The Ruby and the Noordam,the good,the bad,the ugly.

[swimsimcoe]

This is a kind of review and comparison rolled into one.It's a way for me to remember my great vacation.These thoughts are my own opinion and does not require any arguments or disagreements as sometimes seems to be the case on these boards.

Just returned from back to back on the Noordam(Mar4 cruise) and then the Ruby Princess(March 14 cruise) and had a wonderful time.Here are my observations.

 

The Noordam was as expected in many areas-had recently done 2 trips on the Westerdam-i.e-great service,good food,love the layout of the pools-the tables are perfect for sitting around and talking to lots of people,enjoyable entertainment.Generally a good time.

Where I feel this ship fell short was in the dining room.Having just been on the Westerdam and having a great experience with anytime dining we chose it again.I have no idea if things were different in fixed dining but in anytime it was almost bedlam-it took us at least 2 hours every evening(according to mgrs should be no longer than 1 1/2 hours) and the waiters were running around and very harried.Very few smiles or time spent with a word or 2.I expect that the problem lies somewhere in the kitchen on this ship.

 

I also do not understand why on a ship with "older" guests,the lae show was at 10-always 1/2 empty-to the chagrin of several entertainers-Westerdam was at 9.Although in this case,with the dinner taking so long we would have missed all the shows(we ate at 7) if they were at 9.

 

Too much of "whoever" and the HAl cats-everywhere you go.

Ruby had much better bands-yes,I know it's a bigger ship.

 

My other "what were they thinking" award goes to the guy who decided that the poker table should be in a separate room.I have never been on a ship where there were not poker games every night with lots of people around the tables watching-except this one.Game only 1 night I think-maybe 2-no one knew where it was and you had to constantly go back to the room to see if anyone was waiting for a game.Very annoying.

 

In comparison the Ruby had poker going every night.

 

The ship was beautiful and handled the 3300 guest very well-due to some concessions in my opinion-although don't know if the same on smaller Princess ships.I am talking about the breakfast and lunch buffets.I found these buffets not as good as HAL.a lot less personal and more cafeteria style-for example-the eggs were alread cooked and placed on plates(although you could get a fresh one),sandwiches were preprepared(HAL does them fresh) and placed out like in a cafeteria,and not as many choices.

 

I did find the dinners even better than HAL and although a service comparison may not be fair in this case-we had fixed dining-the service was impeccable and the food was fabulous.

 

The service on the Ruby was even better than HAL-much to my surprise-and loved it.

 

The BEDS-oh my-HAL wins hands down.I was hoping that Princess had improved their beds from a few years ago-and especially on a brand new ship.Alas,it's not to be,unlessyou like hard beds.Not for me.And small bathrooms.

 

Ship too big for me-we were among the young on HAL and among the "old" on Ruby-a refreshing change-and I found it a bit too big for my liking but would definitely do Princess again.

 

So-Noordam-preferred the buffets,size,pool deck,rooms,beds,bathrooms.

Ruby-preferred the dinners,service(but great both),entertaiment(better headliners and more going on),poker table.

The moral-every ship has different strengths and ways they do things.If I could put together my own ship I would probably be the only one to come.The pool deck from HAL,the slide and restaurants from NCL,the dinners from Princess, the free spa area from Celebrity,one band from Carnival(that's it for them).

All in all,cruising is great.Home 1/2 week and no one to make my bed-so I didn't.

[RickEk]

Thanks for the review(s). I'm glad you enjoyed your cruises! :)

[FLACRUISER99]

Great review, The as you wish dinning was great on the Noordam on the Nov-Dec. TA that just shows you how quickly things can change.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the reviews although a little confusing on some comments and which were meant for which ship. :)

[rochelle_s]

Thank you very much for your review. I really enjoyed it as I am doing a Princess (Grand) and HAL (Oosterdam) back to back myself on April 10th. I appreciate the comparisons you made between the two lines and found them very informative. Perhaps I will do a comparison myself when I return. Good to hear you enjoyed both of your cruises. Thanks again.

 

Rochelle