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Ruby Princess 7 Nov 2010 (Redo)

W5KAP

By W5KAP,
in Princess Cruises

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W5KAP

W5KAP

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Boy I hate it when I write a funny and thorough reviw (Part 1) and then somehow forget to post it!! So when you read this (it really comes before Part Deux) remember it was funnier and better when I wrote it the fisrt time.

 

We left Ausitn airport on Friday on Jet Blue bound for Fort Lauderdale (henceforth to be known as FLL). The flight was smooth and on time. Take that you big carriers!! Upon arrival, we were warmly greeted by one half of our traveling companions, Trudy (LadyLeo84). Her husband Mark was doing the vulture circle in the parking lot. Off we went to the Hyatt North Airport. This is nice place to stay folks. My wife negotiated a good rate of $109 per night. It was clean and the Continental Breakfast was fine. You could get an omeltte for around $7 if you so choose. There is agreat, huge honking TV in the room too! We didn't sty ther longas we had made plans to take the Jungle Queen on the awterways of FLL as paart of their tour which included all you can eat food. A good warm up for the ship. Unfortunately is was around 48 degrees out there on the water. Us Texan's nearly froze!! We saw yachts I had only seen in magazines. And I couldn't afford the magazine! The homes of the 1/2 of 1/2 of 1/2 percent of the population were incredible. One question though. They can spend millions (literally) on their homes and yacht's but curtains must be awfully expensive down there!! No one had any or bothered to close them!! We finally arrived a their "Tropical Island" just in time before we all perished from famine. The food was actually very, very good. Ahh, but every coin has two sides. Their little show as so bad it was comical. And they claimed some of these folks had worked on Cruise Ships around the world. A subtle note to thse folks, don't wait for a call from Princess!

 

Saturday we drove down to Miami for an all day tour on the bus and on a boat. This turned out to be one of the best bargains going. On-line we paid $49. if you purchased the bus tour tickets and boat tickets there, they wer $69 and $26 respectively. Quite the deal. OK, now to upset the NCL folks (if theycome over here). We got to see the Epic as she was in at the port of Miami. I am sorry but that is the ugliest ship I have ever seen. It looks like a breadbox flaoting on the water. They should have quit before adding those last two decks (OK flame away!!) I sure hope the inside is pretty! We saw Fisher Island. You can only get ther by boat, helicopter or ferry. It csots $165,000 per year for the right to live there and the cheapest condo is around 2 million and heads north from there. A fun day!!

 

Sunday. We dropped the girls off at terminal 2 (A whole 5 minutes from our hotel). Then returned the rental car and took their shuttle back. This took lomnger than boarding the ship.! Wehn we got inside, they handed us boarding ticket number 7. That depressed me!! Well, wow, was I wrong. In about 15 minutes they called number one and 2 minutes later number 2. In no time at all we were called and headed to another linbe which moved vey quickly. We handed them our Passports and Credit Card and they handed us our card. Off we went an onto the most beautiful shoip we have ver seen. The Ruby is fantastic. Never have wee seen a ship this clean. Everywhere. We were lucky and headed to our aft balconies B-748 and B-750. Folks, if you ever get the chance to get an aft balcony, don't hesitate!! What a view. Mark and Trudy had the end cabin (B-748) and we were adjacent in the cabin wiht the dreaded "Beam". now we have read where this "Beam" is only 18 inches. Back to school for whomeve said that. It is allof 36 inches wide and right in the middle of teh balcony but sligfhtly to the left. Was it a probelm? Absolutely not. If there are only two of you in the cabin, you can easily put two chairs in front of the beam and still sit ther quite nicely. We would not hsitate to take this cabin again. Now B-748 is to die for. Huge balcony and it wraps slightly to theport side of the ship. We kept the door ebtween the balconies open and it worked out just fine.

 

