LIVE - Inside Passage - Ruby Princess - June 9 - 19, 2022

[cruzin4us]

Excursions:   We didn't do any excursions this trip.   We mostly just wanted to get on the ship and relax for 10 days.

 

Juneau:  Was wet......and I braved the rain and made the trek into town on a mission to find Fish & Chips (note to self:  nothing is open on Sunday).   That was a bust.  I managed to get my steps in, got soaked (no, why should I take my umbrella??).    I got back to the room and crawled into bed to get warm.   Not my smartest day.   On a funny note as I was walking into town someone from Cruise Critic stopped me and said "I recognize you from Cruise Critic)......see pic of Mummo and myself.

 

Skagway.  It was drizzly again, and I decided to hang on the ship today.  I'm a quick learner when it comes to rain.

I sat on my balcony and watched the crew scrap rust off the Promenade Deck.  They worked on about an 8' section all day .....2 guys, scrapping, scrapping, scrapping rust, then they primed the areas.  They painted the following day while in Ketchikan.   It's a long process and I have a new respect for the painting crew.  

 

Ketchikan:    Woke up to the most glorious beautiful warm sunny day.   In fact short sleeves, no jacket required when we got off the ship.    We wandered around town walking up Creek Street and circling back with my nose to the grindstone looking for some Fish & Chips.   I found some!!!   Not exactly cheap at $27.99 for a plate of 3 Halibut & French Fries but oh my goodness, they were so good.   Finished it off by having a glass of a Red Alaskan Ale.     Ketchikan is such a quaint little town, and I just love walking around doing nothing.

 

Icy Straight:   Another drizzly day, but the scenery was beautiful. but it was COLD out there on deck!  Froze my tush off.   Saw a few sea lions lounging on the icebergs.  There were waterfalls and just beautiful scenery.

 

Prince Rupert - Stayed on the ship even though the weather was kind of sunny.   

 

I know many of you are probably wondering why go all the way to Alaska and stay on the ship?  Right??

 

After being cooped up for the last 2 years, we just wanted to get out and do nothing....absolutely nothing but watch beautiful scenery pass us by.

Edited June 22, 2022 by cruzin4us

[cruzin4us]

[caribill]

On 6/20/2022 at 9:33 PM, AllAboardatSea said:

 

As to the Wi-Fi situation…I don’t understand what people are trying to do on the Wi-Fi to make it sound as bad as they do. I literally work from ships, do conference calls, screen sharing, etc all day onboard without issue (it’s the only way I can cruise so much). I was on Ruby in December and it was noticeably better then, but there were also much fewer people onboard. You obviously can’t do all the same things on a ships Wi-Fi that you can at home…

 

 

From the Princess web site  (This sounds even better than what I can do at home.):

 

Fast. Reliable. Unlimited.

 

MedallionNet® Wi-Fi • MedallionNet® Wi-Fi The Best Wi-Fi at Sea MedallionNet Wi-Fi is fast, reliable and wherever you are. Stream your favorite shows, movies, music and sports. Stay connected to the internet anywhere on board so you can text, post photos, video chat and more.

 

MedallionNet Wi-Fi sets the industry standard for internet at sea. FaceTime your pooch in the morning. Stream your favorite shows by the pool in the afternoon. Post your Chocolate Journeys dessert from your dinner table. Thanks to state-of-the-art technology, you can now stay connected with Wi-Fi coverage as you sail.

 

 

[caribill]

4 hours ago, cruzin4us said:

Slice - Pizza:   Free if eating by the slice and ordering at the counter - Room Service has a $3 charge, but you get a whole pizza (6 slices).    The cut off for room service is 11:00 pm and they don't budge by 1 minute on this either.......

 

Was the 11 PM cutoff for everything or just for ordering pizza?

[cruzin4us]

3 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Was the 11 PM cutoff for everything or just for ordering pizza?

 

just for the pizza, everything else was 24 hour,    I also forgot to mention that the International Cafe closes at midnight and reopens sometime in the early morning.

Edited June 22, 2022 by cruzin4us

[zentraveler]

Thank you ! Very useful information about the dining venues.  Am dismayed that they allow smoking anywhere on the ship, but I never go to the casinos so am assuming if I give the wide berth I can avoid the smoke. Really hope that is the only place on the ship it is allowed!

