Quick review For Princess Ruby 3/11/12

[cruisenewbie2012]

Still sitting with a nice glow from our recent cruise on the Princess Ruby. I will try to point out a few key details (in my opinion) that were worth it and not so worth it. Overall, loved LOVED the cruise. As you can see I am new to cruising and if it weren't for receiving this as a gift, I would have never chosen a cruise for vacation. From the moment we got on board to the moment we left - nothing but peaceful relaxation was ours. No kids, no parents - it was hubby and me, my best friend and her hubby.

Ok so the first thing that struck me as odd was the awful holding room they put you in prior to boarding. I don't know what I expected, but sitting in a cramped room that looks like a dirty warehouse was not it. We arrived shortly before noon and were shuttled like cows through the process of getting our "key" within about an hour. Not bad, just had to side step the photographer and we were on! Our first objective was to get to the Sanctuary (thank you CC folks for recommending!). Being without children, we knew we wanted to relax and didn't have to be in an area that allowed kids - so this was it for us. It was so nice knowing that our bed/lounge was waiting for us no matter if we showed up at 10am or 3pm! Very worth the $120 I paid for the week ($240 for both hubby and myself). We also enjoyed the high tea every day at 3:30pm. I will say being at the front of the ship we experienced a rough wind going down (which the stewards provided blankets for us!), but on the way back - calm and sunny and just gorgeous.

Once that was settled I could find our room and unpack. Our room was E316 - Emerald deck mid ship. Perfect location and though it was listed as a partial view, we had no lifeboat obstructing ours. The room was small but the shower was even SMALLER! One of those bathrooms where you could sit on the toliet and shave your legs in the shower at the same time and then wash your hands in the sink without moving from the toliet - that small! Oh well, we weren't going to spend much time there anyway - right? (praying my sea sickness stays at bay)

 

We hooked up with our room steward and being the educated CC peeps that we were - asked for ice and a bucket so we could cool our yuenglings. That's right - my husband literally ran up to the drugstore (about a 10 to 15 minute walk from the holding cell) and bought himself a case of beer! We weren't sure we could bring it on, but no one said anything! We also learned that the liquor/beer stores do not sell beer before noon on Sundays - hence the reason he had to run up to the drugstore while waiting to get on ship. That steward kept my man happy all week. Every time we came back to our room, there was fresh ice in the bucket! We even took the bucket up to the Sanctuary a few times and stayed all day. Nice guy and he got tipped well for it.

 

I have to tell you that I am allergic to boats - boats, water, waves and my stomach DO NOT get along! On my honeymoon my husband enjoyed the fact that as the barracudas would come up to feed, cause i was leaning over - it made it easier for him to catch them! So I came on this cruise well stocked in sea sickness rememdies. I am happy to report - never used them! the boat rocked and swayed - a lot and hard sometimes, especially on our way down south, but not to the point where I felt like I needed to take something. Some nights we actually had some things fly around the room, but I think I was too freaked out to get sick. Coming back it didn't seem as bad???

 

Food was better than I expected - and not as "food everywhere you turn" as I thought as well. The International Cafe was a good midnight snack place, the pizza INMHO was horrible - not to my liking. I tried it 2 different times, just to be sure. The Caribe buffet was a good go to place for breakfast and a quick snack, but we stuck mainly to the dining rooms. I learned that some of the dinner specials were featured in the buffet as an early afternoon snack - around 4 or something I think. We went with anytime dining and I thought that worked out well. Some nights we sat with different folks, sometimes just us. We also had breakfast there some mornings which I thought was a good idea if you like to order eggs a particular way. Note to french toast lovers - theirs is deep fried and pretty greasy. At dinner my husband enjoyed being able to order 2 appetizers and 2 dinners and it being "ok". There was plenty of good dishes - memorable ones for us was the jerk chicken (i know it's from the dreaded Carribean night menu but it was really good!), the lobster night, seared diver scallops in citrus butter and orange roughy with a champagne broth - both from the Chef's night. It was nice to know that room service was available and most things were free, but we never took advantage of that option. We also never dined in the speciality restaurants.

 

Photography - ok everywhere you go someone is trying to get you to pose and then they post the pics in this big hallway and hope you will buy them up. By the end of the trip there were probably over a 1000 pictures hanging. We didn't see the need so we just scooted by the photographers as we much as we could.

 

Another thing they constantly pushed was the "shopping in the Carribean". I am truly uneducated about shopping in this part of the world, but Princess saved me and held actual shopping seminars to teach you what to buy and stuff. We got a little sucked in and I came home with a bunch of silly charms that you could pick up at each store you visit if you tell the store employee that your are with the Ruby, blah blah blah - INMHO another attempt at putting $$$ in Princess pockets. They pushed this savvy shopper thingy- which is a glorified binder that held some "valuable coupons", but you would have to spend at least $500 or $1000 in order to use the $100 coupon, etc. They did have a few "freebies" in there, but again - pretty junkie jewlery. Remember if it seems to good to be true - it probably is.

