informative and never rushed us, even when DD spent a very long time at Nelson’s Dockyard. We first drove around St. Johns, where he pointed out many of the recent construction: a hospital, new government buildings (a city hall, education center, health ministry, etc.) and finally a huge cricket stadium recently constructed with financing from China. Sports are big in Antigua, as evidenced by their two cricket stadiums and the pride they have for their Antiguan players in the NBA. There is a relaxing drive through the countryside before you reach English harbor, and we saw locals out and about in the smaller towns.

English harbor is where the British royal navy established their Leeward islands base in the 18th century. We first stopped at an overlook where we got a great view of the entire harbor. It reminded me of St. Thomas harbor, only prettier. Nowadays the harbor hosts yacht and sailing weeks, and sailing is a vital part of the island’s tourism. On the other side of English harbor is Nelson’s dockyard, which is the former site of the actual British naval base. The now-restored Georgian dockyard was in use from 1725 – 1889, and was an ideal place for escaping hurricanes and providing shelter from enemies. The entrance fee to the Dockyard is $2/pp and you roam the yard on your own. There’s many signs posted around the yard explaining what each building was used for. For a ship or sailing lover, this is a great spot. There were dozens of beautiful yachts and sailboats in the harbor for the Christmas holiday, many even decorated with Christmas trees and lights. Our tablemates went up to Shirley Heights, an observation post above the dockyard, on their tour, and raved about the views of nearby islands and Eric Clapton’s house.

 

There was quite a variety of terrains on Antigua, and it was much flatter than the majority of Caribbean islands. We drove through a “rainforest”, past a ziplining center, and saw many fruit plantations and beautiful and quiet beaches along the coastline. The water is a gorgeous blue on this side of the island. Mike returned us to town in the afternoon after pointing out some fruit markets that were good for shopping.

One thing I appreciated about Antigua was that the cruise ship center (i.e., the faux town/shopping center at the pier) blends into the real city of St. Johns, and there were several local markets and other shops with locals out and about very close to the pier. We picked up some souvenirs and checked out the fruit market (try the black pineapple!) before heading back to the ship in the late afternoon. DD made her requisite stop in Diamonds International (yes, she’s one of those people who has to collect the charms :rolleyes:) where we saw the infamous woman from day 1 in the dining room having a fit and demanding to see the manager. Apparently, the salesgirl was only giving out bracelets instead of charms. After she caused enough of a scene and the manager still didn’t show, the infamous complainer stormed out. After that display, I didn’t think they were giving out charms, but it was worth a try anyway. DD turned in her form, and asked politely for a charm, saying she already had the bracelet, and the salesgirl kindly obliged. You catch more flies with honey…

 

Back onboard, we stopped off at the International Café for a quick lunch. It’s times like this when I love the IC – the dining room is closed and burgers or the buffet don’t sound appealing – so it’s great to have a small sandwich and salad for lunch. We ran into our tablemates there, who were happy to find out that the IC is complimentary and enjoyed a snack with us. We also spoke with our next door neighbors, who had done a beach day. They said they saw a man from the ship had a heart attack while snorkeling there and passed away. So very sad. That night during dinner, we heard a call for Alpha (medical emergency) in one of the cabins. We later found out that the call had been for the man’s wife, and she had committed suicide that evening. I can’t even imagine how terrible it must have been for the family, and during the Christmas holidays, too.

 

Saw a fascinating site on our way to dinner tonight – we sailed past the island of Montserrat, which was currently having a volcano eruption. You could see the volume of black smoke played out against the sunset, and it was very pretty and foreboding all at the same time. On a cruise many years ago, we experienced the same thing, when Montserrat’s volcano erupted and threw smoke and ash as far away as Puerto Rico and St. Thomas. A rare site and an even rarer photo op for DD the photographer.

Tonight’s dinner was French and Mediterranean, which I don’t think we’ve experienced before. I tried the escargot, which were pretty tough. One of our tablemates, who had been looking forward to the escargot, agreed with me. DD reported the lobster pasta was slightly overcooked, but enjoyed her duck a l’orange.

 

We made an effort tonight to see both of the entertainment acts, as we didn’t know if we’d be able to see them tomorrow evening. There were two showings of illusionist Tony Laffan in the Princess Theater, at 8:30 and 10:30pm, and this was one act that didn’t repeat on the next night. We’ve seen illusionists before that weren’t much of illusionists (if you sat on the sides of the theater, you could see part of what was going on onstage), but Tony Laffan was very good. We all came out of the theater wondering “how did he do that”, so I’d say he did a great job. Afterwards, our table went to see the comedy hypnotist, Joshua Seth, who had three sets in Explorers. The 10:30 show was very crowded, as others from the 7 and 8:30pm shows had stayed to watch him again. Thankfully, some of the crowd left to feed themselves or something, and we were able to snag seats. Joshua had a good sense of humor and didn’t take himself (or the hypnotism) too seriously, and of course the participants are always entertaining. One of our friends decided to try and get hypnotized, but it just didn’t happen. It was a great evening, entertainment wise.

