My Ruby Princess observations (4/15/12)

[mrsfuzzmo]

I will preface this by saying that this was my 17th or 18th cruise on a wide variety of cruise lines.....first time on Princess.

 

We chose this cruise due to the ports of call and the price. We booked an aft balcony (BB cabin). Our room was R750 (Riviera - deck 14). Enjoyed the location very much.

 

We weren't sure what to expect having never cruised out of FLL or on Princess. While it was a fabulous cruise (weather, ports, company), I'm pretty sure we wouldn't do Princess again unless they brought on some kind of fabulous itinerary that suited our fantasies.

 

I'm not going to do a day by day account. I will give you the highlights and the lowlights of the trip. Some things were surprising and others were disappointing. I'll start with the disappointing. (Remember these are my observations only).

 

Not-so-great:

1. Check-in facilities. Not sure if it's like this in all the FLL port facilities, but the Princess terminal was a dump compared to other that we've sailed out of. We stood in queues in a huge warehouse types room with painted floors, makeshift walls and filthy ceilings. My husband was wondering when we got to the "waiting room area" and I told him.....I think this is it. (frowns all around). It took us about 2 hrs from taxi drop off to get to the check-in desk.

 

2. Chicken/Shrimp salad. Ah yes, the infamous chicken and shrimp salad at the International Cafe. I was so looking forward to this after reading that it was the best in the world........hmmmm. While it was not terrible, there was nothing special about it.

 

3. Escargot at dinner. Again, had read so many times that all you have to do was ask your waiter 24 hrs in advance and they would have it for you. Nope. It was like pulling teeth. First night, we requested it and he said he would talk to the head waiter. The next night, he said we left before he could talk to the HW (?- not sure why that mattered). Third night the head waiter finally came and asked us what our special request was. When we told him we would like to have escargot he said "Oh, it's on the menu tonight, didn't your waiter tell you????" It was not on the menu, but apparently there are some unprinted specials each night. So we did get it that night. The next few nights we requested it and we got the "I'll have to talk to the head waiter" routine and it was never seen again.

 

4. Decor. The ship was perfectly lovely, very clean, nice. What I didn't like was the fact that all the lounges looked almost exactly the same. Dark lighting, big leather chairs, dark wood, quiet atmosphere. Almost like you were sitting in a wealthy man's study. It is a great theme for one or two, but for everyone we went to......looked the same. No variety. Crooner's, Adagio, Wheelhouse, etc. Even the casino was the same. I guess I like a little more lively decor.

 

5. Assistant Waiter. Well, our Alexander was introduced to us on the first night and we would only see him as we neared our dessert every night. He would show up and ask if we wanted coffee. Our waiter took care of the rest and was terribly hurried, although he was a "positive". Non-existant Alexander would disappear each night and not come back for anything other than to wave good-bye as we were leaving......hmmm.

 

6. Pool area entertainment. I really, really enjoy sitting at the pool listening to music. I will absolutely not sit at a pool and watch a movie, although it looked like a lot of people were doing it. We sat at the other pool on sea days and I was excited for the "crazy" pool games. When it turned out that a group of young people (obviously pre-chosen somehow) came out as the contestants in a "drink mixing challenge", we were bored to tears. The second day at sea the games were much better.

 

7. Most of the staff was great, but I noticed especially the bartenders at the pools (all of them) were VERY grumpy and not at all what we are used to on cruises. I saw one passenger ask the bartender, who's name tag said he was from Montenegro, where Montenegro was. The bartender glared at him and said "Google it" and walked away. While I found the comment amusing, it definitely lacked in the customer service area.

 

8. Being on the 14th floor with our cabin on the aft, I HATED walking through the dining areas to get to the pools. i know I could have walked down the halls, but we usually stopped at the Terrace pool first (right outside our room) to check it out and then had to walk through the dining rooms to get to the other pools. I thought that was an awful layout design.

 

9. I missed lively, fun evening entertainment. Wished after the third night there was a piano bar (more than Bert singing Phantom), or an upbeat music venue. Didn't find one anywhere.