[cruzin4us]

What we did on the ship:

 

Totem Pole Carving:  We watched from the upper floors which was in the main Atrium.   It was a nice demonstration.

 

Casino:  Well, we gave it a good 1st class effort but nothing to brag about.   I played the Buffalo Chief while my DH played table games.   1/2 of the casino allowed smoking.   There were a lot of high rollers on this cruise.   I consider myself a "low roller, betting anywhere from 80 cents to $1.60 per spin.   When I say "high rollers", I'm talking about $20-$50 a spin on slot machines and video poker.   This is a bit out of my league, but even at 80 cents, I qualified for a free balcony, Princess Plus and $600 in Free play.   My DH plays $5-$10 a hand on the tables (he doesn't play as much as me) and he qualified for a free balcony, Princess Plus and $450 in free play.    I saw some jackpots especially on the poker machines where people were playing quarters on 5-10 hands at a time ($10-$12.50 a hand).    The largest jackpot I saw was on video poker on a $20 bet a woman won $8,000.    If you win a jackpot after they close the casino, you have to wait until the casino re-opens in order to cash out what was still in your machine as well as whatever the jackpot was.   This is a problem when you hit $4k and you have $750 in your machine.   The bells and whistles go off and there is no way to shut it off and cash out.    It's especially annoying if you have a port day and they don't reopen until 8:00 pm.

 

Trivia:   This is the first cruise we've ever attended Trivia/Game shows and I no realize I'm pretty darn stupid.   Some people know every answer on the most random stuff.   Actually, we weren't completely stupid, but we never won a much coveted Princess draw string bag (no wine or champagne).   We did better on the music trivia where my DH can name a song/artist in 2 notes.....not me, I know the lyrics, but I'll be damned if I know the name and artist of a song.   Broadway Trivia was super difficult for us.

 

Game Shows held in Explorer Lounge:  Larger competitions were held in the Explorer lounge and the place was usually packed to the gills.    The best show (not really a competition) was the Hollywood Ad-Lib show which the Cruise Director did the announcing and the Assistant Cruise Directors acted out skits.   We rolled with laughter.   Kudos to Elle, Fortuna Luck and Vijay, they totally stole the show.    I'm super glad we went to this show (and if there was any place to catch covid, this was the place).   This was held on the last night of the cruise and it was worth attending.

 

Princess Theater Shows:  Forgive me for not remembering the name of the comedian (I think it was Michael Wilson).   He did superb voice interpretations of all sorts of people from Eddie Murphy to singing Neil Diamond.   He put on a fun show.     We went to one of the Production Shows but after sitting there for 45 minutes, the show hadn't begun due to some lighting difficulty so we walked out.   Not sure if it ever started.

 

Arts & Crafts, Corn Hole Competition:  Yes, we even did art stuff this cruise.  It was free and the dream catchers were tacky but it was fun.   This was held in the Crown Grill which was an odd location, but it worked.  It was all free and the weather was lousy so we learned how to make Dream Catchers.   I'm better at this then Trivia, but not much.....my DH is definitely artistically challenged.  It was fun and we met a bunch of great people.   We finished up by going to the Explorer lounge and played Corn Hole....we were both bad, but in our defense, we didn't even get 1 practice throw.    Now, I know I'm bad, but some people are insanely competitive.....to the point of arguing loudly.....I mean seriously?    This was odd to me when there are all ages competing.    Anyway, we moved on after that.

 

Good Spirits Bar:  I only went there once, because usually it was packed to the gills, especially during their drink show.   I got lucky on Formal Night at 5:00 because everyone was lined up to eat.   I ended up trying a Sangria Something Or Other that was made with Serrano Chili/Watermelon/Tequila.   They even added an extra shot of Tequila.  It was really, really good.   A little on the spicy side but very refreshing.   If I could ever snuggle back up to the bar, I'd have gotten another one.  

Edited June 22, 2022 by cruzin4us

[cruzin4us]

[marden1970]

Hi Cruzin - thank you so much for the great review - we are doing b2b Alaska on the Ruby starting on 7/29.  Can't wait!  We are in E722 and E726; I like the fully covered balconies on those mini suites,  It looks like your balcony had a little more room.  I'll keep that in mind for next time.

