Ruby 11/7 Cruise Live

[donnajl]

We just returned from sailing on the Emerald. Our captain opted for a slightly different itinerary to avoid Hurricane Tomas. We began the cruise at Princess Cays (our final port), and substituted Dominica with St. Kitts. We did encounter some rainy weather in Bonaire and Aruba but the raindrops ceased and we were able to disembark and enjoy the islands.

[Iceberg2]

Good news! Bert is staying on the Ruby at least through til the Dec.5 sailing! The only specific sailing I asked about was the Dec.5 one and he said he would be there!

 

We were looking forward to this cruise already but now even more so!:):):)

Can someone find out if he will be there on the 12th - checked his website and does not say where he is - he is having his own cruise later on for fans only.

Thanks

[deppong]

Can someone find out if he will be there on the 12th - checked his website and does not say where he is - he is having his own cruise later on for fans only.

Thanks

 

Can someone check to see of he will still be there 12/26?

People live to see him. We have heard so much about him!

[chrisuscga01]

This was the first time we used the Premier check in at Ft. Lauderdale which now has a completely separate entry rather than going in at the head of the regular line. Very nice area with light refreshments.

 

 

 

 

Can you comment more on the Premier check in? was this for Full Suite Rooms? how did you know where the entrance was for Premier vs Regular line. Going this Sunday.

[ikey78]

This was the first time we used the Premier check in at Ft. Lauderdale which now has a completely separate entry rather than going in at the head of the regular line. Very nice area with light refreshments.

 

 

 

 

Can you comment more on the Premier check in? was this for Full Suite Rooms? how did you know where the entrance was for Premier vs Regular line. Going this Sunday.

 

The best way to find out where it is is to ask one of the numerous Princess staff members. The way I would describe the location is in a corner of the building closer to the ship than the regular entrance.

 

Platinum, Elite and Full Suites use this entrance. Your boarding pass should indicate that you are Preferred. They did board the Elite members first and then by rows with the row closest to the door going first.

[Iceberg2]

Good news, just called Princess Entertainment and Bert will be on the Ruby till the 19th of December. Yeah - I get to be bertified again.

[SF]

Good news, just called Princess Entertainment and Bert will be on the Ruby till the 19th of December. Yeah - I get to be bertified again.

 

Good to hear that. Did you happen to find out any of the other entertainment that will be on till then?

[Iceberg2]

Good to hear that. Did you happen to find out any of the other entertainment that will be on till then?

No, I did not, anyone else is free to call them too!!!

[SF]

No, I did not, anyone else is free to call them too!!!

 

I know anyone else is free to call them too and I have for many things. To me it's not THAT important to find out about the entertainment. Just posted to see if they mentioned something when you called.

[mississauga]

No self service printer at Passenger Services to swipe your card and check your account as on the Emerald. According to someone in passenger services they are testing the equipment.

 

Does that mean it was only on the Emerald as a "test" site or that the equipment on the Ruby is out for testing and will be back soon?

 

Was looking forward to being able to check our folio without having to line up at the desk each time.

 

Enjoy your last day on the Ruby and safe travels home tomorrow.:)

[ikey78]

We docked at Crown Bay in St. Thomas on Thursday so the Vinow site was indeed wrong. Cloudy and rainy when we arrived but it cleared up and turned out to be a nice day.

 

The weather for Grand Turk yesterday was perfect. The problem with the stop was that the Carnival Glory which is a similar sized ship to the Ruby was already in port by the time we got here. It was almost impossible to find beach chairs and Margaritaville was too crowded. In my opinion it is not acceptable to have that many people in this port on the same day and I will plan future cruises with that in mind. We walked up to Jack's Shack for lunch which was excellent and reasonably priced and went back onto the ship when we could not find chairs on the beach or at the pool.

 

Commodore Romano navigated back to Port Everglades west of the Bahamas which adds about 80 miles to the trip in order to avoid bad weather and last night was very smooth. Weather this morning is sunny.

 

Another thing I noticed compared to about 10 previous cruises on Princess is that the announcements about the daily activities on this ship are made by the Entertainment Director, Tim rather than the Cruise Director, Sam. Not sure if this something unique to this ship or the CD or a new company policy.

