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Just off the Ruby

Nightengale31

By Nightengale31,
in Princess Cruises

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Nightengale31

Nightengale31

Posted
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We just completed our Ruby cruise yesterday and were very impressed by this ship and it's staff. We stayed in mini suite D624 and with the egg crate in place the bed was very comfortable, and glad at the last minute we chose not to bring our own toppers as we did not need them. Felix was our steward who was polite and was there for anything we were in need of which was not much.

 

Onto the food. We ate breakfast just about every day in the HC which was alway good but a bit crowded. But we managed to always find seats with others which was nice as we met some wonderful people we would not have otherwise which was the same for the three dinners we had in Michaelangelo. There the food was good, but honestly can't remember what we ate because the wine and conversation were flowing so nicely with our table mates we were not paying too much attention to the food :) We ate at the Crown Grill twice because the steaks were to die for there!!! Definitely recommend this dining experience if you like steak.

 

Onto the ports. Despite the chilly weather we had lots of fun at Princess Cays drinking tropical drinks at the beach bar and listening the the great Regae music. St. Martin we did the Orient beach with lunch excursion. The weather and beach was great that day, and lunch at the beach restaurant we had delicious ribs and huge rum punch drinks. The excusion guides Toni and Carleen were organized, fun, and very informative. We just did a little shopping directly at the dock in St. Thomas and got a good deal on a new Seiko watch for me at the Royal Caribbean jewelry store, as well as a good deal there on hubby's new camera. Bought the grand kids some of those Del Sol tee shirts which change colors when they are exposed to sunlight and they all got a kick out of them. In Grand Turk we hired a taxi $ 35/pp with driver Kevin who gave us a nice tour of this small very rural island. We got a real kick out of the packs of donkeys that freely roam this island. Also spent a short time at Jimmy Buffet's beach just off the ship which was OK as it was very crowded with two ships in port that day.

 

Now for the casino which I spend a good deal of time in as I was winning like crazy on the penny slots!!!! The casino staff were excellent, and made sure if I wanted I could always have a free drink in my hand. I was also comped from the casino host a bottle of wine delivered to my cabin, and very nice Princess tote bag which inside had a ball cap and tee shirt. What topped the casino experience was a fellow cruiser won the BMW on the two cent progressive slots, but opted to take the $25,000 instead. All were very happy for him and his very in shock wife. I walked away with about $3,500 and was more that happy with my win.

 

Aside from the high pressured product sales pitch I was at the receiving end of in the spa which followed a very expensive but mediocre Absolute Spa Ritual Treatment, we loved everything else about the Ruby and this cruise and would sail on her again in a heartbeat!!

 

PS This cruise we made Platinum status :)

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Tralynn

Tralynn

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Thank you for your review of the Ruby. We loved our cruise on the Ruby also. And I have to say that I have never had a spa treatment on any of my cruises that I thought was worth what they charge. They were always just so-so and on every cruiseline it seems they just want to sell, sell, sell. I have since given up on ship spa treatments.

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Northender

Northender

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Thanks for the nice review and congrats on your Casino winnings:)

 

The Ruby is my favorite ship - so far. I found the crew to be wonderful, always smiling and saying Good Morning, Afternoon, etc. We had Salvadore as our Steward on Caribe aft. What a great guy.:):)

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mycruz

mycruz

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I was treat better on the Ruby in the casino than any other ship so far. I don't remember the Casino manager's name, but she really was very nice. Comped me the first drink ever in the casino and always remembered my name!:)

 

Hopefully she'll be there when we board again in March!

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AndyTheK

AndyTheK

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Free drinks in the casino??? I have never heard of that - is it something new?
Not new. Depends on how nuch you play - regardless of whether you win or lose. We were comped drinks on the Coral in January 2010. On the Crown in October 2010, comped drinks and some goodies sent to the cabin. Scheduled for the Crown westbound TA this coming August, and looking to book the Ruby eastbound TA 2012 as soon as it's available.
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mikeyd

mikeyd

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Great review!! thanks for taking the time to share it.

 

Some questions:

1. Could you tell how full the Serenity(?) adults only section was?

 

2. Any good tips on playing the slots? Sounds like you had a good run!

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Olentangy

Olentangy

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We have over 3 weeks to wait.

 

It's been our experience on Princess cruises that the slot machines are somewhere old. Was that true for the Ruby this trip ? And do they still have smoke-free nights ? Even though we enjoy Vegas and Windsor, casinos on cruises just aren't that appealing. What did you play ?

 

Thanks for the review.

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