Oh My! Ruby Princess 11/14-11/18 Review

[akeasley]

Princess allows smoking on balconies??

 

 

 

Nope, it's been a few years since they allowed that. She was either smoking an electronic cigarette or smoking a real one and not caring about the consequence. Although, I'm not sure if e-cigarettes are allowed either. I think she was just throwing caution to the wind :-)

Edited December 20, 2013 by akeasley

[FLTinyDancer08]

Hi Andrew!!!

 

I think I saw you at the Aft pool one evening - I was also on this cruise.

 

I was on the opposite side of the ship (Aloha 718) but saw a lighted cigarette blowing by me while I was on my balcony :eek: Seems the smokers didn't seem to care about setting the ship on fire. I tried to see which balcony it came from so I could call it in but it was too midship for me to make out.

 

I did not have any problems with eating breakfast or lunch in the dinning rooms, but I went really early most days (730ish) and really late once (855) Cafe Caribe was closed most of the time and late night (after midnight) there was no food selection to be had even in International Cafe and Room Service not answering the phone...

 

Other than that we enjoyed the cruise - I'll be on another Princess ship but I will be writing to see if they will offer activities for younger cruisers if they are going to be on board. They seemed content to shove us either to the casino or to Skywalkers after 11pm..... rough seas + Skywalkers = no bueno.

[geoherb]

Thanks for posting your review and the photos. We leave tomorrow for Fort Lauderdale to get on the Ruby on Sunday for two back-to-back cruises. I'm hoping they have the spa pool open.

[lrockwitt]

Can I use my coffee card that still has some specialty coffee available on the Ruby Princess from another Princess Cruide?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Loonbeam]

That's pretty much correct with a few exceptions. There are a couple of supervisors who work for the lines themselves, but all other dockside employees are contractors usually with the port. Also, Disney uses a higher percentage of their own staff in Port Canaveral, and RCCL does the same in Ft. Lauderdale because of the special challenges of the Allure/Oasis.

 

They aren't. They might wear Princess uniforms one day, HAL the next, RCL the next, etc. I believe they work for a service.

[Guest arowe6]

Another Absolutely Fabulous review! We're on the Ruby for the 5 day version of this cruise in January, so I really appreciated hearing what you thought of it. I trust your opinion since we seem to find the same things important on a cruise. Plus, having it be esentially "free" due to the credit towards another cruise (Alaska in June) is a very cool bonus.

 

As long as I don't see the naked lady chain smoking on her balcony I think I can deal with the rest of the issues! ;)

 

Thanks again, and can't wait for your next review!

 

Cathy

 

Thanks Cathy. Have fun in January. It really was an entertaining cruise.

[Guest arowe6]

Princess allows smoking on balconies??

 

No, they don't. I doubt they also allow dry humping in the pools and naked sunbathing. None the less, it was certainly on this cruise! :p

[Guest arowe6]

Thanks for the review. We were also on the cruise. We didn't see the poor behaviour as you did but again being with kids we were in our cabin by 10pm:(.

 

Anyway...strange cruise. For such a short cruise with 2 sea days it was bizarre to see the different pools/hot tubs closed throughout the cruise....

 

Having sailed Celebrity and HAL within the year, I must say the food was very very very average....nothing special was offered on the menus. Horizon crt did not have any lunch themes throughout the cruise...no sushi, indian, etc. The carib cafe was closed most of the time.

 

Muts should be renamed futs.....50% of the cruise muts had football on. For non football fans with kids...it didn't leave us with much options.

 

Anyway...we still had a good time but there was definitely things that bugged us.

 

100% agree about the food. Cafe Caribe was only open the first night for dinner too. Very odd.

[Guest arowe6]

Hi Andrew!!!

 

I think I saw you at the Aft pool one evening - I was also on this cruise.

 

I was on the opposite side of the ship (Aloha 718) but saw a lighted cigarette blowing by me while I was on my balcony :eek: Seems the smokers didn't seem to care about setting the ship on fire. I tried to see which balcony it came from so I could call it in but it was too midship for me to make out.

