Ruby Princess 12/4 Southern Carib Review

[mrobinson]

Just returned from 10 day Southern Caribbean cruise on Ruby Princess. This was our 6th Princess cruise - we are married couple in our 50's.

 

Stayed overnight at the Park Hyatt at Ft. Lauderdale. Cost was $95 -including taxes. It included free shuttle from airport to hotel, hotel to terminal and continental breakfast. Loved the hotel we would stay there again.

 

We were Platinum status and got to use the Pre-boarding lounge at terminal. We were on the ship by 11:45 -in our Lido balconey room.

 

Shows: We saw all 3 production shows -they were all new. The last one - "Once Upon a Dream" was the best show that I've ever seen on a cruise ship - fantastic.

 

Hypnotist show- best non production show- my husband volunteered along with 19 others to be hypnotised. It was hilarious and worth the entire cruise to see him make a fool of himself.

 

MUTS: Mainly was football games on Sat, Sun and Monday. Saw Star Trek one night.

 

Pools - never had trouble getting a lounge - we usually lay out on upper decks above the Lotus Spa. The Santuary area looks wonderful but I can't see spending $150 per week per person for it - unless money was no object.

 

Chef's Table: we did splurge on this and it was fantastic. Loved the tour of the galley, the wine pairing and all the food. It was also nice having all the individual waiter attention -talk about fast service. We all got tipsy on all the champage, white/red /desert wine. After dinner - I had to go back to room and lay down - the alchohal and all the food did me in.

 

Anytime Dining: We mainly ate in the Michaelango dining room. They seemed to be better organized on handling the crowds. Couple of times we got a pager but only waited 5 minutes. Food was great- no complaints however overall service seemed slower than normal. We shared tables and usually were there at least 2 plus hours. A lot of times there was only one waiter for the table. No assistant waiter -so that probably slowed the serving time down. Everyone was commenting on how long the dinners were taking.

 

International Cafe: Our first ship that had it - we loved it. Ate lunch there several times.

 

Ports: St. Thomas- did a 6 person all day sail/snorkel wiht Island Girl. Best excursion ever.

 

Dominica: went snorkeling at Champagne Reef -loved the bubbles. Our river tubing with Antours was cancelled at last minute due to heavy rains the prior evening that caused the river to be high and too dangerous. Understandable but disappointing. This is a very very very poor country. Probably poorest I've ever seen.

 

Grenda: Did a land tour with A&E Tours and saw spice plantation, fort, rum distillery. Enjoyed it very much. Poor country but not as poor as Dominica - very pretty.

 

Bonaire- did snorkeling with Woodwind. Heavy winds made it very adventursome. Probably the hardest snorkeling I've ever done but also the best in what we saw. The tour people were also best on safety and instructions.

 

Aruba: Took the bus to Palm Beach and layed out at free lounges on Momba restaurant. Had lunch there -very relaxing, water was beautiful and warm.

 

This was our first 10 day cruise and we definately liked doing 10 days. It is the perfect length. One comment is that the first thing we noticed was that the average age on cruise was very old -oldest I've seen. A lot of late 70's, 80's -with a lot of motorized scooters. Didn't bother us much but it was very noticable and different from what we've seen on our 7 day cruises - however we would do a 10 day cruise again.

 

We had a great time on the Ruby Princess and can't wait for our next cruise.

 

Mary

[choochella]

Mary, glad you enjoyed your 10 day. We also started with 7 day cruises, but switched over to 10 days. That extra 3 days really makes a difference. We did this same itinerary, only during Halloween. We had a great time. In St. Thomas, we did a snorkeling tour with Castaway Girl. It took us to Buck Island. Lots of beautiful fish. There is a sunken ship there as well. We also saw an octopus, and a stingray. Kind of cool. And, the rum punch on the way back was a good end to the excursion. In Aruba, we rented a Harley Davidson and toured the island with a guide. Second time doing this. We just love it.

 

We just walked around Bonaire and Dominica. We went to Grand Anse beach in Grenada.

 

I think we will probably do another 10 day in the fall, but maybe try the other route. (Antigua, St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Kitts, etc) You may want to look into that itinerary if you're planning another fall 10 day. The Ruby is a great ship!

 

Karen

[nanfromatlanta]

Thanks for posting your review. We sail on the Ruby in 5 days...WOO-HOO!!

 

Did they have the sailaway seafood buffet in Cafe Caribe on the first night?

[geocruiser]

Hi,

 

We were also on this sailing. We had a great time. I thought the food was very good. The ship was beautiful and the staff great. This was cruise #7 on Princess. I will go back.

 

Maria

[Coolmama_1]

Thanks for great review. Sounds like you had a fabulous time!

[flac4vert]

Great review Mary. We are currently onboard and find it to be pretty much a spot on cruise. Had problems initially with AC in the cabin but it was taken care of straight away. No complaints about this ship and our second time onboard the Ruby. I'm glad to be back onboard princess a welcome change from NCL.

[Carolyn R]

Did you get to meet Jan the headwaiter in the Michelangelo dining room? :)

[sherman931]

Thanks for the review.....love the Ruby.

[theriotfish]

In Aruba, we rented a Harley Davidson and toured the island with a guide. Second time doing this. We just love it.

 

Karen

 

 

Who did you contact to do this excursion? I would really enjoy to do this on our first cruise.

