Ruby Princess Review

Nice but not great

Review for the Southern Caribbean Cruise on Ruby Princess
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Dorene1
First Time Cruiser • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Nov 2009

Let me start off to say, It was a cruise and any cruise is better than being at work. The ship is beautiful, and our mini suite was nice and spacious. We stayed the night before at the Renaissance Hotel and it was very nice at a great price. We arrived at the Pier and we saw the Oasis of the Seas and it looked massive, not even a ship but more like a hotel floating on the water.

I will start with the positive, the itinerary was excellent, so was the ship tours we did. We had perfect weather and the sailing was smooth to each port. I like trivia and games so there was some of this each day, but there could be more. I loved the balcony dinner was great and our best meal on board the ship. Going on the tours was very smooth and no problems. We had a wonderful room steward he was always there was to make you happy. The back of the ship's pool on the aft is the best place to be, and Herman was always there to chat and bring you a great cold drink when needed. Crooner's has the best martini's and variety. Have the "From Russia with Love" in the James Bond Series "always shaken never stirred" International cafe was a great place to have coffee and a light snack or lunch. There was a non smoking night at the Casino which was very nice. We loved our balcony it was covered and it was great to walk out every morning.

Let me start to say, this is my first Princess cruise and I have been on over 40 with other lines. All cruise lines are there to make you happy and I would rather be on any cruise than be at work. The food in the dining room was not too good, all soups were creamed even the chicken and rice. The food was bland and lack of flavor. The meats were tough and the pasta was mainly one style. The service is the dining room was good. Once thing I can say is your food was always served hot and I really like that. No wine steward in the dining room to assist you I thought this was odd. The buffets, the breakfast was different, they premade fried eggs all plated instead of the usual make to order and sometimes they sat there for a while before anyone would take them. The breads were good and variety. I really enjoyed the abundance of lox that was there each morning. It was hard to get a seat for the buffet and no assistance from the waitstaff to help. I noticed the waitstaff did go up to people who snapped there fingers for assistance to serve them coffee or juice. I couldnt do that out of respect for the server but I also was never offered a cup of coffee either. The lunch buffet was good most of the time. We loved the Mexican buffet on the last sea day. The buffets also lacked flavors and spice as well. We did have high hopes at the Crown Grill, while our appetizer was great as well as soup and salad, our porterhouse steak was not too good. It didnt seem to have the flavor and I don't mean the huge garlic butter they place on the steak as flavoring. It almost taste like the steak was cooked half way earlier and then the final cooking when ordered. It did not have the "hot off the grill flavor" So we were very disappointed and only ate a small portion of our steaks. Our server was not too informative about the menu or suggestions as we heard others make suggestions and the porterhouse was not recommended by the other servers. This had to be one of the hottest ships I have ever sailed. This is were they must be cutting back on the air conditioning to the point that condensation was dripping from the ceilings. I complained but nothing really changed. I know I read this in other reviews and it is so so true. Very uncomfortable to sleep in. A reminder, I pre paid for some items such as the champagne breakfast but didn't use it because of the menu, and was told it was not refundable on the last day so make sure you use it or you lose it (money).

Cabin Review

Mini Suite.......GREAT

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