LIVE: Ruby Princess Dec 18-29 Western Caribbean/Mexico

[ceilidh1]

I wasn't sure if I would do a Live for this sailing, but since there hasn't been much word about Ruby lately and this is the first sailing out of Galveston in some time, I figured I would give it a shot! I can't promise much - it will be dependent on wifi and how much time I have. That being said, I will happily try to answer any questions you may have!

 

Background:

This sailing will be myself, DD (15) and DS (11). Joining us will be another family we met on a cruise and our friend from the US. Princess has been a long time favourite for myself and my kids, and all three of us have sailed them many times (even the 11 year has attained elite status). Sadly, as Princess continues to whittle away benefits, charge extra for packages, and reduce the onboard experiences, we are starting to love them a little less each cruise. This may well be our last Princess cruise for a while, so we are looking to have lots of fun!

 

Cabin:

For this sailing, we chose an obsctructed oceanview as the price was too good to pass up. I have sailed in everything from an inside to a full suite and am really not picky about rooms - we spend so little time in there anyways. The other family are booked in the same category as us and we have three rooms close to one another on Emerald deck. Our friend is booked in a balcony on Caribe.

 

Itinerary:

11 Days | 6 Ports

 

Date	Port	Arrive	Depart
Sun, Dec 18Sunday, December 18th 2022	Galveston, TexasView excursions in Galveston, Texas on Sunday, December 18th 2022		04:00 pm
Mon, Dec 19Monday, December 19th 2022	At SeaView onboard experience  for Monday, December 19th 2022
Tue, Dec 20Tuesday, December 20th 2022	At SeaView onboard experience  for Tuesday, December 20th 2022
Wed, Dec 21Wednesday, December 21st 2022	Montego Bay, JamaicaView excursions in Montego Bay, Jamaica on Wednesday, December 21st 2022	09:00 am	06:00 pm
Thu, Dec 22Thursday, December 22nd 2022	Grand Cayman, Cayman IslandsView excursions in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands on Thursday, December 22nd 2022 ( Water Shuttle Required, Wheelchair Access Limited )	07:00 am	06:00 pm
Fri, Dec 23Friday, December 23rd 2022	At SeaView onboard experience  for Friday, December 23rd 2022
Sat, Dec 24Saturday, December 24th 2022	Roatan, HondurasView excursions in Roatan, Honduras on Saturday, December 24th 2022	07:00 am	06:00 pm
Sun, Dec 25Sunday, December 25th 2022	Belize City, BelizeView excursions in Belize City, Belize on Sunday, December 25th 2022 ( Water Shuttle Required, Wheelchair Access Limited )	07:00 am	06:00 pm
Mon, Dec 26Monday, December 26th 2022	Costa Maya (Mahahual), MexicoView excursions in Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico on Monday, December 26th 2022	07:00 am	06:00 pm
Tue, Dec 27Tuesday, December 27th 2022	Cozumel, MexicoView excursions in Cozumel, Mexico on Tuesday, December 27th 2022	07:00 am	04:00 pm
Wed, Dec 28Wednesday, December 28th 2022	At SeaView onboard experience  for Wednesday, December 28th 2022
Thu, Dec 29Thursday, December 29th 2022	Galveston, TexasView excursions in Galveston, Texas on Thursday, December 29th 2022	07:00 am

 

 

[ceilidh1]

Pre Cruise:

Having never sailed from Galveston, I have little idea of what to expect. I knew that I wanted to fly in a day or two early, just becasue I can do without the stress of wondering if my flight will make it on time. Initially, I had booked direct flights from Vancouver to IAH on Air Canada, though Princess EZAir. Sadly, that flight got cancelled and we were rebooked on United, with a stopover in Dallas. This started the ball rolling of what would be many, many, many changes to flights. The direct flight on Air Canada was reinstated a week or so later, but had a hefty price increase. Our current flight is on West Jet and has us with a layover in Calgary - no issue flying down, but coming home we have only 1 hour and 15 minutes to make our connection. I know 100% that we won't make it, despite being reassured by "Kirsty" at West jet customer service that this was more than enough time. I've decided I'm not going to stress and will deal with it on the 29th!

