Ruby Princess Alaska Jun 28 - July 5 2015 Photo Review

It is payback time through this photo report/blog. Thank you all for posting your experiences and recommendations on Cruise Critic. I found it very helpful for me for the two cruises I’ve experienced. I’m a detailed planner who prefers to know where we are going in advance and about the ships, so all of you have been very helpful. While it was a family decision to the pick Alaska and then the Ruby Princess round trip from Seattle, I elected to rent from Juneau Car Rental and Sourdough and see the sites based upon your insight. I’ll give my reviews of these local vendors, both positive, when I get to the ports.

The itinerary for the Ruby Princess was Tracy Arm. I would have preferred Glacier Bay to get a better chance of seeing glaciers and possibly calving, but it is the more expensive tour and with so many people we were budget conscious, and Tracy Arm it was. I was able to spot a $200 per cabin price reduction on Expedia after we had booked already with Princess so I was able to save the whole family $800. Compared to Mexico, all the excursions are so much more expensive in Alaska. In addition the port fee was $100 more per person, but I heard this was a State law to alleviate the burden of dealing with so many tourists besieging the smaller tourist ports.

As for the photo part, photography is a hobby and I think I’m pretty decent at it, although my wife probably thinks I’ve turned into a photo snob at times. I recently upgraded to a Canon 6D and brought four lenses on the trip 24-105mm F4L IS, 70-200mm F4L IS, 35mm F2 IS, and the Rokinon 14mm F2.8. I’m a flash enthusiast with a 600EX-RT and Yongnou E3-R3 wireless transmitter, and I also brought my Velbon carbon fiber tripod with a Markins Q10 ballhead. The only place that required the fast prime was the Princess Theater before a show, but otherwise I didn’t use the 35mm lens. I’d recommended skipping out on bringing a fast prime lens unless that’s your shooting style. Most of the time I used the zoom lenses with the flash.

Back to cruising. This was my second family cruise trip. Our first cruise trip was Holland America’s Zaandam on the Mexican Riviera two years ago. That time we had fifteen family members as my youngest brother opted out. It was our first trip for my wife and four boys (oldest 12 and youngest twins are 7)and my sister and brother-in-law. For my other brother’s family of five, it was their second and my parents are experienced cruisers. San Diego is within driving distance for us Californians but my brother’s family flew in from Seattle.

This time aboard the Ruby Princess my youngest brother joined and made us a team sixteen strong. All the Californian’s met at SeaTac and my brother arranged picked us up. My oldest son doesn’t remember his other trip to Seattle (he was two at the time) and it was the first trip there for my other boys. They were excited about playing hide-and-seek with their cousins.

We met another group of 16 while waiting to board and heard about a larger group of 22.

Looking forward to your review. I am on the Ruby next August.

I was on the same cruise as you last week. Looking forward to reliving the memories! Luckily we had some pretty decent days as far as weather except for the stop in Skagway where it rained all day. Pretty smooth seas too!

Can't wait to hear more.

John Wayne is our closest airport but it is also the priciest. So Jet Blue out of Long Beach Airport turned out to be the best deal for us. Jet Blue had not yet introduced baggage fees yet, so it we didn’t have to worry about packing so efficiently, although we still aimed for about five days of clothes excluding the formal wear and cold weather gear. It was the first time for us on Jet Blue and the first time we have flown as a family since my sister-in-law’s wedding five years ago.

It was also the first time out of Long Beach. My brother-in-law dropped us off on his way to work and Long Beach Airport is surprisingly and refreshingly small. I avoid LAX if at all possible because of all the traffic getting there and all the lines at the airport. At LGB instead, from the drop off to the curb to check-in counter was maybe twenty feet. After literally exiting check-in, the waiting area before the security gate is an outside covered corridor. We didn’t know what to expect at the gate but it turned out a modern terminal probably built for just Jet Blue, which was one of three airlines servicing Long Beach. The only thing unusual was the usage of old style open gangways/stairs to board both end of the plane.

During the flight the kids did jockey for the window seats, but the video monitor with live TV streams kept them entertained while we dozed after our typical last minute packing. Only my oldest son had earphones so he all the kids took turns. Jet Blue does sell earphones in case you really needed them.

