lindy sails Posted July 11, 2012 #1 Share Posted July 11, 2012 Planning a Christmas cruise- first choice is the Ruby but there is nearly a $500 price difference. If you've cruised on the Caribbean I would love to hear your opinions and feedback about the ship. Thanks! Lindy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tatka Posted July 12, 2012 #2 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Sailed on both. Except for minor differences ships are the same. I actually like aft Terrace pool area a bit more on Caribbean, because of a shadow from the club. As well as Wheelhouse bar. Caribbean is older, but both are very well maintained. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hubofhockey Posted July 12, 2012 #3 Share Posted July 12, 2012 What I have noticed is that Sabatinis is bigger and a nicer venue on the Ruby. The Ruby has Adagio, while Caribbean does not. Caribbean has nicer Skywalkers and larger Vines. But these differences are all minor and I would never make a vacation choice based on them. I don't recall the Ruby missing ports because of mechanical problems. The Caribbean has had its issues. That would concern me more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caribill Posted July 12, 2012 #4 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Do you know why there is such a price difference if the two cruises are at about the same time? Are the itineraries different? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pia1913 Posted July 12, 2012 #5 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Planning a Christmas cruise- first choice is the Ruby but there is nearly a $500 price difference. If you've cruised on the Caribbean I would love to hear your opinions and feedback about the ship.Thanks! Lindy Just off three weeks on the CB. Ship is fine. Save your money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruise a holic Posted July 12, 2012 #6 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Planning a Christmas cruise- first choice is the Ruby but there is nearly a $500 price difference. If you've cruised on the Caribbean I would love to hear your opinions and feedback about the ship.Thanks! Lindy We sailed on the Caribbean Princess twice and Crown once. I was not happy with the Caribbean even though I sailed on it twice. The problems are is that the ship is probably the most crowded of all ships I have sailed on. They have added extra cabins-but not extra public space. On multiple occassions we couldn't get seat in the theatre if we didn't arrive 45 minutes early. In addition, the pool was so crowded that if you didn't get up early- again- no seats. We opted to go to the Santcuary for the week to sit and not fight the crowds. The service was excellent- but to get a seat for my husband and I was very expensive. The food was probably the poorest of all of our cruises. We had a suite- which was nice- and we had perks including having breakfast in Sabatini's every day. No crowds. You might ask why we sailed on this ship twice, it was because we enjoyed sailing from Brooklyn NY. Since Princess has cut many of it's cruises out of NY, we probably will not sail on it again. The crown princess, a newer ship and I think more like the Ruby wasn't as crowded, so we liked it better. Since my husband and I enjoy cruising- even a mediocre cruise is better then no cruise! Enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hubofhockey Posted July 12, 2012 #7 Share Posted July 12, 2012 We are on the Caribbean Princess now and the new entertainment schedules, for the most part, seem to have alleviated crowding in theatres. There are now three shows per night and they have eliminated repeating shows on consecutive days, and added additional shows. I haven't noticed any overcrowding problem, nor have we had any problems finding tables at the Horizon or Anytime dining venues. We have now been on the Crown, Ruby, and Caribbean and haven't found a significant difference among the ships. If I had to split hairs, I'd take the Ruby. But I wouldn't spend several $hundred to split those hairs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare fun_one Posted July 12, 2012 #8 Share Posted July 12, 2012 We are sailing at the end of Feb 2013 and I was trying to decide between those two boats and picked the Caribbean because I liked the itinerary better (ports we had not been too) and the fact that it was a Sat/Sat sailing instead of a Sun/Sun. Even though the Ruby is a newer ship, from what I can tell, they look very much the same. I have read good things about the Caribbean recently as well. My 2 cents. Barbara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pia1913 Posted July 12, 2012 #9 Share Posted July 12, 2012 We are sailing at the end of Feb 2013 and I was trying to decide between those two boats and picked the Caribbean because I liked the itinerary better (ports we had not been too) and the fact that it was a Sat/Sat sailing instead of a Sun/Sun. Even though the Ruby is a newer ship, from what I can tell, they look very much the same. I have read good things about the Caribbean recently as well. My 2 cents. Barbara And you've read bad things too. Not to worry. Enjoy your chosen itinerary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paradiseisaprincessaway Posted July 12, 2012 #10 Share Posted July 12, 2012 pick 2 sailings and go on both!