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Ruby Princess Review

4.5 / 5.0
1,975 reviews

Ruby Princess Jan 8-15, 2012

Review for the Eastern Caribbean Cruise on Ruby Princess
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earlmarie
2-5 Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Jan 2012
Cabin: Balcony

Ruby Princess, 8-15 Jan 2012, from Port Everglades, Eastern Caribbean (Princess Cay, St Maarten, St Thomas, & Grand Turk)

At the conclusion of every cruise, I've always said I would submit a review -but never did until now. I thoroughly enjoy reading the reviews and tips everyone provides and I hope you can learn a little something from my review. Before we cruise, I read every board on cruisecritic to learn all I can about the ship, the ports, etc. There are many references in this review to the boards on cruisecritic! Thanks cruisecritic members!

Background -- We are a married couple, late-50's -- cruising to de-stress and relax with no schedule. This is our 2nd cruise on Princess. We were on the Island Princess 2 years ago (Panama Canal). We've also cruised on Carnival.

Cabin Review

Balcony

Cabin BA

Ruby Princess C628, category BA, balcony: This cabin is shown as "mid ship" - I think it's more aft than mid though. The aft elevators are only about 10 doors away. If you want to the midship elevators, it's a bit of a walk. The laundromat is forward (near the #300 cabins). The cabin is on the small side, but nice. The balcony is to die for! Approx 6' wide and 9' deep - maybe 4' of the balcony covered and the other 5' uncovered. Four large chairs, a table, and still plenty of room. When you look down, you are looking directly onto the balcony of the room below. When you're standing by the rail, those above are looking right down at you. The balcony is half covered, half uncovered - the best of both worlds. It does provide some privacy. Always remember to completely close the balcony door before you open the stateroom door - quite a bit of suction! Draperies are thick and plush. For those mornings you want to sleep in, you can make the room completely dark, any time of the day by pulling those drapes. The cabin has a mini-fridge but don't expect arctic temps - it barely keeps drinks/water cool. You'll need ice delivered several times a day to keep drinks cold. Don't store your ice bucket on the cabinet that holds the frig. The cabinet top gets warm and melts all the ice. There is a side table that will hold the ice bucket and it doesn't melt quite as fast. Two end tables with plenty of storage. The beds are comfortable - not too hard, not too soft. There is a 2-shelf cabinet in the vanity as well. The closet area is more than sufficient to hang up all your clothes (there are plenty of wooden hangers), store the luggage, shoes, etc. There is a cabinet by the closet that contains the safe, and 4 or 5 large bins for storage. There is a long shelf underneath the sink that holds everything. I took several 8x8" cardboard boxes to store toiletries. The hair dryer is your normal, everyday hairdryer (located at the desk - away from the bathroom). I do admit the room was quite warm, even with the A/C turned down to the coolest temp. But it wasn't unbearable, but a cooler temp would have been nice. We spent more time on the balcony than inside the cabin. C628 is directly across from the luggage elevator. When I realized this, I was concerned, but it wasn't an issue at all. Maybe 2 hours of banging luggage around and then it was over. The bedding is very comfortable - soft, high quality sheets. There were 2 outlets - we used a power strip, and then plugged a 9' extension cord to power strip. We had "power" at each end table for charging phones, cameras, curling iron, etc. This was more than sufficient. We didn't experience the 'sticky shower curtain' but I can see where that might be a problem for some. The showers are small and water does seep out onto the floor, even when you're trying to be very careful. Shaving your legs is a adventure. Pack Nair! There's plenty of storage in the bathroom too. There's a long low shelf underneath the sink and 3-4 shelves beside the sink. The countertop is fairly spacious, but I stored our toiletries in small cardboard boxes underneath the sink. I could take my "box" to the vanity to get ready. The boxes kept everything in one place, easy to find, and neat and orderly. There is a clothes line in the shower and 2 large hooks on the inside door to hang wet towels, robes, etc.

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