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

[123cruisinp]

I am confused, I saw a post that stated the cigar lounge was turned into a game room.  I checked with customer support and they said there were no changes.  Could you please check the Speakeasy Cigar Lounge and see if it still exists?  We are on this ship Dec 20th.

[rentayenta]

Following along! What a fun report. We will be on the Ruby Nov 30!

[loge23]

On 11/6/2023 at 10:37 PM, aring75 said:

The Belle Glos Pinot was nice. I really hate these glasses though. My water glass was bigger than my red wine glass. 😄

 

 

Oh no! Back to the water glasses again?! On our last Princess cruise they had real wine glasses in the DR. Shame them by asking for the larger "water glass" for your wine or a proper wine glass.

[aring75]

2 hours ago, schnapperin said:

also love the IC - great coffee and the lines aren’t to busy. Breakfast option also looks great and they even have tray‘s

 

that will be my go to place during port days with some early starts.

We have also enjoyed the International Cafe. The coffee is good and they have a nice selection of small bites too. Mark had the egg sandwich this morning. They warm it up when you order and he said it was just the right size. 

[aring75]

53 minutes ago, banderboo said:

Do you need to make reservations or is it just drive in and park? Is handicap parking in the same place?

No reservations necessary for parking. I saw a few HC parking spaces in the garage, but the car in front of us at luggage drop-off had a handicap placard and I know the attendant directed them forward while we turned to go to the garage. I would check when you arrive to see if there are additional designated spaces for HC parking. 

[aring75]

37 minutes ago, 123cruisinp said:

I am confused, I saw a post that stated the cigar lounge was turned into a game room.  I checked with customer support and they said there were no changes.  Could you please check the Speakeasy Cigar Lounge and see if it still exists?  We are on this ship Dec 20th.

The cigar lounge attached to the casino is definitely an arcade now. I have asked about cigar smoking and the crew member said you need to use designated outdoor smoking areas. I am going to ask at guest services to find out if there is a specific cigar smoking area. 

[aring75]

18 minutes ago, loge23 said:

Oh no! Back to the water glasses again?! On our last Princess cruise they had real wine glasses in the DR. Shame them by asking for the larger "water glass" for your wine or a proper wine glass.

Not only are they using the shameful glasses, but last night they served my Grgich Hills Merlot in a glass that had obviously just come out of the dishwasher. The stem was still hot when they set the glass on the table.  😑

 

 

Mmmmm…warm Merlot. 
 

 

I sent it back as the wine was already tasting a little “off” from the heat. But I shouldn’t have had to do that. Who thinks it’s okay to serve wine poured into a hot glass? Lol!

[aring75]

I really like the Adagio Lounge (deck 15 aft) for a quiet place to relax during the day. The bar is not open until later, but we took our coffee up this morning and loved the peaceful atmosphere. 
 

[aring75]

So as I said before, we are dining in Sabatini’s tonight. I wanted to go ahead and post the MDR menu so I don’t forget. 
 

 

 

 

[aring75]

Got a call from our tour operator in Martinique. Apparently the day we are docked in Martinique is a national holiday (marking the end of WWII) so a lot of businesses will be closed. They canceled our tour (since it was a downtown walking food tour) and gave us the option to reschedule to one of their other tour options. We’ve already done both of the other options offered, so we may just get off the ship and walk around. Or may take the ferry to one of the beaches. We’ll see how we feel. 
 

I’m a little bummed because I was looking forward to this one, but I’m sure we’ll find something else to do. 
 

[schnapperin]

10 minutes ago, aring75 said:

Got a call from our tour operator in Martinique. Apparently the day we are docked in Martinique is a national holiday (marking the end of WWII) so a lot of businesses will be closed. They canceled our tour (since it was a downtown walking food tour) and gave us the option to reschedule to one of their other tour options. We’ve already done both of the other options offered, so we may just get off the ship and walk around. Or may take the ferry to one of the beaches. We’ll see how we feel. 
 

I’m a little bummed because I was looking forward to this one, but I’m sure we’ll find something else to do. 
 

I‘m joining a tour with beyond the beach - maybe they have a tour on offer that would interest you?

[MrSchwump]

25 minutes ago, aring75 said:

I am going to ask at guest services to find out if there is a specific cigar smoking area. 

 
I’ll be onboard on 1/19 and will be keen to spark up a premium cigar. According to the Social Media Site that Shall Not be Named, smoking is permitted on the aft deck adjacent to the Tradewinds (?) bar. 
Thanks in advance and for the great info!

[aring75]

3 minutes ago, schnapperin said:

I‘m joining a tour with beyond the beach - maybe they have a tour on offer that would interest you?

Our tour was with Beyond the Beach! We’ve used them several times in the past and have had really great experiences. The food tour was really the only tour left to try. 
 

It’s okay though. This is really just supposed to be a nice relaxing cruise for us, so it will be fine not to have excursions in every port. I just love a good food tour so hopefully we’ll be able to do it next visit!

