Review: Ruby Princess 2/10-2/15

[Guest arowe6]

Another day, another short cruise on the Ruby. In short, we had a wonderful time with a few hiccups along the way. If you’re scheduled to sail on the Ruby in the next few months, you’re in for a wonderful treat and a first-class experience.

 

To elaborate a bit more....

 

We had been looking to cruise again and got an email a week before sailing about this cruise. Checked our schedules and it worked. So we tried to book. Unfortunately, between the time of the email and us checking our schedules, the balcony prices went up $400PP. Boo! So we decided against it. The next morning I was up around 7 and checked the prices again and they had dropped back down. Brad was still asleep so I decided to book it. He woke up to an expensive surprise.....but not AS expensive as it would have been the day prior. :D

 

Day 1, embarkation – (This is going to get long winded.) We live in Tampa and due to a small scheduling hiccup, (we had to “doggie-sit” for family the day before we left) we drove down the morning of embarkation instead of going down the day before to stay at the Hyatt Pier 66. The drive is easy, around 4/5 hours, but it’s still a pain to start vacation with a long drive. We arrived at Park n’ Fly around 12:30 and were in the cruise terminal by 1pm. There was no wait and check in was a breeze. Only pain was dealing with the wine guy who was rude and intrusive. Had our bags scanned and had 4 bottles. The VERY professional security officer, while chomping on her gum, pointed with her 3-inch pink acrylic nails to the wine table where we could pay for our extra bottles. We unpacked our wine and showed the wine guy and gave him our cabin info. As he was writing up the slip we wrapped up all 4 bottles of wine back in their towels, put them back into the suitcase, put everything (lotion bottles, camera, clothes, books, etc.) back on top and zipped everything back up. That’s when wine guy wanted to see the wine again so he could stamp them. Brad said no. Wine guy said yes so we could take wine into the dining room. Brad said no we wouldn’t take wine into the dining room. Wine guy raised his voice at Brad (bad idea) and said he was required to stamp them so we wouldn’t have to pay the corkage fee in the dining room. Brad raised his voice at wine guy (bad idea) and said wine guy didn’t understand because we weren’t bringing wine into the dining room. This pissing match ended with me unpacking the wine and letting stupid wine guy stamp 2 bottles while Brad and wine guy stared each other down for about 45 seconds. Ah the joys of traveling. PS—never brought any wine into the dining room. But thank God it was stamped. Ok so we finally get on board and go to our cabin on the Aloha deck. Drop off our stuff and head down to the International Café to get our coffee cards and a quick bite to eat since we missed lunch in the dining room. We also made reservations in the Crown Grill for tonight and the last night and requested the incredible Froderick as our server. After exploring the ship we went back to the cabin and were greeted with a domestic dispute at the cabin next to us. Walked on the balcony and inhaled the sweet smell of cheap cigarette smoke along with the husband (boyfriend? friend?) yelling at his spouse calling her an “effing b***h.” Classy broads. So we call down the Passenger Services and tell them about the smoking and mention their language. Passenger Services tell us that they will go to the room and address the issues. Great. So we wait and wait. I can hear someone go to their room but can’t hear what is said. About 15 minutes later she lights up again and starts telling him that she hates him and he’s one of the biggest mistakes of her life and then calls him very nasty names. I’m not about to go through a 5 day cruise listening to this so we go down to Passenger Services and ask to speak to the manager. In all of our Princess Cruises, we have NEVER asked to switch cabins, until today. I did my research and knew this cruise wasn’t sold out. The manager (forgot her name) was very sweet and accommodating. She said there was a medical emergency (yeah ok....) and another balcony cabin would be available but we would have to wait until after sailaway. Fine by me. So we went to Muster and enjoyed sailaway with our bucket of beer from the quiet Promenade deck. Got a call about an hour after we left sailaway and was told another cabin was available on the other side of the Aloha deck and they would show us. So we went and looked at it, it was fine, and we moved over and unpacked. Brad said to me, “Wouldn’t it be ironic if our neighbors on this side are bad too?” More on that later. At 8:30 we got to see our friend Froderick at the Crown Grill and enjoyed another incredible 2 hour dinner. He caught us up on the last one and a half months and shared with us a lot of funny stories about rude passengers from the previous 2 cruises that Mike (bhopal21) was on. Then it was off to the casino to loose money and then we headed back to the cabin and enjoyed our stamped wine on the balcony and enjoyed a crystal clear night.

