A short review of our ruby princess glacier bay cruise june 3, 2017 - june 10, 2017

[clearwaters]

Seattle, Friday: We (six adults) stayed at the Hampton Inn Hotel Downtown Seattle Friday. The staff was very nice, the rooms were great. There is a nice store 1 block away for picking up forgotten items. We visited the Space Needle (worth every dime), Pike Place Market (tons of steps & some elevators), Museum of Pop Culture (needed more time), Chiluly Garden and Glass (worth every penny) all within walking distance of the hotel IF you can walk pretty well. Seattle is hilly. Even a slight incline is too much for me. My daughter was getting us Lyft rides left and right. (thumbs up). We ate at the CRABPOT RESTAURANT for lunch and ZEEKS PIZZA across from the Space Needle for dinner. All of the food was good. We caught LYFT to the cruise terminal Saturday.

 

It just so happened the Complimentary All Inclusive Beverage Package was being offered when we bought our cruise tickets, and boy is it GREAT! Not because we drink a lot, but because of the convienence. One less thing to worry about on vacation.

 

Saturday: The embarkation process was smooth. Our balcony cabins, on Aloha Deck, were nice. The shower is very small. Passengers may use the Spa showers if they wish. We ate lunch in the Horizon Court and dinner in Michaelangelo's. The food was good. During the cruise we had the Balcony Breakfast, the Balcony Dinner, ate at Share, the Crown Grill and Chef's Table. Share was not a place with tables lined up like the Princess video showed, it was a place with seperate tables for each group just like any other restaurant. Once is enough for all of them EXCEPT The Chef's Table. That was unique, and we could do that every night.

 

Sunday, Sea Day: There was a marvelous Naturalist Speaker named Michael Modzelewski. We caught all of his presentations. I bought a book from him, something I NEVER do. Love the book & we 6 all loved him.

 

Monday: Juneau. Pictures do not do the Mendenhall Glacier justice. It is spectacular. We needed more time there. We also took a whale watching tour. Very nice, we saw whales & sea lions. Quite beautiful. Nice catamaran and nice crew.

 

Tuesday: Skagway. We visited a musher's camp and pet cute puppies. Then we took the White Pass and Yukon Railroad to the top of the hill. We opted for the Deluxe train package. It is expensive, but worth every dime if a person can swing it.

 

Wednesday: Glacier Bay. We reserved The Sanctuary loungers. The Commodore pivoted the ship so everyone could get a good look at the glaciers. The servers in the Sanctuary give you meals, blankets and anything else you want. Nice. Please note it WAS quite cold in the Sanctuary that day. BTW, the Patter says $40 a day each, we were charged $60 each. Hmmm. Anyway, it is a nice, peaceful place to hang out. If I did it again, I would pay for 1/2 day in the am.

 

Thursday: Ketchikan. We watched the Lumber Jack show. It was fun and entertaining. We also went to see totem poles. This was only place we ran into mosquitoes. If we do that tour again (it was very informative, the guide was great and the scenery stunning) we will use bug spray before we go. That may have been a rare occurance. I don't know.

 

Victoria, Canada: We girls went to a lovely High Tea at the Gatsby House and for a motor coach tour. VERY nice. Highly recommend. The fellas in our family took the Brewery Tour. They said it was great and interestingly informative.

 

Although the others in our group took pictures, I did not.

Edited June 11, 2017 by clearwaters

[mthomp5]

Thank you for the review. Sounds like a wonderful cruise. I'm looking forward to Alaska on the Ruby next year.

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the comments on your Ruby cruise.

We have had naturalist Michael a couple of times.

He is very good.

 

The $60 price for the Sanctuary is what they have been charging for Glacier Bay day.

It must have been a misprint at $40 or that's the price per day if you book regular individual days and not the whole cruise.

Its $60 on the Panama Canal day too.

[clearwaters]

Thanks for the comments on your Ruby cruise.

We have had naturalist Michael a couple of times.

He is very good.

 

The $60 price for the Sanctuary is what they have been charging for Glacier Bay day.

It must have been a misprint at $40 or that's the price per day if you book regular individual days and not the whole cruise.

Its $60 on the Panama Canal day too.

 

Thank you Colo, that makes sense. It was definately worth $60 that day.

