Disappointment on the Ruby.

[PescadoAmarillo]

Whoever told you the crew was not allowed off the ship lied to you. One of the bartenders told us he went to the Macys in Santa Barbara for a cool pair of shoes. Also, crew was allowed off during our day at port (LAX).

Not every crew member can get off the ship in every port. It is dependent first on visas; if they don't have the correct visa for that country, they can't. Then it's a scheduling thing. Certain crew members are assigned IPM (In Port Manning) for ship security purposes, even if they're not actually working (this is rotated among crew members so it's not always the same people). And others are scheduled to work.

 

Visas are the reason that crew members from certain countries can't finish their contract in LA. They have to stay on until another port (such as Mexico) to fly home, even if it's mid-cruise and they're a waiter or steward.

[Craving A Cruise]

I hope so, but my friend just got off the Caribbean Princess a few days ago and they were unhappy with the food too.:eek:

 

Crown Princess had decent food last November, but not as good as our previous cruises on her.

 

Sadly, our recent Star Princess cruise was very disappointing!! The food was just barely edible at times! :( ....just seemed to be many cutbacks all around.

 

Nevertheless, we are willing to give the Ruby a try at some point!

[floridalover5623]

After 63 cruises, over 20 with Princess, this was by far the worst food we've ever had on a cruise. Will reconsider future booking in June on the Royal. Will follow up later with a complete review.

 

It happens from time to time depending on the cook staff.

We experienced the same thing on the Emerald a few years ago but I'm certain it's corrected itself by now. The crew changes ships so frequently it's hard to keep up with them.

The Royal/Regal are the only ships that seem to have constantly very good food for some reason. I'm sure you'll find it a big improvement.

[SadieN]

Can't wait for your report re: "the worst food we've ever had on a cruise".

Hoping you'll be specific why the food was so bad, and not just report in generalities.

Because, one person's meat is another person's poison. Yes? :)

 

 

Best thing I ate on this cruise was a sole entree during lunch in the MDR. The fish was cooked perfectly but it was a tan piece of fish over lighter tan potatoes on a white plate/bowl. Set upon an off white tablecloth. There was a flower on the table for color.

 

Our biggest two complaints were- seemed that most everything in the MDR had some sort of a creamy sauce and the buffet was on this weird three day rotation. Same things for three days then another set came in. The IC had the same desserts as the HC, so no relief there.

[logan25]

I will say the daily desserts at IC were fairly if not exactly repetitive. For me, the best was miniature cheesecake which they offered on most days. I could eat those everyday and twice on Sunday. Who am I kidding? I could eat those twice everyday.

Edited January 28, 2017 by logan25

[floridalover5623]

The Horizon desserts on most Princess ships are very boring. Most of them taste the same which little variation from day to day. (with the exception of the Regal/Royal)

We very often eat at the buffet, go to a show & then go to the dining room for coffee/tea with one of their better dessert choices or ice cream.

[Cruise Raider]

Not every crew member can get off the ship in every port. It is dependent first on visas; if they don't have the correct visa for that country, they can't. Then it's a scheduling thing. Certain crew members are assigned IPM (In Port Manning) for ship security purposes, even if they're not actually working (this is rotated among crew members so it's not always the same people). And others are scheduled to work.

 

Visas are the reason that crew members from certain countries can't finish their contract in LA. They have to stay on until another port (such as Mexico) to fly home, even if it's mid-cruise and they're a waiter or steward.

 

And ...isn't there some ordinance in Santa Barbara in which a crew member cannot get off the ship unless he/she has severed a minimum amount of time onboard?? I think it was 6 to 9 months or something like that....maybe it was during their first contract.

San Francisco, yes, no problem but in Santa Barbara, it may not be allowed. I've heard this on a few different cruises when we've stopped at that port.

It had more to do with the city than the cruise ship. Doesn't the Ruby make a stop at this port ... maybe that was what the reference was to?? I don't know .... just surmising here.

[antsp]

Food was normal princess standards on our recent Ruby cruise.

[SadieN]

And ...isn't there some ordinance in Santa Barbara in which a crew member cannot get off the ship unless he/she has severed a minimum amount of time onboard?? I think it was 6 to 9 months or something like that....maybe it was during their first contract.

 

...........

 

 

Santa Barbara is a tender port. So it is difficult but not impossible for the crew to get off. About the contract, no idea.

