Review of the Ruby Princess

Ruby Princess; November 4 - 14, 2009

written by ziggysun posted on 29/11/09

4.0lapton's house was across from one of the scenic points.

Here are some pictures from the National Park Area. The coastline was very rugged and beautiful!

We went back to the buses and waited for the rest of the group to get back. It was a bit hot and the buses weren't running so they were like saunas. I went over to sit in the shade where I could see the bus (I didn't want to be the last one onboard ) While waiting I started talking with a couple who were saying they were having a horrible excursion, they were on the Carnival ship. It was supposed to be a 1/2 day private tour, but they were being rushed all over the place. He asked how our tour was and I told him that ours seemed good and I wished we'd have more time at the Dockyard, but it's tough to see an island in a day. He was not happy at all about his tour and I think if he could have, he'd have asked if he could join our tour

We boarded the buses and out came the rum punch. I'm a lightweight when it comes to alcohol and I thought the mix of cold meds and that wouldn't do me any good so I passed on the rum punch and had a bottle of water instead. Everyone said the rum punch was very good and that it didn't really taste like it had a lot of alcohol, but the last thing I needed was to be feeling tipsy in the Antigua heat on a bus tour....I had enough feeling off that week already

We were now off to the rainforest and sampling of the local pineapple. OMG the pineapple was awesome! The local pineapple is smaller than the ones we get here in the states, they don't export it and only distribute it to their local hotels.

We rode through the rain forest and passed by the Zip Line Tour location. I can tell you that if you want to do the Zip Line Tour, the one area is extremely high from the ground! We passed by so quick that I didn't get a picture, but I did get to see the drop down!

After the rainforest, it was time to head to the beach and drop off those who were going to spend some time there and then take the others who didn't want to stay back to the Port. I had planned not to go to the beach that morning, I just wasn't feeling up to a beach day after a tour. I did take a couple pictures of the beach while we were there dropping off the others. It did look like a beautiful beach

It ended up that 2 buses were needed to take those back to the port that were not staying at the beach. It took Lawrence at bit of discussion between his buses to figure out which vehicles we were using, but once that got settled, we were on our way to the Port.

We had travelled some of the same areas we had been on earlier, but even so there were people onboard the bus who didn't know anything about certain things we were passing. The people who were on our bus going wondered what all the questions were about because these same people were on our tour I guess they had the driver with the least amount of narrative, not that I minded, we got two different drivers info on the things we were seeing

We got back to the Port and since we had already paid for the tour, just got off the buses and walked to where the ships were. Ruth wanted to do some shopping before heading back to the ship, but I needed a ladies room and decided I would just head to the ship.

I probably should have mentioned this in the beginning, I'm not really a "port shopper" I don't do the souvenier thing. I used to buy something for everyone, but then realized I could go on more cruises and trips if I just bought for a select few; DH if he wasn't with me on the trip, my Mom and my MIL.

I headed back to the cabin and called DH. This was our last port of call on the cruise and once we set sail, the next 2 days would be Sea Days so I wanted to touch base with him while it would cost $1.00/minute vs. $4.99/minute

When I got to the cabin we had a message from Hanna that our reservation for the Crown Grill tonight was at 6:00 pm. I left a note for Ruth about the reservation and headed up to the Horizon Court for a snack since we'd be eating early. I bumped into Hanna's DH and then Hanna so we sat and chatted for a bit and then Ruth arrived. She wanted to hit the sushi so we moved our Crown Grill reservation back to 7:00 pm.

When I called DH earlier, he had just arrived at Home Depot, so it wasn't a good time for him to chat so I had to call him back before we left port. Usually this would be no big deal, but 4 ships were in port and apparently we had some passengers who were late getting back onboard the ship. I was on the phone so I didn't hear all the announcements that were being made or the chaos that was happening other than the ship horns being blown between the 4 ships in port. It was not a good time to try to make a phone call I told DH that I'd talk to him when I got the cell signal on Saturday in Fort Lauderdale.

