Ruby Princess Jun 11-23 Grand Mediterranean review/tips with pictures

[Jd820]

I did this cruise in May 18th to June 1st. I agree with everything you said about this cruise. What really made it better was the private tours I took in Italy with lukethedriver.com. Fantastic & my favorite.

[mommasaurus]

As others have noted before, Princess takes your passports on the second day in preparation for sailing to Turkey. Your room steward will collect them and you won’t get it back until about Naples, so be sure to have a photocopy with you and another form of photo ID.

 

 

I will be cruising on the Ruby in three weeks, and was not aware that they take your passports. Did you need to present the photocopy when boarding the ship at each port then? My parents just cruised the Med on Celebrity and they were told to take their passports with them everyday.

[AttilaTheFun]

Thanks! I will try to get more information from Princess. I'm guessing you didn't notice any free Princess shuttles when you were there? What about the People Mover - is that fairly close to 117?

 

I had initially assumed that the Alilaguna stop would be right by where we dock so I'm glad I found out ahead of time that it's not :)

 

Also, both the Alilaguna & Vaporetto come to the same area?

 

And..this maybe a dumb question but are the 'ACTV Water buses' you mentioned the same thing as Vaporetto??

 

For EMbarkation, Princess ran free shuttles from the luggage drop-off to 117 terminal. However, I don't think they will for DISembarkation because 1) the shuttles aren't big enough to hold luggage and 2) they have no reason to transport you to the luggage drop-off when you're leaving the ship. Definitely check with Princess though.

 

The People Mover is about a 10 minute walk from the 117 cruise terminal, not bad.

 

There's a lot of confusion when people use the term "vaporetto" so I always try to refer to either ACTV, which is a "water bus" that is run by the city of Venice vs. Alilaguna, which is a privately run water shuttle. They run completely different routes and have different ticket structures, so research both to see which fits your needs better. Alilaguna stops at the cruise port (refer to earlier posted map) while ACTV boats leave from Piazzale Roma, so you would need to use the People Mover to get there from the cruise port. Hope that helps - I know how confusing this all can be!

[AttilaTheFun]

We love seafood so I'll be sure to check out Trattoria alla Madonna during our post-cruise stay in Venice! Were most of the seafood dishes in the 10 euro range too? Sounds like a good deal for Venice (keep hearing about how overpriced the city is!).

 

The pasta dishes were all around the 10 euro range, but I can't remember what seafood entrees went for. I remember thinking that the prices were very reasonable. They had a lot of seafood dishes on display when you walked into the restaurant, so you could always see what looks good and ask from there.

 

The staff was also very kind - we discovered that we forgot our money pouch when the bill was presented, so I had to run to our hotel to get some cash while my sister sat at the table. 35 minutes later, I was back with money in hand and the staff had never once questioned why my sister was just chilling there. It was very embarrassing, so I appreciate that they didn't give us a hard time.

[Woobstr112G]

Wonderful review and fantastic pictures. Thanks for taking the time to allow us to virtually cruise along with you.....:):):)

Bob

[AttilaTheFun]

Attila, glad to see another review of Ruby on here. Your pictures are outstanding.

 

Disappointed to hear the the cruise activities onboard were so G rated. On my Caribbean cruise they seemed to be much more "risque" with what they did without getting too carried away and it made for a fun time. I was curious was Samantha the cruise director? She was on my cruise and she was a blast

 

Our Cruise Director was Ron Goodman. We had Lisa Ball on our Feb Crown Princess cruise and liked her much more and her Asst Cruise Director, Stu.

[AttilaTheFun]

As others have noted before, Princess takes your passports on the second day in preparation for sailing to Turkey. Your room steward will collect them and you won’t get it back until about Naples, so be sure to have a photocopy with you and another form of photo ID.

 

 

I will be cruising on the Ruby in three weeks, and was not aware that they take your passports. Did you need to present the photocopy when boarding the ship at each port then? My parents just cruised the Med on Celebrity and they were told to take their passports with them everyday.

 

At most ports, just your cruise card is fine for re-boarding the ship, but you should always carry another government-issued form of photo ID. Your Driver's License should be fine. Take a photocopy of your passport as well.

