Not live from the Ruby Princess 17th - 22nd December

Or Cabo and back... Working our way to Elite...

So a five day pre-Christmas jaunt to Cabo San Lucas was just what the doctor ordered. This despite the fact Cabo has to be our last favourite port of call on the entire Mexican Riviera. Let's face it, the place is auténtico as Hearst Castle. But this week was the only time we could both get off, we'd managed to snap a real good deal on an obstructed view and to be honest, there's never really a wrong time or place to cruise...

Our cabin was E415 and as we discovered, it really isn't obstructed. However it is close to the central elevator exits, although we slept really well and weren’t ever disturbed.

Driving - or more accurately crawling - to the Port of Los Angeles and San Pedro, we were once again to reflect upon the futility and not particularly smart use of our tax dollars that the scheme to widening of the 405 was, before finally after what seemed an eternity we finally came upon the welcoming site of the Ruby looming large over San Pedro.

Check-in was a breeze. Within about 40 minutes of parking up and politely declining the shuttle buses - it's OK, we'll walk - we were dropping off our bags in our cabin and grabbing a light snack in the Horizon Court for lunch. Because we were rather later arriving that planned, I feared that HC would be heaving. I was pleasantly surprised…

We dutifully collected our life-jackets and headed down for the mandatory safety drill and corporate pitch. It may have been due to recent events but I swore I heard the announcement that there were 40 million reasons why Princess were proud of their commitment to the environment...

Anyway t'was a little fresh as we sailed from San Pedro (it was after all December and even in Southern California you may need to carry a long-sleeve jumper) and so we made a bee-line for the Piazza, grabbing a quiet table and got down to some serious relaxing... iPad? Check. Headphones, Book? Sorted... It was then that we noticed the queue for the dining room. It was as if everyone who'd selected anytime dining had flown in from the East Coast that morning...

As we weren't particularly hungry, we chilled until it was time to head-off to the Princess Theatre to catch the evening's comedy show. I realise humour is subjective, but having been bought up on the cutting, slightly sarcastic and ultimately dark humour of British stand-up, I find US comedy can be a little bit aneamic. However things started brightly though, some pointed observations, an incisive put down of a heckler obviously intent on getting their money's worth from the AIBP package. After that though it was hard gruel, until the set thankfully - abruptly - ended. I would say in mid-joke, but by now these were in short-supply.

And so to dinner. With nothing grabbing us in the MDR we headed up to HC… So one of the many threads on the Princess forum is - and to paraphrase - the food is nowhere near as good as it was... I'd have to say that our last cruise (in August, on the Regal for an 11-day Baltic), the food - both in terms of quality and choice - was the best we'd ever had. Here? While not quite rating "Meh", the choice was decidedly average. Uninspiring is probably an apt description, especially with items making repeated guest appearances. Is this proof-positive that standards have dropped or is the food on a shorter jaunts somewhat restricted? Will quality pick-up on Ruby's Xma$ and New Year$ cruises? Is it all down to the executive chef and galley staff? Will normal service be resumed? I don’t know, but we paid for another future cruise deposit, so I guess we'll find out later…

But enough negativity. One of the advantages of the Ruby is the welcoming sight of the Explorers Lounge and the entertainment that takes place there. (Note to Princess management - dump Princess Live and bring back the Explorers on Regal and Royal.) We had a laugh with the movie trivia - which is what it is all about. We also saw this cruise’s second comedian. This was more like it - not bad, if the truth be told - as we enjoyed his set of short, snappy jokes, witty observations and some comedy musical numbers (a witty parody of The Trogg's "Wild Thing" involving the effects of prune juice, for one). We made a note to check out Gary DeLena's theatre show...

Sunday morning. Perhaps not as early as we had planned - that's a comfortable bed and the gentle rocking motion of the ocean for you - but early enough that breakfast was indeed breakfast and not brunch. Let's just say we were fashionably late. Again no queues and SWMBO was quite content to tuck into poached fruit. Me? There seems to be a core of cruisers who appear to have somewhat limited tolerance of their fellow passengers from Asia. However, without them my opportunities to partake of a comforting bowl of congee would be severely diminished (another note to Princess management - I managed to snaffle some chilli flakes, but can we have some Asian pickles to accompany this on our next cruise?) It’s always amusing to clock the horrified look of fellow cruisers as they think someone is about to add chicken, chilli and scallions to their ‘oatmeal.’

