Just off Ruby: March 15 (5 nighter)

[Morgsmom]

Hi Everyone,

Well, DD (now 18) and I just got off the Ruby on one of her little 5 night cruises. Thought I'd share a bit:

 

1. Embarkation: wow, they are taking the new wine policy very seriously. I acknowledged that there was wine in my carry-on and then was sent to the "naughty" table where I basically had a staring contest with some overly stringent (IMO) rep. Told him he was free to open my suitcase but he just gave me the nastiest once-over. Not a pleasant way to start the cruise.

 

Also, embarkation was slower than usual despite our purposefully late arrival as most guests just carry on luggage for this length, which speeds down security.

 

2. Ship/Cabin - in lovely condition. Crew were always out and about sanding, polishing, cleaning. Really top notch. Our cabin steward was in his early 60's I'd say and he always seemed tired. He also seemed to have a LOT of rooms.

 

3. Casino - I must be wrong, because I could have sworn it was 18 to be in the casino. DD wanted to try some slots but we were told it was 21. (Maybe it is 18 on other lines?) Ergo, they got none of our money.

 

4. Food - perfectly acceptable to pretty darned good. Full disclosure - I have been in the restaurant business my whole life and am "picky" shall we say. I thought they did a good job. Menu had changed up a bit since we sailed last, but I think they suffer from "just one more thing might make it better" in regards to the food. (Well if we just add THIS it will be great, instead of sticking with a good thing.) DD had troubles as she has some food allergies and had middle of the road food tastes.

 

Room service- as a subset to food, was a horrible mess. We ordered a PB&J one day for DD and it came, 45 minutes later, without any Jelly.... I get that the folks in the galley making it were not likely raised on PB&J's but really? Then another day I ordered a pot of coffee and a couple of juices (full disclosure - to put in my fridge as I don't like juice in the morning, but after a full day of sun it's nice to have). One hour, 2 phone calls, and no coffee later they realized my order was brought to the wrong cabin. I give the room service a big thumbs down.

 

5. Entertainment - we skip most of the production shows now. The comedian onboard was good, but I prefer an evening "adults" show in the Explorer's Lounge over the general (PG) comedy in the Princess theater. I walked out of the "Broadway Dreams" show as I thought it was silly at best. I feel for those dancers who work hard and then are put in silly Bollywood outfits and made to do such choreography.

 

6. Stops - Cozumel - a pain to be at the "wrong" pier. Adds $$ to get into town. We did go to Chankannub for the day to Swim with the Dolphins, per DD's request. Note - I booked online directly with Swim Discovery the previous week and they were having a buy 1 get 1 free sale. If you book this way it includes the $21 park admission. When we got there they even threw in free buffet lunch. Otherwise, you get there and pay the $21 then they try to talk you into the dolphin swims. We both recommend it (vs the one we saw in Grand Cayman the next day which was run by the same company but took place in a pool environment).

 

Grand Cayman - coming in at 11am was difficult as most of the on shore operators are out and on the water at 9 or 9:30. We took a land based tour that was not worth the $ (IMO). Would have loved to have gone out to Rum Point but I am glad that I did not rent a car with the left hand driving and all of the roundabouts. That likely would not have turned out well.

 

 

All in all, an excellent value, though I won't likely do a 5 nighter again. I really just start to relax at about day 3 or 4 so I prefer a week.

 

Anyone w/ questions, ask away!

[Colo Cruiser]

Welcome back and thanks for the review.

Unfortunatley Princess has invested in the pier area 3 miles south of downtown and have docked there for many years and forcing people to go through the stores in order to exit the pier. True about costing more $$ to get downtown. :(

We love the downtown pier but Princess only docks there rarely.

