On Ruby now, but never again

[c-boy]

2 hours ago, edspec said:

First time on Princess and LOVED the Medallion app.

I don't know what to make of this post 🤨 

[c-boy]

2 hours ago, donaldsc said:

Bad lines.  Non-functional medallions.  User unfriendly medallion app.  Why does anyone sail Princess.

 

DON

apparently the overwhelming draw of food and booze 

[julia]

Here's a few updates from onboard the Ruby.  I will start with some highlights. 

The weather in San Diego and Ensenada has been great, and the late evening sailaway from SD was beautiful.

The mood onboard is good, and I'm seeing lots of masking and general politeness. Haven't had a crowded elevator.

The crew service has been good, and we have an excellent room steward. 

The medallion is working well.  We've enjoyed the Plat/Elite snacks in Skywalkers, and several specialty coffees.

 

The not-so-good... really small buffet, with strange offerings (like potato salad at breakfast?) 

Lots of pre-plates, but still self serve on hot (actually, barely warm) items, and folks will leave the tongs right on the food.  Yuck.

Dined in Sabatini last night, and that will be a one-off.  It's a nice venue, but neither of us were crazy about our entrees (I know, food is subjective!)  My carbonara was like a pasty gravy, with little flavor. DH had veal that was hard to cut. Their wine list only had two whites and two reds by the glass.  Why?? This is Italian, for gosh sake!  The red we had was mediocre, and was a short pour in a small (white wine) glass.  Service was attentive.

 

The Captain's announcements seem to come at strange times (like during dinner), and he does go on.

 

Only one pool open...  the middle pool has water, but has been netted.  Not sure why.

 

We walked an upper portside deck this morning, and it was strewn with cigarette butts.  I don't understand that.

 

These are just some observations and opinions...  your mileage may vary.

[julia]

3 hours ago, boom op said:

Do you think the delays in embarking and disembarking could be due to the lack of shoreside personnel?  Like any other business in the Bay Area I'm sure they are having trouble finding workers. Most of the staff that works in the terminal are retires, and I wouldn't be surprised if the company that hires them are having a hard time finding enough staff.  We have sailed out of SF about 5 times and every time on disembarking it was almost impossible to find a porter to help with bags, I can only imagine how hard it will be on our next cruise on the 30th.

Most definitely. The few shoreside personnel who were trying to manage the nightmare embarkation line were overwhelmed, so yes, that is not necessarily on Princess.  However, they NEEDED to PROVIDE for the elderly and those in need.  This morning, when heading to our cabin on deck nine, DH stopped to help a guy in a wheelchair get around the steward's carts.  DH recognized the guy because he was 20/30 people ahead of us in line, AND WAS ON CRUTCHES.  This guy and family, received zero assistance, and after 3 hours in line, his pecs could hardly hold his weight (he had a broken foot).  So now?  He's in a wheelchair on the ship!  

[Kmkub]

5 hours ago, edspec said:

First time on Princess and LOVED the Medallion app.

We loved it too.

[mpk]

On 4/13/2022 at 1:16 PM, K.T.B. said:

 I've sailed out of NOLA once, never again.

 

Love the city, hate the port.

 

We sailed out of New Orleans once.  We thought "check in early, debark for some more Catfish PoBoys, then get back on the ship".

 

Bzzzzzt.   It was a bear and took way too much time.  Quite honestly, a draining experience.

[AnyMajorCruiseDude]

For those asking abot b2b testing, here you go.  Will be tested tomorrow.

[tuckerboxbill]

14 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Lack of maintenance on the outside could indicate lack of maintenance on the inside also.

Exactly, the Ruby's hull, especially around the gangway was appalling.  It's a clear indication of not giving a damn.  

[Yehootu]

32 minutes ago, AnyMajorCruiseDude said:

For those asking abot b2b testing, here you go.  Will be tested tomorrow.

We are on a 14day cruise which is 2 7day North/South. We only have 1 booking # so I wonder if we will have to test in Whittier.

[Yehootu]

12 minutes ago, tuckerboxbill said:

Exactly, the Ruby's hull, especially around the gangway was appalling.  It's a clear indication of not giving a damn.  

While sailing the ship is constantly being painted and touched up while in port. These ships were laid up at anchorage for along time, so I can see how hull painting would be tough from a tender, it could be done but?

[caribill]

5 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Is it a "white elephant", or did they actually demolish it?  Wasn't that old, IIRC.

 

They took away all the structure that was involved with cruising such as the passageways to board.

 

It is now used to store imported cars as they come into the country.

