Live from the Ruby Princess August 15-25

[Cruise Raider]

55 minutes ago, cruzrbachoua said:

Thank you soo much for your help..and taking time out of your cruise to help. 

 
My absolute pleasure.  Like I mentioned, it sounds like such great group that’s following along and no complaints .. anything to make someone else have a better cruise experience is my goal here.  Other happy cruisers make it so much more fun for everyone, including us!  
 

[Cruise Raider]

28 minutes ago, EvilGrandpa said:

 

First off, thanks for doing this report.   My wife and I are on the Ruby out of SF on Sept 4th.   Is the PES event in Skywalkers?  If not, where do they hold it?   Is it every afternoon?  This cruise is for our 40th anniversary so we splurged on a suite and want to take advantage of all the extra goodies.

 

Awe .. happy 40th anniversary.  We are here celebrating our anniversary, as well.  
The PES event is in Skywalkers and we love that location.  The food up there has been so very good.  It’s perfect as a nice light dinner.  It is held every evening from 5 PM until 6:30 PM or so on every evening except for the Captain’s Party night, which is the second formal night on this 10 day itinerary, which incidentally, is tonight.  
I have a feeling you will love the suite life!  That’s a great splurge for a special occasion such as a milestone anniversary.  

[lstone19]

Quite a bit of excitement in the casino very early this morning when a woman playing blackjack with the Lucky Ladies side bet won $25,000 plus a cruise. She had the maximum $25 on the Lucky Ladies side bet, received two Queens of Heart, and then lost to a dealer blackjack to trigger the 1,000 to 1 payout.

 

If you're wondering, things came to a halt at the table. The casino manager needed to be called, then a chip fill since the table didn't have that amount on it (surprise, surprise - they do have larger chips than the $100 black chips that were the largest seen on the floor until then - the $25,000 was paid in $500 chips).

 

Note that Lucky Ladies has a huge house advantage (more than 25%) so it's a good way to donate to the casino. I do not advise anyone make that bet.

[lstone19]

4 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

Awe .. happy 40th anniversary.  We are here celebrating our anniversary, as well.  
The PES event is in Skywalkers and we love that location.  The food up there has been so very good.  It’s perfect as a nice light dinner.  It is held every evening from 5 PM until 6:30 PM or so on every evening except for the Captain’s Party night, which is the second formal night on this 10 day itinerary, which incidentally, is tonight.  
I have a feeling you will love the suite life!  That’s a great splurge for a special occasion such as a milestone anniversary.  

 

Until 7:00pm (we've been closing it most nights). Personally, I don't think it's as good as it used to be with scaled down choice and some items pre-portioned items in their own dishes. Not that there's any lack of dining options on the ship.

[PacnGoNow]

9 minutes ago, lstone19 said:

Quite a bit of excitement in the casino very early this morning when a woman playing blackjack with the Lucky Ladies side bet won $25,000 plus a cruise. She had the maximum $25 on the Lucky Ladies side bet, received two Queens of Heart, and then lost to a dealer blackjack to trigger the 1,000 to 1 payout.

 

If you're wondering, things came to a halt at the table. The casino manager needed to be called, then a chip fill since the table didn't have that amount on it (surprise, surprise - they do have larger chips than the $100 black chips that were the largest seen on the floor until then - the $25,000 was paid in $500 chips).

 

Note that Lucky Ladies has a huge house advantage (more than 25%) so it's a good way to donate to the casino. I do not advise anyone make that bet.

Wow!  Good for her. I’d go cash in.😆

[lstone19]

Just now, PacnGoNow said:

Wow!  Good for her. I’d go cash in.😆

 

Speaking of which, I heard the casino manager offer her a choice of check or cash (or a mix) and she opted for all cash. I was near her and immediately told her to make damn sure she declares the cash to US CBP. Trying to bring more than $10,000 cash into the U.S. without declaring it is major violation and can get the cash confiscated (almost all countries have a limit and to my knowledge, they're all somewhere in the vicinity of USD 10,000 (e.g. Canada CAD 10,000, EU 10,000 Euros)). It's not illegal to bring more the $10,000 in cash, it just need to be declared.

