Terrible Ruby Princess cruise

Ruby Princess Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage

2019cruises2019

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 1 cruise (first)

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 32

Overall rating:

2.4 out of 5

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

Sail date: June 15, 2019

Ship: Ruby Princess

Traveled as: Large Group

Reviewed: 4 years ago

Review summary

Do NOT go on Ruby Princess cruise--Really terrible customer service and excursion policy. My family and I were on Ruby Princess cruise to Alaska and bought the excursion to the butterfly and butchart garden in Victoria, Canada. The bus was about 30 minutes later leaving the ship dock because they needed to wait for 4-8 more passengers when the bus was almost full. So, our time was cut short at the butterfly and butchart garden. Then, on the way back, we had to wait on the bus again instead of enjoying the time that was cut short. Princess post cruise customer service is terrible. They will not compensate for your time loss on your excursion. Ruby Princess internet is terrible and do not buy the package from the Princess cruise. And, they did not tell you to turn on airplane mode. You will get charged twice by them and your cell phone. I learned that you can get a package with your cellular company while the cruise and it is cheaper than Ruby Princess package. Do not buy the lumber jack tickets with the cruise. you can get the tickets for cheaper by buying it at site or online. There is no service from Princess cruise and no one there to take you to the lumber jack show. You can just walk there by yourself. My lesson learned from this is that: 1) Never go on another Princess Cruise 2) If you really want to travel on Princess Cruise, buy an excursion from the cruise line, and they are late, you should just walk off the bus and do not use the service even though it is non-refundable. You can call your credit card company to get your money back since you did not use the service and they were late delivering the service. But, if you use any service at all, even half the time, they will say that you use the service so therefore, they will not compensate you. They know this so they will make you wait for more passengers so they can make more money. 3) one of the excursion I took, they do not even have anyone to take you to the lumbar jack show. We walked there by ourselves and saw some people bought tickets at site on their own. The walk was very short. So, do not buy tickets with Princess cruise for this excursion. 4) Ruby Princess internet is terrible so do not buy it. I found out that you can buy it through your cell phone company for cheaper. And, the cell phone works better while on the cruise. And, make sure to turn your cell phone on airplane mode. 5) IF you have any complaints about Ruby Princess, do it before you get off the ship. The post cruise customer service is TERRIBLE. They will not compensate me even when their third party contractor can proof that Princess cut my time on my excursions.

Embarkation

3 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

In general, the food was good at main dining. But, the international cafe dessert do not have good selections for desserts.

Onboard Activities

2 out of 5

Entertainment

2 out of 5

Children's Programs

2 out of 5

Service and Staff

2 out of 5

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

1 out of 5

Suite is small and noisy at night when the beds are pulled out from wall.

Ship tip

if your excursion is late, do not use it even if it is nonrefundable. your credit card company can dispute to get your money back. If you use any service, even half the time, they will not compensate you even when it is the cruise ship fault (late and cut your excursion time short while they wait for more customer to arrive)

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Seattle, Washington

3 out of 5

Juneau, Alaska

3 out of 5

Skagway, Alaska

3 out of 5

Cruise Glacier Bay

3 out of 5

Ketchikan, Alaska

3 out of 5

Victoria, British Columbia

1 out of 5

Disembarkation

2 out of 5

12 Comments

wheim 4 years ago

Looks like you took the same cruise as us just 2 weeks after. We sailed June 1st out of Seattle. We had a great time and our 3 excursions were top notch. But, food was terrible & our flight home to Orlando was cancelled. ( book through cruise Line) Not their fault though. I’ll definitely go back to Alaska, just a different cruise line.

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iCommodore 4 years ago

It sucks for you that you let that one small hiccup overshadow what could have been an awesome experience.

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Lounray 4 years ago

For us the whole idea of going on a cruise is to have fun and not worry about anything else while on our vacation. That means phone goes on airplane mode even though we have services in Mexico and Canada included on our plan. Most cruise liners have an app you can download that we use to keep up with onboard activities and schedules. We also learned to be flexible because you will at some point experience bad weather and mechanical issues if you love to cruise. We completely missed a port of call and a mega deck party because of weather, even had a stage malfunction that they had to cancel a show, but that didn’t stop us from enjoying the rest of our cruise. We have not done a Princess cruise yet, but your experience could have easily happened with any other cruise liners as well.

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dirtclaud 4 years ago

Seems like your problems were more with excursions than the ship itself. Sorry that happened to you. Sounds like you spent a lot of money only to have a terrible vacation.

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opeboro 4 years ago

Sorry you had a bad experience, Ruby Princess was my first cruise experience and I had a great time. Hope this does not sour your taste to cruising or Princess in general. I can assure you that cruising works out great if you can let negative experiences roll off your back.

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cruisereckoning 4 years ago

We did our Alaska cruise on the Ruby a couple years ago and everything was great.

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Bcruisinsoon 4 years ago

We went on Ruby princess a couple years ago and thought it was very nice to the Mexican Riviera. Only complaint is like pulling teeth to get free drinks for mega play in the casino. Witch never was promised to us like Carnival now Princess sends us free cruises and drink offers so I can't complain about that anymore. Nice ran ship. Nicely decorated I just like carnival better. To each its own. I never been on a bad cruise. I am always happy cruising on both lines. There are things I love on Both

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1960cruiser 4 years ago

Sounds to me like you would be miserable no matter how good the cruise was. I have been on the Ruby twice and had an amazing time and the ship is great. All your petty issues stemmed from your own lack of knowledge or research. If you pay that much for a cruise, enjoy it and dont let the little things ruin it.

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truckndad 4 years ago

Maybe you should do your research about the ports as well. Any website regarding Ketchikan tourism will tell you just how close the lumber Jack show is. Victoria is an easy city to get around, so you really didn't need to hook anything through the cruise there either. Next time do your own research before making the purchase.

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mlapointe 4 years ago

Sound like this was your first cruise. Late passengers is a common issue on ANY tours. Sorry but there are too many little detailed stuff in your review to make it worth credible.

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CruzeFan 4 years ago

Sounds like you let an issue with one excursion ruin your entire Alaskan vacation. That’s sad. It sounds like a little bit more research ahead of time would have resolved some of your complaints. It’s almost always best to book excursions independently from the ship. They tend to be less crowded, last longer, are more organized and are usually cheaper. There are numerous posts on this and other websites that say to always put your phone in airplane mode when on the ship. It’s amazing how many people blame the cruise line or others for their own lack of research and understanding.

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DerekMire 4 years ago

Read yr contract only promised a cruise

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