 

Day 2, sea day – Had the alarm set and was up and ready to go at 8am. Even though this cruise wasn’t sold out, we know that it can get busy by the pools on sea days and we didn’t want to miss out. Headed down the International Café for a light breakfast and some coffee. Used our iPads and got caught up on everything going on at home. Side note, the internet on this cruise was great. Might have had something to do with the cruise not being sold out, thus the strain on bandwidth wasn’t as bad. We wanted to crash by the pool today so after breakfast we went back to the cabin to change into our speedos (kidding) and lathered up the sunscreen (not kidding). I opened the balcony door and was greeted with more neighborly chaos. To our left, we had our neighbor’s chain smoking while he listened to his voicemails on SPEAKERPHONE. All while his wife kept saying (no joke), “Baby lets go. Baby lets go eat. Babyyyy I’m hungry. Baby get off your phone. Babyyyyyyyy I wanna go to the pool.” Her whiney Kim Kardashian voice caused my brain cells to rot and my intelligence level to drop with every second of her dialogue. And to our right, our neighbors had music blasting from their iPhones. Not just any music, but country music..... Deep south country music. I’m talking lyrics about heartbreak, whiskey, Chevy’s and bar fights. It is official; I have reached the threshold of hell on the Ruby Princess. At this point we could either let this ruin our remaining few days or just embrace it and not let it ruin our cruise. We chose the ladder. The weather today was pristine and we enjoyed a quiet afternoon by the spa pool tanning and reading my book (A Million Little Pieces). Tonight was formal night, which I hate. I was rushing to get ready and shave and cut my chin in the process. Only those with “butt chins” will understand what it’s like to try and shave your butt chin in a hurry. So annoying. After bleeding to death in the bathroom, we headed to see Once Upon a Dream. Saw it years ago on the Ruby and it was excellent. This time, not so much. The show was different. It just seemed cheap to me. Hard to explain. Then it was time for the champagne waterfall and the Captain’s speech. He was very, very funny. We decided to gamble again (and loose again) and then go to dinner in the dining room. At 8:30 we checked the dining room on deck 6 and there was a 20 minute wait so we went to the dining room on deck 5. There was also a 20 minute wait. Kind of ridiculous about the wait considering it was so late, but whatever. So since we were already down here, we got a pager and headed to the Coffee Bar to people watch. At 9pm we still weren’t called so we walked to the dining room and asked for an update. The hostess at the door was rude and said she had been calling us. We told her our pager never went off. She said that our pager must not have been working then. Yeah, no kidding sweetie. Whatever. Our dinner was nice and servers friendly. The dining room food was good (not great) and we enjoyed each others company.

 

Day 3, Grand Cayman – Got up early and headed to the buffet for a change of pace. We also got a waffle from the pizza place. Everything was excellent. We sat outside in Froderick’s section and enjoyed talking to him for the morning. Around 10 we got off the ship (tendering) and walked around. We had been to Grand Caymen before and it’s still beautiful. Reminds me a bit of a smaller Aruba. We were in search of free wifi and found it at a coffee shop at the Bayshore Mall, kind of. We paid $4.25 for a small iced coffee (no joke) and $7.50 for a small fruit smoothie (no joke) so we could use their “free” wifi. None the less, the wifi was fast and the weather was sunny and hot so the shade and the view did not disappoint. Headed back to the ship and enjoyed some big salads from the Horizon Court and spent the afternoon by the pool tanning and reading my book. Nothing on the dining room menu sounded appealing tonight (just our personal tastes) and we wanted to avoid another dining room disaster so we went by the Crown Grill and begged with Godwin, the head waiter, for a reservation with Froderick. He obliged and at 8:30 we started another 2 hour dinner. Excellent food. Excellent company. Excellent wine. Excellent service. What more could we ask for?

