Eastern Caribbean aboard the Ruby Princess

Lessons LearnedBeing our first cruise and our first time on the Ruby Princess, we learned a lot through experience.  Hopefully, by sharing some of the lessons we learned, you will be better prepared for your cruise.

• Stay overnight in Ft. Lauderdale the night before your cruise.  Our hotel had a complimentary shuttle to Port Everglades and we were able to board the ship by noon.
• Pack your bathing suit, sunscreen and anything else you might want that first afternoon in an overnight bag.  We didn’t do this and our luggage didn’t arrive to our room until just before dinner.  So, we weren’t able to take advantage of the pool all day.
• If there is the slightest probability that you’ll get seasick, plan for it by bringing motion sickness medicine or  patches and using them the first afternoon.  I was seasick the first night and had to purchase Dramamine from the ship’s gift shop.  At $3.25 for 4 tablets, it added up quickly. I learned afterward that leaving Ft. Lauderdale can be rough for a couple of reasons: 1) the water is shallow and rough until you get further from land and 2) it takes a bit of time for the stabilizers to do their work.  By the next morning I was fine, but after that I chewed a Dramamine at the first sign of seasickness.  And, yes, Dramamine does make you drowsy, but I usually took it in the evening when the ship set sail from port.
• Bring plenty of one-dollar bills.  Though you don’t have to tip on the ship, you do a lot of tipping if you leave the ship; the bus driver, the water taxi driver, and tour guides…all will need tipping.
• If you don’t “claim” a lounge chair by 9am, don’t expect to find one at all.  We were so discouraged by the number of people who left their shoes and shirts on loungers but they were no where to be seen.
• If you want to see a show in any of the lounges, plan to arrive at least 30 to 45 minutes early to get a decent seat.
• I recommend “Anytime Dining” and opting to eat at a table with others.  I so enjoyed the variety of people we met and looked forward to dinner because of that.
• Keep an overnight bag with you the night before disembarkation.  They take your luggage away before dinner and you’ll be left with nothing to put the clothes you’re wearing or your toiletries in.  Fortunately, we had our beach bag for this.
• At St. Maarten, you can purchase an all-day water taxi pass for $6 that will take you to the island.  For $25 you can rent an umbrella, chairs and get 5 beers on the beach in Philipsburg.  That’s if you don’t want to do an excursion. 
• If you plan to use your debit card for your shipboard account, know that Princess Cruises will hold your bank funds as you put things on your shipboard account.  They’ll wait and debit the full amount of your bill after disembarkation, but you’ll need to have the money in your account as you use your cruise card for drinks, excursions, tips, etc.  Yeah, we learned that one the hard way.

If you have any questions, please leave me a comment!Black Bart and me.  Yargh!

Eastern Caribbean aboard the Ruby Princess

The Ruby Princess: Feb. 13 – 20The Ruby Princess is the newest ship in the Princess fleet.  She’s a beautiful ship and we enjoyed every moment on board!  If you’ve never cruised before, get ready to be pampered.  We loved being able to grab a slice of pizza and an ice cream cone anytime we wanted and just leave our dishes at the table; knowing they would quickly be cleared off by the dedicated staff.  We ate most of our breakfasts in the casual dining room.  Sometimes we at lunch in the casual dining room, but most of the time we just grabbed a slice of pizza.  Dinners in the formal dining room were wonderful!  Every dinner was a four course meal.  I wish I had taken more pictures on the ship…guess I’ll have to do that on my next cruise.    We had a state room with a balcony: Baha 339.Here are the balconies below ours.  Look at how blue that water is!Building a champagne tower in the Plaza.  Guests took turns pouring champagne over the top and watching it trickle into the glasses below.  Then we each received a complementary glass of champagne.  This was our first formal evening.  I rarely have an excuse to wear formal attire, so I really enjoyed our two formal evenings.

We took this self-portrait in the Explorers Lounge while waiting for the comedian act to begin.  He was pretty funny!  Other fun things we did in the evening were dancing at the Skywalkers Lounge and watching Movies Under the Stars.  

During the day when we weren’t on an excursion, we explored the ship; often stopping by the Lido Deck to listen to the East Coast Connections band.

