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Live from the Ruby Princess - Jan 23-27

WendyG

By WendyG,
in Princess Cruises

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WendyG

WendyG

Posted
Posted

Pia will be a real tough act to follow....

 

OK, so we parked at Embassy Suites and took the shuttle to the port. Nice deal 5.50 per day. Met other couples on the shuttle, all but one were going on the Ruby. :)

 

Got dropped off at the pier and start to finish was 15 minutes. Very awesome as always. Went thru the scanner, we were told to report to the table for our bottles of wine, walked right by it and 10 seconds later someone pulled us out of line and made us go to the table. WOW, they're getting serious! The lady next to me said "when did they start doing THAT?" I laughed!

 

OK one bottle person marked off for our cabin and away we went to our suite.

 

I was on this ship in Sept in a Vista and now we have a Penthouse. I think I like the layout in the Vista better but did not like the vibrating and shaking of the entire cabin first thing in the morning so hopefully this one will be quieter. This room seems smaller but is still a lovely room. :D

 

The room steward is new, only gave us one drink voucher in lieu of the captains party, I told him we get two and he seemed unsure and said he had to call his supervisor. I told him I wouldn't lie to him LOL and he left us two.

 

Had our normal fried scallops lunch with a salad, called to reserve Crown Grill tonight (was told on the phone they charge for this and they're not complimenatry for short cruises) like Pia said. Odd that they do it on the West Coast getaways but not on the East Coast, it's the same company, right? Oh well, Carnival stock will pay for our dinner :)

 

Room service just swapped out our mini bar for water for sodas and beer for liquor bottles for Ron, and I asked about the second set up and they said they only send it on request because there is not enough room. That made me laugh. Not enough room? This room has plenty! LOL. We received a bottle of Kendall Jackson Cab for the second set up. Can never have too much wine!

 

OK, nothing else for now, muster at 345, meeting cc people informally at Outrigger's bar after sailaway, and tonight' the welcome aboard show are the Ruby dancers and comedian Steve White, and we will be going to welcome aboard trivia at 10:15.

 

A lovely 72 degrees and the sun is shining and I am happy to be on a cruise! :D

 

Bye for now....

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bhopal21

bhopal21

Posted
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Have a wonderful cruise.

Nice I can keep reading where Pia left off. Enjoy the suite life.

We actually preferred our mid ship Caribe deck Penthouse to the Vista aft. Much quieter and balcony bigger.

Gloria

 

 

I prefer the Caribe PH as well but the Ruby does not have them so we are taking an aft Vista as opposed to their Riviera PH.

 

Mike:)

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Griller

Griller

Posted
Posted (edited)
Pia will be a real tough act to follow....

 

 

 

Had our normal fried scallops lunch with a salad, called to reserve Crown Grill tonight (was told on the phone they charge for this and they're not complimenatry for short cruises) like Pia said. Odd that they do it on the West Coast getaways but not on the East Coast, it's the same company, right? Oh well, Carnival stock will pay for our dinner :)

 

 

 

Bye for now....

 

If you are going to Crown Grill and want an elegant experience as promised by the Maitre D' then do NOT accept Miguel as your waiter - we had him this week, he was very pushy and over familiar, made stupid airplane or truck backing up sounds when placing the plates in front of us and brought the bill very early on, without even asking us if we wanted coffee or cheese -

 

Also - the lobsters were small tough and salty, the ribeye steak somewhat solid and not well marbled but did have gristle. The musssels were excellent.

 

The previous week we had the Porterhouse which was succulent, though there was a lot of fat by the time we cut it off there was still plenty of juicy meat.

 

Good thing is of course you can order as many of whatever you like, we must admit to 3 different entrees this week as we wanted to sample as much of the manu as we could.

 

The desserts are not our favorites there, IMHO the best dessert on the ship is free at the International Cafe, a dark and white chocolate mousse in a glass, just plain decadent.

