Nagare

We were at Share on the Ruby Princess about 2 weeks ago. Service was friendly, and the food was decent. It seemed to be prepared and plated with a little more care than the mass dining in the MDR which can be a bit hit or miss.

Share has a "fine casual" atmosphere rather than the slightly more elegant atmosphere of the MDR.

Overall, we enjoyed the meal and would consider it again on a future Princess cruise.

Just curious since u took a cruise around the same time in October. Our cruise is billed as the Fall Foliage Cruise. Do u remember seeing great colors during ur 2017 cruise? (We are spending a week in Tokyo/Kyoto pre cruise; main reason for trip/cruise is to see Japan, not Fall Foliage, so if we miss the colors, still OK, but if we get lucky and see the fall colors, an added bonus.)

Unfortunately that is probably too early for autumn leaves.

For autumn colors in October you would need to go up north to Hokkaido.

The Tohoku area gets its autumn leaves around early November.

In Tokyo and Kyoto the leaves usually turn around mid-November to early December.

Just off the Grand, and we had a different experience with the pre-paid photo package. In the past, we had always bought it for one person, and any pictures with that person were included. So on this cruise, we were with Grandma and Grandpa for their anniversary. We were in three cabins (G&G in one, us in one, and our three kids in one), so we bought the package for Grandma, thinking that we could get all the pics she was in. We were informed that they no longer do this, and the only pictures included were those with ONLY the people in her cabin, so only photos of Grandma and Grandpa alone. We talked to many people all the way up the chain, and this was enforced, although they did let us substitute any 10 photos instead. The picture quality was not that great, so we probably wouldn't have had had many more we wanted anyway, but it would have been nice to know. Many of the ones we took with our phones turned out better.

Not trying to dismiss your experience, but I just got off the phone with Princess regarding our upcoming Alaska cruise and asked to confirm the policy on the All Inclusive Photo Package.

The representative put me on hold to check with her manager, and after coming back she indicated that as long as one of the passengers in the cabin with the photo package is in the photo, we would get the image -- i.e. it doesn't have to be ONLY the 2 people from that cabin alone.

She indicated that we would get 1 print (additional prints could be purchased) plus the digital file which we could share with others in our group.

Just off the Grand, and we had a different experience with the pre-paid photo package. In the past, we had always bought it for one person, and any pictures with that person were included. So on this cruise, we were with Grandma and Grandpa for their anniversary. We were in three cabins (G&G in one, us in one, and our three kids in one), so we bought the package for Grandma, thinking that we could get all the pics she was in. We were informed that they no longer do this, and the only pictures included were those with ONLY the people in her cabin, so only photos of Grandma and Grandpa alone. We talked to many people all the way up the chain, and this was enforced, although they did let us substitute any 10 photos instead. The picture quality was not that great, so we probably wouldn't have had had many more we wanted anyway, but it would have been nice to know. Many of the ones we took with our phones turned out better.

Thank you for sharing your experience.

This is very disappointing to hear, and I wonder if anyone else can confirm that Princess has changed the All-Inclusive Photo Package?

We have a group of 18 sailing on the Ruby Princess at the end of August and I had planned to pre-purchase the All-Inclusive Photo Package, but if we will only get photos where DW and I are alone then it makes no sense at all.

Thank you for the reply, and sharing some of your photos. Very nice!

I hadn't really thought about rain since at home I usually just don't go out with the camera on rainy days... but not much choice on timing during the Alaska cruise. I should definitely pick up a rain cover for the camera.

Hello everyone. We are going on an Alaska cruise at the end of August and are looking at a river float excursion in Skagway -- either the Eagle Preserve and Chilkat River float from Haines, or the Taiya River float.

For those with experience on either of these, would you say they are "safe" for an avid photographer with a DSLR and shoulder camera bag? Is there much splashing water? And sitting on the edge of an inflatable raft trying to capture photos, will it be bothersome for others on the raft?

the website Wirecutter has a really good article on binocs, with good recommendations. we bought a pair they recommended and are amazed how good they are.

Thank you. We are looking for a pair of binoculars as well, and the article you recommended was very helpful.

https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-binoculars/

Hello. We live in Tokyo, and you will see people dressed in all sorts of ways during the summer months. Shorts, t-shirts and sandals are very common. Especially if you are on vacation, no one will think oddly of it.

Temples don’t have a specific dress code. Even shorts are okay. “Respectful” would be a good guideline to adhere to, so nothing too raunchy or disheveled and you will be fine.

Enjoy your trip!