Ruby Princess Reviews

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My wife and I decided to go on our first cruise to celebrate our fifth anniversary, and after lots of research and investigation on the internet, we decided that Princess was the best for us. We are in our 30s, but are not big partiers or power drinkers, so we were looking for a line that was a little less nightclub and a little more focused on relaxation. We feel like we made a very good decision, and on the whole are happy with our first cruise experience. We will cruise again, but I don't know whether it will be with Princess or not. In some ways they did exceed our expectations, but in other ways they fell short. We booked our cruise through an internet travel agency and flew into Fort Lauderdale having booked flights on our own. We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott Ft. Lauderdale Cruise Port (wonderful staff, highly recommended) the night before embarkation. We decided to wait until the afternoon to head to the cruise port to embark, and while we missed lunch on the ship, we were very happy with walking right up to check in at the terminal. Once on board, we immediately sought out our steward to make a couple specific requests for our room. Some - egg crate for the mattress, removal of drinks from the fridge, extra flat sheet for the bed - were done by the time we checked back into our room after the safety muster. However, some of our requests were not met. We never did receive bathrobes for our use despite multiple requests. I also requested distilled water (required for medical reasons), and was made to wait until after midnight that night (more than an hour after our second requests, and some nine hours after our initial request) before it was delivered. This experience set the tone for our interaction with the staff on the ship over the course of the week - it was very hit and miss. We often had long waits before being served drinks in the Horizon food court, and this seemed to be the case regardless of what meal we were having. We found service in the main dining rooms to be very inconsistent as well. Sometimes service was exemplary, sometimes it was rather slow and not very welcoming. We chose Anytime dining, and didn't experience any problems with it except for the nights we forgot to make reservations for a two top (our problem, not theirs). We had a very poor service experience at the Crown Room. We made a late reservation (9.30), hoping the restaurant would be quieter and service would be better. Well, the former was true, but the latter was absolutely not. I arrived early while my wife was looking at the picture gallery. Not knowing what time it was, I simply stated that we had a 9.30 reservation and I just wanted to know how early we were. I was very shortly told the time, followed by a stern proclamation that we were very early for our reservation and couldn't be seated yet (in spite of the three-quarters empty restaurant behind the greeter). I reiterated the fact that I just wanted to know what time it was, and left to find my wife. We returned promptly at 9.30, and were made to stand at the front entrance for ten minutes for reasons I don't understand. It can't have been for lack of empty tables. Once seated, we waited a further ten minutes before seeing a server. Once we were first visited, things got better, although they stayed confused due two two separate servers helping us during the meal. The food was absolutely fantastic, no doubt about that, but the poor service took something from the meal. If they don't want to have seatings that late, then don't offer them. Better to do that than offer late seatings and treat people they way they treated us. The multiple tables around us of staff members having dinner, some loudly, didn't help either. Not being big drinkers, we didn't befriend a bartender as we didn't visit one often enough. And, just like the staff in the food courts and dining rooms, we found them to be inconsistent. Some were very nice, some very indifferent, and a couple were rude. As for the rest of the cruise, we've very few complaints. We were very happy with the food, including in the food court. We were expecting it to be a little more 'cafeteria' quality, but it was absolutely just as good as the offerings in the format dining rooms. Big thumbs up for the food. The milkshakes were pretty poor, and the pizza crust was a little thin, even by New York style standards, but it was always hot and available, so it's hard to complain about it too much. Our trip was wrapped up by two more service issues. We had the lights go out in our stateroom one evening, and it took nearly three hours for them to be restored. We were told it was as simple as a circuit breaker having tripped (we had nothing on in the room at the time but the television, so I don't know what tripped it), which made the amount of time to fix such a simple problem even more perplexing and frustrating. Finally, there was the fiasco that was our disembarkation. We followed the instructions to the letter, and arrived at our appointed location five minutes before the time listed on the schedule. We were specifically instructed not to show up more than five minutes before the listed time, so that's what we did. Upon arrival, I found that my grouping had already been released to disembark and that we, along with the other people that had followed instructions and showed up when asked to, would have to wait until after the next group was released because our group had already left. We were confused and frustrated, and asked the staff member why our group had left already, and she said it was because they were all there already. We reminded her of the instructions we received, and she simply shrugged her shoulders and said our group was already gone. After strongly expressing our frustration for the fact that we were being punished because we followed the directions provided, she allowed us to leave ahead of the next group (i.e., when we should have been allowed to leave in the first place). I don't want to give the impression that we didn't enjoy ourselves or find our first cruise to be very enjoyable. However, in light of Princess's promises to be a "Consummate Host," we found on balance that their service was woefully short of this promise.

