Live From the Ruby: 11/29/2014 B2B2B

[AE_Collector]

Thanks for the excellent reports! We board for 14 days this Saturday.

 

We enjoy a longer rather than a shorter "Wake Show" complete with interviews with staff and entertainers and the "Question of the Day" etc. we haven't been on a cruise with JJ yet and are wondering if we will be happy with his version of the "Wake Show"?

 

Do you know if they have activated the onboard communications via smartphone and/or tablets part of Princess@Sea on Ruby? That might be a nice feature for us this cruise as there will be eight of us in our group.

 

Enjoy St Martin today.

 

Terry and Kim

Edited December 2, 2014 by AE_Collector

[ccrain]

Thanks for the excellent reports! We board for 14 days this Saturday.

 

We enjoy a longer rather than a shorter "Wake Show" complete with interviews with staff and entertainers and the "Question of the Day" etc. we haven't been on a cruise with JJ yet and are wondering if we will be happy with his version of the "Wake Show"?

 

Do you know if they have activated the onboard communications via smartphone and/or tablets part of Princess@Sea on Ruby? That might be a nice feature for us this cruise as there will be eight of us in our group.

 

Enjoy St Martin today.

 

Terry and Kim

 

...but I will check into it...

[fedexretiree]

Early in the morning. We will be late into St Martin this morning. 20+ knots of speed combined with heading into a 30+ knot headwind equals a really wind whipped ship. Amazing how much the wind will cause the ship to twist, buck and turn. And the seas were only 8-9 ft. Even the Piazza was not spared. So Judy was flat on her back for almost the whole day. Couldn’t even read or play her IPAD games.

 

By 1600 she got some of her sea legs back and the winds had died a bit. We were able to grab a light snack at Vines with a white flight, some sushi, soup and salad. It did rain off and on all day so the lounge chairs were pretty wet for the movie. Maleficent. It was ok. Not my cup of tea, but not a bad thing either. The amazing this was that the movement had died down enough that Judy was able to enjoy to whole movie. We found seats that were just about dead center of the ship and that helped a lot.

 

Since it was formal night, we opted for Café Caribe for dinner. Everything was really tasty. The beef Carpaccio salad was the highlight for me. When the greens were wrapped in the cured beef, it was one tasty bite. And of course the cheese selection was outstanding. Love that cheese. 6 different varieties and one really blue blue cheese. Judy pronounced the ‘spinach legs’ soup excellent. Their soups remind me of the fresh cream of vegetable soups we had on a trip to Northeast England (Yorkshire) pub hopping in the 2000’s and the ones Judy makes from our garden at home.

 

We caught the last half hour of Danny Rodriquez’s set in the wheelhouse. We watched him lay down at least 3 backing tracks to one song. That was so cool to watch him essentially compose a song while sitting there. And the music was great and danceable as well.

 

We missed the first showing of Colors of the World (CotW)– opting for food instead. We had first seen CoTW on the Ruby a year ago without the LED digital effects. This ship has a full dance troupe. The TA Ruby last year did not. Still not sure why they call it CotW. It is a fun, colorful song and dance romp using different parts of the world as an excuse to do some really energetic staging, vocals, slap stick and dancing. The costumes are the best since British Invasion. They really pop. The show itself sounds like it has a message, as do a few of the numbers, but it really just gets down to great singing and dancing.

 

Judy and I have mixed opinions on the LED digital effects. She likes the effects during the solo’s. I think it detracted from the solo’s – although the New York, New York solo is borderline for me. During the non-LED Digital show last year, the solo’s were done against a simple “starlight” backdrop with spotlights. In this way you concentrated on the singer and the music. With the LED effects you are watching the screen and listening to the singer, so the impact of the words and the vocals just has to be lessened. During the main dance numbers the screens do enliven and enhance the performance. But there is a lot going on. It will be nice to see it a couple of times on this trip.

 

Anyway, that’s my opinion. The show is great either way. Highly recommended.

 

After the show we danced a little to Atomic, who had moved to Fusion, then went to Liar’s Club. Liar’s Club was fun, as usual, and we were able to help our team members win some champoo. Thank goodness we don’t have to drink it! Some of the words were familiar, but we had long forgotten the real definitions, so we had to wing it on all of them.