[PacnGoNow]

1 minute ago, lstone19 said:

 

Speaking of which, I heard the casino manager offer her a choice of check or cash (or a mix) and she opted for all cash. I was near her and immediately told her to make damn sure she declares the cash to US CBP. Trying to bring more than $10,000 cash into the U.S. without declaring it is major violation and can get the cash confiscated (almost all countries have a limit and to my knowledge, they're all somewhere in the vicinity of USD 10,000 (e.g. Canada CAD 10,000, EU 10,000 Euros)). It's not illegal to bring more the $10,000 in cash, it just need to be declared.

Yes, has to be declared. Wonder where her final destination is?

I’d take a mix, maybe $10K in cash and the rest a check.  It’s a casino check, right?  Not a PCL check weeks later, I hope?😆

[lstone19]

Just now, PacnGoNow said:

Yes, has to be declared. Wonder where her final destination is?

I’d take a mix, maybe $10K in cash and the rest a check.  It’s a casino check, right?  Not a PCL check weeks later, I hope?😆

 

She didn't ask but it sounded like it would be a check from Princess later. Which if it were me might well have had me ask for cash. Oh to have to make that choice.

 

She talked about merely transiting San Francisco so I assume she's from another country. But she will need to legally enter the U.S. and declare it and then enter her country and probably declare it again.

[Cruise Raider]

18 minutes ago, lstone19 said:

 

She didn't ask but it sounded like it would be a check from Princess later. Which if it were me might well have had me ask for cash. Oh to have to make that choice.

 

She talked about merely transiting San Francisco so I assume she's from another country. But she will need to legally enter the U.S. and declare it and then enter her country and probably declare it again.

Yes .. and the declaration (not that you didn't already know this) is for the CBP.  For the US, it’s also reportable to the IRS, as far as I know.  

[Cruise Raider]

So exciting to hear about the woman that won all that money in the casino.  No jealousy from us as we’d never ever bet like that!  
 

 

[voljeep]

6 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

Yes .. and the declaration (not that you didn't already know this) is for the CBP.  For the US, it’s also reportable to the IRS, as far as I know.  

W2-G

[Cruise Raider]

So, I asked the food and beverage director a couple of questions about the current rules .. here were her answers:  

 

I asked if the full suites had to pay the $5 charge for room service orders taken over the phone.  While I personally do not object to the fee whatsoever for us, I do feel like fee should be probably be waived for full suite passengers if they don’t have the package pricing.  
She mentioned that each order over the phone does generate the charge, even for full suite passengers, but they’ve sent it to corporate with their concerns so, they will make the ultimate decision.  I’m sure they are up to their eyeballs in these types of questions but she did answer me so gracefully!  

I also asked her if it is possible to bring a nice meal onboard from home or from a restaurant for ourselves or for the staff.  While this used to be allowed, from a food safety standpoint, this is no longer allowed.  Only factory sealed snacks are still allowed.  
We’ve gone to Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans and taken bags of beignets onboard back to the crew.  One of the crew members loved the chicken wings from the Safeway store down the street and so we brought hi, some.  These are now a big no no.  I completely understand the reasoning for this rule.  Just thought I would mention it as wouldn’t want want to have fellow passengers prepare or take prepared food onboard for the staff only to have to dump it at the port.  
Factory sealed snacks such as individually sealed chocolates or chips, nuts, etc are perfectly fine.  
Of note, we did bring some fudge onboard from KetchiCandies a couple of days ago and although it was in a plastic container with a label to keep it closed, it was not exactly what I’d call factory sealed,  it passed through security with no issue. But, I don’t believe there were really any food safety issues with that.  I choose not to break or complain about the rules as it’s really not my place to make or argue such policies.  There’s a reason for this.  
Some $$ or factory sealed snacks are a better idea.  




 

[scluvsrain]

What night was the first formal night, do you recall?

[scluvsrain]

And who is Jumari?  Is it a person or a group? And is it a show in the main theatre or in one of the lounges/piazzas?  You said something about finding Jumari earlier in the cruise, what do you mean?

