Ruby Princess November 11, 2012 Trip Report with Pictures

[blazerjan]

okay....now I NEED the Pandora Cruise charm.......... that will be on my "need to buy" list for our cruise.:D

[Cupcrazy]

 

 

 

 

 

[Cupcrazy]

 

 

 

 

Once back on the ship we went up to the Lido deck for a snack as we didn't have lunch. I had a cheeseburger and hot dog from the grill and a vanilla milkshake with whipped cream. My one & only time eating at the grill. The burger was good. They were setting up for the Ultimate Deck Party.

 

 

[Cupcrazy]

After eating I took a walk to look out of the dolphin nose of the ship. On my last Princess cruise I didn't know you could go there. To get there you need to go to the Promenade Deck (deck 7) and go outside either on the Port or Starboard side. You will then need to walk forward and as you get towards the front of the ship there will be a staircase. Go up the stairs and you're in the dolphin nose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Cupcrazy]

Some pictures out of the nose

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the Piazza was "The Pan Music of Trevor Cole"

 

[Cupcrazy]

The ship set sail just after 6. There were 4 people seen running down the pier just as the lines were being pulled in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[spingal]

The ship set sail just after 6. There were 4 people seen running down the pier just as the lines were being pulled in.

 

Did they make it??

 

Love your pictures and review!!

[Cupcrazy]

Did they make it??

 

Love your pictures and review!!

 

Fortunately for them, they did make it onboard. I missed them coming down the pier as I was inside the cabin at the time. When I went back on the balcony the person on the balcony below told me.

 

Nathaniel

[tere247]

You are correct. Princess does not do towel animals, but sometimes some of the cabin stewards know how and will do them if requested.

 

Although towel animals are not a Princess feature, sometimes they do offer a demonstration of how to make them.

 

Just got off the Ruby today and was surprised to find towel animals in our cabin on Thursday and Friday nights. We had an elephant and a dog.

[lovevacadays]

Love the "Dolphin nose" area on Promenade deck. Great view!:)

 

I cannot imagine why people risk not making it back to the ship in time but it does seem to happen time and time again.:eek:

[Cupcrazy]

In all the cruises we've been on, none of us had ever eaten at a specialty restaurant. When we stepped onboard Sunday, one of the first things we did was call to book Crown Grill for Wednesday night's dinner. We were able to secure a reservation for 7pm. The cost of dinner is $25 per person. Caleigh was free (she didn’t eat anything anyway). Crown Grill is located on the Promeade Deck (Deck 7 Starboard, aft). We always go to the MDR for dinner but this trip we decided to try the Crown Grill. We were not disappointed. I ordered a bottle of wine, Riesling Piesporter. The bottle was $27, which is the same as in the MDR. The food was incredible, the best I’ve ever had on a cruise. Instead of being prepared ahead of time like the MDR, everything in the Crown Grill is prepared to order. The dinner is set up the same way as in the MDR where you can order whatever you want off the menu and however much you want. For appetizers I had Seared Pacific Scallops with Smoky Bacon Crisps on a Truffled Potato Confit. I also had the Lobster Cake. Both were FANtastic. Other apps ordered around the table were the Black & Blue Onion Soup (French Onion), Shrimp & Pancetta Bisque and Black Tiger Prawns. As an in between apps & entree, Dave & I both ordered the Prince Edward Mussel Pot. This had to be the biggest pot of mussels I’ve ever had. As an entrée I had the Rib-Eye (14 ounces). It was the best steak I can remember eating in a loooong time. For side dishes they bring one of everything on the menu in little bowls that you pass around. Unless you don't want something or want more of something you can tell them and they'll be more than happy to meet that request. The baked potatoes were only brought to those of us who asked for one. For dessert we all had the The Crown Dependence, which is a sampling of the 5 desserts on the menu. Molten Dutch Chocolate Fudge Obsession (pretty much the same as the warm chocolate melting cake on Carnival), Wild Berry and Apple Cobbler, Lemon Meringue Pudding Tart, Seven Layer S’mores Stack and Caramel Cheesecake Parfait.

Overall the Crown Grill was an amazing experience. The food was more than a 10 out of 10. Our waiter Daniel was really good and pretty funny. I would definitely recommend this restaurant.

 

I tried taking a picture of the menu on display but I couldn't get a good shot through the glass. Thankfully the menu is online. >>CROWN GRILL MENU<<

 

 

 

 

Seared Pacific Scallops with Smoky Bacon Crisps on a Truffled Potato Confit

 

 

Lobster Cake

 

 

Caleigh enjoying her bread

 

[Cupcrazy]

Prince Edward Mussel Pot (It was HUGE)

 

 

 

14 ounce Rib-Eye

 

 

The Crown Dependence - From L - R

Molten Dutch Chocolate Fudge Obsession (pretty much the same as the warm chocolate melting cake on Carnival)

Caramel Cheesecake Parfait

Seven Layer S’mores Stack

Wild Berry and Apple Cobbler

Lemon Meringue Pudding Tart

 

[BugsyCruiser]

Love the review so far. I was on Ruby sailing the same itinerary back in April, had a great time. Love the photos from Crown Grill. I agree that it's a great restaurant and the food was fantastic!

