My Princess Ruby Cruise review (10/14/17) and comparison to Celebrity Equinox.

[klfhngr]

This is my personal review and comparison to the X cruise that we took in May on the Equinox.

 

Embarkation/Debarkation: We were shocked as to how quick we got on the Ruby! We arrived at about 11:00 AM (were told to be there at 1:30 PM) and were literally on within 10 minutes! Debarkation was just as fast and efficient on the Ruby.

 

X was terrible since they could not locate 2 passengers to get off of the ship! Because of that, it took longer than usual.

 

Hands down, the Ruby wins!

 

Staff: I don’t know how else to say this, but workers on the Ruby rarely smiled. Most seemed tired or not happy to be there. May (from Japan) in one of the bars was AWESOME! Her peers definitely need to work with her. Also, our cabin steward Darios was great and loved to chat (briefly). Also, we heard things that we’ve never heard before on any of our cruises. One worker in the International Café said to my friend ‘You’re rude’ when my friend KINDLY let him know that he was next (and not the person after him). We were SHOCKED and have never heard this before. In the dining room, time and time again we kept hearing ‘we can’t do that’ or ‘I’ll come back to you’, without them coming back or remembering what we said or requested. When we did have a question for someone on the ship, they didn’t seem like they wanted to help.

 

X was the TOTAL opposite! We never heard a no, everyone was always smiling and ready to assist. We felt wanted and pampered from ALL of the staff.

 

Hands down, X wins!!!!!

 

Food: Food is very subjective, so this is my opinion only. We’re not foodies, but tend to enjoy good food while on a cruise. The menu was ‘boring’. Some of the foods were bland and just ok. Wait staff would tell us to wait when we had a request and would never follow up. We had a large group with 5 different tables. We were free to sit at any table. One of the waitresses was INCREDIBLE! She was fast, polite and accurate! Whoever sat at her tables were fed at least 15 minutes before the other tables. Everyone rushed to sit at her tables, lol! We were all in the same area and could not figure out why she was so efficient and quick compared to the other waiter. My timing is not exaggerated. We’d be finishing dinner while our friends at other table(s) were just getting their entrée….

Food by the pools was very good! Pizza and burgers, etc. International Café was our nightly place to eat, since the pizza place closed early! Who would close a pizza place early!?! The Cuban sandwiches were very good as were some of the pastries.

Buffet food was ok, simple as that. Same ole thing. Got crowded too. Service was fair. Nothing popped, just ok……

 

On X, the food was very good.. I wouldn’t say great, but very good. Wait staff was attentive but I wouldn’t say fast. Food by pools was very good. Pizza place open very late! Great pizza and pasta. Buffet was very good and very efficient, easy to navigate. Never seemed overcrowded. Service was good.

 

For food, X wins hands down. For Service in dining room, X wins! Our waitress on the Ruby should work for X!

 

Activities: I expected so much more from the Ruby. The pool area was BORING! The band rarely played. The pool DJ was not that great! Volleyball was fun though! Everything seemed to die down by 10ish.. The night club was the only real happening place after hours. We/our kids usually shut it down. We karaoke’d and had a blast.

 

On X, I felt that there was more to do, even though I was expecting a ‘dead’ ship! Seemed to close down later. More options, livelier. This really surprised my wife and I being that we expected an older crowd and less activity. Music and band by pool was good. Things were happening throughout the ship.

 

Again, X wins!

 

Fellow passengers: We noted that many of the passengers were a little older than us (60+). There’s nothing wrong with that, but we were expecting a younger crowd, being that it was Princess.

 

Comparing to X, I think that the crowd might have been a little younger than on the Ruby, which again surprised me. I enjoy associating with people of all ages, so don’t slam me for my comments.

 

Overall, X wins again!

 

Ship/Cabin: We knew going in that the Ruby is an older ship. She has held up though. Ship is in really good shape, however the colors and the ‘feel’ are not up to date. Seems outdated. Sort of easy to navigate. I think that if the staff was nicer and smiling, it would’ve made the ship feel nicer (if you know what I mean)….. We had an aft cabin, D735. Cabin seemed a bit tight but balcony was awesome!

 

Equinox was very nice, up to date. I can’t really say much more, but great ship! I can’t compare the cabins to the Ruby because it’s equivalent to a mini suite. Our friends did stay in a mini suite and it was very comparable to X

 

In regards to the ship, X wins!

