Ruby Princess cruise - Auhst

[Cruise Raider]

So … here is the good,  the bad and the ugly … not too much bad or ugly!  I promise!  Don’t mind the title of this post … the WiFi is not fabulous.  
 

We are currently on the Ruby and two days in to our current trip. Let me start by saying that the Ruby is one of our favorite Princess ships …mostly because of the amazing staff and crew.  We always try to overlook the small things and realize life is not perfect anywhere and just appreciate where we are at the moment.  We’ve cruised on the Ruby several times since the restart and are quite flexible with the ever changing requirements and restrictions.  
 

We boarded a couple of days ago and embarkation was preset much of a breeze,  we left our home in the San Francisco  East Bay and showed up at Pier 27 just before 11:00 AM.  Our embarkation time was at 11:00 AM and I’m thinking we were onboard not too long after that after a quick check in and a short wait in the terminal. Just of note, the terminal is still requiring masking and they hand out masks at the entrance.  It was very quick and easy.  BTW, our cruise is going up into Canada and they never checked our CoVid test results although, they did check out vaccination cards.  The check in staff said they don’t need the covid test results.  Ours were negative so really didn’t care, although I found that interesting.   

We embarked and dropped of our carry on luggage in the room and met up with friends in Vines before noon.  We were greeted by the amazing staff at Vines!  They were out of some great California wines that we e gotten onboard n previous cruises but, never fear, they did unpack many of those wines back onboard, unpacked and again as available as of yesterday.  I don’t really think the introduction of the premium package has impacted our enjoyment of having nice wines.  They do still just charge the overage if you surpass the $12 limit of the princess plus.  

 

We were greeted by one of the best restaurant managers in the DaVinci for our embarkation lunch.  Oh wow, this one was amazing!  Great food, great service, great table!  Because we’ve cruised on the Ruby very recently, we knew some of the amazing people onboard.  I don’t know how they all remember us but they did!  
 

After lunch, we checked in at our muster station and proceeded to a quite lounge to listen to the muster drill instructions on our devices, after which we headed up to our cabin to find our checked piece of luggage at the door to our cabin.  Shortly after that, we headed upstairs for Sail Away.  We were set to cruise out at 4 PM but didn’t do so until after 5:30 PM.  We had reservations for dinner at 6:20 PM for dinner but wanted to stop up in up at Skywalkers at the PES lounge  to meet up with a staff member we’ve met on a previous cruise.  Of course, we had a very warm greeting.  For us, that’s what cruising is about.  
 

Even though we were a little late for dinner, our favorite restaurant manager had a table waiting for us and in the same location with the same waiter we were previously assigned.  My goodness, the Alaskan Cod and short ribs were amazing.  From there, we checked out the show in the theater.  It was a comedian and he was not at all funny.  We sneaked out about halfway through what was a very non-comedic show.  We stopped by Crooners and the piano player was just not very engaging.  We are used to cruises where that hasn’t been the case.  We even stopped by the Wheelhouse bar and down to the piazza.  It was just very low key and even Good Spirits was dead.  The entertainers were just not very engaging with the audience like we’ve experienced in the past.   I must admit, we thought the entertainment suffered quite a bit since our last cruise, but I am so happy to report, that the following night, the guest entertainers in both Crooners and in the Wheelhouse were just ON FIRE!  So happy to report the improvement.  We all get tired and I am sure that was all that was happening on the first night.  
Anyway, that first night we are in our room, OMG, it was so noisy.  I tend to research my room choice very carefully and while we love staying the Emerald deck, we booked rather last minute so did take what was left.  Never again!  Our room nosies kept us up all night long .. not regular ship creams and cracking but both metal banging, awful chair scraping type noises and mechanical nosies that work us up through the night.  Coupled with the late night and early morning  door slammers, we were pretty miserable by the morning with a night of very interrupted sleep.  Well. Just one night, right?  Nope!  
 