 

 

Now for the Positives!!

 

1. We really liked the sushi at vines. It was a nice afternoon snack.

 

2. Our room steward Jimmi was awesome. We made no special requests, but he was always in the hallway smiling and wishing us a great day.

 

3. Our aft balcony, while one of the tiniest bathrooms on sea, was nice. We enjoyed the flatscreen tv up in the corner to not take up much room. Loved the closet space near the bathroom. Bed was hard, but not intollerable.

 

4. Comedians were hilarious. We enjoyed them both very much! (I'm not a fan of comedians, but these two were hilarious and really hit home on some jokes). Carlos Oscar was our favorite.

 

5. i liked the bubbles in the walls of the elevators in the center of the ship from the piazza up to the pool decks. Very cool.

 

6. Didn't see too much of the 'towel' game at the pools, so that was nice. There were always empty chairs around.

 

7. The casino paid out really well for me. Can't complain there.

 

8. We had late dining in the Boticelli. While the first night they wandered us around to four different sections (apparently no one knew where table 40 was) we ended up with a wonderful waiter named Edwin from the Phillipines. He would sing to us everynight (oldies but goodies) and had a beautiful voice. He brought us extras of everything (except escargot) when requested. I missed the singing waiters, but Edwin made up for it with his spectacular voice. Food was outstanding in the dining room!! We loved almost everything.

 

9. Loved the promenade deck and the cusioned chairs. I also really liked the front deck just above the promenade. It was a great place for watching coming into port. You are really right on the front of the ship!

 

10. Ports were fantastic. Definitely glad we reserved a regular bungalow on Princess Cays, and would highly recommend shopping at the little market off the Princess grounds. We got some GREAT deals there. We had an absolute blast at each one! Tendering and dismbarkation at ports was fine and organized.

 

There you go. If anyone has any specific questions, please ask. We did enjoy ourselves, but missed the "energy" of some other lines.

 

BTW, we stayed at the FLL Hilton and it was beautiful!! Perfect place for an inexpensive (relatively) sleep before we sailed.

[stoneharborlady]

Very odd, I responded to your post earlier, but it never materialized on the screen. Interesting review, sorry that you didnt love Princess, but we are lucky to have many choices. Perhaps your next cruise will be a better fit for you. What did you think of the International Cafe, I am dying to try that on my next cruise. I also dont love MUTS during the day, but there are other pools I can use. I have enjoyed both of my cruises very much on Princess, its a good line for me.

 

Yes, the bathrooms are small, but not much time is spent there, in fact we dont spend much time in the cabin at all. We prefer to be out and about on the ship. Anyway, I enjoyed your review, thank you for posting it.

 

Karen

[PescadoAmarillo]

Thank you for your review...I enjoyed reading your perspectives about your first Princess cruise.

 

5. i liked the bubbles in the walls of the elevators in the center of the ship from the piazza up to the pool decks. Very cool.

Sometimes, in between cruises, we've seen them pumping air into them, one deck at a time, from what looks like a garden sprayer. Really.

[GingerCandy]

Enjoyed your comments. We were on the same cruise, I think, and a frequent Princess cruise.

 

The terminal you mentioned was as bad as you state, but maybe you didn't know that the usual terminal is under reconstruction. None of us were happy with this old terminal area. Hopefully the new updated one will be much better.

 

Since the Entertainer of the Year contest was part of this cruise, the usual entertainment was lacking. We were not as happy either, but did enjoy Carlos Oscar. Next time, you should find that there are a lot of entertainment shows that you will enjoy. :)

[Deer3649]

We were on the same cruise and this was our first cruise with Princess as well. We were very excited about this cruise and although we absolutely loved our cruise, we were certainly disappointed about several things ourselves, but on the whole, having never been to the Caribbean, we were so pleased about the ports, this was a great vacation fo0r us.

 

I would say to Princess, please make sure your waiters have enough help to take care of all of their tables, as our poor waiter (Russell, from the Philippines - we loved him) just seemed to be so overwhelmed the first few days, his service was very, very slow. But Russell worked hard and so did his Asst. It just took longer.

