ckb104

I just got off the Ruby today. It's a little early for Blue and Humpback whales, but we saw some Orcas in Glacier Bay and along the way. We did see an otter right next to the ship.

From what I saw, it's $199 if you buy it ahead of time and $249 if you buy it on the ship.

Just got off the Ruby from Alaska today. It is all about the balcony. =)

Now that I've gone, I can officially recommend excursions. Hurray!

In Juneau, we did the Taste of Juneau walking tour. So much fun! I don't think most people realize that Juneau has quite the food scene. We visited about 7 places for various tastings and they were all incredible. If you like beer, you'll have fun. We ended at the Alaska Hotel and had glasses of three different Alaskan Amber beers. My mom and I don't like beer, so our tablemate had a really good time.

Great food, fun stories and history of Juneau. I highly recommend it. Plus we got a couple goodies to take home and a shopping bag. Juneaufoodtours.com is the company. We booked through Princess, but I believe the price is the same if you book directly through the company.

Our other excursion was the Train ride in Skagway, which I'm sure you'll get recommended from many. It was beautiful and the bonus of going in May is that there is still snow.

I don't know about the Elite wine tasting, but I went to the $25 wine tasting on the Ruby this week. At my table, there was a couple with us. The wife had paid to do the tasting and her husband came along to hang out. I think someone may have said something at the door, but they just said he was coming in and not tasting and it was fine. He was funny, so we enjoyed having him at our table.

No cell service. The rangers made sure we knew that. They have landlines in the little town where the ranger station is. =)

I just got off the Ruby and went to part of a couple auctions because there was something coming up in the same place. Such a scam. Nothing is truly original. They are selling prints of artwork. The guy was going on about how much something was worth and how you'll never find it again, then sold three copies of the same piece.

In Ketchikan, we were docked at berth 4, the farthest one. It was about a quarter mile to Mission Street via a nice waterfront boardwalk.

Sent from my VS820 using Forums mobile app

Will try and get our name on the list to do ships tour. Thanks

The ship tour was worth every penny! So much fun and fascinating. Just being on the bridge was so cool. I touched the steering wheel. 😀

Sent from my VS820 using Forums mobile app

Thanks you!! Why by the door? We plan to arrive around 11am so hopefully we get on around 1pm? This is my mom's first cruise so I think her first experience cruising has to be the embarkation wait lol 😂

If you're by the door, you'll be at the front of the line when they start boarding. 😀

Sent from my VS820 using Forums mobile app

The Cruise Director's last name is O'Brien. Matt O'Brien. He is wonderful! He is from England. The Assistant CD is Kaylee from New Zealand. They are both so great.

Sent from my VS820 using Forums mobile app

Thank you for your report. Looking forward to hearing more. Can you tell me who the naturalist is onboard?

His name is Michael Modzelewski. Don't ask me to pronounce that. 😀

Sent from my VS820 using Forums mobile app

We just got off the Ruby in Seattle on Saturday. My wife's niece is a dancer in the theatre shows. We saw Magic To Do on Friday and I believe Colors of your World is also planned.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

Colors of the World was the other night. We have been so busy that we didn't see it. We are loving the North to Alaska presentations, though.

Thanks for posting "live". We will be on the Ruby for the May 20th cruise.

 

How was embarkation? What time did you arrive/get to your cabin?

 

Keep posting when you can would love to hear about your excursions and experience on the boat- especially the puppy day :)

Sent from my VS820 using Forums mobile app

Thanks for posting "live". We will be on the Ruby for the May 20th cruise.

 

How was embarkation? What time did you arrive/get to your cabin?

 

Keep posting when you can would love to hear about your excursions and experience on the boat- especially the puppy day :)

My Mom is Elite, so we had priority boarding. Seattle was so efficient with all the checkpoints. We arrived by 11am. Boarding was technically scheduled for 1pm. By 12:45, we had boarded, gone to Passenger Services to sign up for the ship tour, squealed over our balcony and waved to people arriving on the pier, and finished eating at the buffet. It was amazing!

If you aren't elite or in a suite (that would be most of us!), I recommend getting there early and taking a book. Oh, and sit near the door in the waiting room. 😀

Sent from my VS820 using Forums mobile app

We haven't had a chance to see the production shows so far (so much to do!), but we are loving the North to Alaska presentations.