Anyway, the next day, which was the first full day of the cruise, we had breakfast in the dining room,  it was delicious and we had excellent service.  My app was acting up and so tried to log in using my cabin number and in the casino so went to guest services.  Magically, it started working.  That may have very well been me so no harm,  no foul on Princess or the app.  The point being, the associate at guest services was very patient and professional. I also explained our room noise from the previous night and he sent someone up to see if the day time noise was severe.  Now, I’m aware this room has had previous complaints about being noisy but the maintenance supervisors they send up don’t necessarily want to admit to this.  Well. We learned that this cruise is pretty full, with 2400 passengers onboard, so there are few cabin options for us at this point.  The clanking and abging wre much wore the following night so we had to actually call them in the middle of the night to validate the nosie.  Of course there again, the nose just stops before the night maintenance supervisor got there.  I attempted to have guest services hear it over the phone. They said they couldn’t hear it.  Whether or not that was true, one of the ore senior guest services staff did call us and offer us another room to sleep in for the night.  We opted to just move cabins the next day as it was lar3cy in the wee hours of the morning.  We contacted guest services in the morning as instructed because we knew our room was going to consistently create a severe lack of sleep for us.  We were agreeable to take an inside cabin vs the only other obstructed view cabin they had available. After another sleepless night, we actually agreed to try the other obstructed view cabin as my DH just hates inside cabins.  We packed up and got help moving all our belongings to the new room and are praying for a more peaceful night tonight.  One thing we’ve noticed is that the AC works so much better in the new stateroom.  It is missing a refrigerator and they’ve offered to replace it, we just don’t care about that, though.  Our new room steward as well as our former room steward are fabulous.  The entire staff is fabulous and we certainly appreciate guest services attempts at a decent stateroom.  We don’t expect or need any unreasonable request but a room with a decent chance to sleep is most appreciated.  

For now,, the food and drink hve be great, the service has been phenomenal and the entertainment has been improving.  I am sure after some sleep, our experience ex will be greatly improved.  
Another couple random observations, the public bathrooms need some ongoing maintenance.  For the most part, the furniture in the public spaces is in pretty good condition.  The room service, no matter your location, has been pretty quick and accurate.  They seem to be a bit short on daytime activities and think kids might be bored to tears.  The cruise is pretty full with a reported 2400 passengers.  
Also, the Crown Grill and is open only 7 nights during this sailing and Sabatini’s is open the other three nights. It’s impossible to get a reservation at this point in the cruise for the Crown Grill.  We had reservations there for tomorrow night and for Sabatini’s later in the cruise and both have been changed to different nights, without any notification .. we just noticed the change in the app.  
 

I am happy to respond to any questions .. and hopefully will repot back with any new happenings.  We may have to cut the trip short but that’s another story that I won’t go into. 

Edited August 31, 2022 by Cruise Raider

[PacnGoNow]

9 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

So … here is the good,  the bad and the ugly … not too much bad or ugly!  I promise!  Don’t mind the title of this post … the WiFi is not fabulous.  
 

We are currently on the Ruby and two days in to our current trip. Let me start by saying that the Ruby is one of our favorite Princess ships …mostly because of the amazing staff and crew.  We always try to overlook the small things and realize life is not perfect anywhere and just appreciate where we are at the moment.  We’ve cruised on the Ruby several times since the restart and are quite flexible with the ever changing requirements and restrictions.  
 

We boarded a couple of days ago and embarkation was preset much of a breeze,  we left our home in the San Francisco  East Bay and showed up at Pier 27 just before 11:00 AM.  Our embarkation time was at 11:00 AM and I’m thinking we were onboard not too long after that after a quick check in and a short wait in the terminal. Just of note, the terminal is still requiring masking and they hand out masks at the entrance.  It was very quick and easy.  BTW, our cruise is going up into Canada and they never checked our CoVid test results although, they did check out vaccination cards.  The check in staff said they don’t need the covid test results.  Ours were negative so really didn’t care, although I found that interesting.   

We embarked and dropped of our carry on luggage in the room and met up with friends in Vines before noon.  We were greeted by the amazing staff at Vines!  They were out of some great California wines that we e gotten onboard n previous cruises but, never fear, they did unpack many of those wines back onboard, unpacked and again as available as of yesterday.  I don’t really think the introduction of the premium package has impacted our enjoyment of having nice wines.  They do still just charge the overage if you surpass the $12 limit of the princess plus.  

