Cruise Raider

We now have bottles of liquid soap in the cabins. It’s very lightly scented. I actually really like it so haven’t looked into the bar soap but when we see our room steward, I will ask him if it is still available.

thanks so much J

This cabin i world’s apart from that other one. It does not have a mini fridge and they were going to replace it but we told them it just didn’t matter to us. Also, just found out the TV doesn’t work … it Is just the remote needling new batteries. Not a big deal on that either. We will just have them replace the batteries tomorrow. That ought to do the trick. We are in for the night after a kind of stressful day. Tomorrow’s outlook looks a lot brighter since we have a much better chance of being rested. I am also positive that’s were the noise was coming from.. the CG kitchen. That was just awful.

So, just to add, we found the casino on this cruise to be very crowded and smoky. also, a lot of passengers have been attending the naturally lectures. I’ve never seen a cruise where the piazza, Good Spirits and Vines is so empty after dinner.

They didn’t check our ArriveCAN on a previous cruise and it’s all digital so didn’t really expect them to do so. What struck me as odd was that they did check that for this current cruise. They are keeping us on our toes.

Absolutely you can! If you bring on more than your allotted amount, they will place a sticker on each bottle you intend to drink outside of your cabin. They will charge the corkage for those particular bottles and you can always take them into the dining room or take a glass of wine anywhere throughout the ship.

The current corkage fee on Princess is now $20 per bottle (I’ve seen some still just charge $15 a bottle) and yes, you can take on one bottle to be consumed in your stateroom free of charge per person with up to two bottles per stateroom. Again, you may be able to get in with three bottles even if you are all in one stateroom. I’m not suggesting to cheat the system, just mentioning the reality of what is being done.

I am really rather surprised at the lack of interest in viewing the test results for boarding a cruise in the US but nobody was even checking them. Canada’s rules are a bit more stringent, at that. We had to get our test no more than 72 hours prior to boarding, whereas we’d usually go first thing in the morning 3 days prior to our cruise. I wasn’t sure how I felt about dropping the testing requirements but now we have treatments, I would just as soon they dropped it all. It is rather nice to see to crew being a little more relaxed about their masking requirements. I’m really kind of hope they can ditch their masks one day soon. It is so tough on them to wear a those masks every time they are outside of their cabins. I’m ready to see their smiling faces again.

The comedian was named Buddy Fitzpatrick. The entertainer at Crooners is Funch and the guitarist at the wheelhouse is Guidon Alcide. The latter of the two are very talented and would go to watch either of them again. The naturalist is Tess Julianna. Her topics are very interesting and she can be funny at times, but her public speaking skills could use a bit of work. I wouldn’t cast her aside, though … she is knowledgeable on the topics she speaks about. We were just onboard a few weeks ago with Ranger John and he was a hard act to follow. I was finding myself sad his daily lectures came to an end after an hour. We also attended a demonstration with Kelly White (I think that was his name) of the Tlingit tribe that carved totem poles on the cruise a few weeks back .. he was so very interesting and engaging. I’m not seeing the same types of authentic Alaska experiences on this trip. It’s not that I’m really disappointed for us, it just seems much more subdued and somewhat lacking, especially for those that weren’t just previously on an Alaskan cruise.

I completed my ArriveCAN app prior to getting my test results and the QR code. They did check my QR code for that app when we boarded. I still have a screen print of my negative CoVid test results so not sure how they are going to handle that when the time comes. Prince Rupert will be our Port fifth Call on this sailing. We followed the rules so i am just not worried but am on a B2B where we hit Canada in the second leg of the cruise and was told that the test for the first leg of the cruise would not be valid for Canada but also that Princess wouldn’t be conducted the tests for us for B2Bs. If they refuse to let us stay onboard, we will just collect the FCCs through our Princess vacation protection and head on home… not necessarily in that order. I’m not going to get too concerned over it at this point. Canada’s rules seem kind of strict in terms of CoVid testing but then nobody even bothered to check them when we boarded. It’s all kind of ridiculous to me at this point. thanks for the great cruise wishes.

We were in E630 and were moved to E318, which seems to be worlds better so far. I would steer very clear from E630 on future cruise on this class of ships. And ,,. thank you so much!

I believe we were above the Crown Grill kitchen area. We are not sure of WTH origin of that noise but I’m absolutely sure it is a known problem area.

