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Ruby Princess Maiden Voyage Review and Pictures

CL-JW

By CL-JW,
in Princess Cruises

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Crown Prince

Crown Prince

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Regarding Movies Under the Stars:

They played several movies here - Mama Mia, The Dark Knight, Swing Vote, Wall E, Iron Man and a lot of football (including Monday Night Football).

They did midnight showing of Rocky Horror, which was fun.

MUTS was really unobtrusive. We hadn't sailed on a MUTS equipped ship so didn't know if the volume would be too much. We were surprised how low the volume is.

 

CRACK: Thanks - great review, and I agree with all your observations.

 

JOSH GROBIN was not loud enough on MUTS. When Old People complain about "not loud enough," you know it is true. I caught a Lotus Spa Girl and she ran all around trying to get it fixed. Finally, it took the C.D., James Lay, to get the volume turned up. To compensate, they replayed Josh on a following night.

Never could get the popcorn.

 

Some crew had a hard time understanding English. I had asked a question in the photo shop about photos and the girl replied, "The restrooms are just down there." :eek:

 

One of our best cruises. :D

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CL-JW

CL-JW

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Did they offer you the option to check your luggage the night before the cruise and they take it to the airport and you don't see it until you get to your home airport???

 

Thanks

Dan

 

We didn't see that option offered. We took advantage of that on Liberty of the Seas last April and loved it.

 

Bags to Go was at the pier offering to check bags for folks flying Southwest ($10 ea.) which we did take advantage of, as our flight didn't leave until 1:30 ish. Glad we did too because the baggage check-in lines (both curb-side and inside) were pretty long.

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CL-JW

CL-JW

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Enjoyed reading your review.

 

Did you try the Artisan Cheeses at Vines?

 

Did you partake in any of the New Enrichment Programs?

 

How were the audience-participation events?

Did you catch any?

 

We didn't try the Enrichment programs or the cheeses. We wanted to do the Astronomy program, but were double booked that night.

 

I seriously think we need to do another sailing just to try everything . . .:)

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Crown Prince

Crown Prince

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Ports: - We liked most of the ports on this itinerary.

Cozumel: - We did the Twister Boat and Paradise Beach Break offered via Princess. What a blast. A new friend we met on Cruise Critic (Hi Chris!) joined us and we had a great time.

 

We went to Tulum on the Princess ShorEx. Lunch was only snacks and Cindy did not like them. We ate our protein bars and took our own drinks. Beautiful day and the Tulum guide was great (but not the coach guide).

 

Grand Cayman: - After some tendering delays due to winds that increased the sea swells (no fault of Princess), we grabbed a ride to the Turtle Farm. The turtles there were so cute (and big). We even got to hold a young turtle – which was surprisingly heavy.

 

The hire-tender was way too large (took too long to board) and it kept bumping into the ship's boarding porch. Some people on later tenders were laying on the deck (getting sick). We knew there were about 6 ships in that day so tendering was a trial & Carnival has precedence. But once on Cayman, we had a wild ride in an Avis rental and went to Hell & tried to navigate the round abouts on the left side. It was lots of fun and we screamed a lot. Bought the little rum cakes & imbibed all the different tasting rums & rumcakes ;)

 

Jamaica: - We chose to treat this day as a ship day and enjoyed hanging by the pool. BTW – great poolside service.

 

Private Guide, Wentworth Pearson took us to the Green Grotto Bat Caves. A good workout & very cool for caving. In the 70's it was a disco. Ian Fleming's Museum was very nice and great views. Nice vintage photos with old moviestars. We bought JA Blum coffee. Nice day. :D

 

Princess Cays: - We rented a bungalow here. We rec’d Priority Tender Tickets and you could choose an upgraded menu and wine packages if you wanted (we didn’t). We got a ride to our bungalow (Yellowender, #6) from the tender pier. The bungalow had air conditioning and a ceiling fan, outdoor shower and foot wash. There was a table set for six in side, along with a bucket of ice and pitcher of water. There were six beach towels inside and six more on the the dedicated loungers outside. There was also bug spray inside if we wanted it. We had two waiters, Emil and Joey who provided bar service and brought a ton of food from the buffet, family style. If you book a bungalow, please remember to bring some cash for tips. These waiters work hard. Loved it and would do it again. There are a couple of souvenir shops that take the seapass card and a couple that take cash.

 

We had the first yellow bungalow (it is closest to the restrooms). Crew brought us food & drinks, as well as our floats. We loved the snorkeling & the peaceful atmosphere. We found some nice locally-made crafts, like the topsy-turvey dolls ($9, but for you, $8), a nice sailing ship for Grandson ($9), and a white-eyelet & woven-reed purse for Jenny ($20). Some unusual shirts in wonderful colours.

