Off Ruby Princess report

[HaveDogWillTravel]

We sailed this cruise as well. 

No we did not get medallions. 

We found the Ocean Ready ap to be inferior to Princess @sea. I kept getting dropped and the internet speed was awful. I only use the internet to check an odd fact here and there. I was able to keep track of my account. 

 

We did not experience any plumbing issues either in our room or in the public restrooms. 

 

We went to a show every night in the Princess theater and saw that many options for 2-4 consecutive seats were available up until show time. Teacake sang Aretha and Whitney songs. I thought she was really quite good. AJ Jamal is a great comedian. 

They did World of Color as the production show even though Magic to Do was advertised in an email prior to sailing. That was disappointing as I’ve not seen magic to do yet. 

 

We really missed not having an Alfredo’s. Slice just doesn’t compare at all. The MDR service (Club Class) was spectacular. We ate before the early show in the theater. We had an ap and 1 entree each and were out in less than an hour each night. The food was quite good.  Just follow the servers’ recommendation and you can’t go wrong. Our server was Diana from Bulgaria. She made every meal fun and special. We either returned to CC for desert after the show or had it sent up through room service. 

 

 The Salty Dog grille was a disappointment as well. Meh chili, upcharge for burgers that are free in MDR at dinner, fries were marginal at best. On port days there was no indoor table service lunch available without Alfredo’s. 

 

Afternoon tea was awesome, we went twice.

 

We watched Bohemian Rhapsody at MUTS    Yes it was a bit chilly but we had our sweats on, the blankets Princess gives and a few extra towels too. I was a bit disappointed with the quality of the the screen. It was pixilated had “holes”. But we still enjoyed the show!!  

 

We really loved the new TVs and the on demand choices.  

 

While not my favorite Princess ship, I’d sail on Ruby again. 

[Silverspringcruiser]

8 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

Thanks for your responses.  I do know my left from my right, but those different colored carpets were so helpful to newbies.  

 

Not good about Wheelhouse duo.  I was hoping the there would be a dance band (other than the one in Explorer's Lounge).

There are also signs that tell you if it's the odd or even numbered cabin side.

It's not a duo; they perform at separate times. There was also a band in Club Fusion (when the 49'ers fans weren't using it), but I don't know if there was any dancing.

[Silverspringcruiser]

5 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

 The Salty Dog grille was a disappointment as well. Meh chili, upcharge for burgers that are free in MDR at dinner, fries were marginal at best.  

 

The only burger I saw that wasn't free was the Ernesto, and that's not free in the SD pub either, and I don't remember it appearing on any MDR menu. I thought the fries were good, but maybe because I got them fresh and hot. The burger, however, was overcooked. Next time I'll try it cooked to order.

[tiller]

I was on this cruise as well. I thought the internet worked very well--I had some buffering issues trying to watch a TV show, and it was a little slow out of Ensenada, but overall more than adequate for my needs.

 

My cabin (E317) had plumbing issues the first night, but they were fixed promptly and didn't recur. However, I did notice several "under maintenance" signs in the public restrooms on the sea day. 

 

We also found service in the dining room to be spotty. We were Anytime Dining, and on two of the nights there were long waits between courses or to order. 

 

I also miss the comfortable chair in the cabin. especially since Princess never had sofas for the non-suite cabins. 

 

Overall I liked the cruise, but I like other Princess ships more. 

[Qcruise]

Show times have been adjusted to 7:45pm and 9:45pm to accomodate new traditional dining times.......it's always been a pet peeve of mine that Princess does not include a couch in balcony cabins like all other lines to including interiors.  The Ernesto burger costs $5 dollars by itself or $8 for a beer combo which is a good deal as they charge $6.50 for a beer alone.  It was no where near as good a Guy's on Carnival.  The new pizza menu is quite good.

[Lil2Angelic]

On 2/19/2019 at 10:33 AM, JGB said:

Thank you for the review 

2?    How was the internet re speed and reliability and the cost?

also did you make it into the casino 

curious about the variety of machines and the video poker and video keno 

We were on the Ruby for Super Bowl and spent quite a bit of time in the casino. As I remember there are approximately 8 Multi game poker/keno machines on the smoking side and 8 on the non-smoking side of the casino.