[easyboy]

Good for you to sail Alaska with the complementary AIBP.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Forums mobile app

[Arizona-Cruising]

Glacier Bay Sanctuary- $60. you get all the extras on that day warm blankets-head wrap your Mimosa or Bloody Mary- yummy fresh pastries in the morning and food all through the day along with ordering off the Sanctuary/Spa menu included along with a grill run for Hamburgers or Pizza and then the 8x10 Photo in Glacier bay. We went up at 6:30 and left around 5. They treat you very well and there is no going with out. Reserve early

[Inmn]

Does the Sanctuary price include alcoholic beverages? How was the view from there?

[Jeter02]

Love reading these reviews for this particular, cruise. Gets me more and more excited for my upcoming trip on the Ruby to Alaska.

[JimAOk1945]

Thanks for your review. Alaska is amazing! We've been on 3 Alaska cruises on 3 different cruise lines (see my links below). Can't get enough and have plans to go again.

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[SnowDay]

Thanks for your review. We sail in July, so excited!!

[srpilo]

Well Done !

 

Thanks

Srpilo

[Arizona-Cruising]

Love reading these reviews for this particular, cruise. Gets me more and more excited for my upcoming trip on the Ruby to Alaska.

 

Just the morning cocktail one or the other Mimosa or Bloody Mary or you can get a Mocktail version.

Water/Hot Cocoa/Spa water with Cucumbers or orange slices, also cider options are included and served to you all day.

[juniperje]

Going on this cruise in August! A couple of questions about your excursions...did you book your whale watching trip through Princess or somewhere else? There are a lot of tour companies that do the whale watching and glacier and I'm having decision paralysis! Same question about the musher camp - that's something we wanted to do but only saw it offered in Juneau. Since we want to do the whale watching and glacier in Juneau, we don't have time for anything else. We are going to be in Skagway for much longer and could possibly do more than one excursion there (definitely doing the train).

 

Thanks for the heads up on the mosquitoes too - that's the #1 comment I'm hearing from people when I tell them we are going to Alaska in August. We are definitely bringing the bug spray!

 

Elissa

[clearwaters]

Does the Sanctuary price include alcoholic beverages? How was the view from there?

 

Since we had the Beverage Package and all drinks under $10 were free, I do not know if we would have had to pay for alcoholic drinks in the Sanctuary. The view was marvelous. :D

[clearwaters]

Going on this cruise in August! A couple of questions about your excursions...did you book your whale watching trip through Princess or somewhere else? There are a lot of tour companies that do the whale watching and glacier and I'm having decision paralysis! Same question about the musher camp - that's something we wanted to do but only saw it offered in Juneau. Since we want to do the whale watching and glacier in Juneau, we don't have time for anything else. We are going to be in Skagway for much longer and could possibly do more than one excursion there (definitely doing the train).

 

Thanks for the heads up on the mosquitoes too - that's the #1 comment I'm hearing from people when I tell them we are going to Alaska in August. We are definitely bringing the bug spray!

 

Elissa

 

We always book our excursions through the cruise line. While we are all in pretty good shape, we were pretty tired doing 2 excursions in each port (except Victoria-not there long enough). We booked the excursions based on time frames. :D We will use bug spray next time as a precaution.

[kdowneymd]

What night was the chef's table?

[NeptuneSeas]

Is Generosso still the Maitre d' please? He does a great Chef's Table too.

Enjoyed your review - thankyou & Welcome Home.

[lilguy24]

Seattle, Friday: We (six adults) stayed at the Hampton Inn Hotel Downtown Seattle Friday. The staff was very nice, the rooms were great. There is a nice store 1 block away for picking up forgotten items. We visited the Space Needle (worth every dime), Pike Place Market (tons of steps & some elevators), Museum of Pop Culture (needed more time), Chiluly Garden and Glass (worth every penny) all within walking distance of the hotel IF you can walk pretty well. Seattle is hilly. Even a slight incline is too much for me. My daughter was getting us Lyft rides left and right. (thumbs up). We ate at the CRABPOT RESTAURANT for lunch and ZEEKS PIZZA across from the Space Needle for dinner. All of the food was good. We caught LYFT to the cruise terminal Saturday.

