RubyReview - Alaska: May 22-29

Now that I'm finally recovered from my jet lag, I can post a review of the Ruby to Alaska r/t from Seattle. This was our third Alaskan cruise.

Flew in one day prior to cruise: Stayed at the Hampton Inn Southcenter. Wonderful stay! Airport shuttle was handy as was the shuttle to take us to dinner from the hotel. Room was clean, roomy and comfortable! Staff was great! Will definitely stay there again.

Embarkation: Used Seattle Express to get from hotel to cruise terminal. Excellent service! We arrived at the terminal around 10:30 AM or so. Thanks to someone on these boards who posted the health forms for us to fill out before we arrived AND our priority embarkation (Platinum w/PCL), we zipped right through the lines. (No Platinum/Elite/Suite lounge while waiting.) We were on board by 11:45 AM. If you have an aft cabin, you receive a blue sticker for one person in your party. This tells the crew at the boarding area to send you to the aft cabins. This way they avoid cramming everyone into the middle elevators. Made boarding SO much better! The Seattle cruise terminal crew really has their stuff together.

We booked an inside cabin which was just fine. We spent very little time in our cabin, so we didn't want to pay the big bucks for anything else. We noticed that very few people actually used their balconies during this cruise, even while in port when it wasn't as chily. We've had balconies on our previous 2 Alaskan cruises, and quite honestly, didn't miss having one this time. We either went up to one of the decks OR spend a lot of time in Skywalker's Lounge which provided great views for spotting wildlife, snowcapped mountains, etc. We are disappointed that PCL no longer includes this lounge on their newer ships. It's so nice and quiet during the day, regardless of where you are sailing.

NOTE: Want to know how to get new carpet placed in your cabin during your cruise? We woke up around 4:30 AM on Tuesday to the sound of water. I started walking toward the bathroom and SLOSH, SLOSH. Turned on the light and water was literally pouring out of our bathroom and onto the cabin floor. Our own private waterfall! I called Passenger Services and told them we needed assistance immediately. You would have thought I had told them someone was giving birth in there! The crew were there w/in seconds and couldn't believe what they saw. They quickly shut off the water (which was coming from the toilet), and began vacuuming up the water in the floor. After a while, they were finally able to find and correct the problem. Thank goodness it was water and not SEWAGE! They placed a large fan in there, and told us they would take up the carpet. We went on about our day. After returning from our excursion, we were pleasantly surprised to find brand new carpet in our cabin! They didn't really have a choice as I'm sure it would turn moldy/musty very quickly. We felt like PCL should have granted us a little bit of OBC, but they never did. And I didn't want to be THAT person who goes to the desk and throws a fit about it. It didn't ruin our cruise by any means, so we carried on. We could have worse problems!

Ketchikan: We used Island Wings for a floatplane excursion over Misty Fjords and the surrounding area. Absolutely fabulous! Michelle and her staff are just amazing! She even provides a DVD at the end of the tour.

Tracy Arm Fjord: We took the small boat tour from the ship that only Princess provides. These boats (2 of them - operated by Allen Marine Tours) go all the way up into Tracy Arm where the ship can not go to. I can not tell you how wonderful this experience was! For me personally, it was not only beautiful to see, but it was a spiritual and emotional experience. I've never seen anything so beautiful! You just have to experience it for yourself. By far probably our best excursion ever! Bundle up - it's cold near those glaciers and icebergs! We saw eagles, a bear, sea lions and whales.

Juneau: After the Tracy Arm boat took us back to our ship in Juneau, we had lunch then went into town. Just walked around and visited some of the shops.

Skagway: We used Alaska Excursions for the Skagway Sled Dog and Musher's Camp excursions. So much fun! They picked us up at the pier and drove us up into the mountains where the camp is located. About a 30 minute drive to the location, but some gorgeous scenery along the way! Kevin was our guide. He was great!! It was so much fun to be pulled by the dogs, and the information session afterwards re: the Iditarod race was very informative. Loving on the 4 week old puppies was special as well!

Victoria: We had visited Victoria last year (went to Butchart Gardens - amazing!), so this time we opted to just walk around the waterfront area. Fisherman's Wharf is such a neat area. We had fish-n-chips at Barb's. Really good!

Entertainment: The cruise director was hilarious! He had us laughing so hard that we were crying during the Marriage Match Game Show! The 2 big productions shows were both very good, although like other PCL ships, the shows are much shorter than they used to be. The 2 comedians were very good - clean humor, but so funny! The naturalist on board really provided a lot of interesting commentary about Alaska and the areas we were sailing through.

Food: Food in the dining room was always good. We had Anytime Dining and ate there only 3 times I believe. If you want a table for 2 and you don't get there by around 6PM, you'll either have to share a table or wait because the tables for 2 fill up quickly. We used the dining room for breakfast most of the cruise - the food is just better in there and you don't have to fight the crowds at the Horizon. The Horizon buffet area is always so small and cramped on the PCL ships. However, the wait staff in the seating areas are quick to clear off tables and provide beverages. Our cruise fare included a free dinner at the Crown Grille - excellent as always! Reserve your table as soon as you board - it fills up quick. We didn't go to Share, but heard mixed reviews. Heard it was excellent; also heard it was just okay. For $39 a person, it had better be outstanding!

Disembarkation: We used the walk off option since we wanted to get off the ship ASAP after hearing about security lines at SEA TAC. I had requested this option on the paperwork that was given to us to fill out asking us which option we wanted to use. I'm convinced the cruise lines don't even bother to read what you write because once again, they gave us tags that were NOT walk off tags. I went to the Passenger Services desk and asked for the correct ones. We were given group 2 and were called around 7:45 AM. We were off the ship and through Customs very quickly. The lines kept moving so it only took a few minutes. Very good! We had a reservation with Seattle Express to take us back to the airport, and just like the drop off, it worked beautifully. Will use them again for sure.

