Ruby Princess vs RCL Allure

[timbom]

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

 

 

 

 

[talkorpi]

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.

[SLB cruiser]

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. 

[talkorpi]

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.

[princess76021]

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

[SLB cruiser]

We leave on February 19. Our first post Covid cruise so we are super excited. 

[Mañana skis]

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. 

[OSUZorba]

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

[Mañana skis]

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. 🥶☃️

[timbom]

Yes Happy to see them back.  Lets hope they plan more destinations

[Mañana skis]

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. 🏝