 

That was it for the night.

 

Today, we will be arriving about 30 minutes late into St Martin. The wind and the seas have died down a bit. We see some blue sky, actually right now a lot of blue sky.

 

The task for the day is Christmas shopping for the grandkids. We can afford to be picky since we’ll be back. Call it more of a scouting trip unless something catches my eye. Ally, our granddaughter, like hats and the white greek fisherman’s hat we bought her in Mykonos last year was a big hit, so we’re looking for something unique for her. I’m thinking a female pirates hat with the rakish feather might be kind of cool, and she could pull it off as well. The other grandkids are getting t-shirts, normal hats, maybe a sweatshirt or two. We will play it by ear.

 

Have to admit, JJ is doing a good job packing the nightly schedule. Things are happening in every venue. Tonight is no exception. We have Phil Tag as the headliner for two shows, the ultimate deck party, dancing, a couple of trivias – science and nature sounds new – passenger feud gameshow, Danny is in Crooner’s, Tommy McPhee is moving to Explorer’s and a late bingo in fusion. Quite a mix of stuff to do.

 

Well, that’s about it. Off to St Martin!

 

 

I am totally enjoying reading your review.. My husband and I were going to book this cruise and things just never worked out for us. Was just wondering if the water at Princess Cay was warm or has it started to cool off?

Since the seas were choppy would you have been able to snorkel today in St Martin? Also, how was the weather there today?

I am living my cruise thru your review..

[ccrain]

Yesterday’s stop in St Martin was wet. A very nice thunderstorm soaked us completely on the walk into town. It was great. And we are testing a new video system this trip for the Australia trip. Don’t ask me why, but if I give Judy a camera and I carry a camera, I will take 99% of the pictures. She will be pointing out all of these neat things, seals, birds, shops, ships, sasquatches, with her camera off and stowed. Meanwhile I’m busy taking pictures of the nearest yacht or something and miss the rest of the show. So now she is wearing one of those Sony adventure cams with the wrist control. After yesterday, her instructions were to just turn it on and leave it on. I mean, come on, she’s wearing the camera on her head, watching the docking procedure in St Martin, pointing out some rather neat sites and the camera is STILL OFF. (Sometimes I just can’t win….)

 

Good thing its waterproof as we did get pretty wet. Searched in vain for a distinctive hat. Hopefully we’ll have better luck today in Havensight, where we are docking right now. We did score some water, some ‘lollies’ for Atomic (long story) and a really neat wind spinner just for us.

 

Yesterday was all about Crab Shack. We had a great dinner with a couple we met during Liar’s Club. They’ve been on for the last cruise as well. (Hi guys! – and they read CC as well.) Very nice dinner conversation for a couple of hours. But after a bottle of wine, great food, we crashed like a rock. Missed the deck party and everything else.

 

For dinner we both had the Ruby steamer pot. Some king crab, snow crab, sausage, clams, mussels, potatoes, corn on the cob. It was good. It wasn’t as good as steamer pots we’ve had in Vancouver or Seattle, but then nothing beats Pacific Northwest steamer pots, especially those cooked in white wine and garlic. But on the other hand, it was pretty darn good, and the company was great.

 

The sea state was absolutely flat last night with hardly any wind whatsoever. Quite a contrast to a couple of nights ago. (Hmmm, ok JJ, you need to ditch the non-traditional/modern renditions of Christmas music in the Piazza. Go with instrumentals. A rock version of Santa Claus is coming to town this early in the morning is a bit much!)

 

So what’s up for the day? We’re docked in Havensight, so shopping will be close and plentiful. We might take a ride up the mountain, not sure. Pretty much going to stay flexible. Tonight the schedule is pretty much packed. It is formal night. Looks like plenty of dancing opportunities. Once Upon a Dream is on stage. We’ve seen this before and would like to see it again. Danny’s in the wheelhouse at 1700 and 1915. Fernandez is doing a mentalist show in Explorers at 1915 and 2115. Marriage match game is on in Explorer’s at 2200 as well. We always try to make that one. Atomic is back in Club fusion. The “new year’s eve party” and balloon drop is in the Piazza at 2245 with Atomic as well. The Pastime Duo is in the wheelhouse. MUTS is Edge of Tomorrow – which we enjoyed at home, but can skip it on the ship.