Good shopping, food, surf & sun - a great beach day. We stayed til the last tender. :cool:

 

Misc: - Uniforms: Princess has upgraded their uniforms for bar staff and room stewards. There seems to be a Cunard influence on the uniforms. They are much nicer now, both in our opinion and the opinion of the workers who wear them.

 

The 2-colours of grey were very sophisticated. Looked a little like Star Trek. :D

 

All of the furnishings throughout the ship have been upgraded as well, which contributes to a feel of elegance.

 

Loved the beds. Cindy wanted to take hers home to replace her $5000 pillow top.

 

Patters: - We don’t care for the new Patter format and commented on such on the survey.

 

I agree. Even staff & crew could not find the times to be back aboard in these Patters. :eek:

 

Inaugural Gift: - We all received (one per cabin) Kosta Boda Atoll Bowl in ruby red with "Ruby Princess Inaugural 2008" in white lettering. Very nice.

 

At the FLL airport, the TSA guy wanted to examine my carry-on and completely unwrapped the Crystal Inaugural Gift. He did not have a clue what it was but I guess that, on the x-ray machine, it must have appeared dangerous. :eek:

 

Embarkation and Disembarkation: - These were the smoothest we’ve ever had on any cruise. When we embarked, we got to the port at around 11 and were on board by 11:45. Disembarkation is “Silent”. We went to Club Fusion, which was being used for Platinum and Elite. At our assigned time, we just walked off the ship. They directed us to our bags and were through Customs and Immigration in no time at all. From walking off the ship to getting through security at the airport was 55 minutes. Not bad at all considering there were five or six ships in port.

 

BOARDING: Very efficient. We were on the ship at 11:30 - Got the Chef's Table but not the Ultimate Ship Tour.

 

DIS-EMBARKING: I highly recommend the transfer for $47 that takes you to the FLL & then the Miami airports. Must have flights later than 2:30 (from FLL). The tour went to the Everglades Airboat tour, which was fascinating & we saw one alligator & lots of birds - with an alligator show afterwards. Cindy got to hold a baby alligator for photos. It was darling but I did not want to get close to him. Then we went to the Flamingo Gardens - beautiful birds & the Igaunas were running loose over the trails - they are so weird looking (got good photos). What a beautiful natural park setting with a little tram tour, guide explaining all the fauna & flora.

 

Overall, we had a great time on this cruise. There were some glitches due to it being a maiden voyage and the fact that many of the crew were learning to work together. But, that being said, we actually anticipated that there would be many more problems on this cruise and were pleasantly surprised how well things did go. And as each day went by, things went more smoothly. We look forward to doing a longer cruise on Ruby in the future.

__________________

Craig & Jack

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Sandytoes

Sandytoes

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We didn't try the Enrichment programs or the cheeses. We wanted to do the Astronomy program, but were double booked that night.

 

I seriously think we need to do another sailing just to try everything . . .:)

:D

 

I completely understand. :)

 

Love your photos.

 

Wondering if you kept any of the Patters.

Would be interesting to see.

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Caribbean Sunsets

Caribbean Sunsets

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Patters: - We don’t care for the new Patter format and commented on such on the survey.

 

I agree. Even staff & crew could not find the times to be back aboard in these Patters. :eek:

 

________________

Craig & Jack

 

Thanks for the great reviews!

 

Would it be possible to scan and post the Patters?

 

I'm on the Ruby this coming Saturday...can't wait!!

 

Thanks,

Carole

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gr82cu2

gr82cu2

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Thanks for posting your review so quickly! I was really enjoying it and then I looked at the pictures, which made me sad......j/k It is beautiful and reminds me very much of the Crown Princess which I loved so much. I need to book another Princess cruise stat!!!

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fathercop

fathercop

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CRAIG & JACK:

Great review. I would agree with your comments very much so. Like you, I did not like the new Patter format. It seemed somewhat stark and devoid of information, other then the times of various activites.

I do regret not having the lunch in the Wheelhouse. Several of the crew highly recommended I eat there.

What I can add is that Antonio, the Head Waiter in the DaVinci dining room in our section, was absolutely marvelous. He brought some wonderful treats to our table of ten almost every night and took the time to make sure we were enjoying dinner. Claudia, our waiter, and Allan, her assistant, were so incredibly nice, helpful and hard working. The two of them made dinner especially delightful. Those of you eating in the DaVinci dining room will enjoy their very personal service if you have them waiting on you.

Regarding the pictures, I left some comments on our Roll Call thread. Very nice! Thanks!

Rich
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mycruz

mycruz

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So glad to hear you had a good time, the ship looks beautiful! Thanks for the pics. Also glad to hear that there was indeed an inaugaral gift, someone doing a live from thread said they didn't receive one...hmmmmm


I sailed the Emerald last year not long after it was christened, perhaps I'll look into the Ruby.
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CL-JW

CL-JW

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[quote name='Sandytoes']:D

I completely understand. :)

Love your photos.