 

Food was great - ship hallway lay out seemed to be confusing on Floors 5,6, &7 - loved the MUTS - our cabin person was good, but I really was disappointed not getting any animal towels (my preference).

 

Would go back to all of the Ports again, but most especially Turks and Caicos.

 

To Karen - loved all of the desserts especially the dark chocolate/white chocolate mousse at the International Cafe - food was good there!

[Working 2 Cruise]

We were on the same cruise and this was our first cruise with Princess as well. We were very excited about this cruise and although we absolutely loved our cruise, we were certainly disappointed about several things ourselves, but on the whole, having never been to the Caribbean, we were so pleased about the ports, this was a great vacation fo0r us.

 

I would say to Princess, please make sure your waiters have enough help to take care of all of their tables, as our poor waiter (Russell, from the Philippines - we loved him) just seemed to be so overwhelmed the first few days, his service was very, very slow. But Russell worked hard and so did his Asst. It just took longer.

 

Food was great - ship hallway lay out seemed to be confusing on Floors 5,6, &7 - loved the MUTS - our cabin person was good, but I really was disappointed not getting any animal towels (my preference).

 

Would go back to all of the Ports again, but most especially Turks and Caicos.

 

To Karen - loved all of the desserts especially the dark chocolate/white chocolate mousse at the International Cafe - food was good there!

 

Sorry, no animal towels on Princess. It is, however, Carnival's specialty. To the OP, it looks like you may never find the perfect cruise, as those do not exist... Thanks for your review... I just came back from a Carnival cruise and boy, Princess is so much better! There is no such thing as a perfect cruise, on any of the lines. Some do things better, and some... :mad:

[dwaynesworld]

interesting post, thnx.

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your review, not all cruises are as good as others but it doesn't make them bad. I certainly got your point, and glad you enjoyed yourselves.

[rdsqrl]

I can't begin to imagine why the condition or appearance of the terminal from which I'm boarding a ship would in any way feature into my assessment of the ensuing cruise. Obviously, my priorities are all screwed up.

 

[CCURN]

Enjoyed reading your post. I have a funny story. Last year I booked a cruise with Princess. I researched many cruise lines and ships because I wanted our cruise to be perfect. We were going to be celebrating our 22nd wedding anniversary plus it was my graduation gift for obtaining my second master's degree. Sadly we experienced some hard times and had to cancel our dream trip. We were scheduled to sail on the Princess Ruby last week (4/15/12). Tonight I thought I'd check the message boards to see if anyone posted anything about that cruise. I was so excited to read your post. Not only was it a review about the Ruby it also was a review for the week of the cruise we missed.When I started reading your post I noticed another coincidence; you stayed in the room that I initally book last year. I'm sad that I wasn't able to make the cruise this year but thankful that I got to experience it through your post. Thanks!

I have a few questions if you don't mind.... How was the room size and balcony size? Was it quiet? Was the pool on your floor nice and quiet or busy? I also did a lot of research on rooms. I wanted that room because it was the highest AFT view cabin and it seemed like a great location being close to the pool and bar upstairs. I see you've cruised a lot, how was the room compared to other cruise ships? Could people up above look down into your balcony?

