Ruby Princess Coastal Cruise 11.2.24 - 11.9.24 - Have We Made a Huge Mistake?

[luuuv2cruise]

We just booked a last minute CA Coastal cruise on the Ruby Princess for Nove 2-9, 2024.  Not an exciting itinerary, but the itenerary allows us to drive to the port, and we usually enjoy the food and entertainment on Princess.

I just tried to book dining reservations.  Due to a diabetic dining companion who needs to stick to a fairly strict schedule, I was hoping to book for 5pm each day, but I keep getting the message "Sorry!  There are no available time slots for this date".  I get the same message for both DaVinci and Botticelli dining rooms.  

When I go to the "Ship Schedule", the only entertainment shown is Piano and Vocal Entertainer Paul Holmes.  He shows up on the schedule 21 times.  No other entertainment listed.

I tried to check the roll call, but nothing comes up for this cruise.

I'm trying not to feel buyer's remorse but am starting to dread a cruise with minimal dining options, minimal entertainment (unless Paul Holmes turns out to be to our taste), and kind of boring ports.  Can the dining choices and entertainment really be as bad as it sounds?  Shouldn't there be a roll call?

 

[julia]

Well, there is a roll call... look a bit closer.  Do not fret the dining, either contact Princess directly, or once onboard, visit the dining maitre 'd and explain your needs. Entertainment will be extensive. Ports are what they are... it's a coastal.

[luuuv2cruise]

Thank you!  I was able to find the roll call...don't know how I missed it.  Is it normal for them to only show 1 entertainer for the whole week, and yet also have other acts?  Do you know what department at Princess I would contact ahead of time?

 

[sboh]

I did the CA Coastal cruise two years ago and throughly enjoyed it. I didn’t make dining reservations, just showed up at the dining room and was seated within minutes. I don’t think you’ll have difficulty especially at 5pm. Also there were lots of entertainment options.

[SCX22]

Relax.  You're still over a month away.  Ship Schedule will populate with the real activities once on board and connected to MedallionNet.  Even if you can't get reservations once onboard, you can go to the Anytime Dining MDR and they'll be able to seat you.  There might be a line at 5:00 pm, but that's the first seating so you're pretty much guaranteed a table.

[VibeGuy]

Ruby has two production shows in repertory and will have the usual complement of guest vocalists, comedians and magicians.  CDs and EDs vary in how soon they start populating the schedule - some as late as the day of embarkation. 

[Coral]

Ship entertainment will show up a few weeks before your cruise. You are too far out for it right now.

[skynight]

I was on the Ruby this past Feb and will be on again this coming Feb. I like the design of this ship vs the newer Royal Class ships. 

Dining: visit the maitre'd on boarding day. There should be a time posted either on the app or you can inquire in the DR. One DR will be open for lunch on boarding day from noon until 1:30. You can also call Princess about the dining if you just booked direct in the app or on line, or you can contact a PVP or agent if you booked that way.

Entertainment: The piano entertainer you mention is the Crooner's Lounge entertainer. He will have multiple sets each evening. Crooner's is a very popular location for pre-dinner drinks as well as in the evening. There will also be a party band as well as other musicians. There will be production shows and guest entertainers each evening in the theater. There probably will be a comedian on board performing in the theater and most likely in one of the lounges. Other activities will include trivia, silly games, demos, art sales ( which I stay away from), karaoke and more. Pools and hot tubs will be open. There will be movies on the large screen every day.

When you get closer to the sailing date your activities on the app will populate. For now focus on trying to get your dining worked out.  

[startedwithamouse]

There's a newer ED and CD on Ruby currently, and they may not have gotten around to populating the app yet. 

[arizonaperson]

Here’s the DR schedule as of 9-14-24.

If you can not reserve Botticelli or Michaelangelo prior to your cruise on the app then yes call the dine line when you get onboard or see someone ( dining room manager)the first day that you get onboard in one of the dining rooms. See what they can do for you. Or do the walk-in DA Vinci and just go at 5 PM when they open.

you will have entertainment onboard,no worries.