[RNRcruisers]

14 hours ago, schnapperin said:

Tonight the lines were even longer at 7 pm - took around 30 minutes after swapping to the unreserved line. Lots of table not been used inside, it seems that the system of having a specific table reserved is the reason for the delays for everyone else who hasn’t a fixed table 

 

I really miss Traditional Dining. They are making this way harder than it needs to be.

 

[schnapperin]

1 minute ago, RNRcruisers said:

 

I really miss Traditional Dining. They are making this way harder than it needs to be.

 

or offering that in at least one restaurant so who ever wants to have their fixed table and time could choose that - let’s hope it gets better when we are in the ports but I somehow doubt it, feel also sorry for the staff at the doors who have to deal with non happy customers and trying to skip the lines 

[CruisinCadie]

On 11/6/2023 at 3:34 PM, aring75 said:

 

 

As I recall, the Ruby Princess has the biggest closets and smallest bathrooms for a standard balcony stateroom.

[memoak]

49 minutes ago, schnapperin said:

or offering that in at least one restaurant so who ever wants to have their fixed table and time could choose that - let’s hope it gets better when we are in the ports but I somehow doubt it, feel also sorry for the staff at the doors who have to deal with non happy customers and trying to skip the lines 

Even if you did that if everyone wanted to eat early and very few want to eat after 8:00 you would have the same issue

[banderboo]

20 hours ago, aring75 said:

Visited the port presentation today. We have a tour planned for St. Kitts, but nothing for Guadeloupe. I looked and looked, but nothing really appealed to me except one that was already sold out (of course). We’ll see what happens.
 

 

We have another day at sea before we even have to think about excursions.

 

I’m never more excited to do absolutely nothing than when I’m on a cruise. 😊

Let me know how you like St Kitts and what you did? We are heading that way on our next RCL cruise and haven’t been before. 

[skynight]

23 minutes ago, banderboo said:

Let me know how you like St Kitts and what you did? We are heading that way on our next RCL cruise and haven’t been before. 

There is a large mall area adjacent to the pier. 

[aring75]

30 minutes ago, banderboo said:

Let me know how you like St Kitts and what you did? We are heading that way on our next RCL cruise and haven’t been before. 

We’ve been to St. Kitts a few times, but we’ve never done the train. So this time we are doing the train ride and coastal cruise. 
 

 

 

Last time we were there we took a catamaran to Nevis for snorkeling and lunch on the beach. It was a long day, but that was a great time. 

[MrSchwump]

We didn’t know what to do when we visited St Kitts either. We just went into town and found a cab driver who took us to Brimstone Hill, an 18th century fortress. Great views and very interesting. You could see several other islands from there (Saba, Nevis, St Barths, et al). On the way home we did a quick island tour with a couple of photo ops. Quick and easy!

[mcgratru]

Dining/Food service seems really messed up on this cruise.

[aring75]

22 minutes ago, mcgratru said:

Dining/Food service seems really messed up on this cruise.

Yes. It seems like lengthy wait times and slow service. We’ve enjoyed most of what we’ve ordered, but it feels like the dining room rhythm is “off.”

 

We’ve been requesting a table for two. I’ve noticed that when we are seated, they will wait until they fill up the other two tops around us before they begin taking orders.
 

We sat with our menus for 20 minutes the first night, and then they took orders from six tables all in a row along the bench seat. Once you finished a course, they didn’t bring the next one until they cleared ALL the plates. 
 

We requested a table for two, but with the way they are serving, we may as well be sharing a table for twelve. 
 

We haven’t let this affect our enjoyment of our cruise as I’m still finding a lot of positives, but the dining situation would definitely be something I would consider before booking the Ruby again. 
 

I am still hoping things get ironed out as the cruise progresses though!

[trin880]

3 hours ago, aring75 said:

Yes. It seems like lengthy wait times and slow service. We’ve enjoyed most of what we’ve ordered, but it feels like the dining room rhythm is “off.”

 

We’ve been requesting a table for two. I’ve noticed that when we are seated, they will wait until they fill up the other two tops around us before they begin taking orders.
 

We sat with our menus for 20 minutes the first night, and then they took orders from six tables all in a row along the bench seat. Once you finished a course, they didn’t bring the next one until they cleared ALL the plates. 
 

We requested a table for two, but with the way they are serving, we may as well be sharing a table for twelve. 
 

We haven’t let this affect our enjoyment of our cruise as I’m still finding a lot of positives, but the dining situation would definitely be something I would consider before booking the Ruby again. 
 

I am still hoping things get ironed out as the cruise progresses though!

My understanding there are 3 MDRs on Ruby. We are sailing end of January and I have an option to choose one of 3 locations (selected Da Vinci, private table). Is this dining situation in all 3 dining rooms? 

[aring75]

1 hour ago, trin880 said:

My understanding there are 3 MDRs on Ruby. We are sailing end of January and I have an option to choose one of 3 locations (selected Da Vinci, private table). Is this dining situation in all 3 dining rooms? 

While we were in line on night two, a couple behind us had come down to Michaelangelo from DaVinci saying it wasn’t any better. I haven’t heard about Botticelli though. It’s kind of tucked away so maybe it’s better? Not sure though.