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Wrapping up on the Ruby....

cruiseintoheaven

By cruiseintoheaven,
in Princess Cruises

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cruiseintoheaven

cruiseintoheaven

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Well, tomorrow is the last day on our California Coastal, which means the suitcases come out (booooooo:). Thought I’d confirm a few common questions asked lately along with some general observations.

 

Happy hour is indeed gone.

 

Blue tote bags are back.

 

No life jacket at Muster, which has been shortened and redone.

 

Salty dog cover fee down to $12 pp.

 

A glass of wine at Vines now gets you one tapas instead of two and there’s no choice - it’s whatever they have for that day.

 

Daytime activities seem to be more varied since our last cruise.

 

Coffee cards seem to be accepted regardless of their vintage.

 

The captains reception is just drinks - no passed apps anymore.

 

Overall service has been good, with a few outstanding folks that really go the extra mile.

 

Quite a bit of maintenance going on around the ship as usual. The Sanctuary pool has been empty and this closed all week - it looks as though it was just painted.

 

Food has been okay, not great. Less variety in the buffet, but we haven’t been on a grand class ship in almost two years so I could just be unfairly comparing it to the Regal.

 

We haven’t set foot in the MDR. Ate at the Salty Dog one night which seems to be better than the last time, and busier. Crown Grill last night - pretty good, but I’ve never been a huge fan so I’m a bit biased. We may try Share tonight. I miss Alfredo’s!!

 

The difference in size and Pax count is really felt in the piazza - very difficult to get a seat which is frustrating when you’re trying to grab a bite in the IC. I do like the use of the Explorers Lounge for nightly entertainment much more than Princess Live!

 

Overall a good cruise, despite colder than expected temps and some drizzle.

 

Off to Crooners!

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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JF - retired RRT

JF - retired RRT

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Blue tote bags are back. We've gotten a tote bag on every cruise we've been on

 

No life jacket at Muster, which has been shortened and redone. It's about time.

 

Daytime activities seem to be more varied since our last cruise. I think activities/shows, etc. is directly related to who the Cruise Director/Entertainment director is. Some are good, some are duds.

 

Coffee cards seem to be accepted regardless of their vintage. Great news! I have 4 or 5 old ones and will be getting 2 more on our next cruise.

 

The captains reception is just drinks - no passed apps anymore. Stopped going several years ago.

 

Food has been okay, not great. Less variety in the buffet, but we haven’t been on a grand class ship in almost two years so I could just be unfairly comparing it to the Regal. Same as CD/ED...it depends on the Executive Chef.

 

I do like the use of the Explorers Lounge for nightly entertainment much more than Princess Live! Agree. It's a mostly unused venue on some cruises.

Thanks for the update.(y)

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Pam in CA

Pam in CA

Posted
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Thanks for the update.

 

Just FYI, there is no Sanctuary pool on the Ruby or any other Princess ship other than the Coral, Sea and Sun Princess. Are you referring to the Spa pool? It’s near the Sanctuary but has nothing to do with the Sanctuary.

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cruiseintoheaven

cruiseintoheaven

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Thanks for the update.

 

Just FYI, there is no Sanctuary pool on the Ruby or any other Princess ship other than the Coral, Sea and Sun Princess. Are you referring to the Spa pool? It’s near the Sanctuary but has nothing to do with the Sanctuary.

 

Yes - meant the Lotus pool - too many non- happy hour drinks:)

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cruiseintoheaven

cruiseintoheaven

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How rough are the seas? I'll be on the Ruby this fall and she doesn't have azipiods (for stabilizing). I realize a spring cruise may be different, but I want to know how much bonine to bring. ;)

 

That's a tough one for me as I'm not prone to sea sickness. I haven't seen or heard much to indicate that those that do are having a harder time though. We have had some gentle rocking, which I actually enjoy :D. You can always bring more than you think you might need....better to have it and not need it.

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cruiseintoheaven

cruiseintoheaven

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Wow ...thanks for the very comprehensive post! And you're right ... it's definitely on the cool side in California this month. Just inland a bit, they are getting snow.

 

Yes, definitely on the cooler side though the weather has gotten progressively better the last few days. We took a walk into the downtown area of Ensenada today just for the fresh air. Monterey was just a steady day of rain, which was too bad as it seems like a neat port with plenty of quaint places off the beaten path to explore. Oh well, next time right? 😊

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Alimariecruisin

Alimariecruisin

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How rough are the seas? I'll be on the Ruby this fall and she doesn't have azipiods (for stabilizing). I realize a spring cruise may be different, but I want to know how much bonine to bring. ;)

 

Was on same cruise, just off today...the seas were so calm I rarely felt any motion...really missed a bit of wave action!

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Alimariecruisin

Alimariecruisin

Posted
Posted
Well, tomorrow is the last day on our California Coastal, which means the suitcases come out (booooooo:). Thought I’d confirm a few common questions asked lately along with some general observations.

 

Happy hour is indeed gone.

 

Blue tote bags are back.

 

No life jacket at Muster, which has been shortened and redone.

 

Salty dog cover fee down to $12 pp.

 

A glass of wine at Vines now gets you one tapas instead of two and there’s no choice - it’s whatever they have for that day.

 

Daytime activities seem to be more varied since our last cruise.

 

Coffee cards seem to be accepted regardless of their vintage.

 

The captains reception is just drinks - no passed apps anymore.

 

Overall service has been good, with a few outstanding folks that really go the extra mile.

 

Quite a bit of maintenance going on around the ship as usual. The Sanctuary pool has been empty and this closed all week - it looks as though it was just painted.