 

I did not have any problems with eating breakfast or lunch in the dinning rooms, but I went really early most days (730ish) and really late once (855) Cafe Caribe was closed most of the time and late night (after midnight) there was no food selection to be had even in International Cafe and Room Service not answering the phone...

 

Other than that we enjoyed the cruise - I'll be on another Princess ship but I will be writing to see if they will offer activities for younger cruisers if they are going to be on board. They seemed content to shove us either to the casino or to Skywalkers after 11pm..... rough seas + Skywalkers = no bueno.

 

That was probably me. We split our time between the aft pool and near the spa pool. It was always the quietest. We never made it up to Skywalkers this trip. But yes you're right, when there are bumpy seas it makes for quite the adventure.

[Guest arowe6]

Can I use my coffee card that still has some specialty coffee available on the Ruby Princess from another Princess Cruide?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

You most certainly can. We had 2 left over from our Royal cruise. Only difference is that if you use an old coffee card on a new cruise, you won't get unlimited brewed coffee by showing your card. Instead, they will charge you one punch.

 

By the end of the second day the bartenders at the coffee bar didn't even seem to care and stopped punching our cards for coffee unless we got an espresso drink. We came home with plenty of punches left.

 

Hope this helps.. :)

[bhopal21]

What dates are you guys looking at in February?

 

We just booked the 2/1 five day followed by the 2/6 four day on the Ruby today.

 

Thanks for the recap and great pictures.

 

Mike:)

[Wehwalt]

You most certainly can. We had 2 left over from our Royal cruise. Only difference is that if you use an old coffee card on a new cruise, you won't get unlimited brewed coffee by showing your card. Instead, they will charge you one punch.

 

By the end of the second day the bartenders at the coffee bar didn't even seem to care and stopped punching our cards for coffee unless we got an espresso drink. We came home with plenty of punches left.

 

Hope this helps.. :)

 

On my upcoming Ruby cruises, I will be the only person in a suite (I am not extravagant, as you can see, I have a number of 2014 Princess cruises planned and it will be spent against that) and I was planning, since I'm also Elite and get a free bar setup, to ask for the second bar setup to be coffee cards, and use them on (longer) future cruises. Is this going to cause me problems?

[Guest arowe6]

What dates are you guys looking at in February?

 

We just booked the 2/1 five day followed by the 2/6 four day on the Ruby today.

 

Thanks for the recap and great pictures.

 

Mike:)

 

Hi Mike,

 

Our anniversary is 2/25. There is a cruise leaving on 2/24 that we are looking at. Stay on the ship for the whole month and join us for dinner at the Crown Grill one night...?

 

-Andrew :)

[Guest arowe6]

On my upcoming Ruby cruises, I will be the only person in a suite (I am not extravagant, as you can see, I have a number of 2014 Princess cruises planned and it will be spent against that) and I was planning, since I'm also Elite and get a free bar setup, to ask for the second bar setup to be coffee cards, and use them on (longer) future cruises. Is this going to cause me problems?

 

Sorry but I can't answer that for you. We are not elite, thus have no experience with the mini bar or swap.

 

I would post your question. Lots of Princess Elites on these boards who know a lot more than me. :)

[yoyosma]

On my upcoming Ruby cruises, I will be the only person in a suite (I am not extravagant, as you can see, I have a number of 2014 Princess cruises planned and it will be spent against that) and I was planning, since I'm also Elite and get a free bar setup, to ask for the second bar setup to be coffee cards, and use them on (longer) future cruises. Is this going to cause me problems?

I am doing the same, solo in a suite and elite. I plan to use my second bar set up for 2 coffee cards as well. The only problems will be not getting the free fresh brewed, tea, and hot cocoa for the later cruises. all your punches will be valid until punched. What kind of problem were you thinking about?

 

And with 2 bar set ups, I'll still be hauling cans of soda and bottles of water off the ship to start my next cruise a day later on the Emerald Princess. Where I will have another bar set up for each leg of my back to back. I don't drink much booze, won't have a balcony to enjoy the beer so can't decide what to do with the second bar set up.

