NCL Bliss or Princess Ruby

Hi everyone! I’m currently planning our first cruise to Alaska. Our party will be my parents, kids (both age 11 at time of the cruise), my husband and myself. We will be traveling July 2019.

I have looked at Disney, NCL, Royal Caribbean, Princess, and Carnival. Each had about the same amount of time in the ports they go to, but Glacier Bay was high on my “must see” list and only NCL and Princess went there. I’m looking for peoples opinion of the ships/line themselves. I know NCL Bliss is new for this year which will be more difficult to compare. I’m looking for peoples personal experiences on the family and kid programs, not the “I see kids on there having a great time”. I like that Princess is partnered with the Discovery Channel, but I like the laid back atmosphere of NCL.

We plan on making the most of our port times so please don’t give the “your ship is only for sleeping until your next port” because we will have 1 day at sea and 1 day cruising the glacier. My kids will love looking at the scenery, but only for so long. They would rather be hiking the trail than watch it pass by. They are your typical active kids so they will need something to keep them busy while my parents, husband, and I can enjoy the glacier while we catch up on rest from busy days in port.

Also to note this will not be our first cruise as we have all cruised before in the Caribbean and expect this to be a much busier cruise than past cruises. My husband, kids, and I have cruised Disney while my parents have done Disney, Princess, and Royal Caribbean. They sailed Princess in “kid off season” so they feel like they cannot access how family friendly it is with kids. Sorry for the long post, but hope I provided enough info.

First of all, it is Ruby Princess.

Second, Holland America also goes to Glacier Bay.

Next, you can read reviews of the ships here:

https://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/

To see if that helps. You will notice Bliss is much newer, but I don't hold that as an absolute determinant. You will also notice a different vibe on NCL- no dress code, nickel and diming for everything (a common complaint about NCL on Cruise Critic).

As you mention, Alaska will be a busier cruise. Thus it is commonly stated here, it is more about Alaska than the ship.

Welcome to cruise critic!

I would recommend checking out the cruise line specific boards (Princess: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=197 and NCL: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=107) for reviews from this season for both ships/itineraries you are considering. You can also post your questions and concerns on each forum.

One thing to compare is enrichment programs for passengers of all ages. Princess has a full time naturalist on all their Alaska cruises plus National Park Rangers join the cruise on Glacier Bay Day (that may be the same as NCL). In case you haven't seen this already on the Princess website, take a look at: https://www.princess.com/learn/cruise-destinations/alaska-cruises/index.html and https://www.princess.com/learn/cruise-destinations/alaska-cruises/onboard-experience/index.html. On the latter make sure you click on the Meet Real Alaskans link.

I've never been on NCL but we leave for our 3rd Princess Alaska cruise (making a total of more than 20 Princess cruises) on June 30th. It is the first time we are bringing our grown children (in their 30s), spouses, and our 3 1/2 year old granddaughter so I won't have an opinion on the kids' clubs until after the cruise (and she is much younger than your kids).

Whichever line you chose, have a great time and make wonderful family memories!

I actually did know Holland America goes to Glacier Bay, but I was looking at lines that are more kid friendly. I know friends who have been on Alaskan cruises and all have been on Holland America and didn’t really recommend it for kids. They never said they wouldn’t have a good time, just not as family friendly as others. Which is why I didn’t look at it.

Hi everyone! I’m currently planning our first cruise to Alaska. Our party will be my parents, kids (both age 11 at time of the cruise), my husband and myself. We will be traveling July 2019.

 

I have looked at Disney, NCL, Royal Caribbean, Princess, and Carnival. Each had about the same amount of time in the ports they go to, but Glacier Bay was high on my “must see” list and only NCL and Princess went there. I’m looking for peoples opinion of the ships/line themselves. I know NCL Bliss is new for this year which will be more difficult to compare. I’m looking for peoples personal experiences on the family and kid programs, not the “I see kids on there having a great time”. I like that Princess is partnered with the Discovery Channel, but I like the laid back atmosphere of NCL.

 

We plan on making the most of our port times so please don’t give the “your ship is only for sleeping until your next port” because we will have 1 day at sea and 1 day cruising the glacier. My kids will love looking at the scenery, but only for so long. They would rather be hiking the trail than watch it pass by. They are your typical active kids so they will need something to keep them busy while my parents, husband, and I can enjoy the glacier while we catch up on rest from busy days in port.

