Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Just back from Dec 20-27 Ruby

ddpe

By ddpe,
in Princess Cruises

Recommended Posts

ddpe

ddpe

Posted
Posted

Hi Everyone,

 

I just returned from a great cruise on the Ruby Princess.

 

First I want to say that sailing over Christmas was really a lot of fun and I highly recommend it. I think that Princess did a good job making everything as festive as it could be in the Caribbean. For the kids they had cookie decorating, a visit with Santa with present (my son received a Princess T-shirt), gingerbread house decorating contest, 3 Xmas sing alongs, Xmas music, and some Xmas crafts for the kids.

 

I will post a review later, but I just wanted to post in case I can answer any questions. I do have patters in my possession and can look something up, but cannot post as scanner is on the fritz. I will say that the offerings are somewhat different now from the Patters posted on line. They no longer have some of the lectures they had during the initial cruises.

 

Highlights - The Magician- James Michael (this entertainment act was totally unexpected and a riot). The comedian - Scott Wyler was great. The Susan Komen walk for Breast Cancer was a nice way to celebrate Xmas. The bands were all good this trip. Our room steward was perfect. He was always working and always had a smile-the best steward I have had. My kids tell me I had his name wrong, so I will just say he worked in Riviera 715,719, and 723. Pizza was better than I remembered it. The fish courses I had were very good. Embarking and Disembarking were easy and no hastle. The casino was very patient with new players learning how to play and I liked the no smoking tables and nights.

 

Disappointments - Don't rent a clam shell on Princess Keys. Better way - get off as early as possible. Go to North beaches and claim a spot under one of the shelters. The Clam Shells are hot (even though temp was only 79 F). They closed the bar on South beach (where the clam shells are) around 1:30 and you had to go all the way to North beach for a coke or drink. Also, there is no view because the clamshells in front of you block everything. Overall Princess Keys was a dissappointment compared to Labadee. Tenders way to slow, too crowded, visit too short.

 

The new Princess menus are not to my liking. I really liked the offerings on the old menu, but realize there are some who may like these menus better. The appetizer and and soup or salad courses were not very interesting to me this time. Beef Wellington would have been nice on Xmas and I was hoping it would appear on second formal night - be did not. Overall the dining room was hit and miss with the food - way too bland. The service was wonderful except on one occasion with one particular female waiter. I now rate Princess the same as Royal Caribbean on food taste and quality when previously I gave Princess the edge. However, I will still give Princess the edge on dining room service as our one bad night was an individual not representative of the staff as a whole.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
DEERINH2O

DEERINH2O

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the quick overview. I am on the Ruby in April and am so excited. Can you tell me if there is a Seafood Buffet on this cruise.... I keep hearing mixed responses. Also did you notice if they had alot going for teens. Taking 16 yold son and he likes participating in the activities.

 

thanks and happy holidays!

 

Kathy

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Pia1913

Pia1913

Posted
Posted
Can't wait to read the review... We are sailing in Mid March, we are in rooms 722 and 724 so hopefully we will have the same good steward you did.

 

Dan

 

You won't, because if he works on Starboard, he won't be working on Port, and vice versa.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
3GR8Sons

3GR8Sons

Posted
Posted

We were also on this cruise. We were in cabins B519, B521, B517 and B523 on Baja. We also had a great cabin steward. His name was Gaetano and he kept me filled in on my boys who were in an inside cabin without us.

 

We were a party of 10 and we were at the early seating but at 2 different tables. Dh and BIL went to the maitre'd and had a table set up for 6PM in the AD area for each night. Our waitress was Claudia and she was fabulous.

 

We also saw the magician and comedian and loved the acts. My kids really liked the kids programs and wound up going to them more than on other cruises. My teenager loved the teen only hot tub parties.

 

The ship is beautiful and although there were a ton of people on board there were only a few times when it really felt crowded (champagne waterfall).

 

We loved the olives available at Crooners and the sushi at Vines. We also loved International Cafe and the Italian coffee server (Stefano??). Very friendly young man.

 

Despite all the talk of chair hogs on these boards we found chairs every day at the pool. Of course I don't care if my chair is exactly next to the pool. I don't mind dipping in the pool and then walking to a chair. I also like shade. But SIL managed to get a sunny spot for her crowd and we got a shady spot. The pool with MUTS was more crowded than the pool without the screen but both were very usable.

 

The only day I would say the pool was super crowded was on Sunday during the football games-but it was great fun to watch the NFL games on MUTS screen and we did all manage to find seats (SIL in sun, us in shade).

