Ruby Princess photo review Jan 13 to 20,2013

[Jasperdo]

Excellent review with wonderful photos. Thanks for sharing your experience.

[Ruxin]

Thank you for such an enjoyable review! We are headed on our 2nd cruise with Princess this April on the Ruby. Your review and pictures have quadrupled our excitement.

 

I say yes, please do a review of the Diamond. I'm eager to hear and see why it's your favorite ship. I'm sure it will convince us our next cruise should be to Alaska!

[blazerjan]

Amazing review!! Worth the wait .... !! Loved your pictures !

[MGnut]

I have loved following along on this great photo review. We did 30 days on the Ruby in '09 for a Med cruise followed by a TA to FFL. Loved the Ruby.

 

Might I ask you to come back to this thread when you begin posting your next cruise review? Then those of us following/subscribed to this thread will be alerted that you are back online with another great review. :)

 

Howard

[Feebarn]

Definitely do your Diamond review! I'm loving all the pictures. You haven't missed a thing and I find all the little details you have photographed just what I want to see! :)

[greenie082756]

Thanks so much for taking the time and effort to post your review of your cruise. The photos were wonderful as well as your descriptions. I am looking forward to your videos! Wonderful!:)

[Mozo9]

Really enjoyed your photo review. Informative and amusing.

 

Many thanks.

[winncruiser]

Thank you so much Norris for your fabulous review! Couldn't wait to continue reading with every new post.

 

I will be on the Ruby in two weeks with my husband, sister and brother-in-law. Both men smoke. Thank you for pointing out the areas on deck that still allow smoking, but is there anywhere inside where they can smoke? On the Caribbean Princess there was a smoking bar but I don't think they have one on the Ruby, or do they?

[SeaGeg]

Thank you for the really great review! It has made me more excited for my vacation next week! Do you remember who the Art Director was? Thanks again!

[Working 2 Cruise]

Thank you so much Norris for your fabulous review! Couldn't wait to continue reading with every new post.

 

I will be on the Ruby in two weeks with my husband, sister and brother-in-law. Both men smoke. Thank you for pointing out the areas on deck that still allow smoking, but is there anywhere inside where they can smoke? On the Caribbean Princess there was a smoking bar but I don't think they have one on the Ruby, or do they?

 

There is a cigar bar... You can also smoke in the casino.

[princessscubamom]

please..........

[Bimmer09]

The Ruby does indeed have an indoor smoking room-an adjunct of the Casino (where there is also a smoking area but some non-smoking nights) but I didn't use it at all on this voyage. It is comfortable, sure- but (wait for it...) pales in comparison to the Diamond! Of the four ships I have been on the Diamond has the only smoking room which has a full bar-in the room!! So you can have a drink and a cigarette/cigar and sit and talk in big comfy sofas. There are half a dozen big flat-screen tvs on the wall (sports usually) too.

 

On the Ruby the Trident bar is the best. Maybe 10 tables, most in the open air and drinks close at hand.

 

Norris, considerate smoker who will walk a mile if that's what it takes to find a quiet place to smoke without offending.

[Bimmer09]

Really enjoyed your photo review. Informative and amusing.

 

Many thanks.

 

Well I am happy to be both informative and amusing. Kind of you.

 

The amusing comes from my (late) father who had a very dry Brit (Northern Ireland) sense of humor,even though he had a tough job as captain of a cargo ship (no Champagne fountains there) and the informative comes from the fact that everyone who resides on the Princess board is here to help everyone else and I am no different in that regard. We can all learn so much here.

 

I hope to start the Diamond review on Wednesday. There is already a 9,000 word review on CC (the boards, not member reviews) but no photos. The new review will be photo heavy and excursion/port heavy. Vancouver-Ketchikan-Juneau-Skagway-Glacier Bay-College Fjord-Anchorage. Wildlife-whales, eagles and bears (and I can testify they do s**t in the woods) Food pics?-indeed.

Diamond Princess and other ships...Radiance of the Seas, Norwegian Pearl and Jewel, Statendam, Maasdam and Seven Seas Navigator.

 

To anyone thinking of cruising Alaska on Princess, I hope the review will push you over the edge. Been there, done that-and will do it again and again.

 

I have really appreciated the feedback on the Ruby review. My thanks to everyone who has taken the time to click the reply button. My next Ruby review will be port-heavy....Venice, Istanbul, Corfu,Dubrovnik, Mykonos and Athens. After that there will be the Royal Princess ( E. Caribbean) January 12,2014.

 

Hope to see you soon as we head to Vancouver to join the Diamond Princess!

 

Diamond in Skagway

 



 

 

[Born4Travel]

Thank you for such a wonderful review. I am headed out in less than a month on the Ruby with 16 family members. I loved seeing all the photos and your narrative. I really do love the cc boards. I have found so many great tips.

I loved the Alaska cruise. I hope you enjoy your trip. (try Harv n Marv if you get a chance!) Bon Voyage.

[dizlove]

would love to read any review you write... like a good book... I couldnt stop reading and am craving MORE!

