Ruby 4/4-4/11 detailed review

[greenbird1225]

Hi everyone! I just got back from a week on the Ruby, my first cruise with Princess, and I thought I would take the time to give a thorough review of our trip.

 

In the past, I have cruised with RCCL 6 times, Carnival once, and am going on Norwegian at the end of May. I have always liked RCCL, but Princess was doing an itinerary that I liked, so that was the cruise we booked.

 

On the trip was myself, my boyfriend, and two male friends of ours. We are all between the ages of 30-33. We booked two cabins on the Emerald Deck with obstructed views, I thought my cabin was a little better than the one shared by the two other guys because our view was less obstructed then theirs was. The cabin was larger than RCCL's, had a big walk-in closet-type area, and was clean. The only issue was the shower, which was so small that my boyfriend, who is 6'4" had a difficult time turning around it. I found that the shower curtain tended to get stuck to my leg while I was showering, which was a bit awkward! Other than that, no cabin issues.

My impressions of the ship: Let me start by saying that we are not ridiculously picky travelers, and usually roll with any thing that comes our way. The ship was very clean, and the staff was nice. My boyfriend and I (the only two that have cruised before) agreed that we did not really like the layout of the Ruby. We decided that we prefer the way that RCCL has their ships designed, because we found it much harder to navigate around on the Ruby then any other ship we have cruised on before. Ruby's top deck is broken up into sections, and it is nearly impossible to go straight from one end to the other. Walls and partitions break up the boat frequently, and I can't tell you how many times we literally came to a solid wall or door marked 'no entrance' and had to turn around and find another way.

 

The ship is aesthetically very pretty, but I felt that there were too many small cafe-type areas, none of which were ever serving food when we went looking. We would go into one cafe and see signs that said to go to the other one, and the left or right side was always closed, so no matter where you went to get food, you always had to go someplace else or to the other side. RCCL has the Windjammer cafe, which always had food and there was never any debate about which side was open or closed. Don't get me wrong, the food on Ruby was good, but we thought that it would have been easier if they just had one cafe-type area on the top floor near the pools to serve lunch instead of several.

 

We loved the back area of the boat, which had an adults-only pool and seating, as well as a bar. It was consistently quieter and nicer than the other pool areas, and we were all there each day at some point. We never sat at the other two pools because of the noise and crowds. For some reason, the movie screen and sound was so loud that it was difficult to hear anyone else talking, and I found the movies to be an annoyance during the day, but that's just me. I'm sure that others enjoy having the option of watching something on the big screen while laying out, and there were always loads of people by those pools.

 

We never got a chance to try out the hot tubs as there were so many kids in them that adults were unable to get in. Strangely, the hot tubs had signs saying 'no children', but no one ever asked them to leave...

 

We started out the trip with anytime dining because we were bumped from the main room when we tried to get the four of us at one table, so our first night was in the Michaelangelo dining room. The food was fine, but we didn't like the long line to get in and the 40-minute wait for our hand-held buzzer to go off and tell us we had a table. I have always loved the regular dining rooms on cruise ships and the chance to dress up for dinner, as well as get to know one main waiter and staff, so we appealed to the maitre'd and were able to get a table in the Botticelli dining room for the rest of the trip. After that, every dinner was a real pleasure and our wait staff was extremely nice. Let me also add that the people on this ship dressed far more nicely than I have seen on past cruises, and I thought that was wonderful. I don't think I saw a single person in shorts on formal night!

 

We tried the steak house one night, and had a blast. The food was incredible, and our waiter, Julien, was very nice. Keep in mind that if you tip a waiter in the independent restaurants on the room charge it will not go directly to your waiter! It gets divided between everyone, so if you want to tip your waiter, give him cash and they will actually get it for themself, which is what we did.

 

Issues: The biggest problem---really the only problem we had all week---were the number of kids on the boat. Not little kids, but teenagers. My boyfriend and I are both teachers, and have no issue with kids, but I was told that there were over 500 on our ship!! They literally took over the boat, running wild at all hours of the day and night and stampeding through the halls, sometimes as late as 3 or 4 am. Entire gangs of them sat in the hot tubs, snuck into the night clubs, and crowded the elevators. One woman I sat next to on a tender said she actually had to reprimand a group of teens who were screaming and pushing all the buttons in the elevators. I felt bad for our two male friends, who obviously were hoping to meet women near their age and instead were greeted by a large amount of underage girls in the nightclub pretending to be older! We found out later that many of the girls were only 16, so I have no idea how they got past security, but it was extremely awkward and potentially a very bad situation.