 

A good place to shop - the little kiosks right at the dock in St. Thomas. There were plenty of women that would sell you a pretty nice carribean style dress or swimsuit cover-up for $20 or less. And there was a silver store in the Grand Turk shopping center that I had wished I picked up more stuff from. don't remember the name sorry:(

 

After spending 2 islands just shopping (i know dummy me for not getting to one beach) I finally got to swim in that beautiful blue water in Grand Turk. Loved it! It was an interesting little spot. the houses along the shore line looked boarded up and we seemed to dock in an industrial area of the island, but it didn't matter - the sun was shining, the water was beautiful and Jack's shack had awesome drinks! Even tried their conch fritters -yum! perfect ending to a great trip.

 

Well that is all I can think of right now - will probably get back here with other thoughts! Happy travels to all!

[Woobstr112G]

Still sitting with a nice glow from our recent cruise on the Princess Ruby. I will try to point out a few key details (in my opinion) that were worth it and not so worth it. Overall, loved LOVED the cruise. As you can see I am new to cruising and if it weren't for receiving this as a gift, I would have never chosen a cruise for vacation. From the moment we got on board to the moment we left - nothing but peaceful relaxation was ours. No kids, no parents - it was hubby and me, my best friend and her hubby.

Ok so the first thing that struck me as odd was the awful holding room they put you in prior to boarding. I don't know what I expected, but sitting in a cramped room that looks like a dirty warehouse was not it. We arrived shortly before noon and were shuttled like cows through the process of getting our "key" within about an hour. Not bad, just had to side step the photographer and we were on! Our first objective was to get to the Sanctuary (thank you CC folks for recommending!). Being without children, we knew we wanted to relax and didn't have to be in an area that allowed kids - so this was it for us. It was so nice knowing that our bed/lounge was waiting for us no matter if we showed up at 10am or 3pm! Very worth the $120 I paid for the week ($240 for both hubby and myself). We also enjoyed the high tea every day at 3:30pm. I will say being at the front of the ship we experienced a rough wind going down (which the stewards provided blankets for us!), but on the way back - calm and sunny and just gorgeous.

Once that was settled I could find our room and unpack. Our room was E316 - Emerald deck mid ship. Perfect location and though it was listed as a partial view, we had no lifeboat obstructing ours. The room was small but the shower was even SMALLER! One of those bathrooms where you could sit on the toliet and shave your legs in the shower at the same time and then wash your hands in the sink without moving from the toliet - that small! Oh well, we weren't going to spend much time there anyway - right? (praying my sea sickness stays at bay)

 

We hooked up with our room steward and being the educated CC peeps that we were - asked for ice and a bucket so we could cool our yuenglings. That's right - my husband literally ran up to the drugstore (about a 10 to 15 minute walk from the holding cell) and bought himself a case of beer! We weren't sure we could bring it on, but no one said anything! We also learned that the liquor/beer stores do not sell beer before noon on Sundays - hence the reason he had to run up to the drugstore while waiting to get on ship. That steward kept my man happy all week. Every time we came back to our room, there was fresh ice in the bucket! We even took the bucket up to the Sanctuary a few times and stayed all day. Nice guy and he got tipped well for it.

 

I have to tell you that I am allergic to boats - boats, water, waves and my stomach DO NOT get along! On my honeymoon my husband enjoyed the fact that as the barracudas would come up to feed, cause i was leaning over - it made it easier for him to catch them! So I came on this cruise well stocked in sea sickness rememdies. I am happy to report - never used them! the boat rocked and swayed - a lot and hard sometimes, especially on our way down south, but not to the point where I felt like I needed to take something. Some nights we actually had some things fly around the room, but I think I was too freaked out to get sick. Coming back it didn't seem as bad???

 

Food was better than I expected - and not as "food everywhere you turn" as I thought as well. The International Cafe was a good midnight snack place, the pizza INMHO was horrible - not to my liking. I tried it 2 different times, just to be sure. The Caribe buffet was a good go to place for breakfast and a quick snack, but we stuck mainly to the dining rooms. I learned that some of the dinner specials were featured in the buffet as an early afternoon snack - around 4 or something I think. We went with anytime dining and I thought that worked out well. Some nights we sat with different folks, sometimes just us. We also had breakfast there some mornings which I thought was a good idea if you like to order eggs a particular way. Note to french toast lovers - theirs is deep fried and pretty greasy. At dinner my husband enjoyed being able to order 2 appetizers and 2 dinners and it being "ok". There was plenty of good dishes - memorable ones for us was the jerk chicken (i know it's from the dreaded Carribean night menu but it was really good!), the lobster night, seared diver scallops in citrus butter and orange roughy with a champagne broth - both from the Chef's night. It was nice to know that room service was available and most things were free, but we never took advantage of that option. We also never dined in the speciality restaurants.