I'm curious, did you do anything in St Thomas? That was our favorite when we sailed two years ago. We sailed in May so the stores were in "low season." I bought lots of jewelry there. Another funny story. I wanted a ring with blue and white diamonds. I visited SO many jewelry stores that cruise. Anyway we went to Diamonds International and my husband had pegged his "fun meter" for jewelry shopping. He was tired of looking at jewelry and I was tired of hearing him wine and complain. Then out of no where an angel arrived (male sales attendent). He asked my husband if he would be interested in a cold beer and of course that made my husband's day. The angel took him to a back room that was quiet, cool, and the beer was plentiful. Atlast!! I was able to shop in peace and I found the most georgeous ring. It was way over my price range but I wanted it so bad I kept haggling. We finally reached the magic price and I got the ring of my dreams. The salesman took the ring back to the "men's beer room" and showed my husband the ring. By now my hubby had a few beers onboard and said, "that's beautiful. Do whatever it takes to make my wife happy." So when the salesman returned and told me i wanted to make my husband happy so I bought the earrings to match. We left there and went to another jewelry store so I could buy my mother some jewelry. While waiting for her necklace to be customized my husband starting getting antsy again. Couldn't believe it, that jewelry store had an angel too! They didn't have a back room but they brought out nice chairs for us to sit on. They kept the beer flowing to my husband which allowed me to shop a little. The salesman kept bringing various pieces to me to try on. My husband liked those pieces and kept saying, "get it; it's our anniversary." That saying quickly changed to, "Put it on the tab!" About three hours later we left there with my mom's necklace and some jewelry for me (3 diamond rings, necklace, and diamond tennis bracelet). While walking back to the ship my husband was in a good mood and saying how happy he was that I was able to get some jewelry. As we were strolling he said, "you got some really nice things; you must have spent $800." Funniest comment of the cruise (he still has no idea how much diamonds cost). :D

[deedeetoo]

Thank you so much for you review. I personally love hearing what people like and don't like. It is much more helpful than those reviews where people come back raving about everything.

[Stevesan]

I can't begin to imagine why the condition or appearance of the terminal from which I'm boarding a ship would in any way feature into my assessment of the ensuing cruise. Obviously, my priorities are all screwed up.

 

 

 

msfuzzmo's description is self explanatory:

 

Check-in facilities. "Not sure if it's like this in all the FLL port facilities, but the Princess terminal was a dump compared to other that we've sailed out of. We stood in queues in a huge warehouse types room with painted floors, makeshift walls and filthy ceilings. My husband was wondering when we got to the "waiting room area" and I told him.....I think this is it. (frowns all around). It took us about 2 hrs from taxi drop off to get to the check-in desk."

 

[Shogun]

Hi There

 

Nice to hear Edwin still on good form , great guy always smiling and singing,

 

As to terminal, there is a port in Europe can not recall where but it is new,

 

loads of glass, high tec kind of looking, coloured walk ways so you do not get lost, great big pot plants, big high quality pics of ships past and present, etc etc, and air con that works, lots of clean wash rooms, snack stands etc always though this is how a cruise terminal should be, not an old dock side shed with some stuff put in it, does set the feeling for your cruise, why shook check in be in a hot dusty shed waiting for hours, OK Ft L is up grading many places are not, yet.

 

yours Shogun

[KruzPrincess]

Interesting review. Yep, no towel animals and not many crazy pool games on Princess. Food, of course, is subjective. I think they leave escargot off the menu because they can't always guarantee they'll have it, so your mileage may vary on that from cruise to cruise. The terminal, as others have said, is being refurbished. There are several in FLL and none of them are wonderful, but I usually spend about a half hour there on each end of my cruise. As you noted, you didn't have to walk through the buffet to get to the pool. Princess isn't for everyone, but it's good to go out and try different cruise lines. Now you know. I love Princess, but it's not perfect. I have been on several cruise lines myself and have not yet had one perfect cruise. On Princess, I consistently have a really good cruise and that means a lot to me. Sounds like you may like something else better.

[JimmyVWine]

... I think they leave escargot off the menu because they can't always guarantee they'll have it, so your mileage may vary on that from cruise to cruise.

 

Not saying you are wrong, but I always find it odd how escargot is treated like some rare, seasonal commodity. It's not as if they have crew members scouring lemon groves in the Mediterranean to find them. They come farm-raised, in large cans. Not at all hard to source.

http://www.amazon.com/Consul-Escargots-Extra-Snails-28-Ounce/dp/B001GVIUKE

[Yukonbear]

We were also on the April 15 sailing and I made a conscious effort to get overly excited (in a negative way) about anything. Why sweat the small stuff. We are just gold CC members so no special treatment and embarkation was much slower than last year but we were chatting to friends in line so why worry.

 

We had a fairly large group of people and it was difficult to have dinner (AT) when we wanted so we had to adapt a bit and be flexible. So be it.

