HaveDogWillTravel

Yes you can get pillows, ice, robes and such thru the ap. When it is during your steward’s regular hours they are usually the one who brings it ( but not always). If it is outside their working hours another crew member will. The ap is like using room service. Ice in particular has almost always not been delivered by my steward. I order a lot of it as so many muscles need to be tended to with it. I always ask my steward what their hours are and only use the phone to call them during those hours and only if the request really cannot wait until the next time I see them. For example I accidentally broke a glass in my cabin during their regular hours and needed a vacuum. I called them and it was taken care of. If it had been outside their hours I would have called guest services since broken glass really needs immediate attention. This has been my experience on many, many sailings since the restart.

great report! Thanks for posting as we all know how challenging the internet is. Posts tend to disappear when you hit post so I found it helpful to copy my post to a notepad, clear my internet history and cookies and try again. on deck 7 aft by the photo people you’ll find the medallion ap people. I have found them very helpful on the Ruby recently. Next time you walk by and there’s no one or very few passengers try letting them help you get the ap working better. They are usually successful.

Wow I had no idea that the longer cruises had so few formal nights. Interesting!

In 81 days of sailing since the restart anything that wasn’t quite right with respect to the ap was quickly rectified once I got to checkin or on the ship. I’ll be back sailing this fall for another 41 days and I will set up things in advance as I can but I won’t worry about it if the ap fails to cooperate. If things are different on the ship than advertised, well I just adapt as needed to continue having a great cruise. Show up with your docs in order, smile and talk nicely to crew…..they will bend over backwards to make everything right

I appreciate some find these to be non trivial issues and I do not mean to invalidate their feelings. I on the other hand do not find even one of these things to be an issue or even something I care about. I am pretty sure I’m not alone.

Formal nights tend to be sea days. But not the last night of a sailing. There are 2 formal nights on a 7 day sailing. On my sailings it was always the 2nd formal night. You can usually take a good guess from the itinerary. You can always ask any head waiter when you board. Or ask someone on a live from or roll call for the sailing just prior to yours.

Thanks for taking the time out of your holiday to do this. If you don’t mind and if it’s convenient would you please ask to see the bottles (and take pictures to post here) of red and white wine that is being pored for the Plus package (up to $12) My understanding is since the introduction of the Premier package (up to $18) the wines for Plus are listed as Red, white or rose. No vineyard or varietal given.

I’ve sailed many times since the restart. On the Ruby lobster was always offered on the second formal night.

The emergency notice is sent out as many folks don’t read their travel summary. Regardless of the cruise line it is really important to read this fine print. Princess has actually greatly improved where they put the info about ArriveCAN. It has been at the very top of the “Important Notices” of the travel summary for some time now. URLs should be copied and pasted as they are not always linked where you just click on it. All of the questions you had were answered in this part of your travel summary. Acceptable proof is outlined in the FAQs but defaulting to hard copies as you did is always a great idea. ‘Last November the ArriveCAN info was buried under CANADIAN VISA REQUIREMENTS waaaay further down in the travel summary. I and many others missed it. As an American I didn’t need a visa so I didn’t read it. Boy that embarkation was a total nightmare. Almost no one had the ArriveCAN ap loaded let alone filled out! But that really taught me a lesson. Read ALL the fine print every time! I am sure you will love the Ruby and her crew! The Yes/No game show, Marriage Match Game and Hollywood Hiccups are usually laugh until your sides ache funny. If Stephanie Hodgdon is on board doing her rock concert I’d highly recommend it (if you like rock concerts that is). If you have a drink package you can call room service and get any number of small bottles of water sent and they will send 4 cocktails or glasses of wine at a time under the package as well. ‘My favorite room service item are the chicken fingers under the kids menu. They are usually excellent, especially paired with a nice salad. Room service salads are small so I always order 2. Enjoy the Ruby! Notifications COVID-19 VACCINATION REQUIREMENT Please be advised that guests 5 years and older on this voyage are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and meet the following requirements: - have received their final dose of an authorized COVID-19 vaccine at least 14 days before the beginning of the cruise and produce proof of vaccination at terminal check-in. Boosters are recommended for eligible guests at least seven days before embarkation. - produce acceptable proof of a negative viral COVID-19 test (PCR or antigen) taken before or at embarkation (for guests 2 years and older). For required timing and details, please visit https://*****/pcl_ustest - complete ArriveCAN at https://*****/arrivecan within 72 hours of your cruise embarkation and enter proof of vaccination and travel information. Travel requirements are subject to change and vary by destination. Check our CruiseHealth FAQs (https://*****/pcl_usfaq), Princess communications and official government sites often for specifics for your voyage.

There is no sound when your medallion activates your door.

This is the coupon book I was emailed Jan 6th of this year. I’m not surprised they’ve got an updated one.

Ask on the roll call for her first sailing.

Here’s the wine we were given

Here you go. This is this years coupon book. I will post a picture of the lovely red wine we were given free in Crown grill on the Ruby. It was quite drinkable. . Print the coupon (or have GS do it for you) and give it to your waiter when you are seated. I’ve also used the extra $100 off in the Effy store. I struck my best deal with the clerk then asked about the coupon and they shaved another hundred off. I had a bunch of non refundable OBC to use. And I used the free casino money.

