A bit of a letdown, but still a great time.

Ruby Princess Cruise Review to Alaska

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 21

Overall rating:

4 out of 5
Ruby Princess

10 Night Alaska Inside Passage With Glacier Bay (San Francisco Roundtrip)

Sail date: July 19, 2022

Ship: Ruby Princess

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: D605

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

Embarkation in SFO was absurd. We waited in a 2 hour line just to get in the terminal. Not sure if this is Princess or the Port Authority, but this isn't an issue we've seen at other ports. From what I've read, ours was not a one-off experience. Ruby is a bit dated. The couch in our room was run down and not very comfortable. We will remember going forward, to avoid lower deck balcony rooms because the upper decks are recessed so that they can look down into your balcony. (not good) Bed was 'okay' but is showing signs of wear. I thought the public areas were in good shape for the most part. Based on our previous sailings with Princess - the bar for 'service' is pretty high. I've read a lot of complaints that Ruby is way understaffed and the service was terrible - I didn't find this to be the case, though I would say they did not meet their usual standard. This was most evident in the Horizon Court areas where getting drinks / refills was a daily struggle. I would also say that in general - the crew seemed less engaged and less warm that we are used to. Our cabin attendant was excellent as was our wait staff at dinner. This was our 4th sailing to Alaska and the first time we've had bad weather. Fog and rain made Icy Strait, Juneau and Glacier Bay kind of a downer - the latter in particular was disappointing. Missed out on some amazing scenery. Obviously, not Princess fault. Oddly, the one place we expect rain (Ketchikan) was absolutely beautiful. Saw some scenery here we hadn't seen before. We had a lovely weather day in Prince Rupert as well. The crew is all masked - but apart from that I didn't see much attention to Covid protocols. No visible sanitizing going on and I was a bit surprised to see self serve at the buffet. There was no communication from Princess about how many or if there were any were any Covid cases on board. We aren't mask nazis, but wore them in public areas out of an abundance of caution. Medallion Class is a brilliant idea, but it's not quite ready. Some features don't work or refer you elsewhere. Integration with the App on the TV still needs work. Love being able to order drinks / food and have it delivered anywhere. The technology is limited by dismal connection quality. Look for this to improve over the next few years. Despite the minor disappointments, we still had a great time.

Embarkation

1 out of 5
Embarkation in SFO was absurd. We waited in a 2 hour line just to get in the terminal. Not sure if this is Princess or the Port Authority, but this isn't an issue we've seen at other ports. From what I've read, ours was not a one-off experience.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5
Food quality in the main dining rooms was good, Horizon court was okay. Breakfast - were those powdered eggs??

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Entertainment

4 out of 5
Some good musical groups

Children's Programs

no kids with us

Service and Staff

3 out of 5
Room stewards and wait staff at dinner were excellent. Horizon court staff is not up to Princess standard.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5
Princess ship designs are pretty much the same throughout the fleet. Good and Bad - we like the Explorer lounge. The Piazza is a neat area, but it's always a zoo. Horizon court is poorly designed and is a mad house when busy.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5
Deep, but narrow. Small balcony. Balconies above this cabin are recessed so they can look down on us. Lots of storage space, but not many 'cubbies' or drawers. Couch is run down. Comfortable bed.

Ship tip

Avoid lower balcony rooms due to visibility from above. Love the Ice cream sandwiches and Silk Chai Tea

Ports of call

Icy Strait Point (Hoonah), Alaska

4 out of 5
Not much here and had some difficulty trying to figure out where to go. Friendly people.

Juneau, Alaska

5 out of 5
The place to be for Whale watching. Love Juneau

Cruise Glacier Bay

5 out of 5
Some of the most incredible and surreal scenery you will see anywhere.

Ketchikan, Alaska

5 out of 5
An uncommon blue bird sunny day this time around. Beautiful port. We enjoy watching the float planes come and go from our balcony. Avoid the 'Misty Fjords' excursion. This outfit has cancelled on us now twice due to mechanical issues.

Prince Rupert, British Columbia

5 out of 5
Beautiful area, though we didn't have an excursion schedule here.

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
We took the 'carry your own luggage off' option. Took all of 30 min.
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