Just got off Ruby Princess, 7-day California Coastal

[SoCal Cruiser78]

The pancake boxes at home have different recipes for making pancakes and making waffles. Possibly that was also true on the cruise ship and the waffle batter was not the right recipe for making pancakes.

 

Good point. I was willing to take that risk, but the staff member wouldn't budge, similar to what happened with the OP. I realize that some staff come from parts of the world where breaking seemingly minor rules can have major consequences, so I didn't press him on the matter.

[Silvara7]

We were also on the Ruby but didn't arrive at the port until around 2:00. (Much stress and drama from an uncooperative CVS and then dealing with dog boarding!)

 

I agree with the above statement about the road access to port in San Pedro. It's a nightmare most times we've been there, but adding another ship sailing near the same time and it was just too many cars! So much for easy check in if you arrive later. The snake lines were interminable and we didn't like the "back up pier" as we called it, at all. Having to queue in the sun was very uncomfortable and I saw a lot of people getting burnt before the cruise even started.

 

We were in R514 and experienced no problems at all with our cabin or the steward. Many, many carts and so on in the halls at all hours though. I thought it was just us that our steward was scarcely seen or heard from. I'm sorry to hear so many had toilet problems and fear having that experience. Our toilet seat was also gouged and scuffed. How does that even happen? The public toilets near the pools were in worse shape, though.

 

We were assigned late seating in the Botticelli DR, but didn't end up going even once. Dressing up just seemed like too much of a bother from the first night and we just continued the same as the cruise progressed. Horizon Court was lovely and we enjoyed being able to go in and eat without any stress and choose from a diverse number of foods. I have a strange love for the fruit tartlets on Princess and wander in to grab one 2-3Xs a day. Bartenders were hit or miss and one had never heard of a Dirty Banana despite it being on the menu and a fixture recipe for at least our first cruise on the Island in 06.

 

Because of health issues, we haven't cruised in over 5 years but thought the itinerary was a great choice with fun ports of call. Staying in San Diego a bit later would have been nice, but it seems like any time we've been to that port sail away was by 6 PM or so. San Francisco was wonderful and I'm glad I booked an excursion to Muir Woods. Beautiful Place! Ensenada is just another port day for us and we didn't go to Santa Barbara either (we really enjoy "sea days" in port).

 

Movies under the Stars is a great idea, but I had a very hard time hearing dialogue and just had to kind of guess what was going on. The fresh popcorn, pizza and cookies with milk they served were nice touches.

 

I thought it was odd that they netted off the pools so often when it was calm sailing. Shocking the water? I do know there was a biohazard incident of some kind in the Neptune pool on the last day, so I get that. Ew. There was a deck crewmember with a biohazard bag, gloves and face mask on Fri afternoon. I'm going to guess it was a kid since there were so many on Spring Break. The kids didn't really bother me at all except for the roaming gangs of teens wandering the decks throwing ice at each other on the last day/night. None of the crew who saw them being disruptive would say anything, though.

 

Disembarking was low key and we didn't experience any problems. $16 a day for parking was painful but I can't see another way around it. Ideas?

[caribill]

Our toilet seat was also gouged and scuffed. How does that even happen?

 

It is the sandpaper they use for TP.

[SoCal Cruiser78]

It is the sandpaper they use for TP.

 

:). I seem to recall noticing my cabin's toilet seat scratched up on the Golden recently, too. Perhaps they are deep-cleaning them with wire brushes or something :confused:.

[Princess Cruiser27]

Has a question for the folks who were on the Ruby, where are the smoking sections on the Outside Decks? I'll be sailing on the Ruby Saturday.

[JF - retired RRT]

Hi Michelle,

We totally love the Ruby. It is such a nice addition to our West coast cruising.

Too bad the port parking has been raised to $16.00 a day (from $12.00).

Gloria:D

The new parking fee makes a day in a nearby hotel with "free" parking very affordable. We already decided that we will do a hotel or a shuttle from home next time we go out of LA.

[ar1950]

.......................