 

Ports: For the most part, the islands were all great. I have been to Jamaica before, and was not worried about the pushiness of the locals. Keep in mind that the people on these islands have learned to do whatever works to make money, and since tourism is the major industry, they work that angle. No one was rude to us, and all we had to say was "no thanks" and we were left alone. We did get offered marijuana a number of times, but we just laughed it off and the guys offering were nice about not hassling us. A guy on our shuttle made the mistake of getting a joint and got picked up at the dock by the police....they threatened him with jail, then shook him down for all his cash before letting him go. It's not worth it to try and get drugs there because the police all know that the tourists try, and they will make your life hell if they catch you!

 

In Jamaica, we did the zipline tour, which was fun, although a bit hot and sweaty.

 

The Caymans had some turbulence, so our day there was cut short, but we made it to the beach anyway and had a good time. We had planned to do the reef and rays tour, but all the tours were cancelled that day. We were a bit upset that no announcement was made to let anyone know about the tours, and we only found out when we went to the excursions desk to ask about the timing of the tour.

 

Cozumel is one of my favorite ports, and we went right to the Chankanaab marine park, where they have fantastic snorkeling, food, a dolphin show, a lagoon, and botanical gardens. I highly recommend going there for the day and enjoying the beautiful beach and water. The areas around the docks have some good shopping depending on what you are looking for; I would avoid the high-end jewelry as those shops aren't a good deal anymore, but I got some nice silver jewelry for a steal. In comparison, very similar items to what I bought were for sale in Ruby's boutiques for 8 times the price! Don't be afraid to haggle and walk away to get a better deal...this goes for all the islands. NEVER PAY THE FIRST PRICE THEY ASK OF YOU! It may seem awkward to bargain, but this is part of the fun and is expected. You aren't insulting anyone as long as you do it politely and have a good time.

 

The Bahamas (Princess Cay) was pretty, but crowded. There was some great snorkeling there if you are a strong swimmer and get get past the rocks. Lots of great fish and coral in the shallow areas. Be very careful where you step here as coral will die if you stand on it!!! Try to stay on sandy patches or start swimming right away---this will also prevent you from getting a sea urchin needle in your foot :)

 

Nightlife: I saw that someone else mentioned the lack of nightlife on the ship, and I have to agree. This was the only cruise I have been on in the past ten years that was literally DEAD most night after 9 pm. The night club was empty, the casino was quiet, and the shows were fairly quiet. Even daytime events were strangely devoid of people! I don't know if it was just the crowd this week, or if this is common, but it was kind of strange. Fortunately, I am not a big club person, so I wasn't terribly upset, but I did see a few people wandering around at night looking for something to do and there was nothing going on.

 

The comedians we saw were good, but the weird thing was that both of them performed several times, so there didn't seem to be much to do in the evenings once you had seen both guys. Usually, cruises have a different series of events each night, but Ruby did not, and we were somewhat dissappinted with this. As a result, we actually played Blackjack a few times at night just to be around people....and I got pretty good, so maybe this was a good thing! :)

 

In conclusion, we had a good time on the cruise. There were things that could have been better (less kids, easier to find things on the ship, better entertainment and nightlife), and there were things that we really liked (size of the rooms, food, adult pool areas, ports of call). The things we didn't like were just comparisons to other cruises we have been on, and I know that everyone is different and has different likes and dislikes. In the future, we plan to go back to RCCL or another cruise line, and we probably won't do princess again unless the itinerary is really amazing. It wasn't a bad vacation, but we just like RCCL better. Any questions, please feel free to ask! I know I forgot something here....

[bostonjon]

Hi Greenbird!

 

Thanks so much for your review of Ruby. We have been looking at Ruby in Dec 09 for their short cruise to try out Princess. Like you we have sailed RCCL many times and love the layouts of the ships. It is a little sad to hear that the ship is "broken up" into so many little places:(. Your review is a big help!

J

[juggles]

That is a really good, honest review.

I was on the Ruby in January for a B2B cruise. I found that me and my friend just couldn't fit everything in. There is plenty of nightlife and the Confusion club particularly is busy every night. The talent show is on each night and the finals Friday nights. I found Skywalker to be quietish but put that down to the number of elderly passengers [like myself] on board that went to bed early. I like to stay up till about 2am , whereas my friend went to bed about 9 30!!

I also liked going in the Adagio bar and there was a wonderful classical pianist on all evening.

There's another bar I can't recall its name but it's on the level of the shops I think. That was always full and a brilliant pianist/singer each night.

The shows were excellent as were the comediens.

The Explore lounge is good too.

Although there were 700 children on the cruise I saw about two that were in the dining room with parents and were well behaved.

We didn't have to wait long either to dine but being only two of us, maybe it was easier to get a table. we loved sitting with different people each night and strangely enough the majority of them were teachers. My friend was a head Mistress so it was good for her to chat to them.