[Woobstr112G]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review. Glad you enjoyed your cruise.....:):):)

 

Bob

[Hamburg Girl]

Thanks for the review, this is really helpful. We are going to do the same cruise starting Dec 30th. We like to snorkel and hike. So which one is the better hiking experience, Grenada or Dominica? and which is the best snorkeling???

 

Thanks

[CL-JW]

Thanks for your review - we sailed Ruby on her maiden voyage and this brings back nice memories.:)

[OnVacation11]

Thanks for the review ! We will be sailing on the Ruby in 4 days... can't wait!!! Reading the reviews makes the cruise so much more real .

[choochella]

Who did you contact to do this excursion? I would really enjoy to do this on our first cruise.

 

This is the second time we've done this excursion in Aruba. We rented right from the local Harley shop. The name is Big Twin Harley. You can go to their web site and sign up for a rental from there. And, if you are a HOG member, you get an additional discount. Renee` normally does the tours. He will take you pretty much where you want to go, or what you're interested in as long as time allows. You can rent for a half day, which is how long the tour is. Or, rent for the whole day. Do a half day tour, then the remainder of the day on your own. Check out their web site. Everything is listed there.

 

Since I was riding with my husband, we rented an Ultra Classic, since that is what we have at home. But, they also have Road Kings and a few others if you are riding alone.

 

Hope this helps. Let me know if you need more info.

 

Karen

[ibfern]

Just returned from 10 day Southern Caribbean cruise on Ruby Princess. This was our 6th Princess cruise - we are married couple in our 50's.

 

Mary

 

Thanks for posting this Mary, we follow you in this same cruise over New Years!

[Liz54]

We are in a Lido Balcony room on the Ruby in February. Can you let me know how you liked that location. Was it noisy? Was it rough being so high up and forward? Was the balcony windy?

 

Thanks for the review!

[ojaidenny]

We also did this cruise and had a wonderful time.

I feel I do not need to write a review as Mary wrote mostly what I would have written. We also stayed at the Hyatt and would again.

We spent most of our on board time in the rear area of the ship, quite and no problem finding seating.

"Once Upon a Dream", I also felt it was the best show that I've ever seen on a cruise ship.

Dining, we did 50/50 dining room/carib court. Once we found Kristina and Samu Rai in the Di Vinci dining room, our service was wonderful.

Ports: St. Thomas - we did the Island Girl with Mary and had a wonderful sail and snorkel. The first mate made the trip. She swam with us pointing out different fish and diving for things to show us. I felt the captain was there to sail the boat and probably wishes he were somewhere else. Paying the bills. If we do this again, would probably try another boat.

Dominica - Did the tour with Levi's bumpiingtours. Fun day with driver Gary. He made the trip as it was a full day with the stops very busy with other tours. Titou Gorge was worth every minute of the day. We got poured on and the water was a little cold, current was greater than usual because of all the rain, but still fun. Trafalgar falls and hot springs was beautiful. Again we were poured on during the short hike and breathtaking views. Did not take the water camera on hike, but Gary assisted in keeping it dry as we walked over the rocks and sat in the warm water. Fun Day!

Bonair - Snorkeled with Renee. After the first stop we were wondering if we were wasting our time. It was about two blocks behind the ship and water not really that clear, very few fish. I don't know why she stops here. Second stop was worth the whole day. Great snorkel! I read a "live on the Ruby, 11/4" and I think they went to the same snorkeling place on their own for the price of a taxi. I would recommend that. Renee was great in pointing out the different fish, but you could save some $$ doing it on your own.

Also our first 10 day, perfect length.

[Princess Cruiser27]

Thanks for your review of the Ruby. I was also on the Maiden Voyage of the Ruby.

[versuco]

Thanks for posting your review. We sail on the Ruby in 5 days...WOO-HOO!!

 

Did they have the sailaway seafood buffet in Cafe Caribe on the first night?

 

We were also on this sailing - and yes there was an awesome seafood buffet the first night. Enjoy your vacation.

[geocruiser]

Liz54,

We were in cabin L-235. It was great. There was no noise.

Maria

[Tak8]

Thanks for the review. Looking forward to seeing The Ruby on Sunday.

[mrobinson]

We were in cablin L-247 and it was fine. No noise - love the location.

[jawouds]

We were on the 12/4 Ruby cruise also. I would add a word of caution for future Ruby cruisers. We were watching MUTS on the balcony to the right of the screen and were pelted by black oily soot one night during the movie. It hit our eyes (and I wear glasses) and caused eye irritation for two days. Our clothes had black streaks, faces and hair were also a mess. The shower floor was black when I got in. Now I realize that accidents can happen, but apparently this was a planned event as they said they had to do this when the engine was running. Seems like the engine was still running AFTER the movie, but what do I know. I DO know that no one EVER apologized. About twenty people were affected, some even on the main deck. My husband asked whether the ship would clean the clothes we had on and they called us over to look at us. One look and they told us to bring them to the purser's desk and we'd have a complimentary cleaning. We did, but there was a $16 charge on our final bill. And still no apology. This left a bad taste for Ruby and I would caution folks not to sit in the upper right balcony for MUTS as I'm not sure when or how often they need to "clean" their stacks. There certainly was no warning. I would also emphasize to future Ruby guests that it truly was the most geriatric cruise we have ever been on in 14 cruises. We were with two other couples in their 50s and we felt very young. Most were in their 70s and 80s. The ship is lovely and the food and service good, but I would be very hesitant to return.

[Infi]

Thanks for the review. Can any of the recent Ruby cruisers tell me what nights were the Italian and Chef's dinners? Thanks in advance!