Ruby Princess Trans Atlantic review April/May 2009

:)Well, finally everything is unpacked, washed, dried and put away! So I thought it was about time I did my review of our Transatlantic and Mediterranean trip on the Ruby Princess.:D

Hotel: We stayed overnight at the Intercontinental West Miami (same as last year when we took the Emerald). Good hotel. If you need any last minute items (in my case a suitcase that had been damaged on the flight!) there is a 24hr Wal-Mart about 20 minutes walk away to the left when you leave the hotel (cab fare approx $4) also a number of good restaurants.

Embarkation: Very quick, the whole process from getting into the Cruise terminal to the ship was less than 10 minutes.

Ship: Very beautiful, as we had already been on the Emerald it was good to have an idea of where everything was. The staff are fantastic and so friendly – you could tell that they were a strong team (perhaps as many of them had all started together?)

Cabin: A502 nice cabin on the Portside with Balcony (will never do an inside room again, so have been spoilt!) We had the best Cabin Steward we have ever had – Richie.

No Laundry bag deal on this cruise but used the Laundry Service and Laundry room a few times.

$1.50 each for the washer (25 mins) and drier (40-45 mins) only one iron worked but not a problem for me as I didn’t have to wait. Slight flooding problem when both washers were on which was going to be repaired.

Dining: We did Anytime Dining which we really prefer and thanks to all the advice I got on here I had a word with the Head Waiter, Godwin (who was on the Emerald last year) and he was very helpful about getting us a suitable table (my DH has hearing problems so we needed a nice “quiet” table for two) and looked after us the whole cruise.

Thanks Godwin! Our Wait staff were brilliant Lilliana, from Mexico (so sorry I can’t remember the name of her Assistant, but thanks!)

Sabatini’s – Great, we enjoyed it last time so booked it again. Beautiful room on the aft with excellent food and service. (as usual!) Didn’t find that there was too much food so either the portions are smaller or I had prepared well by not eating anything since breakfast!

Good place to sit outside of on a windy day, nice and sheltered and not many people seem to go there.

Crown Grill – Don’t know why I’d never tried this before but enjoyed it so much we went back again on our last night!

My DH tried the famous Black and Blue soup as he loves French Onion and I had heard such good things about it here. Although nice he found it a bit salty.

International Café: Heard a lot about this on these boards so tried a few times. A good selection of pastries and the cookies were good. A small selection of sandwiches and 3 bowls of salad each day ( chicken mayo, shrimp and Greek) The only thing you had to pay for was the gelato ($1.50) which I tried as people raved about it here but I found the ice cream a bit “chemical” tasting.

At Sea: Had a great crossing – I was worried about the weather but you were all so helpful (and right!) no rain and for some days the Sea was as calm as a Millpond. A couple of slightly rougher days but not enough to make me feel sick (am not a natural Sailor!) and I quite missed that nice rocking sensation in bed when the Sea was calmer!

Sanctuary: I booked for the whole crossing – I so enjoyed it on the Emerald but got sick of having to get up at 6.30am to stand in the queue and vowed then that I would take advantage of the whole Cruise package next time!

I was panicky that I wouldn’t get in and went there even before I went to our Cabin.

(You go to the Sanctuary itself, not the Spa) But needn’t have worried as I think there were only two of us who booked for the entire cruise and never saw more than 6 people in there the whole time. Maybe it was the Weather?

Our Sanctuary Stewards were fantastic – Panitan and Surisat. I’m sure they can read minds! Whenever my glass needed filling up or I began to wonder if my sun bed should be moved ….they were there! They really made the experience special for us.

Muts: Why did I miss out on this on the Emerald!? (So many other things to do on an evening…?) A wonderful experience. Wrapped up in a blanket watching a good film with a Strawberry Margarita and bag of popcorn!

Entertainment: We aren’t really “Show” fans so only saw one show which was Ok – other people who were in our group went to all of them and said they were the best they’d seen.

We loved the Explorers Lounge and the Comedy nights…..we laughed so much that we cried

Also loved the Band “Vitalize” and went each night whenever we saw they were on.

Ports:

Madeira – very pretty. A 20min walk into town or a Princess shuttle for $5 .We did the open top Red bus tour www.city-sightseeing.com

Cadiz- A lovely place, much more than I expected, did open top Red Bus tour again. Good shopping!

Gibraltar – Ok, queues to get back on ship at 12.45am so guess that sums it up!

Cagliari – Sardinia is a very beautiful Island, lovely views from the top of the city and the Cathedral is well worth a visit, good shops! (a free shuttle – not Princess, from the ship to the main road)

Rome – got the Princess bus in as it was May Day – huge crowds of people (glad we didn’t use the train, one of out Trivia team did and it took over 3 hours and was hectic due to the volume of people going to the big open air concert in Rome) toured St Peters (knew that the Sistine Chapel would be closed thanks to these boards – it was closed last time I went to Rome in ’83 so a good excuse to go back!)And then did the Red bus tour again.

