LIVE from the Ruby Princess - Grand Mediterranean, July 4-16

[Sailaways_]

hi everyone,

I saw there's already a live thread on here, but the more the merrier, right? Mine will be more about the ship and what's going on onboard. hopefully it will be helpful for anyone sailing this awesome itinerary soon :)

 

boarding in Venice was AWFUL, very chaotic and disorganized! It didn't help either that the temperatures were in the high 80s and very humid...totally not the best environment for boarding and dragging luggage! There was no signage directing you where to take your luggage (which ended up being a mysterious tent for all the ships in port far from the water taxis/Alilaguna dropoff points...it was very disorganized inside the tent and I was worried our luggage could get sent to another ship!) and the Princess reps outside the terminal spoke very little English and couldn't help. I understand we're in Venice, but I hoped they would put some more fluent or knowledgeable people outside. Twice we were told the wrong place to take our luggage :eek: If you sail out of Venice, pack light and be prepared to drag your luggage for miles, if not days, and over lots of bridges. it's a tough city for luggage and getting to the port!

 

Many people left the ship to explore Venice, and dinner on the first night was very empty. Princess does provide you with transfers to get to St. Mark's on a private vaporetto. If you don't use the transfers provided, you can return them to passenger services for a $15 refund. We stayed on the ship and were super glad we did - there was a terrible thunderstorm that night in Venice - eek!

 

Today we're sailing towards Athens, our second day at sea. The seas have been very calm, almost like glass, which surprised me because I have heard the Adriatic can be iffy. The temps are very hot and humid - 89F is the high today. If you're going on this cruise, be sure to bring lots of sunscreen and clothes suitable for HOT weather.

 

Food is good. The international cafe is very empty (don't share the secret ;)) Entertainment has been okay so far. The first night was a concert by Venice chamber orchestra. They were very good. Last night (after sailing out of Venice) was the traditional welcome aboard show. The comedian Al Brown is British and pretty awful and cheesy. at first I thought I just didn't get the British humor, but I spoke to some people from the UK and they thought he was pretty terrible too, lol.

 

Now the obligatory info:

Captain: Tony Draper

CD: Lisa Ball

ACD: Eric

Maitre D': Generoso

 

Any questions, let me know! I'll check in every day. :)

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the live.

 

Enjoy!

[janina]

Hope you enjoy your cruise. It's hot everywhere!!:):)

[mtaylor04]

Thanks for doing this "live" thread! Enjoy your cruise :)

[Sailaways_]

just checking in again! Nobody asked any questions :( so you'll be subjected to some random babbling about the ship. :D We had a hot day in Athens, not as hot as usual, according to our driver, but pretty brutal regardless. High of 89F and no shade is rough! The Acropolis especially was very crowded due to a strike scheduled for tomorrow (all the tourist sites will be closed then). Piraeus is very clean and nice, as a port city I was expecting much less. Princess docks at Terminal B, and there are shuttle busses that run you from there to Terminal A, where the taxis and private tours meet.

we left port late, almost at 8pm (we were scheduled to leave at 6:45pm). Captain Draper made an announcement for a few missing people and waited close to an hour for them. Don't know if they showed up, but if they didn't, they're kinda screwed bc the ship collected all our passports on the first day due to the stops in Turkey.

Entertainment: both last night and tonight's have been the same, the production show Broadway Ballroom (excellent as always :) and worth seeing) and comedian/juggler Neils Dinkler. as for the juggler....let's just say he errs more on the side of juggling than cheesy comedy. he's not a bad juggle, but don't lose any sleep if you miss his show ;)

we were last on the Ruby 6 months ago and have noticed some small changes so far, so I'll add them here:

-Every passenger stateroom gets a Princess tote bag (think recylclable grocery bag type)...nice touch!

-Marinated mushrooms replaced by marinated veggie salad in IC

-The Question of the Day still remains on the Wake Show, but the Name that Tune has disappeared. (The QOTD prize is a free drink in Adagio, FYI)

-I finally won at trivia! (this is definitely something that has changed since last cruise :rolleyes:) And the prize was another type of Princess tote bag, woohoo!