 

It just so happened the Complimentary All Inclusive Beverage Package was being offered when we bought our cruise tickets, and boy is it GREAT! Not because we drink a lot, but because of the convienence. One less thing to worry about on vacation.

 

Saturday: The embarkation process was smooth. Our balcony cabins, on Aloha Deck, were nice. The shower is very small. Passengers may use the Spa showers if they wish. We ate lunch in the Horizon Court and dinner in Michaelangelo's. The food was good. During the cruise we had the Balcony Breakfast, the Balcony Dinner, ate at Share, the Crown Grill and Chef's Table. Share was not a place with tables lined up like the Princess video showed, it was a place with seperate tables for each group just like any other restaurant. Once is enough for all of them EXCEPT The Chef's Table. That was unique, and we could do that every night.

 

Sunday, Sea Day: There was a marvelous Naturalist Speaker named Michael Modzelewski. We caught all of his presentations. I bought a book from him, something I NEVER do. Love the book & we 6 all loved him.

 

Monday: Juneau. Pictures do not do the Mendenhall Glacier justice. It is spectacular. We needed more time there. We also took a whale watching tour. Very nice, we saw whales & sea lions. Quite beautiful. Nice catamaran and nice crew.

 

Tuesday: Skagway. We visited a musher's camp and pet cute puppies. Then we took the White Pass and Yukon Railroad to the top of the hill. We opted for the Deluxe train package. It is expensive, but worth every dime if a person can swing it.

 

Wednesday: Glacier Bay. We reserved The Sanctuary loungers. The Commodore pivoted the ship so everyone could get a good look at the glaciers. The servers in the Sanctuary give you meals, blankets and anything else you want. Nice. Please note it WAS quite cold in the Sanctuary that day. BTW, the Patter says $40 a day each, we were charged $60 each. Hmmm. Anyway, it is a nice, peaceful place to hang out. If I did it again, I would pay for 1/2 day in the am.

 

Thursday: Ketchikan. We watched the Lumber Jack show. It was fun and entertaining. We also went to see totem poles. This was only place we ran into mosquitoes. If we do that tour again (it was very informative, the guide was great and the scenery stunning) we will use bug spray before we go. That may have been a rare occurance. I don't know.

 

Victoria, Canada: We girls went to a lovely High Tea at the Gatsby House and for a motor coach tour. VERY nice. Highly recommend. The fellas in our family took the Brewery Tour. They said it was great and interestingly informative.

 

Although the others in our group took pictures, I did not.

We would like to go to Alaska in May of 2019 for our 50th anniversary, heard of inside passage and glacier cruises are they two different cruises? Did you book your flight to Seattle through princess

[clearwaters]

Is Generosso still the Maitre d' please? He does a great Chef's Table too.

 

Enjoyed your review - thankyou & Welcome Home.

 

 

 

Yes he was. Wonderful experience. Wonderful host. I wish I knew how to easily post pics here on CC (like on Facebook). My children took lots of pics and we got a couple of pics from the Chefs Table.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[clearwaters]

We would like to go to Alaska in May of 2019 for our 50th anniversary, heard of inside passage and glacier cruises are they two different cruises? Did you book your flight to Seattle through princess

 

 

 

The Glacier Bay cruise allowed us to see the glaciers up close (we reserved the Sanctuary on that day). The commodore pivoted the ship right in front of the glaciers. Stunning. I don't know what the scenery looks like in Tracy Arm Fjord.

 

We booked directly through the airlines.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[sandy999]

Thanks for taking the time to write a review. Alaska is at the top of our list, so I will be looking for cruises next year. I would never have considered booking the Sanctuary, but after reading your review it sounds like a good idea. I will bookmark this page to help with my planning :)

[MountainMaMa36]

We would like to go to Alaska in May of 2019 for our 50th anniversary, heard of inside passage and glacier cruises are they two different cruises? Did you book your flight to Seattle through princess

LilGuy24 - The cruises called "Inside Passage" via Princess Cruises can include Victoria, Skagway, Juneau, and the Glacier National Park scenic tour OR the Misty Fjords. I am sure other cruise lines have similar options. We are going in June for the first time to Alaska, and decided on The Glacier Park, as it had more rave reviews; although, given a do over, I would try to find a cruise that has both Park and Fjords included.