 

Well off to St Thomas…

[ccrain]

Thanks for the excellent reports! We board for 14 days this Saturday.

 

We enjoy a longer rather than a shorter "Wake Show" complete with interviews with staff and entertainers and the "Question of the Day" etc. we haven't been on a cruise with JJ yet and are wondering if we will be happy with his version of the "Wake Show"?

 

Do you know if they have activated the onboard communications via smartphone and/or tablets part of Princess@Sea on Ruby? That might be a nice feature for us this cruise as there will be eight of us in our group.

 

Enjoy St Martin today.

 

Terry and Kim

 

JJ doesn't do question of the day and his interviews are mainly geared toward revenue activities, ShoreEx, Shopping, Shops, etc. Angela, the deputy, has a great wine paring discussion, but it looks recorded and canned, but fun to watch. No drink of the day discussion which is typically hilarious, no back and forth with a deputy, pretty much like a network news show. If you are expecting a wild and crazy morning show, its not happening. That's JJ's style pretty much. Just the facts maam...

 

I can't get access to the ruby.princess.com site. Been trying, got there once, but now all I get is a bad connection. Not sure if its me or the site. I can get to the internet, but that's about it. So I can't tell you about the princess@sea comm system.

[ccrain]

I am totally enjoying reading your review.. My husband and I were going to book this cruise and things just never worked out for us. Was just wondering if the water at Princess Cay was warm or has it started to cool off?

Since the seas were choppy would you have been able to snorkel today in St Martin? Also, how was the weather there today?

I am living my cruise thru your review..

 

Lots of people were snorkeling and into water sports at Princess Cays. We did not check it, but the ship reported water temps around 80F. That is still rather cool, but not too cold.

 

St Martin would have been better for snorkeling. The water temps were a lot warmer and even with the rain, which was warm, the wind was minimal. The water looked great...

[AE_Collector]

JJ doesn't do question of the day and his interviews are mainly geared toward revenue activities, ShoreEx, Shopping, Shops, etc.

 

Our last cruise on Pacific Princess with David Bradshaw was the first that we could remember where the CD didn't invite input to the wake show from passengers. We are in a group of 8 this time so wouldnt likely have been as involved in that on this cruise anyway.

 

Thanks for the answers!

 

Terry

[ccrain]

Arrival at Grand Turk is 1300, so we have a few hours at sea before we dock. So Judy is doing her sushi massage this morning early before we go find some deep water fried conch for lunch at Margaritaville – oh, and a margarita as well. Yeah, I know its cliché, but it’s still fun…

 

Yesterday was fun. We basically shopped, then hit a new restaurant that was absolutely fantastic, then staggered back to the ship. Still looking for that elusive hat ‘perfect’ for Ally and not having much success. We did dock at Havensight, not Crown Bay. Which turned out to be great for us.

 

Lunch was at a new restaurant at the Yacht Harbor called Fresh Bistro. Great views overlooking the yacht harbor and watching the cruise ships parallel park. Fantastic service as well. A nice small menu, daily fresh specials and Jerimiah Weed flavored vodkas. Judy and I ordered the grass fed beef and lamb burgers, split them in half and shared them. The tomato relishes served with each were completely different and absolutely delicious. The burgers themselves were really, really, good, Feta cheese on the lamb burger, smoke Gouda on the beef. Nice brioche buns. But quite frankly the highlight was the drinks. We both had the Sweet Teas. Very dangerous. Tastes like tea. Top shelf liquor for sure. About 5 minutes later it hits you right between the eyes. For a sweeter drink, they have a watermelon flavored vodka with fresh watermelon puree. The couple next to us swears by them. And very reasonably priced drinks. $10 for a seaside top shelf drink in St Thomas is not unreasonable. We will go back on the next cruise as well.

 

We had to hit up a grocery store as well just to see prices. Whoa! Living here is not cheap. Everything is way more expensive. We like to watch House Hunters International when they go to interesting places. One place this year was St Thomas and while the housing was, as expected, very expensive, they don’t mention the basic cost of living is sky high as well.