-The port lecturer, Hutch, is fantastic! If you're doing this cruise soon, his presentations on the ports are a must see. He really tells you everything yuo need to know about DIY, common pitfalls, and shows pictures of the port areas, sites, and little details so you know what to expect. I heard some people complaining they were too long (they do last about 1.15 hours), but I think they're awesome!

Any questions, just let me know! We arrive in Kusadasi tomorrow morning at 7am and stay until 1pm.

[Not an Essex Girl]

HI

 

Thanks for doing a "live From" we are on this same cruise on the 28th july

 

so am interested in your findings of the ship

 

We sailed on the ruby last yr too

 

I see you said that lisa is the cruise director she was on there last yr

 

Have you been up to the Sanctuary at all - is there many people up there

 

 

Have you met Godwin in the Davinci dining room - he is fab

 

 

Tina

[FunHunter]

Your "babbling" is WONDERFUL! I'm on the Ruby on August 22nd, and although I haven't thought of any questions yet, I'm sure to come up with something in the next five days! See: What type of room are you in? Did you sign up for Shore Excursions, or are you DYT?

 

Thanks again!

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the continued live posts. :)

[mtaylor04]

Thanks for the update :) are there many kids on board?

[Twotanks]

Thanks for your postings - we are on the Ruby next week.

[TracieABD]

Thanks for taking us on your vacation!:)

[Flyer]

Your comments are great. Keep it up. For us we don't go until next May so the more rambling I read the better. Have a great vacation. Oops, sorry I meant to say babbling. :)

[srpilo]

Nice !!! :)

[vantec]

Thank you for all the information you are posting, we are going on this cruise in September - starting from Barcelona. My question is regarding the passports - I don't remember reading anywhere else that they are collected at the beginning of the cruise. Don't you need them when you are touring at each port? Do we need to make copies of the passports, or bring additional ID?

[seamwoman]

We were on the Ruby in May. We had no problem embarking. They took our bags where the van from the Piazzale Roma let us out and they turned up in our cabin! We did walk quite a distance to the ship. The real embarkation was nothing -5 minutes! We loved the ship. The shows were fabulous. Godwin was super! We had to miss Athens because of strikes but had an extra day in Venice which we enjoyed. Ephesus was my favorite sightseeing day so enjoy it! I loved the sailaway from Venice and the sail in to Mykonos, Istanbul and Monte Carlo! I look forward to your future posts.

[Jeniceves]

just checking in again! Nobody asked any questions :( so you'll be subjected to some random babbling about the ship. :D We had a hot day in Athens, not as hot as usual, according to our driver, but pretty brutal regardless. High of 89F and no shade is rough! The Acropolis especially was very crowded due to a strike scheduled for tomorrow (all the tourist sites will be closed then). Piraeus is very clean and nice, as a port city I was expecting much less. Princess docks at Terminal B, and there are shuttle busses that run you from there to Terminal A, where the taxis and private tours meet.

we left port late, almost at 8pm (we were scheduled to leave at 6:45pm). Captain Draper made an announcement for a few missing people and waited close to an hour for them. Don't know if they showed up, but if they didn't, they're kinda screwed bc the ship collected all our passports on the first day due to the stops in Turkey.

Entertainment: both last night and tonight's have been the same, the production show Broadway Ballroom (excellent as always :) and worth seeing) and comedian/juggler Neils Dinkler. as for the juggler....let's just say he errs more on the side of juggling than cheesy comedy. he's not a bad juggle, but don't lose any sleep if you miss his show ;)

we were last on the Ruby 6 months ago and have noticed some small changes so far, so I'll add them here:

-Every passenger stateroom gets a Princess tote bag (think recylclable grocery bag type)...nice touch!

-Marinated mushrooms replaced by marinated veggie salad in IC

-The Question of the Day still remains on the Wake Show, but the Name that Tune has disappeared. (The QOTD prize is a free drink in Adagio, FYI)

-I finally won at trivia! (this is definitely something that has changed since last cruise :rolleyes:) And the prize was another type of Princess tote bag, woohoo!

