My Review of the Ruby 3/13/11

[celticlady]

Hi everyone,

We have recently returned from cruising the Eastern Caribbean on the Ruby. I thought I'd give a review while everything is still fresh in my memory. To all who have given advice and opinions on this site ...Thank you. You made our cruise all the better for imparting important information which we used during our cruise experience.

Pre Cruise:

We decided to fly in a day early so we could make our travel as easy as possible. We used SW early bird check in ($20.00 a person roundtrip) and found that it made things go all that much smoother(we will use it from now on). Arriving on time, we hopped into a taxi ($13.00 before tip) and quickly found ourselves at the Marriott Renaissance Port Everglades($169.00 before taxes) which we had booked months earlier through Priceline. When we arrived at the front desk I politely asked if there were any corner rooms available on a high floor (this was some of the advice I was talking about). With a wonderful smile the lady told us she could make that happen. The room was fantastic with two nice size windows side by side so we were able to see the port and one of the princess ships in port. The room was on the top floor so not only could we see the princess ship but also many other sites.

After settling in we walked and had dinner at an outstanding restaurant. I can't remember the name, but it had the word "boat or boathouse" in its' name (sorry). Although some onn this site had commented that the food was poor and pricey, I found the food to be excellent. The atmosphere matched with its floor to ceiling windows overlooking the water.

The location of the hotel is convenient with all sorts of stores and shops within walking distance.

We got up early the next morning and ordered room service. I wanted to leave the hotel and get to the port between 10:00-10:30. When we were ready to leave I called for a taxi. When we got down to the lobby we discovered that the bellman had given our taxi to someone else. The hotel shuttle service gave my DH and me a ride instead. We arrived with our bags in tow at 10:15. We were sitting in the waiting area by 10:20 and I could finally breathe a sigh of relief. It was very important to me to arrive early so that we could board as soon as possible (another piece of advice we took). We boarded at 11:45 as we were in the first boarding group. Around 11:15 Princess started handing out group 2 boarding passes. After that I lost track.

The Cruise Experience

We boarded at 11:45 and our room was ready. The room was lovely and after one look at the balcony I knew I would want one for all future cruising. I expected the bed to be like a board and thought my nights might be miserable. To my surprise it was quite comfortable. Our steward had already put two mattress toppers, a top sheet, and extra pillows on the bed and we hadn’t even met him yet. I had used my cruise personalizer to make my requests, but wasn’t sure if it would be done by the time we arrived (I don’t remember requesting two toppers WOW).

We left our room and started exploring the ship. We checked out the Lido deck where we ordered a few round of drinks. The weather was not cooperating as it was overcast and rained every so often. Using the Patter, we went around to different areas and collected raffle tickets for different prizes. We decided that we would eat at the buffet in the Horizon Court rather than eat in the dining room.

Food and Service

We ate at the buffet several times for both breakfast and dinner where there was a substantial selection for both. IMHO the best breakfast food on the bar was the omelet which you could have made to order. The worst was the bacon (it was just as bad in the dining room). The quality of fruit was appealing. There was something for everyone. Dinner at the buffet was more than satisfactory.

We did the Champagne Balcony Breakfast one morning. It was $25.00 a person but worth much more. There was smoked salmon, pastries, fruit, quiche, bacon, and a half bottle of delicious French champagne. Someone from room service came in and set it all up for us. What a way to start the day.

Of course, eating in the dining room was a delightful experience. I tried some of the most talked about foods on these boards. The cheese soufflé, pasta alfredo inthe specially made bowl, and my “special request” for crème brulee were some of the best foods to ever cross my lips. The suggested menu each night held some delicious mysteries if you were adventurous enough to try them. If you weren’t there was always an alternative menu. IMHO one should try different foods even if one doesn’t know what they are. I am usually a very basic eater and don’t like a big variety of foods, but I decided to throw caution to the wind and I am glad I did. I tried a lot of foods whose names I couldn’t begin to pronounce.

One night we ate at the Crown Grille. What a grand experience that was. The food was excellent and the service was impeccable. My DH and I both had Filet and Lobster. Because I had eaten the accompanying courses I only had room for two lobster tails and was unable to fit dessert. At the time I wish I could have fit more because I certainly would have eaten more LOL.

