Expect to pay hundreds more once aboard

Ruby Princess Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

AlD1

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 33

Overall rating:

1 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Western Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: March 07, 2009

Ship: Ruby Princess

Cabin type: Oceanview

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 15 years ago

Review summary

The ship is nice and elegant, but lacking many of the amenities that other cruise lines feature. Also, there is an extra cost associated with everything, from ice cream, to soft drinks, even entering the area at the front of the ship to look out on the water. The ship is completely oversold, meaning that you wait in lines for everything from check-in to eating. Trying to make reservations for dinner? Reservation lines open at 800am and are full by 810am. Want to watch a movie on the big screen? You'll need to get there half an hour before the movie starts. Want to watch a show? Get there at least an hour before. Worst of all, at the end of the trip, expect to see a $150 service fee added to your bill, in addition to the 15% automatically charged to every purchase made on the boat. You have about a 12 hour window in which to make a change to this service fee, otherwise you're stuck with it.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

If you can manage to make reservations, the food in the dining hall is superb. The buffet food is relatively bland and boring, not at all what I expected.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

What's available is fantastic, but many amenities offered on other ships are not offered here.

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Staff were generally very helpful, although occasionally incompetent, especially the front desk staff.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

What's there is nice, but missing several amenities.

Cabin / Stateroom

1 out of 5

Tiny room. Tiny bathroom. Princess trying to cram as many people as possible on the boat.

Ports of call

Ocho Rios, Jamaica

1 out of 5

Expect to be harassed to death by locals if you don't book an overpriced tour with Princess.

Thumbs Up 0

Don't Miss: Dunn's Falls

George Town, Grand Cayman

3 out of 5

Skip the overpriced Princess tours and take a cab to the beach. Beach is gorgeous.

Thumbs Up 0

Cozumel, Mexico

5 out of 5

Skip the overpriced Princess tours and rent a car or scooter. The entire island is accessible by roads, and there are beautiful, deserted public beaches on the opposite side of the island.

Thumbs Up 0

Princess Cays (Cruise Line Private Island)

1 out of 5

Everything is overpriced, try $60 to rent a kayak for an hour, or $200 to rent 2 beach chairs and an umbrella for the afternoon. What would you expect? Princess owns the whole island.

Thumbs Up 0

Pros: Shows and service

Cons: Hidden fees, Overbooked, Lacking many facilities found on other ships, Worst of all Princess loves to price gouge once you're aboard and can't escape

Recommends Ruby Princess? No.

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Other reviews of this sailing

Thoroughly enjoyable cruise!