Live From the Ruby Princess January 6, 2022 Mexico

[HaveDogWillTravel]

2 hours ago, JF - retired RRT said:

Are those the "new" hor d'oeuvres for formal nights?

I’m not sure they were sent up for sail away. We are in full suite. I’ll post the formal night ones tomorrow if we get them. 

[CineGraphic]

5 minutes ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

Hilarious!  Nicola said it was a Chianti and I just believed him. It was very good. Had a lovely tannic structure that went well with our steaks. 

 

Well, it's the same grape used in making Chianti: Sangiovese

Edited January 7, 2022 by CineGraphic

[LouChamp]

Always love the food pictures.   Been to the ports.  smooth sailing 

[MishelleMcc]

Have fun everyone and stay safe!!!  thank you for all the posts!  Can someone post the part of the Patter that describes where the smoking areas are?  Thank you!!!

[HaveDogWillTravel]

1 hour ago, MishelleMcc said:

Have fun everyone and stay safe!!!  thank you for all the posts!  Can someone post the part of the Patter that describes where the smoking areas are?  Thank you!!!

Thank you. I posted the patters that we’ve had so far. The smoking areas are outside only…..starboard aft promenade deck and port side deck 16 at tradewinds bar. 
 

 

[RogueRamblers]

The Promenade deck is open all around for walking. 2.5 times around = 1 mile. Not many people today at 11, but the weather was perfect for walking...around 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

We were on the 10/31/21 Coastal cruise, which was the first for the Ruby relaunch. We didn't think the dining room food was as good as on previous cruises. (That was our 14th Princess cruise.) However, so far the meals have been excellent and we feel they're better this cruise. I know it's early to be reporting this, but thought I'd let you know while I'm still savoring the delicious lunch we had. 😋

[AnyMajorCruiseDude]

28 minutes ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

Thank you. I posted the patters that we’ve had so far. The smoking areas are outside only…..starboard aft promenade deck and port side deck 16 at tradewinds bar. 
 

 

Is this affecting your aft balcony experience?  

[Aliens_300c]

On 1/6/2022 at 10:36 AM, pris993 said:

Hope you have a great cruise; I have a friend on this cruise too.   We will board the Ruby on 1/31, so welcome your thread.

 

I live in SF Bay Area, saw a message which made me goggle to see what is going on.  From what I read a few cases on board - that cruise line shut down an entertainment show because some in cast had virus.   Does not seem like something to be concerned about. Seems ship handling well. 

Hello fellow cruiser! I am also going to be on the Ruby on the 31st. Hoping that omicron numbers will start coming down by that point but hey, I’ve postponed my vacation for 2 years now.. I’m going! I figure I probably have a better chance getting infected on the flight down than on the actual ship. N95’ing it all the way down on my flight.   
 

the countdown is on! I’m getting excited!

[nzOdy]

34 minutes ago, Aliens_300c said:

... I’ve postponed my vacation for 2 years now.. I’m going! I figure I probably have a better chance getting infected on the flight down than on the actual ship. N95’ing it all the way down on my flight.   
 

the countdown is on! I’m getting excited!

We had exactly the same thought process and are now enjoying this cruise!

 

Today we had our first ever couples massage under masking protocols. I have no issue with it when you are receiving the part of the treatment laying on your back,  but face down with a mask on a table that also had a towel over the normal paper covering is NOT something I can recommend. It's claustrophobic and lots of fiddling required to not feel like you're genuinely suffocating. 

 

Just throwing that out there for others considering spa services under tight health protocols. 

 

Otherwise really enjoying the lightly loaded cruise. I know it's a little selfish as the crew are splitting far fewer gratuities between themselves, but a crew member even did tell us he would really enjoy cruising at these load levels. 

 

Currently enjoying a cappuccino at Intl. Cafe, have a great day everyone!!

 

Dave & Michelle

[HaveDogWillTravel]

We spoke at length to Josephine our bartender at crooners (fabulous person and really sweet). The Captain made new rules for the crew before New Years on the last sailing. No crew bar….it’s grab and go…can only drink in cabin, masks at all times unless in their cabin…..NYE was celebrated with only your cabin mate……no going ashore……(I asked if she needed anything when we get to PV she said she orders from Amazon). She said any crew that doesn’t comply is dismissed from duty immediately….no second chances. They call it the beef or chicken rules, because that’s what you’re asked on the plane home. She was aware of only two entertainers who tested positive on the last cruise. 

 

Louis, the restaurant manger in club class said covid positive crew are taken to Aloha deck to quarantine while at sea and then moved to the Crown to finish quarantining. When they test negative they come back. The topic came up when we asked where Taras and his wife were (two of our favorite servers).  They are due back on the 11th. I guess the crown is tailing us?

