Cruising the Ruby Princess- reviewed

Ruby Princess has many delicious and healthy food options

We really enjoyed sailing the Ruby Princess, but not for the reasons we thought we would.

It had been about a year since we last sailed on Princess Cruises, our last sailing on favorite ship Caribbean Princess.  Since then we had sailed on several other cruise lines, some not as great, some about as great and one greatly less than wonderful.

In our series on Getting Ready To Cruise the Ruby Princess, we covered a lot of topics including what we hoped to see aboard the ship.  I mentioned that we are on a health management program that required we follow certain guidelines and hoped we would be able to on the ship.   What we found were plenty of good, healthy options aboard Ruby Princess that worked well with our program.   What we did not count on was a deadly combination of two factors that drove us off our plan:

Fabulous food and an equally fabulous, helpful crew.

We just were not counting on either being as good as they are.  As a result we went far off our plan, have no regrets and nothing but nice things to say about both.  This ship truly blew us away in most all areas so let’s get right into it

Embarkation
A breeze.  We entered Pier 2 at Port Everglades about 11:00 and were on the ship by 11:30, in our aft balcony stateroom by 11:40.  Very nice.

Food
As mentioned, fabulous.  What made it difficult to stay strictly on our plan was Maitre d’ Jose who just could not do enough for us.  From a personal phone call upon embarkation, to his personal commitment throughout the cruise, this was a first for us.  It seems more the norm for Maitre d’s and other dining room management people to stop by tables occasionally during a cruise.  This man was really into being sure we had a good time and did what it took to see that happened.

The ship
Beautiful.  As this was a holiday cruise the ship was decorated quite tastefully and was spotlessly clean throughout the voyage.  The familiar basic layout of the ship mirrored other Princess ships so we felt at home and enjoyed the new features added, especially the International Cafe offering a nice variety of light meals and snacks throughout the day plus some fabulous coffee selections.

The crew
Again, fabulous.  From our cabin steward to electricians and maintenance people met in random encounters walking the halls, everyone seemed so happy to be there doing what they do.  It was really refreshing to see.  Not that other lines do not have happy people on board there working, they do, the crew on this ship just seemed so over the top happy to be there that it was a real pleasure to see.

Itinerary
This was the perfect ship to miss a port when we could not stop at Princess Cays for safety concerns about the tender operation in high seas.  It was a great day to spend in our stateroom for the most part even though a revised and updated activity schedule was promptly distributed and featured plenty for everyone to do on the ship that day.

Disembarkation
We needed to get off the ship early for our drive back to Orlando and got just that, off the ship and on the road before 8am.  Very nice.  I like that they keep it simple and their “silent disembarkation” without a bunch of annoying announcements was pure heaven.

During the course of our series of articles leading up to this sailing, via email, facebook and twitter, you asked me to check out a number of things while on the ship.  Here is what I found out for you

• Internet Access in-cabin- Decent.  We had an aft balcony cabin, all the way at the back of the ship, probably about as far away from the Internet Cafe as possible and got a signal.  A low signal but it worked.  Others I talked to, closer to the center of the ship, had signals much better.  I chose to go sit at the International Cafe, within view of the Internet Cafe on deck five, to connect.  Very good signal there
• Motion in the Ocean-  We sailed away under rough sea conditions and a rain storm.  I can not remember sailing on rougher seas since a transatlantic crossing on the Queen Mary 2 but this ship handled it well.  Our aft balcony stateroom on the Baa deck was rocking and rolling all night long that first night. Lisa always takes Bonine for this purpose, forgot to take it until we were well under way and had no problems but I would suggest a more midship location for those who experience motion discomfort…and a note to take precautions before getting on the ship
• Quality of the food- It is difficult for me to believe that the cuisine on this ship could be rated anything less than remarkable but as I have said many times before, food is such a subjective thing that I suppose it could happen.  Our experience as noted earlier: fabulous.  For those with food issues, look forward to your sailing on this ship; they really try hard to make it work for you.
• Dining room issues: None. Best advice: see the Maitre d’ once on the ship no matter what.  I think this is going to be a new rule for us, just something we do.  Knowing the Maitre d’ proved to be richly rewarding for our dining experience.  These people really do want us to have a good time, we just need to give them the chance to make that happen
• Clientele- Short cruises on lines that don’t do a lot of them often draw the curious.  I know we had never sailed Celebrity until the Century offered shorter cruises so we could give them a try.  We saw and talked to a lot of people just like that.  Nice people who were regular guests on other lines, trying Princess for the first time.  It might have been just luck but I did not talk to anyone who was not blown away by the Princess experience.  I also talked to a number of repeat Princess guests, all mostly happy to be there.
• Front desk personnel- Bob from Tulsa had experienced less than wonderful service from the Pursers desk on a different Princess ship and was concerned.  Bob, relax, this was one of the best bunches of Pursers desk staffers I have ever seen.  I did have some issues with my bill, a double charge that was just a mistake and a charge for something I did not buy.  Both were handled quickly and efficiently.  I could not have asked for more.
• Past Guest perks-  Sailing on Princess a bunch in the past had earned us Elite past guest status which was fabulous.  From complementary laundry, to a priority disembarkation lounge and very accessible Captain Circle host, this program is a real winner, I think the best of the bunch.