[Wehwalt]

I am doing the same, solo in a suite and elite. I plan to use my second bar set up for 2 coffee cards as well. The only problems will be not getting the free fresh brewed, tea, and hot cocoa for the later cruises. all your punches will be valid until punched. What kind of problem were you thinking about?

 

And with 2 bar set ups, I'll still be hauling cans of soda and bottles of water off the ship to start my next cruise a day later on the Emerald Princess. Where I will have another bar set up for each leg of my back to back. I don't drink much booze, won't have a balcony to enjoy the beer so can't decide what to do with the second bar set up.

 

I would like to "break in" the coffee cards on a future cruise where I would get better value from them. So use one of them to get free coffee on my 35 day on the Pacific, the next for my 16 day on the Ocean, so forth. Obviously only use one card for one voyage for free coffee, though I know unexpired punches can be used in future.

[tequilasunrise]

Thanks for the review. Love your writing style, hilarious!

[bhopal21]

Hi Mike,

 

Our anniversary is 2/25. There is a cruise leaving on 2/24 that we are looking at. Stay on the ship for the whole month and join us for dinner at the Crown Grill one night...?

 

-Andrew :)

 

Congratulations!

 

We will need to get home and check on the zoo (the greyhound and three cats) so maybe we can meet up on another cruise.

 

You have made me a little nervous about the passenger demographics on these shorter cruises.:eek:

 

Mike:)

[JimmyVWine]

Great review. And yours might just be the first one that I have read from a person returning to a Grand Class ship after being on Royal. I'm curious to see if a trend develops where people start to conclude: "I really loved Royal, but I have to say that once I got back on a Grand Class ship, my heart belongs to them."

[Coral]

They aren't. They might wear Princess uniforms one day, HAL the next, RCL the next, etc. I believe they work for a service.

 

RCL (and I assume Celebrity) are RCL employees. Not sure about Princess.

Edited December 21, 2013 by Coral

[caribill]

I would like to "break in" the coffee cards on a future cruise where I would get better value from them. So use one of them to get free coffee on my 35 day on the Pacific, the next for my 16 day on the Ocean, so forth. Obviously only use one card for one voyage for free coffee, though I know unexpired punches can be used in future.

 

The cards are supposed to come with the voyage number written on the back.

 

If you get two cards marked this way, the "free" coffee will only apply to that voyage.

[texast518]

A little about us. (Copied from the last review I posted)

 

I am Andrew, a 27 year old Marketing and Sociology graduate working as the sales manager and accountant for a beach resort. My spouse, Brad, is a 33 year old French and History graduate working as the food and beverage director at the same resort. We split our time between Florida and Rhode Island. We have been together 8 years, have no 2-legged kids but have a 60 pound Bull Terrier/Bull Dog mix, who happens to cost more than a college education. How does that happen? We both have busy jobs and lead busy lives, thus our vacation time is limited.

 

After disembarking the train wreck, oops, I mean our cruise on the Royal Princess last month, we had no definite plans to cruise again in the near future. Fast-forward to a week before this cruise was scheduled to depart. We received an email from Princess regarding special Florida resident pricing. A 4-day cruise starting at $129PP for an interior cabin.

 

Are-You-Serious???

 

We looked at each other, checked our schedules and booked an hour later. We were a little hesitant about booking an interior cabin, but for a 4-day cruise we figured we could make due. 2 days before we left I happened to check my cruise personalizer again and color me surprised when I saw we were upgraded to a BB cabin. Another Are-You-Serious moment!!! 4 days in a balcony cabin for $129PP. Awesome!!!

 

