All-Inclusive Beverage Package: Live from the Ruby Princess

[Cruiselover1951]

Day 2 – 2/1/15 – At sea

-------------------------------

Being a many year repeat Princess cruiser with a stray to Seven Seas and Celebrity once each over the past 15 years, it is interesting, and somewhat depressing, to notice the ups and downs in quality and service within Princess (I remember mini-bar setup and fresh flowers in mini-suites back in the day), with the unavoidable sum being a decline, though with no illusions that the same is not happening at other cruise lines. However, for those of us who pay >$15,000 + on board charges per cruise of 2-3 weeks, for a couple, one wonders where one can get the "most" for that not insignificant amount of money. Last year, we cruised in an OS on the Royal TA from FLL to CPH, and except for the soot (for which we got a generous credit), it was great. The concierge lounge – great!, the huge balcony - great, the perks facilitated by the concierge representatives and the concierge lounge itself: - great! Made the cruise just wonderful. Well, here we are on the Ruby Princess, second day of an 18 day Brazilian adventure, allegedly a higher rated ship than the Royal, and already noticing some shortcomings. This morning we went to Sabatini’s for breakfast, nice enough, but for the 10th time, no difference in the Rumanian/Serbian s pleasantries to the lady in the couple, no change to any of the menu items than from when we started traveling in Princess suites 10 years ago. Fine, we know how it is: nice once in a while when at sea, tiresome and tedious every single day, have learned to prefer in- suite breakfast when in port and know the time we will wake up. After breakfast this morning we went straight to the fitness room and found it to be way too underequipped to the high demand around~10:00am! 6 ellipticals, 4 bikes, and 10 tread mills, all occupied with many people standing on the ready to pounce when somebody was done. Not good . Finally got 2 hours in between weights and cardio. Equipment less elaborate than on the Royal (i.e. no assisted pull-ups or dips as on the Royal). Ok, that may not be of interest to most. But we haven’t seen our cabin Stewart since he brought us the “champagne” prior to sail-off. No lunch/dinner menu in the suite, no fruit menu/order sheet, now having the same two tired kiwis left from yesterday’s devouring of the grapes and 2 oranges in the bowl at embarking. Went to our first main dining room dinner this night (Michelangelo). The reservation certainly worked like a charm, as suite guests, we were able to reserve at 7:00 pm in anytime dining, with a nice window table for two. But wait!! – What happened to the wonderful variety of plain, to grained freshly baked rolls we have come to love from years of cruising with Princess? A basket of freshly baked rolls that we always looked forward to (and got at the Crown Grill the evening before)? What’s with 2 plain, tasteless rolls, and 6 sticks of the driest bread sticks one can imagine with 2 pads of butter? – are you kidding? – What happened here? – Well, chucked it up, and ordered our meal: lamb shank with the trimmings. When receiving it, I swear, this was the smallest lamb shank I ever seen, no bigger than a good chicken drum stick with 2 small pieces of potatoes, and 4 small Brussels sprouts. A little on the luke warm side to boot, but otherwise OK – but left me hungry. The waiter (who was nice, but too busy serving too many at the same time) seeing my skeptical look, did immediately ask me whether he could bring me another one – but really!!?? That was a first for Princess!. As I told my wife: we have had better meals on Princess!

Well, 16 day’s to go, hopefully this was an aberration.

 

Went to Merengue dance lesson which was good (what one doesn't do for love of one's wife of 40 years!!), saw the Super bowl, which was on all over the ship (great!) (angry the cheaters won!!) got our first set of spa treatments (good) and are now wrapping up in our suite, tea for the lady ... and water - excuse me I misspoke :-) .... a supersized Margarita for the Gent!! .

 

And the AIBP (oh yes, that what this thread was supposed to be about):

 

Today’s tally:

Fresh squeezed orange Juice (+2 in Sabatini) - $2.50 (no signing)

Specialty coffee (late etc) 2.30 x3 (no signing)

White wine x5- $40 (signing x5)

Red wine x 3 - $24 (signing x 3)

Water bottle x1 - $2.00 (after the work-out!!) - does taste strange though :-) ) (signing x1)

 

Mixed drinks I(Tequila Sunrise x1, Frozen Margarita x 4, Irish Coffee x1) - total:: x6 - $40 (signing x6)

(getting a cramp as on previous cruises - but all the receipts say $0.00 - so that alleviates the pain!!)