Our service at the Crown Grille as I said was impeccable. The waiter whose name was John made us feel as though his only wish was to make our dining experience the best we’d ever have. He did. I had mixed feelings about the dining room waiters. Each night that we went to dinner we chose a different restaurant. We had anytime dining so we were more flexible than some. Most of the waiters were great, but a few not so much. The quality of service ranged from one waiter coming around and scraping crumbs off of the table with a butter knife to another waiter leaving used plates on the table for about ten minutes while he just stood around and looked at our tables as well as other guests he was serving (they also had dirty plates just sitting there. It’s not that the plates were a big deal, it was just the fact that he stood there and did nothing for long periods of time. As a side note, I would like to say – I don’t think Princess has a good handle on the anytime dining. The first time we went to dinner it was around 8:45. A woman greeted us and told us that our wait time was going to be about forty minutes. With little choice, we smiled, took the pager and went and waited around the International Café. About thirty minutes into our wait I decided to go and check on things. When I walked up there was a group of four standing there (they had anytime dining as well) and the woman was explaining that they would have an hour wait time. The confused gentleman couldn’t quite understand how anytime dining turned into an hour wait. Just about that time a member of the dining staff (possibly the Maitre d) walked up and asked if there was a problem. The gentleman began relaying his story. The staff member immediately told him and his party to come right through. Of course, he didn’t know anything about why I was there. I proceeded to talk to the same woman who told me the reason for the wait was because they were seating people who had traditional dining reservations. I was a little put out by the whole thing. When the gentleman staff member realized what had happened he promptly seated my DH and me. Part of the confusion, I believe, was based on the fact that the woman spoke very little English. Anyway, everything worked out fine in the end.

Our steward’s name was Richie (our stateroom was on the dolphin deck D506). He was the best! He took total care of us from the time we boarded until the time we left. He wound up putting three toppers on our mattress. It seemed like every time

We left the room he came in our stateroom and cleaned something. He left us two different towel animals – a parrot with heart-shaped Godiva chocolate eyes, and a cute rabbit with floppy ears that wore my sunglasses when I wasn’t wearing them. He treated us so well and went the extra mile. By the time we left we had made a new friend.

The one other name I wanted to mention was Marco. He was a Maitre d who took our request for a particular table and made sure we sat there. He also took care of a few other requests from us. He was another wonderful professional who made sure that he did all he could to make our stay onboard a happy one.

Besides doing autopay we tipped Richie a total of $75.00 throughout the cruise as well as a few others. To some that might seem a little much, but we wanted to show him just how much we appreciated him.

Just remember that we were on our cruise when the Japanese disaster occurred. There were many workers onboard whose families live in some of the other endangered areas. Even though many had this situation to cope with they stayed focused on their jobs. That indicated a strong sense of dedication and professionalism.

Excursions

I did the Skydiving experience on Princess Cays. It was interesting, but not what I expected. I did expect that I would feel like I was flying. I had no idea that two people would be in the tube with me holding my arms and legs. I consider myself to be in pretty good physical condition. The strain on my body was pretty intense. I didn’t mind it, but for those people considering this excursion that would be an important fact to know. You are supposed to maintain a certain position so you can stay level. I chose the four minute package (that’s more time than you think) but the head guy let me go for an additional two minutes. I think he could see I was disappointed with the experience. Before I went in we were talking. I told him how I always dreamed of flying and hoped this experience would give me a little taste of that. My overall opinion was that the team of people running the excursion was great. The actual event leaves one wanting more out of it. At the least, the advertisement should make it clear that due to safety concerns one can’t go in alone (that’s how it is pictured). It was worth it, though, just to see what it was all about.

In St Thomas, we did the half day Champagne Cat to St. John Island. We had an outstanding time from the time we got into the open aired bus until the time we got back. On the ride to the other side of the island we got to see a lot of local life. The cat we sailed on was a nice size and the crew was very friendly. The weather cooperated and we had a nice smooth sail across Pillsbury Sound. The scenery and the water were breath-taking. We wound up at Honeymoon Beach. I snorkeled a little. There was a reef a little distance in front of an official’s home where beautiful sea life could be seen. There was champagne, mimosa, rum punch, and rum and coke to drink. The crew also pulled out some cheeses, bread and fruit. We had a little over an hour at the beach. Most of the time was spent sailing to and from. That was just perfect for my DH and me.

Generally Speaking…

I had only one unpleasant experience during the whole trip. That occurred when we went to take formal pictures. Be very aware ( if you are going to take these) and take time to observe the photographer as he is taking pictures. See if he/she is using creativity when posing the subjects. Watch for how many poses he is taking. I was so disappointed with our pictures that it brought me to tears. The photographer took a lot of pictures with eyes closed and strange looks on our faces (which was no big deal except that he counted them as good pictures so our choices were severely limited). The strap on my dress (the one on the inside of the dress used to help the dress hang properly) was visible in every picture. There was not one good picture in the whole lot. When I brought all of this to the attention of the girl working behind the desk in the gallery she told me that the photographer was still training. I then spoke to the manager and told him that I didn’t feel the photographer was to blame completely, but as manager he should not allow someone out there who still needed so much training. The pictures are really important to some people (like me) and the moments can’t be relived. He wanted to try to make things right and I appreciated that, but I told him there really wasn’t anything he could do.