Every evening, we received the Princess Patter at our door.  It’s a newsletter that details all of the events for the next day, plus an information sheet about our next port of call.  There was always something going on onboard.

Eastern Caribbean aboard the Ruby Princess

Ft. Lauderdale: Feb. 13, 2011YAY! Here we are, ready to begin a week of sailing in the Eastern Caribbean!  We arrived on board around noon; having spent the night in Ft. Lauderdale.  We spent most of the afternoon getting acquainted with the ship and gazing at the coastline.  After months of below freezing temperatures, ice and snow, we were ready for some tropical air and sunshine…and Ft. Lauderdale gave us a wonderful taste of what was to come.I highly recommend a state room with a balcony.  It was the perfect, private sanctuary where we could watch the sunrise and sunset or wonder at the flying fish in the brilliant blue water.  Time to set sail and leave Ft. Lauderdale behind as we head toward the Caribbean.  Now, bring me that horizon!

Eastern Caribbean aboard the Ruby Princess

Princess Cays: Feb. 14, 2011Our first stop was Princess Cays; Princess Cruises’ private island in the Bahamas.  It was a great introduction to the Bahamas and a wonderful place to just sit back and relax.  Tenders took people to the island.   Below is a picture of the Ruby Princess from the tender. On the island, they have “clam shells” that you can rent, but I did some research before our trip and read they weren’t worth the cost due to either being too hot and stuffy or too chilly.  So, we didn’t rent them and I’m glad we didn’t.  The temperature was in the upper 70’s, and I noticed folks who had rented clam shells were getting too cool in them and were pulling their loungers out to be in the sun. 

There are nice bathrooms, a couple of bars and grills and shops with kitschy souvenirs.  The food at the grill is included in your cruise price, so you just have to show your cruise card.  The guides weren’t kidding when they say to wear water shoes if you’re going to get in the water.  There is coral all over the bottom of the lagoons; making it awkward to get out and swim.  We brought some inflatable rafts that we had bought at Target for $4, but I had such a difficult time walking in the water that I gave up on trying to get on my raft.  We saw a few people snorkeling, though I don’t know if they had much luck seeing fish. 

We enjoyed our day on Princess Cays, but if you’re looking for more adventure, you’ll probably want to wait until the ship stops at another island.  This island was all about relaxation…at least for us.

Eastern Caribbean aboard the Ruby Princess

St. Maarten/St. Martin: Feb. 16, 2011St. Maarten is the Dutch side of the island.  St. Martin is the French side of the island.  We were fortunate enough to visit both sides of the island thanks to taking the Orient Beach Bash excursion in the afternoon.  Our ship docked in Philipsburg, St. Maarten, so we took a water taxi into town and spent the morning walking the streets and boardwalk of Philipsburg.

As soon as our water taxi left the dock, our guide turned up the tunes and we all sang along to “I Can See Clearly Now.”Just a block back from the beach is a good-sized shopping district.  I wasn’t much into shopping, but I heard it was a great place to buy duty-free jewelry and handbags.  There was even a talk given the day before arriving in port about where to shop in Philipsburg.

I couldn’t get over how turquoise-blue the water is!

After walking around Philipsburg, we went back to the ship for lunch and then set off for our excursion to the French side of the island and an afternoon at Orient Beach.  Our excursion also included all-you-can-drink rum punch!  Orient Beach is a “clothing optional” beach.  We opted to keep our clothes on and, fortunately, so did MOST everyone else.  Orient Beach is on the Atlantic Ocean, so the waves were pretty rough, but it was still a beautiful beach.

On the way back to our ship, we were greeted with the sounds of steel drum music!  What trip to the Caribbean would be complete without it?

Eastern Caribbean aboard the Ruby Princess

St. Thomas, USVI: Feb. 17, 2011One of my favorite parts of the cruise was to wake up and immediately go outside on our balcony to see our new port of call. The picture above is my reflection in the balcony doors with St.Thomas behind me.
At St. Thomas, we did the Magen’s Bay/Blackbeard’s Castle excursion.  We loved it!  Our excursion began with a tour of the island in an open-air safari vehicle en route to Magen’s Bay.  We started on the Caribbean Sea side of the island and ended at the Atlantic Ocean side of the island.  Even though St. Thomas is a U.S. Territory, the cars drive on the left-hand side of the road, which is really odd given the cars are made for American driving and have the steering wheel on the left side.  Below are pictures I took from the Caribbean side of the island.

