Ruby Ultimate Ship Tour Review

[kellor]

We boarded the ship at about 12:30 and my very first stop was to the Pursers Desk where I signed up for the tour and was fourth on the list; I was excited until the gentleman at the desk advised me that the tour was going to be changed to a lottery system due to all the complaints of only the first 12 getting a chance at the tour. Anyways, I finally received a letter stating that I had been selected to participate and was given the release to sign and told when and where to meet. We would later be told that over 400 people signed up for the tour and that starting with the December 13th sailing that it would indeed be selection by lottery.

Our tour started with Gavin on Thursday at 2:00 which was a sea day. We were advised that there would be no breaks so be prepared. Our first stop was into the Princess Theater where we were welcomed by James Lay and the staff. We were shown the stage area and how they move the different sets on and off stage so quickly and then we taken back stage to one of the large dressing rooms where we were able to view the elaborate costumes. The costumes are kept on a moving rack; similar to a dry cleaning store. The performers are responsible for the upkeep of their own costumes. The Ruby Princess unveiled three brand new shows at a cost of $1.5 million each.

The next stop was into one of the ship’s many galleys. Here we were met by the Executive Head Chief of the Ruby. We were each given a glass of Champagne and served truffles. Our gift for this area was a Chef’s jacket. We also visited one of the many walk in refrigerators and dry storage rooms. This ship produces 60,000 meals per day. Several of us asked them to repeat that number and it is indeed correct. The left over food is put into an incinerator and becomes fish food.

We visited the engine room and met the chief engineer; he was very informative on the way the ship is run and we were able to see the computers and how they were able to pin point various points on the ship. The ships fire alarm systems are sensitive enough that they sometime are set off by a stateroom occupant that is taking a hot and very steamy shower. He also explained how the ship converts sea water into drinking water. It is actually amazing how much the ship is truly “green” and recycles nearly everything; there is very little waste on the ship.

Another visit was to the laundry area; this crew works very hard. We learned that the bed sheets are changed and washed every three days and comforters are cleaned once a month: this got a lot of attention from us as you can well imagine. It was explained that they go in with a black light to check the status of the comforter…. They have special machines that fold the towels, linens, sheets etc plus these machines are even smart enough to detect too many wrinkles and reject the item. Our gift for this area was one of the nice thick Princesses Robes.

The medical center visit was an amazing experience. It was actually a fully equipped hospital with the ability to perform surgery if needed. They have an intensive care area, x-ray room, a patient ward, an amazing lab and sadly even a morgue area. The doctor explained about the concern over the lack of the hand sanitizing machines; they want people to wash their hands as this procedure eliminates nearly 90 percent of all germs. The hand sanitizers only eliminate 50 percent and people become too complacent with them. The ship has two doctors and four nurses onboard; the on duty nurse has ability to get to anywhere on the ship for an emergency call within 3 minutes. The ship also has a gurney that is equipped the same as an ambulance.

We were taken to the Print shop and shown how they set up the daily patter; they go to press each evening at 5 pm and have it to the stewards by 7 pm. The only thing they do not print is the picture information which comes from the photo shop. For this stop our gift was a set of personalized stationary.

The Photo shop is actually a small room about the size of a stateroom that has four printing machines and a small dark room. The gift we received from them were photo’s of our tour group at each of the different ship locations and then with the captain.

Our next unique experience was the visit to the steam funnels. We each had to climb up two sets of ladders to get to the base. What a view! There are 4 large funnels and 2 smaller ones. We were of course advised not to touch them due to the possibility of being burnt.

The final stop of the day was to the bridge where they had drinks and appetizers for us. The captain came up from a wedding to welcome us and to take a group photo and then an individual photo with each of us. The bridge has identical computer equipment to the engine room. They have two spotters and two ship officers on the bridge at all times. The wheel to guide the ship reminded us of a remote control car wheel and then on the each wing of the ship there is an identical way to control and park the ship and that controller is the size of very small little wheel that would fit in the palm of your hand; it is truly amazing the capability that they have to control that ship. Alex the ships officer on duty during our visit was a wonderful host and answered everyone’s questions until we could think of no more it was great.

