Alaska Cruise - May 19th - On the Ruby Princess

We are checked in and now waiting in the lobby area. We are boarding group number five. It’s 10:47 am. So let’s see how long it takes to step food on the Ruby.

There she is, the Ruby Princess.

The lobby area where they have us waiting until they call the boarding group numbers.

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We didn’t have to wait long. They started boarding at 11:00 and we were on deck by 11:09!!! How cool is that! We went right to the Sanctuary and reserved some space on the day we go into Glacier Bay as they have a special service going on that day. We are now fully unpacked and getting ready for muster.

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Here are a few picks....

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Be prepared to get addicted to cruising and to Alaska. We took our first Princess cruise to Alaska in July 2007. On June 30th we will be on the Ruby Princess for our 3rd Alaska cruise (and first one out of Seattle) and over 20th Princess cruise. We are bringing our 2 children, their spouses and our 3 1/2 year old granddaughter - it will be lovely to see their first time cruisers' reactions!

Hi! This will be my family’s first Time on Princess and first Alaska cruise. We’ll be sailing on the Ruby Princess on June 9th. What types of clothes do you recommend both for on the ship and walking around? Should I plan to have a short sleeve shirt and then a fleece and then a light rain jacket for out and about and then sweaters for inside the ship? I know layering is important off the ship but is the ship generally cold as well?

Do you like the specialty restaurants?

Hi! This will be my family’s first Time on Princess and first Alaska cruise. We’ll be sailing on the Ruby Princess on June 9th. What types of clothes do you recommend both for on the ship and walking around? Should I plan to have a short sleeve shirt and then a fleece and then a light rain jacket for out and about and then sweaters for inside the ship? I know layering is important off the ship but is the ship generally cold as well?

 

Do you like the specialty restaurants?

We have experienced weather (in early July and early August) ranging from sunny and the low 80s (in Ketchikan of all places!) to the low 50s and rainy. Don't forget that when you are under sail on the ship it will feel colder, especially on Glacier Bay day. Everyone has instructions to bring at least a couple of short sleeve shirts, a couple of long sleeve shirts, a sweater or a sweatshirt, a fleece and a waterproof jacket that fits over the fleece, warm slacks/pants, dressier slacks/pants (for on ship dining), a pair of shorts (in case we hit another 80 degree day) and waterproof (silicone spray works well on leather and fabric) walking shoes in addition to a hat, scarf and gloves. I've also given everyone a plastic poncho which is great if the rain really starts to come down. Each couple has been instructed to bring a backpack to keep the layers in when not needed on excursions.

We haven't tried Share yet and probably won't on this cruise. We're celebrating our son-in-law's 40th birthday and he's a steak and potatoes type of guy. Since we all have a free specialty dinner included in our fare, we'll go to the Crown Grill which we know he and the rest of the 'kids' will enjoy (and so do we).

Have a spectacular trip!

Thank you for sharing your cruise with us. I love reading about Ruby because we’ll be sailing on her in September.

Just off the Ruby yesterday. This was 3rd Alaska cruise and the best. The food was totally awesome. I tried new dishes I would not normally try and so glad I did. The weather couldn't have been better although it rained in Juneau after we left Mendenhall glacier so for those arriving it was pouring pretty hard. The band at sail away was very good. They played throughout the cruise. The weather in glacier bay was sunny without a cloud in the sky. I laid out on the balcony with a tank top and got sunburned. Didn't do many shows but do recommend The Voice of the Sea....just like TV. The showroom was standing room only for the finals. Soooooo much fun. Hope everyone enjoys this as much as we did.

Hi everyone. I have a short window but wanted to share a few pictures. Today we are in Juneau. The weather is rain, cold and windy but not deterring is from enjoying the time.

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As you can see we were well prepared for the weather and able to enjoy being outside the boat. We did see a number of whales, sea lions and eagles.

Look closely and you’ll see a ton of sea lions... these guys were load.

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Here are the patter for Saturday.

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The menu for the main dining hall for Saturday.

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The dessert menu in the MD, for Saturday.

With a few shots of our Saturday dinner.

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Saturday’s sunset and Sunday patters.

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I thought I couldn’t get more excited about our upcoming trip, but I was wrong! :D

MD menus for Sunday and Monday. These were posted outside the MD. Sorry for the glare.

SUNDAY:

MONDAY:

We

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Self Laundry. This is something I wondered about. Read a number of fellow CCs that it was clear it was tokens now and if on Alaska cruise a few of the laundry rooms would be closed. There was a note in the Sunday patter giving the exact rooms closed. In short they close about half of them.

I did laundry on Sunday. All machines were open but of course I was up and wide awake at 3:00 am, so I did laundry.

Here are a few pictures you may find useful.

You use your card and get tokens via this machine. You get tokens for both the machines and if needed soap. We brought our own soap and cling free.

This is what the tokens for the machines look like. One token per load.

This is the laundry room on deck 10. The machines worked well however one item is the wash machines are only able to take about half the load of the conventional home machine.

And what does one do when up so early doing laundry. You go to the International Café and get a sandwich. It was very good! [emoji39]

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MD menus for Sunday and Monday. These were posted outside the MD. Sorry for the glare.

 

SUNDAY:

 

 

 

MONDAY:

 

We

 

 

 

 

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I personally can't thank you enough for posting pictures of the menus and pictures of the patters! I've probably been driving everybody crazy by asking for these, and Anthony was super nice to post his patters on the princess board. For his cruise a few weeks ago, however, a few things have changed since then you have a different captain now on the ruby. , The show times have changed. To 7 PM and 9 PM and they were earlier before. And I'm noticing the trident grill, the pizzeria are all closing an hour earlier at 9 PM instead of 10 PM.. I'm traveling on her and just a couple of weeks and I'm bringing along family and friends that have never cruised and have never been to Alaska and I've been planning the whole trip . These updated menus and patters are exactly what I needed to plan our evening and crown grill and all the shows.! Thank you thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.!!!!!!

And I sincerely hope you are having a fabulous time! :)

The patter for Monday Juneau Visit.

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Of course this is old news to the frequent cruiser on Princess, however I was surprised to see they also publish an info sheet about the town you are visiting that day. So here it is for Juneau.

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Monday’s MD menu. Again sorry for the glare.

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Monday’s MD menu. Again sorry for the glare.

 

 

 

 

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Thank you again!!

Tuesday Patter

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The Skagway guide

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Skagway was an excellent visit. We did the Haines wildlife/river excursion. We saw eagles, bears and a moose with her calf’s.

The little town of Haines.

The river boats

The brown bear momma and her cub.

If you look closely, in the tree to the right there is a black bear. This poor guy was certainly uncomfortable in his perch as he waited for momma bear to leave.

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