Has anyone here booked the 49 day Ruby South America cruise Jan. 31, 2015

[StLouisCruisers]

I was wondering if any Cruise Critic members have tried to book the Ruby for its new itinerary - 49 days from Ft. Lauderdale to Los Angeles. We have and it has been quite a trial! Your experiences?

Edited February 18, 2014 by StLouisCruisers

[Working 2 Cruise]

I tried looking at the pricing but that was unavailable🍃...

[bprince]

Yes - we are booked for the full voyage!! We had been booked on the Crown that left 2/15 but had to cancel last month due to illness. Thanks God for the Princess Vacation Protection insurance - we got everything back except the insurance cost!!

[zahav1]

Yes - we are booked for the full voyage!! We had been booked on the Crown that left 2/15 but had to cancel last month due to illness. Thanks God for the Princess Vacation Protection insurance - we got everything back except the insurance cost!!

 

Sorry, don't want to hijack. But, do you mean credit for another cruise or all your money back?

 

Enjoy the upcoming cruise

[StLouisCruisers]

Yes, there is no pricing available on this cruise on the internet, but if you call Princess it can be booked. Plus, other on line agencies have the pricing on their sites.

 

Our first call the representative said no it couldn't be booked, not available yet. Second call took a loooong time. We wanted a particular cabin and wanted to book the 49 days in several segments. Many reasons why, for instance more OBC from FCCs and shareholder credit, more mini-bar set ups, more internet minutes, as well as more chance of price reductions in smaller segments. We were told the 14 day segment from Rio to Valparaiso was sold out, then told a few minutes later it was waitlisted. Then the computer said we would be violating the PVSA if booked that way. And finally the cabin we wanted was not available unless we booked it as the full 49 day "one booking number" cruise. At this time Princess claims they will not be selling the middle 14 day segment from Rio to Valparaiso. However I still see it on the website, sans pricing, of course.

 

I think Princess is trying to hold down costs by giving us less FCC and shareholder credit, fewer free internet minutes, and one mini bar set up for the entire 49 day cruise.

 

However, if you really want to book that cruise, just call Princess and it is available to be booked. However, we're getting pretty perturbed by Princess and their stupid policies lately. We may actually start booking other cruise lines. :eek:

[Wehwalt]

I was booked by a future cruise consultant for the 49 days. She said that gven the Crown just left with a long wait list on a similar voyage, to expect most availability to be for the full trip, esp. choice cabins.

Edited February 19, 2014 by Wehwalt

[StLouisCruisers]

I was booked by a future cruise consultant for the 49 days. She said that gven the Crown just left with a long wait list on a similar voyage, to expect most availability to be for the full trip, esp. choice cabins.

 

 

We are booked also Wehwalt, just not happy with the way we had to do it.

[windsor26]

Not sure if you are asking if booking the cruise is a difficult experience or whether 49 days would be difficult. If the latter NOT it is not We did this cruise on The Grand Princess last January and had a fantastic time So much happening and so many stops you never get bored.

Unfortunately we missed The Falklands as the weather was not good but you stand a 50% chance of getting in there.,

[StLouisCruisers]

Not sure if you are asking if booking the cruise is a difficult experience or whether 49 days would be difficult. If the latter NOT it is not We did this cruise on The Grand Princess last January and had a fantastic time So much happening and so many stops you never get bored.

Unfortunately we missed The Falklands as the weather was not good but you stand a 50% chance of getting in there.,

 

Hi Yvonne,

 

No, not worried about the 49 days being difficult, just the games Princess plays with holding certain cabin categories for sale, like only 49 day bookings, and not for the other possibilities (18 and 31 day combinations OR 32 and 17 day combinations). Plus the other excuses like PVSA violations. So silly.:rolleyes:

 

By the way, pricing is finally available on the Princess website if anyone was waiting for it.

Edited February 20, 2014 by StLouisCruisers

[icat2000]

Seems dearer to what they were offering for the Crown Princess.

 

Hoping they offer it again in 2017.

[generichandle]

Hi Yvonne,

 

No, not worried about the 49 days being difficult, just the games Princess plays with holding certain cabin categories for sale, like only 49 day bookings, and not for the other possibilities (18 and 31 day combinations OR 32 and 17 day combinations). Plus the other excuses like PVSA violations. So silly.:rolleyes:

 

By the way, pricing is finally available on the Princess website if anyone was waiting for it.

 

Please understand, if they book 'choice' cabins for less than the full 49, they must then try to sell them for the rest of that 49-days separately. Since demand for the full 49 is HUGE [ours was sold out in a couple weeks a year ahead, and we had to wait to near final payment to catch a 'dropout' room sale for our 30] it would be silly for them to sell partials first. What surprises me is that they are only doing this voyage once per year. Demand has been huge.

 

Doug

[Shoalwater]

The mini-suite prices for the 2015 voyage are DOUBLE what we paid for the Grand Princess 49-day trip in Jan, 2013 :eek:! That's quite a jump IMHO. We knew they had underpriced it when we booked that one early on, but double? It was a great itinerary and one of our most enjoyable trips thus far.

