Ruby Princess
A review based on our experience sailing December 17, 2024-January 3, 2025
Hot Take
Family-friendly: Yes
Vegetarian-friendly: Yes
Vegan-friendly: Yes
Gluten-free-friendly: Yes
Halal/Kosher/Hindi-friendly: Probably
Ruby Princess is not the shiniest, newest vessel in their fleet by any stretch but she’s also nothing to scoff at. Her classic design - think roman columns and fresco murals - is similar to other older ships in the Princess fleet but she is well maintained and still a very quietly elegant ship. At no time do you really feel like you are on an older ship. As with most Princess cruises, if you are looking for all-night parties in the atrium or to dance the night away under the stars on the pool deck, this probably isn’t the ship for you. However, if you are looking for a family-friendly cruise line that may not have all the bells and whistles you are used to on a cheaper, family-focused cruise line; but that does spend a little more attention on the quality of offerings it does have, then you should give this one a look.
The Design
Muted golds, soft creams and honey oak woods create an elegant but relaxing vibe throughout the ship. As with other Grand-class ships you will find all your favorite venues such as the Explorers Lounge and Skywalker’s Nightclub. The main hub of activity, however, seems to be the Piazza, which spans 3 decks in the center of the ship. The Ruby does not have the open deck plan that many modern ships have so the Piazza is a considerably more intimate space, it fills up quickly as a result. However, onlookers can find additional viewing opportunities on the upper two decks of the Piazza. Since many ship events, particularly on cold weather days, are hosted in this space, this becomes an important feature. When not hosting events, the space is often used for dancing to live music, grabbing a bite from the International Cafe, or sipping on a cup from Vines Wine Bar.
The ship has two family pools on the Lido Deck, one with the ubiquitous megascreen for movies or catching the game. There are also two adults-only pools (aft and spa). Unlike its Carnival cousin (or other, less expensive cruise lines) the pools were never overly crowded. The whole ship for that matter, never felt overly crowded despite having more than 3,000 passengers onboard. Whether looking for a quiet reading nook or a place to enjoy the sea views under the warm sun, finding a space to yourself was possible most days.
Our favorite feature was the stateroom design. Granted, we did not care for the upper berth being located in such a way as to make pushing the two lower berths together impossible because the ladder needs to be placed between the two lower beds (on paper at least, we were able to convince our steward to do it once onboard and ditch the ladder altogether). However, we did like how the large closet created a room divider between the living area and the bathroom. This also, in effect, created a walk-in closet in front of the bathroom. The result was a little extra privacy for dressing (an important feature when you’re the only guy traveling with two females, one of whom is your preteen daughter).
On the topic of children, you won’t find the waterpark or thrill rides on Ruby that you might find on a family-focused cruise line. Yet, there was no shortage of children on our 16-day Hawaiian cruise (likely a result of sailing over Christmas vacation for most schools). Nonetheless, our 10 year old was never bored. On days when the sun was out, she was content to play in the pool with her new friend she made in Camp Discovery. On colder days, Camp Discovery kept the children occupied with various arts and crafts. If you have ever sailed on Princess, you know that the quality of the crafts they do with the kids far exceeds the quality of crafts on other cruise lines. Instead of cheap paper cut-outs and pipe cleaner projects, Princess spends a little money on t-shirts, stuffed bears, bucket hats, backpacks for painting as well as beading, mosaics, magnets and other substantial crafty projects. I’m always impressed with how much they must spend on these activities for kids - but be prepared to bring them all home! Of course, all this is in addition to their video games, foosball and air hockey tables, and skee ball lanes that the young ones line up for.
The Ruby also still has a library, something many ships are doing away with. Admittedly, I’ve never been a user of ships’ libraries but when you are on a 16 day cruise with 9 sea days, you have time to explore things that you might not explore on a shorter cruise. I even optimistically checked out a book and found myself enjoying lounging around the quiet, aft pool with a margarita. Our daughter and her friend camped out there one night going through every game on the shelf (Twister, Battleship, Chess, and the like). In short, if your family does not need the glitz and glamour of high-tech entertainment there will be plenty on board to keep them busy. That said, several parents in our Facebook chat group were complaining about there being nothing to do on the ship for the whining children. You have to know your kids before deciding whether or not to book them on this ship (if only they had consulted a travel agent to book). It’s not for everyone… but it can be a fun ship for the right people (and children).
The Food
First, my usual disclaimer… food is highly subjective. What one person finds delicious, another can’t stand. We are vegetarian and like our food on the spicier side. We also prefer richly flavored ethnic foods like Thai, Japanese, Indian, and Mexican. We’re not huge fans of your typical American fare. With that in mind, take our food review with a grain of salt.
