Review of the Ruby Princess, April 1st sailing the eastern Caribbean

[BugsyCruiser]

Well here we are arriving back in Fort Lauderdale. The cruise is over but I still have some thoughts and opinions on this wonderful cruise... including the great, the bad(very far and few between), and the thing that makes you go "what were they thinking?"

 

 

 

[cormike1]

Hey Budgsy....I learned a new place today....Ottawa, Illinois. I live about an hour South of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and never knew there was an Ottawa elsewhere. Who Knew eh lol.

[BugsyCruiser]

The great:

 

The food. I honestly can say I never once had a bad meal. The food in the MDR and the International Cafe can't be beat. Breakfast at Sabatini's was great every day, especially the french toast. I only ate at the buffet(Cafe Caribe) once. And I thought the coffee was significantly better than what I had on HAL

 

The activities. I felt Samantha and Elaine did a great job. The game shows were a riot and a lot of fun. The two comedians, Miguel Washington and Phil Tag, were hilarious

 

The Lotus Spa. There's also something that falls in the category of bad which I'll explain later. The facilities were great, the staff very professional, and of course I'm addicted to the hot stone massage. It's great IMHO

 

The crew. From the cabin steward, to the wait staff in the restaurants(especially Crown Grill), the bartenders, the casino staff... very professional and sociable. I really liked the fact that on a ship with 3460 passengers, a lot of the crew were calling me by my first name by the third day. Very impressed

 

Princess Cays. The Island Tour is a must in my opinion. Get a taste of the way Bahamians live

 

How impressed was I with Princess? Enough to cancel my cruise on Allure and rebook on the Caribbean Princess going to Princess Cays, Curacao, and Aruba. No knock on the Allure, I'm sure it's a fantastic ship and maybe someday I will experience it, but I really do like what Princess has to offer. I do have a cruise also booked on Celebrity and I think I will enjoy that too.

[BugsyCruiser]

Hey Budgsy....I learned a new place today....Ottawa, Illinois. I live about an hour South of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada and never knew there was an Ottawa elsewhere. Who Knew eh lol.

 

There's also an Ottawa, Kansas too :D

[Tatka]

I really liked the fact that on a ship with 3460 passengers, a lot of the crew were calling me by my first name by the third day. Very impressed

 

Not to disappoint you, but I believe it is your personality.

 

How impressed was I with Princess? Enough to cancel my cruise on Allure and rebook on the Caribbean Princess going to Princess Cays, Curacao, and Aruba. No knock on the Allure, I'm sure it's a fantastic ship and maybe someday I will experience it, but I really do like what Princess has to offer. I do have a cruise also booked on Celebrity and I think I will enjoy that too.

 

I know Allure is some very unique ship, but I think you made a right choice. We sailed 3 Times on Caribbean + once on Ruby... and 3 times on Explorer of the Seas (which also offers some interesting things that Princess doesn't) ... and Princess ships with all their size feel... mmm.. much nicer.. intimate. IMHO food is better. I also watched Allure and Oasis departure this weekend... on port everglades webcams... It is almost scary how many people were in every spot. Princess ships never felt crowded. Not once.

[BugsyCruiser]

Now for the bad(which in my opinion, isn't very much)

 

Can't Princess offer some kind of beverage card to reduce the cost somewhat? It seems very few cruise lines offer this

 

Again, I'm not much of a coke fan... I prefer Pepsi products but it seems Coke is the overwhelming choice by most cruise lines, including Princess

 

While I enjoyed the massage at the Lotus Spa they need to rethink the location or at least put in better soundproofing. The fact that it was below the Sanctuary made for some moments of interruption from my state of relaxation as people walked above as well as letting in noise as spa workers and clients walked down the aisle right outside the door of the treatment room(Minor complaint but still... something they need to improve on)... I have been told that on the Royal it will be on a lower deck which solves the noise problem

 

Just me, but I prefer Fox News over CNN international.

[BugsyCruiser]

One big plus that I forgot... it was very cool for them to broadcast the NCAA basketball final on Monday night on MUTS. So a big thanks goes to them for doing this

[Steve78]

Hey Buggsy! Definitely one of the best reviews I have read on here. Awesome pictures great descriptions. Can you tell me a little bit about walking around the decks on Ruby? Can you get right up to the bow? Also are there viewing decks at the front of the ship?

 

Thanks

Steve

[BugsyCruiser]

Hey Buggsy! Definitely one of the best reviews I have read on here. Awesome pictures great descriptions. Can you tell me a little bit about walking around the decks on Ruby? Can you get right up to the bow? Also are there viewing decks at the front of the ship?

 

Thanks

Steve

 

There is a viewing deck that wraps around the front of the ship on deck 16... the front of it is where the fitness center is and right above the bridge. I don't believe you can get right up to the bow but one level below that viewing deck you can stand out right out top of the bridge

[BugsyCruiser]

And as promised, the one thing that makes it into my "what were they thinking?" section:

 

When you buy your first alcoholic drink they issue you a punch card with 30 spots on it. You get punches based on what type of drink you get. For example:

 

Bottle of beer: 1 punch

Bucket of beer: 3 punches

Cocktail: 2 punches

Bottle of wine: 6 punches

 

Once you get all 30 spots punched, they enter your card into a drawing that takes place at Club Fusion just before the karaoke finals the last night of the cruise(Saturday). You can enter as many cards as you want. If your name is drawn, your bar bill for the cruise is paid in full

 

Now I give credit to Princess in this aspect: It's a money maker for them because they got people to spend a lot on alcohol of course to have a good time but also because of the chance that that good time would be paid in full.

