Review: Ruby Princess 10 Day Mexican Riviera Cruise 4/8-4/18

[amyotravel]

Embarkation:

Because we were not Suite Passengers or Elite we worried that the process would be long and arduous. All in all it was good. There were plenty of chairs to wait in and you were given a boarding group card when you came in, in a first come, first served fashion. It took only about 45 minutes total. We carried on all of our baggage and we were able to go straight to our cabin, drop our bags, and eat lunch in the dining room. We did not wait for the time assigned to our deck in the email notification and there was no issue with that.

 

Cabin:

Although the standard balcony cabins are slightly smaller than those on Carnival, we preferred the layout of the Princess balcony cabins and did not notice any less space. The shower, though, is every bit as small as people say! But it did have nice, hot water and plenty of water pressure, so I survived just fine. Yes, I shaved my legs by sticking my feet on the closed toilet lid. Oh, well!

 

We had an extended balcony on the Caribe deck and it was fabulous. We spent more time on the balcony than we ever have. The final night was spectacularly beautiful with the moon, calm waters and a perfect temperature. It was a wonderful send–off and we sure will miss that view.

The new beds are spectacular. So comfortable. I slept like a rock.

 

Muster Drill:

It is what it is. We didn’t love having to lug around the life jackets, but being inside in a seat was better than the military line-up outside in the elements that we have been subjected to in the past.

 

Overall Ship:

This is a beautiful ship. We purposely didn’t try to over-memorize the layout because we enjoyed getting turned around once in a while even at the end. The deck chairs in the adult area were very comfortable and we could always find a spot with no issues, so we never felt compelled to pay for The Sanctuary. The décor is much nicer than Carnival and we liked the bars/pubs a great deal. The only downside for me was I didn’t like the Piazza layout as much as the atriums on newer Carnival ships.

 

Food:

Well, here’s where this ship fell short for us. I know people have plenty of opinions about Carnival. But in our humble opinion, the food on all of our other Carnival cruises has been much, much better. It is especially better on the 2.0 renovated Carnival ships with the Guy’s Burgers and the Blue Iguana Cantina. The dining room food was barely passable on some nights. Our thoughts: Bland, huge portions (I kept eating about half of each entrée and then feeling guilty about leaving so much on my plate), very little seasoning, and scant ethnic choices. One night in the dining room was a theme night (Italian) and that was very good. The desserts were also good, so I ate more dessert than normal; usually I don’t eat much in the way of dessert. I tried the buffet one night when we skipped the main dining room and I could only eat a couple of bites of items I chose. The salad “bar” (you can’t even really call it that) area was tiny. Really tiny. It was hugely disappointing. Highlights, however, included tapas at Vines wine bar and the pub lunch (offered twice on our cruise). We paid for the steakhouse once because of our disappointment with the main dining room. It was good, but even bigger (ugh!) portions and really only equaled the level we expect on Carnival for formal night in the regular dining room.

 

 

 

They also have started changing the early dining of 6:00 PM dining to 5:30. Princess will tell you that you are confirmed at 6:00, but when you get on, it will actually be 5:30. There has been lengthy and heated discussion on this, so I won’t waste time trying to defend my position. However, suffice it to say that did not work for us and we didn’t care for it at all.

 

 

 

The International café was fine for some snack items, but I didn’t think it was as good as others have said.

 

 

 

As another comparison, we have sailed on one and only one Costa cruise. Since it is an Italian cruise line, we figured the food would be really good (especially the Italian food). It wasn’t. In addition, the beds on Costa were uncomfortable, and the service was sometimes downright rude. So Costa was one and done for us.

 

Ports:

We called on five ports: San Diego, Cabo San Lucas, La Paz, Loreto, and Puerto Vallarta. We had wonderful weather. Princess is very organized and even the tender ports were no problem at all. We did not book excursions because there were not as many to choose from as we are used to, and the ones offered that we were interested in were usually too long for us to enjoy any time in the towns themselves. This is a great itinerary and I am so glad we picked it. We are very independent and love to walk for extended periods so we were totally able to keep ourselves entertained. We ate lots of food in the ports to make up for the bland food we were getting on the ship!

 

Service:

The service was very good. We had one really surly bartender one night, but other than that, we had no complaints. We felt that the staff maintained a slight professional detachment compared to Carnival, but only in that they didn’t go out of their way to interact with you, as if they didn’t want to bother you. They were very friendly when you spoke to them.

I have to say that the room service was the best we have ever experienced. They were never late, and often arrived in half the time they said it would take. There is a nice variety of options. We tipped additionally in cash every time and it was well worth it. We had coffee and juice delivery almost every morning as well.