[CruzeQueen2]

19 hours ago, bmc alabama said:

You are correct.  NCL and RCCL use it but not on a constant basis.  It has the reputation of not operating as smoothly as Carnival’s Julia St terminal next door.  My point was that there are some ports that this tends to occur more often at (in other words, it wasn’t Princess specific).

 

However, a good Princess analogy would be when they used to use the Houston terminal and the ships would get delayed in the fog in the Houston ship channel.  That happened quite often as well.  I am not surprised they are back to Galveston rather than Houston.

Houston, there was a problem! March 2013. Oil spill. Fog. Out of 7 days, we sailed out for 3. Got one port. What an experience that was! Never go out of Houston! Even Captain SaganI couldn't get us through that! 

[caribill]

5 hours ago, Yehootu said:

We are on a 14day cruise which is 2 7day North/South. We only have 1 booking # so I wonder if we will have to test in Whittier.

 

If those who booked this as two separate bookings need to be tested, then you will be tested also.

 

It does not matter how the two segments are booked.

[brisalta]

13 hours ago, boom op said:

We have sailed out of SF about 5 times and every time on disembarking it was almost impossible to find a porter to help with bags, I can only imagine how hard it will be on our next cruise on the 30th.

 

It is my understanding that the "porters" usually work as longshoreman. I suspect with the number of container ships going into the Port of Oakland across the bay that they feel there is no need to have a side job as a cruise ship terminal porter.

[CU64]

On 4/13/2022 at 11:44 AM, pris993 said:

Everyone has to do what they think is best for them.  

 

I have been reading the various threads on problems at San Francisco port this week.  Doing so because this is my home port, booked in December on the Royal on a 15-day holiday cruise to Hawaii.

 

What I gather from what happened.  Two ships in port this week in SF.  Seems shoreside staff who handle all ships, not just Princess, may not have been fully staffed or prepared for two ships.   Before we go in December, I will be checking the cruise terminal schedule to see how many ships are in port.   

 

Some reports are that all there was some delays in passengers getting off the ship or in picking up or claim luggage.  New passengers cannot board till all passengers and luggage cleared.   This problem could happen any time, I guess.

 

Following this because I am traveling with a family member with mobility issues.  I know from experience no special arrangement available at the port for handicapped passengers until you get in the terminal.  

 

Once before I waited 5 hours in line, well before Covid when the Grand arrived late from Hawaii because of an injured passenger on board that delayed the ship.  At that time, no aid for folks with mobility issues at all.    Waiting passengers were allowed into the terminal to use the restrooms only over the 5 hours wait for boarding.   That was at Pier 27 the new terminal.    Read no bathrooms available at old terminal Pier 35 this week.  

 

Given these experiences I will definitely come prepared if we have to wait to board.  Will bring a walker with a seat for my mobility challenged family who can't stand for hours.   Will also come prepared with a hat to wear to stay out of the sun and an umbrella if necessary.   My DH who just turned 90, did stand for 5 hours last time there was a problem, may get him a walker with a seat just in case.  Travel is challenging, has been for some time for a variety of reasons.    All we can do is take actions to be prepared for the unexpected as best we can or stay home.  I elect to plan ahead so I can continue to cruise.  Port problems seem less of an issue than flying these days at our age.  

 

Happy cruising, doubt there is anything Princess can do to change port issues.  Princess can be honest and up front about what caused problems, so passengers can voice their concerns locally to those responsible.   As a local citizen I would like to be proactive.  

Excellent post. Do some research people so you know what to expect and come prepared. 

[Jimmys Chippy]

On 4/13/2022 at 7:58 PM, MikeD4134 said:

How many of the people in line to embark were at the pier at a time early then when they were scheduled to there?  This kind of issue is why i always enjoy my day where ever we are and board the ship about 2 1/2 jours before sail away.  I always just walk directly on the ship. 

Whenever we’re lined up for boarding I always spot more than one passenger whose boarding pass is for much later in the day, and then they’ll probably complain about just how long it’s taking to process passengers.

[CalTexCruiser]

Our First and Last Time on Princess – Terrible RUBY 4/11 Sailing out of SF

 

Our background:  We usually sail Celebrity but decided to try Princess for the first time since we could embark SF and did not need to fly.

 

Summary: we won't be back on Princess.

 

The Good:

Sabatini – Beautiful view of Golden Gate Bridge aft deck 16 as we enjoyed our meal at a window table as the ship sailed out of SF bay.  Great waiter and non-crowded venue, as compared to the cluster-f* that is the MDR and buffet.

Room attendant – kept our room spotless

Casino dealers/supervisors are very friendly.  Casino not smoky, which was a relief.

 

The Bad:

MDR – Day 2 reservation that we made using the app – system deleted it.  So we went to the buffet.

