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

[talkorpi]

Just now, CC Rider 69 said:

It will tomorrow when you deck in Costa Maya. Malecon 21 is a beach club in town. We go there every time when can. Usually you need reservations, but maybe you could snag a lounge. They do have a website, and it's an interesting ride to town.

Thanks for the suggestion! We actually have an excursion booked to the Chaccoben ruins. Excited for that

Edited April 5, 2023 by talkorpi

[CC Rider 69]

5 minutes ago, talkorpi said:

Thanks for the suggestion! We actually have an excursion booked to the Chaccoben ruins. Excited for that

Hydrate it gets hot in the jungle.

[that]

2 hours ago, talkorpi said:

Lunch. Pizza line was LONG. Well worth the wait though - tasted great and I did enjoy it better than CCL lido pizza. The ultimate mai tai is one of the best drinks I have had so far, too.
 

The ship did not feel very crowded on day one but lido was absolutely overflowing this afternoon. People were waiting in line in the hallway near the Horizon Court just to try to snag an empty table! I guess losing the free beach port left people wanting to get some sun & enjoy the pools. For me it’s just not the same but the point is the top decks are very crowded today. 
 

Ultimate Mai Tai. 👍🏻

[talkorpi]

I don’t want to alarm anyone but I have been seeing a lot of strings of sargassum ever since we started heading for Costa Maya

[FrankieJayIII]

what does that mean 

[FrankieJayIII]

i know it's seaweed but why alarmed?

[lennythenose]

4 hours ago, talkorpi said:

I don’t want to alarm anyone but I have been seeing a lot of strings of sargassum ever since we started heading for Costa Maya

That’s interesting because I was thinking this afternoon that I hadn’t see nearly as much today as I did the last couple of days🤷🏼‍♀️. Oh, and we are also going to Chacchoben tomorrow. 

[talkorpi]

MDR Dinner:

 

Mixed salad was pretty good. Had a little too much of the oil dressing but the greens and shrimp tasted great. 
 

Vol-a-vent tasted great. I didn’t eat all of the puff pastry because it was pretty dense but the lobster bisque and shrimp was nice and rich tasting. 
 

Salmon: Nice fresh taste. Had good side parings too. 
 

Rack of Lamb: I don’t ever get to eat lamb so this was a nice treat. It was cooked perfectly and the potatoes it was paired were nice too. 
 

Crème Brûlée: classic crème brûlée executed well. The Madelines served with it were pretty dense but I think they were more for garnish anyways. 
 

Chocoholic Cheesecake: if you love chocolate you’ll love this dessert. It was really rich and a great finish to the meal. 
 

Another great night in the MDR!

[talkorpi]

I think the one weakness of Princess so far compared to my last cruises is entertainment. Not a lot to offer today and the evening headliner shows just aren’t super impressive. 

 

HOWEVER, I really love the game shows they have in the evenings. These are always really entertaining and often hilarious!
 

Liars Club is happening right now and is pretty funny. It’s like the definition round of Balderdash but for a crowd. I love that game so this is pretty entertaining. Our cruise director is really funny in this game show

[talkorpi]

Good morning (I know the picture seems counterintuitive) from Costa Maya! Hoping we actually dock today 🤞🏻

[talkorpi]

THEY LITERALLY JUST CANCELLED OUR CALL IN COSTA MAYA… NOT EVEN JOKING

[CruisinMama2003]

10 minutes ago, talkorpi said:

THEY LITERALLY JUST CANCELLED OUR CALL IN COSTA MAYA… NOT EVEN JOKING

Whaaat!??

[phatlad]

17 hours ago, satxdiver said:

Give them time to post the refunds to you folio and to add any goodwill OBC after the HQ approves it. In all my Princess cruises (30+) they have given the goodwill OBC.

Nothing yet. And they just now canceled our second port stop I’m not hopeful for any sort of goodwill for that either. 
 

absolutely garbage first impression of Princess cruises. Guess I’m sticking with Royal Caribbean. 

[station10fd]

I’m on the boat also, Maya Chan emailed us yesterday canceling our beach day today because of high winds/waves bringing in a huge amount of sargassum.  I don’t blame any captain canceling today the way the wind is howling. 
 

Mike and Paulia 

[talkorpi]

Omg y’all this cruise is CURSED! It’s my seventh cruise and I’ve never had a port cancellation but now I got two in a row! Sweet!

 

Caribbean Princess also came in with us and turned right back around too. They missed Roatan the day before we did. Not a great week for the western Caribbean. Can we just go to Grand Cayman instead??

 

Lots of VERY very angry guests in the Piazza saying NSFW words and screaming at Guest Services. I feel terrible for the crew - this isn’t their fault and I just want to go give all of them a hug. They had to bring in a security detail and I’m pretty sure they’re gonna have to take a couple people to the brig because they were so “animated.”