[Cupcrazy]

After dinner we walked to the Piazza where the jewellery store was having a sale on Invicta watches. Aaron, Dave & I each bought one. Dave exchanged his later in the week for a Marc by Marc Jacobs watch. I bought an automatic which cost me $165. That's very inexpensive for an automatic watch. Normally they are close to and well over $1000. The watch was too big on me so the store had to take off 3 links. They had it done by 11:30 that night. The 2 people working in the store were amazing! Extremely helpful and because we were in there a few times over the cruise they knew us by name and called us "The Gold Group". I wish I remember their names now. I submitted comment cards for both of them though.

 

While we were looking at watches "Dixieland Jazz with the Ruby Princess Orchestra" were performing in the Piazza.

 

We then went to the back of Explorers Lounge to play cards. As we were playing the resident bad "Volume" was on stage.

 

Other things going on tonight...

7:15pm & 9pm - Magician & Illusionist David Cats in the Princess Theatre

7pm - Movies Under the Stars: The Hunger Games at Calypso Pool

7:30pm - Adult Karaoke Power Hour in Club Fusion

8:30pm - Blankety Blank Game Show in Club Fusion

9:30pm - Ultimate Deck Party at Neptune's Reef Pool

10:30pm - Late Night Movie: Arbitage in the Princess Theatre

 

 

 

 

[Cupcrazy]

The ship docked at 7am. That's WAY too early for me to get up to watch us pull in. We docked at Crown Bay. I've now been to St. Thomas 4 times and every other time we docked at Havensight Pier. There are more stores at Havensight than Crown Bay.

 

After doing some research on Cruise Critic and talking to a few crew members, it seemed that Emerald Beach was the beach to go to. Every other time in St. Thomas we had gone shopping and only once had we gone to the beach. We went to the Marriott at Frenchman's Cove which was nice but nothing special. Nobody needed any jewellery this time and nobody wanted to go shopping. Once again Felicia and I were the only ones who wanted to go to the beach. Everyone else stayed back on the ship. While on the ship they went to watch "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" which was playing in Explorers Lounge at 1:15pm.

 

 

 

 

 

Carnival Valor was docked at Havensight Pier. You can see the Whale Tail

 

 

[Cupcrazy]

 

 

 

 

[Cupcrazy]

Felicia & I got off the ship at 10:30am. We walked over to the taxi area and because we got off the ship late there was nobody else waiting for one. We got an open-air taxi just the 2 of us and asked the driver to take us to Emerald Beach. The taxi fare was $4 per person. All taxi fares are regulated in St. Thomas so you won’t get ripped off. The drive was about 5 minutes. The taxi dropped us off at the Best Western Emerald Beach Resort.

Once there, you walk along a small path between the resort's buildings to get to the beach. When we walked onto the beach there was someone there to greet us and take us to get some beach chairs. We got 2 loungers under a palapa umbrella for $20. If you want just a lounger it was $7. If you don't want anything there is no charge. The beach was beautiful and the sand was soft & white. Along the beach there were 2 bars that you could get drinks and/or food. We didn't go to either of them. When going into the water there were a few small stones but it really wasn't a lot. Water shoes are not needed.

 

While on the beach we started talking to a couple people who worked on the ship and were enjoying a day off. I don't remember their names. She kept referring to him as "my friend" but you could tell they were a couple. She is from Chile and worked in the Botticelli Dining Room, he is from Peru and works the overnight shift at the International Cafe. They didn't get chairs and asked us if they could leave their bags under our umbrella. We said no problem.

 

 

 

I forgot to take a picture of the taxi. This is one of the open-air taxis in St. Thomas. (picture taken from Google)

 

 

 

[Cupcrazy]

 

 

 

 

 

[Cupcrazy]

 

 

 

 

[caribill]

Go up the stairs and you're in the dolphin nose.

 

 

Actually, it was designed to look like the mouth of a whale. And the original Skywalkers at the end of a "shopping cart handle" was designed to represent a whale's tail.

[Cupcrazy]

 

 

At 2:45 we packed up our stuff and walked to the front of the resort to catch a taxi. There were a few taxis waiting there. We took one back to the ship and again the fare was $4 per person. Once back at the port we checked out a few of the stores in the area. There are a couple jewellery stores and a bunch of souvenir shops. We got back on the ship just before 3:30.

 

 

 

 

[Cupcrazy]

 

 

 

 

Our cabins were the 3 right in the middle with the doors between balconies open

 

[Cupcrazy]

When we got back on the ship we headed up to the buffet because we didn't eat while on the island. We were looking for seats and saw the rest of our group, so we sat with them. There wasn't a lot to choose from in the buffet at that time but just enough. As we were eating the ship pushed away from the pier. While sailing out of the bay there was a boat up on the shore on its side.

 

As we were walking past the Calypso Pool on our way to the buffet there was a Beyonce concert on MUTS

 

 

 

 

[Cupcrazy]

 

 

 

Dirty Dancing was on MUTS

[Cupcrazy]

Aaron and I then went up to play basketball on Star Deck (deck 19 aft). Why is deck 19 called Star and 17 called sports? All the sports are on 19, Basketball/volleyball/tennis court, mini golf & the jogging track. There aren't any sports on 17. Table Tennis is on 16. Deck 17 houses The Sanctuary and all the youth programs.

 

 

 

As we were playing 2 mechanics or engineers ran past us and climbed up into one of the satellite domes.