 

Tonight on MUTS: kids’ movie night, with Up and a Wii tournament. Club Fusion: ballroom blitz, and So You Wanna be a Rockstar (aka Princess Popstar with a band backing you).

 

 

Day 5, Barbados (Christmas eve):

Although we haven’t been to Barbados in a few years, it’s good to see the port area is still as industrial and unpleasant as it was back then. Ugh! Ruby was docked at the industrial end of the pier, with a free bus shuttle service running to the cruise center. Walking it is possible, but you’ll be in the direct sun and at the mercy of the crazy bus drivers as they speed back and forth. You could snag a cab outside the cruise center or arrange something in the visitor’s information center, which we did. We shared an SUV with a couple from London, $20/pp for a 2.5hour tour. If you read CC, it seems that there isn’t much to do here unless you want to swim with the turtles or go to the beach. While we were a little disappointed with our tour, I’m not sure what other sights there are to see. We first drove through Bridgetown, which was bustling with locals and last-minute Christmas shoppers. The town itself is nice, and I wish we had had time to explore it when we returned from the tour…keep in mind it’s a drive from the cruise terminal into Bridgetown, with a large security checkpoint in between the two.

Our driver took us to an overlook where we saw the Ruby and most of the town. Like Antigua, Barbados is a rather flat Caribbean island, so we weren’t as high up as you’d expect. We drove into Sandy Lane golf resort, now infamous for being the hotel Tiger Woods booked for his wedding a few years back. Yes, the whole hotel…for $4million. Our driver claimed Tiger had wanted to return to Barbados on his yacht trip a few weeks back, but the island refused him. Who knows how true that is, but it’s pretty funny regardless. There are also many more hotels and dozens of multi-million dollar homes adjacent to Sandy Lane on the waterfront, and it was fun to see how the extremely wealthy live their island life. Our driver dropped us off at the cruise terminal at the time he promised, and we did some souvenir shopping there. A lot of the stores were closed due to it being Christmas eve, so the selection wasn’t the best. Made the very long walk back to the pier and boarded the moving gangway (for some reason, the gangway swayed a lot more here than in other ports – maybe cheaper pier construction?) Next time we return here, it will definitely be a beach day with some shopping included, rather than a tour.

 

Had a very small lunch in the IC, in preparation for our night in Sabatini’s, after which we went upstairs and enjoyed watching Mamma Mia on MUTS and (inadvertently) baking in the sun.

 

It’s become a running joke in our family how awful the Italian night is on Princess. No offense intended to anyone who enjoys it, but we’ve always been disappointed in the meal, considering Princess’ Italian roots with Sitmar. Sometimes I think I could make better Italian food than they serve in the DR for this night. So, this cruise, we decided to “celebrate” Italian night by dining in Sabatini’s. (When we returned to our table the next night, our other tablemates confided that they wished they had joined us in Sabatini’s, as they disliked the Italian night food too. LOL)

The first thing we noticed about Sabatini’s on the Ruby was that the menu was different than on our previous cruise on the Star. There was no pizza course (which was minor, considering the volume of appetizers they already have), but some of our favorite appetizers (cannelloni, baked brie) were absent. Since then, I’ve read online that this is the upgraded version of the menu – if this is the upgraded one, I’ll take the downgrade! Some of the appetizers were excellent (ricotta and garlic flan, beef bresaola) while others were mediocre (sundried tomato, which, if the sun had seen it, I’d be shocked, and a crab cake that was mainly filler). The entrees, however, were all excellent. DD ordered the lobster (and shrimp, because she couldn’t decide ;)) and raved about the pumpkin risotto accompaniment. I really enjoyed the scallops – perfectly prepared and very tasty. Our table shared the white chocolate mousse, fruit tart, and zabaglione for dessert, and all of them were delicious. Our waitstaff, Jane & Rey, were hilarious and efficient, and always kept us on our toes – particularly when Rey almost “dropped” DD’s camera – the look on her face was priceless. Overall, I would rate the experience a B. Part of me thinks that the appetizers disappointment was because your first visit to the specialty restaurant is always the best, but we genuinely preferred the menu on the Star. Two of our dinner tablemates joined us and were very impressed with the quality and amount of food, so maybe it was just us.

