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LIVE from the RUBY PRINCESS - DEC. 22ND - DEC. 26TH. Cr

Pia1913

By Pia1913,
in Princess Cruises

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Pia1913

Pia1913

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INTERNATIONAL CAFE FOOD UPDATE

But of course this is the Ruby, so who knows what's on other ships. As of today, Greek salad, shrimp salad and grilled veggies are here. As are the tuna sandwiches and chicken sandwiches. What tomorrow brings; who knows. The chicken salad however looks way too mayonaissey and seems to have more pineapple in it than chicken. Didn't taste it and don't plan to either.

As an aside, we won trivia again this morning. I know you were all holding your breath to find out. :D

Later.

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Wehwalt

Wehwalt

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Well of course the highlight of our cruise so far has been meeting Pia. She allowed us to join her trivia team, and we're having a blast.

 

I hope I will be allowed to audition next month. I'm good, the "C's" (most traveled couple on Princess) asked me to play with them!

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karena1

karena1

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Well of course the highlight of our cruise so far has been meeting Pia. She allowed us to join her trivia team, and we're having a blast.

 

We have second seating traditional dining. One of the biggest things is that they have relaxed the dress code--allowing men to wear shorts to dinner. It's not a big deal, but it reminds me of being on a Carnival cruise. At least the waiters aren't singing.

 

The food has been very good. Last night, as Pia mentioned, they called it "dressed to impress." One of the head waiters explained that a lot of passengers on the first of these short cruises complained about the lack of a formal night. I guess they had not read the Cruise Personalizer. I'd guess about 20 percent of the men in the dining room were dressed in a necktie, jacket, or both. But there were still men in shorts.

 

The champagne waterfall was good, with the servers circulating with plenty of champagne. The commodore greeted us personally as he passed by. I don't remember which ship we were on that was under his command. Sam thinks it was our second cruise on the Golden back in 2002.

 

The Oasis Pool is open. A couple of cruises ago it was closed the whole time with reports of green slime in it.

 

We had the ultimate balcony breakfast this morning. A friend of ours surprised us with it for our birthdays/wedding/anniversary/Christmas. She went overboard with other gifts to the cabin as well. The breakfast was a nice change of pace. We're saving the champagne and some of the pastries for later. Everything was tasty, but there's way too much food.

 

The great thing about the relaxed itinerary is that the ship has barely been moving. We also have a nice long time at Princess Cays--starting the tendering at 8 and last tender leaving at 4:30. We're planning on going over at lunchtime for a couple of hours. No need to rush.

 

Can someone check and see what time the gym opens? I will be on Ruby end of Jan and I want to be in the gym by 6 am. I know on Crown a few years ago it was opened that early. If you could check and let me know, I would appreciate it.

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lynwar

lynwar

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Geoherb,

We were on the Golden Oct. 11, 2002, and perhaps that's where we saw Capt. Romano the second time. The first one was the Sun Princess in Feb of 1998.

 

I was more into the desserts or a special coffee at the International Cafe. The salads never looked that good to me on the Ruby-or the Royal.

 

Good job on trivia. There was a Canadian group who kept winning when we were on the Royal. I finally got to sit with them on the final day. Lost by the tie-breaker. I love Trivia!

 

Lynne

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lynwar

lynwar

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Whoops---on the Golden in Oct of 2001, a month after 9/11. Lots of Security at that time at harbors, customs, etc.

I think Capt. Romano may have been on the Grand in 2002. It really doesn't matter. He's a great person.

 

Enjoy your cruise, Geoherb, Pia and friends.-----Lynne

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Colo Cruiser

Colo Cruiser

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INTERNATIONAL CAFE FOOD UPDATE

 

But of course this is the Ruby, so who knows what's on other ships. As of today, Greek salad, shrimp salad and grilled veggies are here. As are the tuna sandwiches and chicken sandwiches. What tomorrow brings; who knows. The chicken salad however looks way too mayonaissey and seems to have more pineapple in it than chicken. Didn't taste it and don't plan to either.

 

As an aside, we won trivia again this morning. I know you were all holding your breath to find out. :D

 

Later.

 

 

Merry Christmas you two!!