-The port lecturer, Hutch, is fantastic! If you're doing this cruise soon, his presentations on the ports are a must see. He really tells you everything yuo need to know about DIY, common pitfalls, and shows pictures of the port areas, sites, and little details so you know what to expect. I heard some people complaining they were too long (they do last about 1.15 hours), but I think they're awesome!

Any questions, just let me know! We arrive in Kusadasi tomorrow morning at 7am and stay until 1pm.

 

Good to hear more about the Ruby as we embark on July 16! Are you doing any Princess excursions? Would love to hear about them. Also, any reviews of food, specialty restaurants, special "finds" would be welcome! Enjoy your trip. We can't wait!!!

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

Please tell (I mean warn) Godwin, Rui and Generoso that Chris & Derrick are coming back in October!!

 

We LOVE the ruby! Enjoy your cruise!

[rdsqrl]

Am enjoying your babbling very much! Congrats on the trivia win!

[Woobstr112G]

Thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts. Look forward to seeing more.....:):):)

 

Bob

[Caribensun]

Hope you are enjoying your cruise and love reading your posts. Please tell Generoso hello for me (Gayle-OR) Thank you for doing this!! Makes Feb seem a little closer till we will be on.

[need2travel]

Thanks for taking the time to post. I really appreciate it.

[LindaSS]

Please continue posting - enjoying you ship time descriptions! Enjoy your vacation - we are! :p

[suenruss]

I'm enjoying both of these 'live from' posts - they're looking at everything differently - lots of great info for when we go in September :).

 

Do you notice much problem with cigarette smoke in the public areas of the ship? Thanks, Sue.

[s11vyy]

Hi sailaways,

 

great reading all your news, it's makes everything so much more exciting for people who are due to travel soon. You should know how much people appreciate the time you are spending to write it. Information you are giving is invaluable to first time cruisers.

 

I am intrerested to know which deck you are on. We are on the riviera deck, right below the pool area and are quite concerned about it being noisy.

 

Enjoy yourselves!!

[Sailaways_]

okay guys, will have to make this super quick because the internet is VERY slow onboard and posting and typing eats up my minutes! If you're boarding soon, be prepared for slow connections. So far I have eaten up over 50min of my free 250min package! The cafe manager claims the internet is only slow in port, well we're at sea right now and loading a webpage takes a good 5 minutes! I tried to type this post up in Word before logging on, but Princess requires you to be logged in before you can use Word on their computers. Rip-off! :mad:

Fantastic day in Kusadasi/Ephesus. I really didn't expect much from this port, but the ancient city was fascinating. I can't wait to go back and see more of it. It's so well-preserved and very detailed. An official guide is a must here, FYI. High in the 90s, doesn't matter what the low is because trust me, you'll never see it! Left Kusadasi about 15min late, supposedly waiting for three stragglers. This was a very short port call, only 7am-1pm, so I can understand why people might have lagged behind.

Replying to questions, apologies if I miss any...just post again so I can catch it!

--No Princess tours for us, only private ones...all awesome so far! More details later.

--No specialty restaurant for us yet. We are scheduled to eat in Crown Grill on Civitavecchia night, so will report then. Skipping Sabatini's this time because we were disappointed with it on our last Ruby cruise.

--We are on Caribe deck. I don't feel comfortable posting the cabin # while we're still onboard, but there's no noise at all.

--IMHO there is a lot of smoke onboard, but thankfully it's confined to the designated areas. I don't mean to start a smoking war, but this cruise does carry more Europeans so more smoking is to be expected. You can also expect it in the ports, that's for sure!

--Yes they do collect the passports on day 1 or 2. Your cabin steward takes them & gives you a receipt. Supposedly this is due to the port calls in Turkey. Turning in the passport isn't optional, regardless of nationality. We expected this ahead of time and made photocopies of our passports and DLs and take those ashore with the cruisecards. If you're going on this cruise, you might want to do the same, as the patter does tell you to take your cruisecard and a photo ID ashore. So far none of the ports have asked for ID yet, just the cruisecard and a trip thru the metal detectors when you return to the ship.

I'm going to skip the ship details for now, but will check in tomorrow with some ship info for you all. Hope some of this helps you guys! :)