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Our expectation for this cruise was for some quiet downtime combined with the high level of service we have experienced on our three previous Princess cruises. While many parts of the cruise met these expectations, the food and some service areas appear to have gone downhill. We are in our early 60s, generally prefer to do our own thing and are not particularly fussy. Both my wife and I have some dietary considerations, especially for my wife and her low-salt diet which resulted in a number of issues. We flew to Fort Lauderdale a day before sailing and stayed at the Cambria Suites (highly recommended). As we both love Cuban food, we took a short walk to the Las Vegas 8 restaurant and had a great dinner during the evening prior to our cruise. The Cambria Suites provides free shuttle service to the port and we arrived about 11:00 AM. The line for the embarkation process was slightly longer than normal due to the earlier time the ship left port (4:00 PM), but the entire process was easy and we were able to board and be in our cabin (C428) by noon. With the Ruby being a newer ship, both the cabin and the public spaces showed very little wear-and-tear. We had a balcony cabin with the expected amount of space and layout. (For those using a CPAP, I would suggest bringing an extension cord as the outlet is far from the bed.) There are only two outlets in the cabin, so charging two iPads, a camera, and two cell phones was more of a matter of scheduling than anything else. Our cabin steward was efficient and he provided an eggshell foam mattress top when we requested. My wife and I used the Fitness Center which has varied and high quality equipment. One warning though, I'm 6-3 and banged my head on the ceiling while using the ellipticals. Dining; here is where the review becomes difficult. We used the "anytime dining" option and had noted that my wife needed a low-salt diet. At dinner on our first night, we went to the Da Vinci Dining Room and explained our needs. We were hoping for a table-for-2 just to make things simple, but there was a long wait. We were escorted to a table-for-8 and then no one provided any service for 20 minutes. Eventually, more diners arrived and we again explained our needs to the service staff. The beginning courses were "OK" but when it came time for my wife's low-salt entree, the chicken was totally inedible as it was dry like cardboard with a similar taste; all this combined with incredibly slow service. At this point, we resolved that the dining room was not an option. For the remainder of the cruise, we used the buffet with me acting as my wife's official taster. It's amazing how much food is over-salted such as the mashed potatoes were so over-salted that I could not eat them. Positively surprising, the hamburgers at the grill were done perfectly. Another problem was the relative lack of sugar-free deserts -- maybe one at lunch and one-two at dinner. (We previously cruised on the Celebrity Equinox and there were always at least five sugar-free deserts.) Toward the end of the cruise, we got into more of a rhythm of what we could and could not eat, but the first couple of days were extremely frustrating. Another frustrating item was my wife's soda drink card, purchased when we boarded. Service was occasionally slow and sometimes non-existent. My wife went to a Bingo and placed a drink for a diet soda. Other patrons were served their alcoholic drinks but my wife never got her diet soda after 50 minutes. A similar situation occurred in the casino. Bartending -- two words: "Find Eddie!" His usual haunt is the Calypso bar under the MUTS, but he hangs out at the Outrigger on Deck 15 watching the sunset and looking for the "green flash." Eddie is from Argentina and is an old-fashioned bartender in that he tells great stories and makes great drinks. I had a wonderful week throwing out all sorts of challenges to him and he came up with the most interesting and outrageous concoctions. I also never liked Margaritas till I had one that Eddie made. One of our daily highlights was finding Eddie. As for entertainment aboard ship, we usually don't do the shows, more hoping to find a little jazz or piano bar. The week we were aboard was the "Princess Entertainer of the Year" contest which we did not do. The Adagio bar has some nice piped-in Jazz during the day when otherwise not in use. We did the usual trivia (always fun) and casino (usually lost, but that's expected). There is not a whole lot of detail to say about the port destinations. We had been to St. Thomas many times before and spent most of the time watching other people shop. The Princess private island in the Bahamas was very nice -- plenty of beach space and a good luncheon BBQ. Grand Turk, because of two ships being in port, was wall-to-wall bodies at the beach. We walked around, but that was about it. St.Maarten/Martin is not the most picturesque island, but we had one of the three best tour guides (Joseph) we ever had on all of our cruises when we went on the "round the island tour." He was very informative, always funny, and a safe driver. Marigot was pleasant on the French side as was the stop at the Butterfly Farm. Disembarkation was generally smooth except was one thing. Our lounge in which we waited was two decks above our disembarkation deck and no one was allowed to use the elevators. Trying to wrestle three pieces of luggage down two sets of stairs resulted in a sprained wrist. In summary, the cruise was OK but definitely a notch below our previous Princess cruises. We are planning a Mediterranean cruise later this year and Princess has the itinerary we want, but it is still under consideration.