Generally speaking it is the mini suites with a shower over the tub. The name can be misleading as these are not full suites. A balcony cabin will have a walk-in shower and no tub. A full suite will have a walk-in shower and separate tub (usually jetted). If you look at the deck plans and click on any particular cabin it will give a diagram and the square footage. I hope others with more experience regarding how well a wheel chair will fit in a balcony cabin will pipe in. Of course full suites would have plenty of room.

That’s pretty funny. No one’s on their balconies because of the stench from that smoke. I pay a lot of money to use that balcony and I should not be denied that part of my cabin. This was never a problem pre Covid. It is long past time the crew goes back to their pre Covid smoking areas. They are no longer socially distanced anywhere else on the ship or in their quarters. The crew bars are open and so on. Moreover, all passengers should be given access to the aft promenade for their exercise and/or leisure.

I just thought it might illustrate just how rich we are in terms of wineries. I’m sure it is not a complete list.

This is a fun link. It’s like living in the middle of a candy store but better. Going to wineries for an afternoon or evening picnic with live music is an easy & common pastime. You could go everyday and never go to the same winery twice. The wine is excellent. This is why I have a hard drinking wine that is less than. https://discovercaliforniawines.com/wine-map-winery-directory/

That’s hilarious! On every post cruise survey since the restart I have complained about the negative impact the aft smoking area has had on my cruise…..from loss of use of the promenade to being unable to use my balcony. That is 10 surveys with a plethora of complaints in them about this issue. I will have to email them and ask them to revisit their “no complaints” stance.

@seagunthera This thread might be useful. The sapphire has not had passengers so it may not have the same issues with regards to aft promenade. The noise issues should be similar and the starboard aft has been the smoking area on all Princess ships with a promenade that I’ve been on.

It was true as recently as June 9th on the Ruby. Please let your experience speak for itself. A lot of negative comments are posted because folks without something to complain about have gone home and moved on. They don’t post nearly as much. 81 days since the restart and I’ve had much more good than not. I can’t wait for summer to be over so I can sail again!

I am really enjoying your live from. Thank you for taking the time to do it. Congratulations on making 100 days of sailing Covid free. I made 81 days so far 🙂. Those protocols help in my opinion. I’d like to start taking more PCL tours but I’ve found them to be way too crowded. I’m wondering if you knew in advance that you would be on such uncrowded busses? And if so how did find out? What would you do if you went to get on the bus and found it packed? I’ve not read this entire thread but I will and see if you discussed how you managed to feel safe and stay Covid free on the long plane ride to get overseas. Thanks` again for all the pictures and posts!

Yes I have and as @caribillstates the HGM gave those reasons. However, now that crew restrictions have vastly relaxed from what they were when I was told that there is no reason the indoor crew smoking area should remain closed. When that explanation was given to me the crew were not allowed off ship, the crew bar was closed, the crew dining area was closed, the crew were not allowed to have parties or even socialize outside of their work team. None of those things are the case anymore. Hence I will want to know why the old crew smoking areas are not open. That said I have a Dolphin deck Vista on the Sapphire, the Baja deck grand suites on the Diamond and Sapphire booked. So cleeeeeeearly I am addicted to aft facing suites. I know I have a problem.

Both sea days and port days. Of course some port days I’d be off the ship for a large part of the day. The stench would be intermittent and not typically constant. However there were several occasions where I was forced to vacate the balcony for a longer period of time. We’d be eating lunch on the balcony at our table and it would be overwhelming for several minutes then be gone as the wind changed. Same thing would happen during my early morning coffee times. There were times I’d wake up at midnight and go out to watch the stars and would have to retreat back inside and shut the door it was so bad. That said there were plenty of times that I didn’t smell it and did get to enjoy the balcony. For the price I pay for those full suites I feel I should be able to use the balcony 100% of the time. As it’s now been a year since the restart my patience is growing thin with regards to this. If I find my meals or naps disturbed by smoke on my 2 week sailing to Hawaii this November I will speak to the HGM on board. Just as a point of reference I’ve sailed 27 days in the aft facing suites , vista (Ruby), penthouse (Ruby) and owners (Grand) since the restart. The Aloha deck penthouse was the only one where it was not that big a deal. However I often couldn’t stand at the balcony as the smoke would be noticeable there. But it wasn’t when sitting at the table or sleeping on the lounger. So that made it bearable.

I sail aft facing cabins almost exclusively. I last debarked the Ruby on June 9th and the entire aft promenade was closed and used by crew for smoking almost all the time. Occasionally I’d find it open on a sea day for a while. The smoke will permeate up to Baja deck. Of course with it being worse the lower you are. The only aft cabin I found with a minimal intrusion was an Aloha deck penthouse. Even up there it still woke me up from my afternoon nap more than once. On the Dolphin deck Vista suite in April it was terrible. That said no one knows if this crew smoking on the promenade will continue or not.