Embarkation: We usually drive to FLL the day prior and stay at the Hyatt Pier 66. But in a silly effort to save money (Brad’s idea, not mine) we woke up the day we were scheduled to leave and set off on our 4+ hour commute to South Florida. In all honestly, the traffic wasn’t bad, but waking up at 6am and then commuting wasn’t the best idea. We arrived at Park and Fly around 11:30 and we were at our terminal (#21) by 12:00. Embarkation was a congested mess. It didn’t help that there were 7 ships in port. And it didn’t help that the Ruby just finished a transatlantic. But still, ugh! Apparently we weren’t the only ones who were stressed. The Princess crews in the terminal were equally as miserable. We had 4 bottles of wine in our carry-on and the alcohol policy was certainly enforced. As our bags went through the scanner, a Princess employee walked over to us, pointed in Brad’s face and screamed over to his coworker, “FOUR BOTTLES.” Umm, you might want to work on your tact. After ponying up the whopping 30 dollars for our extra wine we walked into a new priority line to get our cards. This is where I met the rudest of any Princess Crew. Sadly I didn’t get her name, but she had one foot in the grave and the other foot half way there. I guess she was the “line manager” and sort of directing each couple on what counter to proceed at. She asked me for my boarding pass. I had my boarding pass inside my passport, which was in my hand. In my other hand I had my camera bag and I had a backpack on my back. Seeing as I had no free hands, I handed her my passport with the requested information. She looks at me and said, “I said I wanted just your boarding pass.” I look at her, tilt my head and say, “Wow, aren’t you pleasant.” She then proceeds to grab the passport out of my hand and said, “It’s simple. All you have to do is show me your boarding pass.” Well isn’t that what I’m trying to do? By this point a line opened up and we walked to the counter to get our cards. As we passed her, Brad said, “Have a better day you miserable witch.” Ahhh the joys of travel. Once we got on board, we headed to see our cabin, A603. We walked in and....wait for it............wait for it.....IT WAS COLD!!!!! Take note Royal Princess; it is ACTUALLY possible to cool your cabins to a proper temperature. (If you have no clue what I’m talking about, please see my Royal Princess review). We explored the ship, had lunch in the dining room (I got the roast beef and it was like chewing on the sole of my Sperry’s) and made our way to our Muster Station at 3:45. There must have been new staff, new passengers, a problem, or something. Muster didn’t start until 4 and we weren’t out of there till almost 4:30. We enjoyed a bucket of beer and sail away from the Promenade deck. After exploring the ship some more and playing in the casino (I actually won money this cruise!!!!), we headed for our 8:30 dinner reservation at The Crown Grill. We had the pleasure of being served by Froderick. What a great guy. Friendly, funny, personable. Our meal was great, although Brad’s steak was not the best, and after a 2 hour dinner we headed back to the cabin to enjoy wine on our soot-free balcony (another jab at our Royal Princess cruise. No shame.).

 

Day 2, Sea Day – We decided to do breakfast in the dining room, and apparently we weren’t the only ones with the same idea. There was a long line. So we wait and wait and wait some more. Finally we said screw it and decided to eat light in the piazza with some coffee. We both brought our iPads and, low and behold, the internet worked great. In fact, there was only one afternoon when the internet didn’t work at all. Strike 2 for the Royal Princess—Take note Princess, it is ACTUALLY possible to have working internet on the ship. We headed up to the pool deck around 10am and tanned the afternoon away. Only bummer was the Spa Pool was closed for the entire cruise. But given the fact that this cruise wasn’t even close to being sold out, it didn’t matter. Dinner tonight was at 8:30 in the Da Vinci dining room. We ended up waiting for a table for 2, which was odd given the time. Dinner and service was nothing special. I did notice that the dinner menus for this cruise were very weird. It seemed like a mix of all different Caribbean Cruise menus. No cohesion what so ever.

 

Day 3, Cozumel – Oh the weather outside is frightful, and my hangover is not delightful. Is that how the song lyrics go? Anyways, we stayed on the ship and enjoyed the emptiness. Grabbed a prime spot by the aft pool and spent the afternoon reading. We decided on dinner in the buffet tonight. Nothing better than a nutritious dinner of salad, pizza, hamburgers, pasta, mashed potatoes and pork skewers. God help my poor stomach.