Sea day equals lazy day. Did I mention books and iPad? Another dinner of somewhat tepid choice was soon forgotten as we headed back to the Explorers Lounge and some more fun and games. I have to say that our cruise director, Angela Kristensen and her staff have to be amongst the best we'd sailed with. Bold, brash - but never in your face - and all laced with that wicked undercurrent of British humour.

Monday. Poached fruit and congee consumed for breakfast as Cabo loomed ever closer... But not before a word from our captain that was guaranteed to grab our attention... "Noro!!!” There'll be a thread somewhere bemoaning that someone, somewhere (on our ship, I suspect) had the temerity to bring the plague onboard. Chances are that our poor unfortunate carrier probably didn't known they were infected when they embarked. Perhaps it as one of the hundreds of kids onboard? Then again, we were all too readily reminded that some of our fellow (adult) passengers did appear to have skipped those personal hygiene life-lessons...

With two other ships in port, you begin to suspect the reason we were to overnight in Cabo was that with the tender process taking so long, some passengers were still trying to get off as we returned much later that night. A slight exaggeration perhaps, but we were regaled by some horror stories of passengers with four figure tender tickets not getting off 'til nearly 4 pm. We made sure we were far lower in the draw...

Tendered ashore (and yes my fellow passengers - when they say that the authorities state no food can be taken ashore, that most certainly includes any fruit...) we avoided the touts and tourist traps and headed over to the Puerto Paraíso Mall. Not for shopping or to visit Cinemex, but to grab a local Ruta Del Desierto bus and head over to San José del Cabo. 37 pesos and 40 minutes later we were walking towards downtown San José (just get off at Walmart or the following stop… You can't go wrong.) I wouldn't go as far as to say that San José is muy tipico, but it's a lot more laid back and less in your face than its brasher neighbour. It's still touristy, instead of tacky souvenir shops and Diamonds International, it’s more famed for its art walk and silversmiths. Indeed there's some quality artwork and silver jewellery to be picked up here at a more than reasonable price (and further discounts to be had if negotiating with efectivio...) There's also some great reasonably priced eateries as we discovered. SWMBO was persuaded to partake of a margarita as yours truly settled down with a glass or two of Cazadores reposado and a bottle of Squirt. Add ice to a tall glass (salt optional) and relax. Is there a more refreshing long drink known to this man? Throw in fish tacos, corn tortillas, a killer fresh salsa with just the requisite 'kick' and I was as happy as a pig in... well, you know. It finally felt like we were in El País Lindo...

The local buses run frequently until quite late, so we finally retraced our steps, only having to wait for a few minutes before jumping onto a bus back to the bright, brash, lights of Cabo. We killed some time there before taking a tender back to the ship - thankfully the queue wasn't too bad. After freshening up (I love the smell of DEET in the evening air) and with scallops on offer, the MDR was our next port of call. Small and not many would be the best description, while the mahi-mahi was a little tougher than expected ('moist' was not an adjective I'd use). When the best tasting food on the menu was dessert, Santa Clarita you may have a problem... We headed over to the theatre to see "Bad Moms", rated-R for some pleasantly refreshing 'adult' language and 'situations' and enjoyed a good chuckle. Before turning in, we headed up on deck and took some lingering views of Cabo all lit-up, the red and blue flashing lights of the Policia Municipal patrols punctuating the neon glow... What do you mean that's not a romantic vista?

Tuesday and up bright and early to take a tender and spend a few hours ashore. Eschewing the marina, we headed into El Centro, quaffed some quality joe at Cabo Coffee, taking advantage of the free wifi to catch up with the world at large, before generally mooching around (is that a bar I spy? Yes I can be as hypocritical as the next man - but when in Mexico, Tequila and margaritas are de rigour) before heading back to the ship, where after the obligatory "can passenger so-and-so make yourself known to passenger services as we're leaving without you", we waved goodbye to Cabo and set sail for Los Angeles.

Tuesday afternoon was spent relaxing on the Lido deck. We grabbed a table out of the breeze, plugged in headphones and whiled away the afternoon, punctuated only by a late lunch and a 'no, I don't mind if I do have a scone or two' (with the full accoutrements, naturally...), before grabbing a light dinner in the buffet and heading off to the Explorers for the "Marriage Game" quiz. This has to be our favourite show - it never fails to provide quality car-crash entertainment. I can only imagine that the couples who sign-up have never either never cruised with Princess before or are total exhibitionists! However, top marks and well-played to our winners - the first time I can remember that a couple has scored 100%... Shame some of those kids will be scarred for life, while I'll never be able to look at a driveway in the same light again... We rounded off the evening with comedian Gary DeLena's amusing set in the theatre, where despite arriving late, there were still plenty of seats to be had. In hindsight, this seemed to be a recurring theme in most of the venues on this cruise - even the professional seat reservers were spoilt for choice.