 

We were greeted by one of the best restaurant managers in the DaVinci for our embarkation lunch.  Oh wow, this one was amazing!  Great food, great service, great table!  Because we’ve cruised on the Ruby very recently, we knew some of the amazing people onboard.  I don’t know how they all remember us but they did!  
 

After lunch, we checked in at our muster station and proceeded to a quite lounge to listen to the muster drill instructions on our devices, after which we headed up to our cabin to find our checked piece of luggage at the door to our cabin.  Shortly after that, we headed upstairs for Sail Away.  We were set to cruise out at 4 PM but didn’t do so until after 5:30 PM.  We had reservations for dinner at 6:20 PM for dinner but wanted to stop up in up at Skywalkers at the PES lounge  to meet up with a staff member we’ve met on a previous cruise.  Of course, we had a very warm greeting.  For us, that’s what cruising is about.  
 

Even though we were a little late for dinner, our favorite restaurant manager had a table waiting for us and in the same location with the same waiter we were previously assigned.  My goodness, the Alaskan Cod and short ribs were amazing.  From there, we checked out the show in the theater.  It was a comedian and he was not at all funny.  We sneaked out about halfway through what was a very non-comedic show.  We stopped by Crooners and the piano player was just not very engaging.  We are used to cruises where that hasn’t been the case.  We even stopped by the Wheelhouse bar and down to the piazza.  It was just very low key and even Good Spirits was dead.  The entertainers were just not very engaging with the audience like we’ve experienced in the past.   I must admit, we thought the entertainment suffered quite a bit since our last cruise, but I am so happy to report, that the following night, the guest entertainers in both Crooners and in the Wheelhouse were just ON FIRE!  So happy to report the improvement.  We all get tired and I am sure that was all that was happening on the first night.  
Anyway, that first night we are in our room, OMG, it was so noisy.  I tend to research my room choice very carefully and while we love staying the Emerald deck, we booked rather last minute so did take what was left.  Never again!  Our room nosies kept us up all night long .. not regular ship creams and cracking but both metal banging, awful chair scraping type noises and mechanical nosies that work us up through the night.  Coupled with the late night and early morning  door slammers, we were pretty miserable by the morning with a night of very interrupted sleep.  Well. Just one night, right?  Nope!  
 

Anyway, the next day, which was the first full day of the cruise, we had breakfast in the dining room,  it was delicious and we had excellent service.  My app was acting up and so tried to log in using my cabin number and in the casino so went to guest services.  Magically, it started working.  That may have very well been me so no harm,  no foul on Princess or the app.  The point being, the associate at guest services was very patient and professional. I also explained our room noise from the previous night and he sent someone up to see if the day time noise was severe.  Now, I’m aware this room has had previous complaints about being noisy but the maintenance supervisors they send up don’t necessarily want to admit to this.  Well. We learned that this cruise is pretty full, with 2400 passengers onboard, so there are few cabin options for us at this point.  The clanking and abging wre much wore the following night so we had to actually call them in the middle of the night to validate the nosie.  Of course there again, the nose just stops before the night maintenance supervisor got there.  I attempted to have guest services hear it over the phone. They said they couldn’t hear it.  Whether or not that was true, one of the ore senior guest services staff did call us and offer us another room to sleep in for the night.  We opted to just move cabins the next day as it was lar3cy in the wee hours of the morning.  We contacted guest services in the morning as instructed because we knew our room was going to consistently create a severe lack of sleep for us.  We were agreeable to take an inside cabin vs the only other obstructed view cabin they had available. After another sleepless night, we actually agreed to try the other obstructed view cabin as my DH just hates inside cabins.  We packed up and got help moving all our belongings to the new room and are praying for a more peaceful night tonight.  One thing we’ve noticed is that the AC works so much better in the new stateroom.  It is missing a refrigerator and they’ve offered to replace it, we just don’t care about that, though.  Our new room steward as well as our former room steward are fabulous.  The entire staff is fabulous and we certainly appreciate guest services attempts at a decent stateroom.  We don’t expect or need any unreasonable request but a room with a decent chance to sleep is most appreciated.  

