Alaska...A trip of a lifetime.

I'm so happy I finally took the plunge and cruised to Alaska.  Worth every penny and I will absolutely be returning to this magical place.  Ruby Princess is a beautiful, well appointed ship.  The service, for the most part, was wonderful and the ports of call were out of this world.  

We decided to arrive in Seattle a few days prior to our cruise so we could explore and spend a couple of days in Victoria BC since this port call was so short.  I also discovered a little trick that saved us time and some money. If you will be renting a car I would highly suggest using one of three companies who allow you to drop off your car in their downtown location and then they shuttle you and your luggage to the cruise piers, FREE of charge.  I won't use their names but they begin with "A", "E" and "N". (If you google Pier 66 or Pier 91, both of their websites mention the rental car companies)  This option was quick, easy and stress free.  

Our check-in time was at 1:00 PM but we arrived about 1/2 hour early.  There were no lines and the process was fast.  From the time we arrived to the time we were on the ship was about 20 minutes.

Most of the staff we encountered on this cruise were friendly and very helpful.  The beds were very comfortable.  The food was nothing to write home about. The ports were absolutely beautiful.  My only wish regarding the ports would be to have more time in Ketchikan.

My negatives for this cruise would be way too much up-selling, and watching supervisors in the buffet treat the servers poorly, right in front of the passengers.  This was very upsetting to me.  We went on this cruise to relax not to see people being treated badly.  I understand having to deal with employees and issues but those conversations should be done in private.

Overall, we loved our cruise and can't wait to book another.