Fantastic first cruise to Alaska. Great weather, fabulous food, friendly staff.

Ruby Princess Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage

BigMerk57

Contributor Level: Second Mate

335 Days Till Next Cruise

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Reviews: 6

Helpful Votes: 107

Overall rating:

4.7 out of 5

7 Night Alaska Inside Passage With Glacier Bay (Seattle Roundtrip)

Sail date: May 12, 2018

Ship: Ruby Princess

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: B225

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

This was my first Alaskan cruise (though I had done several Mediterranean cruises years ago). I was travelling with my oldest son (aged 33) and this was his first cruise ever. We both thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of the cruise from easy embarkation, great ship, good cabins, fantastic food, first class staff, exciting itinerary and superb disembarkation. We enjoyed the onboard facilities and entertainment too. Where do we sign up for the next cruise?

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Excellent experience. We were thru security and check-in, standing on board the ship within 20 minutes of being dropped by the taxi. Very efficient.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

We selected Anytime Dining and ate 5 times in the Michaelangelo and twice in Da Vinci. Service was great The menus each day had a great selection (you always had the choice of fettuccine Alfredo, salmon or chicken alongside 5 or 6 starters and main courses. Great food. The buffet food was decent too - we had breakfast there each morning as well as lunch a couple of days. The selection at lunch could be better but the quality and quantity was good. We also ate at the pizza bar (first class pizza) , International Cafe (nice sandwiches. and pastries) and the Trident Grill (great burgers) for snacks.. We did not use any of the Speciality Dining. We drank at most ofthe bars . Service generally good. Loved Adagio for a quiet drink.

International Cafe

4 out of 5

Nice place for a late night snack (open 24 hours). It opens onto the Piazza so there’s usually something going on during the day. You get specialty coffees here (at an extra cost). I am a big Starbucks fan so I wasn’t overly impressed with the coffee but it was ok. Fantastic (and free) choice of sandwiches and pastries.

Botticelli Dining Room

5 out of 5

We used Michelangelo and Da Vinci dining rooms. Both were great - nice decor, super staff, fantastic food (quality and quantity) and nice ambience. If you are doing Anytime Dining, you get a table easier if you are willing to share - it’s only for an hour or so and we found everyone friendly at each table.

Horizon Court

4 out of 5

Busy at peak breakfast and lunch times and often requires a bit of searching to get a seat (although there should be enough tables including on deck outside). Breakfast selection was great and the food quality was good. Lunch tended to be a bit more repetitive - still good quality

Skywalkers Nightclub

5 out of 5

Very good venue with fabulous outlook to sea (although mostly visited at night). Good selection of music being played - DJ Shea identified his audience quite well and chose music accordingly. Good bar service.

Trident Grill

4 out of 5

Very good and quick service of burgers and fries. Decent sized portions for a quick lunch or mid afternoon snack. Good quality of food. Pizzas at pizza station were the best

Wheelhouse Bar

4 out of 5

Nice setting and a decent venue for listening to the guitarist and chilling out. Nice comfy seating in one corner. Good bar.

Adagio

5 out of 5

We only managed to get our timing right a couple of times to find this bar open (I think the main hours are 5pm til 11pm). It’s a great, comfortable and generally quiet bar with a great outlook.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

The choice of pools and hot tubs was good and never too busy - probably different on a warmer itinerary. There was one basketball court doubling as a racket ball court, a table tennis table and a putting green. None were very busy, but we enjoyed them all. The fitness room looked great - ashamed to say that I didn’t get round to using it.

Gatsby's Casino

4 out of 5

A good choice of table games and slots. The casino ran brief introductions to several games - we attended the craps ntroduction having never understood how it’s played before - very helpful. Didn’t lose too much money here.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Club Fusion

5 out of 5

Great venue with excellent sound system, lots of screens (helpful when you are doing trivia quiz) and a decent bar.

Movies Under The Stars

4 out of 5

Great facility to have on board. Really enjoyed watching a couple of movies from 10pm. Staff came round with popcorn and hot drinks too. Quality of screen was very good considering we were at sea.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

All staff were friendly and smiling. Jun was our room steward and he was great and very helpful - he immediately knew who we were and always greeted us. The waiters in the MDR’s and the buffet were very efficient and always pleasant. We didn’t see much of the ships officers - not a problem just an observation.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

The ship was very clean throughout and there was good, unobtrusive minor maintenance and cleaning constantly ongoing. The layout, like all ships, took a bit of getting used to but there was plenty of signage wherever you went.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Ship tip

Do some research so you know a bit about what to expect. Also take negative reviews with a pinch of salt.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Seattle, Washington

5 out of 5

Loved Seattle. We stayed 2 days before and 3 days after the cruise. We visited many of the tourist areas - Space Needle, Museum of Pop Cultire, Glass Museum, Underground Tour, Great Wheel, Safeco Field (for baseball), Pike Place etc. We found the city to be safe to walk thru, well laid-out (although the freeway cutting thru the city does make planning a walking route a bit challenging), and very clean.

Thumbs Up 4

Juneau, Alaska

5 out of 5

A great taste of the old west and fantastic views. We did the whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier (thru Princess) and also visited the State Capitol and the fabulous Red Dog Saloon.

Thumbs Up 6

Skagway, Alaska

4 out of 5

Nice little town - small and easily navigable. Tried to visit Red Onion but far too busy. We took the White Pass and Yukon railway to White Pass Summit. We also did horseriding thru Chilkoot tours.-excellent

Thumbs Up 6

Ketchikan, Alaska

4 out of 5

Quite touristy but nice town - 5 minute walk from port. We did the Adventure Kart Off Road Driving which was great. Also managed a walk thru Creek St although time was limited due to being in port only 5 hours.

Thumbs Up 4

Victoria, British Columbia

4 out of 5

Great city but only here for 5 hours from 7pm. We walked to the downtown area (about 20 minutes from the ship) and visited the Parliament building, the Empress Hotel and the retail area.

Thumbs Up 3