Just off of the Ruby Princess RT LA to Hawaii - Ship Notes

[StrawberryHill]

Hi,

Just wanted to talk about our fabulous 15 day cruise on the Ruby Princess.  WEehad a balcony cabin and yes, the extra chair was gone ( I was not sad ) and the small round table with the glass top was still there ( happy !! ).    They did embark in groups and we had to wait about 15 minutes before boarding.  The cabins were not open until 1 pm so we went to the MDR for a nice relaxing lunch.  The four of us sat and ate while somewhat planning our time on board.  This was SO much nice than fighting the crazies in the buffet.

 

The ship has been refreshed since we were last on in 2017.  The carpets are the same color port and starboard so it was remember which direction off of the elevator and remember which elevator bank you are on.

 

The trip over was a bit rough at times, made swimming in the pool challenging.  made going to sleep and night wonderful. The trip back was so smooth you had to remember you were on the ocean. Weather was not an issue.  Cool enough to leave the balcony door open at night.  The weather on the islands was perfect.

 

The food was outstanding.  My wife always takes the headwaiters recommendation for dinner and she was only disappointed one evening.  The meal she ordered was swapped out for something different within minutes. Chocolate Journeys ( the one with the pistachio filling ) are worth the trip alone.  We do same time dining ( early ).  i had the pool pizza once, seemed to not be as good as other times.  There were more entree choices, Stromboli and Calif Toast ( Bread with Avocado ).  Had a burger one day and it was good. Ate lunch in the MDR more than once.

 

We ate in the Crown Grill one night and it was very good as advertised.

 

The cruise staff was very good and energetic.  The passengers talked Gary Golding into doing the  YES/NO Gameshow on two nights.  Gary was hilarious on Liars Club, He is very talented.

 

Since we had a lot of sea days, the ships officers were out and about a lot of the time.  Very easy to chat with.

 

I actually won a life changing prize during a drawing at the end of the one of the Wake Shows.  A coaster and a coupon with a chance to win $25,000 in a casino game.  they shot the Wake show at 3 pm every afternoon from various parts of the ship and we would stumble across them once and a while.

 

Did not do trivia or Bingo or gamble in the casino - read three books, all from the library on board.  They must have gotten some new stock.

 

The production shows were pretty good.  One  good magician and one who drug his acts out waaay too long.   He did do close up in the Explorers lounge later in the week and was Very Good.   Only watched the singer ( Bryan Cheatham) one night.  We had seen the comedian / impersonator (Mike Wilson) on other cruises.

 

Music was good, the house band was Main Offenders,  There were two duos, a woman guitar player and the required Ukulele player.

 

One other thing I did new this time,  brought on board some bottles of coke ( always do that ) and this time I ordered a bottle of rum (1/2qt) thru room service for $15.  Lasted almost the whole cruise with a drinks and snacks almost every night on the balcony before dinner.  Cheaper than $8 rum and cokes from the bar.   Bought the prepaid water - 24 bottles - used them all up. At $16 dollars it was well worth it.

 

Yes, the women wanted the photo package.  Each couple came back with 125+ photos ??????????????   More stuff for the storage boxes.

 

Wife bought the soda package, no more stickers on the cruise cards,  They scan the card or you can just give the barkeep the tumbler and it will be refilled.  the tumblers were nice this time.  May keep this one.

 

Digital door openers by each door.  Did not have any issues except having to wait what seemed like a long time to get the door to unlock.  We mss the mail boxes, sort of like home when you go to look to see if there is any mail.  Not the same when its laying on the bed or on the floor under the door.

 

We put out future cruise deposit down on a Norwegian Coastal cruise on the Crown next summer.  We will see what cards are dealt in the year ahead.

 

 

[caribill]

Thanks for your report.

[moodyb1]

We're on the Ruby next year. Nice to hear a good review! Thanks!

[kirenne]

Excellent review, thank you! 

 

We are booking a Hawaii itinerary on the Star for November. My only concern is the choppy waters, it sounds like a toss up depending on the weather. Glad to hear your sail back was smooth - crossing my fingers we get some similar conditions. Going to stock up on sea sick meds regardless! 

 

 

[DrivesLikeMario]

Thank you for your review.

[MishelleMcc]

Thank you for your report!  Right now, we are thinking we will request the barrel chair in our balcony (December 3, 2019 Hawaii cruise on Grand Princess) but if we can't get one,  your appreciation of not having one is encouraging!  😁

[JF - retired RRT]

Back already??

I have friends on this cruise. They were just in Nawilliwilli on April 15. The Life From that was being done said April 8 to the 23rd. Are you sure you were on the Ruby?

The Grand was here on the 13th. That would make her docking in LA today.

Ruby or Grand? IMWTK.😵

Edited April 18, 2019 by JF - retired RRT

[PekingeseLady]

How can you be on the Ruby?  She's still at sail.  She gets back from Hawaii 4/23 and I will be boarding her for Alaska.  You must be on another ship.

 

Whichever ship you were on I'm glad you had a nice cruise.  

[Shmoo here]

On 4/16/2019 at 7:09 PM, StrawberryHill said:

Cool enough to leave the balcony door open at night.

Very nice review.  

 

One thing - you are aware that leaving the balcony door open messes with the AC for other rooms in your area of the ship, right?

 

 

[Lucky TGO]

Thanks for your review. 

Tony

[cruisin0218]

Thank you for your review. I think that I was on the cruise on the Ruby with you. For the 2 people who are questioning if the original poster didn't know which ship she was on, I don't see anywhere that she stated she was on the cruise that embarked on April 8th. We were on the same itinerary as your friends but disembarked on April 8th.

[StrawberryHill]

On 4/18/2019 at 2:14 PM, JF - retired RRT said:

Back already??

I have friends on this cruise. They were just in Nawilliwilli on April 15. The Life From that was being done said April 8 to the 23rd. Are you sure you were on the Ruby?

The Grand was here on the 13th. That would make her docking in LA today.

Ruby or Grand? IMWTK.😵

Ruby princess  March 24 to April 8