timbom Posted February 8, 2023 #1 Share Posted February 8, 2023 Just got back from from taking a back to back on these two ships. Both were enjoyable ships but enjoyed the Ruby far more. I have been on more than fifty cruises so believe these pros and cons valid. Allure pros- Entertainment was much more varied but not as much as I expected. Ruby had very good headliners and decent produced shows. Inside balcony I loved as it was insulated from the wind and direct sun. Plus was much more modern. Check in was a breeze as was check out. Best I have ever seen till I got on the Ruby with its check I which was even better. Both lines get A plus on this Bells and whistles (slides, water park, diving shows, ice skating. wall climb and flow rider) not offered on Ruby Allure cons; Elevators and crowds everyplace- Perhaps the most overcrowded ship I have ever been on ship is not designed for the number of people on this ship. Central park was all dead from freeze. Was told they will not even try to replant till late March. Cruise director, and staff were just phoning it in felt they were way overworked Parking was far more expensive than parking for Ruby Diamond lounge is way overcrowded with over 1100 diamond and above in lounge. Specialty dining was twice as expensive as Ruby and not as good Drinks were usually not prepared properly (due to large numbers getting free drinks). After several were sent back some of the lazy servers realized we knew how a drink should be made and made them properly Buffet was not good for lunch. Ok in AM and did not eat dinner Ruby Pros Crowds were never a problem and staff was much better trained in proper service Food quality was far better and menu much more varied. Most of the main dining meals were equal to those served in specialty restaurants on RCL Average age was older on ship so there were fewer children. Honduras stop was much nicer as they dropped you off on beach resort at no extra charge while RCL dropped you off in the middle of a third world country Platinum and above lounge had better appetizers and was less crowded even if you had to pay for drinks Great ship band and dance bands Far better price Ruby cons Older ship showing its age needs an upgrade badly Internet did not work as well as the RCL ship Casino far to smoky Only sails from Galveston till April 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare talkorpi Posted February 8, 2023 #2 Share Posted February 8, 2023 Thanks for your comments. Going on Ruby in a few weeks - it will be our first cruise on PCL. Do you happen to have any photos of the MDR food or menus? To my understanding, Princess changes the menus a bit from homeport to homeport and I haven't found any for Ruby out of Galveston yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLB cruiser Posted February 8, 2023 #3 Share Posted February 8, 2023 8 minutes ago, talkorpi said: Thanks for your comments. Going on Ruby in a few weeks - it will be our first cruise on PCL. Do you happen to have any photos of the MDR food or menus? To my understanding, Princess changes the menus a bit from homeport to homeport and I haven't found any for Ruby out of Galveston yet. On YouTube, Life With Favor just got off Ruby Princess. She shows the menu in some of her videos. Good videos. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare talkorpi Posted February 8, 2023 #4 Share Posted February 8, 2023 2 minutes ago, SLB cruiser said: On YouTube, Life With Favor just got off Ruby Princess. She shows the menu in some of her videos. Good videos. Gotcha, thanks. I saw some of the dinner menus on those videos but I believe there were a couple that were skipped and if I recall correctly they never actually ate in the MDR to see the food. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
princess76021 Posted February 8, 2023 #5 Share Posted February 8, 2023 34 minutes ago, talkorpi said: Thanks for your comments. Going on Ruby in a few weeks - it will be our first cruise on PCL. Do you happen to have any photos of the MDR food or menus? To my understanding, Princess changes the menus a bit from homeport to homeport and I haven't found any for Ruby out of Galveston yet. I would love them too! 😁😁 Hugs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLB cruiser Posted February 8, 2023 #6 Share Posted February 8, 2023 We leave on February 19. Our first post Covid cruise so we are super excited. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mañana skis Posted February 9, 2023 #7 Share Posted February 9, 2023 Thanks for the post, Timbom! I really enjoyed reading the comparison as there hasn’t been too much about this particular cruise. I’ve been following a live blog of two cruisers on the Allure: Brillohead and OzarkKid, who had not met prior to their recent cruise. They posted lots of information regarding the same three ports, so that was extremely helpful and entertaining. 😄 To read their posts, RCL is the only way to cruise, but we are diehard Princess cruisers, lol, so we won’t be switching over any time soon. We are on this cruise on April 2 and cannot wait. Btw, we did this cruise when Princess first sailed out of Galveston. Glad to see them back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OSUZorba Posted February 9, 2023 #8 Share Posted February 9, 2023 (edited) OP thank you for the review. I'll be doing Ruby in a month for my first PCL cruise. Based on the roll call, I think the will be many RCL transplants like me. Just to clarify though, Allure does not have slides. I also think the Oasis ships have terrible Wind Jammers. Do they have printed navigators on Ruby? How was the room service around the ship? Edited February 9, 2023 by OSUZorba Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mañana skis Posted February 9, 2023 #9 Share Posted February 9, 2023 I’ve been corrected by DH, lol. We sailed directly out of Houston. It wasn’t Galveston, but it’s in the neighbourhood. We plan on driving down. Should take about four days, depending on the weather. 🥶☃️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timbom Posted February 9, 2023 Author #10 Share Posted February 9, 2023 Yes Happy to see them back. Lets hope they plan more destinations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mañana skis Posted February 11, 2023 #11 Share Posted February 11, 2023 Yes, I’m really, really hoping they do more cruises with more ports from Galveston. We have family in the area, so it works out much better than Florida does. 🛳 We do enjoy Florida, though. 🏝 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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