I am so glad that I had this chance to see the inner workings of the ship; it was a great opportunity and one that I will cherish when I think back on my cruise. Each area that we visited the crew was hard at work and so very polite; each of them had a smile and a hello for us. Our room steward delivered all of our gifts to us on Friday evening and they included: Princess Robe, Chef’s Jacket, and the pictures that were taken in the various areas: engine room, steam funnels, theater, on the Bridge and with the Captain. We were also supposed to get personalized stationary but something happen and it was forgotten; I was told that they would mail it to me.

Lori

[caribill]

And, as another poster indicated, I assume you could not take any pictures yourself. Correct?

[stanford's girl]

Thanks for taking us along on your Ultimate Ship Tour!! :D :D

[crugirl]

This sounds very interesting. Do you know if this tour is available on all Princess ships? We will be on the Crown in April.

[sherman931]

Thanks, your review was the next best thing to being there :)

[Caribbean Sunsets]

Great review. Thanks for posting it. :)

 

When Princess announced this new tour in September, the news release indicated the tour would be conducted once or twice per cruise and on a sea day. With the obvious popularity of it, I'm surprised that they aren't doing it twice since the current Ruby cruises have two sea days...JMO.

[mii]

Thank you for sharing the Ultimate ships tour. Very, very interesting. As I understand it is going to take awhile for this to come to the rest of the fleet. Thanks again for sharing your experience.

 

Marilyn

[Colo Cruiser]

Sounds cool. :)

[mississauga]

Thanks for sharing. I know there is a limit to how many can sign up. Is it per person or per couple?

[kellor]

And, as another poster indicated, I assume you could not take any pictures yourself. Correct?

 

Nope we could not take a camera with us and I would have loved some extra pictures from the top of the steam funnels but we did have a staff photographer with us and we were each given a copy of the pictures they took.

[kellor]

Thanks for sharing. I know there is a limit to how many can sign up. Is it per person or per couple?

 

The took the first 12 on last weeks cruise and just over half of them were couples. It is so new that they are still working out all the small details and then they will start expanding it to the rest of the fleet.

[psyfi]

I'll be on the Emerald in 3 weeks :Dand I am so hoping that I can take advantage of such a cool opportunity!

[breakiron]

I was also on this same tour and we actually had 13 in the group because I was the only single to sign up, I was number 3 on the list. The only other ship offering the Ultimate Tour is the Caribbean Princess. It was mentioned it will eventually be expanded to include all Princess ships but was given no timetable. It was an amazing tour. Ken...

[kellor]

I was also on this same tour and we actually had 13 in the group because I was the only single to sign up, I was number 3 on the list. The only other ship offering the Ultimate Tour is the Caribbean Princess. It was mentioned it will eventually be expanded to include all Princess ships but was given no timetable. It was an amazing tour. Ken...

 

Hi Ken, did you mean you were the only person from the VTG group that signed up? There were 8 men and 5 women on the tour. It appeared that of this group there were only 3 husband/wife couples and the rest of us were by ourselves. By the way, did you get the stationary from the print shop or are they mailing it to you? They forgot mine and at least one other person's as well. Lori

[TXTraveler76]

Hi,

 

Lori, I was on the tour with you and I was also a single female. I did have a male friend who was on the tour as his wife was not capable. There were numerous singles. I signed up as #1 and my friend was #2. I am glad that it was not a lottery and am surprised that 400 could have signed up since nobody was talking about it. I too, did not receive the stationary and was told they had problems with cutting the paper. No mention that it would be sent. We could be pleasantly surprised. You did an excellent job explaining the tour. I am wondering how the couples packed those two huge robes. I feel very lucky to have been on the tour and it was certainly worth the cost. Thank you for posting.

 

The next ship to receive the tour will be the Caribbean and unsure of the time line. Other ships should be in the future with this success.