Sailaway - wondeful!! Except a cold front made it windy and cold and Hurricane Thomas had rioled up the Caribbean pretty bad. Shortly after we left teh dock, the Commmodore we would not stop at Princess Cays and sinply press on to St Maarten. So we had a relaxing 2 1/2 days at sea to explore the ship. Very relaxing and no one seemed toupset about missng the port. When we awoke on Wednesday, we were in St Maarten/St Martin. Us and half the earth. When the )Oasis, Carnival Dream, NCL Sun and us were in together we figure there were 17000 cruisers running around the island. We had conacted Bernards and had a private tour for the four of us with Big Willie. He toook off towards Orient Beach. Well, folks, this island isn't what we expected at all. It is very poor and very dirty. We are glad we saw it but we feel no need togo back. Stopped at Orient Beach for a few minutes and sw some things that best go undescribed. Why it those we see ona nude beach are not the ones we might "like" to see nude?? Scarry stuff. Over to Marigot on the Frnch side and things are looking up. A little bit nicer and cleaner. Now off the the highlight of St Marrten. Maho beach!! Wow this is even better thanwe imagined. The water is pounding the shore, ther is a little two lane road (and I am being generous) and the fence keep us idiots off the airport. We saw several planes come in ranging in size from a gnat to a big boy or two. They felt like they were landing on us. Saw several idiots hold on to the fence directly beind and MD-80 as it took off. Hats, glasses and a tuopee or two flew directly into the ocean. OK, I lied about the toupee's. I cannot imagine folks doing this behind a 747 but they do. Sunste bar and grill served great food. I had a termendous hamburger and Karen had one good pizza. As we ent around the northern end of the runway an A-300 Air France monster landed. I didn't think he was going to get it stopped in time but he did!! back to the ship we go. When we woke in the morning we had backed into port at St Thomas. Much prettier and cleaner. We could tell it had rained hard on the northern (windward) side of the island and so they cancelled all the snorkeling trips and water stuff. We chose to take a taxi tour for $25 perperson and it was fun. We stopped at Meagans bay overlook and could see the fresh water cascading into the beautiful bloue water and ruining it. Itr sure is a beautiful place though. My wife ghad read about a place there called the Udderl Delicious Dairy (St Thomas Dairy) and they make the most god waful great milk shaks with things like Bailey's Irish Cream, Amarretto etc. Everyone was sure glad we stopped. Back to the ship and off we go to Grand Turk. I think I did grand Turk on my part Deux ( I was on the French side of St Martin when I thought of this heheh).

 

Our M&G was held Tuesday in teh Skywalker lounge and I believe we had around 30 poeple show up. Thanks to Trudy for setting this up!! we had a great time and it ws really nice to put a face to the log-ons!! Our Canuck buddies are Crazy and we had penty of them!! We really hope to see you folks on board again some time.

 

Well, back to part deux. I really think my first effort ws better darn it.

 

Cheers, Kenn

 

Wait, wait, I did, in fact, forget something. The entertainment. I am sure many of you will agree thatit has been going downhill for years. Well, I am here to tell you this was the very best enterainment we have ever seen. The floorshow were tremendous. A Doo Wop group clled Spank were awesome!! And they had a juggler comedian who had everyone in stitches. Keep it up Princess!! You have restored my faith in on-board entertainment.

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Cruise Junky

Cruise Junky

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We were also on this cruise so rather than starting another review, I'll just add on to Kenn's if that's ok.

 

I was in the public areas..ok the stores...when the announcement came about missing Princess Cays and not a peep, I heard no complaining whatsoever which was a bit surprising.

 

Some highlites for us:

 

Champagne Breakfast - as usually exceptional. Well worth the $32. Smoked Salmon with a lemon brioche and cream cheese, followed by a quiche and bacon with a baked tomato....followed by a fruit cup with amazingly fresh berries and honey'd thick cream...followed by a pastry plate with at least 8 selections. This of course came with a half bottle of french champagne, juice and coffee.

 

Chef's Table... What an amazing night. We lucked out on this voyage by having the Master Chef of the Princess Fleet and he was so entertaining. Truly an amazing experience.

 

Skywalkers...we're platinum and were up here everynight except St. Thomas when I believe a private party had it. Drink of the evening was $2.99 and they were good! Cosmos, Mojito, Rob Roys, Chairman of the Board are the one's I can remember. Food selection was always a cheese plate with marinated olives (to die for) and a vegetable plate. The changing selection was Beef Tartar, Shrimp Tower, Smoked Salmon & toast points, quacamole & chips. I really love this feature on Princess.

 

Breakfast sandwiches at the International Cafe.. amazing! as is the Gelato. We ate there one night and had some shrimp salad and chicken salad followed by a trio of gelato..loved it. Really wish we'd discovered the breakfast sandwiches earlier though.

 

A bit less than steller.... We had anytime dining and ate in the dining room I think 3 times other than the chefs table. One night there was only the waiter with no help. The poor guy looked run off his feet but was extremely pleasant. The only issue with that night is every appetizer came at a different time, we joked that one had to finish before the next one was served.

 

We waited probably 20 minutes each time for a table of 4 around 7:30 - 7:45.

 

Crown Grill.... I was a bit disappointed and I really hate to say that as I was really looking forward to it. Our steaks were almost like they'd been pre-cooked and then reheated. We ordered a plate of lobster for the table and half of it was left, it had a soap taste....dessert was amazing though.

 

Horizon Court..Kenn mentioned this about the layout! I didn't find the hot food too bad but for the love of god, put the lettuce with the other salad ingredients. They had the lettuce with the dressing.. tons of people trying to get lettuce then move back to the other toppings and then back to the dressings. Wouldn't be a hard fix.

 

We ordered pizza one night and it was excellent...burgers were pretty good too.

 

Cabin steward was amazing. Definitely one of the best we've had.