 

I noticed that you did not talk about the santuary visits except one day. DId you visit everyday, since you booked the week long pass?

Were the pictures on the ship tour included in the tour price?

Was that Crab tart as good as it looked?

[winncruiser]

Norris, The Caribbean Princess has a bar called Churchill's that allowed smoking, or at least it did the last time I was onboard...so yes, a full service bar/cozy/big screen tvs...sounds like something you may enjoy!

[perfect match]

Norris, I have thoroughly enjoyed your Ruby Princess review! Thank you so very much for taking the time to share it with us! We don't get to sail on the Ruby until April 14, and after reading your review I'm even more excited about it than I was when I booked our cruise - if that's even possible!

 

I am very much looking forward to reading your Alaska review, so I'm thrilled you've decided to write it. I'm trying to convince my husband that we NEED to cruise Alaska, so I'm going to be sure he reads it, too. :D If that doesn't convince him, I don't know what will! :eek:

 

Once again, thanks very much for sharing your review with us!

 

Nancy

Edited February 26, 2013 by perfect match

[Tedmeister]

Norris - Bravo Zulu. Without a doubt the best cruise review I have ever read. I've sailed on the Sun, Coral & Grand and we are booked for the 26 night crossing in April FLL to Venice on the Ruby. Your review makes me feel like I am already aboard. Thanks so much for sharing your insight, experience and especially your wit. Wonderful review - Happy sailing!

 

Sent from my AT100 using Tapatalk 2

[Bimmer09]

would love to read any review you write... like a good book... I couldnt stop reading and am craving MORE!

 

I noticed that you did not talk about the santuary visits except one day. DId you visit everyday, since you booked the week long pass?

Were the pictures on the ship tour included in the tour price?

Was that Crab tart as good as it looked?

 

I spent some time in the Sanctuary each day-sea days maybe an hour or two and in port maybe half an hour- Carol spent twice or thrice as much time up there with her Kindle and napping. I would pop in and out to go have a cigarette and a beer- I don't drink unless I can smoke which explains why I left half of my free minibar beer behind when I left the ship. Exception is at dinner when I have wine and the meal is over within 90 minutes (usually less).

We like having the Sanctuary as an option-even had it in Alaska (Coral) when it drizzled for 5 days and we were the only two people there. It's there to escape crowds and noise and if you wish-to not lift a finger. The stewards are always offering things to eat or drink and you get pampered. It's a luxury touch and we don't mind paying for it as we only have time for two weeks vacation a year and that is also why we book suites. 50 weeks of work-then the reward.

Our first suite (Crown) was a free upgrade (after only one cruise) but Princess

got us hooked like they knew we would and we have no complaints. There are a lot of perks that come with suites but really the best one is the space,the double bathroom and the 18 x 9ft balconies on the aft suites.

 

The "weak" photos of the UST are free and they gave us a couple of nice frames too and robes and I already have a couple of chef's jackets. Personalized ship's notepaper too. It's all icing on the cake. The tour is worth the spend to me as I love ships of all sizes: tankers, container ships, tugs, bulk carriers, naval vessels...you name it. Diamond Tour photos will be better.

 

Yes the crab tart was delicious!

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

I hope this works...I have uploaded a 1 minute clip of the Ruby sailing away and leaving me on the rocks at PE Jan 20.

If this works I will be able to add video to my Diamond review, either embedded or with a link to a URL

 

 

The dazzling blemishes on the early shots are water droplets from a wave that had just splashed me.

 

Fingers crossed. I will also work on finding out how to have a smaller movie open up on the text page to avoid following the link-but I think Alaska (bears,whales,ships etc) will look better on the fullscreen youtube offers.

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

Hmm..not the hyperlink I was hoping for. I'll go to the test forum and work this out.

 

Norris

[Bimmer09]

 

Here goes...

[Bimmer09]

Ok it worked although it only allows me to choose 720p playback even though the camcorder records in 1080p. It's a step in the right direction though.

 

It opens up possibilities...especially where excursions are concerned. Not so much on the Diamond cruise where we toned the excursions down a bit and yet saw bears, whales, reindeer and eagles but when we were on the Coral in Aug 2011 we landed on a glacier in a helicopter, rode the White Pass and Yukon railway and took a float plane over Misty Fjords...so those amazing trips may appear in a CC post of the future and who doesn't like video of the Coral?

 

That's for the future but now I have to go back in time to the Diamond Princess

and sift through a deluge of photos.

 

Bye for now,

 

Norris

[Tickled2Trvl]

 

Here goes...

 

Let me add my thanks to you for sharing your most excellent cruise...we love the Ruby but our next cruise will hopefully be the Coral. I enjoyed your photos and commentary very much. This video was just the perfect end.

[Bimmer09]

<<On the Ruby the Trident bar is the best. Maybe 10 tables, most in the open air and drinks close at hand.>>

 

I wrote that a few posts ago and there is no Trident bar on the Ruby so don't waste your time looking for it.

 

I meant Tradewinds, above the Neptune Pool.

 

Norris