We met Hanna and her DH at the Crown Grill for dinner at 7:00 and were seated right away. I ordered the Filet Mignon and, I know I mentioned that I don't eat seafood, but I do like lobster tail so I ordered the small 4 ounce lobster tail. I also ordered the french onion soup, and I don't like or eat onions I eat around things The food was incredible! I absolutely loved the Crown Grill and if I went on a Princess ship again that had a Crown Grill, would probably plan to go at least twice if not more All of us seemed to really enjoy this dinner. But I don't want to speak for others so I'll let them give you their opinions

I was so stuffed from dinner! Since tomorrow was a Sea Day there wasn't a need to worry about ports and tours so I could sleep late, but oh wait, I scheduled a spa appointment for 10:00 am and I needed to be there at 9:30 am...what was I thinking

I'm not really sure what we did after dinner this night. Our routine seemed to be dinner then the casino for a bit and then off to bed, but I know I was stuffed so I probably walked around for a bit afterwards, unless I did good at the casino

Maybe Hanna knows what I did? I'll just leave it that at one point I did go to sleep that night

Sea Day

I woke up around 9:00 am and headed up to the Horizon Court for tea prior to the Spa Appointment. I sat out on Lido Deck and people watched for a bit then at 9:30 headed to the Lotus Spa. I had pre-booked an Aroma Stone Therapy massage. We did receive coupon books as part of the Group amenity, and there was a coupon for $40 off this treatment, but the fine print was that this coupon was only good if you received the treatment on a port day. My birthday was November 1st and Princess will celebrate events that happen up to, I believe, 30 days prior to the cruise or 45 days after the cruise. As a birthday gift, I received a 20% off coupon for any massage treatment and there were no restrictions regarding being used on only port days

I checked in at the spa and met my massage therapist Maria. We discussed any medical conditions and which massages I've had before, I usually go for the seaweed wrap, but since I planned to go to the Spa at the end of the cruise, I didn't want any type of exfoliating treatment in case I got a little sunburned. Which brings me to one of my tips If you are planning on a wrap or scrub treatment at the spa, make sure to do it at the beginning of your cruise and not after a day at the beach or laying in the sun! I made that mistake once and never again

I told Maria that I had never had an aroma stone therapy treatment and that I didn't want any type of facial treatments. She agreed and informed me that a body brushing was usually part of the treatment and asked if I wanted that, since I wasn't really sunburned I told her that she could do it. They apply oil and then use warm/hot stones to give you the massage. If you've never had one of these treatments, I'd highly recommend it! I was so relaxed I was close to falling asleep During the massage, Maria informed me that she would be skipping the body brushing, I have a medical condition which is making my skin and hair extremely dry. She said my skin was absorbing all the oil she was putting on it during the massage even though my skin wasn't flaky so she felt my skin needed moisture and not exfoliating.

After the massage Maria recommended that I get frangi (I may be spelling that wrong) treatment done for my hair since it was so dry. This treatment is a head, neck and shoulder massage where they apply oil. Basically, she recommended it because it would be similar to a hot oil treatment for my hair. I asked her how much it was and she said $29. I thought ok, I'll bite, what appointment times are available? After Maria checked with the massage therapist who would do the treatment, I was scheduled for 9:00 am the following day....looks like I won't be sleeping late on this cruise at all...I guess I already did that when we were in St. Kitts

I got done in the Spa and headed off to Lido deck for more tea and something to eat. I was at the Spa until almost noon But what a way to spend a morning

I spent the afternoon just wandering around and stopping by the casino. Tonight was our 2nd Formal night.

We went down to get pictures before dinner and then headed to our dining room and encountered the longest line so far on the cruise. We had to wait for a table and they gave us one of those flashing/vibrating things like they do when you're waiting at Outback Steakhouse. We got in line for one of the Formal picture backgrounds and stood there for a bit and then our little flashing thing went off. We headed to dinner and figured the pictures would happen afterwards.

After dinner we went into the casino and at one point I lost the 3 of them. I wanted tea so I headed up to the Horizon Court for that and then sat out on the Lido Deck for awhile just enjoying being at sea. There was only 1 day left of the cruise. I usually want the cruise to last a few more days, but with a 10 night cruise, 2 sea days in a row at the end and getting whatever thing I had, I was ready for it to end. I missed my DH. This was my first Caribbean cruise without him.

I headed down to the cabin, wondering why I keep making these early morning appointments and went to sleep.

Last Day & Sea Day

I woke up when the phone was ringing in the cabin, I looked over at Ruth's bed and no Ruth so I jumped up and grabbed the phone while looking at the clock on the phone seeing it was 9:00 am. Ut oh! I'm late for my 9:00 am frangi treatment! Well it was bound to happen at one point during this cruise

It was the Spa on the phone calling to see if I was coming for my treatment. No point trying to come up with something creative, car trouble or my dog being sick wouldn't be a valid excuse right now j/k!! I told the person that I just woke up and would need 10 minutes to get dressed and get up to them or if they were booked solid, I didn't want to set them back so I could cancel and understood if I needed to be charged. She was so understanding and said, it's not a problem just get here when you can and we'll fit you in.

