Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Princess cruise: Ruby Princess 2016

I do not take credit for this pic

First of all, all people are different and all cruise lines are different and experiences. These are my thoughts and experiences with the Princess cruise line on the Ruby Princess.

This cruise went to the Mexican Riviera, 7 days.
Sailed out of Seattle, Washington.
The places included:
Puerto Vallarta
Cabo San Lucas
Mazatlan

I admit I was scared.... afraid of the boat sinking, getting lost at sea, swimming in that cold water, getting sea sick, getting left at the ports, and leaving my 2 year old for a week.
Well I got scared for nothing I had the time of my life!! ( My son had so much fun at his grandmas I don't think he even missed me and his dad)
From eating anything I wanted to enjoying the beautiful ocean and landscapes in Mexico.
On the first day I did get a little sea sick, but a little bonine did the trick. I only took it a couple times and the swaying didn't really bother me.

The Ruby princess was a beautiful ship. The decor, art galleries and shops were very enjoyable.
On this ship you will find:
Fitness center
4 pools
showrooms- theater room and night club
Bars
Kids and teen centers
art gallery's
shops
wedding chapel
poolside screen for movie under the stars
Pizza and burger bar
ice cream bar
Buffets
cafe
fine dining - 3 were included and 2 were extra
And much more!!!
The food was amazing!! Everything was beautiful! I could not believe the quality of the food and how they prepare it. Me and my husband got the soda package that included unlimited soda, coffee, tea, and specialty non alcoholic drinks. Now that was worth it!!
Now eating... what was really fun was to go eat at the fine dining during lunch, its just like formal nights at dinner but you don't have to sit in the same spot everyday. Also you can just dress casual.
Each port we stopped at there were excursions you can pay for and sign up to go on. It was mainly tours of the city and interesting facts about it. Or you can just get off and walk around. They give you a certain amount of time on each port so keep track. Also keep drivers licence and cruise card on hand when exiting and entering the boat.
This was a No-Jito. This is all I drank the
whole time. 
As for the rooms.. it was perfect. I swear we would leave for like a couple of minutes and we would get back and our room would be cleaned. It was epic!! My mom got a balcony room. It was so nice and fun to go over and sit on her balcony enjoying fresh fruit. Our room was an interior room which had no windows. I didn't mind we were hardly in our room anyway. I liked where our room was, it was right next to the the pool at the back of the boat. So we would just take a few steps and ta da drinks, view, and pool all in one. Luckily it was one of the adult pools.
For entertainment they would give us a paper every day that would show whats going on that day. It included shows, movies, crafts, tutorials, and more. There was literally something to do every hour. In the Piazza there were bands playing and games. There was this one where you learn to make cosmos, that one was fun. Even though alcohol cost extra that didn't stop me and my family from having the time of our life.
The crew on the boat were more than amazing. You can tell they enjoyed what they did. I made sure I said my please and thank yous to them. They leave their families for long periods of time to live on a boat with thousands of people to do whatever it takes to make us happy.


First stop:
 Puerto Vallerta.
We paid and signed up to go on a tour to the tequila factory and to learn how its made. The bus took us around town and the guide was telling us a little bit of history in the city. He was so funny and I enjoyed learning about the town. We get to the factory and they
This is the plant that the tequila comes from
 started the tour. We learned about the plant and the process that tequila goes through. At the end of the tour we did sampling.... ya you heard me free sampling of fresh tequila that they made. It was so smooth and amazing!!! They had 6 different kinds. The first 3 I forgot what kinds they were but I did not like them. The last ones I like a lot. They were peach, almond and chocolate coffee. Ya I know it sounds weird, but it tasted so good. After the testing, they let us shop for a bit and eat. They did sell the tequila, in big and small bottles. After we ate and shopped we got back on the bus and headed to downtown for some sight seeing. I loved seeing the city and the beach, it was amazing. We headed back to the port and did a little more shopping at the little shops they had right at the port and we boarded the ship.

Tip: Bring your own water bottles. You are allowed to bring a bag off board. Also wait until you get back on he boat to enjoy a cold soda. It costs a lot to have one off the boat. (Drink package needed). If you must eat share something with someone than when you get back on the boat you can go to the buffet.
Cliff divers

Second stop:
Mazatlan







This place was a bit more crowded but the beach was a lot closer. We stopped in town and went to a little bakery that had delicious sweets and not a bad price for them. Than we looked for lunch. There was this man who said if we eat lunch at his restaurant we get free margaritas. So we headed in and oh my was the food amazing. The price was actually not that bad either. The man was very nice to us and took really good care of us. After lunch we headed to the beach..... oh how I missed the beach. My husband and brother swam the whole time we were out there. Than my husband had the idea to go parasailing!!! I was like hell no!!! Than my brother and the instructors talked me into it. Oh boy was it worth it. I could see all of Mazatlan!! It was beautiful. The landing was actually quite fun. The instructors were so nice and helped me so much. After that we enjoyed the ocean and the beach for a while than we  slowly headed back to the port.  On our way we went and stopped to see the cliff divers. O man are those guys crazy. I think I really enjoyed Mazatlan the most out of all of them.

Tip: Be careful of people and scams and people can screw you over on money. This was a good place to get free margaritas and tequila (for us) also watch belongings.




Last stop:
Cabo San Lucas
This place was just amazing!! some of the buildings were built up against the hills it was beautiful. Since we only had a few hours here we just walked around and shopped. If we did have time I would want to swim with dolphins or whale watching. There is more to do to besides shop.  My mom owns time share here so her and my dad come here a lot. So she gave us a tour and what to do here. We found a Starbucks and walked and shopped a little more. The beach was further away and it cost extra to enjoy it. We were a little sad that we couldn't enjoy the beach. Also in order to even get to the beach you would have to take a taxi and that would cost a lot of money.
  I wouldn't mind coming back here to shop it was way fun.





Tip: There are sighs everywhere saying do not give the children money or follow them at all. They could lead you somewhere dangerous where other people could steal from ya. So just be careful and watch your belongings.

Every night for 5 nights we would dress up nice and go eat. They sit you at random with random people and that's who you are with for the rest of the cruise. Our people were from England, Kansas City and Las Vegas. They were amazing people!! very nice too. I asked the people from England a lot of questions and they asked me a lot of questions haha. We actually all had something to talk about every night. There was never a dull moment. There are only 2 formal nights and the rest is smart casual. I just wore dresses most of the time, I loved dressing nice. I really enjoyed picking anything I wanted from the menu. Every night was a different menu. I would always have 2 appetizers, a main course and 2 desserts (depending on what it was). The last night I had the best lobster I have ever had. I also tried escargot, I wouldn't eat again but it was interesting. It is very hard to explain all the dishes and what they tasted like, but I have never had that much food ever and I was not disappointed.... neither was my husband. Oh ya we had the same waiter every night and he was amazing!! He was from the Philippines and he new exactly what we wanted every night. He was so funny and sometimes would tease us.


Here are some pictures of the boat.

Movie under the stars. This is where they played movies.

Adult pool with the spa thats above it.
One of the kids pools







Me and my husbands favorite spot. The other adult pool
 at the back of the boat.

 If I could rate Princess Cruise Line I would give it a 10/10. For quality, cleanliness, kindness of the staff, delicious food, amazing entertainment and no dull moment ever.
We will be returning again to this cruise line.
"Come back new"




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