Just off the Ruby...My thoughts

[satxdiver]

...

 

Also, I apparently have not adequately appreciated RCI’s unlimited butter policy! [emoji6]

 

 

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Last year at our M&G the PSD head addressed us and brought up the subject as soon as he started speaking. He said that they were literally throwing away thousand's of pounds of butter each cruise because once it is on the table, if not eaten has to be thrown away. While I don't usually eat the butter, I have been at tables where my table mates did ask for more butter and it was quickly provided without question.

[caribill]

While I don't usually eat the butter, I have been at tables where my table mates did ask for more butter and it was quickly provided without question.

 

Others have reported that sometimes it takes 15 minutes or more before your waitstaff comes by so you can ask for more butter. By that time you may no longer be interested in that roll or your baked potato is no longer warm.

[ceilidh1]

Others have reported that sometimes it takes 15 minutes or more before your waitstaff comes by so you can ask for more butter. By that time you may no longer be interested in that roll or your baked potato is no longer warm.

 

We just got off Ruby on Friday and the dining room service was the worst we have had in 18 Princess cruises! Once the order was taken, we never saw the waiter again - food was delivered by assistant waiter and no one checked in to see if it was ok. Only time a drink order was taken was when we first sat down - no one ever came to take another drink order. We would have been hard pushed to order anything - never mind ask for extra butter! Food was great, service not so much.....

[Griller]

I hope all this dining confusion doesn't spread fleet wide. DH and I are thinking of a cruise for our 40th anniversary. Can't decide between Princess and NCL for the Caribbean. We are new to this!

 

We have sailed both lines recently, the NCL ship was Epic, and Regal Princess, neither in the Caribbean. In our opinion and somewhat surprisingly the food was better on NCL, better specialty restaurants, more choice in the main dining room menus, more choice in the buffet, and just generally better food.

Seemed to us that both lines have made changes in food, but NCL's has got better and Princess's has got cheaper quality and less choice.

Service was about the same on both ships and good. Room and Dining Service Charge is adjustable or removable on both lines.

Hated the layout of the inside cabins on Epic, its weird. Regal has "normal" layout.

Had the NCL drinks package thrown in "free"but had to pay $18 a day for the grats, this was unlimited liberal top level booze, nothing unbranded. They make Bloody Mary's with Grey Goose Vodka!

Bar service fast and friendly, no skimping in any way, unlike Princess.

 

NCL ship had way better entertainment than Princess in every way.

 

NCL had long lines at times, much more so than Princess. Epic just felt crowded in a way that Regal did not.

 

If you want a quiet time in the Caribbean and something different, no lines for anything, no entertainment, impeccable service and food then we loved Wind Surf this year. No formal, nice fellow passengers and ports you will never go to on a big ship. Seabourn also offer good Caribbean sailings.

[Photofinish4]

FYI...You may not be aware that you can have as much butter as you want just by asking. Their was a lot of waste of butter that was unused & had to be thrown out.

If anyone has a problem asking for more butter than perhaps Princess is not a cruise line for them.

If the server refused to bring more butter that that’s an issue to discuss with the Maître d’.

Tom😎

the problem is they take to long to bring extra butter

[voljeep]

if I'm going to have a baked potato -which I do most nights when we do go to the mdr - I always ask for extra butter as soon as we are seated and given the menus..

 

works for us, and never a problem

[onboard2005]

Thank you Griller for the wonderful information. Now we are considering Hawaii. I think it's 15 days with several sea days. Can anyone compare Carnival, Princess, and Holland America? What is the best port to leave out of?

 

I apologize that this is a bit unrelated to the thread topic but there seems to be a lot of experienced cruisers here.

 

Thanks

[Griller]

Thank you Griller for the wonderful information. Now we are considering Hawaii. I think it's 15 days with several sea days. Can anyone compare Carnival, Princess, and Holland America? What is the best port to leave out of?

 

I apologize that this is a bit unrelated to the thread topic but there seems to be a lot of experienced cruisers here.

 

Thanks

 

We have been on Star Princess twice on a 14 day Los Angeles round trip to Hawaii - with Captain Michele Tuvo, the most entertaining Captain we ever had.

And on that ship for our sailings - but they move around sometimes so check - was the music/singing/crafts duo Leiloha and Dave - jointly called Elua they are very good at making your trip special.

 

Whatever Princess ship they were on to Hawaii would be the one I was on.

 

San Pedro where the ship leaves from is an easy ride on the $17 supershuttle or whatever from LAX.

[onboard2005]

Hi Griller, Thank you very much! We'll look into that one. I hear that Carnival may be less money but doesn't compare to the activities on Princess. I prefer more quiet and elegance and that seems to also be Princess. Formal night videos on Utube look gorgeous. I'll look into it more. Again thank you so much.