 

We did pick up some candy canes to pass out to staff. Zoe asked us to find her a nice guy, but she had to settle for chocolate instead.

 

We spent a couple of hours in the wheelhouse listening and dancing to Danny. His music is just really different and refreshing. But I stumped him. Gave him two classics that he didn’t have on his I-pad. Crimson and Clover and Knights in White Satin. He will probably download them and play them later. Danny had a special show with the orchestra tonight in Explorer’s that we will try and make at least once.

 

Topped the night off by going to the show Once Upon a Dream. I didn’t know it was only shown on the Ruby, but according to JJ, whom we talked to after the show, it’s only on the Ruby. It is a very colorful show with lots of colorful costumes and the projected screen backdrop. The show is mainly a dream sequence and the projected screen sure helps the mood. We will see colors of the world again, but probably not Once Upon a Dream. But you should see this one at least once…

 

Since we are at sea this morning, there is an 0900 Zumba class. So far, the sea looks calm enough for me to make that one. Judy has her massage, so Zumba out of the question for her. (She always has good excuses.) They are fitting in a ballroom dance class just before we dock as well.

 

Tonight is one of those nights in which we will not be able to do it all. So much is scheduled. Danny and the orchestra are in Explorer’s for two shows of a Beatles tribute, Guardians of the Galaxy is on at MUTS, Phil Tag has a new show in the theater and its 70’s night in Fusion with Atomic. Looks like we pick two and catch the other two on the next cruise.

 

They are also having a crab shack tonight. We’re only doing one of those a trip, maybe two. I haven’t seen a chef’s table advertised at all. I wonder if they just dropped it for these 7 day cruises? We do have to do a Crown Grill before we leave. Probably next cruise.

 

So that’s about it. Off to Zumba…

[bhopal21]

Just a hint, skip Margaritaville with their outrageous prices and drink mixes and walk 300 yards along the beach to the left and eat/drink at Jack's Shack.

 

He has the best cracked conch and jerk chicken that you will ever put in your mouth, guaranteed!

 

Mike:)

[ccrain]

Just a hint, skip Margaritaville with their outrageous prices and drink mixes and walk 300 yards along the beach to the left and eat/drink at Jack's Shack.

 

He has the best cracked conch and jerk chicken that you will ever put in your mouth, guaranteed!

 

Mike:)

 

Wish I'd logged in and saw this earlier...see below...

 

11-05-2014 At Sea Heading Back to FLL

 

Yesterday was a good day. Coffee in the morning, Zumba to wake me up, light breezes, hardly no sea, the front of the ship channel came back, yes it’s the little things in life, lunch off the ship (we’ll talk about that later), minimal expenditures during shopping, good nap, great music and dancing, good night’s sleep. That counts as a successful cruising day.

 

Grand Turk is such an interesting little place. (Carnival Sunshine was in with us.) The water is just gorgeously blue. It’s being developed more and more. There are now beach houses in places that were blank last time we were here, probably more than 4 years. Margaritaville is still the same. It’s really more of an experience than a don’t miss place to eat and drink. In actuality the food is really not that good and neither are the margaritas, but the atmosphere is interesting and people watching is fun. They have removed conch from the menu since we’ve been here last. Bummer. So we opted for the volcano nachos with chicken. Mediocre at best. It had cheese sauce on it. (Cheese sauce should be banned.) The guac was ok, the jalapenos canned, but the thing was HUGE. The margaritas were far from top shelf. (I developed a headache within a few hours.) The service was great though. Lots of smiling faces. Our last experience was so much better that this one was pretty disappointing. Skip it and eat in the buffet, drink at the bar – unless you just have to experience the place. Have a beer and wings!

 

Phil Tag actually said it best last night. ‘A cruise ship dock to a garage sale.’ I would only add, with food and drink…but still its worth while getting off and wandering around for a bit. It’s close to the ship, people watching is fun and there are a lot of things to do outside of ship tours. There were probably a dozen vendors with independent tours in the courtyard past the dock entrance.