 

After dinner, we stopped in Explorers to see if we could catch the hypnotist’s last set. Considering it was almost time for the show to start, we didn’t expect to find a seat, yet some were available in the hallway outside. His show was completely different from the previous night: this time, it was more mind reading tricks (your card is…) and some bit about his wife being able to mind read. Not as enjoyable as his previous show, but I appreciate the fact that he did a different show on the two nights he performed – most acts just repeat the same set.

At 9:45 in the Piazza, the crew had Christmas caroling. The staff passed out a book with song lyrics and gathered on the bottom floor to sing. The youth staff brought out the youngest kids, most of whom looked very grumpy to be up so late. Quite a few ran off in tears. During the carols, snow fell in the Piazza. While it looked pretty, DD and our tablemates complained that it smelled funny and made you cough if you breathed it in. Beware the snow, I guess. Afterwards we caught the 10:30 holiday showtime in the theater. This show started off well, with performances from the singers and dancers. Then it hit a sour note with pianist Caroline Dennis. This woman thought she was the Barbra Streisand of the cruise ship set, and she definitely was not. She screeched her way through a few classics before we couldn’t take it anymore and walked out.

Tonight on MUTS: The Proposal. Club Fusion: holiday trivia, holiday dance party, and Princess Pop Star.

 

When we returned to our room for the night, we found a cute little Princess stocking with candy canes and chocolate on the pillow. A fitting end to Christmas eve!

 

 

Day 6, St. Lucia (Christmas day):

Woke up to a beautiful Christmas morning in St. Lucia. We opened some presents under our travel Christmas tree and had a nice breakfast in the DR. After our Christmas cruise on the Emerald, we feel that we’re almost spoiled knowing about all the Christmas surprises and decorations aboard. We remembered the gingerbread village built in the atrium and kept wondering when/if one would appear on the Ruby. Well, elves appeared overnight on Christmas eve and constructed a beautiful village on the forward part of the Piazza, in between Vines and the IC. We later heard that the village had taken twenty days to create, and three hours to assemble. The houses were beautiful – completely edible works of art – surrounded by presents and candy. I just wished they had put up some kind of barrier to protect the display, as there were quite a few people with sticky fingers. Good lord, people, there’s thousands of other desserts on this ship, and you have to steal a display chocolate Santa? That’s pathetic.

 

I had been looking forward to St. Lucia the most on this itinerary. After reading many glowing reports about Cosol and Spencer Ambrose’s tours on CC, I finally decided to book with Spencer and was really looking forward to the day. Well, two days before, he informed me that because no one else had booked, it would become a private tour and the price doubled. He hadn’t mentioned this initially when we agreed on the tour price and I was surprised and disappointed at the sudden switch. So, unfortunately, I canceled. I wished I could have gone with Cosol instead, but it was too last minute to arrange anything at that point. So, yet again, we took our chances with the taxis available at the port. I was wary of who we might get given the Christmas holiday (our last Christmas day taxi driver downed a beer during our tour), but we had an excellent driver, Aaron. He was very friendly and explained all of the sights we saw, and never rushed us anywhere. Our first stop was a great overlook of the Castries harbor, with Ruby and the Costa Mediterranea in port. The vendors were relentless, tapping on the windows and pressuring tourists to buy. I really thought less people would have been out on Christmas, but I guess that was wrong.

St. Lucia is very lush, with a lot of greenery and very mountainous with many windy roads. I would hate to try driving here! Aaron insisted that DD would be napping on the way back, and I could see how the winding roads could lull you to sleep easily. Along the way we saw many banana plantations, most of which had the bananas wrapped up in bags for protection from the elements.

We drove through the fishing villages of Anse la Raye and Canaries. The homes there are close together and look like they’ve been standing there for ages. Aaron told us that children learn about these villages in school, as a lesson in St. Lucia’s early beginnings. Fishing is still important to St. Lucia today, as evidenced by the many boats in the harbor and the renovations that the waterfronts will soon receive. There are many vistas of the Pitons after you pass through Canaries, and Aaron stopped to let us enjoy them. We also drove through the requisite rainforest, though we missed seeing any of the Amazona versicolor (St. Lucia) parrot because it was too late in the morning.