[B]Wondering if you kept any of the Patters.[/B]
[B]Would be interesting to see.[/B][/quote]

[quote name='cadcow1962']Thanks for the great reviews!

Would it be possible to scan and post the Patters?

I'm on the Ruby this coming Saturday...can't wait!!

Thanks,
Carole[/quote]


I will try and scan and upload - depends how busy work is this week:eek::)
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CL-JW

CL-JW

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[quote name='gr82cu2']Thanks for posting your review so quickly! I was really enjoying it and then I looked at the pictures, which made me sad......j/k It is beautiful and reminds me very much of the Crown Princess which I loved so much. I need to book another Princess cruise stat!!![/quote]

I have to say, the more we sail Princess, the more we like it . . . :)
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CL-JW

CL-JW

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[quote name='fathercop']CRAIG & JACK:

Great review. I would agree with your comments very much so. Like you, I did not like the new Patter format. It seemed somewhat stark and devoid of information, other then the times of various activites.

I do regret not having the lunch in the Wheelhouse. Several of the crew highly recommended I eat there.

What I can add is that Antonio, the Head Waiter in the DaVinci dining room in our section, was absolutely marvelous. He brought some wonderful treats to our table of ten almost every night and took the time to make sure we were enjoying dinner. Claudia, our waiter, and Allan, her assistant, were so incredibly nice, helpful and hard working. The two of them made dinner especially delightful. Those of you eating in the DaVinci dining room will enjoy their very personal service if you have them waiting on you.

Regarding the pictures, I left some comments on our Roll Call thread. Very nice! Thanks!

Rich[/quote]

Thank you Rich!

We should give a shout out to some of our awesome servers too:

EJ and Jose (Kung Fu Panda) in Adagio and Alexa and James at Crooners. All were so much fun!
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smashrt

smashrt

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[quote name='cruisingoddess']Thank you so much for the photos - they are awesome. I was hoping to see a picture of the wedding chapel, but there wasn't one. Do you by any chance remember the colors or anything about it? Probably not, but hoping for something - anything.[/quote]

Me too! We are getting married on The Ruby in December. We are suppose to have an "on deck" wedding, but the chapel is back-up in case of windy weather. Im sure it looks like all the other grand class ships. But I was just curious too.

Thanks
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lynwar

lynwar

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Hi
Trevor didn't like the ice cream on this ship, either. And, he didn't care for the Italian ice cream in the International Cafe-but-that was special. I didn't mind it.
The menus for me in the Dining Room weren't overly appealing to me, as I have some limited allergies so couldn't deal with mushrooms, lemons or tomato based items. The Lamb was pretty good and when I asked our waiter for some vegetables because I couldn't eat the ratatouille-he came back with enough asparagus and carrots for the two of us! We were in the Botticelli 1st seating and had Previn and Xavier--around table 97-98 area. (Tables for 2).

We usually eat in the Horizon Court and Caribe Cafe quite a bit, but there were a couple of times where the Italian or "Exotic" selections were overdone so my choices were limited. But, I always did find something to eat. Our favorite spot to eat was on the aft deck outside the Caribe Cafe. It's quiet out there and it is especially nice in the evenings away from the commotion.

We tried to get into the first show of the cruise but there were no seats available so gave up. We finally saw the final show--Broadway Dance Blitz on the last night-at 9:00PM, which was the
3rd performance. There were plenty of seats for that one!

The movies were pretty decent, although the only one we saw all the way through was "Swing Vote" starring Kevin Costner-on the last night. It was over at 12:30AM. We caught about a half hour of "Dark Knight" and saw a couple of minutes of "Mama Mia" and "Wall-e". And, I particularly enjoyed the Josh Groban concert and the football games on the big screen.

We sat with CL and JW in Club Fusion the last morning while waiting for our luggage color to be called-and it wasn't more than 5-10 minutes later before it was. Trevor was in a different area and I actually had to wait a minute or two for him. The worst part of the whole disembarkation process was trying to find our car in the parking garage. At this point, we had our luggage and were finally saved by an attendant in a golf cart who took us to it. He got the tip the porter would have gotten if we'd taken help in the terminal. Then we had to find our way OUT of the garage. LOL.

I have to admit that I was a little disappointed that more wasn't acknowledged on this maiden voyage about being the first passengers. We were on the Emerald last year, so it was much of the same for us-but new friends always make a cruise better!
And as I mentioned in an earlier post, I enjoyed the perk of the internet cafe. I had someone I needed to stay in contact with everyday, and this filled the bill--and I learned to keep my messages short!
So, everyone going on now after us--we know you'll have a great time-and a great Captain.
Lynne
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