Ruby Princess Review, 12/26/10 - 1/2/11

[micci]

Ruby Princess New Year's Cruise ...

 

Pre-cruise we flew in two days early and stayed at Embassy Suites 17th St. in Ft Lauderdale. I think the cab fare was approx. $12 pre-tip from the airport to the hotel. Beautiful hotel with gorgeous Caribbean charm. Other reviews are correct, this hotel could use some updating with all of the guests it hosts throughout the year. The staff is extremely kind and personable, and they went out of their way to help make us feel at home. We were given a room as requested in pre-booking so that we could see the ships at port. It was so much fun to wake up the morning of embarkation and to see Royal Caribbean's crown and anchor symbol lit up in blue. Even though it wasn't our ship, it was still amazing to see. For two days pre-cruise we had spent our vacation at a beautiful resort-like hotel, and the cruise was going to be our icing on the cake - it blew my mind.

 

Tons of shops are directly behind the hotel - very convenient. Also, a CVS is a short walk down 17th St. from Embassy Suites, and along the way is a Kentucky Fried Chicken all on the same side as the hotel. Outback Steakhouse is right there at the hotel. Ross clothing store and I think an Office Depot are diagonally across the street from the hotel, but 17th St. is extremely busy, so we didn't make it to Ross because we simply didn't feel like fighting whizzing cars and crosswalks on our vacation.

 

We had Christmas dinner at our hotel's Christmas Buffet, which was $22.00 per person and included beverages (water, lemonade, soda, and coffee) and dessert. The dessert was the best part, I was not completely impressed with the dinner, but I was glad that we were able to have some sort of a traditional Christmas dinner at all.

 

Either way, I would definitely stay at this hotel again in a heartbeat.

 

It took no time to get from the hotel to the cruise port via taxi. We arrived at the cruise terminal around 11:30 a.m. I think the cab fare was approx. $7.00 pre-tip. Our taxi driver was a genuinely nice person - very personable. He was saying how much he wanted to take his wife on a cruise, so we were her cheerleaders for her!

 

Once inside the cruise terminal we filled out the health questionnaire, and then sat for about 20 minutes, if that, until they started calling numbers in groups, we were group# 6. I was surprised how quickly they went through the numbers, I was expecting a 5 minute interim or so between numbers 1 and 2 and so forth, but they only allowed a one or two minute pause

between groupings. It was a tight squeeze in line trying to get processed at the counter for our cruise cards, but I knew what my reward would be - entrance onto the Ruby!

 

We entered the ship on deck 5 in the piazza area with the International Cafe (IC) & Vines. Everything was immaculate. We went to our cabin, but it was not ready yet. There were a few crewmembers in our cabin helping our steward out, I think they were putting the egg crates on the beds from what I saw. They were laughing and smiling and looked to be a lively

bunch, so we said "Hi!" and quickly walked away to let them finish. We decided to go to the IC, which I had read so much about here on these boards, and that turned out to be quite a yummy decision. I tried their quiche and then tiramisu for dessert and it was love at first bite. I waltzed on over to the coffee/drink counter and decided to go ahead and purchase my coffee card, which was $27.60 with tax and all. Overall I think the coffee card was worth it because throughout the entire cruise all I had to do was flash my coffee card for a 12 oz. brewed coffee, and then let the crew punch holes in the card when I wanted specialty coffee = no fuss at all.

 

After we ate we went back to our cabin. We immediately opened the balcony door, stepped outside, and took it all in, and we couldn't wait for our view to change to beautiful shades of blue water. Eventually we wiped everything down with disinfectant wipes and then unpacked to make ourselves at home. We ate at the Horizon Court during sailaway and saw people on one of the balconies on the oceanfront condo building waving a Princess flag. That was pretty neat to see our very own cheerleaders sending us off!

 

PRINCESS CAYS: The captain made the announcement on Monday morning that we would skip Princess Cays due to the strong winds. All I can say is that I had the most relaxing b2b sea days, and by the time we reached St. Maarten I felt as if I had already had my vacation. I was absolutely stress-free thanks to missing Princess Cays and two wonderful days on board

the Ruby. The beautiful musical quartet (violin, piano, accordian, and cello I think), the mood lighting and wonderful dishes at the IC with my designer coffee, and the motion of the ocean leant to a wonderful experience that I hope to recapture on my next cruise with Princess.

