LIVE from the Ruby Princess: April 2-9, 2023 Western Caribbean from Galveston

[talkorpi]

Just got two FCCs at the Future Cruise Planning Desk. They were not really advertising that today is the last day to get them valid for 2 years and that tomorrow it will shorten to 1. 
 

Not sure if I will even use them but it doesn’t hurt to have just in case!

[FrankieJayIII]

can you explain to me how future cruise credit's work and why do people get them ahead of time and book them etc. etc.

[KKB]

Enjoying your review--I got off the Ruby Sunday.

Embarkation--yep 15 min from drop off to on the ship at 11AM. AMAZING!

I agree that is the ONLY way to watch basketball!

I ordered the same items for pub lunch!

 

We have done 10 Princess cruises since 2002 & did our 1st Carnival (Miracle to Hawaii) in January.

We were as pleased with Carnival food in all venues as Princess. I always liked Princess burger but Guys were a small step up to us.

[talkorpi]

15 minutes ago, jaycruising said:

I feel you… I am Nordic/Scandinavian and a ginger, I just look at the sun and burn!  
 

‘’thanks for sharing your trip!

Haha, yeah any sun is a problem. My ancestry is German, Finnish, Swedish, and British a.k.a. four of the fairest-skinned countries on earth so I will cook quickly outside. Hoping I can get a lounger in the shade in Roatan tomorrow 🤞🏻

[jaycruising]

3 minutes ago, talkorpi said:

Haha, yeah any sun is a problem. My ancestry is German, Finnish, Swedish, and British a.k.a. four of the fairest-skinned countries on earth so I will cook quickly outside. Hoping I can get a lounger in the shade in Roatan tomorrow 🤞🏻

I’m polish, Norwegian and Swedish… shade is our friends.  I’m hoping I can get some seats in the sanctuary for my upcoming cruise and am wondering if 3 bottles of sunscreen will be enough… lol

[talkorpi]

6 minutes ago, FrankieJayIII said:

can you explain to me how future cruise credit's work and why do people get them ahead of time and book them etc. etc.

This is my first time buying them. The way it was explained to me is that if you pay $100 PP right now, it covers your deposit for any Princess cruise you book in the next tow years. Depending on your cruise length and cabin category, you’ll also get some onboard credit as an incentive. If you don’t end up booking within the window then Princess will just refund you the money when it expires.
 

Policy change goes into effect tomorrow that shortens the booking window from two years to one year. I’m very glad I did my research because I would’ve been oblivious if I hadn’t. Being a recent college grad with a pretty gross student loan I have to pay monthly, I’m trying to limit my travel budget to lower than I would like, so that extra year that I snagged on its last day today really helped. 

[CarlieInSF]

13 hours ago, talkorpi said:

Next sailing (5-day 80’s cruise) will have 3,144 pax

@talkorpi Any idea how many kids are on the next sailing? We are on the 80's cruise with our 13 YO and really wondering if there will be kids.  Thanks for all your info.  Excited to get on the Ruby in a few days!!

 

[talkorpi]

Oh my LORD y’all. Just finished dinner at Sabatini’s. I feel like a whale because I am SO FULL but it was one of the best meals I have EVER had!

 

The new menu is fantastic and everything was seriously delicious. Our server was Milos and he made tonight extra special - truly incredible service. He said this will be his 10th year on cruise ships and he only has two more contracts until retirement - you can tell he is a professional and he was truly a world class waiter!

 

Sabatini’s on Ruby is also a beautiful space as it was completely redecorated in her last dry dock. It actually became the restaurant “Share” for a while but has since reverted back to Sabatini’s albeit keeping the nice modern but rustic atmosphere. Probably one of the most beautiful rooms on the ship. 
 

I will be posting in segments by course since doing it all in one swoop will probably make my phone explode

[talkorpi]

Okay, now onto the food and drink:

 

Arancini was delicious. Had a nice flavor from the cheese inside, a nice crispy texture, and the tomato sauce was the perfect accompaniment.

 

The bread service consisted of fresh focaccia and a garlic Parmesan roll. It is accompanied by some olive oil and balsamic. I tried not to fill up on that to save room but it was great bread and hard to resist (you’ll notice this theme through the whole meal.)

 

We skipped the soup/salad course to save room for later courses - this turned out to be a good idea but I’m sure the quality of those items would’ve been top notch. 

[talkorpi]

Appetizers (not even going to attempt this in Italian)

 

Panzanella was interesting version of panzanella featuring grilled shrimp and olives. Very flavorful and I wish I had the foresight to pick this light of an appetizer considering how full I would become over the course of the evening!

 

Buratta Caprese: Velvety, delicate, and insanely fresh cheese had such a great taste. The fresh shaved tomatoes and basil oil rounded it out to be a simple yet incredibly delicious appetizer. They gave me a LOT of cheese so I did not eat it all but it was very tempting!

[talkorpi]

Pasta 

 

Pasta Primavera: This had lots of fresh seasonal veggies in a nice basil and olive oil sauce. The penne was perfectly Al dente and everything had a nice bite to it. While this was probably the least impressive thing we ordered, it was still a solid 8/10 which shows how great this whole meal was. 

 

Lobster Tortelloni: This was really rich so 3 was the perfect amount. The lobster sauce was so savory and the pasta filling was light and tangy. Really good!

[talkorpi]

Entrees

 

Branzino: Perfectly cooked fish that just flaked and fell apart perfectly. Had a great bright lemony flavor and was accompanied by delicious vegetables that had great herbs and spices. 