 

Enjoy!! :)

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tothemall&beyond

tothemall&beyond

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To the Mall: you chose to hilite what I posted and hour after boarding. Yes there are decorations elsewhere, but I never thought of adding to the initial mention of what I had seen. Give me a break, huh?

 

Hey Pia - I was not criticizing you at all. I really was just thinking you hadn't had a chance to look around much at that point. I thought Princess did a good job and they were very pretty, tasteful decorations this year.

 

We weren't sure what to expect of our 4-nt cruise on the 14th, but we had a really good time and even booked another 4-nighter for early January - the one that just does Princess Cays like yours. Such a "no-brainer", considering it all will get applied to our April TA.

 

Glad your trivia team is doing well. We, too, had good results. There were only four of us on our team: me, my hubbie, our 26 year old son and one other woman our age (late 50's), but we won 5 of the 7 trivias we played, one with a perfect score and one with 48/50. Anyone need some lanyards or magnetic clips?

 

BTW, I believe that you and I have a mutual friend down here in South FL: Alice. :)

 

Enjoy the rest of the cruise.

Edited by tothemall&beyond
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bronxgirl25

bronxgirl25

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<<Are the initials P.S. in your not too distant future? :p >>

 

not in my future anymore. It's now on my wrist!!

 

We've been having a lot of fun at trivia and it was great to meet Neil and Sam. I am more of a bystander with the others being better than me. I have contributed a bit though, a little bit. It sure is fun winning though :)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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GweninTX

GweninTX

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<<Are the initials P.S. in your not too distant future? :p >>

 

not in my future anymore. It's now on my wrist!!

 

We've been having a lot of fun at trivia and it was great to meet Neil and Sam. I am more of a bystander with the others being better than me. I have contributed a bit though, a little bit. It sure is fun winning though :)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

 

What pretty birthday bauble did you get? Miss getting emails - but glad you are having fun on your cruise!

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Pia1913

Pia1913

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Merry Christmas on this warm, sunny, Caribbean morning. Guess what! No snow in sight. Ship remains calm, though it did wiggle a bit late yesterday afternoon and into early evening.

　

Yesterday afternoon we again aced the trivia and for the second time that day received the keychain flashlights. We had given away the first set to the people who marked our papers and did it again the 2nd time. That team was a family with 2 teenage boys and they were so happy, it was as if they had won a jackpot. Made me feel good. Afterwards we joined in the singing of Christmas Carols in the Piazza.

We had a delicious, albeit lengthy dinner at Crown Grill and then off to the casino to make our donation. Surprise surprise; this time they donated to me. Returning to our cabin we found a small stocking filled with hard candies, chocolates and 2 candy canes. Nice.

　

So what’s happening today? Well for one thing the Patter doesn’t mention Santa, and I really need to see him. I am going to wear a special shirt I bought just for him and he really really needs to see it.

　

Other than the above, there will be a Catholic Mass in Club Fusion at 8:00 AM and also Interdenominational services in Explorer’s at 9. Also brunch, offering a cup of eggnog and roast turkey with all the trimmings. Doesn’t say where, but I anticipate in Café Caribe. Also this morning will be “Big” on MUTS and a culinary demo in the theater.

　

Afternoon has an ice carving demo, The movie“Jobs” in the theater, “Mr & Mrs. Smith” on MUTS and wine tasting which we are yet undecided whether or not to attend. Have to mention that even though we were #2 and there was no CC party, we still received the paperweight and a box of Godiva chocolates (sent to our cabin). I was really surprised.

　

Tonight in the theater there will be two performances of “Broadway Ballroom”, movie Now You See Me on MUTS and a late (10:30) show called Holiday Wishes starring the Ruby Princess Crew.

COMMENTS:

1. Wehwalt: you made me laugh. No audition needed. Geoherb is putting you on. He’s the smartest one on our team. And BTW, the C’s are no longer with Princess.

2. Karena: the gym opens at 7 and it was the same on the Crown. Actually Crown was awful because most of the treadmills could not be used until 9:00.

Body is craving caffeine. Need my Americano. See you later.

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Wehwalt

Wehwalt

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Merry Christmas on this warm, sunny, Caribbean morning.

1. Wehwalt: you made me laugh. No audition needed. Geoherb is putting you on. He’s the smartest one on our team. And BTW, the C’s are no longer with Princess.

Body is craving caffeine. Need my Americano. See you later.