 

Total: $116

 

Total for days 1-2: ~220 (Still ahead)

 

Would I have been drinking less if not on the AIBP?

 

No!! (as my close friends and wife would immediately quip!!)

 

When served by a particular nice person, I do tip a couple of newly printed dollars - Service for the drinks in general is excellent - they usually make the drinks before seeing the blue sticker - so no discrimination what-so-ever. And the glasses fly to the table at the main dining room no slower than if you had purchased a bottle.

 

So there!!

 

More to come!!

Edited February 2, 2015 by Cruiselover1951

[caribill]

More to come!!

Good!

[Mackenzie1]

Congratulations on day 2 and thank you for your great report! I've sensed from posts on this board that some seasoned cruisers are becoming increasingly disappointed in the decline in the specialness of what Princess cruises used to be. It's like the bean counters in accounting have worked overtime coming up with services to take away from cruisers to enhance the bottom line. At some point, though, it becomes obvious and cruisers leave the cruise feeling disappointed instead of thrilled. Princess does have good itineraries, though, so it may be a toss up. I hope the rest of your cruise is fabulous.

 

Please keep up the good work on your reviews! Can't wait to read about day 3!

 

P.S. I'm glad you could see the Super Bowl because that game was awesome.

Edited February 2, 2015 by Mackenzie1

[Cruiselover1951]

First a disclaimer/clarification: The internet on the ship is so slow that it freezes up constantly, and thus I write my log in Word before posting meaning, I have read none of the questions/comments 24h prior.

 

During the first 2 days of the cruise, the weather has been finicky, mostly overcast and grey, with as much blue sky as there has been rain. At times the ship seems deserted when walking through the pool areas.

 

Got up to a late start today, breakfast at Sabatini’s: Got my latte and orange juice needs satisfied there for free – went back to the suite and kept busy with nothing until noon, and then went for 2-1/2 hour cardio/strength training in the ship gym. Much better time to do so, much less crowded than yesterday.

 

Maybe I was a little harsh on the Ruby yesterday – it is a lovely Grand Class ship, lots or room, easy to find company if that’s what you want, solitude, if that’s what you want. Connected with our cabin stewart (“Calito”) and got our fruit and menus as we wanted it.

 

There is an inordinate amount of Elites on this sailing, evident already at embarkment where the preferred line was way longer than the regular line. Always entertaining to be in the first 1/3 of the line and see DYKWIAs after DYKWAIs strutting down with determination in their steps past us all to the beginning of the line, waving their preferred boarding pass, only to be shooed way, way, way in the back by the guardians of the gate telling them for all to hear: “well, this IS the line for preferred, you will need to go to the end of the line” and then with a stiff stare start the walk of shame to the back!! On a raffle at one of the venues yesterday with several hundreds of people, the MC asked “how many are first time cruisers on Princeess” – 3 hands went up. “How many are Rubys” – no hands went up. “How many are Gold”, under 10 hand went up, “how many platinum” a couple of dozens of hands went up “how many Elites” and the room exploded into a show of hands, of which most did not go down when asked “how many are on for the full 49 days”. Also in our suite there was a note stating “that because of extraordinary amount of demands on the washing, a 72 hour turnover was unavoidable” – so there!! – we are all chiefs on this boat, very few Indians!! (when I told a guy at the bar that this was my first trip on this “boat” he politely corrected me and said “it is not a boat, it is a ship” to which I immediately responded: “sir, the Royal Princess is a ship, this is a boat” to which he said “Touché’” and we were drinking bodies from that point forward – at least at that sitting!!

 

Dinner today was “Captains Welcome Dinner”, first formal and Champagne Fall in the Atrium and all – much better than yesterday’s. The Leg of lamb which I had was delicious, the game hen the DW had she said was dry, I tasted it and thought it was fine. Made reservations in the morning which there was no trace of when arriving at the reserved time, but the MaîtreD was cool and gracious – despite not finding a trace of my claim that we made the reservation, said “no problem” and got us a nice table for 2 despite a long line of walk-ups. Then back to our suite and a card game followed by a movie (that we brought) and off to bed to be ready for an all-day water/boat excursion on our first landfall Tuesday at the Antigua.

