Review of B2B Ruby cruise (California Coastal/Cabo)

[kayred]

My husband and I just finished our back to back cruises,California Coastal (3/10-3/17) and Cabo (3/17-3/22). We had a really great time,so I wanted to try and write a review (my first be kind...). I will start with the first few days andthen post more later. Please let me know if you have any questions I will tryto answer them. I am sorry I do not have the Patters or the menus.

On Friday the 9th we drove from Las Vegas to SanPedro and stayed at the Crowne Plaza with the parking package. We thought the hotelworked great for what we needed, but nothing very exciting. We did have a good(even if overpriced) dinner at the restraint the night before we left.

On Saturday after breakfast (buffet style included with theroom price, it was ok), we took a walk to see the Ruby. It was an easy walk andwe really enjoyed it. We saw all the people getting ready to leave the ship,got some fun photos, and waisted a little time before it was our time to board.We had a little light rain but nothing bad. I like getting to the ship reallyearly, I am like a kid on Christmas morning. My husband humors me and goes along,he figures he must sit and wait somewhere, might as well be at the boat. We usedthe hotel shuttle and go to the Ruby around 10:30 and we were on the ship priorto noon (We are not eligible for priority boarding). Once on board our room wasready, bags were in the room after the security briefing and prior to dinner. Webooked an inside room on the Baja deck and liked it. A balcony is always nice,but we are cheap and can’t spend the extra money. We like the inside rooms andthey work for us. I noticed a lot of engine vibration on this trip that I don’tremember on my previous cruise. Not sure if it was the room location, the shipor just me. My husband said it felt the same to him. We had some movement on theship but nothing much. First day is always fun, finding your way around andsuch and we had a real nice lunch in the dining room. I had the orange souffléand it was my favorite desert of the trip. It was raining during sail away, butmy husband and I still wanted to be outside. We made a dash to a covered spoton one side of the Ruby near the basketball courts to enjoy a beautiful, quietand private sail away. We later saw the comedian in the theater, he was good,but I have forgotten his name. We dined in the Botticelli dining room (traditional)at 8:30, we loved our servers and really enjoyed the dinners.

I am going to try and post a few photos and then I will post more…..

[kayred]

My husband and I just finished our back to back cruises,California Coastal (3/10-3/17) and Cabo (3/17-3/22). We had a really great time,so I wanted to try and write a review (my first be kind...). I will start with the first few days andthen post more later. Please let me know if you have any questions I will tryto answer them. I am sorry I do not have the Patters or the menus.

 

On Friday the 9th we drove from Las Vegas to SanPedro and stayed at the Crowne Plaza with the parking package. We thought the hotelworked great for what we needed, but nothing very exciting. We did have a good(even if overpriced) dinner at the restraint the night before we left.

 

On Saturday after breakfast (buffet style included with theroom price, it was ok), we took a walk to see the Ruby. It was an easy walk andwe really enjoyed it. We saw all the people getting ready to leave the ship,got some fun photos, and waisted a little time before it was our time to board.We had a little light rain but nothing bad. I like getting to the ship reallyearly, I am like a kid on Christmas morning. My husband humors me and goes along,he figures he must sit and wait somewhere, might as well be at the boat. We usedthe hotel shuttle and go to the Ruby around 10:30 and we were on the ship priorto noon (We are not eligible for priority boarding). Once on board our room wasready, bags were in the room after the security briefing and prior to dinner. Webooked an inside room on the Baja deck and liked it. A balcony is always nice,but we are cheap and can’t spend the extra money. We like the inside rooms andthey work for us. I noticed a lot of engine vibration on this trip that I don’tremember on my previous cruise. Not sure if it was the room location, the shipor just me. My husband said it felt the same to him. We had some movement on theship but nothing much. First day is always fun, finding your way around andsuch and we had a real nice lunch in the dining room. I had the orange souffléand it was my favorite desert of the trip. It was raining during sail away, butmy husband and I still wanted to be outside. We made a dash to a covered spoton one side of the Ruby near the basketball courts to enjoy a beautiful, quietand private sail away. We later saw the comedian in the theater, he was good,but I have forgotten his name. We dined in the Botticelli dining room (traditional)at 8:30, we loved our servers and really enjoyed the dinners.