 

We are staying three nights in Galveston at the Homewood Suites. No real plans for our time there other than a Walmart/Target run for things I don't want to pack. There has been discussion about visiting the pier, and possibly seeing the lights at Moody Gardens, but totally playing it by ear.

 

I'm still trying to figure out the most cost effective way to get from the airport to Galveston. There will be four of us, since our friend will be flying in around the same time as us. I have seen Uber/Lyft prices ranging anywhere from $100 up to $300, cabs even more expensive, and a few quotes for private transportation were also more than just paying the $35 each for the shuttle. I may just go ahead and do that rather than try to figure out an Uber at the airport. 

 

The App:

No live from would be complete without a complaint session about the app. I still don't know what Princess was thinking when they rolled this out - three years on and there are still so many glitches and it still becomes a frustrating experience trying to complete everything required to move into the green lane. Initially, I wasn't able to order a medallion - I'm in Canada and Princess refuses to ship them to us, so we always have to pick up at the port. Well, that wasn't an option on the app for this sailing. I submitted a ticket to the medallion folks and they were able to fix it. Then the app refused to take my credit card and insisted the number was incorrect (spoiler - it wasn't). This took another email exchange with the medallion folks - who told me my card was already attached. UGH. I completely deleted the app and reinstalled and, lo and behold, my payment method was there. Green lane at last. I selected boarding group A with an arrival time of 10:30am. I like to make it my mission to be first on the ship - I'm pretty sure I could just show up whenever since we have priority boarding, but trying to do things the right way...

[ChutChut]

Looking forward to your posts!!!!!

[ceilidh1]

Add Ons:

When Princess introduced their "Princess Plus" package, I was a huge fan. I like that you could "customize" it. At that time, elite members still got free wifi minutes, so I would add on the Plus package for drinks and grats and it was a great savings. We all know what happened to the free minutes, but even with the small cost of adding that into the Plus package, for $40USD a day, it was still way less than pay-as-you-go. Roll on to present times and Plus had now increased to $50 a day - I actually need to do the math each time to figure out if it's a good deal. This is primarily because one of my kids is always passenger two, and it doesn't always make sense to pay the same cost for a coffee/soda package as I pay for an alcohol package - I really wish Princess would offer a lower price for those under the drinking age! Anyways, with this particular sailing I didn't have to do any math to know that I was getting a screaming deal with Plus. My agency (I work as a TA in my other job) had group holds and the obstructed oceanview with Plus for all 3 of us (not just pax 1 and 2) was over $1000 less than booking standard through Princess. It was a no-brainer! So, we all have wifi, drinks, and grats included. I considered upgrading to the premiere, just because I like the unlimited photos - I did this on a 7 day recently and it worked out well, but for an 11 day and having to pay the upgraded price for a kid when they get nothing really out of the upgrade, it just didn't seem worth it.

 

We were sent the invitation to bid on an upgraded room - $55 per person to move to an unobstructed oceanview, $355 per person for a balcony, and $515 per person for a premium balcony (these were the minimum bids). I dabbled with the idea of bidding on a balcony, but I could do a lot with that $700.

 

These ports are pretty much all new to me, so I was hoping for some great excursions. Sadly, nothing really jumped out at me! I ended up booking only one ship excursion - my teen's request to go to Gumbalimba Nature preservation and Tabanya beach in Roatan. We booked a private "Montego Bay Highlights" excursion for the 8 of us in Jamaica, made a reservation for us all at Maya Chan in Costa Maya, and will likely head to one of the beaches (Paradise or Nachi Cocum) in Cozumel. No plans for Belize - it's Christmas Day, so we may just call it a sea day and we are playing it be ear for Grand Cayman.

[princess76021]

3 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

I wasn't sure if I would do a Live for this sailing, but since there hasn't been much word about Ruby lately and this is the first sailing out of Galveston in some time, I figured I would give it a shot! I can't promise much - it will be dependent on wifi and how much time I have. That being said, I will happily try to answer any questions you may have!

 

Background:

This sailing will be myself, DD (15) and DS (11). Joining us will be another family we met on a cruise and our friend from the US. Princess has been a long time favourite for myself and my kids, and all three of us have sailed them many times (even the 11 year has attained elite status). Sadly, as Princess continues to whittle away benefits, charge extra for packages, and reduce the onboard experiences, we are starting to love them a little less each cruise. This may well be our last Princess cruise for a while, so we are looking to have lots of fun!

