November 15 - 22, 2008 Western Caribbean ruby Princess This was our first cruise with Princess, having mostly sailed with Royal Caribbean. This was our second visit to the Western Caribbean, having visited the same islands on this route on a previous sailing. Our sailing was during the maiden season of the Ruby. We went out of BWI to Port Everglades 1 day before our embarkation date, which we always do. We parked at Airport FastPark. The service is excellent. They were cheaper than parking at airport, and we also used an internet coupon which saved us a little more. We took AirTran and they were so on schedule we actually left the terminal early. When we got at airport we took a cab for about $25 to downtown Ft. Lauderdale. This was for 4 travelers and 4 bags. We stayed at Riverside Hotel. They have nicer cabins, but we were in a basic room which was in a section which had not undergone renovation and wasn't well maintained. The hotel was nice overall, but it was old and not up to date in some respects. The elevators were too small and getting your luggage in and out of it was more than a chore. The parking lot was also available for public use I believe. I saw questionable characters there at times, all hours of night. What was nice is a smoking veranda. Port Everglades is very industrial and less modernized than Port of Miami. Rudimentary in operations, and far less staff. He had to make number slips for us for handicapped check-in by ripping up a piece of paper and writing out a number for us. Waiting around seemed longer. What we didn't like is porters "reminded" us about a tip. I thought this was in poor taste. Check-in was pretty smooth overall, not as efficient as Miami but pretty trouble-free nonetheless.

SHIP We thought the ship was just lovely. Steve my boyfriend remarked that he enjoyed the layout much better compared to the open floor plan of Royal Caribbean. He said that you have to walk around more to explore the ship, which is sort of true because things are clustered about rather than bundled into one location. This reduced traffic and gave more intimate areas. The piazza is grand. The International Cafe always offered something new, which is a treat compared to the cookies and crap that are always served on RCL. Gelato was good and low-priced. We took advantage of the pizza and ice cream bar up on the top deck. We never got to go to the Sanctuary. We loved the Terrace Pool. Adagio and Sabatinis along with their Terrace Bar and all centered in this area at the back of the ship, making it a private and nice area for adults. Several little pools and whirlpools for private enjoyment up above. Movies under the Stars was great, but sound transfer could be improved. My boyfriend said if speakers were lower the acoustics would be better. It was sometimes difficult to hear over pool noises and wind, etc. The variety for MUTS was fairly good - concerts and first-run films. We saw Batman Begins which had just come out of the theatre. Very nice that they offer a warming blanket for your legs and popcorn. I loved that. My boyfriend was irritated by people reserving chairs on the pool deck, he said there was never a space unless you got out there early. We enjoyed the sandwich venue they have on the pool deck, with bratwursts and hot dogs and even veggie burgers for me! We didn't go to any of the production shows onboard, but we enjoyed various entertainment at venues throughout the ship - R&B band and pianist Ray Coussins at Adagio, etc. In the piazza there were different entertainers available at various times. Princess was friendly to smokers. There was smoking available at many different places onboard. We didn't like the cigar bar, which was poorly designed. Steve says it was much like a sports bar, and situated right next to the casino which made it very noisy and not relaxing. But it didn't really matter because there were lots of other nice nooks and places to enjoy.

DINING I enjoyed the dining options onboard because I am a vegetarian and it seemed there was always plenty of options for me - all properly marked. Food was good, and portions good in the dining room. Service in the dining room was very poor. We had traditional dining, our waiter basically left us after serving the main course. He was helping set up another table and we stopped waiting for any kind of dessert or more water, etc. This was a shock. But we did get a table for ourselves. It was obvious from some other people that service was dead too because they were looking around too for their server. Pretty poor. I was surprised by saltines in their package for cheese plate, not even wheat crackers or biscuits. We never went back to the dining room. An exception to the service was from the Head Waiter, who tried very hard to have vegetarian options available for me and went through the trouble to have a special meal brought to my room, which was delicious and made me feel special. It was probably one of the best meals I had onboard. We ate upstairs for the remainder of our trip. Even on formal night, which Steve thought was pretty funny. Service in the buffet was better. They also identified dishes for vegetarians in the buffet area, unlike Royal Caribbean which only had it in the dining room. Staff not very attentive but still more available. I observed that some staff were kissing up for tips..but this was only a couple times. At dinner service seemed to be more on point than breakfast and other relaxed servings. We took part in the Princess Grapevine, an introduction to different wines. We enjoyed this and felt it was well run. Thank you Princess for having key lime pie and a strong variety in the buffet. I was rather impressed by international cuisines, with Vietnamese lettuce rolls and items that are not normally found in restaurants, more cuisine that is favored among cultural circles. For example, I ate lettuce rolls growing up as a child. But they had it. In general, I felt there were many things for me to eat even for lunch. It was a bit odd the layout for buffet areas because it was a type of circle, and you were either going outside or running in a circle, coming back to elevator. Breakfast seemed boring, hated the stewed prunes and eggs were rather runny one morning. Wished more options were available for breakfast. Lunch and dinner were always good. There was no wine package available, but they did give you juice for free even though it was concentrate. Sabatinis was a total disappointment. Our server seemed like a cool guy, but as a waiter he wasn't real good because he failed to provide enjoyable options for us or know how to respond to them. Steve ordered langoustines, which he said had no meat at all and overcooked. I pointed it out to server and they hastily put together some simple scallops to make up for the mishap. They didn't have a whole lot for me so I mostly had pasta. waiter brought out some steamed vegetables, asparagus and carrots and broccoli. Which I was practically insulted by because in an upscale restaurant you can do better than that. Both the vegetables and scallops were probably only steamed. We were not asked what we would like, we thought they would do cater to us to make evening special, but it wasn't. It is annoying enough that mere excuses are brought up for the rare vegetarian aliens and nothing acceptable can be provided by society. Just wish I didn't have to deal with it on vacation. I wasn't really escaping completely at this point. Steve was very disappointed. We were sitting around awhile, they were busy and left during our main course. Three hours and too much waiting is enough for dinner. We never went to Chops because the service was so pitiful in Sabatinis. Steve didn't leave a tip and he rarely does that, so it must have been bad. STATEROOM Layout is well-designed with closet open and bathroom tucked away and not intruding on traffic space. Bed was comfortable. We had a queen that was 2 doubles joined together, we felt a bit of a gap where the beds were joined but overall sleeping was good. They had new mattresses in and comfortable pillows. We were on BAJA deck, we didn't have a cascading balcony near the back of the ship. Balcony is a bit small but still comfortable. We took advantage of the laundry room which is a great feature. It was private and usually free. Coin-operated but that is fine. I did have a problem with the coin part where it took my money a couple times or failed to operate. Clothes took a little while to dry. Steve said television programming was good at sea, more cable channels and options. I liked the items from the Princess Spa that they had in your bathroom, it was like being at a hotel and a nice touch. Read more