 

Entertainment/Activities:

There was a distinct lack of live music on the Lido deck and in other common areas (other than the Piazza, a couple of the bars, and the club). The music was too sedate for us when we did get it, except for an R&B band called Nexus we saw a couple of times. There was mariachi music, and since we were going to Mexico I guess that was fitting. However, we get plenty of mariachi music where we live so we would have preferred more Reggae and classic or soft rock. I am sure the music was geared toward the clientele, and we weren’t the target age group!

 

 

 

The Movies Under the Stars has Carnival beat. The chairs are much more comfortable, and they pass out blankets and snacks. They utilize the screen more often in the daytime as well. This leads me to a confession. We spent so much time on the deck, we didn’t participate much in the way of other entertainment. Some of the movies we watched: Creed, Brooklyn, The Martian, Bridge of Spies, Oz the Great and Powerful, Minions, and even Mary Poppins (memories!). Other entertainment highlights: cooking demonstration, Voice of the Ocean, and one comedy show on our final night when the movie was a repeat from earlier in the week. We really liked the purposely cheesy Love Boat disco deck party.

 

 

 

Twice daily happy hours were awesome and we took full advantage of that – at least once each day, sometimes both.

Shopping: I did not shop on board. It’s just not my thing on a ship.

 

Disembarkation:

We carried all our baggage off (just like we carried it all on) and did the Walk-off option. We were supposed to gather in the Wheelhouse Bar at our appointed time of 8:10 am. When we arrived at 8:05, people were exiting the ship just outside the bar. I said – oh, that’s the first walk-off group and we are group 2. But then someone said they told group 2 they could go ahead as well. We were off the ship, through customs, and on the curb outside the terminal by 8:15. It was literally a 10 minute process. I didn’t even get much of a chance to wave goodbye to my lovely home for the last 10 days!

[Bemidji Ty]

Thanks.

[Murphey]

Excellent and fair comparison between the 2 lines. Thank you.

[cruzsnooze]

 

 

 

 

 

They also have started changing the early dining of 6:00 PM dining to 5:30. Princess will tell you that you are confirmed at 6:00, but when you get on, it will actually be 5:30. There has been lengthy and heated discussion on this, so I won’t waste time trying to defend my position. However, suffice it to say that did not work for us and we didn’t care for it at all.

 

 

 

 

This is the most annoying thing Princess does. When you go to change to a 6PM dining they give you a song and dance how on this sailing there were too many people who wanted early seating. Really!! Every single cruise! Stop feeding us this line and admit you have a problem and won't fix it.

[Clarea]

Well-written report, thanks.:)

[Jasperdo]

Thanks for the review. My wife and I did this same cruise in March and had a great time. I appreciate your honest thoughts and comparisons to Carnival.

[socaljo]

Thanks for the insightful review!

 

Last month, aboard the Island, our dining time changed from 8pm to 7:45. Our next cruise is January has confirmed time of 8:15...maybe this is how we really get 8pm dining! :p

 

Glad you had a good cruise overall! Happy Sailing!

 

[lovevacadays]

Thank you for your review.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[easyboy]

Thanks for the review.

[Woobstr112G]

Thanks for posting your review.....:):):)

 

Bob

[jchris1230]

I was on this cruise and agree with a lot of what you said. The service was great . My husband said he didn't want to go on princess anymore because the food options were not good in the buffet and nothing stood out to him as excellent, food wise. I told him the newer ships probably have more selection. This was his 1st princess cruise. He was often comparing our last few cruises to this one.

 

I would take princess again, this was my third with Princess. I would probably choose the newer ships next time.

[jchris1230]

Oh and I slept so good on those new mattresses, didn't wake up stiff or sore. I didn't want to return to my own bed at home because I am in much need of a new mattress.

[emmak8]

I enjoyed your detailed review. Thank you for posting.

[partybarbie]

Thank you for taking the time to post a review.

 

My family and I were on the same cruise too!:) We really enjoyed the food though. Maybe because I have been on so many cruises, I know which dishes not to order, lol. We did try three of the Curtis Stone dishes, the pork cheeks, the chicken pot pie, and the mussels with clams. I thought they were all delicious. The descriptions make them sound weird, but they are quite tasty.

 

This was the first cruise for my sister, brother-in-law, and their little two-year-old, Kane. He really enjoyed himself and was very well behaved. He had his own little fan club on the ship and learned some new words like "bust a move" when my husband took him out on the dance floor.

 

All in all, a great time for all three generations in our group.:D