Edited by Griller
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NeptuneSeas

NeptuneSeas

Posted
Posted

Interested in knowing if Maitre D' Nicola Furlan will be sailing on for trans Atlantic & following Europe cruises please? Info appreciated if you are able to ask Nicola if it's him or who it will be??v

Thank you & Bon Voyage all.

 

Thankls for the live from Ruby:D

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Host CJSKIDS "Live from...." Rare

Host CJSKIDS

Posted
Posted
If you are going to Crown Grill and want an elegant experience as promised by the Maitre D' then do NOT accept Miguel as your waiter - we had him this week, he was very pushy and over familiar, made stupid airplane or truck backing up sounds when placing the plates in front of us and brought the bill very early on, without even asking us if we wanted coffee or cheese -

 

Also - the lobsters were small tough and salty, the ribeye steak somewhat solid and not well marbled but did have gristle. The musssels were excellent.

 

The previous week we had the Porterhouse which was succulent, though there was a lot of fat by the time we cut it off there was still plenty of juicy meat.

 

Good thing is of course you can order as many of whatever you like, we must admit to 3 different entrees this week as we wanted to sample as much of the manu as we could.

 

The desserts are not our favorites there, IMHO the best dessert on the ship is free at the International Cafe, a dark and white chocolate mousse in a glass, just plain decadent.

 

 

You had the exact opposite of our dining experience in the Crown with Miguel. We actually ate there twice last week and sat at the cooking bar. Miguel took care of us both times and we have requested him for our dinner there tonight with friend.

 

Our filet was amazing and the lobsters were fantastic. it was lots of fun to watch them make all the food.

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bhopal21

bhopal21

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You had the exact opposite of our dining experience in the Crown with Miguel. We actually ate there twice last week and sat at the cooking bar. Miguel took care of us both times and we have requested him for our dinner there tonight with friend.

 

Our filet was amazing and the lobsters were fantastic. it was lots of fun to watch them make all the food.

 

Thanks Carolyn.:D

 

That just shows how two passengers can have two totally different experiences.

 

Have a great cruise!

 

Mike

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WendyG

WendyG

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Good morning from the sea where the high today is supposed to be 68 and partly cloudy.

 

Day one was great, sail away was fantastic; we are starboard and watched the most beautiful sunset while having drinks on the balcony. We are in R405 and could hear the band playing at the pool above us so we had the ambience without the crowds. :) We met the neighbors on one side, from Nashville who left 16 degree weather so they’re happy, and the neighbors on the other side just talk REALLY loud. Like REALLY loud!

 

Dinner at the Crown Grill was probably the best I’ve ever had on a Princess ship, everything was cooked to perfection and so tasty. Ron and I both had the lobster tails as an appetizer and they brought us two each and they were so good, moist and tender and didn’t need butter. I had the tomato and beet salad (sans goat cheese…eww) and Ron had the other salad, and he ordered sea bass and I ordered a rib-eye (we do half-sies) and everything was delish but HUGE portions and so we wasted a lot of food (they bring too much) The only thing I didn’t care for was the asparagus, it had a weird taste, but everything else was great. Gotta love that applewood smoked salt they give you for their steaks. YUM! OK, enough about food!

 

We went to the welcome aboard show where Lee was entertaining, and we had one song from the singers and dancers, and Steve White came on afterwards. HE is funny! He walks out and immediately says, HAH I’m a negro, had you fooled didn’t I? No, you can’t get your money back. One other joke stands out where he said, “I don’t make political jokes because it upsets people, and personally I don’t care if you voted for Obama or you’re a racist” LOL He had a great laugh and had the whole audience pretty amused.

We didn’t make welcome aboard trivia (too much wine at happy hour) and so we turned in early.

