Ruby Princess - Nov 11 - cruise completed!!

[pegbert]

I was trying to upload some pictures from our trip on the Ruby this past Nov 11th, but to no avail ( I will keep trying! )

 

In the meanwhile, if anyone has any questions regarding this particular ship / intinerary, please feel free to ask!

[alreadypacked]

How did you like the cruise?

 

We are going on this ship next week. Did you go to any of the specialty restaurants? If so, how did you like them?

 

Thanks and welcome back.:)

[pegbert]

How did you like the cruise?

 

We are going on this ship next week. Did you go to any of the specialty restaurants? If so, how did you like them?

 

Thanks and welcome back.:)

 

 

Lucky you! It's only been a week, but it feels like it's been months since we were on the ship :(

 

The ship is beautiful, and the crew were fantastic. Embarkation, port calls, and disembarkation were all extremely well organized and easy. We had rain at the two beach stops (Princess Cays and Grand Turk), but the showers came and went quickly. If the weather is bad in Grand Turk, I advise you to take cash on shore with you.... when the storm went through, it took out all the credit card machines!!

 

On St. Thomas, we took a "group taxi" thingy to Blackbeard's castle, and walked our way back into town. We were going to take a cab to Meagan's Bay for some beach time, but the taxi driver suggested Emerald Bay, which is just around the corner from where the cruise ship docks. Unlike Meagan's Bay, where there is an entry fee, Emerald Bay is free. There is a hotel there, with a nice beach bar/restaurant. We had lunch, a few drinks, a swim in the sea, some shell hunting, etc... all for $4 per person each way, and about 5 minutes from port!

 

Regarding the specialty restaurants: I had read on this board that one has to book as soon as you're on the ship and in your cabin. They were not kidding! We unpacked, went up on deck for the sail away, and THEN I remembered to called for the Crown Grill. Well, guess what? All booked up until Saturday!! We did take a 7:30 seating for Saturday, but ended up cancelling it (various reasons, including needing to pack up and have our bags ready by 7:30pm). So I can't comment on these restaurants, sorry.

 

Other than little nitpicky things (bunk beds on the walls, hard mattresses, bad coffee, etc), the only real issue we had was with the volume of the MUTS that ran all day long. We had hoped for a relaxing vacation, with quiet, unwinding time at the pool during the day. I have given my opinion of MUTS in another thread, so I don't want to repeat myself here. But we found that the constant blaring volume on the sun decks (MUTS, and bands trying to play over MUTS!) prevented us from enjoying the cruise the way we had hoped. If you are used to having a TV on 24/7, then you'll be fine. If you like a more peaceful environment, then you might have to hunt around a little to find the right place for you.

 

Happy and safe travels!!

[Magellan321]

What night was the second formal night?

[Northwestvp]

Any chance you could attach them or ?:D

[pegbert]

What night was the second formal night?

 

It was either Thursday or Friday..... I'm thinking Thursday, but I can't be sure.

[pegbert]

Any chance you could attach them or ?:D

 

I'm sorry, we didn't save any of them. Now that I know they are of interest to others, I will make a mental note to save them all, if we ever go again!

 

But speaking of the Patter..... something we didn't notice until the very end of the cruise - they list an "in room movie", which replays throughout the day. One evening we were just feeling blah, and ended up laying in bed channel surfing. We came upon this excellent Richard Gere movie that we had never seen. Lo and behold, the next day we saw the "In Room Movie" listing, so I pulled out the Patter from the previous day and the movie was saw WAS listed! We just didn't even think of in room movies on a cruise. So have a look.... you might just find something good! :)

[SHIPMEOUT]

Formal nights were on Tuesday and Thursday.

 

The shops in Grand Turk lost a ton of business when the credit card machines when out after the rain storm. My friend had over $1400 in jewelery waiting to be purchased and the clerks tried everything to get through...even using their own cell phones. My friend finally walked away.

 

Visit Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville bar/restaurant/pool in Grand Turk. We had a great time there.

 

The Ruby is a fabulous ship. We were there on our conference and had a wonderful time.