 

Ossobuco: Y’all judge me all you want but I almost cried when I took my first bite. I felt like my Italian Nonna was giving me a big warm hug and I’m not even Italian. The meat was fall off the bone tender and the rissotto was perfectly cooked and had an incredible saffron flavor. Can’t get over how good this was!

Edited April 5, 2023 by talkorpi

[talkorpi]

Dessert
 

Our waiter also said “I have your dessert order handled” and proceeded to bring out ONE OF EACH DESSERT (😨) for us to try. Oh my lord, it was so much food but it was TO DIE FOR! Unfortunately I didn’t get a photo of the dessert menu so I will describe the best I can:

 

Tiramisu: this is not traditional tiramisu but it tastes delicious. Had a very elegant presentation and had such rich complex flavors with layers of coffee, chocolate, and mascarpone vanilla cream. 

 

Panna Cotta: Silky panna cotta with Marsala wine and tart blueberries. It was really, really good. It usually comes with an almond biscuit but we had a nut allergy so didn’t get that part. 

 

Vanilla Custard: this was a softer vanilla custard with some fresh fruit added. It was one of the most delicate vanilla flavors ever. Heavenly. 

 

Rocher: This dessert literally changed my life. It is a base of chocolate hazelnut mousse, then a dark chocolate ganache, then a decadent chocolate hazelnut cake, and then some chocolate hazelnut ice cream that is also coated in chocolate. Oh and add on some chocolate shavings and toasted hazelnuts too. I think I will be dreaming of this dessert for the next twenty years.  I was so full at this point but in between each bite I kept stretching to see if I could fit more Rocher in my stomach!

[talkorpi]

Okay, I know that was a lot of posts in a row about food but I just wanted to express how incredible our dinner was tonight. Again, huge thank you to Milos and the entire chef’s team at Sabatini’s for producing such an incredible meal. The service lasted about 2 1/2 hours but I was completely fine with that. Truly magnifico!

Edited April 5, 2023 by talkorpi

[talkorpi]

We are rocking a lot more right now than we have been the last two days. It’s getting really windy outside. I am a little worried about docking tomorrow at Roatan - we are supposed to have 30+ MPH winds. Right now at sea it’s only like 22 MPH and I can barely stand on our balcony.

I guess we’ll find out in the morning. Goodnight!

[talkorpi]

Just now, CarlieInSF said:

@talkorpi Any idea how many kids are on the next sailing? We are on the 80's cruise with our 13 YO and really wondering if there will be kids.  Thanks for all your info.  Excited to get on the Ruby in a few days!!

 

Not sure but there are quite a few children on this cruise. Way more than I expected. I imagine it would be the same but I can’t say for sure. 

[Carnevale]

Wonderful blog!  Many thanks for sharing all this great info.

 

If possible, can you please post a bar menu?  I understand prices went up in February so I’m curious about the costs of different drinks now.

 

Keep having a great cruise!  I’m envious when I see those menus and your food pics!

[satxdiver]

6 hours ago, FrankieJayIII said:

can you explain to me how future cruise credit's work and why do people get them ahead of time and book them etc. etc.

 

For a $100 FCD you will be able to reserve a cruise for $100 deposit.  This used to be 2 years but now is 1 year.  Depending on the length of the cruise you will get $50 - $250 onboard credit (OBC) so free money to be used on that cruise.  For instance, you can reserve a one-week cruise for $100 deposit  and get a $100 OBC to spend onboard.  The FCD must be bought for each person. 

[talkorpi]

Good morning from Roatan*. I’m a little confused this morning. We are supposed to have the all ashore time in just an hour. Well we are currently sailing PAST the Mahogany Bay terminal but the Carnival Mardi Gras (which was supposed to arrive two hours after we did) is backing in to MB right now. 🤔🤔🤔
 

Are we just waiting for a pilot? Are we going to Cartagena instead? Will we dock at Mahogany Bay or not?

 

We’ll be right back with the answers and more after a short commercial break!

Edited April 5, 2023 by talkorpi

[talkorpi]

Still no announcement or anything but this is not a good sign

[roadster08]

As you figured out,  pacing over several hours is key to enjoying a full blown Italian meal. They are designed to be shared on Sundays and special occasions at a big table with lots of story telling,  joking and ribbing. 

[princess76021]

21 minutes ago, talkorpi said:

Still no announcement or anything but this is not a good sign

Where did you go? Inquiring minds want to know!!!!

[talkorpi]

Just now, princess76021 said:

Where did you go? Inquiring minds want to know!!!!

We are still just sailing in a straight line in the opposite direction from the port. I asked Guest Services and they said they did not know what the plan was and had no information.

 

At this point a late arrival would be better than no arrival but an announcement would be nice. We were supposed to be going ashore at this time so I feel like they would’ve told us something by now. 
 

Fellow passengers are also getting angry

Edited April 5, 2023 by talkorpi

[princess76021]

5 minutes ago, talkorpi said:

We are still just sailing in a straight line in the opposite direction from the port. I asked Guest Services and they said they did not know what the plan was and had no information. At this point a late arrival would be better than no arrival but an announcement would be nice

Late sounds better than not stopping. Hope your day turns out the way you want it!!

[talkorpi]

Well we just got our announcement.

 

Wind was 35 knots with 50 knot wind gusts when we approached which was higher than forecast. The swell conditions combined with the wind created unsafe docking conditions. 
 

We are not calling in Roatan today and are going to Costa Maya at a reduced speed. 

 

I’m not really a skeptic but the Mardi Gras did dock like 30 minutes after we did with absolutely no problems so that kind of stinks. Not sure why we couldn’t just try again.
 

The whole piazza let out an angry sigh when he announced we were skipping Roatan. I had the same reaction😠

 

Not a great start to the day!

Edited April 5, 2023 by talkorpi