 

Cabin:

For this sailing, we chose an obsctructed oceanview as the price was too good to pass up. I have sailed in everything from an inside to a full suite and am really not picky about rooms - we spend so little time in there anyways. The other family are booked in the same category as us and we have three rooms close to one another on Emerald deck. Our friend is booked in a balcony on Caribe.

 

Itinerary:

11 Days | 6 Ports

 

Date	Port	Arrive	Depart
Sun, Dec 18Sunday, December 18th 2022	Galveston, TexasView excursions in Galveston, Texas on Sunday, December 18th 2022		04:00 pm
Mon, Dec 19Monday, December 19th 2022	At SeaView onboard experience  for Monday, December 19th 2022
Tue, Dec 20Tuesday, December 20th 2022	At SeaView onboard experience  for Tuesday, December 20th 2022
Wed, Dec 21Wednesday, December 21st 2022	Montego Bay, JamaicaView excursions in Montego Bay, Jamaica on Wednesday, December 21st 2022	09:00 am	06:00 pm
Thu, Dec 22Thursday, December 22nd 2022	Grand Cayman, Cayman IslandsView excursions in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands on Thursday, December 22nd 2022 ( Water Shuttle Required, Wheelchair Access Limited )	07:00 am	06:00 pm
Fri, Dec 23Friday, December 23rd 2022	At SeaView onboard experience  for Friday, December 23rd 2022
Sat, Dec 24Saturday, December 24th 2022	Roatan, HondurasView excursions in Roatan, Honduras on Saturday, December 24th 2022	07:00 am	06:00 pm
Sun, Dec 25Sunday, December 25th 2022	Belize City, BelizeView excursions in Belize City, Belize on Sunday, December 25th 2022 ( Water Shuttle Required, Wheelchair Access Limited )	07:00 am	06:00 pm
Mon, Dec 26Monday, December 26th 2022	Costa Maya (Mahahual), MexicoView excursions in Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico on Monday, December 26th 2022	07:00 am	06:00 pm
Tue, Dec 27Tuesday, December 27th 2022	Cozumel, MexicoView excursions in Cozumel, Mexico on Tuesday, December 27th 2022	07:00 am	04:00 pm
Wed, Dec 28Wednesday, December 28th 2022	At SeaView onboard experience  for Wednesday, December 28th 2022
Thu, Dec 29Thursday, December 29th 2022	Galveston, TexasView excursions in Galveston, Texas on Thursday, December 29th 2022	07:00 am

 

 

Thank you for doing this! I was hoping that someone would.  I will be on early next year.  Have t been on Princess since 2015. 

 

Menus would be great if you Have time.  Thank you

 

Have a wonderful cruise!

 

Hugs from North Texas

[mkcurran]

I found you! Looking forward to following along, as I have an eye out for a California coastal in March, but don't know if princess will be too formal for us.

[ceilidh1]

12 hours ago, mkcurran said:

I found you! Looking forward to following along, as I have an eye out for a California coastal in March, but don't know if princess will be too formal for us.

I definitely wouldn't call them "formal" - but they don't have as much "fun" going on as other lines. My kids love NCL for all the activities on the ship, and I really like the entertainment and activities on there, so that is becoming our go-to now. Hands down my number one would be Virgin Voyages, but can't take the kiddos on that one...

 

Princess can be fun and amazing if you get a good cruise staff - for me, this makes or breaks a Princess cruise. We have had some outstanding teams that will be life-long friends, and some real duds who probably should never have gone into that career.

[ceilidh1]

Only two more work days to go until I am officially on vacation until next year! I'm not going to lie, the last few months have not been fun for me as I have had a lot of personal stuff to deal with, on top of juggling two jobs. I am so ready for sun, sea, sand, and doing absolutely nothing,

 

By this point in time, I am usually packed, organized, and ready to go. Not so much this cruise. I haven't had any time and just seem to be go, go, go right now. On top of that, I have had three work parties to attend this past week and a couple of visits from friends. It's weird how I can go months without ever going out and then all of a sudden I'm booked solid every night. If I've learned anything this past week, it's that it is so much harder to bounce back from partying when you're older! Lol.