 

Now to the important part: the AIBP: maybe running into the first potential snafu today: At dinner told the assistant waiter that after the glass of champagne, I wanted a glass of white wine with the appetizer and a glass of red wine with the main course. Came back with a ticket with bot glasses on which I signed, and then returned with one glass of white and one glass of red wine, served the red to my wife and the white to me. “No, no, no” we said “she doesn’t drink – it is all for me” – well, fine, but now I wonder whether the fact that 2 glasses were on the same ticket will result in a charge for one or both (dining room tickets for signature do not come with a receipt or an amount like in the bars). – We will see. Good service all around, overall a very nice day at sea and a continuing very enjoyable cruise.

 

All right – here’s today’s tally:

1.5 L water x2 = $7.00

Korbut champagne x2 = $16.00

Tequila Sunrise x1 = $6.50

Vodka Martini x1 = $8.50

Frozen Margaritas x3 = $19.50

Irish Coffee x1 = $9.00

Red Wine x1 = $8.00

White Wine x2 = 16.00

Armaretto $5.50 x1 (to pour on the desert)

Total for the day: $ 96

Total for days 1-3: ~$315 – still ahead!

 

Tomorrow is a shore day where we will be off the ship for 8 hours – so we will see if that makes a difference.

 

More to come

[DB605]

Great reporting! Nice to see the important stuff covered for a change:)

 

Would be interesting to hear what they do regarding discounting bottles? I heard 40% for less than $100 bottles, nothing or possibly a reduced amount for bottles over?

 

Also after surveying your drinks may I suggest a spirit, perhaps a cognac to balance out the alcohol groups:D

[cruiser113]

Is all wine by the glass $8 or does it vary? Is the korbel champagne the small bottle or by the glass? What brands do they serve by the glass?

Thanks in advance.

 

Do you have to pay for orange juice now?

[candigirl41]

Is all wine by the glass $8 or does it vary? Is the korbel champagne the small bottle or by the glass? What brands do they serve by the glass?

Thanks in advance.

 

Do you have to pay for orange juice now?

 

The Korbel is the small split bottle. You can buy different wines for different prices. Not sure of the amounts. I know someone posted a liquor menu but I can't find it.

 

Candi

[lady merlot]

Do you have to buy the drink card for everyday, or can you do it one day on, one day off?

How hard is it to share drinks from your card with cabin mate?:confused:

[lady merlot]

Can we take more than one bottle of wine each, pay whatever they charge, but take it to cabin???

[6pack]

Do you have to buy the drink card for everyday, or can you do it one day on, one day off?

How hard is it to share drinks from your card with cabin mate?:confused:

 

You have to purchase for your entire cruise. The card is certainly not for sharing, however I'm sure some do.

[6pack]

Is all wine by the glass $8 or does it vary? Is the korbel champagne the small bottle or by the glass? What brands do they serve by the glass?

Thanks in advance.

 

Do you have to pay for orange juice now?

 

Korbel champagne is sold by the small bottle. When we were on our Christmas cruise they were switching from cork top to screw cap :( You can get pretty much any wine on the menu in Vines. We enjoyed a Sauvignon Blanc from Napa Valley called Silverado; it was $10 / glass and therefore included in the beverage package. Some of the bars do not serve this wine so we took it out in a "to go" glass! :-)

 

I believe they do charge for Fresh Squeezed OJ, however I'm not 100% sure as they didn't have me sign for it.

Edited February 3, 2015 by 6pack

[Cruiselover1951]

Waking up to near blue skies while the ship inched it’s way into the middle berth in Antigua between “MSC Musica” and “RC Oasis of the Sea” was very nice, nicer still with room service bringing a full breakfast that we enjoyed on the balcony during this show of seamanship of how to handle this huge ship in narrow quarters.