 

However... Club Fusion ended up being packed that night by a lot of people wanting to find out if their name would be drawn. And then it was announced you didn't have to be present to win(the winner wasn't) after we were told all week you HAD to present in order to win. And then the worst part(in my opinion) they drew ONE name. Yes, out of probably nearly 2000 people(my estimate, probably off) they drew only one name. I just think this was terribly ran and planned.

 

To make it worthwhile, draw ten names... not just one. Princess still makes money on the sales of alcohol but why not have a few winners instead of just one out of all those people? Just my opinion but if they decide to continue this program, please consider doing this

[BugsyCruiser]

Well there's my review my friends. Hope you enjoyed it. If anyone has any questions, I'll try to answer them as best as possible.

 

My first cruise on Princess, but definitely won't be my last.

 

Final report card on the cruise:

 

Cabin: A+

Food: A+

Crew: A

Activities: A-

Itinerary: A-

The drawing for the paid bar bill: D

The ship: A

[Tatka]

Again, I'm not much of a coke fan... I prefer Pepsi products but it seems Coke is the overwhelming choice by most cruise lines, including Princess

 

Pepsi is an NCL's choice.

 

We prefer Coke, but had to live with this. :D

[indigosails]

Thanks for the great pictorial. I watched your ship sail out of FLL a couple weeks ago on that webcam.

[serene56]

Now for the bad(which in my opinion, isn't very much)

 

Can't Princess offer some kind of beverage card to reduce the cost somewhat? .

 

 

The do have a soda card or an ultimate soda card.

Were these not offered on the Ruby?

[BballinQT24]

Thanks so much for taking the time to write this review. Hope your next cruise is great like this one!

[BugsyCruiser]

Thanks so much for taking the time to write this review. Hope your next cruise is great like this one!

 

It was great. I'm booked on the Caribbean Princess in November :)

[BugsyCruiser]

The do have a soda card or an ultimate soda card.

Were these not offered on the Ruby?

 

If it was, I was not aware of it. I'll ask my personal cruise planner at Princess and see what she can tell me so I can keep an eye out for it on future cruises

[serene56]

soda cards are very affordable on Princess compared to other cruiselines.

 

the Ultimate soda card is like 9.00 a day and includes, soda, milkshakes and mocktails snd juices. (dont quote me on the price though)

[Regan]

Thank you so much for your WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL review. WOW -- I loved it with the accompanying pictures. You said you were upgraded to a PH Suite. We love suites, but I have heard there is a lot of overhead noise in suites on the Ruby-type ships. Would you be so kind as to tell me which suite you were in and if you experienced any noise. (I know you would not want to complain after being upgraded, but I would appreciate your honest answer.) Thank you so much again for the fantastic review.

[BugsyCruiser]

Thank you so much for your WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL review. WOW -- I loved it with the accompanying pictures. You said you were upgraded to a PH Suite. We love suites, but I have heard there is a lot of overhead noise in suites on the Ruby-type ships. Would you be so kind as to tell me which suite you were in and if you experienced any noise. (I know you would not want to complain after being upgraded, but I would appreciate your honest answer.) Thank you so much again for the fantastic review.

 

I was in PH suite on the Riviera deck. There was some noise but not every night. But it seemed they always picked around 2am to move chairs around on the lido deck and for about ten minutes it was very annoying

[Regan]

Thank you for your honest answer. Still, the Suite life is a very good life, even with a little annoying nose. :-) Thank you again for your wonderful review!

[Boatingmom]

Great review and excellent pics. How far in advance did they upgrade you. Were you paid infull at the time? Did they call? One can dream cant they:D

 

And that hot stone massage...Did they try to sell you lotions and such??

 

Also.. Any lobster or escargot in the MDR or do you need to book the specialty restaurant for that??

Just asking. Thanks.

[highheel girl]

Great review and excellent pics. How far in advance did they upgrade you. Were you paid infull at the time? Did they call? One can dream cant they:D

 

And that hot stone massage...Did they try to sell you lotions and such??

 

Also.. Any lobster or escargot in the MDR or do you need to book the specialty restaurant for that??

Just asking. Thanks.

 

Have to ask the head waiter 24 hours in advance for the escargot in the DR. :D

[BugsyCruiser]

Great review and excellent pics. How far in advance did they upgrade you. Were you paid infull at the time? Did they call? One can dream cant they:D

 

And that hot stone massage...Did they try to sell you lotions and such??

 

Also.. Any lobster or escargot in the MDR or do you need to book the specialty restaurant for that??

Just asking. Thanks.

 

Hi there. Well to answer each of your questions:

 

1. They upgraded me the day before I flew down so only two days before the departure

 

2. Yep paid in full... and was in a mini suite guarantee so no cabin assignment. That's how you keep in the running for a possible upgrade

 

3. My cruise planner from Princess called me about 11am central time on Friday to tell me of the upgrade and my cabin number

 

4. No because I told her in advance that I knew she was required by the company to tell me about that stuff but that I wasn't interested in any of it. She was appreciative that I knew what she had to do and she never once tried to sell me anything

 

5. Can't answer the last part because I can't stand escargot. But looks like HighHell did answer for me :)

 

I did have filet and lobster tail in the Crown Grill. It was very good

 

Hope that helps

[BugsyCruiser]

By the way I know I had said earlier in this review that I liked Princess and Ruby so much that I cancelled my cruise aboard Allure of the Seas which I did. But after doing that I felt I would be missing out on experiencing what such a huge ship has to offer.

 

So I rebooked on Oasis for October 13th of this year. But I really do like Princess and I am looking forward to sailing on their newest ship, the Royal, November 10th of next year :)