 

ST. MAARTEN / ST. MARTIN: We took the ship's excursion to Marigot in St. Martin. The ship's excursion will not be my first choice when I visit the island next time. Instead I might try one of the private tour guides that I've read about on these boards so that I can tailor our trip to what we want to do. Anyways, the West Indies Mall is an enclosed 2 or 3 floor mall, something like we'd see in the states but without an anchor store or Sears/JC Penney. It costs $1.00 to use the restrooms, and an attendant is there to constantly clean the facilities. After we returned from our excursion, we went back to the ship to eat lunch and then went back out to shop at port for more souvenirs. When we were ready to get back on the ship, it started raining pretty hard - it was an overcast day the entire time at this island for us, but it was a good day.

 

ST. THOMAS: The Ruby docked at Crown Bay in St Thomas where we finally saw the sun. (I believe the Grand Princess was docked at Havensight). We took the ship's excursion to Magen's Bay. The ride up the mountain and down the mountain to get to the beach is absolutely breathtaking. Our entire bus collectively said oooohhh! and aaaaahhh! numerous times because of the gorgeous views from the mountaintop. Magen's Bay is beautiful, and we felt completely safe the entire time - we had a blast. Unless something else comes along, we just might do this excursion again next time.

 

GRAND TURK had a lot of fun-in-the-sun viatlity. I guess it helped that the weather was sunny and warm. The only thing is that we were the second ship into port that day, so the guests on the first ship had (rightfully) taken the prime spots on the lounge chairs that front the beach. It just took a little patience to find loungers for us. Overall it was a great day, but I'll just be all the wiser the next time around. Oh yeah, it was neat to see the flowrider. Eveything is contained all in the same area - Margaritaville, flowrider, and the beach - it takes no time to get from one venue to the next. There weren't a lot of people in the pool when we were at Margaritaville.

 

ENTERTAINMENT: Somewhere in between one of these nights was the comedian Rollin Jay Moore at the Explorer's Lounge. He was hilarious - a riot. I'm going to remember his name in case I see him on t.v. or get the chance to see him again live somewhere. I can't say too much about the live theater acts with dancing and singing because I literally only saw a few minutes of one performance - they just didn't hold my interest or attention at all. The cover band Temperature was great - they had good energy. They sang a lot of reggae and popular songs.

 

New Year's Eve (same day as Grand Turk) was the best. It was formal night and we saw a lot of formal gowns, but not as many tuxes. It was the most spectacular feeling to spend New Year's Eve with people from all over the world - usually we're inside with family and off the roads, so we felt blessed to bring in the new year in this fashion. We spent the evening sitting in the Crooner's Bar with a lovely couple. We had the countdown and then at 12 midnight they dropped tons of balloons onto the

piazza on deck 5 where most people were gathered.

 

The washer and dryer were the best thing. I would have carried far fewer clothes had I really thought it out better - but I'll be better prepared the next time. The Purex 3-in-1 sheets were priceless. Next time I'll carry more even if we don't plan to use them because they take up no space in the suitcase. I had also packed little travel size bottles for the just-in-case situation, and we wound up using them too, but the Purex sheets were so convenient, and the clothes smelled great.

 

Our last sea day was a good one, but we knew the end was near. In all honesty, I had gotten my fill after a total of 9 days on vacation. Hopefully that was a good sign that meant that I had had a great vacation, and I guess it also helped that we bought a FCC on our last sea day.

 

Disembarkation was an absolute breeze. We carried our bags off ourselves, went straight to a taxi, and made it to the airport in no time. The airport on Sunday eventually became an absolute zoo with so many crowds. Nonetheless, we made it home safely.

 

THOUGHTS I'D LIKE TO SHARE (mostly about Food!! :)): The Ruby is an absolutely beautiful ship. Especially on sea days while walking through the piazza it felt as if I were cruising to the Mediterranean rather than to the Caribbean. The musicians in the piazza are first rate and lend an authentic feel to the atmosphere.

 

Yes I could hear the bass from MUTS on my balcony. The first morning I heard it I thought somebody was listening to music on their balcony with a lot of bass, but then I realized that was MUTS. It didn't bother me too much, but our cabin was pretty forward on the ship, and I could still hear the bass at least, but only out on the balcony - not in the cabin. We

don't smoke, and the smokers were not a problem for us - there weren't too many smokers near us anyways. The strong Eastern Caribbean winds and ship rocking bothered us more than the smoke.