For now,, the food and drink hve be great, the service has been phenomenal and the entertainment has been improving.  I am sure after some sleep, our experience ex will be greatly improved.  
Another couple random observations, the public bathrooms need some ongoing maintenance.  For the most part, the furniture in the public spaces is in pretty good condition.  The room service, no matter your location, has been pretty quick and accurate.  They seem to be a bit short on daytime activities and think kids might be bored to tears.  The cruise is pretty full with a reported 2400 passengers.  
Also, the Crown Grill and is open only 7 nights during this sailing and Sabatini’s is open the other three nights. It’s impossible to get a reservation at this point in the cruise for the Crown Grill.  We had reservations there for tomorrow night and for Sabatini’s later in the cruise and both have been changed to different nights, without any notification .. we just noticed the change in the app.  
 

I am happy to respond to any questions .. and hopefully will repot back with any new happenings.  We may have to cut the trip short but that’s another story that I won’t go into. 

Is the Crown Grill kitchen area under your first cabin, or a crew area?  
Glad they moved you!

[azbirdmom]

Oh there's nothing worse than not being able to get a good night sleep.   What cabin were you in?  I sure hope that the new cabin is better and you can get some rest!  And that you enjoy the rest of your cruise.

[cr8tiv1]

@CruiseRaiderYou had mentioned that they did not check your covid test results.  Did you have to upload them to the ArriveCan app?  I am wondering if ... down the line ... Canada will send a message to the ship that so and so did not have a registered test.  Not sure what could be done at that point.  

 

My only experience with with Hawaii's Safe Travel app that was required before cruising into Hawaii early on.

 

Thank you for your live report.  Have a wonderful cruise.  

[2 cruises a year]

Could you please name the entertainers you have encountered?

 

Thanks

[Cruise Raider]

1 hour ago, PacnGoNow said:

Is the Crown Grill kitchen area under your first cabin, or a crew area?  
Glad they moved you!

 I believe we were above the Crown Grill kitchen area.  We are not sure of WTH origin of that noise but I’m absolutely sure it is a known problem area.  

[Cruise Raider]

1 hour ago, azbirdmom said:

Oh there's nothing worse than not being able to get a good night sleep.   What cabin were you in?  I sure hope that the new cabin is better and you can get some rest!  And that you enjoy the rest of your cruise.

We were in E630 and were moved to E318, which seems to be worlds better so far.  
I would steer very clear from E630 on future cruise on this class of ships.   
And ,,. thank you so much!  

[Cruise Raider]

52 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

@CruiseRaiderYou had mentioned that they did not check your covid test results.  Did you have to upload them to the ArriveCan app?  I am wondering if ... down the line ... Canada will send a message to the ship that so and so did not have a registered test.  Not sure what could be done at that point.  

 

My only experience with with Hawaii's Safe Travel app that was required before cruising into Hawaii early on.

 

Thank you for your live report.  Have a wonderful cruise.  

I completed my ArriveCAN app prior to getting my test results and the QR code.  They did check my QR code for that app when we boarded.  I still have a screen print of my negative CoVid test results so not sure how they are going to handle that when the time comes.  Prince Rupert will be our Port fifth Call on this sailing.  We followed the rules so i am just not worried but am on a B2B where we hit Canada in the second leg of the cruise and was told that the test for the first leg of the  cruise would not be valid for Canada but also that Princess wouldn’t be conducted the tests for us for B2Bs.  If they refuse to let us stay onboard, we will just collect the FCCs through our Princess vacation protection and head on home… not necessarily in that order.  I’m not going to get too concerned over it at this point.  Canada’s rules seem kind of strict in terms of CoVid testing but then nobody even bothered to check them when we boarded.  It’s all kind of ridiculous to me at this point.  
 

thanks for the great cruise wishes.  

[DUCHESSRN]

The Covid test for Canada has become a pain in neck for those of us sailing 7th...testing Sunday will not be picked up at Walgreens until Tuesday after the holiday ...we travel Tuesday .No testing Labor Day.

Just had to buy the Abbot tests and would happily not get off ship in Canada than have the extra stress.

Surely a test on 5th will not be valid 9 days later for the Canada stop.

[Cruise Raider]

48 minutes ago, 2 cruises a year said:

Could you please name the entertainers you have encountered?