 

Merry Christmas from a cold, nippy, DC area morning.

 

Sorry to hear that, I got to like them once I got past the crustiness, plus we made a dynamite team. I remember once on a musical question I answered correctly from my youth, "Air Supply" much to their shock as they had never heard of them.

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Pia1913

Pia1913

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RANDOM THOUGHTS

1. SANTA: There are 700 kids on board and every one of them is in line to see Santa and get their gift. He arrived at 10:30 and as of now (just past noon) it looks like there’s still more than an hour wait. Santa will survive without me seeing him, and so will I. :)

　

2. WINE: To the B2B ers………….. They will take away the extras and hold them for the next cruise. This is verbatim from the Hotel Manager.

　

3. FCC’s : Major problem here with the consultant. My initial submission for 6 within one hour of boarding did not get a response. On Monday I left a note in the box; office hardly ever open. No response. Yesterday again. Nothing. This morning I went in there and really got angry. She said I would get email within a week. Not acceptable I replied. Too many people have had problems, which they have told us about on CC. She got angry that I was angry, and I told her she wouldn’t be seeing me at all if she had processed my requests. She said she has an assistant who does the processing. Evidently not. What the H does she do? I just sat there until she gave me my copies. Took all of 6 minutes. And BTW, nobody ever came near the office to see her. I am writing this to advise future Ruby passengers not to expect service from this particular consultant. Then again, I told her to read Cruise Critic since she would be one of the subjects. :mad:

　

4. TRIVIA: we lost. By one. :(

Had to do this now before I forgot. See you later. Can't miss lunch. ;)

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Wehwalt

Wehwalt

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RANDOM THOUGHTS

1. SANTA: There are 700 kids on board and every one of them is in line to see Santa and get their gift. He arrived at 10:30 and as of now (just past noon) it looks like there’s still more than an hour wait. Santa will survive without me seeing him, and so will I. :)

　

2. WINE: To the B2B ers………….. They will take away the extras and hold them for the next cruise. This is verbatim from the Hotel Manager.

　

3. FCC’s : Major problem here with the consultant. My initial submission for 6 within one hour of boarding did not get a response. On Monday I left a note in the box; office hardly ever open. No response. Yesterday again. Nothing. This morning I went in there and really got angry. She said I would get email within a week. Not acceptable I replied. Too many people have had problems, which they have told us about on CC. She got angry that I was angry, and I told her she wouldn’t be seeing me at all if she had processed my requests. She said she has an assistant who does the processing. Evidently not. What the H does she do? I just sat there until she gave me my copies. Took all of 6 minutes. And BTW, nobody ever came near the office to see her. I am writing this to advise future Ruby passengers not to expect service from this particular consultant. Then again, I told her to read Cruise Critic since she would be one of the subjects. :mad:

　

4. TRIVIA: we lost. By one. :(

Had to do this now before I forgot. See you later. Can't miss lunch. ;)

 

Any rumors about noises in smokestacks, emergency issuances of cruise cards to one K. Kringle, and reindeer pollution in the pools?

 

Thanks for the heads up on the FCC. I plan to buy some on board but I can wait until Jan 20 and the Pacific Princess if need be.

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hobo1937

hobo1937

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Pia,

 

We were on the Ruby TA that ended on 12/14. On 12/11 I put a FCC request in the "box". On 12/17 I called Princess since we had not received an email confirmation nor was our credit card charged and they said there was a backlog on FCC's on the Ruby. Finally on 12/22 we got the email and they charged our CC. On every other FCC submission we have done the email was sent within a day or two...I agree this was the worst service.

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bronxgirl25

bronxgirl25

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Merry Christmas Pia and Mike, Marcia and David (Happy Birthday Marcia).

 

Enjoying your posts and hope to cruise with you both in the future.

 

Jackie nd Rich

 

 

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk HD

 

 

Jackie....so nice to see you here. Thanks for the b'day wishes. Merry Xmas to you, Rich and Maggie :) I hope to cruise with you again too!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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Lynda90

Lynda90

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David bought me a watch that I have been wanting. Love it!!!! First ever birthday at sea and I love that too!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, my friend! So glad you got what you wanted. Send me a picture of it on your wrist if you can. Nice of David to guess what you wanted! I know you never gave any hints! :p:p

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