So … here is the good, the bad and the ugly … not too much bad or ugly! I promise! Don’t mind the title of this post … the WiFi is not fabulous. We are currently on the Ruby and two days in to our current trip. Let me start by saying that the Ruby is one of our favorite Princess ships …mostly because of the amazing staff and crew. We always try to overlook the small things and realize life is not perfect anywhere and just appreciate where we are at the moment. We’ve cruised on the Ruby several times since the restart and are quite flexible with the ever changing requirements and restrictions. We boarded a couple of days ago and embarkation was preset much of a breeze, we left our home in the San Francisco East Bay and showed up at Pier 27 just before 11:00 AM. Our embarkation time was at 11:00 AM and I’m thinking we were onboard not too long after that after a quick check in and a short wait in the terminal. Just of note, the terminal is still requiring masking and they hand out masks at the entrance. It was very quick and easy. BTW, our cruise is going up into Canada and they never checked our CoVid test results although, they did check out vaccination cards. The check in staff said they don’t need the covid test results. Ours were negative so really didn’t care, although I found that interesting. We embarked and dropped of our carry on luggage in the room and met up with friends in Vines before noon. We were greeted by the amazing staff at Vines! They were out of some great California wines that we e gotten onboard n previous cruises but, never fear, they did unpack many of those wines back onboard, unpacked and again as available as of yesterday. I don’t really think the introduction of the premium package has impacted our enjoyment of having nice wines. They do still just charge the overage if you surpass the $12 limit of the princess plus. We were greeted by one of the best restaurant managers in the DaVinci for our embarkation lunch. Oh wow, this one was amazing! Great food, great service, great table! Because we’ve cruised on the Ruby very recently, we knew some of the amazing people onboard. I don’t know how they all remember us but they did! After lunch, we checked in at our muster station and proceeded to a quite lounge to listen to the muster drill instructions on our devices, after which we headed up to our cabin to find our checked piece of luggage at the door to our cabin. Shortly after that, we headed upstairs for Sail Away. We were set to cruise out at 4 PM but didn’t do so until after 5:30 PM. We had reservations for dinner at 6:20 PM for dinner but wanted to stop up in up at Skywalkers at the PES lounge to meet up with a staff member we’ve met on a previous cruise. Of course, we had a very warm greeting. For us, that’s what cruising is about. Even though we were a little late for dinner, our favorite restaurant manager had a table waiting for us and in the same location with the same waiter we were previously assigned. My goodness, the Alaskan Cod and short ribs were amazing. From there, we checked out the show in the theater. It was a comedian and he was not at all funny. We sneaked out about halfway through what was a very non-comedic show. We stopped by Crooners and the piano player was just not very engaging. We are used to cruises where that hasn’t been the case. We even stopped by the Wheelhouse bar and down to the piazza. It was just very low key and even Good Spirits was dead. The entertainers were just not very engaging with the audience like we’ve experienced in the past. I must admit, we thought the entertainment suffered quite a bit since our last cruise, but I am so happy to report, that the following night, the guest entertainers in both Crooners and in the Wheelhouse were just ON FIRE! So happy to report the improvement. We all get tired and I am sure that was all that was happening on the first night. Anyway, that first night we are in our room, OMG, it was so noisy. I tend to research my room choice very carefully and while we love staying the Emerald deck, we booked rather last minute so did take what was left. Never again! Our room nosies kept us up all night long .. not regular ship creams and cracking but both metal banging, awful chair scraping type noises and mechanical nosies that work us up through the night. Coupled with the late night and early morning door slammers, we were pretty miserable by the morning with a night of very interrupted sleep. Well. Just one night, right? Nope! Anyway, the next day, which was the first full day of the cruise, we had breakfast in the dining room, it was delicious and we had excellent service. My app was acting up and so tried to log in using my cabin number and in the casino so went to guest services. Magically, it started working. That may have very well been me so no harm, no foul on Princess or the app. The point being, the associate at guest services was very patient and professional. I also explained our room noise from the previous night and he sent someone up to see if the day time noise was severe. Now, I’m aware this room has had previous complaints about being noisy but the maintenance supervisors they send up don’t necessarily want to admit to this. Well. We learned that this cruise is pretty full, with 2400 passengers onboard, so there are few cabin options for us at this point. The clanking and abging wre much wore the following night so we had to actually call them in the middle of the night to validate the nosie. Of course there again, the nose just stops before the night maintenance supervisor got there. I attempted to have guest services hear it over the phone. They said they couldn’t hear it. Whether or not that was true, one of the ore senior guest services staff did call us and offer us another room to sleep in for the night. We opted to just move cabins the next day as it was lar3cy in the wee hours of the morning. We contacted guest services in the morning as instructed because we knew our room was going to consistently create a severe lack of sleep for us. We were agreeable to take an inside cabin vs the only other obstructed view cabin they had available. After another sleepless night, we actually agreed to try the other obstructed view cabin as my DH just hates inside cabins. We packed up and got help moving all our belongings to the new room and are praying for a more peaceful night tonight. One thing we’ve noticed is that the AC works so much better in the new stateroom. It is missing a refrigerator and they’ve offered to replace it, we just don’t care about that, though. Our new room steward as well as our former room steward are fabulous. The entire staff is fabulous and we certainly appreciate guest services attempts at a decent stateroom. We don’t expect or need any unreasonable request but a room with a decent chance to sleep is most appreciated. For now,, the food and drink hve be great, the service has been phenomenal and the entertainment has been improving. I am sure after some sleep, our experience ex will be greatly improved. Another couple random observations, the public bathrooms need some ongoing maintenance. For the most part, the furniture in the public spaces is in pretty good condition. The room service, no matter your location, has been pretty quick and accurate. They seem to be a bit short on daytime activities and think kids might be bored to tears. The cruise is pretty full with a reported 2400 passengers. Also, the Crown Grill and is open only 7 nights during this sailing and Sabatini’s is open the other three nights. It’s impossible to get a reservation at this point in the cruise for the Crown Grill. We had reservations there for tomorrow night and for Sabatini’s later in the cruise and both have been changed to different nights, without any notification .. we just noticed the change in the app. I am happy to respond to any questions .. and hopefully will repot back with any new happenings. We may have to cut the trip short but that’s another story that I won’t go into.

