A Ruby-rrific 1 Day Cruise

[cruisequeen4ever]

People ask how can you spend hours on a plane and wait in line after line for just 21 hours on a ship? It's easy; nothing beats the anticipation of a cruise of any length, waking up and knowing it's Embarkation day, the first spotting of the ship, getting a warm welcome back from Princess crew, having your traditional first lunch onboard, stepping out onto your balcony to soak in the peaceful view, partying at the Sailaway party, feasting on Princess classics in the dining room, having a 24K margarita while laughing to the point of tears at the comedian or a game show, playing your favorite slot, stocking up on as much Princess merch as possible, dancing the night away at Skywalkers, ending the day with a vanilla bean latte and the blissful sounds of the ocean and views of the gentle wake, and concluding with eating every single breakfast item you could want because it's all there and all free. Yep, it may only be 21 hours, but it's 21 CRUISING hours, and there's nothing better! And sure, knowing your next one is a few short months away and will be a 10 day cruise definitely eases the pain of disembarkation! [emoji6]

 

Cheers to all you fellow cruise addicts!

 

*DH does not approve this message. [emoji5] He thinks the 1 day cruises aren't worth it, so this year, my best friend accompanied me, and we dubbed it The Ultimate Slumber Party! [emoji51]

 

 

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[easyboy]

Glad you had great fun on your short cruise. Appreciate the feedback.

 

 

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[jennybenny]

Sounds like fun! We often get away for 1 day at a time because busy kid schedules and work and life.... so if I am willing to do Portland or Seattle for a day, why not do a cruise! Lol

Happy to hear you had a great time!!

 

 

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[kluv2cruz]

Was this the Ruby September 30? The cruise director said enjoy the next 24 hours at the sail away party and by that time we were down to about 15 hours, and that's when the clouds gave way and the big raindrops fell... but it was quite a fun time, I agree! And completely worth it!! Woohoo!

 

 

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[ar1950]

Glad to hear that you enjoyed the "shortie" cruise. We did a re-positioning cruise on the Ruby a couple of years ago. It was a three day, LA to Vancouver. It was fun and cheap, but, definitely way too short for the time and hassle involved getting to LA and then getting back home from Vancouver. I guess that we are in your husband's camp when it comes to short cruises.

 

YMMV

[ceilidh1]

We didn't have quite the same positive experience on Ruby this weekend! We have done 1 nighters many times so don't expect the full cruise experience, but do expect some kind of consistency and value for money! The Patter did not list a dining room open for lunch so I asked 3 different staff members - all told me no dining room was open, just the buffet. I knew this wasn't true so went to every dining room until I found the one that was open. WHY do they try to keep this secret?

 

My kids LOVE these 1 nighters as they get to go hang in the kids club and stay up until 10pm without a parent lurking. I LOVE them as I get a few hours off to enjoy shows, trivia, a quiet dinner. We were so disappointed to find that on this one the kids' club only offered "family fun time" - parent supervised but no drop off. Now I love my kids and am happy to have family time with them on a 1 week cruise but when it's only 1 night??? Come on Princess, what were you thinking? My 6 year old has no interest in production shows and I certainly don't want to have him listen to the comedians (some of whom are not child-friendly) so we ended up in the room watching tv at 8pm!

 

To top it all off, they tell us that shakes are no longer included in the soda and more package - even though we had been able to get them just one week earlier on Emerald. I tried to argue with front desk but they weren't interested - since it was only 1 night I didn't have the energy to take it further but the whole thing left a bad taste!

 

On the plus side, dancing in the rain at sailaway was fun! And we did buy two Stanley Bears since there wasn't much else for the kids to do beside shop!

[Keith1010]

Great post.

Keith

[long cruiser]

One day cruises should not count for the number of cruises.If you book a suite you get 2 trips.This not fair to regular trying to reach an elite level.

long cruiser

[Steelers36]

One day cruises should not count for the number of cruises.If you book a suite you get 2 trips.This not fair to regular trying to reach an elite level.

long cruiser

 

I would agree, but it might start a battle. Maybe they should count as a 1/2 credit. Should be a minimum number of days to get a full credit.

[ceilidh1]

One day cruises should not count for the number of cruises.If you book a suite you get 2 trips.This not fair to regular trying to reach an elite level.

long cruiser

 

Where did this come from? No one has even mentioned cruise credits. I personally couldn't care less about them....

[Steelers0854]

The Patter did not list a dining room open for lunch so I asked 3 different staff members - all told me no dining room was open, just the buffet. I knew this wasn't true so went to every dining room until I found the one that was open. WHY do they try to keep this secret?