Florence – my favourite, very busy though so will go back out of season. Red Bus tour again. (although the City is so compact, next time

I’ll walk)Huge queues for the Duomo and Uffizi. Great shops

Monte Carlo – Didn’t get ashore due to winds and swell (tenders) must have been strange rumours going around as Captain Yeomans had to make an announcement to “quash” then and sounded, although professional annoyed.

Was pleased to get home and see my dog , Molly (thinking of you Shogun) but now I’m back am so missing cruising…what do you all do to console yourselves whilst waiting for the next one?

Well, I think that’s about it, have brought back all my Patters so if you have any questions, ask away!

Molly's Mum,

Thanks for posting this wonderful review. We did the Emerald TA last year and enjoyed it very much. Your review brought back welcomed memories.

Gibraltar – Ok' date=' queues to get back on ship at 12.45am so guess that sums it up![/font']

Heh, heh, this sounds like when I cruised there, 15 years ago. We overnighted and I think everyone on the ship went out to sample the pubs that evening and there were giggly passengers staggering home all throughout the wee hours. Isn't Gibraltar supposed to have 365 pubs -- anyway, that was the rumour we heard. Our tablemates decided to see how many we could make it to in the one night . . . No, I don't remember how many we got to. If I never see another beer, it'll be too soon . . . !

Thanks for your review; it sounds like a wonderful cruise. I wish the academic calendar wasn't so inflexible -- I'd love to do one of Princess's trans-Atlantics. Maybe someday...

Greetings from Sunny Southern California..we arrived home from Barcelona late Thursday evening. Thank you for posting your revue. It was a wonderful cruise and I too miss those special days at sea and also playing Trivia. We also had anytime dining in DaVinci and you are correct Godwin was wonderful..remembers names and greets you with a smile when entering the dining room. Feliciano was very attentive in that dining room too. One evening he asked me if there was anything special I would like to have and I told him lamb chops..so the next evening when we sat down at our table our waiter Francois with assistant Danny (great team) told me that I would be having the lamb chops..great treat and oh so yummy. I do have one comment though.. the Princess people who schedule cruises on TA's need to be more aware of is the conflict of events like May Day in Europe..a holiday that does not change on their calendar so Princess planners should schedule important ports (ie: Rome, Florence) on days without holidays. There were many disappointed people on the cruise who could not get to visit places that were closed or because it was a weekend. We were lucky to have made contact with other CC posters and went on private tours away from Rome and Florence on that weekend but we still encountered many closed venues and stores. Would take another TA cruise in a heartbeat..maybe next year to the Baltics..here's keeping fingers and toes crossed for that!!!

Hugs Sam to you and Joan,

Anita

:)Hi Anitia

So good to hear from you!

Doing the Trivia was one of the highlights of my cruise....but still keeping my head down about it.....;)

You are right about the scheduling....we were ok as we had advance warning (thanks everyone!) but soooo many places were closed! (and not just in Rome) many people were disappointed....

Thanks for a great review. We love Godwin, first met him on the Coral and then saw him again on our last cruise on the Ruby.

Great review, thanks.

Also great to hear Godwin is still onboard!! :D

Thanks for the review!!

:)Hi Anitia

 

 

Doing the Trivia was one of the highlights of my cruise....but still keeping my head down about it.....;).

Just wondered why you are keeping your head down ???? Did you win many times ????

Just wondered why you are keeping your head down ???? Did you win many times ????

Yes, as a team we won many times. Came home with fun trinkets..key chains, luggage tag,

coffee mug, Ruby Princess cap, Ruby Princess shot glass, fridge magnets, to name a few. Asst. cruise director Natalie always made comments when we won. Because we had so many sea days, 6 in a row , teams stayed together once they were formed. It was fun for us needless to say..a fun and great mix of players(Brits, Scots, and Americans)..and the questions were truly "trivial".

Hi Ania, et al,

It was good fun and I thought (as the rest of us!) Trivial :eek:

Never really did this before.....but really enjoyed it!

Good fun......am new, so probably missing something...but do some people really take this "seriously?"

Would love to hear other peoples trivia stories........!! x

Agreed about the scheduling of the ports! Some (major) sites being closed were not a major issue to us (I've been to the Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel), but definitely understand the frustration of those who had planned to see sights that were closed. To us the worst part was the crowds in Rome and Florence. The crowds were horrible and at times it was difficult to navigate near popular sights (including much pushing and shoving). I had been to both locations at the height of the summer tourist season and had encountered only a small fraction of the crowds we encountered in Rome and Florence on this trip.