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

[travelin.sisters]

hope you made it in...sailing day today

[EmilyColwell]

I'll be watching along closely i'll be doing a similar cruise leaving from Vancouver in October. Bon Voyage!

[Cyn874]

Gosh!! Sorry to go radio silent for so long. Yesterday was chaos. Our plane had engine trouble resulting in a 3 hour delay. Didn’t get to doubletree til well after 8pm and dinner at almost 9! But we are finally at the port waiting to check in. Got here about 10am, check in opens at 10:30 I believe. Hoping to be onboard by lunchtime! 

[Vic The Parrot]

Just found this thread, and will be following ... It'll help me to fondly remember  my first cruise to Hawaii back in 1992!  😵. 

 

Enjoy yourselves!

[Vic The Parrot]

On 4/3/2019 at 6:25 PM, 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.

 

 

Aaawww, so sweet!  

He's a beautiful baby boy! 

[bellebaby]

On 4/8/2019 at 12:13 PM, Cyn874 said:

Gosh!! Sorry to go radio silent for so long. Yesterday was chaos. Our plane had engine trouble resulting in a 3 hour delay. Didn’t get to doubletree til well after 8pm and dinner at almost 9! But we are finally at the port waiting to check in. Got here about 10am, check in opens at 10:30 I believe. Hoping to be onboard by lunchtime! 

How are things going?

Edited April 10, 2019 by bellebaby

[Cyn874]

I have been having so much fun, I’m doing a terrible job updating this thread!

 

so this is our first full day at sea. We’re going through a big storm/gale with wind so strong that parts of the decks are closed. 50 foot swells!! All the pools have been dumped over the decks and are empty, but some people in the hot tubs. I braved it last night, it was an adventure. 

 

I’m thrilled to discover that all the rocking and rolling has zero effect on me. I have not needed any ginger, sea bands or bonine. 

 

Food has has been incredible so far! Everything is amazing, and I love our steward, Renato. 

 

Did not make it to sanctuary til this afternoon and expected it to be booked solid, but scored 3 loungers together for the afternoon of the 17th!! Could not believe it.

 

Dinner soon, will try to update tomorrow.

[Cyn874]

On 4/1/2019 at 9:53 PM, PekingeseLady said:

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. 

 

Were you the one asking about the Buffalo game in the casino? I can’t find that thread, but yes! I did find 2 buffalo games in the smoking section.

[PekingeseLady]

8 minutes ago, Cyn874 said:

 

Were you the one asking about the Buffalo game in the casino? I can’t find that thread, but yes! I did find 2 buffalo games in the smoking section.

Yes that was me, YIPPPPIEEE so excited, save some of the BIG JACKPOTS for me, LOL  I know where I'll be night one!!!  Thank you so much for reporting back.

Edited April 10, 2019 by PekingeseLady

[PekingeseLady]

Sounds so exciting, I love it when the ship ROCK N ROLLS.  Glad to hear you have your sea legs!  My favorite spot is the IC, love me some Cappacino (sp?) and treats.  Tell us more, tell us more.  Dining Times for Traditional dining?  5 and 7?

 

And could you post what movies are showing, and do they show them in the rooms too?  Are they on demand in the room, or do they just run in a loop changing daily?

 

Have to much fun, can not wait to hear more.

Edited April 10, 2019 by PekingeseLady

[bellebaby]

1 hour ago, Cyn874 said:

I have been having so much fun, I’m doing a terrible job updating this thread!

 

so this is our first full day at sea. We’re going through a big storm/gale with wind so strong that parts of the decks are closed. 50 foot swells!! All the pools have been dumped over the decks and are empty, but some people in the hot tubs. I braved it last night, it was an adventure. 

 

I’m thrilled to discover that all the rocking and rolling has zero effect on me. I have not needed any ginger, sea bands or bonine. 

 

Food has has been incredible so far! Everything is amazing, and I love our steward, Renato. 

 

Did not make it to sanctuary til this afternoon and expected it to be booked solid, but scored 3 loungers together for the afternoon of the 17th!! Could not believe it.

 

Dinner soon, will try to update tomorrow.

What time did you get to board?

What time were cabins ready?

[JF - retired RRT]

1 hour ago, PekingeseLady said:

And could you post what movies are showing, and do they show them in the rooms too?  Are they on demand in the room, or do they just run in a loop changing daily?

I can answer that one. The Ruby has the newer (bigger) TVs in all cabins. They are the "on demand" system. It was really nice...once we figured out how to operate it.

[jlp20]

Simple question. With new cabin door lock system, is there a way to signal "Do Not Disturb"?

[EmilyColwell]

8 minutes ago, jlp20 said:

Simple question. With new cabin door lock system, is there a way to signal "Do Not Disturb"?

Thats a really good question i've never even thought about!

[cheznandy]

3 hours ago, JF - retired RRT said:

I can answer that one. The Ruby has the newer (bigger) TVs in all cabins. They are the "on demand" system. It was really nice...once we figured out how to operate it.

So good the hear this!! We have a short cruise booked when the Ruby comes to OZ.

To the OP, thanks for posting, have a wonderful cruise!!

[AF-1]

Ocean Medallion ships have a do not disturb light that shows on the screen outside your cabin.  The same screen shows the persons name and picture when you approach the cabin. 

[JF - retired RRT]

1 hour ago, AF-1 said:

Ocean Medallion ships have a do not disturb light that shows on the screen outside your cabin.  The same screen shows the persons name and picture when you approach the cabin. 

