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Sort of Live from Ruby Princess

Posaune

By Posaune,
in Princess Cruises

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Posaune

Posaune

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I am planning on doing sporadic reports from Ruby Princess this week. I will report on some of the normal things people ask about on the live from threads, but will not have the energy to search out individual crew members just to say hello. A few comments about myself….. this is our eighth Princess cruise, but our first in the Caribbean as you can see from the signature below. We were on Ruby this past June.

 

Boarding started about 11:50 this morning, and we were in our cabin within ten minutes. Priority boarding was very swift. The confusion arriving to drop off luggage was not very swift. Taxi drivers and those directing traffic had no idea what was going on. Lunch was being served in the Michelangelo shortly after boarding. There was no seafood buffet tonight. I will say that many of the tours for Princess Cay and St. Maarten are sold out. I should have reserved earlier, but due to some family issues did not get around to it.

 

Commodore Giuseppe Romano is the Captain, Ron Goodman the Cruise Director and Generoso is the Maitre d’Hotel.

 

Wind is currently 38 knots, so there is a bit of motion. The welcome aboard show was better than most we have seen. Turning in now, been a long day.

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Pia1913

Pia1913

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I am planning on doing sporadic reports from Ruby Princess this week. I will report on some of the normal things people ask about on the live from threads, but will not have the energy to search out individual crew members just to say hello. A few comments about myself….. this is our eighth Princess cruise, but our first in the Caribbean as you can see from the signature below. We were on Ruby this past June.

 

Boarding started about 11:50 this morning, and we were in our cabin within ten minutes. Priority boarding was very swift. The confusion arriving to drop off luggage was not very swift. Taxi drivers and those directing traffic had no idea what was going on. Lunch was being served in the Michelangelo shortly after boarding. There was no seafood buffet tonight. I will say that many of the tours for Princess Cay and St. Maarten are sold out. I should have reserved earlier, but due to some family issues did not get around to it.

 

Commodore Giuseppe Romano is the Captain, Ron Goodman the Cruise Director and Generoso is the Maitre d’Hotel.

 

Wind is currently 38 knots, so there is a bit of motion. The welcome aboard show was better than most we have seen. Turning in now, been a long day.

 

Boy, did you get lucky. Not only do you have the best MD out there, but also a good CD and a wonderful captain. Happy cruising! :)

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5326jan

5326jan

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If you get a chance, could you check to see in Generosso (the best) will be on the April 15th cruise. Thank you.:)

 

We sail on March 11 and just received an email with the message that Dirk Brand would be our hotel manager and Francesco Ciorfito would be the M'D. I believe Tony Yeomans will be at the helm.

 

Generosso may be back from leave by the time you sail. I'm sorry that we'll miss him.

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Northender

Northender

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We sail on March 11 and just received an email with the message that Dirk Brand would be our hotel manager and Francesco Ciorfito would be the M'D. I believe Tony Yeomans will be at the helm.

 

Generosso may be back from leave by the time you sail. I'm sorry that we'll miss him.

 

Thanks for this info:) Now I guess the question for the OP to Generosso is, will you be back from vacation for the April 15th sailing?

 

The Ruby goes to the Med on April 22nd. I wonder if he will be back before or when it sails.

 

jan - I have never heard of Dirk Brand or Francesco Ciorfito. And yes, Capt. Yeomans will be back when we sail.:)

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5326jan

5326jan

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Thanks for this info:) Now I guess the question for the OP to Generosso is, will you be back from vacation for the April 15th sailing?

 

The Ruby goes to the Med on April 22nd. I wonder if he will be back before or when it sails.

 

jan - I have never heard of Dirk Brand or Francesco Ciorfito. And yes, Capt. Yeomans will be back when we sail.:)

 

I haven't either, but here are their bios:

 

Dirk Brand Hotel Mgr

 

Dirk Brand was born in Berlin, Germany and grew up in Munich. After completing his education and an apprenticeship in Hotel Management, he served with the Air Force in Sardinia, Italy.

 

Fluent in three languages and with extensive experience in the hotel industry, Dirk was considered an asset at sea, so he began his cruise ship career as a Food & Beverage Manager.

 

In 1998, he was hired to work as a Senior Assistant Food & Beverage Director during the inaugural season of Grand Princess. He moved swiftly through the ranks and was soon promoted to Food & Beverage Director, followed by Deputy Hotel Manager and finally Hotel General Manager, a position he has held on several ships in the Princess fleet.

 

When Dirk was appointed to launch Ruby Princess in 2008, he considered it the crowning point of his career with Princess Cruises. He endeavors to uphold the excellent service and hospitality for which Princess is renowned.

 

An avid outdoorsman, Dirk enjoys mountain biking, sailing, diving and swimming. During vacations, he relaxes and reconnects with family and friends in Spain, where he currently resides.