[silvercruiser]

I just booked the 49 days with my TA. The pricing was the same as doing it in either of the choices for two segments, but could not find cabins I wanted unless I did it as one booking. I sure wish they'd offer us more internet minutes for such a long trip.

[StLouisCruisers]

Please understand, if they book 'choice' cabins for less than the full 49, they must then try to sell them for the rest of that 49-days separately. Since demand for the full 49 is HUGE [ours was sold out in a couple weeks a year ahead, and we had to wait to near final payment to catch a 'dropout' room sale for our 30] it would be silly for them to sell partials first. What surprises me is that they are only doing this voyage once per year. Demand has been huge.

 

Doug

 

Doug, the choice cabin we wanted was wanted for the whole 49 days - we just didn't want to book it all in one booking.

[StLouisCruisers]

I just booked the 49 days with my TA. The pricing was the same as doing it in either of the choices for two segments, but could not find cabins I wanted unless I did it as one booking. I sure wish they'd offer us more internet minutes for such a long trip.

 

Exactly!

 

Are you planning on booking this cruise? We are, and booked it in two bookings today so double the amenities and OBC. Basically, same price.

[starboardqueen]

Hi we just booked 49 days on Ruby!!!

[beg3yrs]

We wanted a particular cabin and wanted to book the 49 days in several segments. Many reasons why, for instance more OBC from FCCs and shareholder credit, more mini-bar set ups, more internet minutes, as well as more chance of price reductions in smaller segments. .....

 

I think Princess is trying to hold down costs by giving us less FCC and shareholder credit, fewer free internet minutes, and one mini bar set up for the entire 49 day cruise.

 

 

Even if you've booked a multi-segment cruise with a single booking number, you will still get your mini-bar setup and internet minutes at the beginning of each segment. You don't need to consider the value of these when deciding how to book.

[lgeisz]

We are booked and are looking forward to it....have our yellow fever shots ($135 ea), Brazil visa ($209 ea) then still need to do the Argentina reciprocity ($160 ea)....this is the most expensive preparation for a cruise yet.

[paul929207]

Yes, there is no pricing available on this cruise on the internet, but if you call Princess it can be booked. Plus, other on line agencies have the pricing on their sites.

 

Our first call the representative said no it couldn't be booked, not available yet. Second call took a loooong time. We wanted a particular cabin and wanted to book the 49 days in several segments. Many reasons why, for instance more OBC from FCCs and shareholder credit, more mini-bar set ups, more internet minutes, as well as more chance of price reductions in smaller segments. We were told the 14 day segment from Rio to Valparaiso was sold out, then told a few minutes later it was waitlisted. Then the computer said we would be violating the PVSA if booked that way. And finally the cabin we wanted was not available unless we booked it as the full 49 day "one booking number" cruise. At this time Princess claims they will not be selling the middle 14 day segment from Rio to Valparaiso. However I still see it on the website, sans pricing, of course.

 

 

 

I think Princess is trying to hold down costs by giving us less FCC and shareholder credit, fewer free internet minutes, and one mini bar set up for the entire 49 day cruise.

 

However, if you really want to book that cruise, just call Princess and it is available to be booked. However, we're getting pretty perturbed by Princess and their stupid policies lately. We may actually start booking other cruise lines. :eek:

We have found that except for OBC, you got the same benefits whether you booked as one or three cruises. Last year we were on the Grand 49 day cruise and everyone eligible got 3 minibar setups and three internet credits. The exception was the OBC. That was based on the way you booked. So one booking meant one award for 49 days.

 

Sorry, just realized this is an old thread

Edited November 21, 2014 by paul929207

[cactusrose]

We have found that except for OBC, you got the same benefits whether you booked as one or three cruises. Last year we were on the Grand 49 day cruise and everyone eligible got 3 minibar setups and three internet credits. The exception was the OBC. That was based on the way you booked. So one booking meant one award for 49 days.

 

Sorry, just realized this is an old thread

 

Paul, this is exactly the information I was looking for so old thread or not you have helped me immensely. Thanks!

[paul929207]

Glad to help.

We have done several b2b booked as one cruise and several booked as multiple and got the same benefits except for the OBC mentioned above

[oldcarrot52]

We created a group for the cruise. Be one of the first to join the group! See you in Buenos Aires.

[granny49]

Why not join the roll call Its for all segments of this cruise

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1992815

[flamomo]

My cruise "buddy" and I are on this cruise from FLL to Santiago. We had done the Santiago to LA segment in March of this year on the Crown, and, as much as we enjoyed it, felt no need to repeat that leg. Actually, we booked the 32 days from FLL to Santiago on the Ruby while we were on the Crown because we felt we really wanted to experience that part of the itinerary too.

Sailaway is in 25 days and 22 hours!! Can't wait!

[Rocksatsea]

We are booked and are looking forward to it....have our yellow fever shots ($135 ea), Brazil visa ($209 ea) then still need to do the Argentina reciprocity ($160 ea)....this is the most expensive preparation for a cruise yet.

Are yellow fever shots required?