We finally reached the town of Soufriere, which comes from the French word for sulphur. It’s a long drive! The sulphur springs that the town is named after are off in the distance. Though we didn’t drive there, we could still see the smoke. The town is much larger than the other villages, though not as big as Castries, and has a gorgeous waterfront and view of the pitons. We made other stops at the Toraille falls (very small, and not worth the visit if you’re short on time) and botanical gardens (beautiful). We began our journey back to the pier, but not before Aaron showed us Marigot bay, where the original Dr. Dolittle was filmed. It’s small but very picturesque. Finally, he showed us Morne Fortune (Hill of Good Luck) and Sir Arthur Lewis community college, situated high above Castries. This was the site of one of the main battles between the French and British for control of St. Lucia in the 18th century. All of the college buildings are restored former military installations. The architecture here is quite impressive, as is the view of Castries below and islands in the distance. Aaron returned us to the pier safe and sound, and we wished him a happy holiday. Downtown Castries was virtually empty, so shopping was not an option today. The pier shopping was limited – the original pier/better shopping area was across the harbor and could be accessed by ferry for a fee. Overall, we were pretty pleased with our day in St. Lucia. Our only regret about today was that we weren’t able to see Jalousie beach, set between the Pitons. Next time!

 

Once back aboard, we ran into our tablemates and swapped stories about our day. We all enjoyed some eggnog and afternoon cookies from the IC while we waited for the holiday fair to begin. All around us were older people that looked like they had been born there, with their sole purpose in life being to wait for this event. The best part was they gave you a dirty look when you tried to move a chair so you could actually eat at the IC – the nerve!

CD Lisa, the entertainment staff, and youth staff organized a great fair of holiday activities and games for everyone. Of course, there was the visit from the big man himself, Santa. Santa took photos with all the kids and each child received a Princess teddy bear. There was a cookie decorating station, face painting, human slot machine (whose prize was Princess baseball caps), and a rubber duck pool and whack-a-rat game. Later, illusionist Tony Laffan put on a kid-friendly magic show. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon and I appreciate all the hard work that went into planning the fair.

 

Christmas dinner is something Princess does really well. A Christmas cracker sat at each plate, waiting to be opened. Each cracker had a small gift (tweezers, a mini notebook, etc.) and a paper crown inside. DD got a round die (dice?) whose only use is to annoy me by rattling around on the dresser at night. The entrees were all typical Christmas staples: ham, turkey, halibut, and beef. We both had the ham, which was delicious, and shared a plate of pumpkin gnocchi, which were to die for. I wish some of these entrees were on the regular menu sometimes, they're great. The Christmas pudding I had for dessert was only so-so (our tablemates assured us it wasn’t very authentic) and DD, who hates soufflés, loved the gingerbread soufflé.

 

Tonight’s entertainment was a short Christmas show, then the production show Stardust (at both 7:15 and 8:45pm). The International crew show followed at 10:30, and all of these were one night only performances. The Christmas show started off nice: a few numbers by the dancers and singers, along with caroling from the entertainment staff. Stardust was a good show, but more for the older generation as song of the songs were from way back then. They did toss in some Jersey Boys and Mamma Mia for good measure, which livened up the end of the show.

The crew show is often hit or miss, depending on the crew onboard, but this is one of the better ones I’ve seen. Some of the staff really hammed it up on stage and had some great talent.

Of course, tonight on MUTS was holiday movies: Dr. Suess & How the Grinch Stole Christmas, It’s a Wonderful Life, and Fred Claus. Club Fusion: Dance through the decades party.

 

If you read all of that, I think you deserve a medal. :eek: Thanks for sticking with me as we continue reliving our cruise through this review, it's been a lot of fun writing it. Any questions, please ask away.

[WeBeGone]

Thank you so much. Yours is one of the best reviews I've ever read. We did a similar itinerary for our very first cruise in 2002 on the old Ocean Princess (her last sailing). Your writing brought back pleasant memories. If you go to Barbados again, take the 4x4 jeep trip. It was great.

[Liz54]

You write so well and those of us who have the same ports of call coming up are reading every word!!! Many thanks.....

[Woobstr112G]

Great review, Thanks for taking the time to post it.....:):):)

 

Bob

[mississauga]

If you read all of that, I think you deserve a medal. :eek: Thanks for sticking with me as we continue reliving our cruise through this review, it's been a lot of fun writing it.

 

Infi,

 

Your very long reviews are always a lot of fun to read. I love reading reviews and Lives and your very detailed reviews are very enjoyable. I wish you could cruise even more than you already do so we would have more great reading material.:D

 

Your DD is a lucky girl to have so many cruises to enrich her education.

 

Keep up the great job you are doing as we are all enjoying it so much.:D

 

Thank you! Thank you!

[paintchip8]

Thank you Infi, I look forward to more of your travel tales.