Live From the Ruby: 11/29/2014 B2B2B

[caribill]

yep, we need the real stuff.

 

Does anyone know if there is any problems with bringing vacuum packed vanilla back through Customs in FLL?

 

I do not know about the vacuum packed part (ours was a sealed jar), but we simply checked "yes" on the customs form about food and included the item in our listings of purchases/prices.

 

Of course once "yes" is checked there they will ask why and once told it is vanilla, they are relieved to know it is not fruit or meat and are happy to wave you on.

[ccrain]

Way too dark to see weather, but the wind and sea state are just fine this morning. Hardly a bump last night. Lost that hour we got earlier in the cruise last night. But at least its just one hour. Those transatlantics and transpacifics where you lose, or gain, an hour per day can be rough. Especially those in which you lose an hour a day. But that caramel/white chocolate latte hits the spot for sure.

 

So yesterday was Cozumel and we’ve always had a great time in Cozumel. Yesterday was no exception. Vanilla, hot sauces, spices and chocolate shopping. I think we have enough vanilla to satisfy all of our friendly neighborhood bakers – from which we get to sample the results. Win-Win! The ship docked at the old/new docks that Wilma destroyed many years ago. (The last time we were here we had to dock in downtown because the docks were no more.) They are still working on the docks, but the Dufry shop is up and running, bigger and longer than ever!

 

On a whim we did the Jose Cuervo tequila tour at the Mexico Discovery Center. It was a great tour. We didn’t have as much time to examine the miniatures at the park as we would have liked, but it still was a great tour. You knew it was going to be good when the moment you step off the taxi, they hand to a cup of margarita. Started off by Tequila tasting 1800 Blanco (distilled – no barrel), Reposado (aged in barrel – with cinnamon and clove flavors as well) and Anjeo (aged longer in barrel). We learned how to smell and taste the various flavors in the tequila. The pours were generous, 2 oz’s at least. Its amazing to me what humans will ferment and then distill to make liquor. Who would have ever thought that this prickly cactus looking plant would make liquor in the first place, much less be destined to make a world famous liquor. Was it a bunch of Aztec guys sitting around a camp fire, lost in the dessert, starving, decided to eat this plant as a last resort, left some leftovers in a pot of water (you know how sloppy guys are) and then drank out of the pot a few days later and got high and said, WOW, that was pretty good?

 

Anyway, not being a hard liquor drinker, especially straight, I did not finish my tastings, but the Anjeo was my favorite. Smoother, tastier, less harsh. It was Judy’s favorite as well. Of course, after the tasting was the trip to the gift shop, smart marketing there, then a trip to the art gallery with some really incredible embroidery and statuary. After the art gallery was photos with a really cute, and very clean, burro. Then a mango margarita the likes I’ve never had before. A small dollop of a particular chili sauce in the bottom of the class and the rim lined with a chili/lime salt. Mango puree, Jose Cuervo especial, triple sec and fresh lime juice. Blended. That’s it. And it was really, really good. They even made up a quick taste of a guava margarita as well.

 

By that time, several of us are feeling the results of this drinking on empty stomachs. But its time for lunch, the real highlight of the tour. A taco bar featuring local, homemade, fresh and oh so tasty ingredients with real homemade spicy hot sauce that was out of this world. Beef or pork filling, home made fresh corn tortillas, four different toppings highlighted by a sweet corn and pablano pepper saute. A habanero pepper sauce (red and green) topped the tacos. And it was really, really good. Several people used their free drink coupon for another margarita, Judy went for a beer and I did a diet coke. One of us had to keep our wits about us, so I was the designated tourista. Lunch was followed by a show by Flyers. Those guys that climb to the top of a tall pole tie themselves with ropes and spin down. Unwinding the rope at the tope while they descend to the ground. In addition, the park itself has a lot of archaeological site miniatures like Aztec and Mayan temples and pyramids – but we didn’t have time to go through the park. We’ll leave it for next time.

 

Highly recommended way to have some fun in Cozumel if you’ve already done it all before….