Above is an iguana in a tree.  We saw these large creatures roaming all over the island.  Next, our tour took us to a scenic overlook on the Atlantic side of the island.   The first picture is of beautiful Magen’s Bay; one of the top 10 beaches in the world.
Our next stop was Magen’s Bay, and it lived up to its reputation.  Gorgeous, tranquil blue water, white sand, and few crowds.   The water was so clear, you could be in it up to your chest and still see your feet.  You could also see the fish swimming around your feet.  This gave me the willies, but Scott thought it was neat.  We also enjoyed watching the occasional pelican or seagull dive head-first into the water and pop up with a fish in its beak.  Below are pictures of Magen’s Bay.

After we spent a couple of hours relaxing at Magen’s Bay, it was time to set off for Blackbeard’s Castle.  What could be better than pirates and rum?  Blackbeard’s Castle was never owned by Blackbeard, rather it was a Dutch watch tower used to keep a watch out for pirates and shoot them when necessary.  Today, it’s a fun tourist stop and the place where Blackbeard’s Castle Rum is aged and bottled. We enjoyed tasting the varieties of rum available for sale.  After touring Blackbeard’s Castle, we began the 99 steps down to the Charlotte Amalie and the shopping district; stopping here and there to check out the various shops and sites.  Giant statue of Blackbeard (Edward Teach).Blackbeard’s CastleLearning about the rum. At the top of Blackbeard’s Castle.Walking the famous 99 Steps.Above me, in the tree, is a rather large iguana.Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas.
As we set sail on the water taxi to go back to our ship, one of the workers on the water taxi told us a funny story.  Not too long ago that year, the weather on St. Thomas got down to 64 degrees.  The people were frantic.  They flocked to K-Mart in search of parkas, gloves and ear muffs.  They called it a “blizzard” and decided it was too cold to send their kids to school.  I guess if the average temperature year-round is 80 degrees, 64 degrees can feel pretty cold.  It’s all relative.We had a wonderful day in St. Thomas and, without a doubt, it was our favorite island!

Eastern Caribbean aboard the Ruby Princess

Grand Turk: Feb. 18, 2011Grand Turk has some of the clearest water I have ever seen and, by far, the most conch shells!  We went on the Kayaking/Eco Hike expedition with a brief tour of the island on the way to our kayaking launch.  We learned that the island “manufactures nothing and produces nothing”.  Everything is imported.  We also learned that Grand Turk is home to people from “all walks of life.”  In fact, our kayak tour guide was from Jamaica.  Above, you can see the conch shells lining the road.  During our kayaking tour, we learned about the four species of mangrove trees that live on Grand Turk.  We also got to hold upside-down jellyfish!  These little, non-stinging jellyfish covered the bottom of the inlet. In the picture below, the greyish “blob” with black tentacles is an upside-down jellyfish. I took this picture from the pier looking down into the water.  That’s how clear the water was!After our kayaking tour, we took a walk along a beach path and had a spectacular view of the ocean where it came into the inlet.  I didn’t have my camera because I was afraid it would get wet while kayaking, so I took a lot of mental pictures.  Before returning to our kayaks, we learned about and passed around various marine life: sea cucumbers, sea urchins and star fish.  Then, came the most unforgettable part; tasting raw conch!  Our guide hammered a hole into the conch shell and then pulled out the live conch.  He then skinned it, removed the unwanted bits, and sliced it up into small pieces for each of us to taste.  It was chewy and salty, but it didn’t make me gag.  Maybe it would be good in a stew, but I didn’t care for eating it raw.  If you like oysters or clams, it might be your cup of tea.  All-in-all, I enjoyed Grand Turk and am glad we took the excursion.  Other than the shops at the port, there isn’t a lot to see and do on Grand Turk unless you sign up for an excursion.  Most of the excursions are “adventurous”, such as fishing, snorkeling, and kayaking, but most of them are not strenuous.  It was a great way to learn about and explore the island.