 

Enjoy

Cindy :)

[alreadypacked]

Lucky you! It's only been a week, but it feels like it's been months since we were on the ship :(

 

The ship is beautiful, and the crew were fantastic. Embarkation, port calls, and disembarkation were all extremely well organized and easy. We had rain at the two beach stops (Princess Cays and Grand Turk), but the showers came and went quickly. If the weather is bad in Grand Turk, I advise you to take cash on shore with you.... when the storm went through, it took out all the credit card machines!!

 

On St. Thomas, we took a "group taxi" thingy to Blackbeard's castle, and walked our way back into town. We were going to take a cab to Meagan's Bay for some beach time, but the taxi driver suggested Emerald Bay, which is just around the corner from where the cruise ship docks. Unlike Meagan's Bay, where there is an entry fee, Emerald Bay is free. There is a hotel there, with a nice beach bar/restaurant. We had lunch, a few drinks, a swim in the sea, some shell hunting, etc... all for $4 per person each way, and about 5 minutes from port!

 

Regarding the specialty restaurants: I had read on this board that one has to book as soon as you're on the ship and in your cabin. They were not kidding! We unpacked, went up on deck for the sail away, and THEN I remembered to called for the Crown Grill. Well, guess what? All booked up until Saturday!! We did take a 7:30 seating for Saturday, but ended up cancelling it (various reasons, including needing to pack up and have our bags ready by 7:30pm). So I can't comment on these restaurants, sorry.

 

Other than little nitpicky things (bunk beds on the walls, hard mattresses, bad coffee, etc), the only real issue we had was with the volume of the MUTS that ran all day long. We had hoped for a relaxing vacation, with quiet, unwinding time at the pool during the day. I have given my opinion of MUTS in another thread, so I don't want to repeat myself here. But we found that the constant blaring volume on the sun decks (MUTS, and bands trying to play over MUTS!) prevented us from enjoying the cruise the way we had hoped. If you are used to having a TV on 24/7, then you'll be fine. If you like a more peaceful environment, then you might have to hunt around a little to find the right place for you.

 

Happy and safe travels!!

 

Thanks so much for the report and the heads-up regarding the specialty restaurants!:)

 

I'm not a big fan of the big-screen-tv's on ships either, so I hear you on that--have had enough of them on Carnival.

 

The hard mattress reports from several posters definitely give me pause. I have a bad back & sleep on a memory foam mattress at home. I cruised Princess 8 years ago, but my back was ok then. I had some trouble in 2011 on NCL with their rock-hard mattress.

 

Anyway, looking forward to the cruise and thanks again!

[pegbert]

The hard mattress reports from several posters definitely give me pause. I have a bad back & sleep on a memory foam mattress at home. I cruised Princess 8 years ago, but my back was ok then. I had some trouble in 2011 on NCL with their rock-hard mattress.

 

The mattresses were definitely on the firm side. Our bed at home has a 3" latex foam topper, and I really REALLY missed it (hip bursitis)! I took the advice of others on this board, asking our room steward for an egg crate foam topper the first time we saw him upon boarding. He said he wasn't sure if there were any available, but would check for me. Well, he added "something" to the bed.... not sure if it was foam, because it felt more like a futon pad! But it was OK - just much firmer than I'm used to. Next time I would probably play it safe, and buy an inexpensive foam pad to take with me, even if I had to leave it behind. On the opposite end of the spectrum, DH put his back out on the flight down to FLL and was in agony for much of the cruise.... and he found the hard mattress to be a godsend! So it just depends on your preference.

 

I'm still trying to figure out how to upload the cabin / bed photos - sigh.... !

[caribill]

The shops in Grand Turk lost a ton of business when the credit card machines when out after the rain storm. My friend had over $1400 in jewelery waiting to be purchased and the clerks tried everything to get through...even using their own cell phones. My friend finally walked away.

 

 

We were once on an Aruba stop when most of the electricity on the island went out in early afternoon.

 

The store we were at was able to take cash and lost any credit card sales. Most shops just closed down. The ability to just run an imprint of a credit card apparently does not exist or maybe they are unwilling to take a charge without the bank verifying it is legit.