 

Any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

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annesgonnacruise

annesgonnacruise

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I was on this cruise too, and I just got goosebumps reading your reviews. It brought me back to my happy place. I am in love with Ruby and can't wait to plan my next cruise.

 

I agree 100% with the entertainment. That was one aspect of the cruise that I was most impressed with. I already knew that the food was going to be great because I have been told by every person who ever took a cruise, that the food was amazing, so I was expecting that. No one ever told me about the entertainment, and so I wasn't expecting much. Every show we watched, I loved. I loved the piano man, "Bert with an E".

 

Awe! I want to go back!

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joyride

joyride

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Nice reviews everyone! I'm going on the Ruby in February. None of you mentioned Grand Turk - and I'm wondering what you all thought of it and what you did there. This is the only stop that I haven't been to before. We have rented a golf cart to trip around the island for the day... I'd love to hear what you all did and what you thought of the place.

 

Great to hear that you liked the entertainment, I hope it's still good in February. I have pretty much been avoiding the shows on my last few cruises, just too corny and not all that appealing...

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W5KAP

W5KAP

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Nice reviews everyone! I'm going on the Ruby in February. None of you mentioned Grand Turk - and I'm wondering what you all thought of it and what you did there. This is the only stop that I haven't been to before. We have rented a golf cart to trip around the island for the day... I'd love to hear what you all did and what you thought of the place.

 

Great to hear that you liked the entertainment, I hope it's still good in February. I have pretty much been avoiding the shows on my last few cruises, just too corny and not all that appealing...

 

I am not sure where my Part Deux of the review went but I addresses Garnd Turk in there. Honestly there isn't much to the island. You will dock alongside Margaritaville. If you like loud and crazy, this is the place to be. We preferred a little less nosie so we walked another half mile dpown the beach to Jack's Shack. Better prices, less noise and a wonderful beach. Snorkeling isbn't too good as it is mostly a sand bottom and there are some nasty things in the water thanks to Hurricane Tomas. We enjoyed our beach day there as we had not so nice weather prior to this stop. Hope you emjoy your trip as much as we did. And we are the harshest critics of on-board entertainment and this cruise was GREAT for that aspect. If Spank is still on board, don't miss them

 

Have a great cruise

 

Cheers, Kenn

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mississauga

mississauga

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Nice reviews everyone! I'm going on the Ruby in February. None of you mentioned Grand Turk - and I'm wondering what you all thought of it and what you did there. This is the only stop that I haven't been to before. We have rented a golf cart to trip around the island for the day... I'd love to hear what you all did and what you thought of the place.

 

Great to hear that you liked the entertainment, I hope it's still good in February. I have pretty much been avoiding the shows on my last few cruises, just too corny and not all that appealing...

 

Grand Turk is a great beach day! It all depends on what you are looking for. Grand Turk is DH's favorite port as he loves the beach. It is so close to the ship...no cost to travel to a beach, no charge for loungers and the ship is close enough to go back for food etc. A free day at the beach!

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W5KAP

W5KAP

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The food you mentioned in Skywalkers, is that served every night after 8 pm until ?. Never knew you could get food there.

 

Afternoon, no, there is no food in Skywalkers. If I said that then I apologize. The Pub Lunch is served on two days on the Wheelhouse Pub. You have to check the Patter to see whenm. Normally it runs from 1130 to 230 in the afternoon. Sure is some good Fish and Chips though!

 

Cheers, Kenn

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red4u2

red4u2

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Hi Kenn!

thanks for starting the great review- unfortunatly i have come down with the worst cold or whatever this is in a few years right after getting back... better than on the ship!! would you mind when im feeling better if i posted my review here as well??

And can someone talk me through how to post pictures from my computer? i have a few good shots that i would like to share, however i am not tech savy.

 

And Kenn, you must have been on the other side of the ship from me when the Captain said we wernt going to Princess Cays!! cause i screamed NO! NO! NO! as loud as i could when we were in the theatre waiting for the welcome aboard show....oh wait... it was only in my head!!! still, im suprised you didnt here it!!

 

ill check back in a couple days when im felling better and i can actually see the screen, gonna try and sleep sitting up.. oy vey..... need more souffle's.....

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Nightengale31

Nightengale31

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Great reviews :) We are doing this cruise on the Ruby in January and really looking forward to experiencing this ship. We just did a partial Panama Canal transit a couple of weeks back on the Coral which was our first time on this ship, so looking forward to another first time experience on the Ruby.

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Cruise Junky

Cruise Junky

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Great reviews :) We are doing this cruise on the Ruby in January and really looking forward to experiencing this ship. We just did a partial Panama Canal transit a couple of weeks back on the Coral which was our first time on this ship, so looking forward to another first time experience on the Ruby.

 

How did you like Coral? we're booked a her full transit in May.

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