 

 

Ruby Princess-2024 & 2025 ( reservations open for 7-5-25 + now)

 

Michelangelo ( mid deck 5) is traditional at 5 PM ( shared or private table)and 7:20 pm (private table only)-as of July 14, 2024  for a cruise/ voyage in April 2025. This dining room is full? Not able to book for either seating. 

For a cruise/ voyage in October 2024 only 5 pm is available for traditional.

As of 9-2024 for December 2nd voyage-no traditional reservations available 

 

Botticelli( aft deck 6)-reservable,every 20 minute time slots- able to get private table (6 pm , 7:00, & 7:20 pm)- as of 7-20-24 able to book private table for voyage October 2025 Also open sea days & embarkation day lunch -noon to 1:30pm. Breakfast - hours could vary.As of 9-2024 only a few time slots available to book for 12-2024 voyage.

 

DA Vinci ( mid deck 6)- walk in, no reservations 

[Arizona Wildcat]

15 hours ago, luuuv2cruise said:

Thank you!  I was able to find the roll call...don't know how I missed it.  Is it normal for them to only show 1 entertainer for the whole week, and yet also have other acts?  Do you know what department at Princess I would contact ahead of time?

 

My daily details filled in 16 days before my cruise.  Relax.  Way too soon.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

Send Princess Cruises a personal message on Instagram with your concerns about your dining time. They are really helpful.

Edited September 26 by MsSoCalCruiser

[luuuv2cruise]

Thank you to everyone who responded.  You have all eased my mind.

Update:  While I was on the Princess website this am, I noticed that a lot of cabin categories have opened up that weren't available at the time of booking.  My travel agent was able to get us upgraded from a category BD balcony to a 2C premium balcony for $56.  We were also able to book the Botticelli dining room for 5pm each night.

I'm so glad to hear that there will be lots of entertainment options.  

[MsSoCalCruiser]

I don’t know if the show “Rock Opera” is on you cruise or not but wanted to say that I really liked that show. 

[luuuv2cruise]

4 minutes ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

I don’t know if the show “Rock Opera” is on you cruise or not but wanted to say that I really liked that show. 

I'll watch for it!

[mtnesterz]

4 minutes ago, luuuv2cruise said:

Thank you to everyone who responded.  You have all eased my mind.

Good to read this. I think, if we were all honest, there is often a bit of, perhaps not remorse, but wondering if we made the best choice.

We too have a Cal. Coast trip coming up, out of LA. Drive to port, so, similar situation. With the last minute sale price, you couldn't stay in a nice hotel for a week for that. Then all meals included, if you choose, then the shows... And the big one, not having to drive from San Francisco down to LA, San Diego and into Mexico. Fatigue, wear and tear on the car, gas...

It's your choice of course, but FWIW, I think for you, this sailings is great short getaway with no flying, at a sale price. 

 

[luuuv2cruise]

My travel companion HATED our 14 day HAL Alaska cruise last year, to the extent that she said she never wanted to cruise again.  A 4+ hour wait in the terminal squished in with passengers from multiple other ships.  Rain and fog for 13 days, ports cancelled due to strong winds and storm conditions, Covid and Norovirus rampant, ship was listing badly, umbrellas and chairs blowing overboard and glassware smashing to the ground, dining rooms closed due to "danger" (although some of the bars remained open)...  I really felt bad for the passengers who were on their first trip to Alaska and couldn't see anything other than thick rain and fog.

Add to that, there was very little entertainment, other than classical music.

So, I have a lot riding on this cruise.   If this one turns out to be a dud too, I don't think I will ever get her on a cruise ship again.   I convinced her that it will be a relaxing cruise with lots of good entertainment and good food, and a couple of good ports.  So I started to panic a little when I ran into all those issues initially.

Starting to look forward to it again now.

[lstone19]

24 minutes ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

I don’t know if the show “Rock Opera” is on you cruise or not but wanted to say that I really liked that show. 

 

Rock Opera is not a Ruby Princess production show. The production shows on Ruby Princess are Magic to Do, Stardust, and Colors of the World (if there's a fourth one, it was not performed on our 10-night cruise last year nor our 7-night cruise this year. I was on Regal Princess a few years ago on long cruises with four production shows but was told when it's doing seven-night cruises, only three are performed each week).