 

We only ate dinner in the MDR twice. We had selected Anytime Dining, and both times we went to the MDR and asked for a table for two there was no wait and we were seated immediately. I think we showed up for dinner both nights around 7-7:30 p.m. Our first night for dessert, I tried some sort of apple crepe compote with ice cream, and I thought that was the most delectable dish from the MDR the entire cruise. The seasoning, consistency, and texture were spot on. Also, here's where we finally had our chance to taste the fettucini alfredo, and it was so good, we ordered that as the appetizer both times at the MDR. I was expecting the baked nest underneath the pasta as I've previously seen on some photos on these boards, but there was no nest. Either way, it was the absolute best.

 

Every morning we ordered room service, and tipped $2 or $3 each time. We always asked for their danish and croissants and coffee/water, and they sent us our cranberry juice each time even though we had to write it in because it wasn't an option on the card. Being able to start my day with my petite breakfast on the balcony is a treasured memory.

 

The IC is wonderful - I do miss it. It was difficult for me to eat that o.k.-tasting food at the Horizon Court after I had been introduced to the IC, but some days I just wanted variety and comfort-type food. However, I've never cooked for 3,000 people before so I imagine that would be a challenge even for the most accomplished chefs out there. Thanks to the IC, I exercised a lot more than I really wanted due to the fat and sugar intake, but it was all worth it.

 

The gym is very nice with state of the art equipment. There was either a yoga or Pilates class in session one morning when I was there. On the first or second day I looked at the larger shower in the spa, but never used it. I didn't feel like lugging things up and down the stairs or elevators. Plus, I like how the bathroom and closet area in the cabin is separated from the bedroom area because I felt as if I had my own private shower/dressing quarters - everything worked itself out.

 

The pizza / ice cream bar are both fantastic. The Trident Grill had the burgers and hot dogs. I thought the hot dogs were better than the burgers, and they serve yummy fries too.

 

Cafe Caribe had the themed buffets. From reading on the boards I was expecting an Asian night and a Mexican night, which I love both, but I don't remember either one being served. Instead, they had more traditional themed buffets. Then other nights I think they had a Bavarian Bierfest theme and another night they had a Rijstafel theme.

 

The Horizon Court, for breakfast at least, really is a madhouse and it is awful trying to find a seat. Thank goodness we had read all about this on these boards, so we knew to secure a table first and then go get our food while one stays at the table. One morning we had to eat at the breakfast table outside on the deck, which was a little inconvenient because the food was quite a few steps away for refills, but we made it work out - we had no choice. It helps that there are waiters that refill our water and juice and get us extra napkins or cutlery, etc., but I wish Princess could find a way to make this more convenient for their guests because it is a bit of an upset, but certainly not a deal breaker for another cruise on Princess for us. ;)

 

Lastly, we were upgraded to a balcony on this cruise - we had requested the automatic upgrade at booking. However, next time I think we will ask for no upgrade and book mid-ship with a balcony, so we don't run the risk of being placed wherever on the ship. This time we were placed a little too forward for our liking, and it was quite a hike to the aft of the ship

and back ... just one last thought to share. Bon Voyage! :p

[Caribensun]

Thanks for the review. Sounds like it was a very nice cruise.

Very helpful information as we will be on the Ruby next month.

Glad you were able to enjoy your balcony.

[Divette]

Thank you! That was a great review. Makes me so excited for our turn in April. Which deck were you on? We are also in a balcony cabin on Aloha deck closer to the aft. Just curious due to your comments about the bass from MUTS.

[micci]

Thanks for the kind words Divette (and seadeck2). I've been doing my homework these past few months with all kinds of great advice and tips from Cruise Critic members. Now it's my turn to pay it forward and help out someone else!

 

We were on Baja deck, but we had to go upstairs one time to wash our clothes on the Aloha deck.

[Mary Ellen]

Thank you for sharing your experience with us.

[Coolmama_1]

Thanks for your review.

[srpilo]

Good read.. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for sharing it with us

Srpilo

[Northender]

Thanks for the review. We love the Ruby:)