 

This morning I woke at 545 to the loudest humming and I still can’t figure out what it was. I did hear noise from above shortly thereafter, maybe dragging of chairs, but we wake early anyway. Sabatinis doesn’t open until 7:30 so I popped down to IC to check email and had a latte. I have a half punched leftover coffee card from the last cruise (plus a brand new one I found the last day on the Royal) so I’m set for coffee for a while. :D

 

We just finished our wonderful breakfast at Sabatinis (love it there!) and the patter is full of cool stuff today. There is beginner Zumba at 9:15 (I know there are a lot of Zumba fans out there) and morning trivia is at 10:15. They have a culinary demonstration, bingo, ballroom dancing, art auction, passenger feud, to name a few, and of course, pm trivia at 4:15.

 

Tonight is dress to impress so they have the champagne waterfall, Rock and Roll night with Atomic Party Band, and they have Majority Rules in Explorers. Once Upon a Dream is in the Princess theatre and it’s no smoking night in the casino so I may try my luck at 3 card poker tonight.

 

We do have our M&G in Skywalkers at 11 am, I do hope the Commodore has time to stop in, he is such a sweet man. :)

 

That’s all for now, I plan to visit the captains circle desk when they open at 10 to get the stats. No captains party, and I am FAR from most traveled, so the only way to find out is to ask her!

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WendyG

WendyG

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Good morning from the sea where the high today is supposed to be 68 and partly cloudy.

 

Day one was great, sail away was fantastic; we are starboard and watched the most beautiful sunset while having drinks on the balcony. We are in R405 and could hear the band playing at the pool above us so we had the ambience without the crowds. :) We met the neighbors on one side, from Nashville who left 16 degree weather so they’re happy, and the neighbors on the other side just talk REALLY loud. Like REALLY loud!

 

Dinner at the Crown Grill was probably the best I’ve ever had on a Princess ship, everything was cooked to perfection and so tasty. Ron and I both had the lobster tails as an appetizer and they brought us two each and they were so good, moist and tender and didn’t need butter. I had the tomato and beet salad (sans goat cheese…eww) and Ron had the other salad, and he ordered sea bass and I ordered a rib-eye (we do half-sies) and everything was delish but HUGE portions and so we wasted a lot of food (they bring too much) The only thing I didn’t care for was the asparagus, it had a weird taste, but everything else was great. Gotta love that applewood smoked salt they give you for their steaks. YUM! OK, enough about food!

 

We went to the welcome aboard show where Lee was entertaining, and we had one song from the singers and dancers, and Steve White came on afterwards. HE is funny! He walks out and immediately says, HAH I’m a negro, had you fooled didn’t I? No, you can’t get your money back. One other joke stands out where he said, “I don’t make political jokes because it upsets people, and personally I don’t care if you voted for Obama or you’re a racist” LOL He had a great laugh and had the whole audience pretty amused.

We didn’t make welcome aboard trivia (too much wine at happy hour) and so we turned in early.

 

This morning I woke at 545 to the loudest humming and I still can’t figure out what it was. I did hear noise from above shortly thereafter, maybe dragging of chairs, but we wake early anyway. Sabatinis doesn’t open until 7:30 so I popped down to IC to check email and had a latte. I have a half punched leftover coffee card from the last cruise (plus a brand new one I found the last day on the Royal) so I’m set for coffee for a while. :)

 

We just finished our wonderful breakfast at Sabatinis (love it there!) and the patter is full of cool stuff today. There is beginner Zumba at 9:15 (I know there are a lot of Zumba fans out there) and morning trivia is at 10:15. They have a culinary demonstration, bingo, ballroom dancing, art auction, passenger feud, to name a few, and of course, pm trivia at 4:15.

 

Tonight is dress to impress so they have the champagne waterfall, Rock and Roll night with Atomic Party Band, and they have Majority Rules in Explorers. Once Upon a Dream is in the Princess theatre and it’s no smoking night in the casino so I may try my luck at 3 card poker tonight.

 

We do have our M&G in Skywalkers at 11 am, I do hope the Commodore has time to stop in, he is such a sweet man. :)

 

That’s all for now, I plan to visit the captains circle desk when they open at 10 to get the stats. No captains party, and I am FAR from most traveled, so the only way to find out is to ask her!