It is hard to say but I think a couple of different factors are invoked. First of all, it’s not normal ship noise like the night supervisor suggested, otherwise it would be really noisy 24/7. It sounded like someone was clanking metal for over an hour starting at 11:15 PM … we definitely believe it had something to do with venting or from a galley when clean up was taking place. It also sounded like there was a lot of scraping of the balcony chairs and table from the room above ours. I find it hard to believe the neighbors weren’t complaining, too. I’m not sure they hadn’t. A friend of mine researched the room for us here on cruise critic and E630 is known to have a lot of noise. I’m one who usually researches my stateroom choice carefully and didn’t see that. I wish I would have. I’d have just not booked if I had known how awful that was. We are moved into our new room and although our view is directly obstructed more heavily with a tender boat, which can also be noisy, it is quieter than that other cabin. It’s right over the wheelhouse bar so not sure if that will be bothersome but they only are scheduled to play until 11 PM tonight. That’s at least doable for us. It’s the random metal clanking noises that periodically just wake you right up after dozing off that are so very annoying. Some people can sleep through anything .. we are both not like that. If this turns out to be noisy at night, we will just move to an inside cabin. Whereas I could live in a closet, my DH wanted to at least try this one for at least one night. He just needs some natural light. I’m confident we will be much happier in this stateroom. Again, on a more positive note, I can’t say enough great things about the service onboard. This staff is phenomenal.

I was going to start a live from thread on the Ruby and will do so when I can. For now, I just want to note that cabin E630 is so noisy .. we are having to move to another cabin as we haven’t slept much at all in our time onboard so far. That goodness for the guest services staff onboard that have been so helpful in finding a suitable replacement. We are just being moved to another (more obstructed) oceanview cabin down the hall but, it seems like it may be a lot quieter. We can tolerate much more when we have some sleep under our belts. On another note, the food has been excellent and the service has been absolutely stellar in every way. It was just a very poor room choice.

He told me it was fully staffed. We are on the Ruby right now and it appears to be very adequately staffed yet the Crown Grill and Sabatini’s are only open on alternating evenings due to staffing issues. So, who knows?

Well, three of our Royal Princess cruises are showing as currently not available. I spoke with one of my friends that works on the Royal and they aren't controlling capacity ... they are just fully booked. Wow!!

Wow ... you may not enjoy your Princess cruise very much but at least you are giving them a chance to prove it may be well worth your while.

Yes, I think you will get amenities associated with the cabin type ... just not perks that are being offered at the current time.

So, are there four of you in a group?? And you want to switch two of the passengers to another cabin? Of course you can always go to the front desk and just rearrange who has access to the cabin on each medallion? Or you can have each medallions open the doors of both cabins for all of you. If you actually want to switch out cabins on the reservation ahead of time, just make sure one person in the original cabin stays the same so you won't need to make a whole new reservation.

Not for dinner but would love if the breakfast menu in the MDR would include some Turkey based breakfast meat (Turkey sausage or Turkey bacon). I would also love to see some real country style roasted potatoes on the menu. As much as I love those salted giant tater tot triangles, they are really not very good for you. They have both of these items up in the buffet … just wish I could get them along with my sit down breakfast in the dining room. I’m pretty satisfied with the dinner options although, at times, the fish tastes very fishy!

That is now being strongly enforced in both merchandise and on services whereas towards the beginning of the restart, that discount was being applied.

I think the eligible items and services with elite discount are being more strongly enforced now.

It's like you are in the shade so you think, oh good. Then, you realize that it's just like an oven with no breeze. We did find a spot under a cabana that was just perfect ... and free of charge, too. There was plenty of shade plus a nice breeze .. very close to the band and the bar. Much better choice!

In our experience, we just had to go to the casino cage to have the freeplay applied to our account. It’s super quick and simple. When you go to the machine to transfer the money to the machine, just choose the amount of freeplay you want to play. I’m not exactly sure how it works at the tables, though but I’m sure it’s not too difficult. And yes, this is in addition to your other OBC. Very nice .. congrats!