 

We went to see Danny and the orchestra do a Beatle’s tribute, actually we ran into Danny at Margaritaville as well. It was a good show. Danny seemed to be losing his voice a bit, but the music was great and the band was grooving. JJ actually made a joke at Phil Tag’s show. Hmmm. That was different. But Phil killed it. It was a great show. He brought the house down on several occasions with some great material. JJ seemed to imply that he was not on the next cruise. It would be nice to have a different entertainer on the next cruise, but we didn’t get a chance to see Phil’s other show, so either way, we’re good.

 

After Phil’s show was the 70’s night theme night. No country western night this cruise. Atomic was playing the hits. It was straightforward dancing to great music. No games, which we like. Finally got to bed around midnight to a really good night’s sleep.

 

The sea is so much better this morning than our last sea day. Wind is still a factor, kicking the ship around a bit, but the sea state is small waves < 4’.

 

Guardians of the Galaxy is at the theater this afternoon. JJ repeats the previous night’s movie in an afternoon matinee in the theater. And it repeats on TV as well. I like that. So we will try and hit that as well. Elevator roulette is on today as well, along with the culinary demo, the ubiquitous final art auction, the ‘outlet’ sale and the pub lunch. Tonight is Ballroom Broadway in the theater, Rock and Roll night is the theme night in fusion with atomic, pop star grand finale and the movie Jersey Boys in the theater for a late night showing along with Dawn of the Planet of the Apes on MUTS.

 

So that’s it for the last day at sea for this cruise…and we don’t have to pack…that’s the best thing…

 

Later…

[bhopal21]

Sorry about your experience at Margaritaville but that place is really the pits.

 

Just remember Jack's Shack for your next visit.

 

Nothing to look at but the food and drink are outstanding!

 

Mike:)

[ccrain]

Turnaround day in FLL. No getting off the ship, no lugging stuff around. Just R&R. Nice.

 

Yesterday’s highlight was the Top 40 luncheon held in Sabatini’s. We’ve never been to the luncheon, only the cocktail parties. It was pretty spectacular. Printed menus with our name on it, little cute name cards, very nice wine, fantastic food, service was over the top. (they timed presentation to place plates for everyone at the table at the same time – so cool.) BTW the top traveler had 1910 days. WOW!

 

The appetizer was a cold chicken and roasted veggie salad. Choice of four mains, and a chocolate sabayon dessert. I had the veal, Judy had the orange roughy (with a side of wild mushroom risotto). Both were incredibly tasty. We had David Pearce, head of housekeeping, at our table. Great conversation. Got to put in good words for our room steward, Bernard, who is absolutely wonderful. It was a great couple of hours.

 

We did go see Broadway Ballroom last night. There are some really accomplished ballroom dancers in the troupe. Three couples in particular were spectacular. This is one of the few troupes in which the dancers outperform the vocalists. Not saying the vocalists are bad, it’s just that the dancing is that good. Very fun to watch. If you like dancing this is a don’t miss.

 

Also tried ‘Who’s the Cookoo?’. It’s basically a play on Liar’s Club in which you try and identify the liar in the trio of staff. Each staff identifies a past job they had before they worked for Princess. The audience gets to then ask questions. Afterwards you vote, by turning in a slip to the “liar” or the moderator if you think all 3 are lying. It’s a good and fun concept, but needs a little work, as the stories get muddled and confused. I think the ones who are telling the truth, must keep telling the truth to the best of their ability. The liar should be free to lie all the time. In that way the panelists don’t try to spin their answers to make it seem like they are lying. This gives the audience a bit of an advantage in that they can trust the answers from 2 of the 3 panelists. But still fun anyway…

 

Rock and roll night with Atomic followed. No country western night this cruise. After that it was hit the hay.

 

This morning is its usual hectic self with people and bags everywhere. In-transits are to meet in explorer’s at 1030 am to go through immigration. I think we will just stay on the ship today. We are expecting a couple of friends to show up today.

 

We already have the new patter for the cruise. A couple of changes. We will be doing Nassau this cruise instead of Grand Turk. The last sea day will be Thursday the 11th. Then Nassau at noon on Friday, followed by FLL on Saturday. A new comedian on this cruise, Jim Colliton replaces Phil Tag. A new duo in the wheelhouse, the Massina duo, and Acrobatix in the Piazza. Atomic is back.