 

Food has been okay, not great. Less variety in the buffet, but we haven’t been on a grand class ship in almost two years so I could just be unfairly comparing it to the Regal.

 

We haven’t set foot in the MDR. Ate at the Salty Dog one night which seems to be better than the last time, and busier. Crown Grill last night - pretty good, but I’ve never been a huge fan so I’m a bit biased. We may try Share tonight. I miss Alfredo’s!!

 

The difference in size and Pax count is really felt in the piazza - very difficult to get a seat which is frustrating when you’re trying to grab a bite in the IC. I do like the use of the Explorers Lounge for nightly entertainment much more than Princess Live!

 

Overall a good cruise, despite colder than expected temps and some drizzle.

 

Off to Crooners!

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

We too were on this cruise and agree with all above except the personal service via staff for me was truly upsetting...compared to our previous cruises the staff did not show much positive behavior nor caring of our questions, concerns, or requests. I'm too tired from just driving home from port to list all the negative stuff and really would rather forget much of it...but I'm not getting excited about cruising with Princess again after this 3rd cruise in a row of truly disappointing behavior of cruise staff. They were indifferent...not the Princess cruise experiences that always made me happy in the past before this past year...

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Zoey1 "Live from...." Rare

Zoey1

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We too were on this cruise and agree with all above except the personal service via staff for me was truly upsetting...compared to our previous cruises the staff did not show much positive behavior nor caring of our questions, concerns, or requests. I'm too tired from just driving home from port to list all the negative stuff and really would rather forget much of it...but I'm not getting excited about cruising with Princess again after this 3rd cruise in a row of truly disappointing behavior of cruise staff. They were indifferent...not the Princess cruise experiences that always made me happy in the past before this past year...

 

 

I couldn’t agree more, we had not sailed with Princess for about 10years ( we cruised on many different lines in the mean time) this had to be the worst customer service we have EVER encountered, we literally only came across a few staff members that were not boarding on rude. Food was not replenished or filled up, if asked the first response was they were out, though sometimes if you,persisted they managed to find it. We will most likely not sail on Princess again, as for the seas we were in the back and can tell you seas were very choppy several days but of course you will find more motion on the ends of the ship.

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TheRabbit

TheRabbit

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How rough are the seas? I'll be on the Ruby this fall and she doesn't have azipiods (for stabilizing). I realize a spring cruise may be different, but I want to know how much bonine to bring. ;)

The Ruby uses stabilizers or stabilizer fins to keep the ship from rolling. I do not believe azipods help that much with stabilization other than coarse stability.

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Zoey1 "Live from...." Rare

Zoey1

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Wendy and Alice - I’m sorry you experienced less than satisfactory service from the staff. For us it was good, with a few shining stars that eeally stood out! If we picked up on anything it was that the staff was spread too thin it still pleasant.

 

So interesting as our cousins had the same experience. We had a wonderful waiter at the crab shack ( Jack) and at Crown Grille ( Sherman) front desk Iva was a shining star, everyone else for us seemed annoyed or put out. Even last night in the casino, the gal who cashed out my card , I couldn’t hear her and when asked if she could speak a bit louder, rather haughtily to,d me she couldn’t speak any louder and seemed very put out but my inability to hear her soft voice, we make our own fun so still had a blast but we were greatly disappointed with Princess, glad your experience was better!

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junglejane

junglejane

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We just got back from this cruise, too. Mostly we had a very nice time, although the weather didn't cooperate especially in Monterey. I just noticed a couple of items. First, we never saw our cabin steward until the 3rd day when I went looking for him. He was obviously cleaning our room on schedule but I'm used to cabin stewards that introduce themselves on the first day and are pretty visible during their shifts. I tracked him down because of an unpleasant urine like smell that had been lingering in our bathroom since the first day. He must've used some kind of deodorizer because it improved slightly but never went away. I think we mostly became desensitized to it because when our younger daughter came to our room on Friday she definitely still smelled it.

 

We had late traditional seating and our dining room team was excellent. Our food was okay but not great, the usual mixture of hits and misses. I ordered the burger from the always available on the last night and that was a mistake. I always seem to make a poor choice on the last dinner of the cruise! I've really got to remember to go with the waiter's recommendation that night.

 

Our younger daughter had her birthday during the cruise (turned 17) and received a gift card for $26 to use in the boutiques and a gift card for one free specialty restaurant dinner (which we used at Crown Grill). Plus balloons and a door sign. The free specialty restaurant gift card was a good marketing touch because we weren't going to go this time, and the free birthday dinner for our daughter tipped the balance and lured the rest of us in.

 

One thing I noticed about this cruise was that the passenger mix was definitely much older than is usual for what was essentially a spring break cruise. Our local school district always has spring break this week so we've done west coast cruises many times over the years during this week, and usually there are 600-800 kids onboard. This one had hardly any kids or teens, but more than the usual number of walkers and frail elderly. I assume this was because of the itinerary being a California Coastal and not a Mexico warm weather cruise.

 

I became Elite at the end of this cruise (woo-hoo) and was sort of expecting a congratulatory letter and black card at the end of the cruise, but nothing came. My cruise personalizer does now reflect that I'm Elite though so I'm looking forward to some Elite benefits on our next cruise.

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TheRabbit

TheRabbit

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We just got back from this cruise, too.

 

I became Elite at the end of this cruise (woo-hoo) and was sort of expecting a congratulatory letter and black card at the end of the cruise, but nothing came. My cruise personalizer does now reflect that I'm Elite though so I'm looking forward to some Elite benefits on our next cruise.

Welcome to elite!

Info and some goodies should come in the mail

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