[lstone19]

18 minutes ago, scluvsrain said:

What night was the first formal night, do you recall?

2nd night. This itinerary lends itself to the classic second and next to last nights formal schedule.

Edited August 23, 2023 by lstone19

[lstone19]

1 hour ago, Cruise Raider said:

Yes .. and the declaration (not that you didn't already know this) is for the CBP.  For the US, it’s also reportable to the IRS, as far as I know.  

If you’re a U.S. citizen, it’s taxable. Whether Princess has to report it is a separate matter. We were in Canadian waters at the time either still being in or just passed through the Hecate Strait. Another cruise line’s website seems to say it’s only reported to the IRS when near (for some definition of near) the US.

[lstone19]

2 hours ago, jwattle said:

No, it is delightful and free ! 💞

Included, not free. You paid for it in your cruise fare.

[cruzrbachoua]

1 hour ago, Cruise Raider said:

So, I asked the food and beverage director a couple of questions about the current rules .. here were her answers:  

 

I asked if the full suites had to pay the $5 charge for room service orders taken over the phone.  While I personally do not object to the fee whatsoever for us, I do feel like fee should be probably be waived for full suite passengers if they don’t have the package pricing.  
She mentioned that each order over the phone does generate the charge, even for full suite passengers, but they’ve sent it to corporate with their concerns so, they will make the ultimate decision.  I’m sure they are up to their eyeballs in these types of questions but she did answer me so gracefully!  





 

Well that is a bummer...sure hope they change the suite benefits or find a way to add the mdr menu to the app so suites can order it there.  Although before I posted I did go an look at the suite benefit pdf and it doesn't say "free"...just states that the suite get the extended room service menu by being able to order from the MDR menu...so we will see what happens when we board in September and are planned for either paying or not... 

[fsdorado]

2 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

Wow .. today is so busy downstairs in the piazza.  I happened to have looked over and a table opened up in front of my eyes .. I couldn’t believe my good fortune!  so, we happened to get a nice little snack for breakfast and a nice seat near the center of the piazza for the activities.  They are having a towel folding demo in a bit so we are going to hang here to watch that.  We may never get another seat if we give it up now.  
 

Last night was a tribute ‘concert’ of CCR and The Eagles by Jumari.  Wow, it was so awesome!  We had such a great time and didn’t find out about this amazingly talented artist until just yesterday.  If you’re lucky enough to cruise with him, find him early rather than what we did .. way too late in the cruise.  
 

Also, the cruise director and staff are so good.  The CD, Cole and Asst. CD, Josie are such a great team .. they mesh so well with one another.  Another one of the activities staff, Javi, is so funny and energetic.  He’s the perfect choice for running the games.  His sound effects will have you rolling on the floor.  plus, you have to watch the ‘What the Puck’ tile hockey game.  And the ‘IceHole’ challenge is hilarious.  
 

It’s formal night and the captain’s party tonight .. can’t decide if we’re going or not.  If so, it will be early and we will eat very light as we have plans to meet up with some friends at the GastroPub later tonight, where will also go just to eat very light.  We will take our a bottle of the Chardonnay we bought to share with them.  
 

 

 

 

 

 

Cole and his staff were definitely the highlight of the trip.  Our "stop" at Tracy Arm Fjord was cancelled due to very poor visibility but the CD staff kept us all entertained.  If you get a chance to do Javi's Improv Workshop or his musical improv show, don't miss it.  He's really very talented.

 

 

Frederick

 

[memoak]

2 hours ago, lstone19 said:

Quite a bit of excitement in the casino very early this morning when a woman playing blackjack with the Lucky Ladies side bet won $25,000 plus a cruise. She had the maximum $25 on the Lucky Ladies side bet, received two Queens of Heart, and then lost to a dealer blackjack to trigger the 1,000 to 1 payout.

 

If you're wondering, things came to a halt at the table. The casino manager needed to be called, then a chip fill since the table didn't have that amount on it (surprise, surprise - they do have larger chips than the $100 black chips that were the largest seen on the floor until then - the $25,000 was paid in $500 chips).

