Boarding Ruby Princess

As many of you know we are sailing the Ruby Princess on a 7 day Mexican Riviera.  Port stops include Mazatlán, Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas.

We arrived at the pier really early.  Much earlier than we thought we would.  Everything went so smoothly. We had breakfast at the hotel, we packed up our bags and at 10:45 we were ready.  Check out was 11 so we just decided to check out and make our way to the port.

We used Uber to get to the pier (cost was $38) and traffic was minimal – being a Saturday and all.

We arrived at the pier at 10:45 , dropped off our bags and we were in the Preferred Check In line a few minutes later.  The queue for non preferred was long, this voyage. 

Only five minutes later we are in the Elite lounge sitting down and Lisa comes us to introduce herself! So nice to meet online friends and make them in person friends!

Around 11:15 they boarded the In Transit, then there was a large wedding party that boarded and then Elites boarded. We were on board by 11:30!  

Of course just as we are walking up the gangway who do we see!  Ali and her Mom! Our first thought is they are on visiting, but as we catch up to them we are so happy to hear they are on for the week!  What a lovely surprise.

The rooms were ready so we just dropped off our bag and went down to the International Café (IC) for a cup of tea and cappuccino. 

Okay had to find out about lunch in the dining room.  
I am happy to report that Da Vinci on the port side is open for all passengers for lunch on embarkation.  Da Vinci starboard side is for Club Class.

As soon as we enter the dining room we recognize the head waiter and we are welcomed with a hug. Then as we are sitting there we see Hugo a waiter we have known for many years and many ships. He heads home in a few days so we are glad that we got to see him.

Back in our cabin our bags are delivered! We are unpacked and settled by 1:30 – that is the earliest we have ever been settled in a few years. 

Officers on board are: 
Captain Marco Fortezze, Staff Captain Michele Bartolomei, Chief Engineer Andrea Scantamburlo, Hotel General Manager Melania Parnisari, Senior Doctor Jacobus Deon Venter, Entertainment Director Lisa Ball, Cruise Director Duke Christopher, Customer Services Director Elke Pointecker, Food & Beverage Director Sandra Belchior, Staff Engineer Mauro Boracchi, Environment Officer Georgi Kiryakov, Executive Housekeeper Lorena Ferrini, Executive Chef Giovanni Sisto, Maitre d’Hotel Jean Paul Musiu

When I log onto Princess @ Sea I see a new option for ordering breakfast for the next morning. Excellent! You can set the time and exactly what you want – so far the menu looks exactly like the old paper one but it makes it easy to adjust and add or remove items.

Oh we also ran into Mark Cornish – Deputy Cruise Director.  Haven’t seen him in a while.

Also Drink Package has gone up to $52 per day.