 

Francesco Ciorfito M'D

 

Francesco Ciorfito was born and raised in the wonderful city of Naples, Italy, where he dreamed of working in the hotel industry from an early age. To achieve his goals, Francesco furthered his education in the industry and later dedicated his life to culinary expertise and service excellence.

 

Twenty years ago he joined Sitmar Cruise Lines, which merged with Princess Cruises in 1989. Since then, Francesco has proven his dedication and knowledge by rising through the ranks onboard, working his way up to become Maitre d?Hotel, a position he is proud to have held for the past few years.

 

One of his favorite parts of the job is meeting passengers from all around the world. Francesco often keeps in touch with the interesting people who have sailed with him onboard.

 

They both sound great!

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Carpe_Diem

Carpe_Diem

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Hey Cruisers,

 

We sail on the Ruby from 19 Feb to 26 Feb and I also received a similar email on my cruise personalizer indicating that Dirk Brand would be our hotel manager and Francesco Ciorfito would be the M'D. I also had notice that Captain Tony Yeomans will be steering the ship during our voyage.

 

On our first cruise on the Crown in 2010, we had the pleasure of having Francesco Ciorfito as our M'D and Ron Goodman as our Cruise Director.

 

We have a good line up of personnel for our upcoming cruise, that's for sure!

 

We sail on March 11 and just received an email with the message that Dirk Brand would be our hotel manager and Francesco Ciorfito would be the M'D. I believe Tony Yeomans will be at the helm.

 

Generosso may be back from leave by the time you sail. I'm sorry that we'll miss him.

 

Happy Sails!

 

Tom ......../

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Posaune

Posaune

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Some of you might wonder what happened to my planned live from. I can answer that in one word—NORO! I typed the following paragraph, went to dinner and it hit me right after I got back to the room. It is now Wednesday evening and I am still not allowed out of the room. Apparently it is pretty widespread throughout the ship. Servers are working the buffet line I am told. There are at least five cases immediately surrounding our cabin. This is one instance where I wish we were not in an inside cabin!

 

Here is what I had typed about Monday before Noro got me--- It was a beautiful day on Princess Cay. We arrived on schedule at 9AM and the tendering process was very smooth. This was our first time to Princes Cay and we are not beach people at all. We had a great time!! Everything was run very professionally with no real sales pressure (except for a few photos). I was amazed how far down the beach the developed area went. The buffet was wonderful with red snapper, hot dogs, hamburgers, ribs brats, chicken and all the trimmings. The fruit bar was absolutely wonderful. Tendering back to the ship was very smooth, as we left the island before the 3:30 last call. The weather was EXCEPTIONAL! It was about 76 degrees with a good breeze. Tonight is Italian night and entertainment is David Cats (magician & illusionist) in the Princess Theatre and comedian Miguel Washington (I believe from my hometown of Atlanta) in Explorers. 25 knot winds tonight, but smooth sailing so far.

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Kmkub Great Review Rare

Kmkub

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Ugh... one of my cruise fears! (Not noro specifically, but just getting sick.)

 

Good thoughts to you that you make the best of it and have a good time anyway.

 

Stinks being quarantined in your room, though. Agree that's a good case for a balcony.

 

Hunt down that silver lining!

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Lineaway

Lineaway

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Posaune I really feel for you. I have had Noro, once on a ship (diagnosed by ships Dr. then I had to fill out paperwork for the CDC) and once on land (self diagnosed as it came on exactly like on the ship). Time is the only thing that will help. It hits hard but for me the first 12 hours were the worst, I could function partially after 48 hours and was back at 75 percent after 72. At least your on your second day. I think your considered contagious for 48 hours after syptems (spelled?). You might be able to get off in Grand Turk. The beach was nice, try off the right side of the pier. I' d suggest Tonic water under a palm tree.

 

We were on the Ruby for the Jan. 15 Sailing. Rough water the first few days so there were people seasick. I was thinking we picked the wrong week to go and was considering this week as I could have gotten it of for vacation instead. Probably good we didn't change.

 

Again I am really sorry about the outbreak. For those that haven't had it I can say it comes on in less than an hour and hits really hard. You really can't leave the cabin anyway. When I got it (two days prior I had taken a private tour with a picnic lunch and I don't blame NCL) I woke at 530 and felt ok, we were stopping in Tortola and by 630 I had it so bad (I'll spare the details) I had my wife leave the cabin for the day.

 

Hope tomorrow finds you better. I am sure it will.

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Posaune

Posaune

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Back home in Atlanta tonight after a nice day in Ft. Lauderdale. I really lost four days of the cruise because it just totally drained me. The crew was working even harder than usual doing their best to eradicate the virus. We got into port this morning an hour earlier than planned so they could get everyone off pronto and disinfect the ship.

 

I have only kind words for the treatment I got from the crew. Room service brought whatever I wanted (which was very little), changed linens several times a day, and did my laundry. The hazmat guys really showed concern over the situation. Folks were constantly checking on me, even other than the medical staff. The medical staff was run ragged.

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