We arrived three days before our cruise without any specific plans outside of spending time together. We winded up eating out at three Chinese restaurants (I think Shanghai Gardens in Issaquah, Top Gun in Bellevue, and Din Tai Fung in Seattle). Can you guess our ethnicity? Yes we’re Irish.

Din Tai Fung made the biggest impression for me and most of the family with their delicious hand-made dumplings. You can watch the workers make the dumplings as you enter the restaurant. The one with the soup inside has a thicker base and thinner top for easier twisting. I didn’t order so I don’t know the names of the other dishes. There are other items besides dumplings and they were all good. Din Tai Fung reminded me of another dumpling restaurant I ate at in Xian, the home of the terra cotta warriors in China. I strongly recommend this restaurant if you want some authentic dumplings. I found out there is a branch at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa so I don’t have to go back to Seattle for another serving.

Another one of the reasons we choose Din Tai Fun was its proximity to the Japanese Garden in the Washington Arboretum. Out sightseeing day turned out to be the Saturday before our cruise and it turned out to be a hot muggy day.

Regarding the weather, it has been a record heat spell in Seattle with 90 degree temperatures more like August than late June early July. I’ve been to Seattle at least ten times and I’ve only been rained on for two days, and the weather did clear up on our whale watching expedition then. My brother says it really does rain a lot in Seattle (“There are two seasons in Seattle – August and Winter”), but guess I have been lucky or it is really a myth to keep people from moving to the Pacific Northwest.

The weather forecast for our three Alaskan ports changed frequently, but it seemed to settle down the closer it got to our departure date. Ketchikan, which measures rainfall in feet, was supposed to have only a 10% chance of rain, while Juneau was 20%, and Skagway looked like a wet day with about 50to 80% chance a rain. The forecasts turned out to be accurate for us.

Back to the Japanese Garden. There was a nominal entrance fee. I don’t remember exactly but it was only a few dollars per person. It was a very nice garden and I’m glad we visited. At the first fork in the garden path, there is a great reddish cascading/weeping dissectum Japanese maple with gnarly branches that made a terrific photo spot. You could get underneath it to take fantastic pictures in the shade while the red leaves contrasted nicely with the green leaves of the other Japanese maples. Indeed we took many pictures there. Note Earl Burn’s Miller Japanese Garden in California State University in Long Beach is also very nice and but does not charge admission.

On our sightseeing day we had thought about going to Ballard Locks as well but decided not to as it was already a very warm day and we were running late and somewhat out of the way for our dinner reservation later.

After the garden we stopped off at Kerry Park at Queen Anne Hill for the iconic downtown scenic view of the Space Needle and downtown Seattle. The sky which has been clear when we first came in Thursday had turned hazy and we unfortunately we could no longer see Mt. Rainer clearly. Take pictures of the mountain whenever you have the opportunity to do so.

We arrived three days before our cruise without any specific plans outside of spending time together. We winded up eating out at three Chinese restaurants (I think Shanghai Gardens in Issaquah, Top Gun in Bellevue, and Din Tai Fung in Seattle). Can you guess our ethnicity? Yes we’re Irish.

What were you doing out in the 'Quah? For Chinese, we like Szechuan Bean Flower but you'd probably not be able to find it now, hidden behind construction.

As for the weather, try coming in January or February and see what it's really like. :(

I'm enjoying your review. Could you possibly post the pictures a little larger? It is hard to appreciate your photographic talent in such small pic.

We are heading to AK for the 5th time in 2 weeks on a 14 night itinerary on the Statendam.

What were you doing out in the 'Quah? For Chinese, we like Szechuan Bean Flower but you'd probably not be able to find it now, hidden behind construction.

 

As for the weather, try coming in January or February and see what it's really like. :(

My brother lives in Bellevue so Issaquah isn't that far. His family has taken me to that restaurant a few times I think.

Actually I've been to Seattle twice during the winter and the weather was clear. Went snowboarding at Snoqualmie Pass and Mt. Baker during one President's Day weekend. I must be lucky with the weather.

I'm enjoying your review. Could you possibly post the pictures a little larger? It is hard to appreciate your photographic talent in such small pic.

 

We are heading to AK for the 5th time in 2 weeks on a 14 night itinerary on the Statendam.