 

I know there are some that disagree, but the general consensus is to always leave your passport on the ship, locked up in the safe (unless Princess takes it from you already, of course!). This seems safer than potentially losing it to a pickpocket while in port. I don't recall Princess telling us to take our passports off with us at any of the ports, but I could be wrong.

[TorontoTL]

Great review thus far. I am hanging on to each and every word and getting hungry despite just having eaten dinner when looking at your photos of the food.

 

We'll be doing a Crown Princess Greek Isles Cruise in Oct and the information about Venice is a Godsend. Thanks for posting and I'll be reading whatever else you post in the future too.

[AttilaTheFun]

Kusadasi/Ephesus

 

Kusadasi was a half-day port, docking at 7am with all-aboard by 12:30pm. However the heat and walking from our Ephesus tour sure made it feel like a full-day excursion!

We joined another privately-organized tour from our roll call with Ekol Tours. There were 7 of us on the tour and the cost was $73 USD per person, payable in cash or by credit card. If you choose not to view the Terrace Houses, it’s $15 less, but I think they were worth it.

If I remember correctly, we actually docked earlier than scheduled, so our group was off the ship right around 7am and we met our driver and guide. As a group, we agreed to request no stops for leather or carpet stores as our time in port was already very limited. When the organizer told the guide this, he seemed a bit offended and put off. He asked a few times if we were sure (“Does anyone know what makes Turkish carpets special? No? And you don’t even want to see them being made?!”) which made for a bit of an uncomfortable start to the day, but he gave up pretty quickly and proceeded to tell us the history of Ephesus during the drive over. His English was a bit hard to understand, but I found myself understanding 90% by the end of the tour – you just have to listen a little more carefully. Overall, he was very nice and knowledgeable.

The ride wasn’t very long – maybe around 20 minutes – and once we arrived, our guide advised us to buy water from the vendors outside the Ephesus site.

After the group re-gathered at the entrance, we weren’t allowed to enter for some reason as they were only allowing cruise tour groups to enter, which upset a couple people on our tour. It was either that we couldn’t enter until 8am or 8:30am, but the cruise groups were allowed anyway, which was annoying. Double-check with your tour company of the real time you can enter – we could have slept in another half hour!

It seemed like we used the “backdoor” entrance of Ephesus, which was more of a downhill walk. The side that we exited had a much larger market with vendors and a free bathroom.

I don’t have many tips for Ephesus other than it’s probably best to join a tour – whether through the ship or privately – as the transportation to Ephesus seems difficult to organize on your own and it’s really worth having a guide explain to you what you’re seeing.

Ephesus is a very large site – our guide said it was the second-largest open-air museum in the world after Pompeii. We liked that some of the buildings were being restored so that you have a better idea of what they looked like, rather than just staring at a pile of rocks.

There were many interesting spots in Ephesus, including the public toilets, supposedly Nike swoosh-inspiring carving of Athena, Terrace Houses, Celsus Library, and a theater where the disciple Paul preached.

The Terrace Houses cost an extra $15 per person, but were very fascinating to see, although required a LOT of stair climbing! The Terrace Houses are being meticulously restored and the whole site is covered, which makes it a bit cooler than the rest of the grounds.

Definitely bring water and a hat to Ephesus and wear comfortable walking shoes. There is very little shade and our guide wasn’t very conscientious of trying to speak to the group in shady areas.

There are a ton of stray cats in Ephesus – we enjoyed seeing them relax among the ruins!

On the way back, the rest of the group members paid the tour price in cash, but my sister and I charged it to a credit card, which required a quick stop at the Ekol Travel offices. We appreciated being able to pay in USD and by credit card - no foreign transaction fees or exchange rates to worry about! We would recommend Ekol as the price was reasonable and the tour guide was good, but be firm about not wanting to stop at a carpet or leather store, even if they insist otherwise. We made it back to the ship around 11:30am and can’t imagine cutting the Ephesus tour short just to look at a carpet/leather demonstration.