 

Had made a pre-reserved and pre-paid excursion (not Princess) for a full day Eco tour of the 19 other Islands close to the main Island with the capital St. John. Were 18 guests on a huge Catamaran, and a very informative on-board leader who told us all about the fragile eco-systems, some of which had been lost and some of which had been rebuild around Antigua. Visited “Hell’s Gate Island” and swam to it to tour the caves and narrow passage on our way to the actual “hell’s Gate”, a big swirling pool contributed to by both the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic from each side of the “Gate”.

 

Went to “Bird Island” and did indeed see many nesting birds indigenous to the area, and for some of them, only found there. Unfortunately were there 3 weeks before Humpback whaling season (and saw none) but were told about the spectacle best seen from atop of Bird Island when unfolding. Lots of sun, lots of snorkeling (but not that great reefs or fish life), DW got sunburned despite lots of precautions.

 

Arrived back at the ship by 4:30PM. Sail-off supposed to be at 5:30, but they were clearly waiting for someone, and at 5:45PM a couple came running to cheers and jeers of paxes from both the MSC Musica and the Ruby and off we went after the bridge crew literally backed out just enough to make a 180 degree turn on a dime. Had dinner in the MDR, 3rd different crew, nice enough, but we are still looking for the “click” that will make us settle down at the same table evening after evening. DW has a feeling it will not happen on this sailing – I am still optimistic. Dinner unfortunately again was somewhat of a letdown, not very exciting menu choices (can you say “Turkey Medallions” with a straight face?) – never good when DW and DH looks at each other while eating the appetizer and both asking: “What was it again we ordered”? Turkey? Duck? (the correct answer was “chicken salad” with some dry skinless chicken in slices with a few chopped salad pieces on the side making it a “salad”.) DW got “divers scallops” and said the scallops were very good, but the sides were not. I got a Cowboy Steak that I ordered “medium rare” (it was medium) and while eatable for sure, it really was no different than what you can get in any average restaurant in any American city. This was the third time (DW)/Second time (me) of being somewhat disappointed and unavoidably thinking back to greater meals on even our last cruise with Princess a year ago. “Average restaurant” fare is what I think so far. DW stated categorically that tomorrow (Wednesday) we will not go to the MDR but instead eat in, either from the menu and if not exciting, go to Horizon Court.

 

And now that I am on a whining note: the Internet connection on this ship is the worst I have experienced from any ship ever! – Just getting to page two on this board to paste the daily report takes 20-30 minutes with several loops back to the login page when seemingly stuck, and taking forever to load a board page. Frustrating, atrocious – What one doesn’t do for fame (and LOSS of fortune!!)

 

Very tired after a busy day in the sun, need to get up early Wednesday to go SCUBA Diving at St. Lucia (which happens to be the name of our suite).

 

OK – now with the chit-chat out of the way: now to the essentials of this thread: After the last snorkeling, the onboard leader of the Catamaran put as much rum in the fruit punch as one wanted – so 2 full glasses went down with no cost to Princess!. On the way back to the ship, had a locally brewed beer (tradition of many years – have to oblige!) – So I was 3 drinks ahead when boarding the Ruby – so here it goes:

 

Large Latte in the morning on the way down the gangway: $ 3.50

Double Tequila Sunrise within a minute of stepping back onboard: $8.50

Followed by a double Margarita: $ 8.50

Additional 2 standard Margaritas before bedtime: $13.00

At dinner: 1 Korbet ¼ bottle champagne: $8.00

White Wine (Chenin Blanc) x1: $8.00

Redwine x 2 (Cabernet, Shiraz): $ 16.00

Kalua x1 (to pour over the expresso ice-cream desert): $5.75

Irish Coffe x1: $9.00

Total: ~$89 for the day.

Not as good as the other days, but not too shabby either!!

Total for days 1-4: ~$380 or ~$95/day

 

More to come - the Ruby atrociously slow internet connection permitting!!

[ggprincess2004]

No judgments here. I am jealous of your capacity - could have maybe managed that for a few days in my 20's, but not now. Between the coffee cards we have for trading out mini-bars (the second ones we get in suites and then on b2b's), bringing bottled water on board, and a max of two glasses of wine or mixed drinks or combination thereof, I reach my limit at under $20 day....I admit it...I am a wuss.:o

 

Looking forward to the continuing saga......