 

Thanks

The comedian was named Buddy Fitzpatrick.  The entertainer at Crooners is Funch and the guitarist at the wheelhouse is Guidon Alcide.  The latter of the two are very talented and would go to watch either of them again.  
The naturalist is Tess Julianna.  Her topics are very interesting and she can be funny at times, but her public speaking skills could use a bit of work.  I wouldn’t cast her aside, though … she is knowledgeable on the topics she speaks about.  We were just onboard a few weeks ago with Ranger John and he was a hard act to follow.  I was finding myself sad his daily lectures came to an end after an hour.  We also attended a demonstration with Kelly White (I think that was his name) of the Tlingit tribe that carved totem poles on the cruise a few weeks back .. he was so very interesting and engaging.  I’m not seeing the same types of authentic Alaska experiences on this trip.  It’s not that I’m really disappointed for us, it just seems much more subdued and somewhat lacking, especially for those that weren’t just previously on an Alaskan cruise.  

 

[Cruise Raider]

7 minutes ago, DUCHESSRN said:

The Covid test for Canada has become a pain in neck for those of us sailing 7th...testing Sunday will not be picked up at Walgreens until Tuesday after the holiday ...we travel Tuesday .No testing Labor Day.

Just had to buy the Abbot tests and would happily not get off ship in Canada than have the extra stress.

Surely a test on 5th will not be valid 9 days later for the Canada stop.

I am really rather surprised at the lack of interest in viewing the test results for boarding a cruise in the US but nobody was even checking them.  Canada’s rules are a bit more stringent, at that.   We had to get our test no more than 72 hours prior to boarding, whereas we’d usually go first thing in the morning 3 days prior to our cruise.  
I wasn’t sure how I felt about dropping the testing requirements but now we have treatments, I would just as soon they dropped it all.  
 

It is rather nice to see to crew being a little more relaxed about their masking requirements. I’m really kind of hope they can ditch their masks one day soon. It is so tough on them to wear a those masks every time they are outside of their cabins.  I’m ready to see their smiling faces again.

[suekel]

I got off the Ruby on Sunday.  No one looked at my ArriveCan on the ship or entering Canada.  In fact, I don't think they even looked at my negative results, just my vaccination card.  

[Cruise Raider]

3 minutes ago, suekel said:

I got off the Ruby on Sunday.  No one looked at my ArriveCan on the ship or entering Canada.  In fact, I don't think they even looked at my negative results, just my vaccination card.  

They didn’t check our ArriveCAN on a previous cruise and it’s all digital so didn’t really expect them to do so.  What struck me as odd was that they did check that for this current cruise.  They are keeping us on our toes.  

[Cruise Raider]

So, just to add,  we found the casino on this cruise to be very crowded and smoky.  
also, a lot of passengers have been attending the naturally lectures. 
I’ve never seen a cruise where the piazza, Good Spirits and Vines is so empty after dinner.  

[Steelers36]

13 minutes ago, Cruise Raider said:

So, just to add,  we found the casino on this cruise to be very crowded and smoky.  
also, a lot of passengers have been attending the naturally lectures. 
I’ve never seen a cruise where the piazza, Good Spirits and Vines is so empty after dinner.  

I imagine PCL is getting hammered fairly regularly about the smoking situation.  I guess all we can do is keep hammering away.  IDK why they are such stick-in-the-mud over it.  It's not like the guests can head to the next door casino to gamble.

Edited August 31, 2022 by Steelers36

[Steelers36]

1 hour ago, Cruise Raider said:

We were in E630 and were moved to E318, which seems to be worlds better so far.  
I would steer very clear from E630 on future cruise on this class of ships.   
And ,,. thank you so much!  

I guess it is not nearly as noisy over the Wheelhouse compared to CG kitchen.

[Cruise Raider]

25 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

I guess it is not nearly as noisy over the Wheelhouse compared to CG kitchen.

This cabin i world’s apart from that other one.  It does not have a mini fridge and they were going to replace it but we told them it just didn’t matter to us.  Also, just found out the TV doesn’t work … it Is just the remote needling new batteries.  Not a big deal on that either.  We will just have them replace the batteries tomorrow.  That ought to do the trick.  
We are in for the night after a kind of stressful day.  Tomorrow’s  outlook looks a lot brighter since we have a much better chance of being rested.  
I am also positive that’s were the noise was coming from.. the CG kitchen.  That was just awful.  