[Kiliki63]

On 6/19/2022 at 7:44 PM, blubberwon said:

We also got off today, too, and had a wonderful cruise.  I'm very sorry that you both tested positive for Covid. Hopefully, you will have a speedy recovery. Your remedy for their safety procedures probably wouldn't hurt, but most passengers take the antigen test prior to boarding and that test only tells you the window when you take the test whether you are positive or negative. The Covid virus could be in hibernation during this time. We all have to protect ourselves because the virus is still around, whether on a cruise ship, a ball game, or a visit to Costco. My family have been very lucky so far, by continuing to wear our facemask, when we're out and about the ship, and in port. We also avoid crowded elevators. 

We also were on the cruise and two out of the three of us came home positive! We were all fine before going, all had the vaccines and booster, and we all were constantly washing our hands. I must say that we did notice that there was a HUGE difference between the Ruby Princess and the Crown that we were on and the keeping the ship clean. There was not a place you would go on the Crown where there wasn’t the sanitary station set up and people cleaning EVERYWHERE!!!! We never noticed this on Ruby unless it came to clearing the tables in the International Cafe, then they were very good and of course in the dining room, and the bathrooms were clean. We never saw once in 10 days, people cleaning the railings in the centum, the shops, along the passageway, we were so very shocked.  In the Horizon Court, I saw a man not only sneeze but wipe his nose and pick up the utensil to get his salad. Now I was shocked, he was of a different language, but still, common respect people.    I know there are only sooo many staff members, but what I see happen in the lines, and with Ruby NOT having a hand washing station like so many of the other ships, there needs to be a better way to handle the food in the Horizon Court.  At least this is this 49th cruiser opinion. Manly now after watching two people I love suffer with COVID. 

[blubberwon]

11 minutes ago, Kiliki63 said:

We also were on the cruise and two out of the three of us came home positive! We were all fine before going, all had the vaccines and booster, and we all were constantly washing our hands. I must say that we did notice that there was a HUGE difference between the Ruby Princess and the Crown that we were on and the keeping the ship clean. There was not a place you would go on the Crown where there wasn’t the sanitary station set up and people cleaning EVERYWHERE!!!! We never noticed this on Ruby unless it came to clearing the tables in the International Cafe, then they were very good and of course in the dining room, and the bathrooms were clean. We never saw once in 10 days, people cleaning the railings in the centum, the shops, along the passageway, we were so very shocked.  In the Horizon Court, I saw a man not only sneeze but wipe his nose and pick up the utensil to get his salad. Now I was shocked, he was of a different language, but still, common respect people.    I know there are only sooo many staff members, but what I see happen in the lines, and with Ruby NOT having a hand washing station like so many of the other ships, there needs to be a better way to handle the food in the Horizon Court.  At least this is this 49th cruiser opinion. Manly now after watching two people I love suffer with COVID. 

Very good observations and comments, hopefully you passed them along to Princess in your survey. Hope your family have a speedy recovery. 

[cruzin4us]

18 minutes ago, blubberwon said:

Very good observations and comments, hopefully you passed them along to Princess in your survey. Hope your family have a speedy recovery. 

 

Maybe the Horizon Court is the issue and so many people touching the same utensils?   I never ate there for this reason alone.    I didn't even like going in there because it was always packed like sardines..

 

I did see the crew late at night wiping handrails, elevators, etc.   In the bathrooms, it seemed like every time I went in I saw a crew member cleaning.  

[cruzin4us]

Speaking of surveys.....The Captain announced we would be getting a survey after debarkation.   It's been 3 days and we've not seen one yet. (yes, I checked my junk/spam folders)

[blubberwon]

18 minutes ago, cruzin4us said:

Speaking of surveys.....The Captain announced we would be getting a survey after debarkation.   It's been 3 days and we've not seen one yet. (yes, I checked my junk/spam folders)

I received mine before we left the ship

[cruzin4us]

Medallion Class App:  Let me preface a couple of things first.   When I was on the Majestic, it worked like a charm and I personally like the App.    We both have iPhone 13 Pro Max phones w/ 1T of memory.     On the Ruby, I fought with this App 90% of the time, my husband's worked well the entire cruise.    I was constantly in the Loading spin mode which would eventually lead me to rebooting my phone.   If that didn't work, I signed out of the App and signed back in.   75% of the time this solved the issue.   But on day 7, I ordered a drink and the App shows "ordered", then "preparing" then "out for delivery".    I never got the drink and I couldn't get rid of the delivery screen no matter what I did.   So, I did the ultimate pissed off thing I could think of and that was just to delete the App.   DO NOT DELETE THE APP.......I repeat DO NOT DELETE THE APP.    When in the boonies like Alaska, it took 2 solid days for the App to be installed.   No fast internet connection.   After it finally got reinstalled, I got rid of the frozen screen but the App still didn't work like my husband's.   