 

I am going to try and post a few photos and then I will post more…..

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[JF - retired RRT]

Good so far.

I like the pictures.

What cabin were you in that you felt vibration? Or was it the whole ship?

[MJU]

Granddaughter wants to know if they serve lobster on the 5 day Cabo trip (She and I are going next February)

 

Thanks

[mkitchy]

If you went to Crooners, how was the pianist? Thanks!

[kayred]

Granddaughter wants to know if they serve lobster on the 5 day Cabo trip (She and I are going next February)

 

Thanks

 

No lobster on the 5 day. If she liked it I would book the crown grill....loved the lobster had there (and yes, I did pay the $10 extra). I was not happy with the service there but I will get to that in my review, later today :)

[kayred]

If you went to Crooners, how was the pianist? Thanks!

 

Crooners had a musician named "Funch". We LOVED him...especially when he was in the explorer lounge (He was backed by the Ship orchestra/band for 1 show each segment in the explorers lounge).

[Kenosha Cruiser]

Hi Jim & Kathy, following along. Hope you had a chance to see the pictures I posted on our roll call for your first week of the cruise on the Ruby. We also loved watching the piano man "Funch" performing in the Explorer Lounge. We enjoyed the cruise, especially the port stops, even though it rained in San Francisco and Monterey. We had a lot of fun meeting everyone from the roll call. The sail away even though it got moved to the Wheelhouse Bar was a great time. Missed you at the farewell gathering on the last day. Hope our paths cross again on the high seas.

 

Cheers - Ken & Darlene

[Lucky TGO]

Thanks for sharing.

Tony

[kayred]

Hi Jim & Kathy, following along. Hope you had a chance to see the pictures I posted on our roll call for your first week of the cruise on the Ruby. We also loved watching the piano man "Funch" performing in the Explorer Lounge. We enjoyed the cruise, especially the port stops, even though it rained in San Francisco and Monterey. We had a lot of fun meeting everyone from the roll call. The sail away even though it got moved to the Wheelhouse Bar was a great time. Missed you at the farewell gathering on the last day. Hope our paths cross again on the high seas.

 

Cheers - Ken & Darlene

 

We missed seeing you all as well, we got a little confused on where to go sail away when no one was at the bar and then by the end of the cruise I couldn't remember any of the specifics (I should of printed the events as suggested lol). Anyway I loved being on the roll call with you all, loved all the pictures, and would be thrilled to sail with you all again.....

[kayred]

Sunday (first full day) was a sea day and was formal nightat dinner. The weather was still gloomy and cold for us. We had fun spendingthe day with trivia and just sitting and enjoying the views. One of ourfavorite places is deck 7 on the promenade deck. We found that often one side wouldbe windier than the other and was more enjoyable. When it got too cold we wentin and sat at the window by the Explorer’s lounge. Our other favorite spot wasup on deck 15 by the aft pool, some of the covered spots back there were nottoo windy.

I forgot to mention earlier that on embarkation day we signedup for the escape room, we were giving 3 different time spots and it was heldin the chapel. I thought it was well done. It was not too hard but was enoughof a challenge that we had to think a little bit. It lasted just 30 minutes andI would recommend it to anyone. You are in a group of about 6-8 people.

 

 

Onformal night we found everyone was dressed nice but not typically formal on theCoastal portion of the cruise. On the Cabo portion people were dressed far moreformal and not just on the formal night but throughout the evenings. But theCabo portion had a much younger crowd.