[Photofinish4]

if I'm going to have a baked potato -which I do most nights when we do go to the mdr - I always ask for extra butter as soon as we are seated and given the menus..

 

works for us, and never a problem

on this particular cruise with Ruby a lot of things were a problem even getting your water glass filled and you would think by day 10 they would remember lemon with the water. I ordered water with lemon and I had ask 2 and 3 times

[Thrak]

I "might" actually be tempted by the ribeye. I don't like to eat at CG because I can't eat the amount of food they serve even if I only get the filet. (Also because it seems the quality has gone down even in the short time we have been cruising.) I don't want the filet but it's the smallest cut they offer. If I wasn't paying for the full meal and could just get the ribeye and whatever else I wanted to select from the regular menu it might work out for me to get the larger cut of meat which is actually the one I would prefer. I did get a steak in MDR on our last cruise and it was pretty darn bad. Not flavorful and tough. I wasn't happy with it at all.

 

As for butter, we have yet to be on a cruise where the butter was restricted. We have always had the little bowls with butter in them. Not a ton of butter but several bowls on the table with maybe 3 balls of butter in each one. I agree that, if one is getting a baked potato it would be a good idea to ask for extra butter when placing the order rather than after it has been served. It's remembering to do so that would be the issue. ;p

[trbarton]

if I'm going to have a baked potato -which I do most nights when we do go to the mdr - I always ask for extra butter as soon as we are seated and given the menus..

 

works for us, and never a problem

 

Excellent idea. Ask for extras at the beginning. I had wine & either had to ask for my bottle or refill my glass myself.

Tom😎

[Sillyjilly]

I was on this cruise too and found the new menus a bit confusing at first. By the end I understood the layout and found them easy enough to navigate. With a single exception, I enjoyed everything I ordered.

 

One night an entree and dessert from SHARE were offered, had both and very much enjoyed (no extra charge).

 

4:30 dining isn't for me, but I observed many headed that way when I was headed in to wash up for my 8:00 dinner. As someone else said, seems fine to me since it doesn't affect me.

 

I will comment that with 600 Elites and 900 Platinums debarkation was about as poor as we've experienced in recent memory.

 

I walked off without a problem.

 

Hello Tom, it was a pleasure to finally meet you.

[trbarton]

I walked off without a problem.

 

Hello Tom, it was a pleasure to finally meet you.

 

Thank you very much. Nice meeting you too.

Tom😎

[LovetheSea]

I was on the April 24-27th cruise. Did NOT like the new menu at all! We were so disappointed with the food on this cruise, we booked our next cruise this morning and went with Royal Caribbean for a Sept cruise. Service was very slow. Meat not cooked to order. Very rare when ordering Medium Rare. Breakfast in the dining room, we were served almost raw fried eggs. And my husband will eat runny eggs . But these were not cooked enough to eat them safely. And I ordered them over medium. A few times waiter gave us wrong food. Or half of what we ordered. Coffee after dinner not served until be were almost finished with our desert. I finally had to get the attention of a waiter, who was not the one that was supposed to be serving us the coffee and he got us all some. I could go on and on, but I won't . I did have some very tender beef. One steak was served almost raw. But it was tender.

[LovetheSea]

Something must be going on with post cruise survey. We got off the Ruby in late December. No survey so I called and got a call back. I was not happy about a total mess up in one specialty dining location. Michelle took all the information and we were given a free dinner on next cruise. The next cruise was on the Grand to Hawaii last month. Once again we did not received the survey. I called; had no complaints, actually wanted to give some compliments-This time I was sent a survey about a week later. The person with whom I spoke said there had been many problems with the surveys and there was now a "spreadsheet" being set up for the folks at Princess to keep track.

 

Our survey was waiting for us when we got home. The same day as the end of the cruise.

[LovetheSea]

I was on this cruise and I liked that I could order from the CG and did one night. I wanted a steak because the regular menu didn't really have anything that was interesting to me and my husband wasn't really interested in doing a CG dinner. It's a great compromise.

 

We were in a suite so we did Club Class every night except the first night. I will say service was slow that first night. Timing was really off and it was tough trying to get coffee with my dessert. I finally just gave up and had water

 

Service was so slow the first night, we missed the show. Out after 10 pm

[Tempo]

Thank you very much. Nice meeting you too.

Tom😎

Just a note I was on the BIG Boat in 64-65. US CORAL SEA CVA 43 AE2. Still sailing on others now.

[partybarbie]

I walked off without a problem.

 

Hello Tom, it was a pleasure to finally meet you.

 

We were Cream 2, an 8:15 am disembarkation, and also had no problem.