I'm going on a cruise in Sept (CA Coastal) so I will try it again and if it doesn't work I'm standing in line and getting it fixed and the Medallion App desk.

 

WiFi:  What WiFi?    It worked pretty well right outside San Francisco, but the farther north we went, the worse it was which can be expected (I guess).   I don't normally have an issue, because I don't use the internet while I'm on vacation.    However, if I paid for it, I would be more irked.   I do have an issue with Princess stating it's great wifi on board.   There is no way the wifi works as Princess claims.   So, use at your own risk and don't ever count on it working well.   Streaming movies - doubtful.

 

TV/Movies:   Personal opinion here (mostly because I'm not into Avenger/Marvel type movies.   I thought the movie selection a little lame.   We did watch a couple of good ones:   All About Eve, and a documentary called Free Solo which was really good and one about Jane Goodall (also good).   We managed to watch a few but many we started and changed to another movie.   We also watched a few National Geographic shows.

[Cruise Raider]

21 hours ago, blubberwon said:

We usually have at least 3 on file,  casino deals come so often now. 

 

This last cruise was our last casino offer we've received.  It shows that we are still active but we've gotten no discounts or free play on the cruises we've booked lately.  Too bad ... I loved those offers but we really can't be in that smoke for too long.  

[roxievegas]

We were on this cruise, and both my husband and I have been feeling run down since we got home.  This morning I took a at home covid test and it was negative, so guess being old and traveling is harder on the old bod.

 

We wore our masks at all times outside of the cabin except when eating.

[cruzin4us]

10 hours ago, zentraveler said:

Thank you ! Very useful information about the dining venues.  Am dismayed that they allow smoking anywhere on the ship, but I never go to the casinos so am assuming if I give the wide berth I can avoid the smoke. Really hope that is the only place on the ship it is allowed!

Smoking was allowed in the following areas:

1.  Speak Easy Cigar Lounge - Deck 6 by the Casino

2.  1/2 of the slot machines allowed smoking.  No smoking at the tables

3.  Deck 7 (Promenade) Starboard Aft.  

4.  The crew smoked on Deck 7 (Promenade) Aft Facing

5.  Deck 16 Foreward (Sun) on the Port Side of Tradewinds Bar

[zentraveler]

2 hours ago, cruzin4us said:

Smoking was allowed in the following areas:

1.  Speak Easy Cigar Lounge - Deck 6 by the Casino

2.  1/2 of the slot machines allowed smoking.  No smoking at the tables

3.  Deck 7 (Promenade) Starboard Aft.  

4.  The crew smoked on Deck 7 (Promenade) Aft Facing

5.  Deck 16 Foreward (Sun) on the Port Side of Tradewinds Bar

Thank you very much cruzin4us.  Appreciative! I live have lived in parts of the country for so long that I don't anticipate this any more. This will be very helpful for us and the smokers can have their space.

[L11]

Like cruzin4us, I also stopped posting because of the very slow internet. And like many others, my DH and I tested positive for Covid when we got home. DH had a fever but I was (and am) virtually asymptomatic. I may have gotten it in the casino where I spent long hours at the tables. Interestingly, on my return I received a notification from some state agency in Nevada which indicated that my phone had been in close contact with the phone of someone who was positive for Covid.

 

I have little to add to what others have said. The ship is old but most of the interior looks well maintained. They were doing some hull painting in one of the ports on the starboard side. I did notice a fair amount of rust on the exterior but the ship is in a corrosive marine environment so rust is not really surprising, even on newer ships.

 

It was a pleasant surprise to find that lines on board were not too bad and that staffing seems to have improved over prior sailings. Our sailing was at or near capacity too. The worst line I saw was outside the Effy store the night they were giving out free rum punch. Go figure.