Sorry my bad. I'm still figuring out how to post larger pics. The food porn is coming soon ...

The Seattle CityPass seems like a good deal if you are going to do at least three of the listed events. If you are going to do just one or two of the sights or are time constrained, then it probably doesn’t make any sense. One of the five tours included in the pass is the Argosy Cruises Harbor Tour, which kind of seems redundant with the upcoming cruise. Since we were such a large family we elected not to purchase the pass this time. Furthermore, there is a lot of construction at the waterfront due to rebuilding the sea wall so it would make the Seattle Aquarium and Argosy more difficult to get to. In addition, my brother is not a big fan of Pike’s Market because it always so crowded and touristy. I’ve done all of these tours previously so we’ll think about introducing the kids to these some other time when it’s just my immediate family visiting.

My kids were most interested in the Space Needle and the Aquarium. I had thought about doing these two on our own on disembarkation day since we were kind of in the neighborhood but I’m glad we just decided to go back to my brother’s house instead. We were all tired with the semi-hectic port schedules. It would have been a pain to deal with the luggage in the heat since our return flight was later in the evening,

Next we did stop by Seattle Center and walked over to the gift shop at the Space Needle. Any thoughts about just my family going up into the Needle went way with the 90 minute line. It seems it is a popular destination whenever the weather is clear.

The Chihuly Garden and Glass tour is right next to the Space Needle and you can see a few of the exhibits outside. If you’ve been to the Bellagio in Vegas, the glass ceiling near the front desk is a Chihuly creation. The Chihuly Garden and Glass seemed interesting so I would like to visit it next time.

Sorry I still haven't figured out how to post larger pictures. I thought I figured out linking to Flickr but I have password issues on setting up a new account. Shutterfly copies the link instead of the picture, but I want the picture to show up instead so it's been frustrating.:confused:

Sorry I still haven't figured out how to post larger pictures. I thought I figured out linking to Flickr but I have password issues on setting up a new account. Shutterfly copies the link instead of the picture, but I want the picture to show up instead so it's been frustrating.:confused:

I post my pictures on Picasa using Picasa Web Albums. It is a free Google program (in case you haven't heard of it). You can embed the pictures one at a time into CruiseCritic and they appear as large as you want them to be.

And this how I did it:

Download Picasa. The program will automatically find all pictures on your computer listing them by folder name. Select a folder (or create and album) and sync to the web (click on icon in upper right corner to sync).

Once photos are in an album online:

1. Select a photo
   
2. Click "Link to this photo"
   
3. Select size (med. or large works fine)
   
4. Select "Image only"
   
5. Click in Embed image box and press CTRL+C to copy HTML code
   

Go to CruiseCritic and in the Reply box:

1. Click on the Insert Image icon
   
2. Paste the HTML code into the box by pressing CTRL+V
   
3. Click OK
   
4. Preview your post and the image should be there.
   
5. Post your reply.
   

And this how I did it:

 

Download Picasa. The program will automatically find all pictures on your computer listing them by folder name. Select a folder (or create and album) and sync to the web (click on icon in upper right corner to sync).

 

Once photos are in an album online:

1. Select a photo
   
2. Click "Link to this photo"
   
3. Select size (med. or large works fine)
   
4. Select "Image only"
   
5. Click in Embed image box and press CTRL+C to copy HTML code
   

 

Go to CruiseCritic and in the Reply box:

1. Click on the Insert Image icon
   
2. Paste the HTML code into the box by pressing CTRL+V
   
3. Click OK
   
4. Preview your post and the image should be there.
   
5. Post your reply.
   

Shout out to my friends from Virginia! Believe it or not I'm fairly tech savvy and the photo thing was driving my crazy and taking hours upon hours of time.

Our final scenic spot was West Seattle and the view near Alki Beach. It seems that we stopped too early and had a partially obstructed view due to blackberry bushes and other foilage. There was a better spot further along that my brother originally intended to take us. My kids sampled some of the ripe fruit where we were though. Afterwards we made our way back to Bellevue and dinner at Top Gun.

Here is a panorama of the view from five photos stitched together. I have two more pics to include the two stadiums but the merging program cropped out the top of the Colombia Tower, the tallest building, so I have only part of the Century Link football stadium.