[XBGuy]

Santa Barbara is a tender port. So it is difficult but not impossible for the crew to get off. About the contract, no idea.

 

It's funny. I've been seated next to crew members on the tenders in Santa Barbara multiple times. I can tell you for sure that many of them like to visit the beach there next to Stearn's Wharf. On one trip, our waitress from the previous evening looked pretty good in her bikini. ;) On another one, when returning to the ship I was chatting with this young couple who'd obviously been shopping. As soon as the tender touched the ship, the woman bolted to be the first one off. That's when I found out they were crew. Her friend told me she was late getting back. :)

[Colo Cruiser]

Santa Barbara is a tender port. So it is difficult but not impossible for the crew to get off. About the contract, no idea.

 

 

Crew get off in tender ports all the time. It makes no difference.

If they have the time and are permitted to get off they do.

[SadieN]

Crew get off in tender ports all the time. It makes no difference.

 

If they have the time and are permitted to get off they do.

 

 

Yes, they get time off at tender ports, but some feel it isn't worth the trouble.

[pablo222]

Crew get off in tender ports all the time. It makes no difference.

 

The only difference is that passengers are accomodated first.

So, crew can only go later.

 

And, 'later' may be so late that the staff captain cancels shore

leave for the port -- if the passenger tendering takes too long.

[Colo Cruiser]

The only difference is that passengers are accomodated first.

So, crew can only go later.

 

And, 'later' may be so late that the staff captain cancels shore

leave for the port -- if the passenger tendering takes too long.

 

 

Of course.

 

If they are on port manning any time off the ship is out of the question.

[pablo222]

If they are on port manning any time off the ship is out of the question.

 

In some departments, on some ships, it is allowed to trade IPM

with someone else.

 

Someone who has a duty and can't go ashore anyway

might be incented to trade...

[Bill B]

This shows how food can vary from ship to ship (and over time). I just got off a 10-day Diamond Princess cruise. The selection and quality of the buffet food was excellent (I never ate in the dining room). The only exception being the morning toast - it was so dry, it would literally shatter when you tried to butter or bite it.

[3kidsncats]

Just off the Ruby Princess today, and can confirm that the buffet was mostly the same food every day. There were a few changes now and then, but not many.

 

I never ate dinner in the buffet, so can't comment on that meal, but the only difference between 5 breakfasts there was ONE day they had pre-made ham and cheese omelets, and the other four days it was scrambled eggs or fried eggs. All other offerings were the same. I know there was a made to order omelet station in one section, but that area was always too crowded. Lunch was similar, with maybe slightly more changes.

 

As a diabetic that can't eat many carbs, this meant I ate the same thing every time I was in there. The things that changed the most were the carb things I couldn't eat.

 

Quality was pretty basic buffet food. Some things pretty good, and some things quite average to not worth eating. Most things seemed fresh, and serving temps were appropriate. It was clean and well maintained, staff available to serve beverages in a timely manner. Salad bar could have used more ingredient options. Overall, not my favorite dining venue.

 

We ate at the IC several times, food was tasty, but also not enough rotation from day to day.

 

MDR consistently had very good food and really enjoyed our meals there. Also did the UBD, which was fantastic. The balcony breakfast was ok -- the omelet substitute I got was made with velveta. :-/

[rurn0321]

We also just got off the Ruby today and had a definite problem with the anytime dining. We have cruised with Princess several times before and have never had a problem, always made reservations for the time we needed and maybe had a 5-10 minute wait. This time on the Ruby the anytime dining was horrible. You could not make reservations earlier than 7:30 and we tried several times by calling at 8am. We tried switching to traditional dining and talked to the head waiter but were unable to. The lines were very long. Several times 45 minutes just to get a beeper and then another 45 min to get seated. We found we had to be in line by 4:30 to get seated at a reasonable time which we were not happy about. The poor girl at the door was verbally abused by another passenger behind us as he was so disgusted with the long lines every night. I felt bad for her as it wasn't her fault but the system is definitely flawed. I am not sure why there is a problem with this on this particular ship although someone had suggested it was due to the Club Class taking up space and their section being basically empty. I will be doing tradtional dining from now on to avoid this. The quality of the food was okay but I agree that in the Horizon Court they didn't vary the selections very often. Other than that the cruise was great even with the cloudy cool weather.