A couple we talked to while waiting to board who had not sailed the ship before had booked this one and the next two sailings for a total of 22 days on the ship.  We happened to see them the last day at breakfast and were happy to see that they really enjoyed the ship.  Princess past guests can be a really vocal group and don’t hesitate to mention something they don’t like.  This couple thought there should be more places to sit and “people-watch” but were solidly loyal Princess fans who had tried other lines and said they  ”always come back to Princess”.

I can sure see why.

Next up, Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas revisited.  We’ll be on board with a large group from the Villages in January and hope you will come along for that one too.  Stay tuned for updates and more as we revisit this fabulous ship, our first sailing since the inaugural a few years ago.

Early Return Flight Back Home?

There are two ways to insure you get off in enough time; “Early-off tags” for your luggage or “Self-Disembarkation”. 

“Early-off tags” 

The normal disembarkation procedure is to set your luggage outside of your cabin before Midnight, the night before you get off the ship. You will have been given a certain color luggage tag for your “color group” on the ship. In the morning, after the ship has been cleared by US Customs, they start calling color groups one by one. When your group is called, you proceed to the gangway, off the ship and into a big warehouse-like room to find your luggage, arranged by color group. After you have found your luggage you proceed off through Customs and you are on your way. 

Early off tags allow you to be in the first color group off the ship after it has been cleared for disembarkation. You will gather in a predetermined area of the ship and once it has been cleared you will be in the first color group off. You get these tags by visiting the Pursers Desk sometime before the last day. If you are going to go this way I suggest dropping by the Pursers desk sometime early in the cruise. The Pursers desk is centrally located in the lobby of the ship. You will pass by many times just in the course of going from place to place within the ship. I suggest stopping by whenever you happen to be in the area and there is no line. To qualify for early off tags your flight must leave before 1PM so you surely do qualify.

“Self-Disembarkation”

This is the easiest and simplest way. If you can carry all your luggage off the ship yourself, as soon as they announce that the ship has been cleared for disembarkation, off you go. This saves you time in two ways. You get to leave before the first color group; you are the first off the ship. You also don’t have to wade through the warehouse full of luggage, hunting for yours. Check with the Pursers Desk on this too, a phone call will do, because if they have a lot of people wanting to do this they may set them up in “waves” to avoid congestion at the gangway. This is the way we do it every time. I recommend this way if you can do it but with baby in tow that might not be possible. Think about it though because it really is the best way to do it. Very painless. In fact, you can gather in an area just short of the gangway and wait for them to say its ok to leave and be off even earlier,

I mention that only because your timing is tight. The ship gets back at 7am but on a normal day they won’t start letting people off the ship until 8 or 830am. If Customs, the Coast Guard or Immigration hold the ship for a full inspection, you might not get off until Noon. That rarely happens but it does happen so it’s wise to check your airlines flight schedule to see when later flights in the day are in case you miss yours. Armed with complete flight information you can call your airline from the ship, explain your situation and arrange to be on a later flight out if needed. It probably won’t be. You’ll probably get off and get to the airport in plenty of time but you’re wise to be thinking about this now. You can maximize your chances of getting from the ship to the departure gate for your flight on time by doing a few things will help:

Check-in and print boarding information/cards for your flights the night before. You can do this online in the ships Internet Café. It’s a good idea to do this as far ahead as the airline will let you because sometimes (often enough to mention) the unattended printer in the Internet Café is either out of paper or having stubborn technology issues. 

If you are setting out your luggage the night before to be claimed on the morning of disembarkation, grab a porter when you get to the warehouse to help you with your luggage. They will help you find it and expedite leaving the terminal as there is a special line for guests with porters handling their luggage that is way shorter. You just have to identify your luggage, point it out the the porter and they will take it from there. Tip $1-$2 per bag. 

Take a cab to the airport. You do NOT want to take the cruise line transfers, they are way too slow and could blow the whole plan 

Check your luggage at curbside with a generous tip, say $20. I’ve never lost luggage and I think that is why. 

Bring liquids with you. When you leave your cabin, regardless of which way you go, bring bottled water. You may not have a chance to stop for some until you are in the departure lounge at the airport. 

Variables you can’t control so don’t worry about it:

What time you actually walk off the ship. There is just so much you can do. Customs ultimately decides when the process begins 

Traffic between the pier and the airport. Finding a cab is easy, there will be a whole line of them waiting after you claim your luggage and make it out of the terminal. 

If you get caught in a traffic jam that’s going to make you miss your flight just be glad you thought ahead and have back-up flight information so you can talk to the airline intelligently about what your options are.