 

Day 4, Cozumel – Got up early again and enjoyed another buffet breakfast with Froderick then waddled to shore to walk around. The weather started out as cloudy but got better as the day went on. We did a little bit of shopping then went in search of free wifi. We found a little bar/restaurant called Pancho’s Backyard (I think) at the port so we plopped ourselves at the bar and ordered some coffees and surfed away. Had a nice chat with the bartender, a couple glasses of strong coffee and got everything finished online so we headed back to the ship. Lunch today consisted of a very nutritious meal of pizza, hamburgers, hotdogs, ice cream and salad. Then we enjoyed our afternoon by the pool and I started a new book (Sycamore Row). Since there were a few ships here today, we decided to watch sailaway from the promenade deck. It wasn’t crowded so we had a nice spot to see the sunset and the ships leave. Brad and I enjoyed a beer together while the sun set beyond the horizon. As we sat together enjoying our company the wind picked up and the Carnival Breeze departed next to us. The mood and moment was perfect. Just then, a drunk dude on the Carnival ship next to us screamed at someone on the pool deck, “Hey lady in red, take your top off!!!” Brad looked at me. I looked at Brad. We smiled. And we said, in unison, “We are never going on an effing Carnival Cruise.” We dressed for dinner and went to gamble and loose money. Tonight we tried the dining room on deck 6 without much luck. Service was beyond horrendous. Sat for almost 10 minutes before given water and menus. And sat for another 30 minutes before ordering. No exaggeration. But we made friends with the table next to us and they made our dinner very enjoyable. Hi Mike and Laurie if you’re reading this. :)

 

Day 5, sea day – Slept a bit later and then headed to the International Café for coffee and a light breakfast. Having no motivation to do anything today, we headed to the spa pool and that’s where we sat for hours and hours reading and swimming. There was an Asian-themed buffet today, which was excellent. Beyond excellent. We kind of joked through the cruise that we were randomly craving cheap Chinese food. This fit the bill perfectly. The rest of the day was spent packing up the cabin and taking a little nap. We changed for dinner and did a bit of gambling. This time we lost again. Shocking, I know. But we only lost a little bit because we started with a little bit since we were out of money! Ha! Then it was show time. Tonight’s show was Broadway Ballroom. Meh. Brad liked it more than me. And finally, it was time for our last dinner at the Crown Grill with Froderick. This cruise, we managed to eat through the entire menu, and every bite was amazing. We said our goodbyes and exchanged emails. He truly made this cruise special for us. We enjoyed our end-of-cruise ritual of Champange on the balcony and a toast to us. Cheers.

 

Disembarkation was surprisingly easy. There were no delays and all the Customs Agents were actually working so it made the line move quickly. We were off the ship by 8:15 and were in our car headed home by 8:45.

 

All in all, a great cruise with great weather and almost great service. Met a ton of nice passengers and made new memories with the guy I love. The more I cruise on this type of ship, the more I am reminded about the train wreck of a Royal Princess cruise that I paid a small fortune for. It’s becoming more and more apparent that our personal preference is to these types of ships and we won’t ever be sailing on the Royal (or Regal) again. Maybe a great deal will come along and change my mind, but it’s hard to give up a good thing that you’re always content with.

 

But as I sit here on the lanai watching the lake, and typing this review, I reminded of how lucky I am. And you can never put a value on that.

 

Any questions, please ask. I'll answer as best as I can.

 

Here is a link to my pictures. They are uploaded but not really organized yet. Oh well.

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjSEnNtc

 

-Andrew :)

[geoherb]

Thanks for posting. We were on in December and are going again in four weeks. This time we will have a balcony. I hope we don't have to turn in our neighbors for smoking.

[bhopal21]

Wow Andrew, so sorry about the smoking and arguing neighbors. We were lucky I guess as we never knew if there was anyone on the balcony next to us.

 

So Froderick was working Lido in the mornings rather than Sabatini's? And you had Godwin rather than Tiberiu for a HW at Crown Grill.