 

I've also discovered the difficulty in trying to pack and plan for a warm weather cruise when it's cold and snowy outside. This past month, Vancouver has been hit with the weirdest weather. We don't often get snow here on the West Coast, and certainly not this early in the year. Well, the end of November saw us getting slammed with a huge snowstorm that brought us to a standstill. We are literally the joke of Canada as we just don't know how to handle the white stuff. Roads weren't cleared, bridges closed down, public transit came to a grinding halt, even our mail delivery was cancelled. Since then, the cold snap has stuck around so it really isn't melting that much...Needless to say, I'm having a tough time picking out shorts and sun dresses while I'm shivering!

 

My other dilemma is how to pack - initially, I hoped to get by with doing just carry ons - one for each of us. We have free laundry so it's doable. However, we then signed up for a gift exchange with our rollcall and the group on that other page, so now I'm needing to take more stuff than anticipated, so it looks like at least one checked bag is in my future. West Jet has a thing where, if you pre-pay your bag prior to check in it's $10 less. Trouble is, when I try to do that I get a message that I can't pay for my bag until check-in 24 hours before. Huh? I did try calling but the hold time was insane...again, not going to stress. Our flight from Vancouver to Calgary is at 6am, so we need to be at the airport by 4am - literally the middle of the night. It's a half hour cab ride or a 25 minutes skytrain from my house - unfortunately, the skytrain stops running just after midnight and doesn't start up again until around 5am. I looked at staying at the Fairmont right inside the airport, but at over $300 a night quickly passed that up. Now my dilemma is, do we just take the last skytrain and kill four hours at the airport, or do we get up at 3am and get a cab out? We are talking a $50 price difference for the sake of 3 hours....I wish YVR airport was more exciting - pretty much everything there shuts down at 8pm, so it would be like a ghost town in the middle of the night...

[PescadoAmarillo]

So glad you’re doing this. Thank you for taking your vacation time to share with us. My DH has been on since October 8, but is returning home at the end of the current cruise. He’s certainly been keeping me posted; I’ll enjoy picking up where he leaves off with you. Have a wonderful cruise. 

[ceilidh1]

2 hours ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

So glad you’re doing this. Thank you for taking your vacation time to share with us. My DH has been on since October 8, but is returning home at the end of the current cruise. He’s certainly been keeping me posted; I’ll enjoy picking up where he leaves off with you. Have a wonderful cruise. 

Does he have any good tips? It's been a while since I've been on Ruby - I love that it has Skywalkers, hate that it doesn't have Alfredos. I'm REALLY hoping for a good cruise team...

[PescadoAmarillo]

1 hour ago, ceilidh1 said:

Does he have any good tips? It's been a while since I've been on Ruby - I love that it has Skywalkers, hate that it doesn't have Alfredos. I'm REALLY hoping for a good cruise team...

He seems to love the crew, can’t say enough good things about them. However, know that you’re sailing on a full (or nearly full) ship- no surprise, since it’s Christmas- and things are going to feel stretched. He says the food has been good (but then again, he eats my cooking), the portion sizes small (can always get more), the entertainment good and the lines of guests long outside the dining rooms for all three meals of the day on the earlier, more crowded cruises (the current one through the canal is at less than 50% capacity). Pack your patience. 

[ceilidh1]

3 minutes ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

He seems to love the crew, can’t say enough good things about them. However, know that you’re sailing on a full (or nearly full) ship- no surprise, since it’s Christmas- and things are going to feel stretched. He says the food has been good (but then again, he eats my cooking), the portion sizes small (can always get more), the entertainment good and the lines of guests long outside the dining rooms for all three meals of the day on the earlier, more crowded cruises (the current one through the canal is at less than 50% capacity). Pack your patience. 

Noted!

It's been a while since I sailed on a full ship...

[voljeep]

23 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

Noted!