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My husband and I took the 7 day Eastern Caribbean cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale with stops at Princess Cays, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and Grand Turk. Embarkation- We got to the port around noon and it was pretty busy but the line seemed to go quickly and they handled it well. We boarded and are room was ready. This was our 2nd cruise and we got a balcony room this time. I definitely reccommend a balcony. There is nothing like being out in the middle of the ocean at night. The room was good size. Lots of closet and shelf space. The bathroom was okay size except the shower was a little small and not much place to put your shampoo, conditioner and etc. Luckily the toilet is right there and you can place things on the back of it. Our refrigerator always had ice which was really nice. Princess Cays was nice. Very beautiful beach and water but not much to do but relaxing is nice. Loved St. Maarten. Went on a tour with Bernards tours and it was the best! Totally recommend it. St. Thomas was also nice but there was a lot of traffic on the island. We went on a catamaran cruise that we booked through Princess. It was great. WE snorkeled off Honeymoon beach off of St. John. What a beautiful sail from St Thomas to St John. We saw lots of fish, coral and a few sea turtles. Grand Turk has some beautiful beaches. We went into town and went to the museum. There is some really neat history. We hung out at Margaritaville. It was cool but definitely overpriced and rather spend my time at the beac. The beach is lined with chairs right there at port so you can pretty much just hang out there all day. The boat had endless things to do onboard. There were lots of movies to watch on deck, games to play, comedians, and other shows. The magic show was great. We spent a lot of time in the evenings in the Explorer lounge after dinner. We did Anytime Dining and loved it. We usually hung out and relaxed in our room after port or at the pool and at anywhere between 7 and 8:30. I liked the flexibility so we coulld plan our evening as we wanted. The food was much better than I thought it would be. Even tried escargo one night and it was delicious. Also tried Crown Grill- definitely worth the extra money. Our last day at sea we even did a 5k. 7 laps around the ship on deck 7. All in all it was a great trip. I would definitely do this itinerary again!

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Cruise: Eastern Carribbean out of Ft. Lauderdale with Pricess Cays, St Maarten, St Thomas, and Grand Turk port destinations. Cabin: E218 Port Side-Forward, Oceanview-Obstructed. My Cabin Steward, Ricardo, kept the room clean, and ice bucket full. That is pretty much all I asked of him and he came through. The view out the window was obstructed by 2 life boats, and the crane that holds them in place. Ship: Very clean, freshly painted. I was on deck 8. Promanade was deck 7, Lido was deck 15, and Main Dining Room deck 6. Depending on where you spend the most of your time dictates which deck would work best for you. I never felt that I had to go far, or wait on line for anything aboard. Food: Main Dining Room-we ate here only for dinners 6 of the 7 nights aboard. Menu was adequate, but it lacked the little extras which makes a memorable experience. I never had the problem of having a tough choice between 2 items in any of the categories on the menu. Lido: Hot Dog/Burger Station, Pizza/Ice Cream Station, Buffet: We ate on the Lido for all breakfasts, lunches, and 1 dinner. There really are 2 buffet lines for dinner-1 standard, and 1 with a theme. The pizza was very good, and burger & fries & such were average. Other Venues: Sabatinis, Crown Grill-did not dine there Entertainment: I went to 1 production show, and also saw 2 different comedians in the Explorer's lounge. They also have some shows in the Piaza (lobby), the standard Lido Band, and a jazz quartet in the Wheelhouse Bar. I felt entertained at times. Other: I gambled a little in the casino, watched a few movies under the stars on the Lido Deck, took an exercise class, and a line dancing class. I also took the galley tour, and played bingo once. Embarkation in Ft Lauderdale: Got to the port at 10:30 AM, waited on line and was on the ship about 12:20 PM Debarkation: Put our luggage out the night before, got my time slot of 9:50 AM. Sat in the lobby until 9:30 AM, got tired of waiting so we left the ship at that time, and was in a taxi heading to the airport by 10 AM. Conclusion: A very nice time was had, would recommend this cruise to others, but would not go again since I have now cruised to St Thomas 3 times, and am interested in going to other places.

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I traveled with my wife, I am 51. This might have been my 20th cruise, but only my 1st review. My last cruise was in 2008 on Oceania, the Nautica. Our main concern was the Noro Virus. All gone I guess, the ship was spotless. Embarkation was very quick & smooth - on time. The ship seemed too large at 1st, but we quickly adjusted & just loved it. 3,400 passengers on this trip. The "movies under the stars" is such a nice touch. And the other large pool area is completely separate with live & pre-recorded music. Chairs were always available somewhere. Perfect! The gym was good. The running track upstairs was a bit small. Our room was fine - balcony on Riviera Deck. The shower is very small. Room service was fast & friendly. We did breakfast on the balcony a couple times, and a late sandwich 1 night. The buffets were large with different themes every day. Large selections I thought. The grill by the pool was great too, and they even do breakfast. The pizza & ice cream station were both ok. And during disembarkation - everything was still open! That really put the exclamation point on it for me. Perfect. The casino was fine. The casino staff were very friendly. Loads of fun here. The entertainment was fantastic - however we were on the "Entertainer of the Year" cruise, so we may have been shown the best-of-the-best. Pretty darn good! During sailing time - plenty of typical activities : Basketball shoot-out, ping-pong, pool-side competitions, & putting tourney. No shuffleboard....odd for a cruise ship I thought. Overall we had a surprisingly awesome time. Will do it again!

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