After that, they dropped us off at the market just outside the Kusadasi. We found a store where they were very friendly and let us sample Turkish Delight. As we had heard it was customary to haggle and we were buying multiple items as gifts, we tried to haggle down the price a few euros and the shopkeeper’s wife literally rolled her eyes at us and muttered under her breath and proceeded to charge us the full price – so much for haggling! As soon as we were done, none of the staff would even make eye contact with us – so much for being friendly! The fresh Turkish Delight we bought was good, but we ate so much on the ship, we didn’t really need to buy more food. The boxed Turkish Delight I bought was a total rip-off – it looks nothing like the picture on the box and there’s about a 1.5 inch border around the whole inner tray, so there’s barely any candy in there. The candy that IS there was disgusting though – my co-workers politely took a bite and then walked away when I shared it with them. The flavor was like bubble gum even though it was supposed to be fruit-flavored. Blech - never again! Try the fresh stuff, but skip the boxed kind, unless you know a trustworthy brand.

There were also a ton of counterfeit good stores at the market near the port, but the shopkeepers don’t really leave you alone to browse. I was annoyed after a few minutes, but my sister checked out a couple stores and didn’t end up buying anything. This was foreshadowing of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul…

We spent the remainder of the day relaxing on the ship and enjoying our favorite event – afternoon tea! It was great having a half-day in port so that you don’t feel obliged to run around all day.

 

Here are some pictures from that day.

 

Lots of "Genuine Fake Watches" in Turkey...

 

 

 

Do you see a Nike swoosh shape in this carving?

 

 

 

Looking down the pathway towards the Celsus Library

 

 

 

Inside the Terrace Houses section

 

 

 

Celsus Library

 

[SSAA33]

For EMbarkation, Princess ran free shuttles from the luggage drop-off to 117 terminal. However, I don't think they will for DISembarkation because 1) the shuttles aren't big enough to hold luggage and 2) they have no reason to transport you to the luggage drop-off when you're leaving the ship. Definitely check with Princess though.

 

The People Mover is about a 10 minute walk from the 117 cruise terminal, not bad.

 

There's a lot of confusion when people use the term "vaporetto" so I always try to refer to either ACTV, which is a "water bus" that is run by the city of Venice vs. Alilaguna, which is a privately run water shuttle. They run completely different routes and have different ticket structures, so research both to see which fits your needs better. Alilaguna stops at the cruise port (refer to earlier posted map) while ACTV boats leave from Piazzale Roma, so you would need to use the People Mover to get there from the cruise port. Hope that helps - I know how confusing this all can be!

 

Thanks!!! Very helpful indeed :)

 

The reason the Alilaguna makes sense for us on disembark day is that our hotel (Hilton) is the next stop after the cruise port - so it'll be a 10 minute ride to the hotel. Plus the 10 min walk to get to the Alilaguna of course!

[SSAA33]

The pasta dishes were all around the 10 euro range, but I can't remember what seafood entrees went for. I remember thinking that the prices were very reasonable. They had a lot of seafood dishes on display when you walked into the restaurant, so you could always see what looks good and ask from there.

 

The staff was also very kind - we discovered that we forgot our money pouch when the bill was presented, so I had to run to our hotel to get some cash while my sister sat at the table. 35 minutes later, I was back with money in hand and the staff had never once questioned why my sister was just chilling there. It was very embarrassing, so I appreciate that they didn't give us a hard time.

 

Thanks! That sounds great! We'll need a few good restaurants since we'll be there for a few days post-cruise. This is definitely going on the list :)

[SSAA33]

With regards to being charged in USD on the credit card - I thought most credit cards charge foreign transaction fees (even if the charge is in USD) if the merchant is located overseas? I recently booked my flight with Turkish Airlines (confirmed I was being charged in USD to avoid the foreign trans fee) but still got the fee :( When I asked my cc company, they said it was based on where the merchant is located.

 

If I had known, I would've used my Capital One card that never charges foreign transaction fees (no annual fee either!).

[SSAA33]

ps. If you don't have a Capital One card yet, definitely look into it! It seems like you travel a lot so I'm sure it would be nice not worrying about the fees. All of Capital One's cards never charge a foreign trans fee.. I got their card only for overseas purchases. And there was $100 credit just for signing up & spending $500 in the first 3 months.

[caribill]

Kusadasi/Ephesus

 

It seemed like we used the “backdoor” entrance of Ephesus, which was more of a downhill walk. The side that we exited had a much larger market with vendors and a free bathroom.