 

Also to note this will not be our first cruise as we have all cruised before in the Caribbean and expect this to be a much busier cruise than past cruises. My husband, kids, and I have cruised Disney while my parents have done Disney, Princess, and Royal Caribbean. They sailed Princess in “kid off season” so they feel like they cannot access how family friendly it is with kids. Sorry for the long post, but hope I provided enough info.

I have cruised many different cruises and NCL is far my favorite. I like the relaxed atmosphere of not having to be at dinner at a certain time and the dress code is more relaxed. NCL also lets you pick from 1 to 5 Free perks depending on stateroom category. Sometimes they offer 3 rd and 4th guests free.

I too have the same question. Planning Alaska in 2019 and would do RT Seattle as it would be easier with 3 kids. But not sure if I should go with the family room for us 5 on the Bliss or two rooms for the Ruby Princess. As for itinerary, both same to Glacier.

There's a review of the Bliss with lots of pictures in 2018 Trip Reports by Seahawk Siren.

We sailed on the Bliss to Alaska in late June. Our family had a great time. There was plenty of entertainment and things to do but sometimes the ship felt packed. My daughter is 11 and she wasn't crazy about the kids club. Like she would go, but reluctantly. She did always seem like she had a good time once she went.

We met a couple on one of our tours that was cruising with Princess (maybe the Star Princess?) and they said there was not any kind of night life and activities fizzled out after 10. That was definitely not the case with the Bliss. We'd tuck the kids in and then find plenty of stuff to do later than we could possibly stay up.

If anyone in your party has limited mobility and needs to use the elevators, the Bliss may be frustrating. Lots of complaints about the number of elevators and access to them. We used the stairs our entire trip. It wasn't worth waiting for the elevators for us.

We sailed to Glacier Bay on the NCL Pearl a few years ago & loved it! We didn't have any children with us; so I'm not sure about their youth program. We'll be going again next year on the NCL Bliss. The Bliss has youth programs, go carts, lazer tag, a video arcade & swim area. Although it may be too cold for swimming, the Bliss seems to have alot to offer for entertaining young cruisers. I hope this helps!

Hi Disney Girl 236,

I am looking for the exact same thing you are. I have been reading reviews of the Bliss and I am not happy. Ruby Princess also sounds disappointing. Am feeling so frustrated. I hope the posts kee coming.

We sailed to Glacier Bay on the NCL Pearl a few years ago & loved it! We didn't have any children with us; so I'm not sure about their youth program. We'll be going again next year on the NCL Bliss. The Bliss has youth programs, go carts, lazer tag, a video arcade & swim area. Although it may be too cold for swimming, the Bliss seems to have alot to offer for entertaining young cruisers. I hope this helps!

It is not the ship the OP wants to hear about but the same comment might apply. We were on Coral Princess at end of June and one of the pools was under glass. There was lots of swimming going on with the younger cruisers (there were not a lot of them but then school was not out for us yet) - also during the sailing of Inside Passage on the day before we reached Vancouver kids were using the outdoor pool.

We didn't go looking for nightlife but it did seem very quiet after about 10 pm. The Coral is a small ship though. We finally discovered how to use the cards in the machines in the Casino (when it was first explained it seemed like we were too easily connected to my credit card which was not the case). Then I realised that there were people who stayed up beyond 10 pm.

I loved the ship - for me the cruise was about Alaska and not the ship. Having a small ship was an advantage for reducing the number of queues.

I'm leaving on the Bliss in less than a month. That said, from all the reviews I've read, there look to be crowd control issues (common on mega ships?).

I just prefer Princess. The set dining times are a plus for me. It's easy to plan around them, and the shows are timed around them as well. You don't run into seating issues when you have set dining.

Princess is also like Disney in the set dining times. I get how the convenience of eating whenever you want can be nice, but when you're planning activities on a vacation, it just seems like the set dining time is the way to go. Even the cruise ship is set up better in terms of crowd flow when it has set dining time and can plan on a large number of people being in one spot at a certain time.

NCL is like Disney theme parks and Fast Passes. You have to book stuff ultra early and it's easy to miss out if you can't get your reservation in.

I would look at the times in port and also what you want to do. Can you do what you want to do with the times in port? Sometimes there is really odd times in ports like Juneau 2-10 and people book these and then struggle because they can't do what they want to do in port.

You may get better times in port with RT out of Vancouver.

I just prefer Princess. The set dining times are a plus for me. It's easy to plan around them, and the shows are timed around them as well. You don't run into seating issues when you have set dining.

 

Princess is also like Disney in the set dining times. I get how the convenience of eating whenever you want can be nice, but when you're planning activities on a vacation, it just seems like the set dining time is the way to go. Even the cruise ship is set up better in terms of crowd flow when it has set dining time and can plan on a large number of people being in one spot at a certain time.

 

Princess offers a choice of traditional (set time) or anytime (timing as you wish) dining. Most ships have 3 dining rooms: one is traditional through the entire evening with two seatings (early and late); one is anytime through the entire evening; and the third is traditional until 7:30 pm (or so) and then is anytime dining for the rest of the evening.

To me, the Ruby Princess would be an absolute no brainer if you did not say that you were traveling with kids. I am sure my son would choose the Norwegian Bliss so that he could spend the week splashing down on waterslides, navigating the ropes course and racing go carts, which are all options you will not find on the Ruby Princess. This being said, my nine year-old has been on 18 cruises and has loved them all including 3 on the before mentioned Holland America, which I would agree, they do not cater to families. My son's favorites are RCI, NCL, Carnival and Disney while my wife and I prefer Princess to any line but also enjoy HAL. We generally let the cruise price and itinerary decide for us. There is no wrong decision just like there is no bad cruise. (At least not to me). Everybody has to compromise a little to ensure everyone has a great vacation. If you choose NCL, treat yourself to a nice dinner in the steak house or other specialty restaurant while the kids enjoy the camp. If you go with Princess, maybe involve the children more in picking an excursion while in port. For example, when ever we cruise on HAL, we might rent jet skis in St Martin or find a water park in Cozumel. I know that example pertains to the Caribbean but you could probably practice the same philosophy in Alaska. Can't tell you from experience. On our Alaska cruise, we are leaving our son with Grandma and Grinchpa.

I can't speak on other cruise lines since I have really only done Princes, but personally, I like ship sizes 3,000 passengers or less. Even the sold out Ruby seemed like a lot of people to me. My parents usually travel on HAL, but even they say it is an "old person's cruise".

My family (ranging from grandparents to 4 kids - ages 6 to 12) just did the Ruby Princess a couple of weeks ago. (I am just the aunt, so I don't have all the details memorized). It was the kids first cruise. They loved the kids zone, even though the youngest was originally sad he got put it the little kids room away from his big brothers, he ended up not caring. There were approximately 300 kids on the ship (per the kid zone sheet). The kids were always sad when they got picked up for dinner and couldn't wait to get back in the evening. And again sad if they got picked up before the evening entertainment was over. The kid zone hours were from 9am to 10pm - with mandatory pick-ups for lunch and dinner. Our kids loved the competitions - Foosball and video games. They also colored t-shirts, made lanyards to hold their key cards, watched movies, had themed dinners, and more. You might be able to find a picture of the kids activity sheet on a board. They give you a list of the week's activities when you first get on board or when you sign up at the kid zone.

They also enjoyed hanging out on the basketball court playing "football" with their British friends they met. Also, since it was really warm this year, they were out in the pool when they could be. I believe the kids zone was closed when we were in glacier bay (the morning) so the kids hung out with the family (also, there weren't many ship "adult" activities because they want you to enjoy the glacier) and then in the afternoon they had a ranger talk and activities. Bringing our own walkie talkies on board gave the kids some freedom to do stuff on their own or see what the different adults were doing.

We also took the kids to some "adult" activities - trivia, scavenger hunt, and some evening shows. Those that could stay awake at the 9:00 show thought the Magic To Do show in the theater was good. The kids are good at wearing themselves out.

The kids also enjoyed the food. We did anytime dining and were usually there between 4:30 and 5:00 (we are an early morning family) and they always had a table of 9 or 10 available for us. The dining room opened at 4:15 and usually by 6 or 6:30 it fills up and you would need to wait for a table. But the few times we went later, it was no problem. The kids menu was great for the younger ones (who ate fish and chips at almost every dinner) and the older ones mixed it up between the kids menu and the adult since they are all about seafood and loved shrimp cocktail, ceviche, lobster, mussels, crab, etc. Some of the waitstaff went above and beyond with the kids, stopping to make paper hats/boats/airplanes for the kids using the kids menu.

As for the rooms, we didn't realize when we booked, but conveniently had two adjoining rooms that had bunks - so a total of 8 people could be in the 2 rooms. This worked great. We also had another room a few doors down. (All inside rooms).

When we asked what was their favorite part of the trip, they had a hard time saying one thing. They did like the Lumberjack show (Ketchikan, the last port), where we coincidentally booked for the same time as bunch of their friends they met on the ship and could watch the show with them. They also love just hiking from the visitor center in Juneau to the glacier and waterfall.

This was my 3rd Alaska cruise on Princess, with my favorite being the one that stopped at Hubbard Glacier. But Seattle was an easier flight and less passport hassle for group.

Just looked at itinerary and would go with Princess.

I am looking at the same two ships...  We want to sail out of Seattle so we can do round trip & save on airfare, sail inside passage, AND go to Glacier Bay.  I saw a review on CC on Bliss that said it was too big for the inside passage, and most importantly, it doesn't actually go up in Glacier Bay National Park -- it stays a bit away.  I'm trying to figure out if that's really true, because Ruby Princess goes UP IN THERE.  I have looked at as many YouTube videos as I can stand to figure this out, but I can't seem to get a good look, esp since Bliss is pretty new (2018).  Does Bliss get up as close to glaciers in Glacier Bay, or is the nearest glacier way off in the distance?  Thanks!!

I heard that Bliss does go thru the inside passage at Alaska but does not do the inside passage (yellow in pic I attached here) from the Vancouver side which is nice. So for that my choices were between princess or royal carribean (northbound or southbound) instead because I wanted to do the inside passage from the Vancouver side. 

16 minutes ago, sorsue said:

I heard that Bliss does go thru the inside passage at Alaska but does not do the inside passage (yellow in pic I attached here) from the Vancouver side which is nice. So for that my choices were between princess or royal carribean (northbound or southbound) instead because I wanted to do the inside passage from the Vancouver side. 

I haven't always found these maps accurate as far as routing. 

Well the trip is definitely billed as Inside Passage with Glacier Bay, but I guess I'm trying to figure out if the Glacier Bay viewing is as good on Bliss as it would be on Ruby.  We are leaning toward Bliss right now.

4 minutes ago, wannavacay said:

Well the trip is definitely billed as Inside Passage with Glacier Bay, but I guess I'm trying to figure out if the Glacier Bay viewing is as good on Bliss as it would be on Ruby.  We are leaning toward Bliss right now.

All the trips can be categorized as "inside passage". It is a very generic term.

The viewing the day of Glacier Bay depends on weather conditions, the National Park Service (what they allow) and the Captain.

Look at the times in port and how it corresponds with what you want to do. For example - people often complain about poor times in Juneau and they can't get their activities they want to do done because they have a 2-10 pm slot.

I did check the itineraries for port days.  Both Ruby and Bliss r/t out of Seattle with Glacier Bay itineraries are within about 30min to an hour of one another.  Juneau has ok times, arrive early afternoon & stay till late evening.  It should give us enough time to go to Mendenhall Glacier before the park closes at 730.  I think Ketchikan or another is really weird like 6am-1pm on Bliss and 7am-130pm on Ruby or something similar.  Thanks!

34 minutes ago, wannavacay said:

I did check the itineraries for port days.  Both Ruby and Bliss r/t out of Seattle with Glacier Bay itineraries are within about 30min to an hour of one another.  Juneau has ok times, arrive early afternoon & stay till late evening.  It should give us enough time to go to Mendenhall Glacier before the park closes at 730.  I think Ketchikan or another is really weird like 6am-1pm on Bliss and 7am-130pm on Ruby or something similar.  Thanks!

This is why I do one ways. Much better port times.

If you go with NCL - I would budget more for speciality restaurants. My friends who sail on NCL can't stand the dining room food and just pay extra for specialty restaurants.