 

 

Most of our evenings were the same so I will just go over allthe entertainment as a group. We really enjoyed the house band, but I am notsure everyone did. They were young and called something like Party Funk Band(or close to that). They played the typically music you would expect but with alittle more of a rock feel and they a lot more guitar solos. My husband and Ithought they were all very good musicians, but they often played to empty orclose to empty rooms. For the most part they were in Club Fusion butoccasionally in the Explorers lounge, they also played all the special eventson the deck or the Piazza. Their contract ended with the Cabo cruise so someoneelse is on now, they mentioned being back in 5 weeks, but I am not sure if itis on the Ruby. We spent most of our evenings watching them. Funch was in Crooner’s,his style reminded me of Ray Charles and he was very popular. Most night’s he wasin Crooner’s and it was standing room only. We liked him there, but he was muchbetter when the ship band backed him up. His show was short but a lot of fun,we went to each on both the Coastal and Cabo leg of the cruise. In thewheelhouse bar was the Rumba Duo, I did not really care for them, but they typicallyhad a full house and people ballroom dancing. My husband said she was a reallygood singer and on the Cabo leg she had her own cabaret style show in Explorer’s(we did not go).

 

 

Linda Grey from Dallas was onboard for a Q&A and to sellher book. One of the actors for Myth Busters (I think his name was Tory) was onthe Cabo portion and did a behind he scenes look at Myth Busters. We did not goto Linda Gray, but many passengers said they really liked it and found her downto earth. We went to the Myth Busters presentation and really enjoyed that (weenjoy the show Myth Busters and remembered many of the episodes he talkedabout). Also, on was a singer from American Idle (2nd season Ithink) Lou Gazzara. We saw in the theater and he put on a much better show thenwe expected. There were a couple more piano players that I can’t remember theirname.

 

 

We had 2 different comedians on board, I forgot the name of the first leg but for Cabo it was Carlos Oscar. We really enjoyed both and they were mostly clean jokes (we like that). We saw each comedian twice, once in the theater and once the explorer’s lounge.

 

 

The Magic and Colors of the World production shows were shown once oneach leg. They had all the typical trivia and games. I lost in the Yes/No gamein about 20 seconds lol. The cruise was too cold (for us) to watch Movies Underthe Stars. I think the movies were, The Space Between Us, Thor, Battle of theSexes, Guardians of the Galaxy 2, The Greatest Showman, Darkest Hour, JusticeLeague and one other we can’t remember now. We watched Justice League in theexplorers lounge and Thor in our room (ok, I will tell the truth, I slept througha little of Thor….lol).

 

 

For entertainment we also heard a great presentation from oneof the officers in Club Fusion on navigation and he gave lots of info on theRuby. Coming back from Cabo we went out on the aft of the ship and listened toa presentation on the stars. The Captain turned off most of the lights, so wecould see a lot of stars. The down side is it was VERY windy and kind of coldbut for us it was still worth it.

 

 

Being from Vegas we don’t gamble a lot, but I did try themachines two times. Much to my surprise I won both times. Being from Vegas westop right after winning 😊. Here is how it worked for any who are notfamiliar. I used my room key and would load money from my room account to my “bank”.(When you first put in your key, you must set up your account with your DOB andthen you select a PIN number). You play from the bank and when you leave amachine you cash out to your bank. I wanted to cash out after my first win(didn’t think I would play again) so I went to the cage/cashier. I was surprisedwhen he handed me cash, I had assumed it would go back on the room. When I wentto the casino later in the cruise to waste some time again I won but had an oddamount so at the cage I cashed out most of it and left $40 in my bank. On thelast day of my cruise I got a phone message reminding me to cash out my balancebecause they would not add it to my room. I had planned to cash out anyway, butit was nice to have the reminder.

 

 

Ok, I think that’s all I can remember for entertainment andthe sea days…I will be back to add some info and pictures on our stops and dining….

[kayred]

 

Some random photos from around the Ruby

 

 

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[cruisinsly]

Great start so far! Cant wait for the rest.

[aknursemom]

I'm enjoying your review and your pictures! Thank you for sharing!

[CruiseGal999]

Is the Aft Pool a public pool or in a private section? Thanks.

