Patters Ruby B2B 2/1 - 2/9

Here are the Patters from my recent B2B on Ruby. The first leg was 5 days and the second leg was 4 days. Also attached is disembarkation info.

I hope this helps with your planning.

Patter Ruby 2014-02-01.pdf

Patter Ruby 2014-02-02.pdf

Patter Ruby 2014-02-03.pdf

Patter Ruby 2014-02-04.pdf

Patter Ruby 2014-02-05.pdf

Patter Ruby 2014-02-06.pdf

Patter Ruby 2014-02-07.pdf

Patter Ruby 2014-02-08.pdf

Patter Ruby 2014-02-09.pdf

Patter Ruby Other Info.pdf

Thank you! We are doing a 5-nighter on the Ruby in a couple of weeks and this will come in very handy.

My pleasure. I find viewing recent Patters (and Compasses for Royal) to be very helpful in cruise plannng. Unfortunately they don't seem to be posted often. I'm glad they will be helpful.

Enjoy your cruise!

A million thanks! Now I can have an idea as to how to plan my nights.

Thanks for sharing. I'm going on her in 50 days!

Thank you Nanny & Rdh.

I'm not sure where your interests lie, but a couple of things to point out that may help your planning.

Cafe Caribe's hours were more limited than my 7 day sailing on CB last year. Several times they weren't open at night. Also, one night each cruise segment they hosted a special dining event called Crab Shack that carried a $20 up charge. I seem to recall on CB they were open most nights with different themes every night. So if you like to dine in the cafe instead of the MDR in the evening, you'll have to adjust. Although the buffet was still very good.

On each cruise segment they held a deck party at night (Ultimate Deck Party & Latin Fiesta). It seemed that the rest of the entertainment options on the ship were scaled back to funnel people to the deck parties. For example, MUTS played only concerts and the live bands played less.

These two things stood as being different from my last standard 7 day cruise. Of course, Princess' scheduling of events is still a bit screwy (two entertainers even commented on it), but that seems to be fleetwide.

Hope that helps. Enjoy your cruise!

Thanks for the info, we're doing the same cruise in April, except its the 4 day and then the 5. Its our first B2B, so we weren't 100% sure what to expect. I'm looking forward to getting off, just to turn around and get onboard again. :p

what type of food is on menu for crab shack.

thanks and enjoyed your review

Thank you Nanny & Rdh.

 

I'm not sure where your interests lie, but a couple of things to point out that may help your planning.

 

Cafe Caribe's hours were more limited than my 7 day sailing on CB last year. Several times they weren't open at night. Also, one night each cruise segment they hosted a special dining event called Crab Shack that carried a $20 up charge. I seem to recall on CB they were open most nights with different themes every night. So if you like to dine in the cafe instead of the MDR in the evening, you'll have to adjust. Although the buffet was still very good.

 

On each cruise segment they held a deck party at night (Ultimate Deck Party & Latin Fiesta). It seemed that the rest of the entertainment options on the ship were scaled back to funnel people to the deck parties. For example, MUTS played only concerts and the live bands played less.

 

These two things stood as being different from my last standard 7 day cruise. Of course, Princess' scheduling of events is still a bit screwy (two entertainers even commented on it), but that seems to be fleetwide.

 

Hope that helps. Enjoy your cruise!

Fawn,

We had over 800 B2B passengers doing turn around on my two segments. I thought turnaround was very efficient. I waited 5 min. in the assembly area (dining room), then it took 5 minutes to walk to and pass through customs (you just hold up your passport and walk through. The line continuously moved). Then it was a 35 minute wait in the embarkation waiting room (I was told 3 passengers were late in leaving the ship so we had to wait while they were located. It's unfortunate those 3 people held up over 800 for half an hour). Then it was 10 min. to re-board including taking a new picture for the cruise card. The whole thing took 55 minutes. If the 3 passengers didn't delay getting off the ship, it would have been completed in under 30 minutes. Also, you can skip muster on the second segment and go anywhere on ship, but services shut down during muster.

Also, If you bring wine on board, I'll share a lesson from my experience with the wine table on my B2B. The policy says one bottle per person per cabin per voyage. I travelled solo, so that means one bottle for segment 1 and one bottle for segment 2. (My B2B was booked as two separate cruises with two separate voyage numbers. I know some people booked the whole 9 day cruise as one trip. Not sure how the wine policy works in that situation.)

