RUBY PRINCESS 28 DAY FLL TO VENICE, ITALY. 4/19 TO 5/17/2010

[nabs14]

Just got unpacked, had a very nice cruise, basically good weather, only one full day of rain.  Cabin was in the area I like, A601.  The first part of the cruise up until Barcelona was Captain Tony Yeoman's, very personable, liked to blow the horn when leaving port.  The McPrincess breakfast sandwich was quite popular.  Actually saw passengers ordering two at a time.  Dining room dinners were good with the exception of the soups.  Not nearly as good as on the Diamond.  I noticed on the "Always Available" side of the dinner menu two foods were missing.  One was the NY strip steak & the baked potato.  I do believe the steak was pulled so as to encourage passengers to visit the Crown Grill which of course has an additional charge.  The shrimp in the dinner shrimp cocktail have gotten smaller, but there is a delicious shrimp salad available everyday at the International Cafe free of charge.  Not to mention all the many daily delicious pastry's in the morning & tea time favorites the rest of the day & evening.  The International Cafe also has sandwiches & salads at lunch time.  The coffee bar next to the International Cafe does a booming business all the time with passengers buying the very popular coffee card.  As the cruise went along & passengers were discovering the Cafe Caribe it became more & more popular to the point of being over crowded at the end of the cruise.  They had a different theme of foods every night.  

The Elite line at the Pursers desk works very well.  I saw no problem there.  I got in that line & was taken care of instantly.  The Elite lounge in Skywalker's was very nice but also not very busy.  Every late afternoon between 5 & 7 PM there is different drink for $2.95 & different tid bits to munch on.  However I actually saw some people arrive there with their own drinks (soda) which seemed to come from the fridge in their cabin which we know are free to Elite passengers.  

I had a lovely lady cabin steward named Marylou who did a very good job in my cabin, but then I just never really left any kind of mess.  Oh yes I got a pair of slippers.  The Ruby Princess is a lovely, different & very large ship but I think the food on some of the other large ships is better.

Elite Passenger 268 days.              

[obendus]

Just got unpacked, had a very nice cruise, basically good weather, only one full day of rain.  Cabin was in the area I like, A601.  The first part of the cruise up until Barcelona was Captain Tony Yeoman's, very personable, liked to blow the horn when leaving port.  The McPrincess breakfast sandwich was quite popular.  Actually saw passengers ordering two at a time.  Dining room dinners were good with the exception of the soups.  Not nearly as good as on the Diamond.  I noticed on the "Always Available" side of the dinner menu two foods were missing.  One was the NY strip steak & the baked potato.  I do believe the steak was pulled so as to encourage passengers to visit the Crown Grill which of course has an additional charge.  The shrimp in the dinner shrimp cocktail have gotten smaller, but there is a delicious shrimp salad available everyday at the International Cafe free of charge.  Not to mention all the many daily delicious pastry's in the morning & tea time favorites the rest of the day & evening.  The International Cafe also has sandwiches & salads at lunch time.  The coffee bar next to the International Cafe does a booming business all the time with passengers buying the very popular coffee card.  As the cruise went along & passengers were discovering the Cafe Caribe it became more & more popular to the point of being over crowded at the end of the cruise.  They had a different theme of foods every night.  

The Elite line at the Pursers desk works very well.  I saw no problem there.  I got in that line & was taken care of instantly.  The Elite lounge in Skywalker's was very nice but also not very busy.  Every late afternoon between 5 & 7 PM there is different drink for $2.95 & different tid bits to munch on.  However I actually saw some people arrive there with their own drinks (soda) which seemed to come from the fridge in their cabin which we know are free to Elite passengers.  

I had a lovely lady cabin steward named Marylou who did a very good job in my cabin, but then I just never really left any kind of mess.  Oh yes I got a pair of slippers.  The Ruby Princess is a lovely, different & very large ship but I think the food on some of the other large ships is better.

Elite Passenger 268 days.              

Thank-you. Virtual cruising is never _as_ fun, but always an enjoyable read. Thanks for posting.

[f-mattox]

What exactly is the Cafe Caribe?  This is something I've not heard of; it looks like it is part of the Horizon Court but is it buffet or table service?  Is it just dinner or all day?

[ccrain]

What exactly is the Cafe Caribe?  This is something I've not heard of; it looks like it is part of the Horizon Court but is it buffet or table service?  Is it just dinner or all day?

Well if its like the CB, they took off some of the deck at the aft end of the HC, moving the bar almost to the edge overlooking the pool and put two additional buffet lines in - called Cafe Caribe. We really enjoyed it during our CB cruise. It had more seafood items than the HC, but the layout was illogical. You basically had different items scattered on both sides, salads, entrees, desserts, such that you almost had to go to both sides to see it all. They had the sailaway seafood buffet and one other seafood buffet during the cruise.

I think it was open only during dinner, but I could be mistaken. If I remember correctly you get a bit more indoor seating, but you lose the large outdoor deck on a normal Grand, so essentially you have a net loss of seats.

We will probably spend a lot more time there on our upcoming Emerald cruise.

[f-mattox]

Thank you so much, ccrain; now that I look closer at the deckplan I can see the extra serving islands.  We like to eat all the way at the back because it is usually quieter, but it's a long walk with a full platter from the front islands .  I can see where that would be more convenient. 

[nabs14]

ccrain gives a good description of "Cafe Caribe" but what also should be mentioned is the fact that at dinner the tables there are already nicely set with white place mats, your flatware & glasses.  There is no need to carry your flatware through the buffet line.  There is no really long walk with your food either as the area is smaller.  Waiters come around to serve your drinks.  There are several "theme" buffets, one of which was the "Bavarian Buffet", my favorite.  There is lot's of seafood available.  It appeared from the beginning of the 28 days things were quite manageable there but must say word got around & it became quite popular & more crowded.  Cafe Caribe also has theme lunches most days.  There also is a good variety of desserts.  Once we discovered the Cafe Caribe, we were there very often.  I usually prefer being served in the dining room but next to that I really liked the buffet in Cafe Caribe to the Horizon Court.  

Elite Passenger 268 days.       

[NSWP]

Thanks for the review, nab14.   Yes, the Crown has the Cafe Caribe too.  Very handy at busy breakfast/lunch times, just walk straight through, that overflow space is great.  I noticed a lot of the authorised crew, i.e. dancers, muscians, photographers etc, also ate in the Cafe Caribe at busy times.

As for the coffee cards being popular, I think that is why Princess Horizon Coffee is made so bad, make you purchase the card !

I hope the Elite pre dinner drink bar stays, at $2.95 a cocktail,  it beats paying $10 for my wife's daily rasberry mohito fix, pre dinner.