As I hung up, Ruth came out of the bathroom as I was running around the cabin looking for clothes and asked me if I was awake, nope I sure wasn't, as I bounced off of walls, but it didn't matter, I hate being late I finished getting dressed and headed up to the Spa. I don't know what time it was exactly, but I know I made it in record time

My massage therapist was Anne and she was very nice, she understood that I just woke up about 10 or 15 minutes ago so we had a good laugh that I just may fall back to sleep as she did the treatment. The treatment lasted about 30 minutes and she applied oil onto my hair, then massaged my head, neck and shoulders. It was, once again, so relaxing it was putting me to sleep. When I received the bill for the treatment, I was expecting a $29 charge, but they discounted the charge by $10 so it was only $19.00 for the treatment. I was pleasantly surprised and I don't know if they applied my birthday discount or another discount that I wasn't aware of since it was more than 20% off and amounted to closer to 30% off.

I left the Spa and headed to get my morning caffeine. I needed tea desperately! I was to leave the frangi stuff on my hair as long as possible to let the oil do it's thing. I do wonder if other people I encountered were thinking my hair looked greasy all day

Today was also our Slot Pull Tournament at 10:45 am in the casino. I grabbed a couple croissants and tea and then sat out on the Lido deck for a bit.

I headed to the casino around 10:30 am and met up with Ziggy and Janice's group for the slot pull tournament. They were also raffling off door prizes during the slot pull, so the system was 3 people would take their turns and then a door prize. The cost to be in the Slot Pull was $10 and some participants did very well when it was their turn. I did absolutely nothing when it was mine, but I tried The way the slot pull worked was tha at all the money went into the machine, the person with the highest one pull would win an amount and then the balance on the machine when everyone had taken their turn would be divided among the participants. We ended up with $9 back, so we had a bunch of fun and laughs for a few hours and it cost each person $1

After we were done the Slot Pull, I was playing on a 2 cents machine and doing pretty good so I decided to just stay there for a bit. Luckily even though my hair looked oily, it smelled pretty good so no body was holding their nose when they walked by me

Later that afternoon I went up on the Lido deck and discovered the outside Grill on Lido deck, I'm not sure of the name, but I think it may have been called the Trident Grill? This is typical of me to find the burgers and fries on the last day of a cruise I went over and got myself a cheeseburger and some fries for lunch, it was very good

As I was eating, I bumped into Hanna's DH who asked where I found the burger? I was so glad that I was not alone! He had just eaten at the Horizon Buffet, but he said he wished he'd have known about the burgers. We were chatting for a bit when Hanna stopped by and then Ruth. I knew I needed to pack at one point, but I was enjoying just sitting on Lido deck and talking...the packing would get done, eventually

Around 4:00 pm I decided that I really should get that packing done, I needed to also wash all the oil out of my hair and get ready for dinner. I went back to the cabin and packed most of my things and then got my shower so I could pack the other things I wouldn't need anymore.

There was disembarkation information on the beds, in addition to luggage tags for our color. We were Brown 5. Missing was tip envelopes or vouchers. Princess just does the auto-tipping thing and doesn't bother giving you envelopes. Instead you get a couple forms to fill out regarding ship personnel that you would like to nominate for employee's of the month. Ruth came into the cabin with envelopes she had found down at Guest Relations and I ran down to get an additional US Customs Form. Even though we were 2 females with different last names sharing the cabin with the beds apart, they only gave us one US Customs Form.

We went to our final dinner onboard the Ruby. During our dinners, the most efficient waiter we had was Eddie so we really wanted to sit in their section if it was possible. After some insistance, we were able to sit in the section next to Eddie's, but he was going to be our waiter.

After dinner we wandered around the Ship for a bit until it was time to say Goodbye to Hanna and her DH

Ruth and I headed down to the casino for a little while and I found myself back on the 2 cents machine and I was doing pretty good and playing for awhile on my $10. After I got done playing I realized I missed taking some pictures of some of the areas of the ship I went out on deck to take some and it was so windy! Chair cushions were flying all over the deck

Here are my pictures from the last night....