 

We did not take any shore excursions. We took a cab to Dunn's River Falls from the port in Ocho Rios. We were scheduled to take the ship's excursion to Stingray City, but it was cancelled because of weather (it was windy). Dh went shopping and bought a watch, DS got a watch also. In Cozumel we went to Passion Island, but not through the ship. I highly recommend this trip. Great place for adults and kids alike.

 

We love Princess Cays. We did not get a clamshell. We never have a problem getting a shady spot as most folks seem to want to bake in the sun. We rented a few sets of snorkel equipment. The kids loved seeing the fish (they are old enough to snorkel).

 

My middle son is a musician and he asked Daniel at Crooners if he could play while he was on break. Daniel did not mind and my son felt very special. The musicians on board all seemed to be very happy to see young musicians on board (we also met the horn section of the orchestra and they were really happy to have mini musicians on board).

Link to comment
Share on other sites
3GR8Sons

3GR8Sons

Posted
Posted
Thanks for the quick overview. I am on the Ruby in April and am so excited. Can you tell me if there is a Seafood Buffet on this cruise.... I keep hearing mixed responses. Also did you notice if they had alot going for teens. Taking 16 yold son and he likes participating in the activities.

 

thanks and happy holidays!

 

Kathy

 

We did not eat dinner at the buffet so I can't say about the seafood buffet.

 

We were traveling with a 14 yo and he loved the teen activities, especially the teen only hot tub parties (big surprise). When we went to get our younger kids there always seemed to be a ton of teens in the teen room and they all seemed to be having fun.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ddpe

ddpe

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I'm Back

 

We have always had good experiences with Princess and their teen club. This time - not as good but the only reason was there were just too many teens on board. We had totally expected this because it was Xmas after all. My son had a blast at the teen center on Golden during the summer when less kids were aboard. So much so that when we got back to the hotel room after that cruise, he collapsed on the bed and I couldn't wake him until dinner. He is also now almost 18 and I think that he enjoyed the teen center most when he was about 15. He now wanted to spend the evening working out in the gym or at the muts(The Dark Night), or at the comedy shows. We were busy during the day in port.

 

One thing I really appreciate on Princess is that their comedy acts are suitable for those under 18 and under 18 year olds are allowed to attend. We did not book NCL or Carnival because when I examined their version of the patters, they had age restrictions on the comedy and marriage game shows. On RCL, their compass said that the marriage game show was also 18 and older. Because we couldn't do these events as a family, I didn't book those lines.

 

I know you must go to the teen center the first night between 7 and 10 pm (parent and child) to register. After, the teens can come and go as they please. The first night they play the Battle of the Sexes. This involves asking questions to a team of girls and a team of boys. The questions are such that girls would be more likely to know the questions asked the boys and boys would be more likely to know the questions the girls get.

 

I think your kids will have a fabulous time. We did the zip line in Jamaica and the Xrail in Cozumel and they really enjoyed them. We rented a car in Grand Cayman and went to Rum Point, but the weather was a little off that day. Our plan had been to go there and rent waverunners. We kayaked at Princess Cays. We have done a lot of snorkeling on previous cruises so they did not want to do that this cruise, but the kids enjoyed it in the past. Note that the water in the winter is a little cool compared to summer. I prefer snorkeling in the late spring and summer when the water is warmer.

 

ddpe

Link to comment
Share on other sites
3GR8Sons

3GR8Sons

Posted
Posted
Hi, we are on the ruby 17th Jan and are also thinking of just jumping in a taxi for Dunn's river falls. What were your experiences of doing this.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Cheers

 

Davy!!! :)

 

It was great. We found someone at the port who took us round trip for $10 pp.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
3GR8Sons

3GR8Sons

Posted
Posted
I'm Back

One thing I really appreciate on Princess is that their comedy acts are suitable for those under 18 and under 18 year olds are allowed to attend.

 

We enjoyed this as well. My younger kids did not want to go to the kids club every single night and it was nice for us to all be able to go to the shows together.

 

My son also enjoyed working out at the gym. We appreciate that Princess lets teens use the gym. My son is 14, looks his age and was able to attend the spin class (with my SIL) and use all the equipment in the gym. He is a wrestler and is in the middle of his season. He was very happy that he was permitted to use the gym (there were no signs saying he couldn't).

 

:DEspecially this morning when it was back to practice!:D

 

It sounds like you really liked Ruby as well. We expected things to be shaky since it is a brand new ship but it was fabulous.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • Hurricane Zone 2024
      • Cruise Insurance Q&A w/ Steve Dasseos of Tripinsurancestore.com June 2024
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...