It's been a while since I sailed on a full ship...

it wasn't "fun" on the CB over Thanksgiving, that's for sure - wayyyyyyyy understaffed

[ceilidh1]

A few more things came together tonight and I'm finally beginning to feel just a little less panicked! I had been looking for options for getting from IAH to Galveston and was a little freaked out by what I was seeing. Shared shuttles ran around $35-$50USD per person, so for four of us we were looking at an average of $180USD. I would have paid this BUT the last shuttle the day we were arriving was at 4pm - our flight gets in at 5:30pm. I then put in for some quotes for private transfers and was quoted in the range of $250-$350USD. I looked at pre-booking Uber and minimum I came up with was $240 - and who knows if the flight even makes it on time. My friends that arrive a day later had pre-booked with a private company they found on that "other" site, so I contacted them and was able to secure a private transfer for $180USD. The lady I was chatting with seemed lovely, very responsive, gave me contact info and driver info, so fingers crossed it turns out well. This is the company if anyone has any feedback (I will be sure to let you know how it turns out): Highrollers By Shugg | Transportation Service in Houston , TX

 

I also went ahead and pre-booked an Uber to pick us up at the hotel and take us to the port on Sunday morning. I'm sure that's something I could have done easily and for less on the day, but I want my cruise morning to be stress free. Pre-booking for 4 of us from Homewood Suites in Galveston to the port was $35USD.

 

One thing I really dislike on disembarkation day (other than having to leave the ship) is waiting and hoping to find a cab/uber/shuttle with throngs of other people. On the flip side, I don't like pre-booking as there really isn't any guarantee that you can get off at a specific time, and I don't like the stress of finding my ride (I'm pretty high maintenance in this department). On a whim, I decided to look into Princess transfers for getting back to the airport. I'm fortunate that my "fun" job is a TA, so I have access to the Princess booking engine and was able to easily pull up my booking and look at my options. I was pleasantly surprised (shocked) to find that I could get a transfer from the ship back to IAH for $36CAD per person. NOT USD BUT CAD!!!!! Definitely the cheapest option I have seen and likely the least stressful. I went ahead an booked for myself and the kids - my friend from the US has a late flight so considering a debarkation excursion, and out other friends booked roundtrip transfers with the company above. I will be sure to let you know how all this works out for us!

[greener]

i am really interested in knowing about the entertainment on board, production shows and music groups.  looking forward to your live reviews.

[timbom]

If it is not too late rent a budget car at the airport and turn in in to clear lake city the last day and uber to port.  You will need a car for the thee days you are in texas and it will allow you to go to Johnson space center and Houston Museum of natural science as these are to not to miss in the area.

[PescadoAmarillo]

8 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

A few more things came together tonight and I'm finally beginning to feel just a little less panicked! I had been looking for options for getting from IAH to Galveston and was a little freaked out by what I was seeing. Shared shuttles ran around $35-$50USD per person, so for four of us we were looking at an average of $180USD. I would have paid this BUT the last shuttle the day we were arriving was at 4pm - our flight gets in at 5:30pm. I then put in for some quotes for private transfers and was quoted in the range of $250-$350USD. I looked at pre-booking Uber and minimum I came up with was $240 - and who knows if the flight even makes it on time. My friends that arrive a day later had pre-booked with a private company they found on that "other" site, so I contacted them and was able to secure a private transfer for $180USD. The lady I was chatting with seemed lovely, very responsive, gave me contact info and driver info, so fingers crossed it turns out well. This is the company if anyone has any feedback (I will be sure to let you know how it turns out): Highrollers By Shugg | Transportation Service in Houston , TX

 

I also went ahead and pre-booked an Uber to pick us up at the hotel and take us to the port on Sunday morning. I'm sure that's something I could have done easily and for less on the day, but I want my cruise morning to be stress free. Pre-booking for 4 of us from Homewood Suites in Galveston to the port was $35USD.

 

One thing I really dislike on disembarkation day (other than having to leave the ship) is waiting and hoping to find a cab/uber/shuttle with throngs of other people. On the flip side, I don't like pre-booking as there really isn't any guarantee that you can get off at a specific time, and I don't like the stress of finding my ride (I'm pretty high maintenance in this department). On a whim, I decided to look into Princess transfers for getting back to the airport. I'm fortunate that my "fun" job is a TA, so I have access to the Princess booking engine and was able to easily pull up my booking and look at my options. I was pleasantly surprised (shocked) to find that I could get a transfer from the ship back to IAH for $36CAD per person. NOT USD BUT CAD!!!!! Definitely the cheapest option I have seen and likely the least stressful. I went ahead an booked for myself and the kids - my friend from the US has a late flight so considering a debarkation excursion, and out other friends booked roundtrip transfers with the company above. I will be sure to let you know how all this works out for us!

