Countdown to Ruby Princess LIVE - April 8th-April 23rd 2019

[Cyn874]

After at least a year of planning, the big day is nearly upon us! 

 

For those of you who haven't seen me around Cruise Critic already, my name is Cyndi, and I'll be traveling with my Dad and Stepmom- Forrest and Ellen. We are traveling in celebration of their 30th anniversary! They've had a tradition that every 5 years, they celebrate their anniversary by getting remarried in some unique way. So far, they've done things like get remarried on a beach in Tahiti, recreate their original wedding with many of the same wedding party and guests at historic wedding chapel in Las vegas, and even took their vows on the bridge of the Star Trek Enterprise at the Star Trek Experience in Las Vegas. 

 

So this year, for their 30th, it's off to Hawaii on Ruby Princess! I have already arranged the renewal of vows ceremony aboard the ship, and we're very excited to go on this vacation. 

 

This will be our very first time traveling on Princess, and it looks amazing! I've been on two cruises with them in the past- Carnival Pride to Mexico, but that was all the way back in 2005 and 2007. 

 

We don't want the stress of feeling rushed trying to get from airport to cruise terminal and back, so we'll be extending our vacation by an extra day at the beginning and end of our trip. We will be flying in a day early on April 7th and staying at the DoubleTree in San Pedro. After seeing all the great recommendations here on Cruise Critic, I knew that would be the perfect spot for our pre-cruise stay! After we get off the ship at the end of the cruise, rather than heading straight to the airport, we'll be heading to Long Beach for an overnight stay aboard the Queen Mary. Both times in the past when we sailed on Carnival, we stayed at another hotel next to the Queen Mary, but walked over to explore that ship and have a couple of cocktails. Now, we are really looking forward to actually staying a night there, and it seems like a great way to wrap up our vacation. 

 

I have purchased the MedallionNet unlimited internet package for our trip, so my plan is to update this thread frequently! I love following along when others do their LIVE trip reports, so I'm looking forward to doing the same. I'd be more than happy to answer any questions along the way, and share pictures and my experiences. Including patters, menus, etc. 

 

We will be in a mini suite towards the aft of the ship. I can't believe it's almost time! I'll be spending the rest of today and this week getting all the last minute packing done. Only 7 more days!

[PekingeseLady]

12 hours ago, Cyn874 said:

After at least a year of planning, the big day is nearly upon us! 

 

For those of you who haven't seen me around Cruise Critic already, my name is Cyndi, and I'll be traveling with my Dad and Stepmom- Forrest and Ellen. We are traveling in celebration of their 30th anniversary! They've had a tradition that every 5 years, they celebrate their anniversary by getting remarried in some unique way. So far, they've done things like get remarried on a beach in Tahiti, recreate their original wedding with many of the same wedding party and guests at historic wedding chapel in Las vegas, and even took their vows on the bridge of the Star Trek Enterprise at the Star Trek Experience in Las Vegas. 

 

So this year, for their 30th, it's off to Hawaii on Ruby Princess! I have already arranged the renewal of vows ceremony aboard the ship, and we're very excited to go on this vacation. 

 

This will be our very first time traveling on Princess, and it looks amazing! I've been on two cruises with them in the past- Carnival Pride to Mexico, but that was all the way back in 2005 and 2007. 

 

We don't want the stress of feeling rushed trying to get from airport to cruise terminal and back, so we'll be extending our vacation by an extra day at the beginning and end of our trip. We will be flying in a day early on April 7th and staying at the DoubleTree in San Pedro. After seeing all the great recommendations here on Cruise Critic, I knew that would be the perfect spot for our pre-cruise stay! After we get off the ship at the end of the cruise, rather than heading straight to the airport, we'll be heading to Long Beach for an overnight stay aboard the Queen Mary. Both times in the past when we sailed on Carnival, we stayed at another hotel next to the Queen Mary, but walked over to explore that ship and have a couple of cocktails. Now, we are really looking forward to actually staying a night there, and it seems like a great way to wrap up our vacation. 

 

I have purchased the MedallionNet unlimited internet package for our trip, so my plan is to update this thread frequently! I love following along when others do their LIVE trip reports, so I'm looking forward to doing the same. I'd be more than happy to answer any questions along the way, and share pictures and my experiences. Including patters, menus, etc. 

 

We will be in a mini suite towards the aft of the ship. I can't believe it's almost time! I'll be spending the rest of today and this week getting all the last minute packing done. Only 7 more days!

Congratulations on your fast approaching sail date.  I'll be following along,  love the Hawaiian cruise done it three times,  lol. Take good care of her for me,  we're sailing out on the 23rd. Totally understand to our excitement. How wonderful to go with your parents. 