 

See you should have just come on with us on the 1st where everything was cool and quiet except for the people that demanded their meal be comped when they had booked the same table for the same time every evening at Crown Grill.:( I mean if it is bad why the hell do you go back??

 

Did you and Brad get to meet Olena, Jeff and Franky at Crooner's?

 

Mike:)

[lovevacadays]

Thank you for the review, Andrew. I'm sorry about your luck in neighbors but your descriptions sure gave me a laugh.:D:D:D

[Colo Cruiser]

Great review.

 

We could only wish we had the pain you had with a 4 to 5 hour drive to the port. :D

I would be in trouble booking 2-3 cruises a month. Not having to fly. :eek:

[Guest arowe6]

Wow Andrew, so sorry about the smoking and arguing neighbors. We were lucky I guess as we never knew if there was anyone on the balcony next to us.

 

So Froderick was working Lido in the mornings rather than Sabatini's? And you had Godwin rather than Tiberiu for a HW at Crown Grill.

 

See you should have just come on with us on the 1st where everything was cool and quiet except for the people that demanded their meal be comped when they had booked the same table for the same time every evening at Crown Grill.:( I mean if it is bad why the hell do you go back??

 

Did you and Brad get to meet Olena, Jeff and Franky at Crooner's?

 

Mike:)

 

Just sent you an email..

[Guest arowe6]

Great review.

 

We could only wish we had the pain you had with a 4 to 5 hour drive to the port. :D

I would be in trouble booking 2-3 cruises a month. Not having to fly. :eek:

 

Yes all things considered, we have it easy. But you have great skiing!!!!

 

-a :)

[Guest arowe6]

Thank you for the review, Andrew. I'm sorry about your luck in neighbors but your descriptions sure gave me a laugh.:D:D:D

 

I try to find humor in it all. The descriptions are funny, but sadly true. :)

[Guest arowe6]

Thanks for posting. We were on in December and are going again in four weeks. This time we will have a balcony. I hope we don't have to turn in our neighbors for smoking.

 

When did you cruise in December? We snagged a deal on the 14th-18th cruise and had a great time.

[baronessk]

Thanks! You are making me very HAPPY I have an OV instead of a balcony this Thursday! Franky (from Crooners) was great to me in December and we had in common that he is from Nusa Dua, Bali and I lived in Nusa Dua for 3 years. I know he'll be surprised to see me again Thursday and I am trying to think of something to bring him. He already gets tipped well from me but if anybody has any suggestions....t-shirt from my home town, magazines, Girl Scout cookies.....Any good ideas???? Thanks!

[bhopal21]

Thanks! You are making me very HAPPY I have an OV instead of a balcony this Thursday! Franky (from Crooners) was great to me in December and we had in common that he is from Nusa Dua, Bali and I lived in Nusa Dua for 3 years. I know he'll be surprised to see me again Thursday and I am trying to think of something to bring him. He already gets tipped well from me but if anybody has any suggestions....t-shirt from my home town, magazines, Girl Scout cookies.....Any good ideas???? Thanks!

 

I would really appreciate it if you would give him a very warm greeting from Mike and James.

 

Thanks,

 

Mike:)

[Luvmyrotti]

Thanks or the review. Your descriptions of our neighbors was fun!

 

Was the Godwin that you reference as the head waiter at the Crown Grill the same Godwin who used to be an Assistant Maitre d? If so, I'm stunned as he seemed to be a real up and comer to advance to a full Maitre d when we sailed with him on the Ruby a few years ago.

[candide333]

On our last cruise on a 4 day Coastal, we had a man in the next mini suite also conducting business on the balcony all day. Fortunately, this was a first.

 

On our next cruise to Asia, we have E 731. So hopefully, we won't hear anyone on the left.

[LovetheSea]

Thanks for the entertaining review. I enjoyed it very much. We will be on the March 1-6 sailing.

[Guest arowe6]

Thanks or the review. Your descriptions of our neighbors was fun!