The trouble with a short cruise is that it ends far too soon. Wednesday was our second sea day as we headed through murky skies, but thankfully calm seas (SWMBO can get seasick on a boating lake) back to LA. This basically meant I finished off the 400-odd page autobiography I'd consumed (God-like guitar genius Johnny Marr's if you're interested), but not before we'd detoured via Guest Services to change our disembarkation time... Due to the noro' outbreak Ruby was booked in for a thorough hose-down at San Pedro and self-disembark were getting kicked-out bright and early... Hitting the LA traffic during the morning commute was not part of our plans, but rescheduling was fairly painless (I suspect that as long as you get off, Princess are more than happy) and so we hunkered down in a quiet spot on the Lido for some quality R&R...

Now one of the things you discover with cruising is that days and dates tend to merge into one. However, I'm pretty certain that el Día de Los Muertos isn't just before Christmas, but hey, go with the (themed) flow... Then again I had a severe attack of deja-vu again when I checked the lunchtime menu in HC... Still I'm always up for a dal (again) and so made the most of my curry experience.

Now for us a cruise isn’t a cruise without seeing at least one of the production shows in the theatre and we decided to catch the early performance of "Colors of the World.” I have to say that on every cruise we’ve taken the singers and dancers have always been top-notch and this show was no exception. Despite a lengthy delay mid-show caused by a faulty stage lift (I had visions of a dancer or two disappearing down the hole), the ensemble didn’t miss a beat, even if they did return to a half-empty theatre (second sitting hunger pangs won I guess…) It’s a great show. If you get an opportunity to see it, take it. We took another late dinner - again in HC - and perhaps our best meal. SWMBO went for the turkey and trimmings, my calamari was just au-point… And then there was the bread and butter pudding… Heaven.

But all good things come to an end and so it was back to our state room to pack before we caught a movie on TV (although we both agreed that we’ve been spoilt by the on-demand movies on Regal) and called it a day…

Thursday and welcome home! It was raining cats and dogs and for a moment I could have been forgiven to think that we’d docked in Dover or Southampton rather than LA… The palm trees are a giveaway though. After a leisurely breakfast we disembarked around 9:15 and got back to our car about 10:00. A quick check of Google Maps and the red veins of the LA road system confirmed that Californians really can’t drive in rain, and so we decided to take the PCH, cutting through the beach cities, under LAX and around Santa Monica. Finally as we drove through Malibu Canyon the clouds lifted and we emerged into bright sunshine. As Bethany Cosentino remarks, this is the only place to be…

Now where to cruise next?

Enjoyed your review on Ruby. Is the terrace pool an adult only? Any smoking areas near it? Non-smoker. Going in February. Hope noro doesn't return.

I share your preference for Explorer Lounge over Princess Live. From the bar, you can watch the trivia games and performers.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise on the Ruby.

Appreciate the feedback.

Good review. We were on this cruise as well. We had late traditional seating, which was a bit late for us. But we heard complaints from others onboard about the waits for anytime dining, so we made the right choice I guess.

Agree about the food which was okay. Not really outstanding but not bad either. Some dishes are better than others. I thought the selection of food in the HC buffet and the quality in the MDR were not quite as good as on some previous cruises (like our last cruise, which was a Baltic cruise on the Crown Princess in 2015).

I'd agree that the CD was top notch. We also thought that the entertainment had been stepped up a notch in terms of the variety of options and the production values like costumes, sets, effects, etc. Thankfully they weren't trotting out Piano Man anymore. And there seemed to be less reliance on stuff where passengers basically entertain themselves like Princess Live. We are not usually ones to go to deck parties but we happened to catch the disco deck party after sailaway from Cabo and it was quite fun and well done with a combination of video on the MUTS screen and dancing by the Princess dancers and some entertainment staff.

We bought future cruise deposits for all 4 family members so obviously we had a good enough time to come back for more.

I'm convinced that when they finally (?) finish widening the 405, they'll decide it's too wide and start narrowing it. :) Didn't it win for "most crowded" road on earth or something? Maybe that was the 10.

Anyway, glad you had a good time. I'm tempted to do one of those Cabo turnarounds, and your suggestions about leaving the local area are interesting. Cabo is boring after you've been there a few times. (IMO.)