 

Specialty Dining: We only visited the Crown Grill. Food was good. Porterhouse was a very generous cut and mashed potatoes were the bomb! Service was blah, no emotions/feelings from the staff. Felt like they were just going thru the motions! Come on guys, SMILE!!!!!! We also had the English lunch at the Wheelhouse. Our party of 3 was seated next to the service entrance. After being seated, we were blatantly ignored! People next to us were ordering drinks, while we just sat and sat. This is not an exaggeration! We finally got up and left. As we headed out, an officer asked how it was. I explained to him that NO ONE ever stopped by our table and that we were leaving! He apologized and asked us to please stay. We told him no kindly and that we’d be going somewhere else. He insisted that we stay. We gave in and he seated us in a ‘VIP’ area. He deeply apologized and wanted to know where we were seated so that he could talk to his staff. He had a waiter take our order. Within FIVE minutes, we received our food! Others in the same section were looking at us wondering how/why we got our food so fast. While we ate, he spoke to his staff. A few came over to apologize. We felt bad because we didn’t want anyone to get in trouble. He said that he needed to know so that this does not happen again.

 

On X, we visited 3 specialty dining’s. The food was very good, but again, it was the SERVICE that made the difference! We were treated special and treated like it was a special night on the town. We didn’t get that feeling at all on the Ruby! It felt like we were intruding on their evening!

 

X wins, without a doubt!

 

Final Comments: I went with a group of 30, friends and family. I can honestly say that they made our trip! If it was just my wife and I, I think I would’ve either jumped off the ship or flew home from Puerto Vallarta! It really was that boring and DEAD! Being that we’ve been on many cruises, I kept my comments to myself so that I could get an honest opinion from others. From the ones that rarely cruised, they said that it was slightly boring. They said that the food was ok and that the ship was ok. They too noticed the crew and how they seemed ‘not interested’. For those that have cruise several times, a few said that the food ‘sucked’ and that the ship was boring and that there was nothing to do! All agreed that if it wasn’t for our group, that this cruise would’ve been a failure! The kids, aged 19 – 24 enjoyed the company of one another. They too said that it was BORING! My two boy, who have cruised about 7 or 8 times said that it was boring and that the food was terrible! For those 60 and older, they said that they had a great time and would’ve loved to do a B2B! So there you go, lol! Again, I kept my comments to myself and wanted to know what everyone thought.

 

We have another Princess cruised booked and we are now seriously considering if we should cancel. It’s on a newer ship, the Royal, so we have hopes that maybe it will be better. I really think that X spoiled us and set the notch/bar high. I’m trying to be open minded and fair, but honestly think that X is what we’re looking for. Also, just to show you how Princess left a bad taste in our mouth, we’re actually considering cruising on the Carnival Horizon in Sept. of 2018! I never thought that we would go back to CCL, however I think that this might even be a step up from the Ruby! Please don’t hate or slam, this is my sincere review. I had HIGH expectations for the Ruby and came back feeling like a total downer! The funny thing is that the only ones to really have a smile were the Princess employees that worked at debarkation! Even those that were sending us off were robotic, my friend told them, ‘Smile! Say bye or say something, sheesh’!!! So that basically summarizes our cruise!

 

Feel free to ask questions… Feel free to slam away ;)

[lindyloo17]

Thank you for a very honest and fair review x

[easyboy]

Thanks for the feedback.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[need2cruisesoon]

It's too bad you weren't on our Regal cruise last week.

Very enjoyable on all accounts and crew and service people were very engaged with us.

 

Good luck on the Royal.

[JEH]

DW and I were also on this cruise and agree with your review. We missed the Celebrity interactive movies in the room .

[Wishing on a star]

For some reason, it seems that many recent reviews on the Ruby are hitting the same notes.

Maybe something needs to be changing, top down, on this ship???

We enjoyed the Ruby when she was nearly new!

But, also felt that the food and service, even then, were not up to par.

I thought that maybe this was because it was a rare shortie... but now, think not-so-much???

Also noticed an unattentive and way-to-easy to say 'no' or just plain walk away, attitude.

 

We were looking at the Ruby again for a future cruise.

She would be the newest Princess shop on the itinerary.

 

But, might consider the Emerald or a different ship if possible!!!

 

I am NOT surprised about the demographic and activity level between Princess and Celebrity.

From what I gather, only line worse than Princess is HAL!!!

 

I do have a question...

I posted a recent thread about the utility lights hanging up on Deck 8, right in front of many OV cabins there.

It you or anyone in your party noticed anything about this, I would love to hear!

[klfhngr]

Thanks all..

 

Thanks Jeh.. I want sure if others on our cruise would agree with me.. outside of our group..

 

Glad to answer any questions.

[san diego sue]

Thanks for your review. You are comparing the newer modern ship Celebrity with an older ship.

