LIVE - Ruby Princess, Nov 6 - 20, 14-day Circle Caribbean

[Sasksilver]

Thanks to @aring75for starting this thread, and the others on board who are sharing their experiences as well. I'm doing the March 9 cruise, with the similar itinerary. I'm making notes about the ports and salivating over the menus. 

The dining issues you mentioned were similar on the Island last January. It seemed everyone wanted to eat at 6 p.m. and weren't finished for at least 90 minutes. The first night I had a 6 p.m. reservation but jumped to the no reservation line as it seemed to be moving more quickly and joined several of the solos I'd met at the meet-up earlier in the evening. There were many evenings where we gave up on the line ups and went to the buffet instead. 

I've no excursion booked for Guadelope, but was thinking of walking into town to visit the museum featuring the history of slavery. Would you suggest I'd be better to take a taxi?

[LidoLiz]

Tonight’s vegan menu….

 

 

 

The “starter” was the open-faced cauliflower taco, which was enormous and delicious. I was able to finish about half.
 

The beet and pear slaw was interesting and colourful….

 

 

… and I can’t believe I ate almost the entire main pasta dish, as I normally ask for a half portion. The farfalle was al dente with plenty of pine nuts.

 

 

The evening finished off with a warm Drambuie and a stroll up to see the beautiful Lotus pool, which is currently overflowing into the indoor spa area as we battle some strong winds down to Barbados.

[Hlitner]

12 hours ago, partybarbie said:

I love to pair that with an adult milkshake,  aka, the Dirty Banana.

No calories in that Dirty Banana 🙂

[aring75]

Dinner in Crown Grill

 

 

[aring75]

The bread selection is this cheesy pull-apart bread. It is sliced open and cheese and garlic are stuffed down inside. Then it is baked until all the cheese is gooey and melty. 
 

Yep. It was as good as it sounds. 
 

 

 

Mark tried the scallop appetizer. He said it was much better than the dining room entree. 
 

 

 

I had the lobster cake. It was also quite good. 
 

[aring75]

I ordered the ribeye and the plan was to give a good portion of it to Mark. 
 

 

 

But then he went off-script and ordered the porterhouse. 😳

He had no room for any of my steak after that. 
 

 

 

Missed the picture of the loaded baked potato and asparagus. I think the food coma may have already been starting. 
 

[aring75]

I was ready to skip dessert, but our waiter seemed downright offended that I was not interested in eating any more food. Also, Mark definitely wanted to try the cheesecake. 😩

 

 

 

This is Mark’s cheesecake. He said it was delicious. 
 

 

 

This is the key lime pie bar I ordered. I seem to recall that the two bites I had were quite good.

 

 

 

Edited November 12, 2023 by aring75

[aring75]

Day 7 - Barbados

 

 

[aring75]

Starting off a little bit gray and rainy today. We don’t have a tour scheduled, so we are going to give it a little time to see if it clears up at all before trying to head out. 
 

Ww are docked with a Marella ship again today. Also docked with the Ritz-Carlton Collection yacht, Evrima. 

 

[DistinguishedCruiser]

2 hours ago, aring75 said:

The bread selection is this cheesy pull-apart bread. It is sliced open and cheese and garlic are stuffed down inside. Then it is baked until all the cheese is gooey and melty. 
 

Yep. It was as good as it sounds.

 

Mark tried the scallop appetizer. He said it was much better than the dining room entree.

 

I had the lobster cake. It was also quite good. 
 

 

Was this in the MDR ?

 

Also, How many formal nights on your itinerary?  Which nights?

 

We will be on a SIMILAR itinerary in March...

 

Don

[Cruise Raider]

1 hour ago, Old-but-not-Done said:

Was this in the MDR ?

 

Also, How many formal nights on your itinerary?  Which nights?

 

We will be on a SIMILAR itinerary in March...

 

Don

I am pretty sure that was in the Crown Grill.

[MissP22]

On 11/6/2023 at 4:14 PM, aring75 said:

Not in our balcony cabin. 

No USB on the Emerald deck either. 

[aring75]

3 hours ago, Old-but-not-Done said:

Was this in the MDR ?

 

Also, How many formal nights on your itinerary?  Which nights?

 

We will be on a SIMILAR itinerary in March...

 

Don

Crown Grill. 

Three formal nights. 

The daily planner from day 1 listed all the nights, but I can’t seem to find it in my phone now. It should be posted back at the beginning of the thread. 

[DistinguishedCruiser]

1 minute ago, aring75 said:

Crown Grill. 

Three formal nights. 

The daily planner from day 1 listed all the nights, but I can’t seem to find it in my phone now. It should be posted back at the beginning of the thread. 

Thanks, I'll look for it.

[MissP22]

After sailing on Royal class ships for many years and getting accustomed to their extensive buffet, this is a shocking return to reality of limited food, selections and prep. on the Ruby. The DR has been great although it takes us 90 minutes each evening. You certainly won't starve but it just doesn't have the WOW appeal of the newer ships.

