LIVE - Ruby Princess, Nov 6 - 20, 14-day Circle Caribbean

[schnapperin]

3 minutes ago, LidoLiz said:

UPDATE….The Captain has just announced we will miss Martinique “with a heavy heart” due to 25-35 knot winds.

We are currently puttering offshore of Fort de France…and the pilot has disembarked. It’s definitely breezy out there, but calm seas, hardly a whitecap.

 

Ah well, the adventures of cruising! We will spend the day at sea.

agree - and club med manage to dock, seems that Princess is always taking a more careful approach, would have been nice if they had decided to stick around a bit to wait it out 

 

it’s windy but not that much and docked with a lot more wind before 

[aring75]

Well. Here is the patter for Day 6 - Martinique. Things will change for us as they will treat today more like a sea day itinerary and will add activities to this planner. 
 

 

[aring75]

Well now the captain has notified us that they are going to try to dock at an alternate berth in a slightly more protected location. We’ll keep you posted!

[LidoLiz]

This is the Captain that had the unfortunate dock “bumping” incident recently in San Francisco, so I’m sure he is being extra cautious! 
Those with private excursions are now busily working their phones to cancel and/or rebook, but who knows where we will end up?

[schnapperin]

So typical French - it took them until we had been out on the open sea to make that decision (wonder if they moved club med) 

 

also the wind did pick up now - so don’t have much hope

 

also it’s apparently the same captain as with the SF accident, so I can see why he might be more careful (I know it was the pilots fault) 

[schnapperin]

1 minute ago, LidoLiz said:

This is the Captain that had the unfortunate dock “bumping” incident recently in San Francisco, so I’m sure he is being extra cautious! 
Those with private excursions are now busily working their phones to cancel and/or rebook, but who knows where we will end up?

lovely just meeting you at the juice bar! 

[schnapperin]

Might be a 2,5 hour delay but how great it is that we made the turn around and docked, also in a lot more challenging conditions that this morning

 

well done bridge team and how great it was that they turned around to try again 

[DistinguishedCruiser]

1 hour ago, schnapperin said:

Might be a 2,5 hour delay but how great it is that we made the turn around and docked, also in a lot more challenging conditions that this morning

 

well done bridge team and how great it was that they turned around to try again 

Every cruise has a story...

[aring75]

Pointe Simon is a much better pier at which to dock in most cases. 
 

 

 

 

However, since today is a national holiday for France (and for the US and many other countries as well) most stores and restaurants were closed. 
 

We walked around the pier area and then went a few blocks into town. Got our 10,000 steps in. 😁

 

Decided to head back to the ship for lunch and to cool down. There was a great breeze ashore, but boy was it humid!

[aring75]

Once back on board we decided to try the burger from the Salty Dog Grill up on the pool deck (deck 15).

This was the BLT burger with fries. 

 

[partybarbie]

I love to pair that with an adult milkshake,  aka, the Dirty Banana.

[CruisinCadie]

Thanks so much for your interesting and informative posts.  Our itinerary is different than yours, 10-day Western with partial transit of the Panama Canal, but your information about the ship is relevant.  Hope they get the dining situation straightened out by next Sunday.

 

Question--you mentioned the Caribe buffet as opposed to the Horizon Court.  What is the difference and where is the Caribe buffet?

 

Thanks,

Kathy

[LidoLiz]

We followed a similar path….off the ship to tour around (briefly) in the port. Being Remembrance Day/Veteran’s Day, we paid our respects at the Martinique war memorial, which actually looked like it has been vandalized with red paint.

 

The memorial listed all those from Martinique who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the Great War, the Second World War, Indochina, etc.

Onboard, the ship observed a minute of silence at 11 am. The Piazza actually fell quiet while people stopped to bow their heads. (Other than the one oblivious woman who continued to yak on her cellphone).

 

After we returned to the ship, I tried the vegetarian sweet potato tacos at the Salty Dog grill. They actually looked much nicer than the burgers (to a vegetarian, at least!) and the corn shell was crispy.

 

Edited November 11, 2023 by LidoLiz

[aring75]

42 minutes ago, CruisinCadie said:

Question--you mentioned the Caribe buffet as opposed to the Horizon Court.  What is the difference and where is the Caribe buffet?

They are both located in the same area (deck 15 aft), but Horizon Court is slightly larger and usually a little busier. Café Caribe is further aft but still connected to Horizon Court buffet. CC is a bit smaller and opens up to the aft deck terrace. 
 

[aring75]

Our dinner tonight is in Crown Grill, but here is a copy of the MDR menu for day 6 from the app.
 

This is not a formal night. Is it weird that they are supposedly serving lobster and chateaubriand tonight? Not sure if this is the correct menu…

 

 

 

[aring75]

Crooner’s Bar drink menu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Continued next post. 

[aring75]

Crooner’s bar continued. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Continued next post. 

[aring75]

Crooner’s bar - the end. 
 

 

 

 

[aring75]

MDR Full wine menu. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

[aring75]

MDR wine menu (part 2 of 2)

 

 

 

 

 

[Cruise Raider]

5 hours ago, CruisinCadie said:

 

 

Question--you mentioned the Caribe buffet as opposed to the Horizon Court.  What is the difference and where is the Caribe buffet?

the Caribe Cafe oftentimes offers an entirely different menu than the Horizon court.  
You may find many more ethnic food choices in the Caribe Cafe.  We always check both before we decide on what to put on our plates .. unless there are chicken wings, of course.  Then we stop and I fill my plate no matter what .. 😆 

[canadarocks]

Interesting. I would have thought your 2nd formal night would be on the 15th, a sea day. But maybe that’s too close to the 3rd one? Because tonight’s definitely looks like a Formal night menu. 

[CruzeQueen2]

On my last cruise, they called this menu a Gala Dinner. Even without a formal night designation.

 

[trin880]

59 minutes ago, aring75 said:

Crooner’s Bar drink menu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Continued next post. 

Chairman of the Board was very good. French 75 is what I've ordered most often too. 

[schnapperin]

no formal nights (those are on the next two sea days) and yes it was the lobster on the menu