 

Now some lumps of coal:..................

 

 

• The baked goods (rolls, etc.) were seriously substandard. This is something that I tend to gauge eating establishments by, so I'm probably over-sensitive........................
  

 

 

Just curious, what was "substandard" about the rolls? We have always found them a little too appealing and have a hard time not eating too many of them with our meals. :cool:

[JF - retired RRT]

Pier 92 was not the usual terminal. I have to agree some confusion there. We were on for two weeks. The first week was when the Ruby had just arrived from their 49 day South America and it was the first cruise

on West coast. Even so it was organized well. Second week for in transit

passengers there was some confusion and instead of us boarding first(had been sent to wrong places), we wound up boarding with general population. Part of the problem was passengers before we were to leave the ship and reboard, hadn't left the ship at their assigned time. They were still leaving when we went through customs. Not the ship's fault but rude passengers doing this.

 

Yes, it was very disorganized. Our son drove in for a BVE gift. We kept asking "where do the BVE participants go?". After asking for the third time, one of the women behind the check-in desk knew what we were talking about and sent us to the Elite area. We asked again "where do we go?" She pointed at the Elite overflow and said "sit there". Our son kept saying "I don't see anyone else with the BVE stickers". When the Elites started boarding, I again asked "what about the BVE?". The lady who told us to "sit there" said that the BVE had boarded 30 minutes ago. We had been waiting an hour. Not happy.

[JF - retired RRT]

Apparently these duvets are not washed every time?

When we have done B2B, we have seen the steward changing out all of the linen. I think the only thing that doesn't get changed are the pillows.

If you are concerned about a "dirty" duvet...get it obviously dirty and ask your steward to change it on the first night. Maybe spill some coffee on it;)

[Silvara7]

Just curious, what was "substandard" about the rolls? We have always found them a little too appealing and have a hard time not eating too many of them with our meals. :cool:

 

I agree! I have a love/hate relationship with their crunchy rolls and the various foccia breads. Crunchy rolls were nommed morning, noon and night and only the toppings changed.

[Silvara7]

The new parking fee makes a day in a nearby hotel with "free" parking very affordable. We already decided that we will do a hotel or a shuttle from home next time we go out of LA.

 

I never considered this. Will have to look into the local hotels now. Usually a friend drives us there and back and watches our car for the week, but that wasn't an option this time and the parking fee was a bit of sticker shock.

[JF - retired RRT]

I never considered this. Will have to look into the local hotels now. Usually a friend drives us there and back and watches our car for the week, but that wasn't an option this time and the parking fee was a bit of sticker shock.

Best Western Plus – San Pedro Inn & Suites has Park n' Cruise for approx. $180

Right at the Port and in walking distance to restaurants, USS Iowa, Ports of Call, are the Crown Plaza (medium to high priced) and Sunrise Hotel (Lower priced).

I tried to get a reservation at the CP about 30 days out from our 15 day Hawaii cruise and it was more than $300. Called Best Western+ = no brainer. They also had no problem with us leaving our car for 2 weeks (some hotels charge for more than 1 week).

The Crown Plaza is very popular with cruisers because it is so close to the port - you don't need a shuttle, you could walk over.;)

[peety3]

My dad was told this but he was able to get a 6:30 reservation every night.

Depends on the sailing, I believe. On the ships with three dining rooms, Princess does an early and late seating in one DR, and holds a waitlist for an additional early seating. If they get enough takers (figure >34% of the passengers...), they add an additional early seating into a second DR, and then transition to anytime dining capacity once the early seating is wrapping up. That shifts 66% of the anytime capacity to 7:00 and later.

 

On a ship with two dining rooms, it's simple: half get TD, half get ATD, and they'll do reservations all night long for ATD. On the ships with "five" dining rooms (Diamond and Sapphire, though four of them are simply half-sized slices of what would have been a full-sized DR), they essentially "can't" sacrifice one of the themed DRs for additional TD capacity, so there's a finite limit of 33% TD and reservations all night long for ATD.