After a leisurely breakfast at the Harbor Café, we boarded the ship about 12:15. Being A) in a Suite and B) Larry being a Princess Commodore at work, we were among the first on the ship. Ruby Princess is not the largest ship we have been on, actually it is almost exactly HALF the size of Allure of the Seas, but at 113,000 GRT, it is still a pretty big ship. We are in a Vista Suite on Deck 10, right at the back of the ship. As a matter of fact, other than the balcony of the cabin above us on Deck 11, we are as far back as you can go and still actually be on the ship. We look straight down from our balcony into the wash from the ship's propellers, as you can see from the picture.!!
The cabin is a good size, at about 430 Sq Ft, with a separate sitting area, whirlpool tub and separate shower. Our only real complaints are the bathroom has no shelves, and the balcony is on the small side given the size of the cabin. Here are a few pictures:
After dropping off our carryons we set off to explore the ship. Our usual practice is to start at the top and work our way back and forth, and down, discovering what the ship has to offer along the way. Ruby is one of four identical ships in the class and was designed primarily with the Caribbean in mind. There are four pools in total, two large "family" pools and two smaller "adult" pools, one at each end of the ship. Below this are three "main" dining rooms, an Italian Restaurant, a steakhouse, two large buffet restaurants, a pizzeria, an ice cream bar a BBQ grill and a café/coffee bar. Oh and there are many, many, many bars. And a casino. Plus 3400 guests. All spread over 18 decks! Now you know why the ship weighs 113,000 GRT!!! …at least at the beginning of the cruise it does (if you know what we mean).
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| The Piazza - the centrum that spans 3 decks |
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| Entrance to the Wheelhouse Bar |
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| One of two main pool areas |
After attending the mandatory, and (post Concordia) much more stringent lifeboat drill, we met Norm and Barb at the bar of the Terrace Pool, the one at the very back of the ship, for the sailout from Ft Lauderdale. Having stood down on the rocks on Saturday evening watching the various ships leave, we decided it is a much nicer view from the ship! After a quick change and freshen-up, and having watched Ft Lauderdale "sink" into the distance, it was time to start the evening festivities. This included drinks at Vines, the winebar, followed by dinner, which, for Monica and I, included watching Norm, Barb and the boys valiantly try to stay awake. They flew down at 6:15AM from Toronto, and had been up since 3:00AM!!
The first full day of the cruise dawned bright and sunny and found us anchored off Princess Cays. This is Princess' "private island", a feature first introduced to cruising by Royal Caribbean at Labadee. Basically, it is a day at the beach, with everything and everyone tendered in from the ship. There are four separate beaches, each lined with lounge chairs and clamshell cabanas, and various sorts of water toys/floats are available for rent. As there really is not anything else to see, it's at the southern tip of the island of Eleuthra in the Bahamas, we elected to stay onboard with Norm while Barb and the boys went ashore. By all accounts they had a good time playing volleyball and getting sunburned, while the three of us lazed about the adult pool all day. It's a tough life, but…..
Dinner last evening was at the first of the specialty restaurants, The Crown Grill. As you might guess from the name, it is a steakhouse and Norm had been raving about this one since they were on Emerald Princess in January. He was not exaggerating!!! Everyone had red meat in one form or another, be it large, thick steaks or rack of lamb, all cooked to perfection, and topped of with some sinfully good desserts.
Today has been our first full sea day, and while the weather has been warm, in the mid-20's, we have run in and out of showers a few times. Which was fine by us as we were sitting at the pool anyway!! Jason and Mitchell both had massages this morning and came to the pool looking very relaxed and 'Gumby-ish'. They're having a good time even though they have to study for an hour or two every day – midterms don't go away just because it's Reading Week.
At the moment, Monica is sitting on our balcony, taking the air and enjoying the sun while knitting mittens. Yes, rather incongruous!!!
Tonight is the first Formal Night, so it will soon be time to "scrape off the barnacles" and get presentable. The ship is also experiencing a medical emergency of some sort. Earlier they made an announcement looking for registered blood donors willing to give blood. If an evacuation is necessary we suspect we may get diverted to San Juan, which is now the closest land to our position. There have been no further announcements, but we won't be surprised if it happens. More on that, if it happens, next post.
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