Edited March 22, 2014 by Colo Cruiser

[yukongrl]

Hi Everyone,

Well, DD (now 18) and I just got off the Ruby on one of her little 5 night cruises. Thought I'd share a bit:

 

1. Embarkation: wow, they are taking the new wine policy very seriously. I acknowledged that there was wine in my carry-on and then was sent to the "naughty" table where I basically had a staring contest with some overly stringent (IMO) rep. Told him he was free to open my suitcase but he just gave me the nastiest once-over. Not a pleasant way to start the cruise.

 

Also, embarkation was slower than usual despite our purposefully late arrival as most guests just carry on luggage for this length, which speeds down security.

 

2. Ship/Cabin - in lovely condition. Crew were always out and about sanding, polishing, cleaning. Really top notch. Our cabin steward was in his early 60's I'd say and he always seemed tired. He also seemed to have a LOT of rooms.

 

3. Casino - I must be wrong, because I could have sworn it was 18 to be in the casino. DD wanted to try some slots but we were told it was 21. (Maybe it is 18 on other lines?) Ergo, they got none of our money.

 

4. Food - perfectly acceptable to pretty darned good. Full disclosure - I have been in the restaurant business my whole life and am "picky" shall we say. I thought they did a good job. Menu had changed up a bit since we sailed last, but I think they suffer from "just one more thing might make it better" in regards to the food. (Well if we just add THIS it will be great, instead of sticking with a good thing.) DD had troubles as she has some food allergies and had middle of the road food tastes.

 

Room service- as a subset to food, was a horrible mess. We ordered a PB&J one day for DD and it came, 45 minutes later, without any Jelly.... I get that the folks in the galley making it were not likely raised on PB&J's but really? Then another day I ordered a pot of coffee and a couple of juices (full disclosure - to put in my fridge as I don't like juice in the morning, but after a full day of sun it's nice to have). One hour, 2 phone calls, and no coffee later they realized my order was brought to the wrong cabin. I give the room service a big thumbs down.

 

5. Entertainment - we skip most of the production shows now. The comedian onboard was good, but I prefer an evening "adults" show in the Explorer's Lounge over the general (PG) comedy in the Princess theater. I walked out of the "Broadway Dreams" show as I thought it was silly at best. I feel for those dancers who work hard and then are put in silly Bollywood outfits and made to do such choreography.

 

6. Stops - Cozumel - a pain to be at the "wrong" pier. Adds $$ to get into town. We did go to Chankannub for the day to Swim with the Dolphins, per DD's request. Note - I booked online directly with Swim Discovery the previous week and they were having a buy 1 get 1 free sale. If you book this way it includes the $21 park admission. When we got there they even threw in free buffet lunch. Otherwise, you get there and pay the $21 then they try to talk you into the dolphin swims. We both recommend it (vs the one we saw in Grand Cayman the next day which was run by the same company but took place in a pool environment).

 

Grand Cayman - coming in at 11am was difficult as most of the on shore operators are out and on the water at 9 or 9:30. We took a land based tour that was not worth the $ (IMO). Would have loved to have gone out to Rum Point but I am glad that I did not rent a car with the left hand driving and all of the roundabouts. That likely would not have turned out well.

 

 

All in all, an excellent value, though I won't likely do a 5 nighter again. I really just start to relax at about day 3 or 4 so I prefer a week.

 

Anyone w/ questions, ask away!

 

Hi! We have booked the Ruby for March 29th. Did you ladies check out the specialty dining? We are celebrating my husband's 40th birthday, just the two of us. I was wondering if you think it was worth it? First time taking Princess so we have no clue but thanks for your review!

[Bases5]

Just to give you a heads up for future sailings to Grand Cayman. Most tour operators run afternoon excursion also. these are more directed to hotel guest but can be done by anyone.

We stay there on occasion and have met a many cruisers on the afternoon excursion.