 

Same shows, same theme nights and probably the same movies as well. This gives us a chance to see what we missed last week.

 

That’s it for turnaround day. Later…

[Colo Cruiser]

Enjoy your day onboard.

[lynwar]

I will enjoy seeing the Ruby leave port IF I remember to go to the Webcam. :D . We've been on her twice.

 

I'm enjoying your cruise with you, too.

 

Lynne

[macusr]

Somehow missed the start of your thread so caught up today, and realized when I watched the portevergladeswebcam today that I was watching you leave on Ruby!

 

We just sailed on her for the 1st time in Oct, so with the experience so recent, it's fun reading this thread. Of course your live from threads are always epic to read!

 

Enjoy part 2 of the BTBTB!

 

Kristin

[ccrain]

Somehow missed the start of your thread so caught up today, and realized when I watched the portevergladeswebcam today that I was watching you leave on Ruby!

 

We just sailed on her for the 1st time in Oct, so with the experience so recent, it's fun reading this thread. Of course your live from threads are always epic to read!

 

Enjoy part 2 of the BTBTB!

 

Kristin

 

Its been a while since we sailed together. Hope everythings been well.

 

yes, the Ruby is one of favorite ships now. The service, the food, the ambience, everything is just right...

[ccrain]

Raining and cloudy this morning. A bit windy and a moderate sea state. Not sure what this will do about the plans to go ashore. We shall see. Steady rain would be a bummer for sure. Scattered showers, not so much.

 

Turn-around for in-transits was pretty painless. A short walk around the terminal, there were only about 50 of us, a short wait for the ship to zero and changeover the accounts, and back on we went. Ahh, the caramel latte has arrived. Service in the IC on the Ruby has always been first rate, and these cruises are no exceptions. Capt Stenzel has left the ship and Commodore Romano is on the ship. (He is Capt we had last year for most of the med cruise. He tried 3 times to get into the port at Olympia, but the wind was just too much and we had to eventually abort. )

 

We met up with Richard and Diane. We met them on the first leg of the Asian cruise in 2012. Now they’ve been cruising all over the world. We actually went to dinner in the MDR with them last night. Reminded us of the fun we have dining with friends, but also reminded us of the volume of noise in the main dining rooms. We went at peak time, 1930, but only had to wait about 15 minutes total. Food was good. Typical sailaway dinner menu. Another reason we will haunt the HC a lot. It has a much larger variety of options and the menus are not that set. The chefs have much more flexibility in the HC. Its also much quieter. But we still had a good meal and great conversation.

 

So, let’s look at the Patter for today. Its Rock and Roll night tonight, Fernandez the Hypnotist is the headliner in the theater, and the band is doing ballroom music in explorer’s. Sunday night football is on MUTS.

 

A 50’s music trivia, followed by a couple of warm up sets by Atomic in fusion. Danny is back in the wheelhouse.

 

Ruby.princess.com is back up this morning. My accounts have been transferred to this cruise. My minutes from the previous cruise has been rolled over, my account has been rolled, but now Judy can’t get to the log in screen on her IPAD.

 

Power off reset time!

 

Later…

[macusr]

Its been a while since we sailed together. Hope everythings been well.

 

yes, the Ruby is one of favorite ships now. The service, the food, the ambience, everything is just right...

 

Yeah it'll probably be a long time before we manage to cross paths on another cruise since y'all tend to the longer & more exotic ones these days!

[ccrain]

Morning latte, wakeup caffeine, love those coffee cards. Busy, busy day yesterday. Judy is trying to catch a few more winks, but woke up sore from our exertions yesterday. Princess Cays is as beautiful as we remember it. They have really recovered well from the wipe out they got from the hurricanes several years ago. The little cottages now number in the dozens, several bars, lots of little shops, all kinds of water sports, most notably paddle boards and windsurfing, and the snorkeling looks much better than it was several years ago.