 

 

My guess is because they don’t have a full dining room staff, they probably don’t want everyone on the ship trying to eat there and overwhelming the space. I’m personally glad this is a well kept secret as it means a very relaxing and quiet first meal.

[ceilidh1]

My guess is because they don’t have a full dining room staff, they probably don’t want everyone on the ship trying to eat there and overwhelming the space. I’m personally glad this is a well kept secret as it means a very relaxing and quiet first meal.

 

I totally get that, but if you ask a staff member they should tell you and not outright lie! I'm not talking one staff member, but three staff members told me there was no dining room open!

[jennybenny]

One day cruises should not count for the number of cruises.If you book a suite you get 2 trips.This not fair to regular trying to reach an elite level.

long cruiser

 

That was not even the point of this thread.

 

How do you know this family isn't already Elite status?

Not everyone can do these one day cruises to reach Elite ASAP. Some cruise lines match loyalty levels of other cruise lines. Just like that example, this is just one perk that if you do a one day it counts towards elite on Princess.

[jennybenny]

My guess is because they don’t have a full dining room staff, they probably don’t want everyone on the ship trying to eat there and overwhelming the space. I’m personally glad this is a well kept secret as it means a very relaxing and quiet first meal.

 

I agree. The staffing issue may be why it is so closely guarded as to which dining room is open for embarkation lunch.

It is a nice first meal. We don't always do it. I personally don't like buffets where people can touch, put things back, etc. We just find the right dining room when we are craving it during embarkation and enjoy our peaceful lunch :)

I like doing Alfredo's for embarkation lunch when it's on a ship too.

[cruisequeen4ever]

Was this the Ruby September 30? The cruise director said enjoy the next 24 hours at the sail away party and by that time we were down to about 15 hours, and that's when the clouds gave way and the big raindrops fell... but it was quite a fun time, I agree! And completely worth it!! Woohoo!

 

 

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Yes. We laughed about his comment, too.

 

 

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[cruisequeen4ever]

We didn't have quite the same positive experience on Ruby this weekend! We have done 1 nighters many times so don't expect the full cruise experience, but do expect some kind of consistency and value for money! The Patter did not list a dining room open for lunch so I asked 3 different staff members - all told me no dining room was open, just the buffet. I knew this wasn't true so went to every dining room until I found the one that was open. WHY do they try to keep this secret?

 

My kids LOVE these 1 nighters as they get to go hang in the kids club and stay up until 10pm without a parent lurking. I LOVE them as I get a few hours off to enjoy shows, trivia, a quiet dinner. We were so disappointed to find that on this one the kids' club only offered "family fun time" - parent supervised but no drop off. Now I love my kids and am happy to have family time with them on a 1 week cruise but when it's only 1 night??? Come on Princess, what were you thinking? My 6 year old has no interest in production shows and I certainly don't want to have him listen to the comedians (some of whom are not child-friendly) so we ended up in the room watching tv at 8pm!

 

To top it all off, they tell us that shakes are no longer included in the soda and more package - even though we had been able to get them just one week earlier on Emerald. I tried to argue with front desk but they weren't interested - since it was only 1 night I didn't have the energy to take it further but the whole thing left a bad taste!

 

On the plus side, dancing in the rain at sailaway was fun! And we did buy two Stanley Bears since there wasn't much else for the kids to do beside shop!

 

 

 

Oh, I'm sorry your experience wasn't great. That would be disappointing to expect supervised kids' activities and then not get any. I did see the dining room on Deck 5 or 6 midship open for lunch. The Stanley Bears are cute, and I love that you can buy a captain's outfit for it, BUT I already have the old style bear, so I'll be sticking with that one. I snagged one of the old style ones for my nephew for only $3.99!!

 

 

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[cruisequeen4ever]

One day cruises should not count for the number of cruises.If you book a suite you get 2 trips.This not fair to regular trying to reach an elite level.

 

long cruiser

 

 

 

I can't speak for others, but I was Elite from 7+ day cruises long before I started doing these 1 day cruises. They're just fun getaway cruises to keep me going between the longer cruises. I can say that there were a lot of Elite and Platinum cruisers onboard, and most people appeared to be experienced enough to understand typical cruise procedures.

 

 

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[dweeb]

One day cruises should not count for the number of cruises.If you book a suite you get 2 trips.This not fair to regular trying to reach an elite level.

long cruiser

 

It is fair, you can do it. Or has Princess said this is only open to certain people. Please forward your concerns to Princess headquarters, and let us know what they respond with, since they make the requirements for their program.