 

Glad you had a good time overall

[Cruisa Loosa]

Hi Everyone,

Well, DD (now 18) and I just got off the Ruby on one of her little 5 night cruises. Thought I'd share a bit:

 

1. Embarkation: wow, they are taking the new wine policy very seriously. I acknowledged that there was wine in my carry-on and then was sent to the "naughty" table where I basically had a staring contest with some overly stringent (IMO) rep. Told him he was free to open my suitcase but he just gave me the nastiest once-over. Not a pleasant way to start the cruise.

 

Also, embarkation was slower than usual despite our purposefully late arrival as most guests just carry on luggage for this length, which speeds down security.

 

2. Ship/Cabin - in lovely condition. Crew were always out and about sanding, polishing, cleaning. Really top notch. Our cabin steward was in his early 60's I'd say and he always seemed tired. He also seemed to have a LOT of rooms.

 

3. Casino - I must be wrong, because I could have sworn it was 18 to be in the casino. DD wanted to try some slots but we were told it was 21. (Maybe it is 18 on other lines?) Ergo, they got none of our money.

 

4. Food - perfectly acceptable to pretty darned good. Full disclosure - I have been in the restaurant business my whole life and am "picky" shall we say. I thought they did a good job. Menu had changed up a bit since we sailed last, but I think they suffer from "just one more thing might make it better" in regards to the food. (Well if we just add THIS it will be great, instead of sticking with a good thing.) DD had troubles as she has some food allergies and had middle of the road food tastes.

 

Room service- as a subset to food, was a horrible mess. We ordered a PB&J one day for DD and it came, 45 minutes later, without any Jelly.... I get that the folks in the galley making it were not likely raised on PB&J's but really? Then another day I ordered a pot of coffee and a couple of juices (full disclosure - to put in my fridge as I don't like juice in the morning, but after a full day of sun it's nice to have). One hour, 2 phone calls, and no coffee later they realized my order was brought to the wrong cabin. I give the room service a big thumbs down.

 

5. Entertainment - we skip most of the production shows now. The comedian onboard was good, but I prefer an evening "adults" show in the Explorer's Lounge over the general (PG) comedy in the Princess theater. I walked out of the "Broadway Dreams" show as I thought it was silly at best. I feel for those dancers who work hard and then are put in silly Bollywood outfits and made to do such choreography.

 

6. Stops - Cozumel - a pain to be at the "wrong" pier. Adds $$ to get into town. We did go to Chankannub for the day to Swim with the Dolphins, per DD's request. Note - I booked online directly with Swim Discovery the previous week and they were having a buy 1 get 1 free sale. If you book this way it includes the $21 park admission. When we got there they even threw in free buffet lunch. Otherwise, you get there and pay the $21 then they try to talk you into the dolphin swims. We both recommend it (vs the one we saw in Grand Cayman the next day which was run by the same company but took place in a pool environment).

 

Grand Cayman - coming in at 11am was difficult as most of the on shore operators are out and on the water at 9 or 9:30. We took a land based tour that was not worth the $ (IMO). Would have loved to have gone out to Rum Point but I am glad that I did not rent a car with the left hand driving and all of the roundabouts. That likely would not have turned out well.

 

 

All in all, an excellent value, though I won't likely do a 5 nighter again. I really just start to relax at about day 3 or 4 so I prefer a week.

 

Anyone w/ questions, ask away!

 

Hi and thanks for your review, very helpful. We are going for a nine day cruise in Caribbean on the Ruby on April 3rd. Just wondering how the beds and pillows were? I know Princess is working on replacing mattresses on some ships and not sure if Ruby has been done yet. Also, what movies were they showing on MUTS? Thanks.

Glad you had a good time.

[geoherb]

We were on this cruise as well. Thanks for posting your review. We didn't have any problem with the naught table, just had to show the guy that our bottles were wine. He wrote down our cabin number. The movies on MUTS were Gravity, Captain Phillips, Thor, and Last Vegas. They also showed the usual lineup of concerts.