Please let us know if Princess sells transfers to Hobby. I read on here that they did not, and my DH could not find any info about it from the Shorex Desk (granted, he was a cruise early), so I booked him using a private transfer company with only six reservations left. As a single it was by far the cheaper way to go. 

[BabsinTX]

So glad you're doing this.  We're booked for a B2B on Ruby in January, then two more sailings in April.  (We really, really want Princess to keep sailing out of Texas!)  We love Skywalkers, so would appreciate any comments about it (good DJ, bartenders, etc?)  And are people playing trivia?  

[ceilidh1]

31 minutes ago, PescadoAmarillo said:

Please let us know if Princess sells transfers to Hobby. I read on here that they did not, and my DH could not find any info about it from the Shorex Desk (granted, he was a cruise early), so I booked him using a private transfer company with only six reservations left. As a single it was by far the cheaper way to go. 

It's definitely not an option in Polar, the Princess booking system - only IAH is available for TAs to pre-book transfers.

[ceilidh1]

12 minutes ago, BabsinTX said:

So glad you're doing this.  We're booked for a B2B on Ruby in January, then two more sailings in April.  (We really, really want Princess to keep sailing out of Texas!)  We love Skywalkers, so would appreciate any comments about it (good DJ, bartenders, etc?)  And are people playing trivia?  

I'm totally looking forward to Skywalkers - the last few Princess cruises we've done have been on Royal class ships and I really missed Skywalkers. I love just hanging there during the day and enjoying the view, I love the elite get together there, it's a real shame they took this away from the newer builds.

[BabsinTX]

56 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

I'm totally looking forward to Skywalkers - the last few Princess cruises we've done have been on Royal class ships and I really missed Skywalkers. I love just hanging there during the day and enjoying the view, I love the elite get together there, it's a real shame they took this away from the newer builds.

I agree.  And the seating in the new ships' "disco" is awful".

[ceilidh1]

The App

No Princess Live From would be complete without some mention of the app. Once again, what were Princess thinking with this piece of junk? Yet one more reason to love this line a little less - my pre-cruise days should not be frustrating and stressful, trying to input info into a useless app that doesn't function. 

 

I started completing all the necessary steps weeks ago and consider myself an "expert" at this point. It took a while and several calls/emails to the medallion help team but I did get into green lane and chose my boarding group. Woot. I then reserved our dining for 8 of us at the same time each night. A few weeks later, those reservations disappeared, so I rebooked them. A few weeks later, the other reservations reappeared and we had two sets of dinner booked each night. Sigh. I ignored it and, sure enough, it eventually went back to only one.

 

As I start to gather all my paperwork today, I opened up the app. Guess what? I'm back to blue lane. Even better, it won't let me enter any info to go from there as it tells me to link my booking. And then tells me it's already linked. I've logged out and back in. I've powered down my phone. I've done everything short of throwing the darned thing through the window. Nada. BUT here's where I've outsmarted Princess and this darned app - as soon as I got to green lane and got my arrival group and barcode, I took a screenshot. I am about to print that out and this will be my ticket to the ship. Tough luck Princess, no more entering info on the app for me.

[that]

Sounds frustrating to say the least.  May I suggest you check that you have the most current updates to the Princess MedallionClass App before you throw the darned thing out the window, that is.  

[ceilidh1]

4 minutes ago, that said:

Sounds frustrating to say the least.  May I suggest you check that you have the most current updates to the Princess MedallionClass App before you throw the darned thing out the window, that is.  

All up to date. Iphone 12, which I got cause the app wasn't compatible with my trusty and perfectly functional 6, newest version of operating system. It truly is the worst.

[voljeep]

9 minutes ago, ceilidh1 said:

All up to date. Iphone 12, which I got cause the app wasn't compatible with my trusty and perfectly functional 6, newest version of operating system. It truly is the worst.

10xr - green lane for next Halloween cruise ... huh