[MishelleMcc]

Have a wonderful Cruise!  We will be following along too!

[AF-1]

Have a great time and congrats to your parents on their 30th anniversary.  That will be so neat renewing  their vows on board the ship.  Hawaii is so beautiful.  Will be following this thread. Safe Travels

Edited April 2, 2019 by AF-1

[Cyn874]

Your next cruise is in 6 days

 

I'm finding that packing for 2 weeks in one and a half suitcases is quite the challenge! I've packed, repacked and reorganized a few times now, and I think I just about have it. I'm bringing my laptop along and that takes up about half of the space in my carry on bag, hence the 1/2 suitcase. It will be worth it, though. I'm a contractor and work from home, plus run my own papercraft subscription box business, so staying connected is very important! I'll need to be able to check in at least once or twice a day, so bringing the laptop along is a bit of a necessity. 

 

Been keeping a close eye on the forecast. We are expecting a couple of wind storms between now and Sunday. So far, none of them are happening on the day of our flight, so I have fingers crossed that our flight will be unaffected. 

 

 

[Cyn874]

Your next cruise is in 5 days

 

 

The days are ticking down quickly, but it feels like my to-do list is only getting longer! Last night I got all of our paperwork printed out- supershuttle confirmation, plane ticket information, cruise travel docs, boarding passes, luggage tags, confirmations for both DoubleTree and Queen Mary.. times three- one set for each of us. 

 

Riley, my poor kitty who I will be leaving behind, doesn't have a clue that I'm about to disappear for longer than he's ever been without me. Luckily, my Mom is nice enough to come and take care of her 'grand-kitty' every day, so he'll have food and luvins from 'grandma'. 😉

 

 

He's spoiled, that one.

 

 

[Colo Cruiser]

[4cats4me]

7 hours ago, Cyn874 said:

Your next cruise is in 5 days

 

 

The days are ticking down quickly, but it feels like my to-do list is only getting longer! Last night I got all of our paperwork printed out- supershuttle confirmation, plane ticket information, cruise travel docs, boarding passes, luggage tags, confirmations for both DoubleTree and Queen Mary.. times three- one set for each of us. 

 

Riley, my poor kitty who I will be leaving behind, doesn't have a clue that I'm about to disappear for longer than he's ever been without me. Luckily, my Mom is nice enough to come and take care of her 'grand-kitty' every day, so he'll have food and luvins from 'grandma'. 😉

 

 

He's spoiled, that one.

 

 

🥰 awwww! So handsome 

[TLC535]

See ya onboard Cyndi...safe travels ! 

[vie lee]

Getting on the ship when you get off, so I will be following 😎

[Cyn874]

Your next cruise is in 4 days

 

 

I realized last night that taking pictures of the menu and patters might not be entirely accurate for those of you boarding when we get back- as my trip will be the very last sailing of the season to Hawaii! But I'm still going to share everything, maybe certain things will remain the same, like movies showing on MUTS or some of the activities. 

 

I'm basically all finished packing, but I am trying to keep myself busy and pass the time until Sunday by working ahead on my papercraft business. Today, it was little paper purses. Nice and cheery. 🙂

 

[CRUZBUDS]

Your Riley looks just like our Duncan, except Duncan had freckles on his nose.  We also had a Riley, sadly they are both gone -- two terrific cats! 

 

We'll be on the Ruby with you -- if you don't mind we'll chime in on your thread from time to time.  We are ready to cruise!

 

Aloha!  

[Cyn874]

15 hours ago, CRUZBUDS said:

Your Riley looks just like our Duncan, except Duncan had freckles on his nose.  We also had a Riley, sadly they are both gone -- two terrific cats! 

 

We'll be on the Ruby with you -- if you don't mind we'll chime in on your thread from time to time.  We are ready to cruise!

 

Aloha!  

 

Absolutely! Please do- the more the merrier. 🙂

[Cyn874]

Your next cruise is in 3 days

 

The pre-vacation jitters have been hitting me hard, today! I'm looking forward to relaxing with a drink like this very, very soon. 🙂 

 

In the meantime, I've been relaxing with some therapeutic papercrafting. 

 

Only 2 more sleeps in my own bed! I'm so excited to get checked into the DoubleTree on Sunday! Our roll call group is pretty big for this trip, and it seems like at least half of them are staying at the DoubleTree as well. There's a pre-cruise dinner planned, but we won't be able to attend as our flight gets in at roughly the same time everyone will be meeting. But that's ok, we'll have a nice leisurely dinner and meet up with everyone once onboard.

 

[PekingeseLady]

CYN874, love your upbeat attitude.  This should be a great review, I can't wait.  Because as you know I'll be boarding her when you get off.  Very interested in the actual dining times for Traditional Dining.  Have a fabulous cruise, I love Hawaii.