 

We just headed north along the beach, ran across the surf fishing place, which is new, turned inland and followed the road, then the trail, then the bush, then another trail, another road. Lots of little red crabs, a sea eagle, or some kind of predator bird, different plants and a bunch of mosquitos – we have the bites to prove it.

 

A great walk to spike the appetite for the BBQ, which was quite good. Outdoor cookery after a long walk tastes good no matter what they serve. Hamburgers, hotdogs, brauts, chicken, ribs, coleslaw, potato salad, corn salad and cucumber salad and beans were the highlights.

 

The ride in and out in the tenders were much milder than last week. Hardly any wind at all. The water was very clear. Remarkably so. I could see bottom almost all the way to the ship. Made we want to snorkel. Too bad Judy can’t snorkel any more, we would have brought our snorkel gear, or even could have rented it.

 

Last night was a dance, dance, dance till we dropped night. And we did finally drop. Hard. Started with Danny in the wheelhouse. Great music. Had to stop by and say hello to Zaritsa anyway. Grabbed a quick snack in the elite lounge – love those sliced cucumbers – then headed down to fusion and Atomic for 50’s and 60’s music. Fusion has the best dance floor for sure. A little motion allowed for a good excuse to miss a step or two here and there.

 

Judy’s pedometer recorded over 16000 steps yesterday. I’m up and at em and ready to Zumba thanks to some prophylactic Ibuprofen last night. No wind this morning or last night, but a lot of large swells. The sliding door ended up slamming a few times before we closed it, and ship movement woke me a few times during the night. There must be a storm somewhere in the Atlantic sending large swells our way.

 

So today is a sea day. We have Zumba at 0900 this morning. That will help wake us up a bit. Tonight is the first formal night. Liar’s club is tonight. Standard at sea fare. The shopping show, fruit and veggie carving, holiday store at sea, bingo, pub lunch, salsa class, line dancing, art auction, pool games, pop choir, the matre de wine club (the expensive one, not the free one for elites), lessons to learn how to play the steel drums, Monday night football on MUTS. Morning, afternoon and evening trivias. And that’s just some of the stuff going on.

 

Danny is in the wheelhouse, atomic is in fusion, the orchestra is doing a Dixieland set twice in explorer’s, the Massina duo is in the wheelhouse later. Colors of the World is the production show, three times tonight. Edge of Tomorrow is on MUTS before Monday night football.

 

I should mention that ruby.princess.com is back up and running. Its got some incorrect information like tonight is formal, not smart casual and the cover photo is the royal, not the ruby. Some of the times do not match the patter, but since this is a new thing, it will take a while to work the bugs out. Still can’t find out any information on the new wireless phone features.

 

Also found out that while they rolled my remaining minutes to this cruise, they only gave me 1 free minute for the next 7 days. Not exactly kosher. So now off to the internet café today to find out the details.

 

See, nothing happening…later…

[Colo Cruiser]

Sounds like fun. We walked 15000 steps plus on our Med cruise too.

 

Have you tried locking down the handle of your balcony door to stop it from moving?

[lynwar]

Hi

I did see the Ruby leave port, as well. I always enjoy the ship going up the channel, approaching the cameras and seeing all the folks waving like mad. :D Then the horn. At that point, I wish I were on the ship, too.

 

The Eastern Itinerary is my favorite. I'm glad you're enjoying yourself.

 

Lynne

[AE_Collector]

Charles, did you find out about the one minute internet credit? I seem to recall that from previous back to back cruises but it is just a default entry to show that unused minutes have been rolled over and the proper number of unused minutes will be added to your account if you select the next Captains Circle Internet package.

 

We are on the Ruby now for 14 days and sPeaking of the Captains Circle free Internet packages, I noticed that rather than receiving a 7 day package of 150 minutes each, our only choice was the 14 day package of 250 minutes each. We are on the B2B but booked it as a single 14 day cruise. In the past everything once on board has been handled as two individual cruises including internet packages.

 

Our ships cards now show that they will be good for both weeks and even before we boarded, the cruise personalizer showed that we would receive two credits for this cruise where as in the past we would have to request the additional credit on the ship or afterwards.

 

This leaves me wondering if there will be a second mini bar setup coming next week or not since things are no longer being handled completely as two separate cruises like they used to when booked as a single cruise.