I think you will love the Royal (or if you ever sail on the Regal). More modern with interactive TV's.

Also the age group of crowd changes depending on the itinerary. Our Europe cruising this summer had a much younger age group then when we cruise the west coast of U.S.

We have cruised on the Ruby very often and had found the staff very friendly. Getting special items in the dining room has always been given to us. We speak to the Head waiter day ahead . Now the staff changes as well so since I wasn't on your cruise will not dispute your observations. We will be boarding the Ruby for two weeks next month and hope our experience is better than yours. Sorry yours should have been better . Again , thanks for your comparison review. It has been years since we cruised Celebrity and our last cruise was pretty bad(Hawaii cruise , day we left Hawaii and headed back to LA, they ran out of coffee and vegetables), . We may give it another shot on one of their newer ships.

[klfhngr]

For some reason, it seems that many recent reviews on the Ruby are hitting the same notes.

Maybe something needs to be changing, top down, on this ship???

We enjoyed the Ruby when she was nearly new!

But, also felt that the food and service, even then, were not up to par.

I thought that maybe this was because it was a rare shortie... but now, think not-so-much???

Also noticed an unattentive and way-to-easy to say 'no' or just plain walk away, attitude.

 

We were looking at the Ruby again for a future cruise.

She would be the newest Princess shop on the itinerary.

 

But, might consider the Emerald or a different ship if possible!!!

 

I am NOT surprised about the demographic and activity level between Princess and Celebrity.

From what I gather, only line worse than Princess is HAL!!!

 

I do have a question...

I posted a recent thread about the utility lights hanging up on Deck 8, right in front of many OV cabins there.

It you or anyone in your party noticed anything about this, I would love to hear!

 

Something really needs to be done, or this ship will be 'sinking'.. I always enjoy interacting with the staff, and they usually love to interact also. I really don't know what is going on with the Ruby.

 

I do recall your post. We did not see any lights, lol!

 

Fyi, my son and his wife had an OV on deck 8.

[klfhngr]

Thanks for your review. You are comparing the newer modern ship Celebrity with an older ship.

I think you will love the Royal (or if you ever sail on the Regal). More modern with interactive TV's.

Also the age group of crowd changes depending on the itinerary. Our Europe cruising this summer had a much younger age group then when we cruise the west coast of U.S.

We have cruised on the Ruby very often and had found the staff very friendly. Getting special items in the dining room has always been given to us. We speak to the Head waiter day ahead . Now the staff changes as well so since I wasn't on your cruise will not dispute your observations. We will be boarding the Ruby for two weeks next month and hope our experience is better than yours. Sorry yours should have been better . Again , thanks for your comparison review. It has been years since we cruised Celebrity and our last cruise was pretty bad(Hawaii cruise , day we left Hawaii and headed back to LA, they ran out of coffee and vegetables), . We may give it another shot on one of their newer ships.

 

I agree that it's old vs new, however, I don't think that the quality of service should matter, regardless of the age of the ship. One of my best cruises was on the Commodore, which was old and beat up, but the staff was awesome! I really try to see the best in people and in the workers, but time and time again they disappointed. I finally gave up in starting conversations except with May and Mr D... We've done the MR many times and we've noticed a somewhat younger crowd. Again, this isn't really a big deal. I was just trying to address the general demographics of our cruise. I didn't know that Princess attracted an older crowd like HAL, as someone posted. Anyhow...

 

Btw Sue, I really hope you have an enjoyable cruise with a refreshed crew... I told myself, I would be so upset if we had purchased a B2B on this ship..

 

We're keeping our Royal cruise for now, thank you for helping us reconsider.. Who knows, maybe the livelier crew members are sent to the newer ships, as my friend suggested.

Edited October 26, 2017 by klfhngr
Wishing Sue a great cruise!

[Lucky TGO]

Klfhngr,

I have only one question. Did you get Grandma her :whiskey-glass::whiskey-glass: Grand Marnier drinks every day?..:)

Tony

[ShyannDay]

Well this does not bode well for me. WE have 4 on the Ruby October 28. I hope it's not as bad as it sounds.

[SJSchell]

Well this does not bode well for me. WE have 4 on the Ruby October 28. I hope it's not as bad as it sounds.

I think you will have a great cruise. We were on this cruise as well and had a different experience than the OP.

 

The staff and crew we interacted with were very good, smiling, friendly, and professional. Service was great!

 

Food was great! I have allergies and a special diet was handled with great care. We enjoyed visiting with and learning from the other passengers who knew the ports better than we did.