Went through the security scanners, they noticed my 2 bottles and directed me to the wine table. 10 people ahead of me with 2 attendants working. By the way, the attendants were cruise staff not port personnel. About 8 minutes later I'm declaring my wine to an attendant, who happens to be a bartender on the ship. First he tried to tell me that only one bottle was allowed in total. I had printed the policy and calmly explained 1 per person per cabin per voyage and showed him my two voayage numbers and the policy. He then agreed but said one bottle had to be held and it would be delivered to my cabin the night before the end of the first segment. I tried to argue the point. Logic didn't work. So I asked for a receipt, which he provided as a handwritten note.

Todays Lesson: if they hold a bottle, get a receipt that indicates the type of wine, # of bottles held, and the name of the attendant.

Why? Because no wine was delivered to my cabin. Had to go to passenger services 3 times to resolve. And I needed the receipt. Also, in between trips to passenger services, I found the bartender who initially gave me the receipt and asked him about it. It was out of his hands the moment we left port. He told me the food and beverage department is responsible. They finally ackowledged they lost it so I requested an equivalent from their stock and they promptly delivered it.

Nuke,

I didn't attend or view the menu but the Patter says "Experience our seafood extravaganza and enjoy our Chef's delicious steamers and pots. $20 per person cover. Reservation recommended."

Perhaps someone who has attended can share more info.

Thank you for posting these. I noticed on the five night portion there was one Formal night, while the four night voyage had one "dress to impress" evening. Yet I could not see any guidance printed in the Patters as to what the suggested dress for each night consisted of, nor the customary "we kindly request" compliance with the formal night in the MDR. Were you given any official word as to what "dress to impress" means for Princess--or was the general feeling that of the "optional/or not" dress code found on the more mainstream lines?

Thank you Fishy.

You are correct. The 5 night had one formal. On this trip it was Superbowl Sunday, so I think a lot of people skipped the MDR and dressing up in order to watch the game. The 4 night had 1 "dress to impress" night. No other dress code guidance was provided. At least none that I noticed. For the men, there was a mix of some tuxes, some suits, some sport coats with open collars, and plenty of normal resort casual you typically wear on non-formal nights. Women dressed similarly.

I do think it truly is optional. My take is dress the way you like (while maintaining normal minimum MDR standards). My sense of how it was viewed by people was if you like to dress up, do it and enjoy yourself. If not, it's perfectly fine.

Just a quick question, after taking a look at the patters that you posted, did not see anything about The Chefs Table ? was it not offered ?

We are on The Ruby for the short 9 day cruise in a few weeks.

John, Laura and Gaby

Seattle,Wa.

Go Hawks.

John,

Congratulations on your superbowl ROMP.

You know, I did Chef's Table last year so I wasn't looking for it and didn't notice it was missing until you said something. I wonder if the Crab Shack was a replacement. My fuzzy memory seems to recall that there may have been a notice with all of the extra "ads" you get with the Patter, but I'm afraid I don't recall. Sorry I can't be more help. If you're interested, I suggest calling Princes directly and inquiring about you're specific cruise.

Enjoy your cruise!

Since Crab Shack has piqued our curiosity, click here for the menu and a pic.

On the new Royal and Regal, Crab Shack is in a dedicated area of the Horizon Court that is otherwise closed when Crab Shack is not being served. Princess announced last year that it would be added to Grand, Golden, Star, Island and Coral Princess; looks like they are doing a "soft opening" on the Grand-plus ships; so far reported on the Crown and Ruby.

Thanks Fishy. I wasn't aware Crab Shack existed on the Royal/Regal. You may be right about the soft opening. I wonder if it was limited to just Ruby, or if other ships are experimenting. I didn't notice how well attended it was.

Since Crab Shack has piqued our curiosity, click here for the menu and a pic.

 

On the new Royal and Regal, Crab Shack is in a dedicated area of the Horizon Court that is otherwise closed when Crab Shack is not being served. Princess announced last year that it would be added to Grand, Golden, Star, Island and Coral Princess; looks like they are doing a "soft opening" on the Grand-plus ships; so far reported on the Crown and Ruby.

The menu is different from the above on the Ruby. It is very similar but different. I wish that I had taken a picture of it since it featured king crab. We were onboard and dined there the first evening it was offered.

Mike:)