Be sure to bring binoculars so you can better watch the sea life while sailing. Like I said we spent a lot of time in the Skywalker's Lounge while sailing to watch for whales and porpoises. It amazed me how many people I heard say that they had not seen any whales, even by the end of the cruise. From my observation, most of those people would only glance out the window on occasion and if they didn't see anything immediately, they were disappointed. You need to find a place and sit there for a while. If you know what to look for (the "blow" from the whale), you'll see plenty. My husband and I even saw pods of whales on occasion. I honestly think people thought the whales would swim right up to the ship, jump up by the window and wave to them! LOL!! If you put forth the time/effort to see them, you will be rewarded.

As far as clothing, layers works best with a rain proof/resistant jacket. And you can wear things more than once. I ended up buying a new one in Juneau because the one I brought was a little too lightweight. Coats/jackets are SO cheap at these ports and they are good quality! The prices are the same for such items in all ports so you may as well buy one at your first stop. As far as other souvenirs, those seemed a little less expensive in Skagway.

Libby Reynolds (first female Iditarod champion) was on our ship on Tuesday evening. VERY interesting! Don't miss her if she's on your ship.

We had an amazing time on this cruise! We may do this one again next year. I hope this review is helpful. Questions? Just post and I'll do my best to answer. :)

Good information. Thanks.:D

Thank you for this excellent review. My 8 year old daughter and I are on this cruise a week from Sunday, and we both appreciate your notes.

You're so welcome! I didn't realize how long my review was until I posted it. OMG! Glad it's helpful. Alaska is simply AMAZING! We never get tired of it.

Thank you for your review! It has me even more excited than I was before. We leave on the Ruby on the 19th.

We were on the same cruise and the review that Lhartwick was right on! One comment, the sleddog racers name is Libby Riddles, not Reynolds. This is our second AK cruise and we saw Libby give a talk in 2005 as well. She is very interesting! I spoke with her briefly, and she said she had been doing talks on Princess ships for 15 years. They day we were in Juneau, she gave 2 other talks on the Grand and the Coral in Juneau. We were talk number 3 for the day for her.

We also did the small boat excursion to South Sawyer Glacier. The naturalist on board the boat we were on, mentioned several times, that there really was too much ice to go to the glacier, but we made it there and back to the ship. It was one of the best excursions we have been on.

We did see magician on board in the explorers lounge. He was excellent!

I was looking forward to the new show Magic To Do. Unfortunately, it was not on this ship.

We also did the White Pass Railroad and bus trip to Carcross, Yukon Territory. We saw 6 bear in the bus part, including a mother and 2 cubs. They were just eating dandelions on the side of the road and just stood there and ate, while we took pictures.

Hats off the the embarkation at Seattle. We were in our room by 11:30 AM.

TravelingEA: sorry for getting Libby's last name wrong. I didn't mean to.

Thanks for the review.

Thank You nice review.

Tony

Going on theRuby July 3. Who was the cruise director that you said was so good?

Was wondering who the comedians were?I am hoping for Carlos Oscar,on our cruise.Would love my family to see him.Have seem him many times and he is always funny.I feel the best,I have seen,on Princess.

Did you have much rain in the ports?I know you have to prepare for any type of weather.Plan on checking before we leave so we have a better idea how to pack.

Son and DIL are on the Ruby in a couple weeks. Can you tell me if they had the "puppies in the piazza"? We got a chance to hold the sled dog puppies last week on the Crown while we were docked in Skagway. --Hoping the Ruby has that opportunity.

Thank you for your interesting review

Excellent review. Thanks for taking the time to post it.....:):):)

Bob

Son and DIL are on the Ruby in a couple weeks. Can you tell me if they had the "puppies in the piazza"? We got a chance to hold the sled dog puppies last week on the Crown while we were docked in Skagway. --Hoping the Ruby has that opportunity.

They had them, but we did not get a chance to see them, since we took the White Pass RR trip.

Thank you for this excellent review. My 8 year old daughter and I are on this cruise a week from Sunday, and we both appreciate your notes.

Brian310, we are on this cruise in July with 5 kids and I would appreciate it so very much if you could bring the kids patters back with you so we can know what to expect for the kids clubs. I am especially interested in knowing which nights are the "kids dinners" in the Horizon Court, as we want to plan an adult night at the Crown Grill the same night the kids get their special dinner with the clubs. If you could help us out when you get back I'd really appreciate it!

Thanks for the review. We are on the Ruby for the July 17th cruise. If possible do you know the name of the naturalist.

Great review! Thanks for posting.

Excellent review!

Brought back memories

Thanks for the review and the tips

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Care to share the health form for embarkation?

Thanks for the great review! We will be boarding the Ruby tomorrow morning! [emoji3]

Thank you for your review.

Keith

did you use princess shore excursion in Tracy Arm or did you book with someone else? Is there time to take another excursion in Juneau; or are you tired out from the Tracy Arm excursion? Thanks.

did you use princess shore excursion in Tracy Arm or did you book with someone else? Is there time to take another excursion in Juneau; or are you tired out from the Tracy Arm excursion? Thanks.

Yes we book with princess. Also we were able to get back in time to also do two more excursions in Juneau. Which was also book with princess. You just have to work out the timing.

Great Review thank you! We leave on the 19th. I might have excursion questions to come, but for now can you tell me if the Ruby has the messaging available through the princess@sea app? We are traveling with multiple families and teens and are hoping for a good way to communicate.

Thanks,

Tracey