[jgd3rdbcfd]

I am also on this cruise and agree on most thoughts.  We did have a problem with check-in.  I had neg tests for wife and I on my phone but it would not load inside the terminal.  Eventually it loaded and we got on.  Good trip so far -p just arriving in Sitka.

[LawDog61]

Well, I hope you all are having a great cruise.  If any of you could share your ArriveCAN experience with me. The Canadian gov site ( can’t get very far in the app as I am More than 72 hours out)  clearly says if you qualify as fully vaccinated you do not need a test.   However, a “cruise ship” link imbedded clearly say you do need to test.

A friend boarded Carnival Splender inSeattle today, and completed his ArriveCAN and was boarded without testing.  Totally confused.  Thank

[LawDog61]

18 hours ago, DUCHESSRN said:

The Covid test for Canada has become a pain in neck for those of us sailing 7th...testing Sunday will not be picked up at Walgreens until Tuesday after the holiday ...we travel Tuesday .No testing Labor Day.

Just had to buy the Abbot tests and would happily not get off ship in Canada than have the extra stress.

Surely a test on 5th will not be valid 9 days later for the Canada stop.

Also on the 7th cruise.   Is it your understanding testing is still required if we qualify as fully vaxed?   I read the Canadian government web page as inconsistent.

[LawDog61]

18 hours ago, Cruise Raider said:

I completed my ArriveCAN app prior to getting my test results and the QR code.  They did check my QR code for that app when we boarded.  I still have a screen print of my negative CoVid test results so not sure how they are going to handle that when the time comes.  Prince Rupert will be our Port fifth Call on this sailing.  We followed the rules so i am just not worried but am on a B2B where we hit Canada in the second leg of the cruise and was told that the test for the first leg of the  cruise would not be valid for Canada but also that Princess wouldn’t be conducted the tests for us for B2Bs.  If they refuse to let us stay onboard, we will just collect the FCCs through our Princess vacation protection and head on home… not necessarily in that order.  I’m not going to get too concerned over it at this point.  Canada’s rules seem kind of strict in terms of CoVid testing but then nobody even bothered to check them when we boarded.  It’s all kind of ridiculous to me at this point.  
 

thanks for the great cruise wishes.  

So you were able to complete ArriveCAN without uploading test results?    Wondering if they are still required.

[DUCHESSRN]

1 hour ago, LawDog61 said:

Also on the 7th cruise.   Is it your understanding testing is still required if we qualify as fully vaxed?   I read the Canadian government web page as inconsistent.

I am thinking so it is very vague ,surely some will turn up on 7th with no Test done ...TA who deals with This sailing and escorts several sailings said yes Covid Test needed .

My friend just boarded Disney ship in Vancouver said the whole thing was a frustrating ordeal with the Canada App .

[SFSailaway]

On 8/30/2022 at 7:13 PM, Cruise Raider said:

We were in E630 and were moved to E318, which seems to be worlds better so far.  
I would steer very clear from E630 on future cruise on this class of ships.   
And ,,. thank you so much!  

Thank you so much for this information on the noisy cabin. We board the Ruby on Sept 7 and are in cabin E624, just three doors down from that noisy cabin and still under the Crown Grill kitchen. I am now packing earplugs. Lots and lots of earplugs. 😂

[palolake]

On 8/30/2022 at 7:08 PM, Cruise Raider said:

 

 

We were greeted by one of the best restaurant managers in the DaVinci for our embarkation lunch.  Oh wow, this one was amazing!  Great food, great service, great table!  Because we’ve cruised on the Ruby very recently, we knew some of the amazing people onboard.  I don’t know how they all remember us but they did!  
 

into. 

 

If you're talking about Kieron, he is fabulous!!  We had him a couple weeks ago and he set up the same table for breakfast, lunch and then, in a different dining room for dinner also.  Tell him the masked couple from table 433 say hi!

[cruisequeen4ever]

So happy you were able to switch cabins and that the new one is much better! I’m wondering since there’s no refrigerator and the TV wasn’t working if your new one has been out of service for pax since the restart. Maybe it’s been used as a crew room or crew quarantine room?