After 15 years of cruising, my whole family decided that this ship will be the new standard by which all other cruises will be compared. Not only was there an entire, separate vegan menu (not just one or two items, though there were often those on the main menu as well), but everything we tried was full of flavor. Fortunately, in keeping with our past experiences with Princess, the portion sizes run small. We love this about Princess because we don’t feel guilty ordering multiple entrees as, in most cases, we were easily able to finish everything and not waste food. And believe me, we did!
The buffet, however, did not impress us. Granted, they rarely do. They are more convenient than anything else and our little one saw no problem with it, actually preferred it. Then again, she is easily pleased with pasta and pizza. We rarely wake up on time to catch breakfast in the Main Dining room on cruises, so the buffet is usually our only option for a bite in the morning. Expect the usual pancakes, waffles, fruit and instant scrambled eggs. Being that I am intolerant to eggs, I usually try to find the Indian breakfast dishes but they were not always present and I often found myself leaving the buffet feeling bloated on carbs.
Fortunately, about halfway through the cruise, we discovered that the International Cafe also served healthy breakfast options. This became our go-to for breakfast. They had avocado toast, vegetable sandwiches, vegan muffins, assorted yogurt parfaits and fruits - and it was right next to the coffee shop! Our daughter still preferred the buffet but after getting our adult meals, we were content to take her upstairs to get her waffles.
The Entertainment
While we didn’t go to every show, or even as many as we typically do, the theater productions we did see were generally good, not great. Due to rough seas, they had to cancel the production showcasing the musical producer for Wicked and replaced with an encore presentation of the Plaid Pants Guy, which left a lot to be desired (though we were told his first show was much better so maybe it was due to him having to throw something together at the last minute). One of the standout shows was magician RJ Cantu (whom we also saw on our Alaska cruise the prior year).
The primary source of entertainment for this cruise was the holidays. In addition to a big, White Christmas-esque production in the theater on Christmas Eve, the crew filled the Piazza to carol to the guests and Santa and his elf helpers paid a visit to take pictures with the children and pass out a gift to each. The gifts were of good quality, stuffed animals, keeping up with Princess’ spare no expense attitude toward entertaining its smallest guests.
Enrichment
This is, perhaps, one of our favorite thing about Princess’ cruises. Just as they brought aboard Native ambassadors, scientists and park naturalists for the Alaska cruise; they also had special onboard programming for Hawaii. The brought on two Native ambassadors who spent the duration of the cruise teaching Hawaiian culture, the ukulele, various luau dances and stories, and lei making. Children were encouraged to particpate as well as adults (but be forewarned, the classes are popular and in the case of ukulele - they do fill up and have a waitlist to particpate). The goal, as was the case with Alaska, is to provide guests with a solid education in the history and culture of the islands before you even arrive so that you can better appreciate the destination once you get off the ship. It definitely works as we were familiar with many of the traditional stories/myths around the Hawaiian gods that made certain, culturally significant sites all the more interesting when we encountered them in the parks and around town. At the end of the cruise, all the guests who had participated in the ukulele and luau classes got their fifteen minutes of fame by putting on a performance in the main theater for the rest of the cruise.
Wrapping It Up
This is a classic example of why we advise our clients to avoid the online groups when it comes to reviews. They tend to lean heavily towards the negative-Nancys, as people love to complain. This ship was no different and many families might be turned away by the naysayers. The reality is, not every ship is for every person and that can be true for children as well. Let’s face it, some kids today cannot live without their Playstations and the theme rides found on Contemporary cruise lines like Royal Caribbean. If that sounds like your kid, then this isn’t the ship for your family. Likewise, if the parents need a club that is hopping until the wee hours of the morning, this ship isn’t for you. If, however, your children like to make new friends, do arts and crafts, are content to just play in a pool - they will not be bored on Ruby Princess. For the adults, there are plenty of options for relaxed bar entertainment (like trivia), for ballroom dancing, or catching a theater show if you’re like us and need to be in bed by 11pm to not risk sleeping all through the next day. In the end, it wasn’t the nicest ship we’ve been on, or the “funnest” but it was a great cruise, with some great new friends, some of the best food we’ve had, and we got to spend a lot of quality time with family and friends. What more do you need from a vacation?
Ship Stats
Inaugural Sailing: November 8, 2008
Gross tonnage: 113,561
Number of guests: 3,080
Number of staterooms: 1,542
Number of crew members: 1,200
Top Speed: 23 knots
Length/Beam/Height: 951 ft / 118 ft / 195 ft
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