Ruby 11/7 Cruise Live

[ikey78]

Sorry to hear about you having to miss Princess Cays but hopefully the weather for the rest of your cruise will improve.

 

Looking forward to reading all about it as we will hopefully be on board Ruby in a few weeks. :)

 

Would appreciate it if you could answer a few questions.

 

1. We are trying to decide which nights to make alternative dining reservations and would like to know the "theme nights" in the dining room for each day?

 

2. Which night is the "island party" on deck?

 

3. Who is the cruise director?

 

 

 

Thanks and have a great cruise. :)

 

No postings of the theme nights but tonight, Monday, was Italian and Tuesday and Thursday are formal.

 

On Wednesday is the "White Hot Deck Party".

 

The cruise director is Sam Hawker-Thomas. Seems to be doing a good job but not as funny as some of the other CD's on the morning TV.

 

Yes, Bert Stratton is in the Martini Bar every night and in Explorers on Saturday.

 

The weather today was cloudy and windy and cool at times with intermittent drizzle. Still lots of people at the pools. Warmer tonight and the weather is supposed to be better tomorrow.

 

Because we missed Princess Cays we will arrive at St. Maarten 2 hours early on Wednesday at 8 and leave 1 hour later at 6. The Captain said the longer port stay was to compensate for missing Princess Cays.

 

I had looked up our itinerary on CruiseTT previously and I believe there will be about 14,000 cruise passengers at St. Maarten this Wednesday including those from the Oasis. On the other hand we are the only ship in St. Thomas on Thursday and another bonus is that we dock at Havensight.

[SF]

Thank you for answering my questions. Looks like we'll be dining in the main dining room on Monday as we enjoy Italian style food. Since formal night is Tuesday and Thursday we'll have to decide if it will be Wednesday or Friday for alternative. Would appreciate it if you could post "theme" style food for those nights also.

 

Hope you have an enjoyable day in St. Maarten and I'm hoping the weather cooperates and the sun shines bright. :)

 

Do you know how long Bert will be on board? We've sailed with him many times and are hoping he'll still be on Ruby for the Nov. 28th sailing.

 

Keep posting....definitely enjoying reading about your trip.

[Steelers36]

IKEY. Hi. Are you doing AT or TD for dinnertime? Can you comment on how AT is working and how much of the DR is reserved for the new early-early TD time?

 

Thanks much!!

[Iceberg2]

Oh my goodness, just love this guy. Have been on two other cruises where he was the entertainer. Is he staying on the Ruby for an extended time - will be there on 12/12 and would love to be able to see him again? I hope so.

[Cruiseboy86]

Is Gisepi (sp?) Romano the Captain on the Ruby? We have sailed with him on three different ships and we have booked the Ruby for Feb. We have 3 pictures taken with him already and will look forward to the 4th if he is indeed the Captain.

[lusitanica]

Wow! Sounds like you had a rough week. We were on the week before and we had some interesting seas but nothing like you are reporting.

 

Just sounds.

We had a wonderful week on the same cruise.:)

Last two days were a bit windy, showers at times (one day of the last two).

Pools #1 and #4 and all hot tubs were available all the time (#2 and #3 were drained for last 2 days).

[kenzie]

Anyone know who will be the cruise director of the Ruby and Emerald for sailings from mid - end February 2011, I am not sure which ship to book and this will help determine

[mississauga]

Wow! You would choose a cruise based on the CD? I personally do think that a CD is an important factor in your cruise experience but not the deciding factor. The Emerald is 10 days and the Ruby is 7 days.

 

Since they are sister ships, I would choose my cruise based on availability of vacation days, value of each cruise ( cost per day ), ports and whatever plans we had pre and post cruise before taking into consideration the CD. Unless the CD is one who you really want to cruise with or one who would ruin your cruise, I wouldn't choose based on the CD.

 

Just my .02 cents worth.:rolleyes::p:)

[5:00_Somewhere]

Is Godwin still aboard? I thought he was to leave the ship soon and not be back until Feb.

 

When we were aboard 2 weeks ago he told us he had 2 more cruises until vacation, so this should be his last until February. We love Godwin.

 

To the OP, hope you are enjoying your cruise, even though you missed Princess Cays. We love our stops there, but also enjoy the back-to-back sea days; there's always a silver lining when you're on a cruise. :D

 

If you happen to be in Adagio and see a tall, auburn-haired Ukranian woman named Tatiana, would you please tell her Chris and Derrick and "the boys" say hi and miss her? She was absolutely wonderful! ;)

 

Hope you enjoy the rest of your cruise.

[SF]

Anyone know who will be the cruise director of the Ruby and Emerald for sailings from mid - end February 2011, I am not sure which ship to book and this will help determine

 

Can't believe you would choose a cruise based on a CD. Even if they are scheduled to be on that cruise anything could happen and change. I've even been on one cruise where we had 3 Captains in the 15 days.

 

Yes, a CD is impt. but not to the point I'd base my cruise on it. You're much better off deciding it on price, length, itinerary, and what size ship you prefer.

 

Agree some CD's are better than others but in all our cruises most have done a good job of providing a great selection of activities and entertainment.

[Carolyn R]

I think that Commodore Romano will be leaving this month when Captain Tony Yeomans returns from vacation.

[SF]

I think that Commodore Romano will be leaving this month when Captain Tony Yeomans returns from vacation.

 

Do you know if he will be available for the Nov. 28th cruise? When is Captain Tony Yeoman due to return?

[mississauga]

Do you know if he will be available for the Nov. 28th cruise? When is Captain Tony Yeoman due to return?

 

Did you not receive an email from your captain welcoming you to your upcoming cruise? We are on the Dec.5th cruise and received an email from Captain Yeomans several weeks ago. ( even before final payment )

 

We then received a second email advising us who the Hotel General Manager and Maitre'd will be.

 

If you do not have an email.your TA should have forwarded it to you. BIL and SIL's were not on file and our TA received them and was advised to immediately forward to client.

[ckornuta]

How was your day in st martin? how's the weather?

[SF]

Did you not receive an email from your captain welcoming you to your upcoming cruise? We are on the Dec.5th cruise and received an email from Captain Yeomans several weeks ago. ( even before final payment )

 

We then received a second email advising us who the Hotel General Manager and Maitre'd will be.

 

If you do not have an email.your TA should have forwarded it to you. BIL and SIL's were not on file and our TA received them and was advised to immediately forward to client.

 

No, this time around we didn't. Usually we do get an email a few weeks prior. Just never bothered to call Princess to find out. Figured someone on the boards would know. :)

[boca7]

I was also on that cruise & although we missed Gd Tur & we followed Tomas It was not that bad. Never saw anything falling off shelves, it was just an inconvience as Gd Turk is one of my favorite ports. This cruise was one of my favorite on Princess as the crew was extremely pleasant & the guests responded pleasantly. The new drink policy, especially for Plat members was fantastic. Can`t wait for next cruise.

[boca7]

Yes he`s still on board, most guests liked him but my daughter who also saw him on the crown felt he was same old, same old & became annoying.

[Coral]

The new drink policy, especially for Plat members was fantastic. Can`t wait for next cruise.

 

What is the new drink policy?

[mississauga]

Yes he`s still on board, most guests liked him but my daughter who also saw him on the crown felt he was same old, same old & became annoying.

 

Did he say how much longer he'll be on for? Hoping he'll still be on the Dec.5 sailing.

[boca7]

Plat.& elite have happy hour 530 to 730 every day except St thomas stop where special drinks of the night are 2.99 which were exceptional along with food to match. Waiter Ferdinand gives special attn. to his guests. Oterwise house brand drinks are avail from 9-8pm till ? for same price. Still trying to sober up after last week.

[Coral]

Plat.& elite have happy hour 530 to 730 every day except St thomas stop where special drinks of the night are 2.99 which were exceptional along with food to match. Waiter Ferdinand gives special attn. to his guests. Oterwise house brand drinks are avail from 9-8pm till ? for same price. Still trying to sober up after last week.

 

Thanks :)

[lovevacadays]

What happened to the OP and the "live from"?

[Liz54]

Having too much fun I bet! I often think about doing a live from but it must be almost like work on a cruise - fun to read tho!

[ikey78]

Weather in St. Maarten today was cloudy and warm but no rain. The Oasis of the Seas, Cardinal Dream and Norwegian Sun were in port as well. I did not get off the ship because we have been there many times but friends who did get off said it was not too crowded. All of the ships were backed into the pier. I have numerous photos from previous visits and all show the bow of the ship facing the port and whenever I check the bridge cams I always see the checkerboard pattern on the pier indicating bow in first. Not sure why this was changed.

 

Weather expected to be cloudy in St. Thomas with occasional showers. Patters says we are docking at Crown Bay even though the Vinow site said Havensight. I guess we will find out tomorrow morning.

 

Service on the ship has been very good. The staff seem upbeat and positive.

 

A few observations with some comparisons to two cruises on the Emerald within the last year on the same Eastern Caribbean itinerary. Some may think this is trivial stuff but it is the kind of thing I like to read about on these boards so here goes:

 

This was the first time we used the Premier check in at Ft. Lauderdale which now has a completely separate entry rather than going in at the head of the regular line. Very nice area with light refreshments.

 

After checking in went up the escalators and right onto the ship without waiting in the upstairs holding area which we did on the last few cruises.

 

Walking a few of the decks, I notice a lot more blue cabin stickers indicating more first time cruisers than normal. I have seen very few black Elite stickers. Please note this is a very unscientific survey.

 

The fitness center has Precor equipment which in my opinion is better than the equipment they have on the other Grand Class ships. On Tuesday morning at 8 am all of the treadmills and stair steppers were in use with people waiting. Quieter in the evening. Brandon from Canada does most of the classes as well as Personal Training and is excellent.

 

Seems to be easier to get a seat in the buffet at breakfast compared to other cruises but could be the time we are going. Drinks service for coffee etc very prompt. No "toastmaster" making the toast. You do it yourself. On at least one day they were making omelettes at the rear Caribe Cafe buffet station which I have not seen on other ships.

 

Bar servers wear waistcoats instead of the green jackets. Nice to see that change as I thought the green was getting dated.

 

No self service printer at Passenger Services to swipe your card and check your account as on the Emerald. According to someone in passenger services they are testing the equipment.

 

Overall an excellent cruise as always on Princess. The early weather problem and missing Princess Cays is beyond the control of the cruise line but they managed to change the routing and provide us with decent weather.

[mississauga]

Good news! Bert is staying on the Ruby at least through til the Dec.5 sailing! The only specific sailing I asked about was the Dec.5 one and he said he would be there!

 

We were looking forward to this cruise already but now even more so!:):):)