 

Thanks for your observations and happy cruising on whichever line meets your needs.

[Woobstr112G]

OP;

Thanks for taking the time to post your review. I enjoyed reading your observaions. Sounds live overall, you had a great cruise.....:):):)

 

Bob

[OhioDogLover]

Thanks for posting your review. I like to read other people's opinions on cruises we have taken or plan to take. Everyone has a slightly different perception.

We were on Ruby in late February and had a great time, too. Our experience with waitstaff and bartenders was different, but people being people, sometimes they just have a bad day or bad cruise.

Ohiodoglover

[mrsfuzzmo]

Sorry, no animal towels on Princess. It is, however, Carnival's specialty. To the OP, it looks like you may never find the perfect cruise, as those do not exist... Thanks for your review... I just came back from a Carnival cruise and boy, Princess is so much better! There is no such thing as a perfect cruise, on any of the lines. Some do things better, and some... :mad:

 

This comment is funny to me. I am not in search of a "perfect cruise". Like I stated, it was my 18th cruise (or somewhere in that neighborhood) and I have had a wonderful time on all of them. I prefer some lines to others, but am not in belief that my observations make me look like i am expecting something perfect.

[mrsfuzzmo]

msfuzzmo's description is self explanatory:

 

Check-in facilities. "Not sure if it's like this in all the FLL port facilities, but the Princess terminal was a dump compared to other that we've sailed out of. We stood in queues in a huge warehouse types room with painted floors, makeshift walls and filthy ceilings. My husband was wondering when we got to the "waiting room area" and I told him.....I think this is it. (frowns all around). It took us about 2 hrs from taxi drop off to get to the check-in desk."

 

 

Thank you.

[mrsfuzzmo]

Hi There

 

Nice to hear Edwin still on good form , great guy always smiling and singing,

 

As to terminal, there is a port in Europe can not recall where but it is new,

 

loads of glass, high tec kind of looking, coloured walk ways so you do not get lost, great big pot plants, big high quality pics of ships past and present, etc etc, and air con that works, lots of clean wash rooms, snack stands etc always though this is how a cruise terminal should be, not an old dock side shed with some stuff put in it, does set the feeling for your cruise, why shook check in be in a hot dusty shed waiting for hours, OK Ft L is up grading many places are not, yet.

 

yours Shogun

 

Good to hear that was a "temporary' situation.

[mrsfuzzmo]

Very odd, I responded to your post earlier, but it never materialized on the screen. Interesting review, sorry that you didnt love Princess, but we are lucky to have many choices. Perhaps your next cruise will be a better fit for you. What did you think of the International Cafe, I am dying to try that on my next cruise. I also dont love MUTS during the day, but there are other pools I can use. I have enjoyed both of my cruises very much on Princess, its a good line for me.

 

Yes, the bathrooms are small, but not much time is spent there, in fact we dont spend much time in the cabin at all. We prefer to be out and about on the ship. Anyway, I enjoyed your review, thank you for posting it.

 

Karen

 

Thanks Karen, we did enjoy the International Cafe. But not being big coffe drinkers or fans of sweets (i know we are odd) we didn't use it much. My husband got a few sweet rolls there in the early mornings and said they were good. Not much of a line at any time and plenty of options. It was a nice feature.

[mrsfuzzmo]

Enjoyed reading your post. I have a funny story. Last year I booked a cruise with Princess. I researched many cruise lines and ships because I wanted our cruise to be perfect. We were going to be celebrating our 22nd wedding anniversary plus it was my graduation gift for obtaining my second master's degree. Sadly we experienced some hard times and had to cancel our dream trip. We were scheduled to sail on the Princess Ruby last week (4/15/12). Tonight I thought I'd check the message boards to see if anyone posted anything about that cruise. I was so excited to read your post. Not only was it a review about the Ruby it also was a review for the week of the cruise we missed.When I started reading your post I noticed another coincidence; you stayed in the room that I initally book last year. I'm sad that I wasn't able to make the cruise this year but thankful that I got to experience it through your post. Thanks!