Shout out to my friends from Virginia! Believe it or not I'm fairly tech savvy and the photo thing was driving my crazy and taking hours upon hours of time.

You aren't the only one who has had problems posting pictures. It is not at all intuitive either on CruiseCritic or Picasa. I finally figured it out and wrote down the steps that worked for me. I have posted the instructions in the past for people who were having trouble but that was a while ago.

I like Picasa for several reasons. It is free, easy to use, slideshows are full screen, it allows you to view RAW files, and it makes it is easy to find photos since it catalogs by folder. It also has a decent basic editor for people who don't want to spend the time and money on programs such as Photoshop Elements, Photoshop, or Lightroom (which I use).

Sunday June 28th was embarkation day. Three minivans dropped all sixteen of us early in the morning. There was a parade scheduled in downtown Seattle that day so we planned on leaving at 10AM for Port 91 to avoid any potential traffic issues. In addition the 520 bridge is closed for conversion into a toll road so we had to go the longer way around.

We passed the NCL Pearl at the waterfront port near the Seattle Aquarium and then saw our boat along with the smaller HAL Amsterdam at the very industrialized Pier 91. It was nice to know that we were boarding the larger boat this time. In San Diego, the HAL Westerdam was in port along with the Zaandam. The Zaandam was huge but it was dwarfed by the Westerdam. I certain the Ruby Princess would have made the Westerdam look small too. The Ruby is attractive with the white and aqua blue color scheme. The Ruby has SIX decks of balconies compared to two to the Zaandam and her sister ship Amsterdam. Overall there is going to be lots of comparisons to the Zaandam because that is all that I have.

If you search the forums, there apparently is a bus route that stops on the elevated access road. From there it is a fairly tall set of stairs to descend and then walk to the passenger pick up/drop off area. It is possible to take the train into downtown and then switch to the bus to get here, and it is the most economical option, but I wouldn’t recommend it. It does not appear to be a pedestrian friendly route from the bus stop. I’m not sure if there really is an official bus stop either.

It was finally cooler Sunday morning with a distant thundershower. By the time we got to the passenger drop off zone, raindrops were falling but it stopped soon after we entered the cruise terminal. We didn’t get immediate assistance from the baggage handlers so we just decided to board with our baggage. The adults and older kids easily handled the larger bags for the group.

The board’s tip on entering early instead of following the recommended loading time was really helpful. The last time we were arrived a little late for our scheduled boarding time on the Zaandam in San Diego. After the drive from Irvine, we wound up standing in a slow moving 90 minute plus line. It was a hectic day going from drive from Orange County to the line for the ship to the muster drill and then getting ready for our early dinner. At Pier 91 for the Ruby, we checked in just a few minutes and then soon sat until our newly assigned Group 4 boarding time. It was so much more relaxing sitting in the waiting area and then boarding at 11:45AM, dropping off the bags in our rooms and then going into a fairly empty buffet. This was a significantly better first impression on this cruise.

A very large gangway took us to the Promenade, deck 7, but it was no problem to navigate with our luggage. The boarding photo was outside on the actual deck. I did not recall the Alaska backdrop until I saw the picture we purchased.

We were in interior room R324, Riviera deck 14, on the port or left side. It was closer to the front of the ship and below the Lido deck. Only once in the room did I hear what appeared to be noises from the deck chairs above, so it was not an issue to be directly below the Lido.

Our first impression in our cabins was the cramped quarters. It was only about 160 sq. ft. compared to the 180 sq. ft. compared to the interior or exterior view on the Zaandam. We all felt the absence of the extra 20 sq ft. on the Ruby. On the Zaandam we had a king in the middle as the two twins were put together and only one pull down bed from the ceiling. There was a sofa in extra space that served as the fourth bed so this was a more useful arrangement. It was easier for more people to watch TV on the Zaandam.

The living quarters of the Ruby Princess were smaller with dual bunk beds on both sides of the room. The ladders to the upper bunks converged in the middle of corridor between the lower bunks so we constantly bumped the ladders accidentally. Eventually we would remove one of the ladders when we were in the room and put it back when the person in that bunk wanted to get down.