[Lil2Angelic]

The Ruby definitely had plumbing issues for the Super Bowl cruise. We had to call customer service once for our cabin..quickly fixed. There was also a persistent sewage smell on the ship that at times was hard to escape...mostly noticed while on our balcony and on the promenade. The women's public restroom near the casino had a horribly strong urine smell. It was almost gagging. 

 

I remember there was a note on one of the fliers or patters about what not to flush and how the pipes are small. I think that maintenance was very busy with plumbing issues. When the maintenance guy came it was kinda funny. I think he was Russian or something like that. In his Russian accent he says to my husband.."Can I give you a tip?"..My husbands says "Sure"...Maintenance guy "Flush, Flush, Flush". Meaning flush multiple times while using the toilet..which is kinda hard when the button is behind you. He was very busy and super cool. We saw him multiple times in the hallway working hard to clear pipes.

[Lil2Angelic]

22 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

If you wouldn't mind answering a few questions:

 

What time are the Princess Theater shows?

 

Does Starboard and Port side rugs have different colors?

 

Who is playing in the Wheelhouse (or who plays dance music)?

 

Is Medallion working?  (I called Princess today and they said "not really")

 

Thanks

Re: the rugs..I'm not super observant but I remember someone talking about this. I asked my husband and he said he remembers someone asking about this too, but that he is sure they were the same on both sides.

 

Re: the Medallion..no actual Medallion..we still had to use our card but hold it up to a screen on the wall outside our cabin. We had issues getting our cabin door to open. We would slide the card and the screen would show green but the cabin door handle would not open. We had to try several times to get it to work most of the time. Also, in the laundry rooms, it took me and a couple other ladies about a half hour to get the token machine to work. 

[jlp20]

On 2/19/2019 at 9:32 AM, Qcruise said:

We just left the Ruby yesterday...

Fully understand no OM on the Ruby yet, but door screen are active. When completed, you are to be able to change name(s) on the door display via the room TV. Was this possible on your cruise?

[Qcruise]

Ruby TV was not fully working on our cruise......could not get personal folio informaiton on it.....only movies and TV

[Thrak]

We sailed Ruby in November of last year. They had the door panels that you held your card up to in order to open the door but that was it. Glad to hear they have changed out the TV system and are working on the Medallion access.

[milogurd]

5 hours ago, jlp20 said:

Fully understand no OM on the Ruby yet, but door screen are active. When completed, you are to be able to change name(s) on the door display via the room TV. Was this possible on your cruise?

Our names were not on the door display.

[jlp20]

2 minutes ago, milogurd said:

Our names were not on the door display.

When fully operational, you're to have ability to customize the name displayed, the avatar to be used on deck plans showing your location. Steward will have the ability to know if your in the cabin remotely 

[Maui Girl]

We were on this cruise also in a Caribe deck balcony.  No plumbing issues for us, but I understand the maintenance guy referenced above, flush flush flush! 😂

Princess @Sea looks different but works fine when you figure out to scroll down just a bit to the “ free” section.   Didn’t try the internet.  Hall carpets are grey on both sides now.   The weather was terrible this trip, so the on demand movies in the cabin were much appreciated.  We usually sail in a mini with a couch, so I was not happy with only the desk chair!  That means one person has to stand up or sit on the bed for morning coffee/tv watching/ visiting whatever.   They could at least have a folding chair stowed in the closet if they don’t want to put the bucket chair back.  

Overall, I thought that bar and dining room service was pretty good considering that the ship was packed to the gills and very few people were utilizing the outdoor services because of the rain and cold.  The piano player in Crooners was outstanding.  

I like the Ruby, but probably won’t ever book another short coastal cruise like this even though we can drive, just seemed too crowded and generally disorganized.  

 

 

[Andie 49]

Hi there .. this is my first cruise and first time on here so bare with me if I screw  up . I am going on the Ruby Princess on May 5th and just put a downpayment on a cabin on Emerald deck in a ocean view near the back of the ship . I am a bit concerned about my partner getting seasick and wondered if I made an informed enough decision. I have not paid for the trip and just put the downpayment on today. Is it too late to change cabins or would this cabin be ok in most conditions anyways? I just read somewhere that the middle is the best cabin to get.

[sfpd3000]

13 hours ago, Andy49 said:

Hi there .. this is my first cruise and first time on here so bare with me if I screw  up . I am going on the Ruby Princess on May 5th and just put a downpayment on a cabin on Emerald deck in a ocean view near the back of the ship . I am a bit concerned about my partner getting seasick and wondered if I made an informed enough decision. I have not paid for the trip and just put the downpayment on today. Is it too late to change cabins or would this cabin be ok in most conditions anyways? I just read somewhere that the middle is the best cabin to get.