[metairiegal]

We were on the same cruise. It was a good trip. We liked the bigger balcony on the Caribe deck. But, just wanted to say that the pillows on the bed were horrible! And, what was the big hold-up on getting off in Grand Cayman? Is it always like that on Princess? Then, they didn't even take our tender ticket. Nor did they check our disembarkation walk-off number as we left the dining room we were waiting in.

 

Just a question so I know for next time: is it really priority disembarkation from the elite/platinum lounge? Or, is your walk-off number called at the same time they call that number in other waiting areas?

Edited March 23, 2014 by metairiegal

[Guest arowe6]

Had to laugh at your wine comments. Same thing happened to us. Can't be a great job being the "wine guy" but they could try to be a bit more friendly. Oh well. Thanks for the review

 

-Andrew :)

[Guest arowe6]

Hi! We have booked the Ruby for March 29th. Did you ladies check out the specialty dining? We are celebrating my husband's 40th birthday, just the two of us. I was wondering if you think it was worth it? First time taking Princess so we have no clue but thanks for your review!

 

Hi there,

 

I'm not the OP but I wanted to comment. I would highly recommend the a Crown Grill. Especially Froderick the waiter. Excellent food and excellent service. $25pp cover charge plus tip if desired. Well worth it. On our last 5 days on the Ruby we ate there 3 times out of 5.

 

Hope this helps,

Andrew :)

[riclop]

Thanks for your thoughts.

[caribill]

Just a question so I know for next time: is it really priority disembarkation from the elite/platinum lounge? Or, is your walk-off number called at the same time they call that number in other waiting areas?

 

Can't answer for the Ruby, but on the CB in February those in the lounge had a two minute head start over those waiting in the assigned meeting place.

[geoherb]

I'm not sure of the difference in times between those of us in the Platinum/Elite lounge and the other venues. I did notice that they were running about 30 minutes late on Thursday. They eventually made up some of this time, but we were still 20 minutes after our scheduled time. If you have something pressing to do, ask for the earliest possible time.

[tinatark]

We were on the same cruise! The age for casino on Princess is 21, Royal Caribbean is 18 - maybe where the ship is flagged makes a difference? Saved us $$ - our 20 year olds couldn't stay!

 

MDR food was great - Creme Brulee' every night! Yippee! I'm not a fan of "enhanced" traditional dining - the Davinci dining room seemed to be a mix of traditional and anytime - we were trad. but there was always a line of people waiting to get in for anytime.

 

Drink package was offered - didn't require each adult in the cabinto purchase, like I thought the rule was.

 

Wish the Cozumel day was longer - and we had left GC earlier - shops near the port closed several hours before we left -we ended up hanging out at Margaritaville while the line for tenders wrapped around the other building... either Curacao or Aruba is like this - the area is pretty wealthy independent of the cruisers - everything closed several hours before we left port!

 

I agree - no more 5 days for us! Around Sunday night, we were regretting it was 5 and not 7 days! Many back to back cruisers - the CD said around 400 were staying onboard!

[Mapu]

We were on a five day cruise in February. We had the WORST room service of any cruise we have taken. Even simple orders were messed up.... Pot of coffee arrived with salt and pepper and no sweeteners, cream or milk although they were ordered.

[ar1950]

Hi there,

 

I'm not the OP but I wanted to comment. I would highly recommend the a Crown Grill. Especially Froderick the waiter. Excellent food and excellent service. $25pp cover charge plus tip if desired. Well worth it. On our last 5 days on the Ruby we ate there 3 times out of 5.

 

Hope this helps,

Andrew :)

 

We were on the Ruby three weeks ago. Ditto that on the Crown Grill. Although we didn't have Froderick the service and food were absolutely well worth the extra $$$. It is a great way to celebrate a special occasion.:cool:

[6travelers]

Hi Morgsmom, thank you for posting the review and offering to answer questions. I too, would like to know about the beds. Have they been replaced with the new pillow top?