 

After the show, we completed our shopping and headed back to the ship for showers. The plan was to sample the smokehouse BBQ last night, which starts at 1800 at the Trident Grill. Last night featured pork ribs, beef brisket and chicken wings. The sauce is a vinegar based sauce, so I can’t remember off the top of my head if that Memphis or Carolina style – I think its Carolina style. Judy did not care for it. I liked it. No its not Rudy’s texas style –you just can’t get that without real wood smoke, but I have had worst BBQ before. They did need to flattop it a little longer to get a little more char on the surface. You should try it at least once, but it’s a nice alternative to some of the foods in the HC. Oh, and it is VERY MESSY!...as all BBQ should be…

 

We wrapped the night off visiting with Rich and Dianne, catching up on what they’ve been up to and comparing notes on future cruises. They’re going to do Africa next year on the Ocean or the Pacific, can’t remember which. Africa’s on our list as well.

 

So today is a day at sea – last day before Princess Cays, packing day and back to the real world day. Today is the CC party and the last formal night as well. The most traveled has 1345 days. Lots to do today. Zumba this morning, the Outlet sale, Princess Bride on MUTS (there it is!), the culinary demo and galley tour, On Deck for the Cure, Art History – leading to the art auction, Bingo, pub lunch, Horse racing is back, ice carving, line dancing, merengue class, wine tasting, elevator roulette – all kinds of things.

 

Tonight is the steel drum performance and the pop choir, pop star, the 100’ journey is on MUTS tonight – something new, marriage match game, party and balloon drop. Colors of the World is on at the theater, and Michael Wilson is back at the Explorer’s lounge for another show.

 

Lots of things to see and do…

 

Later…

[AE_Collector]

We wrapped the night off visiting with Rich and Dianne, catching up on what they’ve been up to and comparing notes on future cruises. They’re going to do Africa next year on the Ocean or the Pacific, can’t remember which.

 

Great meeting you and Judy yesterday over a Tequila or six! Glad to see that you found your way back to the ship afterwards too. Wasn't Ruy a great "tour guide"! Sure lots of giggling going on coming back to the ship. Highly recommended.

 

Ocean Princess does the entire west coast of Africa arriving at Dover in early June. This year we got on there June 6 for a month up the coast of Norway and then the Baltic. Ocean Princess is an excellent choice for these cruises as they go all the way to Spitsbergen AND they go through the Kiel Canal into the Baltic. Nothing larger than Ocean or Pacific can go through there.

 

Terry and Kim

[lovevacadays]

Sounds like a wonderful day in Cozumel. Your lunch sounds amazing!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[caribill]

Ocean Princess does the entire west coast of Africa arriving at Dover in early June.

 

I thought several of the west Africa ports were cancelled for next year due to Ebola worries.

[ccrain]

Great meeting you and Judy yesterday over a Tequila or six! Glad to see that you found your way back to the ship afterwards too. Wasn't Ruy a great "tour guide"! Sure lots of giggling going on coming back to the ship. Highly recommended.

 

Ocean Princess does the entire west coast of Africa arriving at Dover in early June. This year we got on there June 6 for a month up the coast of Norway and then the Baltic. Ocean Princess is an excellent choice for these cruises as they go all the way to Spitsbergen AND they go through the Kiel Canal into the Baltic. Nothing larger than Ocean or Pacific can go through there.

 

Terry and Kim

 

Now I can put names, faces and CC handles together! A tequila or six is right. Now its not 1 tequila, 2 tequila, 3 tequila - FLOOR - its 1 tequila, 2 tequila, gift shop, 3 tequila, gift shop, 4 tequila, tips, then FLOOR!

 

Nice to spend the day with both of you. It was a lot of fun...

[ccrain]

Partly cloudy, still warm, no sea state whatsoever and I swear I woke up this morning, looked out the window and saw the Caribbean Princess about a mile away. Blue princess sea witch, shopping cart Skywalkers. I don’t think I was dreaming.

 

Yesterday was a great last day at sea. Zumba to start off the morning. Ali has a cold and a hurt knee. Poor thing, she was so miserable, but once she got started she couldn’t help but really get into it. A real trooper.