[lstone19]

12 hours ago, Coral said:

Ship entertainment will show up a few weeks before your cruise. You are too far out for it right now.

 

From what I've been told, guest entertainers are booked fairly close in as their availability changes a lot. Production shows are then scheduled around them (and then watch it change during your cruise when a port is missed and guest entertainers have to be flown to the next port to board). The planning timeline for entertainment is fairly close in.

 

While it's not quite the same, I used to work for an airline and worked a lot with our crew schedulers. So just like you wanting to know what the entertainment schedule is, if you were flying and wanted to know who the pilots were going to be for your November flights, no one could tell you yet as November crew schedules have not gone out for bid yet.

[mtnesterz]

22 minutes ago, luuuv2cruise said:

A 4+ hour wait in the terminal squished in with passengers from multiple other ships.  Rain and fog for 13 days, ports cancelled due to strong winds and storm conditions, Covid and Norovirus rampant, ship was listing badly, umbrellas and chairs blowing overboard and glassware smashing to the ground, dining rooms closed due to "danger" (although some of the bars remained open)...  I really felt bad for the passengers who were on their first trip to Alaska and couldn't see anything other than thick rain and fog.

I'd add to your list man overboards, fire at sea, (that was the scariest,) severe mechanical issues, missed ports due to political issues, and fires ashore wiping out the town, and high seas due to storms, and really bad cruise directors. (He no longer works for Princess.) .

Experienced all what you wrote and what I wrote. They are all just part of cruising.

And Alaskan weather is just that, not photos you see in a brochure. I don't mean this in a unkind way, but you both just have to decide if you can roll with whatever comes, because that is what cruising is.

Edited September 27 by mtnesterz

[Coral]

6 minutes ago, lstone19 said:

 

From what I've been told, guest entertainers are booked fairly close in as their availability changes a lot. Production shows are then scheduled around them (and then watch it change during your cruise when a port is missed and guest entertainers have to be flown to the next port to board). The planning timeline for entertainment is fairly close in.

 

While it's not quite the same, I used to work for an airline and worked a lot with our crew schedulers. So just like you wanting to know what the entertainment schedule is, if you were flying and wanted to know who the pilots were going to be for your November flights, no one could tell you yet as November crew schedules have not gone out for bid yet.

I had a cruise scheduled for this weekend and this timing is based on when shows/entertainment were showing up on my app a few weeks ago.

 

 

[luuuv2cruise]

11 minutes ago, mtnesterz said:

I'd add to your list man overboards, fire at sea, (that was the scariest,) severe mechanical issues, missed ports due to political issues, and fires ashore wiping out the town, and high seas due to storms, and really bad cruise directors. (He no longer works for Princess.) .

Experienced all what you wrote and what I wrote. They are all just part of cruising.

And Alaskan weather is just that, not photos you see in a brochure. I don't mean this in a unkind way, but you both just have to decide if you can roll with whatever comes, because that is what cruising is.

I agree with you.  We've been to Alaska many times, and have been really lucky most of the time.  That last HAL cruise didn't deter me, but it did deter her.  I'm just trying to coax her back into cruising with this coastal.

[arizonaperson]

@luuuv2cruise there’s a current Live from the Ruby started today. They have the first Patter listed so you could get an idea of the entertainment.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

57 minutes ago, mtnesterz said:

I'd add to your list man overboards, fire at sea, (that was the scariest,) severe mechanical issues, missed ports due to political issues, and fires ashore wiping out the town, and high seas due to storms, and really bad cruise directors. (He no longer works for Princess.) .

Experienced all what you wrote and what I wrote. They are all just part of cruising.

And Alaskan weather is just that, not photos you see in a brochure. I don't mean this in an unkind way, but you both just have to decide if you can roll with whatever comes, because that is what cruising is.

 I hope that the OP’s friend isn’t reading this.

Which CD are you talking about? 

[luuuv2cruise]

2 minutes ago, MsSoCalCruiser said:

 I hope that the OP’s friend isn’t reading this.

Which CD are you talking about? 

Actually, we have experienced some of those other issues as well.  Just not all on the same cruise.