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Cool Ports but Disappointing Weather

Ruby Princess Cruise Review to South Pacific

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 80

Overall rating:

4.2 out of 5
Verified Review
Ruby Princess

14 Night Australia & New Zealand (Auckland To Sydney)

Sail date: December 30, 2019

Ship: Ruby Princess

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: R725

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 4 years ago

Review summary

It's a good itinerary, but the seas can be rough and apparently missing ports like the scenic cruising is not uncommon. We didn't know that, so I would warn anyone about it in future.

Embarkation

4 out of 5
No issues, nice and smooth generally

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5
Especially the dining rooms have great food.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5
The pools weren't heated enough for the weather, sadly, so that could have been better, and Princess doesn't have water slides or things like that. Good fitness center, and they put a lot of activities on the schedule.

Entertainment

5 out of 5
Especially the production shows are very impressive, but sometimes it was hard to get a seat.

Children's Programs

I don't have kids. They seemed to have a lot going on.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5
Everyone is always very professional and friendly, though the front desk wasn't as helpful when we had questions as we would have liked.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
This is a nice ship and very well taken care of.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5
The cabin was generally fine, but we had the two bunk beds above us for some reason and that was quite difficult to manage for two people trying to sleep together in a Queen size. They also should really start putting clocks in the rooms. There are none!

Ship tip

Bring a clock

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Auckland, New Zealand

5 out of 5
No excursion, visited with friends, but the botanical gardens are free and lovely, and walking around downtown and up to the port was great too.
Thumbs Up

Tauranga, New Zealand

5 out of 5
Did an excursion to Hobbiton and a thermal area with a geyser and Maori dance performance, and that was great, I would definitely recommend it.
Thumbs Up

Wellington, New Zealand

4 out of 5
No excursion, but it's a cool city to walk around.
Thumbs Up

Picton, New Zealand

3 out of 5
No excursion, not that much to fill the time on one's own, but the hiking was quite beautiful if you're up for it.
Thumbs Up

Akaroa, New Zealand Did not visit port

The ship couldn't make it in, and it was extremely disappointing.
Thumbs Up

Port Chalmers (Dunedin), New Zealand

4 out of 5
No excursion, but it was easy to take the shuttle in and walk around the town, it was nice.
Thumbs Up

Cruise Fjordland National Park Did not visit port

Storm prevented us, also very disappointing.
Thumbs Up

Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

4 out of 5
No excursion, just explored the city. A taxi trip up to Mount Wellington is quite worth it, the views are spectacular.
Thumbs Up

Melbourne, Australia

4 out of 5
I love this city anyway, but we also went on an excursion to Ballarat -- unfortunately that didn't provide quite enough time for Sovereign Hill, but all you see there is good.
Thumbs Up

Sydney, Australia

5 out of 5
No excursion, visited with family, but it's a great city to explore and go to the beaches.
Thumbs Up

Disembarkation

3 out of 5
No issues generally, though we didn't get to go in our lounge we usually get as platinum members because we were doing a land tour.
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