 

Day 4, Sea Day – Woke up to clouds and wind. Mehhh. Again, we decided to go to Breakfast in the dining but there was a snaking line so we decided against it. We chanced it and headed up to the pool. The clouds parted and it ended up being a nice day. When we arrived back to the cabin we got our disembarkation information. Apparently everyone was a walk-off group except for 3 or 4 groups that had tours or flights. We were scheduled for walk-off group 22, which was after 10am. That wasn’t going to work with our schedule. So we headed to passenger services and changed to walk-off group 10, which was around 8:30. She changed something in the computer and said we were all set. I asked if we needed to show anything at our meeting place and she said nope. Ok then. For our final dinner, we had another 8:30 reservation in The Crown Grill with Froderick. Dinner with him was, again, fantastic. It’s always nice to eat there at least twice because I can order something different than I normally would and not feel “guilty” about not getting steak. Tonight we shared the muscles as an app. So so delicious. After soups and salads, I got the Veal chop and Brad got another steak. Both were excellent and Brad said this steak was 10 times better than the first one. We said goodbye to Froderick and are hoping to see him on another Ruby cruise that we are eyeing in February. Got back to our icy cold cabin and enjoyed our “last night of the cruise tradition” of having Champagne on the balcony. We were sailing right next to the Coral Princess and had great views from our balcony. A blissful evening. Cheers!

 

Disembarkation – I slept horrendously. I woke up looking like death warmed over... which is coincidently exactly how the rude Princess employee at embarkation looked. It’s karma! There seemed to be no system for disembarkation since basically everyone was a walk off. We have always had to show a luggage tag to disembark, but since there was nothing to show, we could essentially disembark whenever we wanted. Oops. We were out of the cabin by 8, finished our coffee in the International Café by 8:10 and decided to try and disembark. No checking and no organized system meant we were off the ship by 8:15. Works for us! Customs was a joke. The line was LONG and we only saw a few Customs guys working. The guy in our line just decided to stop working so he could have a few bites of breakfast in his cubicle. Keep up the great work US Government! We were in our car by 9 and home with a very happy dog licking our faces by 1:30.

 

Final thoughts

Being a 4-day cruise before Christmas we weren’t sure what kind of clientele to expect. I’ll try to keep my word vomit to a minimum, but wow...

 

I wouldn’t classify this as a booze cruise, but the demographic was definitely skewed to the younger side and many, many, many first-time cruises who left their manners at the door. We witnessed people leave plates of dirty food on the floor of the Piazza. We witnessed lots and lots of drinking. We witnessed couples practically dry humping each other in the pools (does chlorine kill sperm?). We witnessed lots and lots of kids all over the ship. I am by no means a kid fan but they were probably the best-behaved group on board. Instead of the Hovaround Hurtle, we were doing the Stroller Shuffle this cruise.

 

And last but certainly not least.... This is good. Get ready...

We witnessed a woman on her Caribe balcony chain-smoking............and she was completely naked. Yes, completely totally 100 percent naked. All her lady bits were hanging (sagging) in the sun. Gives another meaning to sun-dried tomatoes. You stay classy sweetie!

 

But seriously, for $129 per person, this cruise couldn’t be beat. Sure there were things we would change. But would we do it again? You bet. In a heartbeat.

 

Thanks for the memories Princess.

 

Due to this being a short cruise and us not getting off the ship, I didn’t take a lot of good pictures. None the less, I have included a link.

 

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjPbgFL1

 

Please don’t hesitate to ask any questions you might have. I will answer as best I can.

 

Andrew:)

 

OK, where is the smoker on the balcony, from your description could not be considered porn rather comedy. Not supposed to smoke or exhibit. on balcony

Edited December 21, 2013 by texast518

[ContemporaryTraveler]

They aren't. They might wear Princess uniforms one day, HAL the next, RCL the next, etc. I believe they work for a service.

 

The pier agents for Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, and Azamara are all employees of Royal Caribbean. RCCL has not outsourced this department yet in South Florida. Actually Carnival Cruises hires some pier agents directly still, but most of the other lines now outsource their pier agents. Some of the lines use SMS International Shoreline Operations, Holland I believe uses a different company.

[iloverags2]

Enjoyed your report and your fantastic photos! Your pup is so adorable and beautiful all wrapped up into one!

[Guest arowe6]

Congratulations!

 

We will need to get home and check on the zoo (the greyhound and three cats) so maybe we can meet up on another cruise.

 

You have made me a little nervous about the passenger demographics on these shorter cruises.:eek:

 

Mike:)

Don't be nervous. It was quite the experience and provided a ton of laughs. :D