 

The entire port side Aloha deck is now closed for quarantining new crew that are coming on board and for covid positive cases. I guess that amount of space lets them separate the groups?  

Edited January 7, 2022 by HaveDogWillTravel

[HaveDogWillTravel]

Josephine said 2000 are expected on the Jan 16 sailing and 2000 on the Jan 31 sailing. Of course those numbers may change. 

[GrammySpo]

This is the first time I’ve ever been on a live thread from the actual cruise. I’ve followed many threads especially when cruising was starting up again. It sounded like the cruise line was doing a great job in setting up a safe environment, cruisers seemed to agree, so here I am! I agree as well. I certainly feel safer on a cruise ship than in my own city. I agree that crew is phenomenal, food has been very good as well. None of this is a surprise to me as an active cruiser. Just looking forward for the weather to warm up.

 

The roll call meet and greet was today and it’s always nice to meet people in person. Great place to exchange information and pick up a tip or two. The big one I’ve learned so far was to inquire about the airline paying for transportation between airports. I was scheduled to fly into San Francisco but all flights were cancelled so flew into San Jose. It was suggested that the airlines would provide transportation to our scheduled destination and they did! They provided a voucher for Lyft between the San Jose airport and the San Francisco airport. That was a great relief as I really didn’t know how we were going to get to San Francisco after our flights were cancelled. 

[TBfrPH]

Much appreciation to HaveDog for posting the Patters.  Glad to see that live music still lives.  Some juggling of the line-up is apparent since we were last aboard in November, but that's to be expected with the COVID situation.  With luck, omicron will leave in a couple weeks, and some resemblance of calm will return.

 

Wishing all aboard safe and happy cruising.

[gerig]

17 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

I went to Crown Grill for dinner, Vines and Crooners at various times for cocktails, walked through the shops, took a nap on the balcony, spent some time in the casino & went to the theater and saw Dan St Paul a comedian that I did enjoy (not in that order). So far while walking around inside I haven’t seen anyone without a mask and I’ve  seen a small handful wearing it under their nose. In crooners and vines we sit, visit, drink and take our masks off. In the theater I was encouraged that I only saw 3 people wearing their mask wrong. We were socially distanced with at least 2 empty seats between us and others. No one directly in front or behind either. We wore well fitted 95’s and refrained from drinking in the theater as this is what we were comfortable with. 
 

Last week when I looked at journeyview I swore I saw Stardust but now we have Colors of the World listed as our production show. Graces Secret is also listed later in the cruise. Karaoke started tonight in Vista lounge. I didn’t go as DH was beat.   
 

I spoke to Gusti and Marvin, the bartenders at Vines. Apparently the bartenders are now included in the crew appreciation (auto grats) just like all the other crew. So the 18% grats we pay in beverage package for our plus packages gets combined with the auto grats and split up. When things like that NBC report causes people to unnecessarily cancel the crew looses out on bunch of money. I am going to email NBC again and tell them they should pay into the crews tip pool to make up for their irresponsible reporting. The crew in no way deserves this.  
Also crew can keep any tips they are given and they no longer need to turn it in. 
 

I ordered the Princess Bouquet ($39) and the Tropical Floral arrangement ($55). They arrived in just a couple of hours. They are nice but I can’t tell which is which as neither look like what I’ve gotten in the past. Lol. It’s all good. 

 

[deadzone1003]

HaveDogWillTravel,

 

Originally the quarantined section was Aloha Deck, aft, port side, the fire door looks like it is between the 600 & 700 sections.  Are you saying they are blocking off the entire port side of Aloha deck?  I'm on the 16th sailing so I guess Princess might be expecting alot of people who will be testing positive.  I guess they don't have the Crown to drop off quarantine workers and pick up new ones.  It looks like they are planning to bring new workers in order to replace any quarantined workers.  I guess desperate times require desperate measures. 

[2 cruises a year]

3 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

We spoke at length to Josephine our bartender at crooners (fabulous person and really sweet). The Captain made new rules for the crew before New Years on the last sailing. No crew bar….it’s grab and go…can only drink in cabin, masks at all times unless in their cabin…..NYE was celebrated with only your cabin mate……no going ashore……(I asked if she needed anything when we get to PV she said she orders from Amazon). She said any crew that doesn’t comply is dismissed from duty immediately….no second chances. They call it the beef or chicken rules, because that’s what you’re asked on the plane home. She was aware of only two entertainers who tested positive on the last cruise. 

