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

[ceilidh1]

I should add that there has been no notification that drinks are being charged - this m thinking there will be lots of angry guests later

[CruzeQueen2]

6 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

It’s cruise day!!!!

I had planned on waking to watch the ship come in, but that never materialized. Hopefully it’s here and waiting for us! I pre-booked an Uber as I wasn’t sure how hard it would be to get one - I know I paid over the odds, but we also watched pricing go up yesterday morning at the same time so it will be worth it. Pick up should be at 9:45am! 
 

We woke, packed , and had our last waffle at breakfast. I also had to stop by the desk and get parking charges removed from my bill. Now we are just hanging out until it’s time to leave…

Bon voyage to you! You are missing all the cold and snow here in Vancouver. Smart lady! Happy holudays to you, thanks for taking us along once more.

[that]

No elite amenities, no mini bar set up, no notice about drink package not working. We did get the patter and the elite events.

 

I think

Elite passengers no longer receive upgraded bathroom amenities.

Due to Texas Alcohol restrictions, mini bar set up not available at this time.

 

🤪

[CruzeQueen2]

4 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

Now the server came back with a small menu of drinks available in Galveston and confirmed that, yes, we need to pay for them!

At least you know what's happening! So many others will NOT be as well-informed. Yay for friendly posters here on CC. Merry Christmas All! Ho ho ho.

[CruzeQueen2]

3 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

Lunch menu - sorry for he reflection 

Usual suspects. Good!

[CruzeQueen2]

@ceilidh1When you have a chance, please send us a shot of the current officer board, THANKS! Enjoy your extra desserts today...in lieu of beverages? You do you, so authentically. With much gratitude for your posts. 

[clutchcurrier]

Following along.  We are on the Ruby November, 2023 out of Ft Lauderdale.  Enjoy your trip.

[ceilidh1]

No sign of sailing away yet! This drink package is not getting its usage! Lol

[ceilidh1]

1 hour ago, CruzeQueen2 said:

@ceilidh1When you have a chance, please send us a shot of the current officer board, THANKS! Enjoy your extra desserts today...in lieu of beverages? You do you, so authentically. With much gratitude for your posts. 

Will do!

[ChutChut]

20 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

It will be interesting to see how Princess handles this since they have already charged for the package as part of their plus/premiere packages. They certainly didn’t give any of us who are not currently on the ship a heads up about it and I can’t imagine they only just found out today…

I just got off of a Princess cruise and used my Plus package the second I got on - out of Ft. Lauderdale that is.

Edited December 19, 2022 by ChutChut
mistake

[memoak]

7 minutes ago, ChutChut said:

I just got off of a Princess cruise and used my Plus package the second I got on - out of Ft. Lauderdale that is.

The Texas situation is unique due to state laws

[that]

Bon Voyage

[ceilidh1]

We finally set sail just before 6pm. There was an issue with transfers from the airport and guests reporting they waited over three hours for the Princess shuttle. Bar service opened just after 7pm but there was a long wait for drinks as everyone swarmed the bar!

 

Dinner was pretty slow service and long lines to get in - we had reserved 7pm (after having our 6pm cancelled and then our 6:20pm cancelled and then our 6:40pm cancelled). We didn’t have to wait and got our table for 8 immediately. I didn’t get pictures of everything but it was all excellent! My only complaint was the fact that we wanted to order coffee with dessert but the waiter said he would come back for the coffee order. He never did.

[ceilidh1]

After dinner we walked around and checked out the shops. I looked for the officer board but didn’t find it yet. We had a few drinks at Wheelhouse Bar and then went to listen to the comedian, Robbie Printz. He was pretty funny. 
 

Came back to the room to a towel animal, but still no minibar. We also got a notification that we hadn’t done the safety video/muster check in. We actually did - three times since it requires each of us to do it separately!

[ceilidh1]

Tomorrows patter

[ceilidh1]

A little observation: we are in E514 and the music from Club Fusion can definitely be heard in our room! It’s 11:20pm and it’s still going strong! It doesn’t bother me and the kids are sleeping through it, but just an FYI for early/light sleepers

[ceilidh1]

First day impressions: Definitely some kinks to work out in terms of service! Lots of confusion around bar service - never anything official received regarding the inability to use the drink package, and some staff were unaware of the restrictions. At one point, we were refused service of a non-alcoholic drink due to the “law”…There was no announcement that we were in international waters and able to use the package and staff didn’t know if/when it could be used either. 
 

Dinner service wasn’t the standard it usually is. Drinks took forever- we had already finished appies and were on to main by the time they came. Never asked if we wanted anything else to drink and our coffee order never materialized.