[Msail]

You need to drink a lot to make it pay

 

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[Cruise Junky]

I love this thread. I wish I'd kept better track of our last drink package :). Mine would have had a lot more martini bar entries though :p

[Colo Cruiser]

No judgments here. I am jealous of your capacity - could have maybe managed that for a few days in my 20's, but not now. Between the coffee cards we have for trading out mini-bars (the second ones we get in suites and then on b2b's), bringing bottled water on board, and a max of two glasses of wine or mixed drinks or combination thereof, I reach my limit at under $20 day....I admit it...I am a wuss.:o

 

Looking forward to the continuing saga......

 

Not my capacity either. :eek:

[caribill]

Had made a pre-reserved and pre-paid excursion (not Princess) for a full day Eco tour of the 19 other Islands close to the main Island with the capital St. John. Were 18 guests on a huge Catamaran, and a very informative on-board leader who told us all about the fragile eco-systems, some of which had been lost and some of which had been rebuild around Antigua.

 

Lots of sun, lots of snorkeling (but not that great reefs or fish life).

 

Which tour company offered this?

 

Was the snorkeling off of the boat or off of the beaches?

 

Thanks

[Woobstr112G]

Wow! I think I counted 13 alcoholic drinks on the first day. I could never drink that much. Look forward to your tallies for each succeeding day.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

Neither could I.....:eek::eek::eek:

 

Bob

[Mackenzie1]

Some of us aren't meant to run with the champions!

[lovey1103]

Just off the Regal. Roomie had the drink package and liked the idea of not having to think about what she was ordering and the cost. She was short of the 56$ daily, however felt the convenience was worth it.

I paid more attention to the drinks since I was paying each and every time I ordered. Honestly, the drinks are very weak. At least if you order wine you know what you are getting. I'm pretty sure Princess is doing OK in the beverage department.

[land lover]

This is a great thread...I am only reading the op's posts and they are very entertaining.......To the OP I know you are working out, but was just curious if you have been stepping on the scale?.....I mean the calories do add up.....

Keep on enjoying your cruise and drink package!!!!!

Edited February 4, 2015 by land lover

[willtravel8090]

Totally enjoying your review. The Kalua with ice cream sounds delish!

 

 

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[SuitCaseBears]

I'm loving this thread. Like the OP's DW I'm a non-drinker, by choice not medical need. My husband... not so much. I've always tried to get the best drinks package for him because he also likes his adult beverages. It always amazes me that the most it ever does for him is make him a bit sleepy.

 

For us, the big "savings" is not money, but my not worrying about money; and him being able to enjoy his cocktails without constantly checking to see if I'm getting upset about the cost.

 

While I trust we've always come out ahead on the drinks packages, I've never logged all of his drinks because NOT paying attention to what he drinks is the selling point for us.

 

All of which is why I'm really enjoying this thread because I can sort of read along and say "yeah he would have had that, and that, but not that, but then add the cognac at night."

[CruiserGuyWPB]

There are so many people that like the drink package and i love it too.... but so many say bad things.... if you like it do it, if not then dont..... but many want to call the other drunks or alcoholics, but in reality they drink as much too, just dont want to advertise it. its a drink package, its not a life long choice LOL

[Cruiselover1951]

I truly intended to keep this a daily log, but the slowness of the Ruby Internet finally got to me. Tried the day before for 60 minutes to get on the board, webpages expired, were never able to - can't even log into my own or work email. Writing this in front of clothing store in the duty free terminal having paid $3 for all day fast internet - go figure!! Using my iPad - not going To be able to write the report I want to -

 

But here is what I will do: I will keep my log current of tHe beverages consumed and post a per day summary once stationary with a workable I ternet. I did have a slow day Thursday, barely making the $50 - but today looks better!

 

So bear withy me - I have not forgotten my "obligation" and feel free to partition Princess to increase their broadband capacity as more and more people get wired with pictures and what not - because basically having no internet on board is ridiculous which the long lines every day in front of the Internet coffee attest to.

 

Cheers!!!