Hi Andy.  We usually book the middle of the ship.  Since this will be a 5 day cruise, I think you should be ok where you are.  If you do change your mind, you should be able to change cabins as we haven't hit final payment yet.  This cruise has plenty of cabins still available.  Won't you join our roll call?

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2600267-may-5th-pacific-coastal/

 

[Colo Cruiser]

17 hours ago, Andy49 said:

Hi there .. this is my first cruise and first time on here so bare with me if I screw  up . I am going on the Ruby Princess on May 5th and just put a downpayment on a cabin on Emerald deck in a ocean view near the back of the ship . I am a bit concerned about my partner getting seasick and wondered if I made an informed enough decision. I have not paid for the trip and just put the downpayment on today. Is it too late to change cabins or would this cabin be ok in most conditions anyways? I just read somewhere that the middle is the best cabin to get.

Welcome to Cruise Critic...

 

I book aft before I book forward. 

I am assuming you are on Emerald deck #8?

Look here for your cabin # and deck # to see what your view out the cabin window will be.

https://sites.google.com/site/cabinviewbyrenmar/crown-princess

[Andie 49]

thank you  . I will see what they can do for me if anything.

 

[Qcruise]

We were just on Emerald deck more forward on the Ruby two weeks ago......good location overall,  the issue you'll have being towards the aft is vibration more than anything.  Forward cabins get an up/down movement which is bad ( we had a cabin just behind the bridge and would never do that again.  In the rear of ship you'll feel more vibration from the engines.

[Yukonjake]

On 2/23/2019 at 3:15 PM, Colo Cruiser said:

On 2/22/2019 at 10:06 PM, Andy49 said:

Hi there .. this is my first cruise and first time on here so bare with me if I screw  up . I am going on the Ruby Princess on May 5th and just put a downpayment on a cabin on Emerald deck in a ocean view near the back of the ship . I am a bit concerned about my partner getting seasick and wondered if I made an informed enough decision. I have not paid for the trip and just put the downpayment on today. Is it too late to change cabins or would this cabin be ok in most conditions anyways? I just read somewhere that the middle is the best cabin to get.

 I think you have nothing to worry about. We did a week on the Emerald last summer in the Gulf of Alaska. The Emerald is a sister ship of the Ruby, identical in every way that matters. We were higher (so, more apt to be susceptible to motion) on deck 12 (Aloha), almost all the way aft (A739). We felt almost zero motion.

 

[Andie 49]

Thanks then. I am trying not to obsess as my boyfriend would be the one to worry about and he is saying.. IT WILL BE FINE so unless it was a real worry I I would change but  I will stay where we are  I think. thanks for that.

 

Edited February 25, 2019 by Andy49

[HellooKitty]

We were on the Ruby Feb 2-9.  Theater times for us then were 1830 and 2030.  We had plumbing issues, we were told someone flushed something down the toilet.  This only took a few hours to fix.  The waiters were so friendly and helpful.  We had an excellent time and I'm looking forward to cruising with the Ruby again.    

[Aesop081]

On ‎2‎/‎22‎/‎2019 at 10:06 PM, Andy49 said:

Hi there .. this is my first cruise and first time on here so bare with me if I screw  up . I am going on the Ruby Princess on May 5th and just put a downpayment on a cabin on Emerald deck in a ocean view near the back of the ship . I am a bit concerned about my partner getting seasick and wondered if I made an informed enough decision. I have not paid for the trip and just put the downpayment on today. Is it too late to change cabins or would this cabin be ok in most conditions anyways? I just read somewhere that the middle is the best cabin to get.

Lowest deck and closest to the middle will have the least amount of movement.  Far forward rooms will have the pitch (up down) amplified IF...IF the seas get rougher than the ship can handle.  Farthest aft will have the sway and pitch (like going over the top of a curvy hill and down again) in those possible, but unlikely rough seas.  Most ships have almost no movement in most seas, they wouldn't make much money if the passengers were uncomfortable. And they spend a lot of time and money on anti pitch and roll devices to ensure that passengers are happy.

To see the difference in cabin locations balance a ruler on your finger and tap it lightly on the front or back.  Watch which parts of the ruler move and how they move.  Just like that.