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruise a holic Posted July 12, 2012 #11 Share Posted July 12, 2012 We are on the Caribbean Princess now and the new entertainment schedules, for the most part, seem to have alleviated crowding in theatres. There are now three shows per night and they have eliminated repeating shows on consecutive days, and added additional shows. I haven't noticed any overcrowding problem, nor have we had any problems finding tables at the Horizon or Anytime dining venues. We have now been on the Crown, Ruby, and Caribbean and haven't found a significant difference among the ships. If I had to split hairs, I'd take the Ruby. But I wouldn't spend several $hundred to split those hairs. Glad to hear that they finally did something about the theatre crowds. Perhaps they finally listened to all of the complaints. Enjoy your cruise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caribill Posted July 12, 2012 #12 Share Posted July 12, 2012 Glad to hear that they finally did something about the theatre crowds. Perhaps they finally listened to all of the complaints. Enjoy your cruise Yes, by reducing the amount of entertainers by 2/3rds, they are able to have more performances of the 1/3 that is left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caribill Posted July 12, 2012 #13 Share Posted July 12, 2012 We sailed on the Caribbean Princess twice and Crown once. I was not happy with the Caribbean even though I sailed on it twice. The problems are is that the ship is probably the most crowded of all ships I have sailed on. They have added extra cabins-but not extra public space. The Crown and the Caribbean have the same number of passengers in the same amount of public space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
septrack Posted July 13, 2012 #14 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Yes, the Carribbean and Crown ships are the same size as is the Ruby (approx) . The only ships that have less people are the original. (Grand, Star, and Golden) All the others have the extra deck (Riviera) . If you want less people stick to those. However I never really had a problem on the larger ships with overcrowding. Happy Sailing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rdsqrl Posted July 13, 2012 #15 Share Posted July 13, 2012 The Crown and the Caribbean have the same number of passengers in the same amount of public space. Not to nitpick, but that's not exactly true. The CB lacks Adagio and the open deck space outside it with the nice tables and chairs and fountain. I would also argue that by virtue of Skywalker's hanging over the Terrace Pool, the CB also has lessened public space by increased crowding around the other pools, because most people don't care to be around or in a pool that's perpetually in shade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itzmered Posted July 13, 2012 #16 Share Posted July 13, 2012 you can argue that all you want but there were always a lot of people around the terrace pool when we were on her for two weeks last december. I loved the CB and would sail on her again in a heartbeat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tatka Posted July 13, 2012 #17 Share Posted July 13, 2012 you can argue that all you want but there were always a lot of people around the terrace pool when we were on her for two weeks last december. I loved the CB and would sail on her again in a heartbeat Yes! We loved a bit of a shade. Terrace pool was very popular during our three cruises. I am a bit sad they removed mini-golf from the aft area... it was in better location then on younger sisters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kendon Posted July 13, 2012 #18 Share Posted July 13, 2012 I'd go on the Ruby. I've sailed several times on each and think the Ruby is much better maintained. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caribill Posted July 13, 2012 #19 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Not to nitpick, but that's not exactly true. The CB lacks Adagio and the open deck space outside it with the nice tables and chairs and fountain. I would also argue that by virtue of Skywalker's hanging over the Terrace Pool, the CB also has lessened public space by increased crowding around the other pools, because most people don't care to be around or in a pool that's perpetually in shade. Yes, the public space is built up with different venues such as Adagio on one ship and not on another. But the amount of public space is the same on these two ships. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carolyn R Posted July 13, 2012 #20 Share Posted July 13, 2012 I have been on both ships several times and have no preference. There are very few differences between the two. Weigh the itinerary and the price and then decide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.