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timetravler

timetravler

Posted
Posted

Question: have you met the guy in a wheel chair with the toy poodle on board yet? They are friends of mine. That poodle is a service dog and so smart it's unreal. The poodle has great manners too. She does NOT eat at the table and in fact will not eat anything in public. Plus she wears more clothes then I have, lol.:)

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Griller

Griller

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You had the exact opposite of our dining experience in the Crown with Miguel. We actually ate there twice last week and sat at the cooking bar. Miguel took care of us both times and we have requested him for our dinner there tonight with friend.

 

Our filet was amazing and the lobsters were fantastic. it was lots of fun to watch them make all the food.

 

Glad your lobster was OK, so Miguel didn't make truck backing up noises or whatever when serving you, nor call you "ma friend" all the time?

After more than 30 cruises on Princess I have never experienced that before, and do not like it. Staff are usually respectful, as per the C.R.U.I.S.E. motto on the badge they all usually wear - Actually Miguel did not have that pin.

He told us he couldn't bring the cheese cart over as it had a flat tire, later when we passed it on the way out we saw it did not have the sort of tires which had air in them.

 

I wonder what prompted him to treat us differently? We were perfectly polite to him, like we always are to the waiters and other crew.

 

Did he get a tip? $10. It would have been more, we usually tip $10 each in there.

Edited by Griller
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Host CJSKIDS "Live from...." Rare

Host CJSKIDS

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Glad your lobster was OK, so Miguel didn't make truck backing up noises or whatever when serving you, nor call you "ma friend" all the time?

After more than 30 cruises on Princess I have never experienced that before, and do not like it. Staff are usually respectful, as per the C.R.U.I.S.E. motto on the badge they all usually wear - Actually Miguel did not have that pin.

He told us he couldn't bring the cheese cart over as it had a flat tire, later when we passed it on the way out we saw it did not have the sort of tires which had air in them.

 

I wonder what prompted him to treat us differently? We were perfectly polite to him, like we always are to the waiters and other crew.

 

Did he get a tip? $10. It would have been more, we usually tip $10 each in there.

 

He did say my friend, I just didn't take it as a sign of disrespect and

it just didn't bother me I guess. I have told most of the staff members to call me by my first name so maybe I just didn't notice. He did joke around with us but I enjoy that.

 

It's too bad that it ruined the experience for you. Hopefully you did enjoy the night.

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Griller

Griller

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He did say my friend, I just didn't take it as a sign of disrespect and

it just didn't bother me I guess. I have told most of the staff members to call me by my first name so maybe I just didn't notice. He did joke around with us but I enjoy that.

 

It's too bad that it ruined the experience for you. Hopefully you did enjoy the night.

 

We did enjoy most of the food, and there was a lot of it, and it wasn't ruined but if you want a quiet elegantly served dinner then I would suggest a different waiter

 

actually it doesn't help if you also get a persistent photographer who won't take no thanks for an answer, had to flash my shield to convince him it would be a really bad idea to take my photo and it doesn't often come to that................

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baronessk

baronessk

Posted
Posted (edited)

Question: have you met the guy in a wheel chair with the toy poodle on board yet? They are friends of mine. That poodle is a service dog and so smart it's unreal. The poodle has great manners too. She does NOT eat at the table and in fact will not eat anything in public. Plus she wears more clothes then I have, lol.

 

They were on my Christmas cruise. I have a dog that is a service dog that I leave home when I cruise as I am always with someone. I tried to be friendly with them several times, but they were not very open or welcoming. :-(

Edited by baronessk
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Griller

Griller

Posted
Posted
Question: have you met the guy in a wheel chair with the toy poodle on board yet? They are friends of mine. That poodle is a service dog and so smart it's unreal. The poodle has great manners too. She does NOT eat at the table and in fact will not eat anything in public. Plus she wears more clothes then I have, lol.:)

 

Is that the little poodle named "Honey"? A hearing dog?

If so yes, we did meet him and Honey is an amazingly well behaved dog, very sweet.

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