 

 

 

That is the normal entrance and exit. Enter at one end and exit the other.

[Working 2 Cruise]

Fabulous review! Thank you so much!

[mckieclan]

Just returned from Ruby Princess - 23rd June sailing.

 

Our passports were not taken from us on the ship. In discussion with our tablemates at dinner one evening we all came to the conclusion it was only non Europeans that this applied to.

 

We disembarked in Venice. There was a 10-15 min walk to the water taxi stop but as our hotel was near St Marks Sq. this was definately the best way .(7 euros +3 euros per suitcase).

 

We also travelled to the airport by water taxi (14 euros incl 1 suitcase). Venice was really hot (36) but as the water taxi travelled in open waters it was so much cooler than the vaporettos which are hot and really packed with people. We were on the 14.25 and there were only about a dozen of us on it.

[AttilaTheFun]

Just returned from Ruby Princess - 23rd June sailing.

 

Our passports were not taken from us on the ship. In discussion with our tablemates at dinner one evening we all came to the conclusion it was only non Europeans that this applied to.

 

We disembarked in Venice. There was a 10-15 min walk to the water taxi stop but as our hotel was near St Marks Sq. this was definately the best way .(7 euros +3 euros per suitcase).

 

We also travelled to the airport by water taxi (14 euros incl 1 suitcase). Venice was really hot (36) but as the water taxi travelled in open waters it was so much cooler than the vaporettos which are hot and really packed with people. We were on the 14.25 and there were only about a dozen of us on it.

 

When you say "water taxi" do you mean the Alilaguna boats? Private water taxis in Venice are very expensive, so I assume you took Alilaguna, which is similar to the prices we paid, but were not charged for luggage at all.

[mckieclan]

Yes Alilaguna - I had heard they were called ferries but they actually called them taxis which made it more confusing.

 

From the port, the lady in front was asked if she had any luggage so I asked for the same as her. We got a separate 3 euro luggage ticket.

[nunuc2000]

Terrific review thus far!! For now I'm enjoying it purely for the entertainment and general feel, along with your lovely photos, but afterwards I'm going to re-read all of the info for details and advice on our upcoming cruise... it really is quite confusing and different compared to cruising in the Caribbean!! :D

[mckieclan]

Have just checked their website and we shouldn't have been charged for our luggage.

[AttilaTheFun]

Have just checked their website and we shouldn't have been charged for our luggage.

 

Yes, that's why I was surprised. I recommend purchasing Alilaguna tickets in advance online through the Venice Connected site because they sometimes offer a small discount on the ticket price.

[lovevacadays]

Thanks for your latest pics and review. I know what I want my 2014 cruise to be! I really want a cruise that includes Turkey, Greece and I would love to find one that might throw in Croatia.

[AttilaTheFun]

Terrific review thus far!! For now I'm enjoying it purely for the entertainment and general feel, along with your lovely photos, but afterwards I'm going to re-read all of the info for details and advice on our upcoming cruise... it really is quite confusing and different compared to cruising in the Caribbean!! :D

 

Thank you for the kind words! I agree that a Europe cruise is completely different from one in the Caribbean and can be a bit intimidating to plan, but it's a great experience you should try at least once!

[AttilaTheFun]

Thanks for your latest pics and review. I know what I want my 2014 cruise to be! I really want a cruise that includes Turkey, Greece and I would love to find one that might throw in Croatia.

 

Agreed on Croatia! I saw a picture of Dubrovnik in an email last year that was so beautiful that I'm now dreaming of a cruise that stops there!

[SSAA33]

Yes, that's why I was surprised. I recommend purchasing Alilaguna tickets in advance online through the Venice Connected site because they sometimes offer a small discount on the ticket price.

 

Even more reason for us to purchase it on Veniceconnected before leaving! Would hate to have to pay 3E per luggage item!

 

I thought I had read somewhere that luggage is included in the 15E Venice to Airport fair but only 1 piece is included in the 7E Cruise port to Venice fare. Probably incorrect info though

 

What about purchasing the tickets directly on the Alilaguna site? Looking up my dates on Veniceconnected there's no discount offered for the tickets. Would it better to just order from Alilaguna then?

 

Thanks!