Also, try the fruit tartlets at the International Cafe. We can't stop eating them!

We boarded quickly (my Mom is Elite) and want straight to Passenger Services to sign up for the ship tour. He had to ask someone, but found the page and we were the first to sign up. They have to have a minimum of 6 and no more than 12. It was advertised in the Patter on the first full day, so we are hoping at least 4 more signed up. We are on the Ruby, but it's very similar to the Emerald. For us, the tour is scheduled for 8:15am on the Victoria day. For us, that's Friday. I think for you it will be Saturday.

Sent from my VS820 using Forums mobile app

Greetings! Just finished my yummy dinner on our first formal night. I had the duck breast starter. For my main, I asked for the fettuccine with salmon. He brought me a piece of the wonderful salmon that was also on the menu with my pasta. We shared creme brule and the Chocolate Journeys hazelnut bar for dessert. Everything was delicious.

We boarded yesterday in Seattle and are headed for Juneau. It's been fun trying to walk straight with the waves and the Captain (Giorgio Pometa) just announced that we are entering an area of turbulence. This might get interesting. =)

For your info, we did get blue bags (and butter on the table). The Cruise Director is Matt from England. I believe he is new. He's lovely and hilarious. He made our muster drill fun.

The new Princess teddy bear, Stanley, is being released on our cruise. He was supposed to show up in the shop this afternoon. My mom just went upstairs to get him. Apparently, he comes with a piece of clothing appropriate to the cruise destination and on future cruises, you can get him other clothes that fit the destination of that cruise. He sounds pretty cute!

Someone had asked who was going to be performing in Crooners. Today's Patter lists performances from Christiaan Beer and David Williams. Hope that helps.

Will try to update to update as the week goes on. Let me know if there is anything specific you want to know.

There are many Inside Passage cruises that include Glacier Bay. I'm familiar with Princess. They have a 7-night Inside Passage on the Ruby Princess (round-trip Seattle) that spends a day sailing Glacier Bay. I'm leaving on Saturday for that one! :D

All of Princess' cruises that include Glacier Bay also include the Inside Passage.

The great thing about Alaska is that so much of it is National Park or Forest, which means you can visit for not too much money. http://www.nps.gov is a good place to get started with your research.

I'm going to agree with Sequim88. If you are planning to stay a day or two in Seattle after/before your cruise, you have a better chance of finding tide pools. The Olympic Peninsula is great for that, but you should be able to find good places around Seattle if you can't get over there or don't have as much time.

Constellation Park on Alki Beach in West Seattle and Golden Gardens Park in Ballard are both good spots close to downtown Seattle.

Does anyone know of places in Ketchikan, Juneau or Skagway that sell shirts or tanks in sizes as large as 4 or 5x?

What kind of shoes do people wear on the ship during the day? I was thinking of getting a pair of vibram's new wrap shoes and working on our vacation would be extra justification for them. We'll be going in June

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I've heard that those vibrams are really comfy, which is what you will want. I plan to take my sneakers and a pair of black flats that will be good to walk a lot in, but will also work for dressy shoes on formal nights. I'm more about comfort than fashion. :D

It must be different for Australia. For us, it was under beverage packages.

Thanks for the information. Do you know if they bring you back or you have to have that arrange?

 

Sent from my Coolpad 3622A using Forums mobile app

I'm sure they take you back to the ship. If you are worried and want to verify, this is their number: 907-225-2570

Port to Pew Shuttle Service (May 1 - September 15:

Sundays, 8:15 AM and Saturdays, 4:30 PM

Departure location is in front of the Port Security Building, Berth II, near the Rain Gauge Billboard and Sculpture.

Look for the blue vans with the Holy Name logo.

That means your going to be tired when you get to where you want to go. Berth 4 is actually the closest town, but it is furthest from "tourist town" as I call it. That's where all the little shops are at, Creek street, Lumber jack show etc. It's the area that the locals don't go to.

.

So weird. Google clearly doesn't know where Berth 4 is. They are showing it to be only 0.4 miles away from the tourist area of town. Apparently, all my calculations were off. :p