Ruby Princess 3/6/14 - Review with lots of pics/video! First time on Princess! :)

[ebandive]

Then it was time to get off! Eeep! So excited! :D Isn't it magical to get off the ship, and walk down the dock to a new, beautiful place?

 

 

Look at those blue skies! So happy for the good weather! And you can see at the front of the ship, that gap, is just where we were standing a few minutes ago.

 

 

[Colo Cruiser]

 

The movie that night was Captain Phillips. I don't know whose idea it was to play a movie about a ship getting hijacked by pirates for MUTS, but it was brilliant. Totally added to the suspense! :p

 

Same person that scheduled Titanic. :eek:

[ebandive]

Same person that scheduled Titanic. :eek:

 

bahahaha! Really? I was kind of shocked to see artwork of the titanic scattered about the ship. Kind of sobering! :cool:

[ebandive]

Plenty of places to sit, either in direct sun or shaded by palms.

 

 

 

Just look at that water!

 

a video of the clear waves reaching the sand:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gator582]

Awesome pics and review and videos. We're doing this cruise next month so I got goosebumps looking at the views and the water in Grand Turk!! Thank you. You got me extra excited now.

 

Glad you had a great time.

[ebandive]

Awesome pics and review and videos. We're doing this cruise next month so I got goosebumps looking at the views and the water in Grand Turk!! Thank you. You got me extra excited now.

 

Glad you had a great time.

 

Thanks! I hope you have a great time! By the way, I see you are from Wisconsin. I'm originally from Waupaca. :)

[ebandive]

There were about a dozen or so of us booked on our excursion, only two others were from the ship. The rest were staying on Grand Turk or one of the other Turks & Caicos islands.

 

We were the first to arrive to our little boat.

 

 

Soon others started to show up! I sure didn't mind waiting. It was a gorgeous day!

 

 

Apparently there was a miscommunication with someone staying at a hotel. They thought they were going in the afternoon, so when transportation showed up to get them they weren't ready. Because of that, we left at 9:30 instead of 9:00. In the meantime, the rest of us got to know eachother better on the boat and just enjoyed taking in the views. Finally, we were off!

 

Here's a video of us cruising past the Ruby Princess:

 

 

 

[Colo Cruiser]

Your video is sideways! :eek:

[gator582]

Thanks! I hope you have a great time! By the way, I see you are from Wisconsin. I'm originally from Waupaca. :)

Waaay up there! Funny, we just spent 3 weeks in Ft Myers. :) Been a BAD winter in Wisconsin. :mad: It was extra nice to get away.

[jimbri]

Enjoying your review and photos. Thank you!!

[ebandive]

Within a few minutes, we were already pretty far from the ship. The plan was to go to Salt Key to pick up two more people, and then head out from there to go find whales. That was the plan. But we came across a whale on the way there! Our first siting and the tour hadn't even officially begun! It was sooooo amazing! We stopped fairly far away from him, but he was curious and kept coming closer to us, until he swam right underneath the boat. With water that clear, it was simply stunning.

 

 

This video is over two minutes long, and shows the whale coming closer and then stops when it is going under the ship. It's harder to see in the video than it was in real life, the white that you see under the water is the whales fins(?) outstretched next to him. And I apologize for the crooked 1st 30 seconds.

 

Pictures of it going under our boat:

 

Here is where his head is going under our boat and you can see his body and tail.

 

And my husband's "in awe" expression:

[gator582]

Very cool! Whale watching, or sighting, is something else. We did it in Alaska and it was such an amazing experience. Wish we could see them again, but they don't offer that excursion anymore in April. Bummer. Glad you could experience it!!

[ebandive]

He came out the other side, swam away, and we were off to Salt Key to pick up the last two passengers.

 

 

Soon we came across this guy.

 

 

He was staying around to play for awhile, so our guide told us that if we wanted to jump in, that now was the time to do it. You didn't have to tell me twice!

 

 

 

 

 

[Lammy23]

Love your review! And what an incredible moment to swim in the wild with that whale! Looks like you and your husband had a great time. Makes me want to book a Caribbean cruise, but we will see how we feel about cruising after our very first one to Alaska in a few months. :)

 

Also, love the bacon plate pool guy (living the dream, I see) and the fact that Captain Phillips was the MUTS. Hahah

[Colo Cruiser]

I have never seen a whale in the Caribbean!

Thats cool.

[Higgamang]

Love the review so far. We were also on this cruise. In fact, I noticed I'm in the background of your picture in the dining room for embarkation lunch. :)

[karena1]

Great review. We really enjoyed Ruby in Dec. But we could not get into our cabin until 1:30 which I thought odd as on Royal/Celebrity it is always 1 pm. No big deal but surprised you said you could get in right away.

 

Loved Grand Turk, for sure the highlight of our 5 night cruise. Gorgeous beach and love the fact it is just there and you don't have to take a cab to get there. Want to go back there!

[rdh rules]

Thanks for the great review! Love the pics and videos. Going during Easter and can't wait! This will be our 2nd Princess and I love the promenade deck!

[ebandive]

Thanks for all the great comments! I'm glad you are enjoying reading it. We truly had an amazing time... best cruise we've had in awhile for sure, even though it was short! :)

 

Love the review so far. We were also on this cruise. In fact, I noticed I'm in the background of your picture in the dining room for embarkation lunch. :)

 

Wow - cool! :)

[ebandive]

After that first whale swam away, we took another ride and soon came across another one willing to stay and play for awhile with us. This is the best above water picture I got because I jumped in as soon as I could.

 

 

This time, when I jumped in, the whale had just dove down as well and was literally right smack dab underneath me. It was the craziest and most amazing thing I've ever seen. He was so close!

 

 

 

 

 

[ebandive]

He soon swam up to the surface.

 

 

 

 

 

When he was done with us and swam away, it was time to get back on the boat.

 

[ar1950]

Great whale pictures. Thanks for sharing them.

[greenie082756]

Wow! What a once in a lifetime to be in the ocean with a whale that close to you! Memories! Thanks for sharing!! :)

[retiredtimes2]

ebandive,

 

Thanks for posting pictures of your cabin with your review and the heads-up on the mattress issues.

 

We have booked this cabin for our transatlantic Apr.27th :D and will ask for the

mattress topper in the hopes that it will help.

 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise. We love the Ruby!

 

Cheers,

 

Dawna :)

[gelo7]

Loving your review.