 

Louis, the restaurant manger in club class said covid positive crew are taken to Aloha deck to quarantine while at sea and then moved to the Crown to finish quarantining. When they test negative they come back. The topic came up when we asked where Taras and his wife were (two of our favorite servers).  They are due back on the 11th. I guess the crown is tailing us?

 

The entire port side Aloha deck is now closed for quarantining new crew that are coming on board and for covid positive cases. I guess that amount of space lets them separate the groups?  

Please tell Josephine, Kelvin, Michael and the other Bar Steward (sorry, his name escapes me) that Bruce and Claire say Hi!!  Ask to see the New Years picture.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

@deadzone1003 I just walked the length of the Aloha deck (needed it after dinner at the salty dog lol) 

all the fire doors are shut on the entire port side with a single exception. At the center elevators a single fire door (half of a pair) is open. But it’s all clearly marked Do Not Enter. 

 

Then when I got to cabin a301 starboard forward the fire doors where also locked there. 

 

I can ask again what talk this space is being used for.  I’ve already been told it’s for quarantining positive cases and for quarantining incoming crew. 

 

@AnyMajorCruiseDudetowards the end of my sailing I will be able to report on the aft balcony situation. I’ll put it on the other thread as that’s a more appropriate place for it. It’s too soon to make any assessments. 

 

so far the promenade has been open during the day and the aft shut in the evening. 

 

somebody @Ombud? Was that you? asked if   a specialty dining credit could be used at Salty Dog pub. Our server tonight said no. 

 

A quick review of the pub. The burger and the Crispy Egg with mushrooms were the stars of the night. The chicken sandwich is a pass for me. The Spicy beef short ribs were very good. 

[HaveDogWillTravel]

The suite/elite happy hour had excellent apps IMHO tonight.  The Scallop bites were hot, fresh and delicious. Here’s some IC pics and Vines tapas pics from tonight. 

[HaveDogWillTravel]

My burger pic won’t post. 

[iamaqt2]

14 minutes ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

The suite/elite happy hour had excellent apps IMHO tonight.  The Scallop bites were hot, fresh and delicious. Here’s some IC pics and Vines tapas pics from tonight. 

Thank you so much for the food pics.. I've never once made it to the PES "happy hour" lol.. but maybe I'll make an effort on the Ruby next month.  Salty Dog is one of my absolute favorites of all the specialty dining.  And an absolute steal at 12 bucks.

If you have a moment and happen to be passing by, would you be so kind as to see if they are still offering the avocado toasts at Slice?  Thanks!

[brisalta]

7 hours ago, RogueRamblers said:

The Promenade deck is open all around for walking. 2.5 times around = 1 mile. Not many people today at 11, but the weather was perfect for walking...around 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

We were on the 10/31/21 Coastal cruise, which was the first for the Ruby relaunch. We didn't think the dining room food was as good as on previous cruises. (That was our 14th Princess cruise.) However, so far the meals have been excellent and we feel they're better this cruise. I know it's early to be reporting this, but thought I'd let you know while I'm still savoring the delicious lunch we had. 😋

 

I suspect with the first cruise Princess had problems with logistics restarting.

[RogueRamblers]

Just now, brisalta said:

 

I suspect with the first cruise Princess had problems with logistics restarting.

Yes, I think it was like a soft opening...training new staff and working out the kinks. But everyone did their best and we were so glad to be cruising again. We are always so impressed with how hard the staff members work.

[brisalta]

8 minutes ago, RogueRamblers said:

Yes, I think it was like a soft opening...training new staff and working out the kinks. But everyone did their best and we were so glad to be cruising again. We are always so impressed with how hard the staff members work.

 

By logistics I was referring to the logistics company that supplies the ships. It is a specialty logistic company that supplies cruise ships on the west coast. They would have been inactive for months and it would have taken them awhile to get all their staff and old suppliers supplying victuals back online.

[RogueRamblers]

6 minutes ago, brisalta said:

 

By logistics I was referring to the logistics company that supplies the ships. It is a specialty logistic company that supplies cruise ships on the west coast. They would have been inactive for months and it would have taken them awhile to get all their staff and old suppliers supplying victuals back online.

👍

[iamaqt2]

54 minutes ago, iamaqt2 said:

Thank you so much for the food pics.. I've never once made it to the PES "happy hour" lol.. but maybe I'll make an effort on the Ruby next month.  Salty Dog is one of my absolute favorites of all the specialty dining.  And an absolute steal at 12 bucks.

If you have a moment and happen to be passing by, would you be so kind as to see if they are still offering the avocado toasts at Slice?  Thanks!

I see they've raised the cost to 18.00.  Not quite the bargain it used to be, but I'll still be there!