@TexasBrit Hello, we also will be on the Ruby out of Galveston in April for the Panama Canal cruise. To allay some of your concerns, we went on our first cruise since the shutdown in Dec 2022 on the Caribbean Princess. This was our fifth Princess cruise. We had a wonderful time and are really looking forward to the April cruise. We were on the cruise with my daughter and her family, including my 3 grandchildren. We all loved our cruise !
While nothing is perfect in life, overall our cruise was great ! Here are some of our experiences:
- the Medallion. We wore it, but didn’t really use it that much. We used the Patter to know what was going on. Never ordered food or drinks with it. Just went to a bar to get a drink. Easy ! Never had a wait. Worked great to charge to our Princess Plus. Never had any mistakes.
- MDR. Food was good to very good. A couple of times I didn’t care for what I ordered, but waiter was happy to get me something else. I’ve never had so much shrimp on a cruise ! Some nights there were 3 shrimp dishes on the menu. They must have gotten a deal on shrimp for this cruise ! Also alot of fish. It was all very good. Oh, and Tenderloin. They had that many nights on the menu. Ordering Med Rare was touch & go. Sometimes too bloody & sometimes too overcooked. But waiter happy to get me a different one if I didn’t like the one I got. Waiter & Asst were best we’ve had in a long time, maybe ever ! Would do anything you asked. I did think they were overworked & didn’t get much time off. I tipped them extra at the end of the cruise. Also, we were able to get the same table & staff for the entire cruise. We also ate at the Grill & pizza places around the pool for lunches. All good.
- Entertainment. We went every night. I thought the 3 big production shows were excellent ! Best we’ve seen in a long time. Coming from a musical background, I thought the singers voices were excellent ! And the dancers were very good, too. The other nights were comedians, magician, solo singers, a guest Soprano, musicians. Most were very good. Hey, in our opinion it’s 45 min out of your life, something to do each night. It was all fun.
- Cruise Director Dan & his staff. Excellent ! The best we‘ve ever had. He & the staff made the cruise so fun ! So much to do each day.
- Crown Grill. We ate there one night. It was all very good.
- Room steward. Very nice & very good. Turn down service twice a day without asking. Tipped him extra, too.
I’m trying to remember all the other things people complain about on here, but can’t think of any more things. I realize everyone’s opinion is subjective. But in my opinion, our cruise was great and we’re looking forward to our next one in April !