 

The kids ordered room service at 10:45pm using the app. It sat at “preparing order” for an hour. I even tried calling but they never picked up the phone. Needless to say, we never got the room service!

 

Hopefully this is all first day issues and tomorrow will be smooth sailing 

[CruzeQueen2]

1 hour ago, ceilidh1 said:

After dinner we walked around and checked out the shops. I looked for the officer board but didn’t find it yet. We had a few drinks at Wheelhouse Bar and then went to listen to the comedian, Robbie Printz. He was pretty funny. 
 

Came back to the room to a towel animal, but still no minibar. We also got a notification that we hadn’t done the safety video/muster check in. We actually did - three times since it requires each of us to do it separately!

D

@ceilidh1don't worry about the officer board. Have fun!I hope the Ruby shines brighter, tomorrow. At least, you are on a ship for Christmas! No cooking, no cleaning. Enjoy 😄

[cr8tiv1]

@ceilidh1

1.  How do you compare Saltgrass to a Crown Grill dinner…now up to $39 pp?

 

2.  Was that fried chicken for dinner?  Have never tried ordering fried chicken.  
 

3.  Welcome to Texas.  I appreciate your review. This won’t be one of my bucket list ports.

 

4.  How did you score a towel animal on the first night?

Edited December 19, 2022 by cr8tiv1

[jimbri]

Great pictures.  Enjoy!

[ceilidh1]

Update:: Room service woke us up at 12:35am - almost a full two hours after we ordered. Half the order was missing. Doh.

[ceilidh1]

Slept like a baby last night. One thing I can’t fault princess on is the princess bed! Forgot to mention that after all our times sailing Princess I STILL always forget how inadequate the outlet situation is in their ships. I always tell myself to bring the extension and always forget. Once again, we are all fighting over one outlet! Lol. Let’s hope that is the biggest issue we have today!

[ceilidh1]

6 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

@ceilidh1

1.  How do you compare Saltgrass to a Crown Grill dinner…now up to $39 pp?

Saltgrass was LESS expensive than Crown Grill - the steaks averaged around $30 (they did have more expensive as well but most were around that price). They also had a kids menu which included steak - at $11 - and it was just a smaller portion of the same cut! The steak was cooked perfectly and was really tender. I would say one of the top five steaks I have had. My daughter and I both commented on how amazing the baked potato was - sounds odd, but it’s true! Perfect mix of all the toppings, cooked just right, no hard skin. I would have been content to have had just the potato as dinner! We shared an enormous chocolate cake for dessert - more than enough for four of us! For all four meals, a dessert, two sodas, and a beer, it was $110. I would choose this over Crown Grill any day!

 

2.  Was that fried chicken for dinner?  Have never tried ordering fried chicken.  

The fried chicken was good according to the two that ordered it. Not dry inside but crunchy topping with a Cajun spice. It came with mashed potato and a biscuit. I’m not a fan of fried chicken so not something I would ever order,

 

6 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

 

3.  Welcome to Texas.  I appreciate your review. This won’t be one of my bucket list ports.

I won’t sail from here again. Way too much time, work, and expense involved. I could have taken a whole other cruise for the amount we spent over the past three days.

 

6 hours ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

4.  How did you score a towel animal on the first night?

I always leave our steward a note the first day to introduce ourselves. We are really low maintenance in terms of housekeeping, etc so always let them know that as long as the bunk bed is down each night, we don’t mind if/when they come in to service the room. This note I added that we would like extra towels - particularly if they are made into towel animals! Lol. Came back to the room and found it! Today, we will leave our steward a thank you tip and some chocolate!

Edited December 19, 2022 by ceilidh1
Typo

[PaperSniper4]

21 hours ago, CC Rider 69 said:

But they only charged for 6 days instead of 7, so all was sort of good. We're going on March 19th, when are y'all going?

Oh really, only for 6 days? Then I can't complain!😎 No problems paying for a drink at the bar or just having wine in our cabin.

 

We're on the same cruise as you, 19 March 2023. We're flying into IAH late the night before, staying in a nearby hotel, and using Salt Water Moms (I hope, waiting confirmation) to shuttle us to the ship the following day. 

Are you on the 19Mar2023 Ruby Roll Call?

 

 Doug

[PaperSniper4]

19 hours ago, ceilidh1 said:

 

----Deleted my questions------already answered above!

 

Have a great cruise, looks like you're off to a really good start....mostly. I'll have to remember to NOT use cabin service the first night!

 

 Doug

Edited December 19, 2022 by PaperSniper4
answered