[mississauga]

We docked at Crown Bay in St. Thomas on Thursday so the ********** was indeed wrong. Cloudy and rainy when we arrived but it cleared up and turned out to be a nice day.

 

Since Crown Bay is Princess' regular dock, the only time a Princess ship gets to dock at Havensight is when the Oasis is in port too and it needs the Crown Bay pier. I believe it's on Tuesdays.

 

We are resigned to docking at Crown Bay so will try out Water Island as recommended by CC posters. Did you go to any of the beaches in St Thomas? Wondering if all the hurricanes and storms that have passed through the Caribbean this year has affected any of the beaches.

[boca7]

I was informed that Holland Am & Princess now have contracts to dock at Crown instead of Havensight. I totally dislike Crown even more now(there 11/4) than last year, there is limited shopping & since last yr at least 1/3 have already closed. Am I the only one dissatisfied?

[Iceberg2]

I know anyone else is free to call them too and I have for many things. To me it's not THAT important to find out about the entertainment. Just posted to see if they mentioned something when you called.

 

I guess my message was not read as intended - I was only interested in information on Bert Stratton and did not inquire about any others. Sorry for the misunderstanding of my original post.

[BballinQT24]

Thank you for taking the time to post druing your cruise. Grand Turk is so nice if you are the only ship in port, but definitely not when there are multiples. It's just too crowded at the Port area there.

[Yellow Lab's Rule]

I have never heard of water island, what is it? Thanks in advance.

[Northender]

There are 4 US Virgin Islands. Water Island is the one most people do not know about. Just do a Google search. From what I hear, not much there but nice beaches:)

[mississauga]

I have never heard of water island' date=' what is it? Thanks in advance.[/quote']

 

 

Have not been there myself. Have read reviews and lives from other CC posters who have gone to Water Island to enjoy the beach there vs going to Magen's Bay, Sapphire or Coki beach. From their accounts, there is a ferry at the marina at Crown Bay's. You take the ferry ( 5 mins ) over to Water Island and enjoy the beach there for the day.

 

Here is what PescadoAmarillo posted on one of her Live froms:

 

Water Island is located right off Crown Bay, about. 10 minute ($5pp) ferry ride from the Crown Bay marina. It used to be connected to St. Thomas until the channel was dredged deeper when Crown Bay was a submarine base. It is a very sleepy little island, and its best feature for cruisers is that it has a lovely beach with gentle water and lots if shade. Few amenities except for bathrooms and Heidi's grill, that offers burgers, etc. and cold drinks for sale.

As we planned, we headed over to the Crown Bay marina for the 10:30am ferry to Water island. It was exactly a 9 minute walk from the ship's gangway to the red ferry boat but if you leave yourself a few extra minutes, it's a lot of fun to walk around the marina a bit and look at all the huge yachts. The little grocery 'emporium' at the marina is a good place to stock up on drinks and munchies for the beach.*

 

The ferry scheule is posted online, and unlike on St. Kitts, this ferry runs pretty much on schedule. It's a 10 minute ride over ($5pp each way), and about a 10 minute walk to Honeymoon Beach once you get there (we must have looked pathetic staggling behind our fellow cruise ship passengers (we were taking photos) and were offered a golf cart ride from a local).

 

The beach, well shaded by palms, picnic tables but no lounge chairs, is a little slice of heaven only a stone's throw from the ship. The snorkeling on the left side of the beach (facing the water) is passable and easy- watch out for spiny urchins! *The water was perfectly clear and warm today, perfect for floating on the cheap inflatable floats many of us packed for the cruise. Some days, cruise ship excursions pull in there for lunch...today the beach was blissfully empty. Burgers, etc. and drinks are available from Heidi's Honeymoon Beach grill, but we decided to return to the ship with an appetite for dinner.*

 

We caught the 3:30pm ferry back, and I'm spending the rest of our time here getting caught up with news from home (AT&T works fine, is free, and we even had 3G and Internet access on Water Island).

 

Vickie_bernie also recommends it in her live froms and has nice pictures posted on her blog.