Wonderful cruise for our family group of 10. I've always wondered why people return on an Alaskan trip and now I know why. Feels like we just touched on the many things to do in Alaskan ports. Take your patience, your camera, your binoculars, your appetite and dress in layers!
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Embarkation was very quick and efficient at San Francisco Pier 27
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
Good food always served in all locations. The great thing is that if you don't like it... just get something else! My biggest complaint is items on menu that they aren't stocking. Specifically, they had 4 different cognacs listed on MDR menu (which I love as a digestif) and only 1 was available. This has been similar situation on my last 3 cruises over the past year. Simply remove them from the menu please!
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Always enjoy onboard activities. With the great thing being you can do as much or as little as your desire and willingness allow!
Entertainment
5 out of 5
I appreciate all of the talent onboard, no matter what the show or performance is. Well as long as there is no rap music... I abhor (c)rap music!! haha
Children's Programs
No children on this trip with our group but I'll assume it's a quality program!
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Except for some seemingly grumpy bartenders (because the OrderNow app didn't work well at all, so people stopped using it and stood at bars for service), all other service was great. Not exceptional, but great nonetheless.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
She's an old gal and needs some love but in general is in very good condition. (well except for when we smacked into the dock at Pier 27 the morning of debarkation!) My only complaint is that some toilets NEED to be replaced. They're not dirty just stained with black rings which is still disgusting! The one in stateroom L259 was especially nasty looking.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
Great balcony stateroom. Very well maintained and spotless. The toilet needs to be replaced if the black ring can't be removed. Regardless, the stateroom was very comfortable, and the beds are amazing!
Ship tip
The Terrace Pool and Outrigger bar, Lido deck 15, are a great place to get away and relax. There's usually very few to no children in that area.
Loved the port and Mendenhall Glacier and Whale Watching adventure. Disembarkation was completely horrible though. LONG, LONG lines to get off the ship and the efficiency just wasn't there. They did not request that non-excursion passengers wait to get off the ship, so a majority of passengers were all trying to get off at the same time. One of our tour directors even noted that Disney knows how to disembark in Juneau and that Princess does not.
Spectacular and fun! Great port for shopping and relaxing and the White Pass Rail train trip is NOT TO BE MISSED! This is one excursion I will do again on a future Alaska cruise.
Fun day walking around shopping and visiting. The Lumberjack show is a great way to spend an hour or so. If you book an excursion on Princess and are out and about... don't go back to ship if you have your tickets with you... simply proceed to the Lumberjack show and you'll get in early for better seats!
I'll give it 5 stars but we really wanted to go to Victoria, BC but was changed to this port. No excursion booked, just walked around the port area and tried to get into a restaurant that had an hour wait, so we just went back to the ship to eat. Nice enough port, just not a lot to do in my estimation.
Princess was trying something new (to us) having us wait in our stateroom until called. Seemed like lots of folks just ignored that and gathered on deck 7. Disembarkation was flawless otherwise.
Thanks Jim, great recap of the Ruby. I agree with your point on the cognacs. The last few princess cruises over the last 4 years did not have a few cognacs bites on the menu. Agree they should remove them if they cannot supply chain them to the ships. We look forward to going very soon as well to Alaska. Cheers my friend. Mike and Cheryl.
Ah. So glad you enjoyed! Ya…smacking into the dock was not a good move! You’re quite right about Alaska…so much to see and do! Hope you get there again!
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