Ruby Princess March 2024

Item: Ruby Princess
Rating: 3.7
Author: terrifloyd

Ruby Princess Cruise Review

terrifloyd

Contributor Level: Second Mate

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 3

Helpful Votes: 36

Overall rating:

3.7 out of 5

14 Night Circle Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: March 09, 2024

Ship: Ruby Princess

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: E201

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 7 months ago

Review summary

Overall, I’d give this cruise a C. Older ship with too many issues, the worst the sewage problem. This was our 2nd Princess cruise out of 60+ prior cruises, and our last. The entertainment was tired, the food good but not great. We chose it for the ports and enjoyed most of them. The staff was amazing. I felt bad they were working on a ship that smelled of sewage.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Long line but it moved fast and we went right into the ship

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Pools were crowded. The movies under the stars you had to be there over an hour early to get a seat you could hear from. Also the pools were fresh water and we prefer salt water pools.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Pretty standard cruise shows from the 80’s. There were a couple good comediennes.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Stellar wait staff and room stewards. The cruise director and staff were good, not great.

Ship Quality

2 out of 5

Major issues. Several hallways smelled of sewer and had wet walls. There was water dripping from the ceiling in our hallway the entire 14 days. We heard several toilets clogged and flowed into the rooms. Our room was large and had a great setup but walking down sewage reeking hallways to get to it was disgusting.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

Nice large well thought room. Unfortunately it sits above the theater so twice a night we had front row seats to noise! It’s an obstructed view but that didn’t bother us. The bed was lumpy. The hallway to the room was just downright nasty.

Ship tip

Lower your expectations and consider a different cruise line.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Kralendijk, Bonaire

5 out of 5

Best port bar none! We took the $25 round trip water taxi to Little Bonaire for a fabulous snorkeling trip. Spent a couple hours there and thoroughly enjoyed the day.

Thumbs Up 0

Fort-De-France, Martinique

3 out of 5

Very expensive! Ferries were on strike so a long can’t ride was $30 per person one way. The beach was pretty and the water felt great.

Thumbs Up 0

Port of Spain

2 out of 5

Large, ugly port. 😬. We went to Maracas Beach - another expensive taxi ride. There were red flag warnings and shallow water so we mostly stayed at waist level.

Thumbs Up 0

Bridgetown, Barbados

5 out of 5

Went to Carlisle Bay and snorkeled and saw a turtle and large tarpon. Water was great but snorkeling area had many boats going in and out creating a dangerous situation.

Thumbs Up 0

St. George's, Grenada

4 out of 5

Went to the underwater park. It was ok but there were ‘sea ants’, jellyfish, and they stung like crazy. Then we went to Grande Anse beach and it was nice.

Thumbs Up 0

Basseterre, St. Kitts

4 out of 5

We went to Cockleshell beach and did some snorkeling and had a great time.

Thumbs Up 1

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

4 out of 5

Oranjestad, Aruba

4 out of 5

Cheap $5 taxi to Eagle Beach. It was windy and sand was blowing, but the water was fabulous.

Thumbs Up 0

Pointe-A-Pitre, Guadeloupe

3 out of 5

Took expensive cab to Ann Beach. Shallow water. Not the best beach day but the beach was pretty.

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

Quick and efficient

Traveler Photos

The desserts were pretty but some were lacking flavor. Dinner options were good but somewhat limited.

9 Comments

Gwbigdog 7 months ago

Thanks for sharing

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suekIowa 7 months ago

I got off the Ruby last Sunday. I noticed no sewage smell anywhere. Loved the ship.

Thumbs Up 3

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1960cruiser 7 months ago

Everyone has a different perspective on their cruises, cause one person says it was great and another says it was the worst. I have been on the Ruby 3 times and had great cruise each time. There is no such thing as the perfect cruise cause things will go wrong, but I do believe a cruise is what you make of it, and if a person let's one bad thing be the precursors for the entire cruise, then they will be miserable. I make the best of all my cruises, and not let the small things ruin them. I rarely repeat a ship when planning a cruise, but I would definitely do another cruise on the Ruby, cause it's a great ship with a lot of memorable experiences.

Thumbs Up 5

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javawoody 7 months ago

Appreciate your view

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RoyalCruzer 7 months ago

We stopped cruising with Princess 10 years ago due to similar issues. BTW, Ruby Princess is 11 years old.

Thumbs Up 0

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ZATHROS 7 months ago

Wow. I wouldn't consider the Ruby Princess old. It's like 6 years old. Thanks for sharing your experience.

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cruising2004 7 months ago

Thank you for your review.

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HeavySeas 7 months ago

Thanks for sharing

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karlgrgurich 7 months ago

Understand your point of view. We enjoy the new Princess ships….but itinerary is very important too!!

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