I have a few questions if you don't mind.... How was the room size and balcony size? Was it quiet? Was the pool on your floor nice and quiet or busy? I also did a lot of research on rooms. I wanted that room because it was the highest AFT view cabin and it seemed like a great location being close to the pool and bar upstairs. I see you've cruised a lot, how was the room compared to other cruise ships? Could people up above look down into your balcony?

I'm curious, did you do anything in St Thomas? That was our favorite when we sailed two years ago. We sailed in May so the stores were in "low season." I bought lots of jewelry there. Another funny story. I wanted a ring with blue and white diamonds. I visited SO many jewelry stores that cruise. Anyway we went to Diamonds International and my husband had pegged his "fun meter" for jewelry shopping. He was tired of looking at jewelry and I was tired of hearing him wine and complain. Then out of no where an angel arrived (male sales attendent). He asked my husband if he would be interested in a cold beer and of course that made my husband's day. The angel took him to a back room that was quiet, cool, and the beer was plentiful. Atlast!! I was able to shop in peace and I found the most georgeous ring. It was way over my price range but I wanted it so bad I kept haggling. We finally reached the magic price and I got the ring of my dreams. The salesman took the ring back to the "men's beer room" and showed my husband the ring. By now my hubby had a few beers onboard and said, "that's beautiful. Do whatever it takes to make my wife happy." So when the salesman returned and told me i wanted to make my husband happy so I bought the earrings to match. We left there and went to another jewelry store so I could buy my mother some jewelry. While waiting for her necklace to be customized my husband starting getting antsy again. Couldn't believe it, that jewelry store had an angel too! They didn't have a back room but they brought out nice chairs for us to sit on. They kept the beer flowing to my husband which allowed me to shop a little. The salesman kept bringing various pieces to me to try on. My husband liked those pieces and kept saying, "get it; it's our anniversary." That saying quickly changed to, "Put it on the tab!" About three hours later we left there with my mom's necklace and some jewelry for me (3 diamond rings, necklace, and diamond tennis bracelet). While walking back to the ship my husband was in a good mood and saying how happy he was that I was able to get some jewelry. As we were strolling he said, "you got some really nice things; you must have spent $800." Funniest comment of the cruise (he still has no idea how much diamonds cost). :D

 

Our room size was standard. Very much like most other regular balcony cabins. Plenty of closet space, enough room to walk around the bed, etc. It was fine. The balcony that we had was a bit smaller than most because of our location. We were on the top (14th deck) of aft balconies at the far port side. We had much more privacy than the one cabin next to us, but had just a little smaller balcony. It was almost triangular, not rectangular. Plenty big for two chairs and a table. Loved the glass wall.

 

We did catch a cab to Sapphire beach and spent a couple hours there. Then came back to town and had lunch at .....hmmm, a local place but I can't remembe the name. let me look. It was very popular. Very good food! Then we plopped the guys at the Big Kahuna Rum bar and did a little shopping. No jewelry for me. Glady's cafe i believe.

[mrsfuzzmo]

Thanks for your review, not all cruises are as good as others but it doesn't make them bad. I certainly got your point, and glad you enjoyed yourselves.

 

Thanks, like I said, we had a wonderful time. We had awesome ports, beautiful weather and some real highlights on our trip. People shouldn't read into the fact that some of my preconcieved expections were not met, that we didn't enjoy ourselves. We really did have a great trip.

[mrsfuzzmo]

Thank you so much for you review. I personally love hearing what people like and don't like. It is much more helpful than those reviews where people come back raving about everything.

 

Thanks I do too. I've had a lot of cruise experience and was just giving my own personal review.....isn't that what a review is? The great, the good the bad and the ugly. We didn't experience any ugly, and not really any bad, just a few things that were just "OK", you know?

 

We had an awesome trip. Just a little bored on Princess, but we are a very active crew. We don't sit and read, we like lots of stimulation and enjoy participating in a lot of stuff on a cruise. Lovely ship and crew, and would go on Princess again sometime if the itinerary suites us. I will recommend it to people that I know, who would like the experience.