In terms of storage space, the Ruby has a large open closet area in front of the bathroom that was larger than the thin storage lockers on the side on the Zaandam. On either ship you could also put your empty suitcase below the beds. The Ruby clearly had more storage but the Zaandam was a little bit cleaner because the storage area was behind closed doors.

On the Zaandam there was small but functional bath tub in the bathroom. There wasn’t a lip to catch any water on the top edge of the tub water rolled down on to the floor. The Ruby had the larger vanity but a tiny stand up shower that seemed about a square with a two foot side. Maybe it was a three foot square but whatever it was it was tiny. There was a large ledge on the bottom of shower to retain water, but often there was water on the floor after a shower. I think it was easy to move the shower curtain inadvertently and water probably spilt out from the curtain.

In terms of outlets, the Zaandam had only one in the room, but he Ruby had two, but they were side by side. Normal prongs were OK but you couldn’t get two adapters in both outlets but we brought a short extension cord so it gave us three total usable outlets in the room to charge up all of our electronics.

The TV on the Ruby was a medium sized LCD but there was no DVD player. While we were in an interior room, the forward ship cam played on channel 43 so you could see what the weather was like outside. Both the Zaandam and the Ruby replayed movies shown on the larger theater one day later on TV. Some of the more recent movies included Sponge Bob, Big Hero 6, Paddington Bear, Guardians of the Galaxy, Cinderella, Into the Woods, and the Fault in Our Stars. We were hoping for Avengers Age of Ultron but no luck. One of the channels and a program guide but it was really slow in showing what was on each channel so it wasn’t that helpful. We didn’t plan on our time around the TV schedule anyway. Whatever on was on.

We booked four to a room but then regrouped in our families so that meant six of us in R324. The two oldest boys went on top and we were on the bottom with a twin boy each. It has harder to get a sound night of sleep with the youngest twin as he moved around a bit. The functionality and usability advantage of our cabin went to the Zaandam here.

I don’t know why but I didn’t take a picture of my lunch at the buffet. I have absolutely no memory of what I choose for my plate that day. Everything seems to get blurry in my memory after a few days on the boat, but it seems to be a part of the cruising syndrome. Time has less importance and once you leave port, news is harder to come by. The pictures that I took helped to jog my memory of what we did.

The buffet on the left side of the ship was closed at noon so we ate at the one on the right. I remembered reading about the two buffets and assumed one was on the left and the other on the right, but I was wrong. The Horizon Court buffet is on both sides before the rear of the ship, but Café Caribe continues in the next room where the Horizon Court ended and then wraps around the aft part of the ship. I think Café Caribe is actually the larger of the two buffets and had better variety. I did not discover this until the cruise was halfway over.

Similar to HAL there was an antibacterial station at the entrance to the buffet but you could pick your own food. The buffet on the Zaandam and I believe all of HAL serves you the food at the buffet stations for the first two days of the cruise. The Ruby has a dedicated entrance and exit while you could enter and leave at any point in the buffet on the Zaandam.

During lunch, we were asked by more than one of the wait staff regarding beverage packages. Although I love Coke, the elixir of life, I went without it on the Zaandam. My brother’s family purchased one unlimited and more soda package so my wife thought we should get one for the whole family as well. In addition to soda, you can order virgin cocktails, milkshakes, and hot chocolate. It was kind of expensive at about $8 a day including the tip and you had to order about three drinks a day to break even. I think we were close. It was nice to have a virgin pina colada or strawberry margarita every once in a while. I don’t believe every person in the party needed this package. It would have been overkill. My brother-in-law got the coffee card.

After the buffet, my dad wanted to meet up on the top deck, Princess Links, to take a group shot with the Seattle skyline, but a lot of us had dispersed already. I went back to the room and then brought my older boys with me to scout the ship for some appropriate locations for the picture. I thought I was headed back toward the aft of the ship but ended up walking around the front of the ship outside the fitness center instead. The first two days I got mixed up frequently between the directions left and right and back and front, but got my bearings afterwards.

I stitched four pics from the Princess Links to capture the Needle on one end to a hazy Mt. Rainer on the other.

This is a closer up view of Mt. Rainer, but it was still hard to see.

Six people in and inside cabin? I sometimes feel crowded with just 2 of us in an oceanview cabin. How did you do it? How old are the kids?

BTW, the picture looks great!