 

Lunch was so-so (sushi), but we spent some time with Rich and Dianne, then with Michael and his wife in Vines – talking about our favorite subject – cruising. (We met Michael and his wife during Chef’s table and never got a chance to really talk with them as they were across and down the table from us. A long way to talk in a crowded dining room.) Rich is trying to figure out how to get to Elite the quickest way possible. I will have to send him the OCPD Princess port schedule excel spreadsheet when we get to reasonable internet speeds. That will drive him into a cruise planning frenzy.

 

The singers and dancers did a new vignette in the Piazza yesterday. They all dressed up as waiters, bar stewards, room stewards, deck hands, cruise staff and did a welcome to princess song and dance. It was pretty good. I really like these little vignettes, and the alternative quick shows in the Piazza from different entertainers.

 

We made it to Michael Wilson’s show in Explorer last night, pretty much by accident. We danced with Atomic for a while, then found out the show was starting and just stayed through the show. Being in the front row caused Rich to be picked by Michael to be on the stage. We knew he was a vocal impressionist, but didn’t know he was that kind of comedian as well. It was a pretty good show. Good interaction with the audience. Afterwards, we went to see Colors of the World for the final time. We’ve now seen it at least 5 times. I think that qualifies as one of our favorites.

 

Today is packing day, and we have to pack. I think the worst part of cruising is the getting home. Once it’s over with, you just want to be home. Period. Now we get to see if we can fit all the Christmas presents in the suitcases. Did not bring the extra duffel this time, so it will be a challenge. Still not sure if we will get off to Princess Cays. If we do, it will be to hike south this time towards the grave stones and see what changes have been made in the island to the south.

 

Tonight will be a dance night. Vocalist Ric Steel is the headliner tonight, along with a movie in the theater. Not high on our list of things to do, so we will dance to Danny and Atomic, probably late into the night. Princess pop star grand finale is tonight as well.

 

So off the packing, or Princess Cays or something. I’ll wrap this cruise up tomorrow from the hotel when we get off the ship….

 

Later…

[AE_Collector]

I thought several of the west Africa ports were cancelled for next year due to Ebola worries.

 

Yes you are correct, several ports were removed with other non African ports substituted....Canary Islands I think? I cant help wondering if some ports might be reinstated if things improve. I keep watching the price and itinerary of that one as we would love to do it and stay on for Norway and the Baltic again on Ocean Princess.

 

Terry

[Hav2cruise]

Loved reading along with you.

[AE_Collector]

We made it home to Vancouver after a long day of travel. Charles and Judy must be exhausted just like we are.

 

A 6:45 AM flight meant we were up at 3:45 for the flight to Dallas and then on to Vancouver where we landed at 12:30 and were home at 2:30. Still a long day and now just trying to stay awake a little longer before crashing so we arent awake at 3 AM again tomorrow morning!

 

We had a nice day by the pool yesterday and some exploring the area around our hotel, the Yankee Clipper AKA the Sheraton Beach Hotel AKA the new "B" Hotel. Actually I found it a very "cool" place, I love places with history like it has. That more than makes up for any shortcomings due to its age in my mind.

 

There were a bunch of old pictures by a back door heading out to the beach showing Marilyn Munroe coming through the doors in February 1962 and other events there when it was still quite a new hotel.

 

Anyway, time for some sleep after a wonderful two weeks on the Ruby Princess.

 

Terry

Edited December 22, 2014 by AE_Collector

[san diego sue]

Charles,

We were on the Ruby with you the last two weeks.Our CC roll call group were terrific both weeks. Too bad you did come to meet us at our four get togethers.

Enjoyed reading your postings both before our cruise and today when we arrived home.

The Ruby is a real favorite of ours and are so glad we get to cruise again on her when she comes to the west coast in March .

Service, food, and entertainment were exceptional.

 

[ccrain]

From now on I think we're just going to try and get home the same day we disembark. Its just too much stress and sleeplessness, not to mention the odarkthirty awakening the next day to catch an airplane.