Don't expect this on the Ruby...yet. On our cruise in January, we had the nice OM screens, but still had cruise cards. The card unlocked the door and that's all. Still had the handy-dandy hang tags for the door.😵

Edited April 10, 2019 by JF - retired RRT

[Cyn874]

15 hours ago, PekingeseLady said:

Sounds so exciting, I love it when the ship ROCK N ROLLS.  Glad to hear you have your sea legs!  My favorite spot is the IC, love me some Cappacino (sp?) and treats.  Tell us more, tell us more.  Dining Times for Traditional dining?  5 and 7?

 

And could you post what movies are showing, and do they show them in the rooms too?  Are they on demand in the room, or do they just run in a loop changing daily?

 

Have to much fun, can not wait to hear more.

 

Was trying so hard to attach a picture of the movie and dining listings but they didn't want to upload. I don't have a patter near me right now, I'm at my laptop in Club Fushion, it's 8:30 and I'm having some coffee and getting work done while I watch the water. :D Waves are MUCH smaller today. Still choppy but the ship is no longer a roller coaster, lol. Today will be our first formal night. My updates have been so brief lately because it's hard to type on my phone, so I'm going to try hard to check in on my laptops in the morning. Tomorrow I'll try to bring a patter with me so I can more easily answer questions. I THINK I recall seeing traditional dining is 5pm and 7pm but not positive. Movies from memory are Crazy Rich Asians, Greatest Showman, Christopher Robin... ugh can't remember the others right now, I'm sorry. Tomorrow I'll try to have a better update on that. It looks like someone answered your question about in the rooms. I'm not sure how on demand works, I've never used it before. The small amount we're in the room with the tv on, we just have the news on. 

 

Also, there might be a couple more Buffalo games than just 2. I saw some in another place, maybe.. but the display on top was not the traditional Buffalo display. It looked like some other game, but the reels at the bottom looked like the Buffalo game and I saw Buffalos on it. I don't know if that's the same game or a variation, or what. But I for sure saw two of them like the picture I linked in your thread. :)

[Cyn874]

14 hours ago, bellebaby said:

What time did you get to board?

What time were cabins ready?

Ok, so we got to the cruise terminal just  before 10am. We went inside and had to sit until 10:30 am when check in started. Both of my parents are on canes, so we were able to use the special assistance line. They checked in Bon Voyage people first, then the Platinums and Elites, then full suites, etc. We got to check in probably around 10:45ish? Then through security. We were in Group 2. After security, we had to sit and wait for quite awhile for all the elites, etc to board, then group 1. The wait was longer than I expected, but I think we set foot on the ship at right around 12pm. Maybe a little before. Guest services line was pretty short! Just 1 or 2 people ahead of me. We then went straight to lunch and got out of lunch about 1:15 or so, and we were able to get to our rooms then. I don't know if they were available sooner, because of lunch the timing worked out well for us. 

 

I think our bags arrived sometime around 3, if I had to guess?

[Cyn874]

11 hours ago, jlp20 said:

Simple question. With new cabin door lock system, is there a way to signal "Do Not Disturb"?

 

Ruby still doesn't have the Medallion, so I don't know if there is a new cabin lock system. It seemed normal to me- we swipe our card at the screen to get in.  There is a little tag on the inside of your door, one side says privacy please and the other side says refresh room, so you can leave that one outside your door for the steward depending on if you want privacy or if you're ready for them to make up your room. Basically like any normal hotel, right now. I don't know what the system will be for ships that are Medallion enabled.

[Cyn874]

Ok, I think all questions are answered for now, other than specifics about the dining times and movies. I'll try to do better tomorrow, hah! 

 

To anyone from my roll call who might be reading this- I'm sorry we didn't make it to the meetup yesterday! I had all kinds of plans to go to so many events and things listed in the patter, explore the ship, go to the shows, etc. But once we got on board, all plans kind of went out the window into the sea, lol! My Dad is also on a cane and moves extremely slowly, so it's like a marathon for him just getting from the room to the dining room, or lido deck/pool, etc. We still haven't gone to a single event or even a show, yet! I think today I'm going to start making a much bigger effort to attend some of the things listed in the patters. But I hope everyone is having a blast! I haven't even had a chance to look at our roll call thread since before I left for the airport. I can't wait to catch up on things once the dust has settled. :)

[PekingeseLady]

You might think about getting a scooter for your Dad next time.  My DH loves his, he walks with a cane, has knee and back problems.  He couldn't keep up with me anymore, I love to walk the ship, and I could tell the end my Live to Cruise life was approaching.  Now he's free to go where ever he wants, it's a God send.  And I'm free to cruise! LOL 

 

Maybe you could get a wheel chair from guest services, they fold up and should fit in your closet area.

 

Glad the seas have settled for you.  Happy crusing!!!

[jlp20]

10 hours ago, AF-1 said:

Ocean Medallion ships have a do not disturb light that shows on the screen outside your cabin.  The same screen shows the persons name and picture when you approach the cabin. 

Despite all the hoopla, Princess has been incompetent in implementing this entire process. As of this date, a total of two (2) ships are functioning OM, 17 months after making grand announcements. 

The question was for the Ruby, one of the 15 ships without the OM

[jlp20]

6 hours ago, Cyn874 said:

There is a little tag on the inside of your door, one side says privacy please and the other side says refresh room, so you can leave that one outside your door for the steward depending on if you want privacy ...

The old lock had slot where you inserted cruise card. The "Do Not Disturb" card either went into this slot or a larger placard went on door handle. There were posts that when new locks were installed, the do not disturb signs were removed. 

[spingal]

I am onboard.  There are three dining times for traditional dining...

 

Two early seatings....

DaVinci midship on deck 6 is at 5:15pm

Botticelli aft on deck 6 is at 5pm

 

One late seating....

Botticelli aft on deck 6 is at 7:30pm