[XBGuy]

Kayred, I was on the 5-day Cabo cruise on the Ruby Princess a few weeks before you. Many people may not care for my taste in music, but, then again, some may. There was a pianist in the Piazza who actually played classical music. I was walking through the piazza one afternoon when I hear the opening bars of the last movement of the Beethoven Waldstein Sonata. It was SO COOL. I think his name was James Ewing. Quite a few people came up to him saying how much they enjoyed it.

 

I'm, very much, enjoying your comments and your pictures.

[paul929207]

Thanks for the review

[Clownfish Cruiser]

Brought back memories! Our very first Princess cruise was the California Coastal on the Ruby in March of 2015. It is still one of our favorites!

[kayred]

Is the Aft Pool a public pool or in a private section? Thanks.

 

Public...

[kayred]

First port was San Francisco and it was the main reason I bookedthis cruise. I got up early, so I could be up top for going under the GoldenGate bridge. It was very foggy, and the horn was going off steady all night and morning long. I was surprised at how loud the horn was. I was not able to go up the stairs by the pools because it was so loud, so we settled on beingout on the aft area, I think deck 16. Because it was foggy we stood out for awhile wondering when we would see the bridge. In fact, I had just started backup the stairs (kind of toward the hot tubs outside the night club) when all ofthe sudden out of the fog the bridge appeared above us. It was AMAZING…..no lieit was like a horror movie, by the time we could see the bridge it waspractically over top of us and the size of it coming out of the fog was athrill. Even my husband who was not excited about being awake that time of daythought it was cool. It happened so fast I got one fuzzy picture of the bridgeafter we passed it and before it was engulfed again in the fog. As we sailed inthe fog let up some and we ended up with a nice morning. Thanks to some great suggestionsI got on our board I pre-purchased tickets for Alcatraz for 10:30. We got offthe ship pretty early and enjoyed a walk around pier 39 and Fisherman’s Warf. Iused to live in the Bay Area and my husband and I have been to SF many times, infact we got engaged in SF, so we are familiar with the area. Like many althoughI lived there I have never been to Alcatraz and I really enjoyed my time there.We did the self-guided audio tour and would highly recommend it. It is narratedby a couple former guards and inmates and was very interesting to hear thestories. I was surprised by not just how much walking it was but by how highthe incline was on the walk up. I looked on the health app of my iPhone and we about 22,000 steps and over 19 floors. I recommend the trip and the tour butremember to book online, in advance and wear very comfortable shoes.After we finished there we were tired and hungry, so we enjoyed a nice breadbowl of clam chowder at a restaurant in pier 39, it was great, we enjoyed the soupwhile watching the sea lions. After our late lunch we walked around the stores,bought an embarrassing amount of fudge (my husband had a moment when herealized he was an adult, with money, in a candy store….it wasn’t pretty lol). Westopped at some benches to enjoy the view, and the fudge, when it started torain. We decided that we would head back to the Ruby for the rest of the afternoonand enjoy the view of the bay from Skywalkers. Later that night we were back ondeck for a very cold sail away, I will attach some photos. I had planned to doa lot more in SF, we had planned to walk down and get a cable car to China townand explore the area and have dinner there, but we ended up staying on board the Ruby. My husband reminded me that this vacation was about recharging andspending time together and rather than keep going we enjoyed our quiet time, with a nice drink,and a beautiful view.

[kayred]

 

 

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[MJU]

Did they offer the Crab shack and if so do you remember when on the 5 day portion. I am really enjoying your review!

[warthog2608]

We were on the March 17 Cabo portion of your cruise and it is fun reading about your experiences and seeing your pictures. This was our first cruise on the Ruby, we are from the SF area so we've done a few cruises on the Grand out of SF. We love sailing under the Golden Gate!

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[kayred]

Did they offer the Crab shack and if so do you remember when on the 5 day portion. I am really enjoying your review!

 

yes, it was offered on both cruises, I think on more than one day but I maybe wrong. We didn't try it but were tempted to, something to try on our next cruise :)