 

We did not go to Princess Cays, but packed everything up, drank down our last mini-bar items, wandered around the ship saying goodbye, taking pictures, filling out the blue cards, handing out extra tips.

 

It was a good cruise and would be an excellent cruise for first time princess cruisers or those who have not been to the Eastern or Western Caribbean as much as we have. The 7 dayers? Not so much. Losing the turnaround day just doesn't appeal to me and 7 day cruises never get down to some of the islands we really love like Bonaire and Barbados - and we are not going to be doing the Royal or the Regal anytime soon (no dancing basically - and I would end up gaining 20# without dancing).

 

Not only that but we are spoiled now by our "adventure" cruising in the Med, the UK and Asia. New lands, new sights and new challenges are where we want to go. Although we do like the HI cruises with the 8 sea days. We love sea days and all the activities that go on around the ship. it also allows us to bond more with the cruise staff - whether they like it or not!

 

For this itinerary, the highlights for us are St Thomas, Princess Cays, Cozumel and now Roatan Mahogany Bay. Princes Cays for hiking, bushwaking and beachcombing, St Thomas for great restaurants close to the ship and shopping, Cozumel for a lot of interesting activities and welcoming people and Roatan Mahogany Bay for a great beach getaway just off the ship with no tendering.

 

The ship, the activities, the service, the food were all excellent. And now I would have no trepidations about sailing with JJ in the future. His scheduling of activities utilized all the venues to the maximum and he was very flexible in his scheduling and changed the show and venue schedules to match the port or sea day schedule. Most CDs have a set schedule for when the shows start. JJ deliberately would change that up to match a late port on-board, or when the deck party was playing, and make it so you actually could make it to the major events in one night. Very well done and very appreciated.

 

That being said, even with his scheduling, a typical 7 day cruiser would not be able to do it all. We were able to do it all, at least once, but it took us three tries.

 

Would I recommend this ship or this itinerary or this CD - Yes. For those of you cruising on her while she is still in the Caribbean, you will be very happy. For those of you cruising on her around the horn, you will have an amazing trip. Wish we could join you...

 

Hope you all enjoyed this and got at least some information from it.

 

Cheers!

[AE_Collector]

Charles:

 

I found myself organizing at least part of our day from reading your early morning daily report.

 

I agree about the flying home part of the adventure. We want our front door to be at the end of the gangway. We used to attempt to arrive straight to the ship and fly straight home with no hotels. Last year we flew overnight from Vancouver to Istanbul via Amsterdam and got straight onto the ship. It nearly killed us. We were in a daze for days! Since then we fly in a day or more early but still try to fly straight home after the cruise.

 

Flying straight home didnt work for us this time without a very hefty increase in the cost of the flight and there were eight of us. After we booked the flight AA started merging their schedules wot US Air which opened up a good flight time for us the day we disembarked but we couldn't move our flight up a day without a fee of over $200 a person. It was just much less expensive for the eight of us to spend the night even considering the additional transportation costs. So, we made the best of it and had a nice day at least.

 

From what you are saying about "Adventure Cruises" (where we are at too) AND "bonding with the crew", you MUST try Ocean or Pacific before it is too late. Our first small ship was in April and we wound up doing 6 small ship cruises in a row for 3 sepeate cruises. (B2B2B on Pacific, B2B on Ocean and a single on Pacific) We were aprehensive about going back to a big ship for this cruise though all worked out just fine.

 

Again, it was nice meeting you both though my recollection is a little fuzzy :)

Hope to bump into you on another "adventure"!

 

Terry & Kim

[ccrain]

Charles:

 

 

Again, it was nice meeting you both though my recollection is a little fuzzy :)

Hope to bump into you on another "adventure"!

 

Terry & Kim

 

A little fuzzy?

 

That wouldn't be because of our excursion together would it now?

[AE_Collector]

A little fuzzy?

 

That wouldn't be because of our excursion together would it now?

 

I stand corrected...."A LOT fuzzy"! IE: Blurry......

 

Terry

Edited December 22, 2014 by AE_Collector