 

Edited November 12, 2023 by MissP22

[aring75]

Barbados has stayed pretty cloudy today, but the rain mostly ended this morning. The cloud cover has helped keep the temps down, so it certainly hasn’t bothered us. 
 

Around 10:30 am or so we decided to venture out into town. Our goal was to find a place for lunch (although, since today is Sunday, that would prove to be an interesting search).

 

It’s a decent walk down the pier to the port entry area. They have complimentary shuttle running back and forth, but seating is limited and some times are busier than others. 
 

Once you reach the port area, there are some shops and a restaurant/bar area without having to venture into town. We decided that would be our “fall-back” plan in case we didn’t find another restaurant. 
 

We got a taxi to downtown ($2 per person) and asked our driver for a recommendation. He said the best chance in finding an open restaurant would be at the beach and gave us directions. You could take a taxi directly to a beach on Carlisle Bay for $5 per person but we decided the walk definitely wouldn’t hurt us. 
 

Once we reached the waterfront, it took no time at all to find a couple of places. We decided to splurge since our Martinique excursion was canceled and we opted for a place that serves lobster on the beach. 
 

I know, right? So posh. 
 

[aring75]

Lobster Alive serves lobster and other assorted seafood options right on the beach in Carlisle Bay. 
 

 

The menu is in Barbadian dollars which have an exchange rate around 2:1 with USD. 
 

We started off with a couple of frozen beverages while deciding on our orders. 
 

[aring75]

We both opted for the Sm-Medium sized lobster. 
 

Mark’s with rice. 
 

 

 

And mine with seasoned chips. 
 

 

 

We also opted for a couple of local beers with our lunch. (Ok. So I guess we’re not that fancy.)

 

[aring75]

Took a taxi (there was a taxi stand right there by the restaurant) back to the port area. We walked around a bit before heading back to the ship. 
 

[trin880]

46 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

After sailing on Royal class ships for many years and getting accustomed to their extensive buffet, this is a shocking return to reality of limited food, selections and prep. on the Ruby. The DR has been great although it takes us 90 minutes each evening. You certainly won't starve but it just doesn't have the WOW appeal of the newer ships.

 

Our first sailing on Princess was Royal Princess to Alaska 2 month ago, and it may have mistakenly set my bar too high. I've been reading all the MDR responses and, honestly, disappointed. But we won't let it spoil the vacation we have on Ruby in January. Forewarned is forearmed. 

[memoak]

Just now, trin880 said:

Our first sailing on Princess was Royal Princess to Alaska 2 month ago, and it may have mistakenly set my bar too high. I've been reading all the MDR responses and, honestly, disappointed. But we won't let it spoil the vacation we have on Ruby in January. Forewarned is forearmed. 

We actually prefer the older ships to Royal class. The piazza on Royal class is ridiculously loud and very few drinking venues are away from the noise

[schnapperin]

Had a lovely boat trip with silver moon today - compared to other ships we saw there was ample of space with just 12/13 passengers. Snorkeling was a bit crowded as everyone was in the same spot, but perfect conditions and spotted some turtles and lots of fish, also even with snorkeling gear perfect conditions to spot the shipwreck 

 

 

[aring75]

11 minutes ago, trin880 said:

Our first sailing on Princess was Royal Princess to Alaska 2 month ago, and it may have mistakenly set my bar too high. I've been reading all the MDR responses and, honestly, disappointed. But we won't let it spoil the vacation we have on Ruby in January. Forewarned is forearmed. 

We’ve admittedly had a few missteps with the MDR, but once we asked to keep the same table for the rest of the cruise (that was night 3, I think) we have had zero problems since then. 
 

There are minor complaints here and there (for me, mostly the size of some of the drink glasses, and people camping out in the buffet when it is already generally crowded) but, for the most part, we really have been enjoying the cruise and the ship. 
 

I would say you have the right attitude. Try not to let others’ experiences affect your expectations too much. It’s good to have an idea what to expect, but also plenty can change between now and then. I hope you have a great cruise!

[LidoLiz]

We have had the same experience. After two nights of long lines and lacklustre service, we switched dining rooms and now have reserved the same table and servers….So. Much. Better! 
We still are fans of these older ships. I too found the Royal too big, too loud and while it has a great buffet, I missed the wraparound Promenade deck and quiet Lotus Pool.

[TracyFromMN]

44 minutes ago, LidoLiz said:

We have had the same experience. After two nights of long lines and lacklustre service, we switched dining rooms and now have reserved the same table and servers….So. Much. Better! 
We still are fans of these older ships. I too found the Royal too big, too loud and while it has a great buffet, I missed the wraparound Promenade deck and quiet Lotus Pool.

Which MDR are you liking the most? Botticelli?