 

Note that Lucky Ladies has a huge house advantage (more than 25%) so it's a good way to donate to the casino. I do not advise anyone make that bet.

When the table minimum is $6 I will bet $5 and put the extra dollar on Lucky Ladies. 

[XBGuy]

3 hours ago, EvilGrandpa said:

 

First off, thanks for doing this report.   My wife and I are on the Ruby out of SF on Sept 4th.   Is the PES event in Skywalkers?  If not, where do they hold it?   Is it every afternoon?  This cruise is for our 40th anniversary so we splurged on a suite and want to take advantage of all the extra goodies.

 

 

Congratulations.  You picked the right ship.  Did your wife help you out with that?

 

We celebrated our 40th anniversary a few years ago.  A few months prior I thought I'd better start some planning.  So, I asked Mrs. XBGuy and she was enthusiastic about doing something special.

 

I couple months prior she had mentioned something about a road trip to the wine country.  So, I asked, "Do you want to take a wine country trip?"

 

She responded, "That sounds nice."

 

OK, after almost 40 years of marriage, I know "That sounds nice" is not a ringing endorsement.  So, I try again.

 

"Would you like to take a cruise?"

 

"YES!"

 

Now we're talking.  The next step is to pick a cruise.  Our anniversary is towards the end of October, and we found two itineraries on Princess ships that we thought would work for our anniversary.  One was on the Star Princess and the other one was on the Ruby Princess.  I really don't recall the itinerary of the Star Princess, but the decision was made when Mrs. XBGuy told me that the gemstone for the 40th anniversary was the Ruby,  Done.

 

We had a terrific California Coastal Cruise.  We indulged in the Ultimate Balcony Dinner on our anniversary day, 

 

Great call on going for the suite.

[Serious Cruisers]

1 hour ago, lstone19 said:

If you’re a U.S. citizen, it’s taxable. Whether Princess has to report it is a separate matter. We were in Canadian waters at the time either still being in or just passed through the Hecate Strait. Another cruise line’s website seems to say it’s only reported to the IRS when near (for some definition of near) the US.

I won 5K on last Mexican cruise in May. Manager came over with the irs form and I said no sorry Canadian it's tax free for Canadians we don't pay taxes on casino/lottery winnings

[memoak]

2 hours ago, lstone19 said:

If you’re a U.S. citizen, it’s taxable. Whether Princess has to report it is a separate matter. We were in Canadian waters at the time either still being in or just passed through the Hecate Strait. Another cruise line’s website seems to say it’s only reported to the IRS when near (for some definition of near) the US.

My wife and I both hit jackpots on an Alaskan cruise the last night before Victoria snd about a moth later the tax papers arrived in the mail. If you are a US citizen I believe anything over $1,200 is considered taxable on a slot payout. I have gotten them on several cruises in different areas of the world

[sfpd3000]

5 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

Awe .. happy 40th anniversary.  We are here celebrating our anniversary, as well.  
The PES event is in Skywalkers and we love that location.  The food up there has been so very good.  It’s perfect as a nice light dinner.  It is held every evening from 5 PM until 6:30 PM or so on every evening except for the Captain’s Party night, which is the second formal night on this 10 day itinerary, which incidentally, is tonight.  
I have a feeling you will love the suite life!  That’s a great splurge for a special occasion such as a milestone anniversary.  

Cruise Raider.  Happy Anniversary!

I met Cole and the Hotel General Manager (forgot his name) the day after the "incident" last month.  I was at the terminal exit when they both happened to walk by.  The Hotel General Manager was in full dress uniform, which got my attention.  Then I saw Cole's name tag and said, "Oh!  You're the CD!"  Very friendly, both of them.

[Cruise Raider]

2 hours ago, sfpd3000 said:

Cruise Raider.  Happy Anniversary!

I met Cole and the Hotel General Manager (forgot his name) the day after the "incident" last month.  I was at the terminal exit when they both happened to walk by.  The Hotel General Manager was in full dress uniform, which got my attention.  Then I saw Cole's name tag and said, "Oh!  You're the CD!"  Very friendly, both of them.

If it’s the same HGM, his name is Shane.  And yes, Cole is very friendly.