[lx200gps]

We were on the same cruise! The age for casino on Princess is 21, Royal Caribbean is 18 - maybe where the ship is flagged makes a difference? Saved us $$ - our 20 year olds couldn't stay!

 

MDR food was great - Creme Brulee' every night! Yippee! I'm not a fan of "enhanced" traditional dining - the Davinci dining room seemed to be a mix of traditional and anytime - we were trad. but there was always a line of people waiting to get in for anytime.

 

Drink package was offered - didn't require each adult in the cabin to purchase, like I thought the rule was.

 

Wish the Cozumel day was longer - and we had left GC earlier - shops near the port closed several hours before we left -we ended up hanging out at Margaritaville while the line for tenders wrapped around the other building... either Curacao or Aruba is like this - the area is pretty wealthy independent of the cruisers - everything closed several hours before we left port!

 

I agree - no more 5 days for us! Around Sunday night, we were regretting it was 5 and not 7 days! Many back to back cruisers - the CD said around 400 were staying onboard!

 

Thanks for this bit of good news. We are on the Ruby this Saturday for the 5 day Western. You indicate that the drink package IS available on the Ruby for individuals, not everybody in the cabin, on a 5 day cruise? On some other ships, they are supposedly quoting the policy that says 7 day or longer only, so this works very well for my non-drinking wife and myself. Do you know where to sign up for it on board?

[CruisinCadie]

Hi Morgsmom, thank you for posting the review and offering to answer questions. I too, would like to know about the beds. Have they been replaced with the new pillow top?

 

Most emphatically NO. Although we prefer a hard mattress, these were too hard for us. I was afraid to request an egg carton topper though, lest it make the bed too soft.

 

And the pillows were terrible. I have allergies, so I always ask the steward to replace the feather ones with hypo-allergenic ones. These were stuffed with shredded foam and were extremely lumpy. That's about the only reason we were glad this was only a 5-nighter.

 

By the way, we were on the Mar. 10 cruise, and the CD said only 19 people were staying for the next segment.

 

Kathy

[geoherb]

Now I know where my extra feather pillows came from. I always request a couple of additional ones when I don't bring one of my own.

[dtb55]

We were on the same cruise. Only problem I had was EZ Check. Passenger Services crew didn't seem to have their acts together, but things worked out ok in the end. My only real complaint was that 5 days was way too short.

 

 

Denise

[kamkam90]

What's the new wine policy?

Did you go up to the mini golf? If so how was it?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[geoherb]

What's the new wine policy?

Did you go up to the mini golf? If so how was it?

The new wine policy is that each adult passenger is allowed to bring one 750 ml bottle of wine. All bottles have to be in the carry-on luggage and taken through security. If you want to have more than the limit, you pay the corkage fee upfront ($15 per bottle) and are given a sticker for each bottle that you pay the fee for. You can take the bottles for which you've paid the fee to any restaurant or other public area and not have to pay any additional corkage fee. You're supposed to enjoy the bottles that you did not pay corkage on in your cabin.

 

I walked around the track on the upper deck where they have the mini golf course. I did not play. Someone else took this photo:

Edited March 24, 2014 by geoherb

[kamkam90]

K thxs :) just one more question what kind of movies did they play on the movies under the stars?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[CruisinCadie]

K thxs :) just one more question what kind of movies did they play on the movies under the stars?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

MUTS were Gravity, Philomena (Judi Dench), a James Taylor concert, and Captain Phillips. They were also repeated the following day in the Princess Theater in the afternoon. Other movies and concerts, including Top Gun, were shown during the day on the MUTS screen.

 

Kathy

[serene56]

MUTS were Gravity, Philomena (Judi Dench), a James Taylor concert, and Captain Phillips. They were also repeated the following day in the Princess Theater in the afternoon. Other movies and concerts, including Top Gun, were shown during the day on the MUTS screen.

 

Kathy

 

the Princess Theater movie last week was Dallas Buyers Club.