Ruby Princess Review

4.5 / 5.0
1,975 reviews

Snow Escape on Ruby Princess

Review for the Eastern Caribbean Cruise on Ruby Princess
User Avatar
paul johnson
First Time Cruiser • Age 20s

Rating by category

Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Rooms
Entertainment
Fitness & Recreation
Service
Cabin

Additional details

Sail Date: Dec 2009
Traveled with children

We flew out of Heathrow ,escaping the clutches of winter after an epic journey from the North of England which involved shovelling snow for two and a half hours, on AA , as usual AA failed to deliver a decent service ,but what the hell we made it to Miami. Overnight at the Intercontinental , nice hotel , scales in the bathroom ,made us chuckle . Transfer to ship was smooth and seemless . So to was the return ,which was a great improvement on previous experiences in Miami. First impressions of the Ship were good , clean and tidy , very smart and sleek . The room was small but very comfortable and had everything we needed . A bouquet I had ordered for my wife was waiting in the room on our arrival . It was the cheapest one for cost but was of top quality and compared to one at home was very good value.It lasted the entire cruise. We found the ship easy to navigate around , everything seemed logical to us . A big improvement was the number of lifts , still a small bottleneck but would have been much worse with less lifts . The Food was up to usual standards , Steaks were very good , the fish was always a little overcooked for me , puddings were better than normal . Souffle usually the most reliable was relegated to the shelf and not touched at all , which was a first for us . The service at table though was hit and miss on Anytime dining , it just depended which waiter/table you were put at . The activities were decent , usual mix of lectures , games and quizzes, the quizzes seemed to repeat the questions to much so if you played a few times it became more of a memory game than a quiz , we figured it was to give the Americans a chance to win some luggage tags (joking)! The entertainment was superb , from the bands , the comedians and the ensemble cast top drawer stuff . A not to be missed final show to . which involved state of the art computer graphics for the entire production . If you do nothing else watch this show. The wine at dinner had gone up in price and I thought it was a bit steep ,but the bucket of beer was good value and an odd cocktail or two went down well. Generally the staff seemed pleasant enough but there did seem to be something not quite right , we heard rumour that a huge number of people had cancelled or altered their gratuity payment.This could have been cause of the 'oddness'. Memo to Princess, pay your staff a proper wage , they deserve it . Your customers generally seem to think that they have already paid enough money for the cruise. One feature that was new to us was the meeting on the jetty for prepaid trips ,much better than gathering in the theatre as I have experienced on Princess before . That said we didnt always use Princess for the trips , choosing to sort our own out half the time . The pools were great , Sometimes it was hard to find a place to sit , but if you wanted a bit of peace and quiet , there were plenty of out of the way spots . The Movies under the stars good picture great sound , and very nice to be able to get away from it , seeing how they played far too much awful american football on it , very few yanks watched it , and its sooo boring .A non sport. A good reason to have two main pools . The ship itself looks majestic with superb lines , I really liked being able to walk around the front on the promenade deck . Great for photos. The teens club looked great but our teen wouldnt go , perhaps the ages were a problem 13 is a very long way from 18 , certainly for a British child , and is quite intimidating .So the honeymoon experience took a severe blow with club non attendance . Captains circle event was the usual non event . but we managed to cram some down . They seemed to become stronger as the hour went along .Or was that me . The cabin was ideally placed , close to things but far enough away as to be very quiet . It was easy to walk up to go out on deck too , which meant much less waiting for the lift . We had one bad thing happen on board , my wife banged her head on the third bunk (lowered from the ceiling ) it required a doctor and some jointing strips. The doctor was very surly and wanted to stitch ,which would have cost more and left a scar . Luckily my wife is a nurse and insisted on not stitching , they still charged us though , despite the cabin upper bunk being of poor design with sharp square bits sticking out when they should be against the wall . watch out people ...it hurts. That aside we enjoyed our on ship experience and would happily sail on her again .

Cabin Review

Cabin bal

Quiet ,well placed for deck only 4 short flights . Away from restaurants above or below so no early morning noise, balcony small but good enough also private with no one able to look down on you .. shower room very small but again good enough . wardrobe /changing area , third lowering down bunk overhangs wall and has a sharp end , wife cut head on it . TV good , storage good beds very comfy . Steward good , toiletries not as prolific as normal .Kept having to ask for them to be replenished. Safe hairdryer all good .

previous reviewnext review

Find a Ruby Princess Cruise from $143

Any Month

Get special cruise deals, expert advice, insider tips and more.By proceeding, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

© 1995—2024, The Independent Traveler, Inc.