MDR – Day 4 reservation for private table made in the app –

            Cattle call: What is up with the long lines outside the MDR at 5pm? – there were two lines, one apparently for people with reservations, and one for people without.  But absolutely no signs indicating two different categories of lines.  Murphy's law: we stood in the non-reservation line, and when we got to the head of the line, the hostess told us to go back to the end of the reservation line.  Then after another wait, the Maitre D told us that the system screwed up and assigned 20+ couples all to private table 0.  We told him we don't really care how the sausage is made, just give us a private table.  He told us to wait a bit.  We finally did get a private table after some time.

 

More bad: 

Rust everywhere.

Small buffet serving area—we were surprised how small the serving area was given how many passengers the ship was designed to hold.  Very crowded.  People were lining up outside the entry to the buffet serving area because it was getting too full.

 

The ugly:

We got to Pier 35 at 1:30.  The line stretched as far as the eye could see.

We stood in line for 2+ hours and did not get on until 4:45pm.

Felt bad for a lot of the older passengers who were obviously in extreme discomfort standing in the windy, cold conditions at the pier.

[PescadoAmarillo]

30 minutes ago, CalTexCruiser said:

Casino not smoky, which was a relief.

I’m sorry your first Princess cruise wasn’t better, but I’m not surprised by what you say, except for the casino. They must have figured out the ventilation because last cruise the smoke from the casino was horrendous everywhere in the Piazza and even in the midship elevators. Score one for Princess!

[geocruiser]

46 minutes ago, vjmatty said:

 

 

I'm guessing the person upset over the table being outside of their door across the hall did not, and certainly would not, touch the utensils sitting on the table.  I left that stuff alone long before covid.

I would think the same.  but I would be careful and keep my hands clean.  There are so many different surfaces that people touch.  All it needs is one person with covid to cough into their hand and start touching handrails, elevator buttons, eat a dinner roll with your hands etc.  It can spread.

[HappyInVan]

16 hours ago, tuckerboxbill said:

Exactly, the Ruby's hull, especially around the gangway was appalling.  It's a clear indication of not giving a damn.  

 

Its definitively a bad sign. Princess ships (@115k tons) are smaller than the norm today. Means that they are more expensive to operate; particularly at less than capacity.

 

Might explain why they keep running the ships with large covid outbreaks. Need to make cash flow.

[andio2of5]

1 hour ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

I’m sorry your first Princess cruise wasn’t better, but I’m not surprised by what you say, except for the casino. They must have figured out the ventilation because last cruise the smoke from the casino was horrendous everywhere in the Piazza and even in the midship elevators. Score one for Princess!

No, I don’t think they figured out the ventilation in the casino. I think it’s still smokey and my clothes smell when I come out of there. I was surprised the fornal night was NOT a non-smoking night….no signs and lots of smokers. 
 

BTW: PescadoAmaillo…..got to meet “G” last night at the Captain’s Party…he’s having a good time 😄.  Unfortunately we left Ensenada late so the Captain missed his own party.

[julia]

1 hour ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

I’m sorry your first Princess cruise wasn’t better, but I’m not surprised by what you say, except for the casino. They must have figured out the ventilation because last cruise the smoke from the casino was horrendous everywhere in the Piazza and even in the midship elevators. Score one for Princess!

Nope and nope on this!

The smoke totally spills out to the piazza, and it was especially strong in Crooners last night.  I guess that's why it's not smoky in the casino!!!

[julia]

4 minutes ago, andio2of5 said:

 

BTW: PescadoAmaillo…..got to meet “G” last night at the Captain’s Party…he’s having a good time 😄.  Unfortunately we left Ensenada late so the Captain missed his own party.

Whaaaaattt??  The infamous G is on this sailing?!  

[PescadoAmarillo]

4 minutes ago, julia said:

Nope and nope on this!

The smoke totally spills out to the piazza, and it was especially strong in Crooners last night.  I guess that's why it's not smoky in the casino!!!

I’d never before been on a ship where it was quite that bad. 

[lyannea]

27 minutes ago, geocruiser said:

I would think the same.  but I would be careful and keep my hands clean.  There are so many different surfaces that people touch.  All it needs is one person with covid to cough into their hand and start touching handrails, elevator buttons, eat a dinner roll with your hands etc.  It can spread.

Thank you for your insight- also do not touch your face . !

 WHAT you touch is so important- I've tried to go up and down the stairs without holding onto the rail and it's not that easy.

As I mentioned in another post, spores from Omicron can last up to 21 hours on skin and 200 hours on plastic, so, if someone coughs on a plastic hangar in the closet- and that person is positive............ 

 

Does Omicron last longer on skin and surfaces? (medicalnewstoday.com)