[ceilidh1]

I can't speak for others, but I was Elite from 7+ day cruises long before I started doing these 1 day cruises. They're just fun getaway cruises to keep me going between the longer cruises. I can say that there were a lot of Elite and Platinum cruisers onboard, and most people appeared to be experienced enough to understand typical cruise procedures.

 

 

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Me too - the majority of my cruises are 7 or more days. The 1 night ones are easy getaways since we live in Vancouver - no brainers! I really don't care about the credits, but if I did and we wanted to discuss what is or isn't "fair" I could bring up the fact that my 10 years old (who is also elite) does not receive any of the benefits since she is a minor and I have always paid FULL price for her as the 2nd person travelling (the 6 year old gets the 3rd person rate). I cruise because the family loves it, not to get some kind of "status"!

[Steelers0854]

I totally get that, but if you ask a staff member they should tell you and not outright lie! I'm not talking one staff member, but three staff members told me there was no dining room open!

 

 

 

You make a good point.

[Lucky TGO]

Glad you had great fun on your short cruise. Appreciate the feedback.

 

 

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Ditto!!

Tony

[xlxo]

I was on the Eurodam on the other side of the pier.... sounds like you had a better time.

 

So sad to wake up rushing for breakfast and packing.

[eatdrinkfly]

did anyone else have a super chaotic dinning room experience on Saturday night?

 

we went to Da Vinci dining room and were told it was a 30 minute wait, but that the Botticelli had no wait and was half empty... so we walked over there only to find it in absolute chaos with a mob of people out front.

we put our room number on a list and were told to come back in 20 minutes...

 

when we returned, the restaurant manager told us there no one was taking room numbers and that we had to wait in a line to the right and they were taking people from there...

then the guy with the clipboard who took our room number told us we were next on the list and seated us about 10 minutes later.

the funniest part was that they sat us in a section that was completely empty... meanwhile there were a hundred people mobbed out front trying to get a table. we were okay... but man, some people were REALLY angry about the disorganization.

 

I really wish they'd just take table reservations like a normal restaurant on the 1-nighters. We had the same experience when we did this cruise 2 years ago... maybe next year we'll just hit the buffet and call it a day, lol.

[ceilidh1]

did anyone else have a super chaotic dinning room experience on Saturday night?

 

we went to Da Vinci dining room and were told it was a 30 minute wait, but that the Botticelli had no wait and was half empty... so we walked over there only to find it in absolute chaos with a mob of people out front.

we put our room number on a list and were told to come back in 20 minutes...

 

when we returned, the restaurant manager told us there no one was taking room numbers and that we had to wait in a line to the right and they were taking people from there...

then the guy with the clipboard who took our room number told us we were next on the list and seated us about 10 minutes later.

the funniest part was that they sat us in a section that was completely empty... meanwhile there were a hundred people mobbed out front trying to get a table. we were okay... but man, some people were REALLY angry about the disorganization.

 

I really wish they'd just take table reservations like a normal restaurant on the 1-nighters. We had the same experience when we did this cruise 2 years ago... maybe next year we'll just hit the buffet and call it a day, lol.

 

We were fine for dinner - also at DaVinci. It was strange as there were two people ahead of us and the staff at the door told them there were no tables for 2 for about 45 minutes. There were 3 of us and they seated us immediately - the room was half empty and there were lots of empty tables for 2! Very strange.

 

The buffet at breakfast was another story. Huge line for Horizon Court so we joined it and then were told by a staff member to go to Cafe Caribe as there was no line. When we got to Caribe there was an even longer line than we had originally been in. We joined anyway and then were told by a different staff member to go to Horizon Court as there was no line!!!

[ceilidh1]

We were fine for dinner - also at DaVinci. It was strange as there were two people ahead of us and the staff at the door told them there were no tables for 2 for about 45 minutes. There were 3 of us and they seated us immediately - the room was half empty and there were lots of empty tables for 2! Very strange.

 

The buffet at breakfast was another story. Huge line for Horizon Court so we joined it and then were told by a staff member to go to Cafe Caribe as there was no line. When we got to Caribe there was an even longer line than we had originally been in. We joined anyway and then were told by a different staff member to go to Horizon Court as there was no line!!!

 

We also noticed that half of the dining room was "reserved" for club class dining but the whole time we were in the dining room there was never any more than 4 tables occupied in that section. I don't know what club class dining entails, but it could have had something to do with the waits, too?