Overall, it was as near a perfect vacation as anyone could ask for. It is because of all the reasons I’ve listed and many I have not. One thing a almost forgot to mention, but we went to the casino the first night as advised and I won $250.00 on the penny slots! Princess has my heart and we will cruise with them as often as we can. I know this review is long, but I hoped to paint a picture for anyone who has yet to travel with Princess and had some of the same questions I had before we left for our cruise.

On sad thing happened on our day at Princess Cays. A lady had a heart attack in the water while we were there. It took a very long time to revive her. Her daughter was with her and was of course terribly upset. I saw her husband later on the ship talking to one of the officers. She had to be airlifted away. The next day the captain came one PBS and told everyone she had made it and was resting in a Miami hospital.

[Coolmama_1]

Thanks for the review.

[Woobstr112G]

Thank you for taking the time to post your very informative review.....:):):)

 

Bob

[Shogun]

Hi There

 

Thanks for posting, nice to herar that you had a good time,

 

not to long before we go on the Ruby

 

 

yours Shogun

[royalcruz]

Great review. We have Anytime Dining and prefer to eat around 8:30 so I guess we should turn up at around 7:30 for a pager. I have noticed that the wait tends to be longest on the first night and on formal nights.

[srpilo]

Thanks alot, your thoughful comments are appreciated

 

 

 

 

Srpilo

[Rockymountainsparky]

Thanks for the review. Can't wait until we are on the Ruby.

[JanaJohn]

After settling in we walked and had dinner at an outstanding restaurant. I can't remember the name, but it had the word "boat or boathouse" in its' name (sorry).

 

Great review....thanks for taking the time to write one! My DW and I are really excited about our upcoming cruise.

 

Is the restaurant in FLL you're talking about the Bimini Boatyard Bar and Grill?

[Ronsangel]

Thanks for the comprehensive review. Two questions:

 

I heard you could actually make reservations in the anytime dining rooms to save having to wait for a table. Is that true?

 

And - how did you request the matress topper, sheet and pillow through the personalizer? Mine offers check boxes for some things, but I can't find a place to enter a request for these....I want all of them as well!

 

29 days until I'm on the Ruby!

[Putterdude]

Thank you for posting your review, we had a great time on the Ruby back in January.

[celticlady]

Great review....thanks for taking the time to write one! My DW and I are really excited about our upcoming cruise.

 

Is the restaurant in FLL you're talking about the Bimini Boatyard Bar and Grill?

Yes, that's the one! :o

[celticlady]

Thanks for the comprehensive review. Two questions:

 

I heard you could actually make reservations in the anytime dining rooms to save having to wait for a table. Is that true?

 

And - how did you request the matress topper, sheet and pillow through the personalizer? Mine offers check boxes for some things, but I can't find a place to enter a request for these....I want all of them as well!

 

29 days until I'm on the Ruby!

 

1. Hi Ronsangel, Even if you have anytime dining you can call the dining room in the morning and make a reservation for that evening. As far as requesting toppers, top sheet, and extra pillows you should call princess and they will take your request over the phone. Then wait a few days and it should show up in your cruise personalizer. I realized after I posted that I worded that statement incorrectly (that being the statement about using the cruise personalizer to request above items) :eek: sorry. Anyway I hope this info has been helpful. Happy cruising
   

[caribill]

We have Anytime Dining and prefer to eat around 8:30 so I guess we should turn up at around 7:30 for a pager.

 

Remember that there are two anytime rooms on the ship, so if one is busy with a long wait, check the other one.

 

OP said that the room was in use for traditional diners. Princesss has started a new early traditional time in an anytime room to take care of the many passengers who wanted early anytuime but could not get it because it was already fully booked. If that was the anytime room OP went to, the hostess should have suggested trying the other anytime room.

[sgjanice]

Nice review with lots of great tips!

[celticlady]

Remember that there are two anytime rooms on the ship, so if one is busy with a long wait, check the other one.

 

OP said that the room was in use for traditional diners. Princesss has started a new early traditional time in an anytime room to take care of the many passengers who wanted early anytuime but could not get it because it was already fully booked. If that was the anytime room OP went to, the hostess should have suggested trying the other anytime room.

Actually we were aware of the other dining room. We were in one of the dining rooms serving anytime guests. But there were people who had traditional dining but were being seated in the anytime dining room. Also, it was late enough that the traditional dining room was being used to seat anytime guests. I'm sorry for the confusion. I'm confused reading it and I was there LOL. :o