[3kidsncats]

We also just got off the Ruby today and had a definite problem with the anytime dining. We have cruised with Princess several times before and have never had a problem, always made reservations for the time we needed and maybe had a 5-10 minute wait. This time on the Ruby the anytime dining was horrible. You could not make reservations earlier than 7:30 and we tried several times by calling at 8am. We tried switching to traditional dining and talked to the head waiter but were unable to. The lines were very long. Several times 45 minutes just to get a beeper and then another 45 min to get seated. We found we had to be in line by 4:30 to get seated at a reasonable time which we were not happy about. The poor girl at the door was verbally abused by another passenger behind us as he was so disgusted with the long lines every night. I felt bad for her as it wasn't her fault but the system is definitely flawed. I am not sure why there is a problem with this on this particular ship although someone had suggested it was due to the Club Class taking up space and their section being basically empty. I will be doing tradtional dining from now on to avoid this. The quality of the food was okay but I agree that in the Horizon Court they didn't vary the selections very often. Other than that the cruise was great even with the cloudy cool weather.

 

I also noticed that it was never an option to get a reservation before 7:45 when I called -- and like you, at 8am. I also felt later wasn't an option -- it was one time, period. I don't mind eating at 7:45, but felt the lack of flexibility was an issue. We were seated immediately any time we had reservations, so no complaints about that.

[senior lady]

I found on cruise last november, that if we showed up around 6-6:30 not much of a wait.

[princessme]

3kid cats how was the entertainment?. Are you able to print a couple of your Princess Patters?. I'm just wondering what the entertainment is like

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[3kidsncats]

3kid cats how was the entertainment?. Are you able to print a couple of your Princess Patters?. I'm just wondering what the entertainment is like

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Didn't catch a lot of the entertainment. They had a comedian onboard until PV, and he was pretty funny - saw him both nights. We went to "Magic to Do" and hated it -- feel guilty to say we left about 20 minutes in, which is rare for us. Normally we stay put even if we aren't enjoying something. Skipped all of the production shows after that. We caught the guy in the lounge doing a Neil Diamond tribute (as well as various other short shows he did in the Wheelhouse Bar during the cruise) and he was pretty good. And we enjoyed DJ Nikki up in Skywalkers.

 

I have all the Patters, but my husband had a gig tonight, and we won't get home until 2am after getting up early to disembark this morning. Tomorrow is airport (3 hour round trip) to pick up our daughter and kennel to get the dogs, so it will be a couple of days before I could get around to scanning the Patters. I'll be doing a photo review of sorts, so will include the Patters in that.

[floridalover5623]

We also just got off the Ruby today and had a definite problem with the anytime dining. We have cruised with Princess several times before and have never had a problem, always made reservations for the time we needed and maybe had a 5-10 minute wait. This time on the Ruby the anytime dining was horrible. You could not make reservations earlier than 7:30 and we tried several times by calling at 8am. We tried switching to traditional dining and talked to the head waiter but were unable to. The lines were very long. Several times 45 minutes just to get a beeper and then another 45 min to get seated. We found we had to be in line by 4:30 to get seated at a reasonable time which we were not happy about. The poor girl at the door was verbally abused by another passenger behind us as he was so disgusted with the long lines every night. I felt bad for her as it wasn't her fault but the system is definitely flawed. I am not sure why there is a problem with this on this particular ship although someone had suggested it was due to the Club Class taking up space and their section being basically empty. I will be doing tradtional dining from now on to avoid this. The quality of the food was okay but I agree that in the Horizon Court they didn't vary the selections very often. Other than that the cruise was great even with the cloudy cool weather.

 

Of course it's the Club Class that's causing the delays. we've been on dozens of Princess cruises and never had such problems.

It's time to switch back to traditional although I really don't like but what other choice do they give people at this point. :(

[senior lady]

club class is hardly the problem. There are only 10 tables there.

The problem is that more and more people are wanting anytime dining, because early is to early and late is to late. also I did notice that people seem to be staying at their tables and socializing longer with their coffee and dessert............ making the wait for tables longer also.

Like I said on my cruise in November if we arrived between 6-6:30, we didn't have much of a wait........... maybe 5 min

 

I'm on the Ruby in a week, so will see for myself how bad it is??

[HawksFan74]

3kid cats how was the entertainment?. Are you able to print a couple of your Princess Patters?. I'm just wondering what the entertainment is like

 

it will be a couple of days before I could get around to scanning the Patters.

I was on the same cruise and am in the process of scanning the Patters now. Will be posting them soon.