 

Capitan said we are going to try to do an overnight in Cozumel. Unfortunately I don’t like Cozumel and it was the only port on this trip that I DIDN’T have plans for, but now I feel like I will have to get off just because it might be the only chance we get all week!

 

Third time’s a charm, right Capitan? 
 

Right???

🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🫠🫠🫠

[phatlad]

1 minute ago, talkorpi said:

Omg y’all this cruise is CURSED! It’s my seventh cruise and I’ve never had a port cancellation but now I got two in a row! Sweet!

 

Caribbean Princess also came in with us and turned right back around too. They missed Roatan the day before we did. Not a great week for the western Caribbean. Can we just go to Grand Cayman instead??

 

Lots of VERY very angry guests in the Piazza saying NSFW words and screaming at Guest Services. I feel terrible for the crew - this isn’t their fault and I just want to go give all of them a hug. They had to bring in a security detail and I’m pretty sure they’re gonna have to take a couple people to the brig because they were so “animated.”

 

Capitan said we are going to try to do an overnight in Cozumel. Unfortunately I don’t like Cozumel and it was the only port on this trip that I DIDN’T have plans for, but now I feel like I will have to get off just because it might be the only chance we get all week!

 

Third time’s a charm, right Capitan? 
 

Right???

🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻🫠🫠🫠

Wow! I wish I was down there seeing that. I’m not gonna lie I am not pleased at all but I would never take it out on the crew. It wasn’t their choice and I know they have to hate missing their pseudo days off. 

[CC Rider 69]

18 minutes ago, station10fd said:

I’m on the boat also, Maya Chan emailed us yesterday canceling our beach day today because of high winds/waves bringing in a huge amount of sargassum.  I don’t blame any captain canceling today the way the wind is howling. 
 

Mike and Paulia 

So true, just checked winds ond you're getting a steady 20K, with 30K gust from the ESE, not good for COsta Maya docking.

[Thumper007]

I’m glad I don’t have young kids on this cruise for Easter break planning to hit beaches yesterday or today. I’m sure they have cabin fever by now. I hope we dock in Cozumel tomorrow.

[talkorpi]

Here’s our Marine track from today to prove I’m not making this up

[talkorpi]

27 minutes ago, phatlad said:

Wow! I wish I was down there seeing that. I’m not gonna lie I am not pleased at all but I would never take it out on the crew. It wasn’t their choice and I know they have to hate missing their pseudo days off. 

Agree 100%. Some of the behavior from our fellow guests I have seen this morning is very disappointing. Nobody is happy about this situation so there’s no point in screaming to the piazza how you “f****g paid so much f*****g money to be on this f…” you get the point

[KKB]

21 hours ago, talkorpi said:

I’m sorry that you aren’t having a good time. I will definitely say that Princess is a very traditional cruising experience. I have generally really enjoyed everything so far. I find the food, service, and ship much better than my time on Carnival. The entertainment is a mixed bag - main production shows aren’t as good but I do enjoy the game shows. 
 

Today’s missed port and the lack of activities scheduled to make that up has been the first and only disappointment so far in my eyes. Of course any day at sea is still better than a day in the office so I’m still having a great time! Just trying to ignore the live threads of the ships that were able to dock today 😂

I found the daytime activities to be lacking overall last week. 
Literally nothing on the list I wanted to do (and I like to be BUSY).

Crafts can be fun--NCL had a nice travel journal & an electronics organizer. Useful. Not really into origami & paper flowers...

And the shows were...meh. Which unfortunately they can be hit & miss on Princess.

Trivia & game shows is where they shine. 

But there was a LOT of overlap of trivia & game shows...Raphael was complaining no one was at his music trivia...uh, that's because they overlapped. Your trivia crowd was still at the other one...

Still had a great time.

Sorry you have missed 2 ports--it is sad that they don't see the need for more daytime actiities.

(PS DO NOT  miss Hollywood Hiccups)

[satxdiver]

46 minutes ago, Thumper007 said:

I’m glad I don’t have young kids on this cruise for Easter break planning to hit beaches yesterday or today. I’m sure they have cabin fever by now. I hope we dock in Cozumel tomorrow.

The young kids are probably having a good time on the Lido deck pools.  They are young enough to not care that much.  Swimming, pizza and ice cream, what a kid's dream.  For the rest of us this sucks.  This is our 35th cruise on Princess and while we have missed a port, never had we missed two ports on the same cruise.  We have never missed a Western Caribbean port until now.  I can imagine with all the new Princess cruisers onboard they are openly hostile.  The Allure is also skipping the port.  There are 7 ships in port today so far in Cozumel.  

Edited April 6, 2023 by satxdiver

[pwizzle]

Did the allure of the seas dock?

[satxdiver]

5 minutes ago, pwizzle said:

Did the allure of the seas dock?

No

The Allure is on its way to Cozumel.

Edited April 6, 2023 by satxdiver

[satxdiver]

Captain just announced that we will dock in Cozumel today at 1700 hrs (5 PM) and will remain there overnight with the gangways open all night.