 

I was not planning on booking another Princess cruise in the near future but we got a great casino offer delivered on the last day of the cruise so we decided to take advantage of it and are now booked on Royal in November. Hopefully our experience will be comparable to this cruise. Despite some hiccups, I give it overall a solid B (and I am a tough grader).

 

Linda

 

 

[blubberwon]

5 minutes ago, L11 said:

Like cruzin4us, I also stopped posting because of the very slow internet. And like many others, my DH and I tested positive for Covid when we got home. DH had a fever but I was (and am) virtually asymptomatic. I may have gotten it in the casino where I spent long hours at the tables. Interestingly, on my return I received a notification from some state agency in Nevada which indicated that my phone had been in close contact with the phone of someone who was positive for Covid.

 

I have little to add to what others have said. The ship is old but most of the interior looks well maintained. They were doing some hull painting in one of the ports on the starboard side. I did notice a fair amount of rust on the exterior but the ship is in a corrosive marine environment so rust is not really surprising, even on newer ships.

 

It was a pleasant surprise to find that lines on board were not too bad and that staffing seems to have improved over prior sailings. Our sailing was at or near capacity too. The worst line I saw was outside the Effy store the night they were giving out free rum punch. Go figure.

 

I was not planning on booking another Princess cruise in the near future but we got a great casino offer delivered on the last day of the cruise so we decided to take advantage of it and are now booked on Royal in November. Hopefully our experience will be comparable to this cruise. Despite some hiccups, I give it overall a solid B (and I am a tough grader).

 

Linda

 

 

Sorry, you both came down with covid, hope you both have a speedy recovery. Like you I spent many hours on the tables in the casino, but didn't catch covid, maybe because I wore a mask? I got my usual free inside cabin with Princess Plus and $350 in free play, so I did book another Alaska cruise going to Glacier Bay this time. I also booked a VIP offer CA Classic for an inside cabin with $400 free play, and no Princess Plus onto my north Coastal to have a b2b. I upgraded the inside cabins to outside obstructed for a small fee.

[zentraveler]

1 hour ago, blubberwon said:

Sorry, you both came down with covid, hope you both have a speedy recovery. Like you I spent many hours on the tables in the casino, but didn't catch covid, maybe because I wore a mask? I got my usual free inside cabin with Princess Plus and $350 in free play, so I did book another Alaska cruise going to Glacier Bay this time. I also booked a VIP offer CA Classic for an inside cabin with $400 free play, and no Princess Plus onto my north Coastal to have a b2b. I upgraded the inside cabins to outside obstructed for a small fee.

Wow, I am getting the distinct feeling that the casino is a big part of this ship or the reason people travel on it 😉. There have been casinos on the other cruises ships have been on, but very small ones and there never seemed to be anyone in them. And comping cabins to casino users is a completely new one for me!  But probably not too surprising coming from someone who has never so much as bought a lottery ticket.

[blubberwon]

53 minutes ago, zentraveler said:

Wow, I am getting the distinct feeling that the casino is a big part of this ship or the reason people travel on it 😉. There have been casinos on the other cruises ships have been on, but very small ones and there never seemed to be anyone in them. And comping cabins to casino users is a completely new one for me!  But probably not too surprising coming from someone who has never so much as bought a lottery ticket.

If you normally don't play in the casino, then don't play now. Remember, nothing is free. I don't play on land and I just started to play on the ship last October because I love to cruise. My wife is worried about me getting dementia because it runs in my family, so she told me to play, so I can think and chat more with other players, even though she hates the casino. So far, it's been very enjoyable with the discounted and/or free cruises, and free play. 

[L11]

@zentraveler, the casino was exceptionally busy on this cruise because there was a large slot machine tournament onboard for invited casino guests, so a disproportionate number of cruisers were gamblers on comped cruises. I agree completely with @blubberwon. Don't gamble on your vacation just in the hopes of a comped cruise. It can get expensive to get that free cruise if you aren't lucky. Now if I just listened to my own advice!😁

 

Linda

[treesah]

@cruzin4us  Thank you for your comprehensive review.  Very useful for future cruisers.  I disagree with you on your mask stance but I respect your opinion.