kaczkagirl

What fountain drinks do they have on-board? Coke or Pepsi, Root Beer, Ginger Ale etc?

I called Princess today; we have the 2016 Sip and Sail for our Cruise this November; they stated that we are under the old AIBP rules. This will be on the Grand November 13-28, 2017....

Thank you! We are on the Ruby 11/4 to 11/11.

I understand the change applies to sip and sail promotions for 2017, but what if you did the sip and sail LAST June for a cruise this November. Does it still apply then? That was over a year ago and that was not the package. It specifically states Sip and Sail 2017 promotions.

How would I find out? Does anyone know?

Thanks!

Thank you for your help!!

135 days til my next cruise up the Pacific Coast!! I have never been on the Ruby Princess before and have a question. Our cabin will be B405. Is this a covered balcony? We have been on the Crown, which I think is in the same class as the Ruby and had a covered balcony. Anyone possibly have any side photos of the ship to show the balconies? Thanks!

Originally Posted by biker@sea

You CAN change it back here= http://boards.cruisecritic.com/profi...do=editoptions

Towards the bottom of the page ( forum skin )

I can't change it at all!!! The option is grayed out at use forum default.

Not liking this at all. Very hard on the eyes.:mad:

Does this include Gratuities or are you still charged for them per drink?

A few years ago, we took the land/cruise tour with Princess. We chose the land portion first which I am very glad we did!!! The land tour is pretty constant go, go go so we were very pleased to finish the land tour so we could just relax on the cruise and enjoy the views.

But each to his/her own!

Per Fodor's Travel:

The terms “cruise ship” and “ocean liner” are often used interchangeably. However, while both are types of passenger ships, there is a difference.

An ocean liner is a ship designed to transport passengers from point A to point B. The classic example of such a voyage would be a transatlantic crossing from Europe to America. Because a ship could encounter any type of weather on such a voyage, an ocean liner must be built strongly, using a great deal of steel in the hull. Their bows are long and tapered to allow them to cut through the waves. They have a deep draft in order to be more stable. In addition, in order to make the voyage within a reasonable time, they are built so as to be able to go fast.

Classic examples of ocean liners are the SS United States, the Normandie and the Queen Elizabeth 2. The only ship built as an ocean liner in recent years is Cunard’s Queen Mary 2.

Cruise ships are built for the purpose of taking passengers on a journey that begins and ends in the same port. A classic example of such a voyage is a Caribbean cruise that begins and ends in Miami, Florida.

When the modern cruise industry first started to emerge, most cruise ships were ocean liners that had been retired from the transatlantic run because that market had been lost to the jet airliner. Indeed, Carnival Cruise Lines first ship the Mardi Gras was the former ocean liner Empress of Canada. NCL’s Norway was the former France. Holland America’s Rotterdam was built as an ocean liner.

In the early1970s, ship designers began to realize that a ship did not have to be built like an ocean liner in order to do such a voyage. Because the weather was likely to be sunny and fine, the ship did not have to be built as strongly as an ocean liner. This would result in savings in building the ship and in running it. Since the waves would not be as high, the bow could be shorter and wider. As a result, the ship’s shape could be more box-like thereby enabling it to carry more passengers. Because the sea conditions would be less severe, the draft could be reduced. This would allow the ships to dock in more ports. Finally, since such cruises would be leisurely voyages, the ships did not need to be built to go fast. This would produce fuel cost savings.

Such considerations led the cruise lines to depart from the classic ocean liner design and build ships that were different from what had gone before. The stereotypical cruise ship of the last part of the 20th Century was blunt-bowed, box-like and slow. It also used more glass and aluminum and less steel in its structure.

In recent years, however, the distinction is starting to blur. Cruising is no longer limited to the calm waters of the Caribbean and the Mediterranean. Consequently, cruise ships have to be able to handle much more difficult conditions. Thus, cruise ships are taking on ocean liner characteristics, becoming stronger, faster and more hydrodynamic. Indeed, Royal Caribbean’s Radiance-class ships and NCL’s Jewel-class ships can achieve speeds that rival

It looks like Plumeria.

That's why Disneyland no longer allows those in wheelchairs to the front of the line. Too many dishonest people were abusing this and therefore ruined

it for those who truly are disabled.

Tasteless, unappetizing and not exciting as respects the food and not at all entertaining for the "entertainment".

Blah food - I could have just closed my eyes and put my finger on the menu and gotten just as good of a choice.

I've taken many 3 & 4 day cruises & I felt this one they just sort of gave up on. The regular Princess events were not there, ie afternoon tea, pub lunch, alternative comedy show in a smaller venue. I found the buffet to be quite underwhelming also.

Superbowl did not make it any better. I have never seen disembarkation as bad as it was. And so many kids under 10! Possibly could have been because the price of this went way down so a different element is sailing.

I agree! It seems that they gave up, were very shorthanded or this was a training cruise as the service was not at all up to Princess standard.

Lack of servers in the aft pool area as well as the assistance in the MDR not seeming to know what he was to do. He was so busy trying to sell us drinks from the bar that it took 3 requests and 45 minutes later to finally receive my ice tea.

Also when we are in Ensenada, there were so many seagulls on the aft of the ship and as seagulls, do, they made nasty messes on the lounge chairs as well as the bar stools and the bar top surrounding the pool. It took OVER 12 hours for these mess to be cleaned.

I also missed the afternoon tea. It was not in the Patters.

Our room steward was excellent as was our MDR waiter (not the assistance). Overall, it felt that the staff was tired and didn't really care. It seems they were just going through the most minimal of motions to do the job.

I have been on the Crown other times and loved it so when this cruise came up I was happy to book on the Crown. Not this time.

Food was blah, entertainment, other than Magic to do, was blah.

Last year we flew from Los Angeles to Vancouver on the day of the cruise on a flight arranged by Princess. We were delayed an hour and 35 minutes leaving due to mechanical problems. When we arrived in Vancouver, we had almost 45 minutes in line for immigration. We then had the Princess transfer to the ship. We arrived at 3:20 for a 4:00 departure.

Because most of the people on this flight were on the cruise, Princess held the ship for us and we departed st 5:00. Still this was too close for my taste. Next time I will arrive the day before so as not to have a problem.

When my daughter was around 13, ( she is now 26) we went on a 3 day Carnival cruise to Ensenada. We had gotten off the ship to see the sites and had just gotten back on and in the elevator, when I heard "HOLD THE ELEVATOR!!!" I did and on walked 5 young men and one young lady, all so drunk, they could barely stand. Once the elevator doors closed, one of the men, dropped his pants - he was commando and all of his friends started laughing. My daughter was shocked and looked to me. I said to her, "That's ok honey. He is just showing us his shortcomings". His friends then went totally out of control ribbing him. He then said to me, " That's not nice". I said, "What would not be nice is if I were to report you to security as what you did was a crime. The doors opened and my daughter and I got off , while his friends were still giving him a bad time.:D

Thanks you for the complements (from everybody). It took a lot of time, but every minute of it was fun for me. Check the site once in a while, I am planning on adding some better photos. I am going to try to take some pictures of the Island this week when it returns to Los Angeles (I live nearby). I will make a posting here when I add the new pictures.

Reminder: to see the site go to:

http://mysite.verizon.net/res76zxu/princessbalconies/

Why is this link locked to me? Is there a trick to getting it to open