The Ruby Princess has been in the Princess fleet since 2008 and is the newest of the Crown Class of ships. The other two Princess ships in the Crown Class are the Crown Princess, built in 2006 and the Emerald Princess built in 2007.
The following images in this article were taken by me on an Eastern Caribbean cruise aboard the Ruby Princess in February, 2013. The ship departed Ft. Lauderdale and made port calls at the Bahamas, Sint Maarten, U.S. Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos.
In the image above, the Ruby Princess is anchored off Princess Cays, a private beach owned by Princess Cruise Lines on the Island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas. Their is no port at Princess Cays so passengers wishing to go ashore must be shuttled in a tender boat, like the one seen to the left of the ship.
Another image of the Ruby Princess anchored off Princess Cays. The Ruby Princess consists of 19 decks, is 950 feet long and 120 feet wide. The maximum speed of the ship is 23 knots. Currently, there are accommodations for 3,080 passengers and the boat is serviced by 1,200 crew.
Here, the Ruby Princess is docked at Philipsburg, Sint Maarten. The boat was built for $400,000,000 USD by Fincantieri, a company based in Trieste, Italy. Fincantieri is currently putting the finishing touches on the Royal Princess which will be the largest ship for the Princess Cruise Lines.
Fincantieri has built numerous ships that are on the waters today. They have built two ships that have become infamous over the past year and a half. The Costa Concordia was finished in 2004. In January, 2012, The Concordia crashed and flipped on its side off the coast of Italy. The Carnival Triumph was also built by Fincantieri. The Triumph recently stole headlines when a fire in the engine room caused an almost complete loss of power on the ship, leaving it stranded on rough waters in the Gulf of Mexico.
The above image shows the Ruby Princess docked at Charlotte Amalie, the capital of the United States Virgin Islands and located on the island of St. Thomas.
Another image taken at St. Thomas, showing off the upper deck outside staterooms with great balconies. The ‘port of registry’ of the Ruby Princess is Hamilton, Bermuda.
Princess Cruise Lines has a program called ‘Tie The Knot At Sea’. Because the ship is registered in Bermuda, couples that are married on board any Princess Cruise Ship while on the water are officially married in Bermuda. As part of the program, the people at Princess help with the paper work.
This is yet another image of the Ruby Princess docked in St. Thomas Harbor. While at this port of call, it is worth the trip to the other side of the island to visit Magen’s Bay Beach. The Beach may not have the World’s Top 10 designation that locals hold on to but it is still world class.
The stop at Grand Turk is compact. Most are never out of sight of the ship as most to do is right at the dock. Just behind the camera is the Grand Turk version of Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Restaurant. Grand Turk is known for its SCUBA and snorkeling. Right off the dock, it is not exactly a tropical reef paradise but there are still numerous species of fish to be found.
On April 28, 2013, the Ruby Princess will ‘reposition’ to the Mediterranean, leaving from Ft. Lauderdale for a 14 day cross-Atlantic, ending in Civitavecchia, Italy (Rome).
From May, 2013 to November, 2014, the Ruby Princess will cruise the waters of the Mediterranean. Embarking ports include: Venice, Italy; Civitavecchia, Italy; Piraeus, Greece; and Barcelona, Spain.
Another view of the ship at Grand Turk. This image was taken with a Panasonic DMC-TS2 waterproof camera at the deepest edge of the swimming area.
On November 29, 2013, the Ruby Princess will leave Barcelona, Spain to once again return to Ft. Lauderdale for another winter of Caribbean sailing.
Tune in over the next few days for some on board images of the Ruby Princess.
Check out this video of the Ruby Princess:
