Feedback on Ruby Princess

Going for first time to Alaska on Ruby Princess out of Seattle September 1. Interested in knowing experiences on ship and insiders advice. Did you have to wait long to board? Says you can bring luggage as early as 11 am. But says can’t board til 2:30. What can you do at pier between time? Anyone get to board early? Appreciate learning as much as I can?

While it's not *wrong* to post any kind of question here (you are, after all, a first time cruiser!) when it comes to ship- or line-specific Qs you will get more exposure to the folks with the experience you want posting on the relevant board - in this case the general Princess one - and by reading Reviews (those of the Ruby can be found here). There's also a handy preset Search for most mainstream ships these days, so you can find all sorts of threads mentioning the Ruby within the general Princess board.

Boarding is port-specific info: the boarding process at different ports can differ - so this is best discovered by reading up (and posting if you can't find the info already there) on the relevant Departure forum (West Coast in this case). You'll also find info on things like hotels, restaurants, sightseeing for you pre/post cruise time over there.

General advice for making the most of CC: practise using the Search tool, as the odds of any question never having been asked before are slim - your answers might be available right now because someone else asked recently; if they aren't, asking specific questions will get specific answers; some of us regular posters are stroppier than others about questions being in the 'right place' or not so ask yourself before you post 'is this a Port of Call question, or a Departure port question, or a Ship question, or a Cruiseline question?' and you'll find things about as smooth as they get.

Enjoy your time on CC.

Princess recommends you board at 2:30pm in an attempt to spread out the boarding and reduce the nines. This is a suggestion, not a mandate. Generally bags can be dropped starting about 10. Checkin will start at 11:00 to 11:30am and boarding will start 11:30 or noon.

Thanks, Appreciate it.