 

Jacki

[RickEk]

Thanks for the review. I've taken many a bridge tour, but would sure like to go to all the places you were taken. And it does sound like the gifts help to soften the blow of the purchase price... :)

[breakiron]

Hi Lori, I did not receive the stationary and I really don't know if they're sending it to me. As far as I know I'm the only person from the VTG group to go on the tour but I can't say for sure. I was still meeting new people in the group on the last day, just too many in the group I believe there were 370. I'm going on the Caribbean Princess in March with the same group but it is expected the maximum in the group will be 150 which is much more managable. I'd prefer the smaller groups. Ken...

[kellor]

Hi,

 

Lori, I was on the tour with you and I was also a single female. I did have a male friend who was on the tour as his wife was not capable. There were numerous singles. I signed up as #1 and my friend was #2. I am glad that it was not a lottery and am surprised that 400 could have signed up since nobody was talking about it. I too, did not receive the stationary and was told they had problems with cutting the paper. No mention that it would be sent. We could be pleasantly surprised. You did an excellent job explaining the tour. I am wondering how the couples packed those two huge robes. I feel very lucky to have been on the tour and it was certainly worth the cost. Thank you for posting.

 

The next ship to receive the tour will be the Caribbean and unsure of the time line. Other ships should be in the future with this success.

 

Jacki

 

Hi Jacki, between the tour gifts and everything my husband and I bought we had to buy another bag to get it all home :D Like you I was surprised when Gavin said over 400 people had signed up there was little to no chatter about it; like you I also felt the cost for me was small in comparrision to the experience/opportunity we had. Your right about the next ship to get the tour, I would bet since it is going into dry dock in Jan when it comes out that that will be a new feature for the ship. Let me know when you get your stationary. Lori

[Colo Cruiser]

Thats a lot of extra stuff. :eek:

[TXTraveler76]

Lori,

 

I forgot that the Caribbean Princess is going into drydock. Maybe they will get the new laundry machine. When I look at our pictures, which one are you? What color is your shirt? Mine was white. We were so busy, we never got to introduce ourselves to each other. It is hard to put into words, just how busy we were moving to the next place or having someone take care of us. I am very grateful for CC to share this wonderful information. I read about the tour on the Princess website originally but it did not provide much information.

 

Jacki

[kellor]

Lori,

 

I forgot that the Caribbean Princess is going into drydock. Maybe they will get the new laundry machine. When I look at our pictures, which one are you? What color is your shirt? Mine was white. We were so busy, we never got to introduce ourselves to each other. It is hard to put into words, just how busy we were moving to the next place or having someone take care of us. I am very grateful for CC to share this wonderful information. I read about the tour on the Princess website originally but it did not provide much information.

 

Jacki

 

Hi Jacki, I am in the dk blue polo shirt. Your right about the introductions, we were moving quickly. I joined CC a couple of years ago and "lurked" for several cruises before I felt I could respond to anyones questions and I really like this site; everyone is very helpful...and boy can they defend their position :D

Lori

[wnyguy2003]

Was there a charge for this?

I didn't see a cost mentioned, unless I just completely missed it...:rolleyes:

[kellor]

Was there a charge for this?

I didn't see a cost mentioned, unless I just completely missed it...:rolleyes:

 

The cost is $150 per person. For me the the cost was far out weighed by the opportunity to do something different and unique. Lori

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Great review. Thanks for posting it. :)

 

When Princess announced this new tour in September, the news release indicated the tour would be conducted once or twice per cruise and on a sea day. With the obvious popularity of it, I'm surprised that they aren't doing it twice since the current Ruby cruises have two sea days...JMO.

 

We did the innaugral sailing and the Captain said they were only doing the UST once on the cruise as it was very staff intensive, between the pre arranging and actually doing it as it is a couple of hours.

[TXTraveler76]

Hi,

 

Thank you Lori, I can now put a face along with your name. The $150.00 charge is steep, but very worth the opportunity to explore a fine ship and receive a bonus of all the extra's. It was strange how on our last day, I saw two of the background people who conducted their speciality areas, walking around the ship.

 

If the chance allows, I would not hesitate to take this great opportunity and book this tour.

 

Jacki