 

Terry

[ccrain]

Sounds like fun. We walked 15000 steps plus on our Med cruise too.

 

Have you tried locking down the handle of your balcony door to stop it from moving?

 

I gotta try this. Thanks!

[ccrain]

Charles, did you find out about the one minute internet credit? I seem to recall that from previous back to back cruises but it is just a default entry to show that unused minutes have been rolled over and the proper number of unused minutes will be added to your account if you select the next Captains Circle Internet package.

 

We are on the Ruby now for 14 days and sPeaking of the Captains Circle free Internet packages, I noticed that rather than receiving a 7 day package of 150 minutes each, our only choice was the 14 day package of 250 minutes each. We are on the B2B but booked it as a single 14 day cruise. In the past everything once on board has been handled as two individual cruises including internet packages.

 

Our ships cards now show that they will be good for both weeks and even before we boarded, the cruise personalizer showed that we would receive two credits for this cruise where as in the past we would have to request the additional credit on the ship or afterwards.

 

This leaves me wondering if there will be a second mini bar setup coming next week or not since things are no longer being handled completely as two separate cruises like they used to when booked as a single cruise.

 

Terry

 

with the FCCs and stockholder credits, pricing and other OBCs, it was several hundred cheaper.

 

I did see the rollover 1 minute credit. Judy had the same thing. The IT persons fixed it and gave us the next 150 minutes manually. There was no option to select another 150 minute free package. But everythings fine now.

 

The last time we were on a B2B booked as one, the Caribbean Transatlantic last year, we got two mini-bars. Everything since has been booked as singles.

 

Our cards were good for the two weeks as well. don't know about the next turnaround. Now that they have went shorter cruises, B2B's are going to be much more common, so they need to figure out a consistent approach. So far its been painless for us. The internet glitch yesterday was the first B2B glitch in the last 11 cruises.

[ccrain]

So much better weather and sea state than last time through here. Almost flat calm this morning and last night. Hardly any movement at all. Coffee is good, service is fantastic and all is well in the IC this morning.

 

Last night we just had to go see Colors of the World again. Next to Caribbean Caliente, it’s our favorite show, with just the right mix of dancing and vocals and a lot of colorful costumes. We’ll probably see it again on the next leg.

 

We also sat in on the yes/no gameshow. It’s actually quite good and funny. A member of the audience sits on stage and is questioned by a cruise staff. If they last 3 minutes without saying ‘yes’, or ‘no’, or something very similar, like ‘uh huh’, but they can say ‘affirmative’ or ‘negative’. It was Dave (ACD) vs. Angela (DCD) and the winner got to put the loser on the hot seat for 3 minutes. It was good. Angela had two go 3 minutes and so did Dave, and their quickest outs were 28 seconds each, so the audience decided Angela should question Dave. The game was fun and interesting. Highly recommended and Angela and Dave played off each other quite well.

 

I must say, Dave is a standout for us. His music trivia on deck yesterday was entertaining, his Liar’s Club really funny and his interaction with the passengers really, really good. During the theme nights he makes it a point to dance with the older single traveling ladies. That’s really great. He and Angela both have great potential in the cruise industry. Wish Ally (our granddaughter) was here to see them in action. It would give her some great role models for her desired career.

 

Stopped by and saw Michelle. As predicted, we did not make the top 40 cutoff, which was about 460+ days. Because this is a 14 day logical, we probably won’t make next week either. Gotta cruise more often I guess.

 

So today is St Martin, 1000 to 1730. Not sure what we will do today. We got off and shopped the last time. Might just stick around the ship today. Tonight is the Ultimate Deck Party with a line dance training session this morning at 0915. So I’ll try and make that so I can at least try to keep up tonight. Guardians of the Galaxy is on at MUTS. We’ve caught bits and pieces on tv. Not sure if we’ll make it tonight or have to wait. With the Ultimate Deck Party there is minimal entertainment tonight. The Great Gatsby is on in the Princess Theater, Bingo in Explorer’s, a team trivia, ‘Almost Elton” is back, a passenger feud game show and karaoke.

 

That’s it…off to line dance practice…