 

I was glad I was able to meet up with you Jill for a drink at Tradewinds.

 

My dad and I also met Tom at afternoon tea one day. Thank you for sharing the table with us. :)

[partybarbie]

I "might" actually be tempted by the ribeye. I don't like to eat at CG because I can't eat the amount of food they serve even if I only get the filet. (Also because it seems the quality has gone down even in the short time we have been cruising.) I don't want the filet but it's the smallest cut they offer. If I wasn't paying for the full meal and could just get the ribeye and whatever else I wanted to select from the regular menu it might work out for me to get the larger cut of meat which is actually the one I would prefer. I did get a steak in MDR on our last cruise and it was pretty darn bad. Not flavorful and tough. I wasn't happy with it at all.

 

 

I'm not sure what is going on with the Crown Grill on Ruby, but my rib-eye chop was probably the worst steak that I have ever ordered. My local grocery store sells Harris Ranch rid-eye (when on sale) for $5.99 a pound. It's a better steak than what the Crown Grill served me. My dad had the lobster and it was small and tasted fishy. The table next to us ordered the porterhouse, took a couple of bites, and left without ordering dessert. This was my fourth time to dine at the Ruby Crown Grill, so I don't know if there's a new supplier of beef, but don't waste your money.

[Sillyjilly]

I'm not sure what is going on with the Crown Grill on Ruby, but my rib-eye chop was probably the worst steak that I have ever ordered. My local grocery store sells Harris Ranch rid-eye (when on sale) for $5.99 a pound. It's a better steak than what the Crown Grill served me. My dad had the lobster and it was small and tasted fishy. The table next to us ordered the porterhouse, took a couple of bites, and left without ordering dessert. This was my fourth time to dine at the Ruby Crown Grill, so I don't know if there's a new supplier of beef, but don't waste your money.

 

A few years ago on the Star we had the same steak problem. Nothing was cooked right and the lobster looked like a crawdad. Have never gone back since.

I'll have a free steak dinner on my next cruise, so I may try it again.

 

It was nice seeing so many familiar faces and meeting some new friends too.

 

 

This was my favorite Ruby cruise to date. I hope my cruise on her next year is as good as this one.

[royalflush71]

I just returned from the Ruby & here are some of my thoughts.

They changed the Dinning Room menu as a test for Princess.

Here’s a copy showing items that can be ordered for a cost.

 

I prefer the old menu & I was told by my server not many people were ordering the for charge menu items.

I felt that our table service was slow. They usually didn’t come around & offer me more wine & it took a long time to receive our food. At lunch in the MDR the same thing.

Our dinning room time was 5 pm instead of 5 pm which was fine with me. Anytime Dinning, as a test, was changed from 5:30 pm to 4:30 pm to allow more Dinning Room time.

The shows were usually at 6:30 pm & 8:30 pm which was great so you didn’t have to rush if you had traditional early dinning.

The ship was in great shape & they were constantly working on things like varnishing all around the ship.

All of the staff were great & the Cruise Director had Veterans get up on stage & be recognized. That was a great thing to do.

More later.

Tom😎

 

nice to meet you on board Ruby. i was ur personal videotographer on board. :):):):)thanks for all the tips. very impressive dance moves!!!

[trbarton]

nice to meet you on board Ruby. i was ur personal videotographer on board. :):):):)thanks for all the tips. very impressive dance moves!!![/quote

 

Thanks for being my personal video photographer.

Hope to see you on another cruise. Keep in touch.

Tom😎

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[ceilidh1]

I was on the April 24-27th cruise. Did NOT like the new menu at all! We were so disappointed with the food on this cruise, we booked our next cruise this morning and went with Royal Caribbean for a Sept cruise. Service was very slow. Meat not cooked to order. Very rare when ordering Medium Rare. Breakfast in the dining room, we were served almost raw fried eggs. And my husband will eat runny eggs . But these were not cooked enough to eat them safely. And I ordered them over medium. A few times waiter gave us wrong food. Or half of what we ordered. Coffee after dinner not served until be were almost finished with our desert. I finally had to get the attention of a waiter, who was not the one that was supposed to be serving us the coffee and he got us all some. I could go on and on, but I won't . I did have some very tender beef. One steak was served almost raw. But it was tender.

 

We were on the same cruise as you and had the same issues with food/service. By far the worst in 18 Princess cruises! In the MDR, other than taking the inital food order, we never saw our waiter - never once checked in to see if food was ok, etc. I ordered sides and never received them, ordered drinks, and never received them. One time my drink I ordered prior to my main arrived as I finished coffee! At least that time I actually had a chance to order a drink - the other times no one ever bothered to take a drink order so I would just stop at the bar on the way into the dining room and bring it in myself, and then duck back out for another between courses.