All in all we had the most fabulous time and didn't want to come home.

[ggprincess2004]

Thanks for taking the time to write a review.:)

 

There is an additional adult only pool forward on the ship, with hot tubs. No kids.

 

It is unfortunate that the teens were inadequately supervised by responsible adults (parents) and allowed to run wild on the ship. It is one reason we do not choose 7 day cruises during spring break season.

[momphoto]

We were on the Ruby mid march and also had over 500 kids on board of which 300 were teens. Surprisingly on our cruise we did not have any issues with the teens. They were all so well behaved and the most times we saw them as groups was at night around MUTS when a good movie was showing...they would sit in the hot tubs and watch, but never a problem.

 

I actually found the nightlife to be busy with some nights too many activities going on. Club Fusion was always hopping as was Explorers. Crooners is the piano bar by the shops and was always busy. Did they have a deck party at all your week?? We had a big St. Patricks day night time pool/deck party which was a big hit.

 

My 13 year old daughter and I would go to the spa each day and use the steam room and sauna. We were not allowed to use the pool/hot tubs as it was adults only, but did notice it was quiet all the time with lots of empty loungers?

 

We have sailed with Carnival, RCCL, Celebrity, HAL but have to say this Princess cruise was our favorite and can't wait to said with them again!

 

 

Thanks for the review!

[winli02]

I was on the same cruise and thought I would chime in on some of your points (basically, to agree with you! :))

 

I knew there was gonna be tons of kids on this trip, while I did not see MANY running wild but the elevator thing (pushing all the buttons) was a serious pain. Sometimes I just wanted to get back to my room ASAP and I was stuck on an elevator where every button had been pushed by the exiting teen. Not cool.

 

I did not have an excursion booked for GC but I can feel the pain of those who did. On the tender over, there were many ppl who had no clue they no longer had their excursion until the very last minute and many had planned their vacation because of the excursion. Not Princess's fault, but still upsetting.

 

TOTALLY agree about bargaining. I got a sterling mystic topaz ring in Cozumel. The guy was like "it's $80". I KNOW there is no way that is what it is worth. So I start to walk away. All of a sudden, he decides it's $75. I say "not what I am looking to spend". He says "how much?" I say "40". He says "impossible, let me talk to the boss". He comes back with 60. I say, "sorry too much". He looks at me and say "50?". I say " here is $40 cash...can I have the ring?" Deal done.

 

As far as nightlife, we did a few shows and were not totally impressed. Since we are not club ppl, it WAS kinda hard to keep entertained at night. Many of the MUTS movies were concerts and we could only lose so much in the casino. Having not gone on other lines, I don't know what would have kept us "entertained"...Again, I cannot complain since there WERE some things to do....just not things we were interested in.

 

Overall, I had a nice time, but do agree with many of your observations!

 

 

One woman I sat next to on a tender said she actually had to reprimand a group of teens who were screaming and pushing all the buttons in the elevators.

 

We were a bit upset that no announcement was made to let anyone know about the tours, and we only found out when we went to the excursions desk to ask about the timing of the tour.

NEVER PAY THE FIRST PRICE THEY ASK OF YOU! It may seem awkward to bargain, but this is part of the fun and is expected. You aren't insulting anyone as long as you do it politely and have a good time.

I saw that someone else mentioned the lack of nightlife on the ship, and I have to agree.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the review.

Unfortunatley the amount of kids is what you get on spring break with shorter cruises.

[WeBeGone]

WOW - are you sure you were on the Ruby? We were on the 3/28 sailing and found our experience to be the total opposite as yours. We love all the little eating/drinking areas but you do have to pay attention to the hours. We never waited for an anytime dining table (not once!) Club Fusion and Skywalkers were rockin! The buffet was open on both sides during the stated open hours. Unless you're actually sitting in the MUTS area, we didn't hear anything in any other areas of the ship.

Guess to each his own.

[mjkbaok]

WOW - are you sure you were on the Ruby? We were on the 3/28 sailing and found our experience to be the total opposite as yours. We love all the little eating/drinking areas but you do have to pay attention to the hours. We never waited for an anytime dining table (not once!) Club Fusion and Skywalkers were rockin! The buffet was open on both sides during the stated open hours. Unless you're actually sitting in the MUTS area, we didn't hear anything in any other areas of the ship.

Guess to each his own.

 

 

My thoughts too. We didn't go to many of the clubs, but we never had a problem at AD. I think I noticed once that one side of the Cafe Caribe was closed but it was only a few steps to the other side which isnt really a problem. I miss the fish and chips in the Wheelhouse Pub:D