 

Was the Godwin that you reference as the head waiter at the Crown Grill the same Godwin who used to be an Assistant Maitre d? If so, I'm stunned as he seemed to be a real up and comer to advance to a full Maitre d when we sailed with him on the Ruby a few years ago.

 

It was a Godwin, but not THE Godwin. We have sailed with THE Godwin a few times and there is no comparison. Great guy.

[geoherb]

When did you cruise in December? We snagged a deal on the 14th-18th cruise and had a great time.

We were on for Dec. 22 and Dec. 26 cruises. It was cheaper to do the 8 nights back-to-back than to do 7 on the Crown. It also worked out better with DH's teaching schedule to fly down on Saturday instead of Friday. I had not really intended to book another short cruise for spring break--but the deal was irresistible, especially since we got really cheap airfare on Southwest. The other option was 7 nights on the Royal. I'm still not sold on the loss of a full outside Promenade

[Host CJSKIDS]

Wow Andrew, so sorry about the smoking and arguing neighbors. We were lucky I guess as we never knew if there was anyone on the balcony next to us.

 

So Froderick was working Lido in the mornings rather than Sabatini's? And you had Godwin rather than Tiberiu for a HW at Crown Grill.

 

See you should have just come on with us on the 1st where everything was cool and quiet except for the people that demanded their meal be comped when they had booked the same table for the same time every evening at Crown Grill.:( I mean if it is bad why the hell do you go back??

 

Did you and Brad get to meet Olena, Jeff and Franky at Crooner's?

 

Mike:)

 

My favorite bartenders!

[Luvmyrotti]

It was a Godwin, but not THE Godwin. We have sailed with THE Godwin a few times and there is no comparison. Great guy.

 

Thanks for clarifying!

[waterbugohio]

Thanks for your review.

 

First time Princess cruiser here. Sailing the first week of April. I have been reading alot about Princess/Ruby. Looking for all the pointers I can get ahead of time.

 

You didn't mention if you had any trouble ever finding seats by the pool? You reference the "spa pool" Which pool is this and which deck?? I have been checking out the deck plans. I see a terrace pool on deck 14 and then two pools on 15. Then from what I read there is also the sanctuary (which we won't pay extra for)

 

Can you make recommendations?? We love to spend the day relaxing at the pool. don't need all the games and loud music. Just want to be able to find 6 seats as this is a girls getaway.

[waterbugohio]

Also, what is the best way to avoid the trouble you had in the dining room with getting seated?

 

We have My Time Dining, but have always sailed Royal Caribbean so we could make the reservations the night ahead for whatever time we wanted. Never a wait. We like being able to choose 6 one night and 7:30 the next, but if I read correct you cant make reservation on Princess with My Time?

[BugsyCruiser]

Great pictures Andrew. Brings back great memories of when I was on Ruby Princess back in April of 2012 :)

 

By the way, can't imagine why you won't ever go on an effing Carnival cruise... ;):D

[rollingstone]

Never had bad neighbors. Think I would make some noise of my own.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[JF - retired RRT]

Also, what is the best way to avoid the trouble you had in the dining room with getting seated?

 

We have My Time Dining, but have always sailed Royal Caribbean so we could make the reservations the night ahead for whatever time we wanted. Never a wait. We like being able to choose 6 one night and 7:30 the next, but if I read correct you cant make reservation on Princess with My Time?

 

You can make reservations. Just call the Dine Line.

[seamwoman]

We got off the Ruby Feb 1. After waiting an hour the first night for dinner I called the next morning for a reservation. After a 20 minute wait I could have

5:30 or 8:30 and no tables for two. Same thing on day 3and 4 with shorter wait times on the dine line. Anytime dining was horrendous!!! Karen

[baronessk]

Never, ever had a problem with Anytime dining on 3 different Princess cruises. 2 cruises there were just 2 of us and 1 cruise there were 4 of us. I think the key is to be flexible. Some nights we had a table just for 2 and other nights we shared with 6 others. This was on 4 night cruises, 7 night cruises and the Panama cruise. If you want a table JUST for 2 every night, then maybe fixed dining is the better option???