 

Photography - ok everywhere you go someone is trying to get you to pose and then they post the pics in this big hallway and hope you will buy them up. By the end of the trip there were probably over a 1000 pictures hanging. We didn't see the need so we just scooted by the photographers as we much as we could.

 

Another thing they constantly pushed was the "shopping in the Carribean". I am truly uneducated about shopping in this part of the world, but Princess saved me and held actual shopping seminars to teach you what to buy and stuff. We got a little sucked in and I came home with a bunch of silly charms that you could pick up at each store you visit if you tell the store employee that your are with the Ruby, blah blah blah - INMHO another attempt at putting $$$ in Princess pockets. They pushed this savvy shopper thingy- which is a glorified binder that held some "valuable coupons", but you would have to spend at least $500 or $1000 in order to use the $100 coupon, etc. They did have a few "freebies" in there, but again - pretty junkie jewlery. Remember if it seems to good to be true - it probably is.

 

A good place to shop - the little kiosks right at the dock in St. Thomas. There were plenty of women that would sell you a pretty nice carribean style dress or swimsuit cover-up for $20 or less. And there was a silver store in the Grand Turk shopping center that I had wished I picked up more stuff from. don't remember the name sorry:(

 

After spending 2 islands just shopping (i know dummy me for not getting to one beach) I finally got to swim in that beautiful blue water in Grand Turk. Loved it! It was an interesting little spot. the houses along the shore line looked boarded up and we seemed to dock in an industrial area of the island, but it didn't matter - the sun was shining, the water was beautiful and Jack's shack had awesome drinks! Even tried their conch fritters -yum! perfect ending to a great trip.

 

Well that is all I can think of right now - will probably get back here with other thoughts! Happy travels to all!

 

Thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts. Surprised you didn't like the pizza. Most posts I've read rave about it (I also love it:)). Looking forward to reading anything else you'd like to report.....:):):)

 

Bob

[Dave can I buy you a beer]

Still sitting with a nice glow from our recent cruise on the Princess Ruby.

Thanks for the review!

[Pam in CA]

Thank you for the review. Just as an FYI, you can request eggs prepared just about any way you want in the buffet as well as in the dining room so that's not a factor if it's important to you. Eggs Benedict are much better in the dining room, though.

 

Glad you enjoyed the Ruby Princess. She's a lovely ship ("you can put a boat on a ship but you can't put a ship on a boat.")

[royalcruz]

I was on Ruby on March 18th and the pizza was tasty but the dough was sloppy, not firm at all. I think it was much better in the past. It just needs to be cooked longer.

[mrsfuzzmo]

Thanks for the review. We leave on the Ruby this Sunday! Trying to soak up all the information i can before we head out! Much appreciated!

[jfgdbg]

Thanks for the review. Does the Ruby have a waffle bar? We will be on her in October.

[srpilo]

Thanks for your Ruby report

 

 

 

 

Srpilo

[vivavegas]

Thanks for taking the time to post your detailed review on the Ruby!

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your review, glad you had a good one.

[erewhon]

Thank you for taking time to write this review of your cruise.

[austinlw]

We did the same Ruby Princess cruise last year the week after Thanksgiving. Agree with your comments about the small bathrooms. But overall had a very similar experience. Very enjoyable cruise, great food. Beautiful ship, super service. I used to not be interested in cruising, was more of a camper and do-it-yourself kind of traveler. After my first cruise with my wife 12 years ago I was hooked - it's not like what so many people who have never cruised before think. The first night, as the waiter put my napkin in my lap, the asst. waiter served the bread, and they put those menus in front of us with all the great food selections, I said to my wife,"I think I can get used to this." Now we've been on 3 with Princess, 3 with Royal Caribbean, 1 with Carnival, and 1 with Celebrity. All were different, but all were great. I tell people once you've been on a cruise ship 24 hours you've forgotten about your job, your bills, where you live, etc. Completely relaxing experience that helps you see your world from a different perspective.

[Matcodixon]

I always chuckle a bit when I read a complaint about the small bathrooms. I suspect that there are some that spend more time in there than I do.:rolleyes: Personally I would rather have a bigger cabin than have more of the space taken up by a bathroom, if the same overall size is the same.

 

My other ship is an land yacht (RV) and the bathroom on it is not very large either so I am pretty much accustomed to that size facility. For some with home bathrooms the size of a studio apartment, I can see that they must seem miniscule!