[Kangakid]

Keen to read your review as Ruby is heading downunder for a season.  Completely off topic your paper crafting is just gorgeous I haven’t seen anything like these before, I wonder if it mainly a US hobbie and hasn’t made in roads downunder yet..

 

cheers V

[Cyn874]

Thank you, PekingeseLady and KangaKid! I'll be sure and find out about traditional dining times, and the show times, as I expect that's what a lot of people will wonder about. 

 

Kanga, it's primarily for scrapbooking/journaling and planners. I'm not sure if that's big where you are, but it seems to be here. I get a lot of inspiration from Pinterest. 🙂

[Cyn874]

Your next cruise is in 2 days

 

 

This is finally it! The eve of my trip! Although the ship doesn't leave until Monday, my adventure will begin tomorrow morning. I'm so over the top excited and have so many jitters. Finally, all the last minute packing can be completed. Prescriptions have been refilled and packed away. My passport is in my purse. I went over to Dad and Ellen's earlier this afternoon to go over last minute planning before I go over there in the morning where we'll be picked up by SuperShuttle. As I was leaving, my Dad asked if I wanted to go out to dinner with them tonight. I said, 'what's the point! We're about to have all the fancy meals we want for the next couple of weeks.' Hah! 

 

I'm seriously very excited to see the DoubleTree tomorrow. I only wish we were getting there much earlier in the afternoon. Ah well. I imagine my next update will be from the airport tomorrow, when we have some time to kill. 

 

[cnd crsr]

Have a fantastic cruise! Looking forward to following along.

[Cyn874]

Your next cruise is in 1 day

 

 

Suitcases are by the door, and I'm finishing up my cup of coffee and waiting for Ellen to come pick me up. We'll grab some breakfast at McDonald's and head back to their house to eat and wait for SuperShuttle. Had trouble sleeping last night from all the excitement!  

 

It's a good thing we sail out on Monday, because there's a gale warning set for Tuesday in San Pedro. I'm a little worried that the storm will pick up speed and interfere with the sailing- I'm not sure what happens in that case. But I'm hoping they at least let us board. Even if we have to stay docked and let the storm pass, as long as I'm ON the ship, my vacation can begin. 🙂 Fingers crossed! 

 

My updates will probably be shorter but more frequent after this one, as the day progresses!

Edited April 7, 2019 by Cyn874

[PekingeseLady]

So excited for you.  I can hardly sleep the day before we leave either.  Thank goodness DH does all the driving.  We have a 10 hour drive to the Hotel, the day before departure.  We too stop at McDonalds for our first stop on the road, LMAO  

 

Don't worry about the weather, you will go no matter what, but it could be a bit rocky on the way there.  Take your seasick meds if you tend to get seasick.  I just bring Gingerale and Gin Gin candy incase I get a bit queasy.  I don't usually have this problem.  But the only time in my 20 plus cruises, that I got seasick was on one of our Hawaii cruises.  We were fine on the other two.

 

Safe travels, can't wait to see the pictures of the Ruby and follow along with you on your trip.

[spingal]

41 minutes ago, Cyn874 said:

Your next cruise is in 1 day

 

 

Suitcases are by the door, and I'm finishing up my cup of coffee and waiting for Ellen to come pick me up. We'll grab some breakfast at McDonald's and head back to their house to eat and wait for SuperShuttle. Had trouble sleeping last night from all the excitement!  

 

It's a good thing we sail out on Monday, because there's a gale warning set for Tuesday in San Pedro. I'm a little worried that the storm will pick up speed and interfere with the sailing- I'm not sure what happens in that case. But I'm hoping they at least let us board. Even if we have to stay docked and let the storm pass, as long as I'm ON the ship, my vacation can begin. 🙂 Fingers crossed! 

 

My updates will probably be shorter but more frequent after this one, as the day progresses!

 

I am on this sailing too.  Weather in San Pedro for tomorrow is spectacular;  a high of 78 and sunny.  That storm will hit Northern California first.  We will be well underway before it gets to Southern California.  And we sail southwest away from the storm.  The rain isn’t predicted in San Pedro until Friday.  So we should be good to go!

[Cyn874]

Waiting to board. We got to the airport way  early. Dad is NOT a morning person and catching a nap. Ellen is wandering.

[Cyn874]

Well, this is a bummer. Maintenance issue with our plane. Was supposed to leave at 3:19, right now they are hoping for a 5:30 departure. ‘Could be sooner, could be later.’ Thank goodness we are flying a day early! I’m just bummed we won’t get hardly any time at doubletree.

[jwattle]

But this time tomorrow, you'll be cruising your troubles away 💖