 

Enjoy your upcoming cruise!

 

Sent from my SM-G900T using Forums mobile app

[4cats4me]

My Princess Ruby Cruise review (10/14/17) and comparison to Celebrity Equinox (5/17)

 

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?share_fid=24703&share_tid=2557838&url=https%3A%2F%2Fboards%2Ecruisecritic%2Ecom%2Fshowthread%2Ephp%3Ft%3D2557838&share_type=thttps://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?share_fid=24703&share_tid=2557838&url=https%3A%2F%2Fboards%2Ecruisecritic%2Ecom%2Fshowthread%2Ephp%3Ft%3D2557838&share_type=t

[sfaaa]

How can this be a fair comparison if you don't also compare the price you paid between the two cruises?

[trbarton]

I was on the Ruby in March, my first time on that ship, but have been on other Princess ships & had a completely different experience than you had. I could find no issues. I’m aware that the crew is changed from time to time so perhaps that made a difference. I have had positive experiences on Princess so I hope your next cruise is positive like you’ve experienced on X. Please post again on this thread on your experiences on the Royal so we can all see how your trip goes.

FYI....I was on 2 B2B cruises, a total of 9 days.

Tom😎

[Bimmer09]

It's too bad you weren't on our Regal cruise last week.

Very enjoyable on all accounts and crew and service people were very engaged with us.

 

Good luck on the Royal.

 

I was on that Regal cruise with Brother Ron and have to agree!

Norris

[klfhngr]

Klfhngr,

I have only one question. Did you get Grandma her :whiskey-glass::whiskey-glass: Grand Marnier drinks every day?..:)

Tony

 

Ha!! Yes, but only one a night, lol!:eek:

[klfhngr]

Well this does not bode well for me. WE have 4 on the Ruby October 28. I hope it's not as bad as it sounds.

 

I'm sure you'll have a great time! Just make the best of it!

[klfhngr]

I think you will have a great cruise. We were on this cruise as well and had a different experience than the OP.

 

The staff and crew we interacted with were very good, smiling, friendly, and professional. Service was great!

 

Food was great! I have allergies and a special diet was handled with great care. We enjoyed visiting with and learning from the other passengers who knew the ports better than we did.

 

Enjoy your upcoming cruise!

 

Sent from my SM-G900T using Forums mobile app

 

I'm honestly glad that your experience was better! I was basing my review on my experience and the comments of about 30 others in our group... I'll hang out on your side of the ship next time, lol!

[klfhngr]

How can this be a fair comparison if you don't also compare the price you paid between the two cruises?

 

What does price have to do with service and attitudes??!! Sorry, not coping an attitude, I'm sincerely asking. I'm not comparing Princess to Cunard or Seabourne... Paid 2600 for 7 day on Ruby and 3700 for 10 day on X if that helps.. give or take..

[klfhngr]

I was on the Ruby in March, my first time on that ship, but have been on other Princess ships & had a completely different experience than you had. I could find no issues. I’m aware that the crew is changed from time to time so perhaps that made a difference. I have had positive experiences on Princess so I hope your next cruise is positive like you’ve experienced on X. Please post again on this thread on your experiences on the Royal so we can all see how your trip goes.

FYI....I was on 2 B2B cruises, a total of 9 days.

Tom😎

 

If we go on the royal I'll be more than happy to do am honest comparison to the 3 cruises. Or perhaps X vs Royal... Perhaps even the Carnival Horizon!

[dforeigner]

Thank you for taking time to write a review.

[jennybenny]

Thanks all..

 

Glad to answer any questions.

 

Sorry to hear the cruise was not up to your expectations. We really like the Ruby. We sailed her for Thanksgiving last year and love it so much we booked a couple more cruises on her (we loved SHARE). Have not sailed on the Ruby since but we did sneak in a trip on the Emerald just to try SHARE again, and it did not disappoint! Sadly staff is not always consistent, so there are those fluctuations to deal with. It sounds like staff was not eager to be there and I'm sorry to hear that.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience though. It's interesting to me to hear comparisons. Some friends and I have discussed/considered trying other cruise lines, but we have not yet jumped ship. We did do a cruise on the Royal Princess earlier this year and loved the ship! I think you will enjoy a cruise on the Regal next year. Love the larger ship, the piazza, Bellinis, Alfredos, Retreat pool, so many things!! Really excited about the Royal's move to the west coast. I hope you give it a try and see if you like it. Plus, it's great to hear the comparisons so I hope you report back in.

Thanks again.

[drpack]

Actually for some cruisers, boring is good. Some just want to get away from the daily grind and relax...