divot33

9 hours ago, crewsweeper said:

Basic steam, sauna, rain shower and heated loungers. DW loves the steam room.

There are several You Tube videos out that show what everything looks like.

Thanks!

I watched a few videos and they all spent about 7 seconds in the thermal area, but it looks like that covers it.

What is the thermal suites area like on the Wonder? We were recently on the Disney Wish and my wife and I both got length-of-cruise passes to their thermal suite area. They had, IIRC, a dry sauna, steam room, and cold room. There were also a few heated loungers. In addition, there was an outside area with bed-style seating and two hot tubs. 

My wife loves the thermal rooms, but they aren't my thing. I joined her in the thermal rooms for a bit, then hung out in the outdoor area while she spent more time in the rooms and hot tub. 

I already bought her a 7 day pass for our Wonder sailing next summer. I'm wondering if it's worth it for me to buy the 7 day pass? Is there a place where I can camp out of the thermal rooms where she can join me in between sessions? Do they have day passes? Maybe I just get one or two days? 

Thank you for this great report! We just started looking into Egypt cruises for this summer. My wife is a teacher, so we're limited in when we can go. 

There aren't many operators that have summer itineraries for Egypt and we found that AMA has a few dates that would work for us - early June 2022 will be our target..

Pretty new to this type of vacation. We did a Viking China trip a few years ago with my parents - they arranged and paid for. A few years later, I think it was 2019, we did an Adventures by Disney Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia trip. Both of those were amazing.

Is there any benefit to going through a TA for AMA cruises? Possible discounts? I don't have a TA and it hasn't seemed easy to find one that specializes (or even advertises that they work with) in AMA.

 My parents did the Viking Egypt tour a few years ago - when I mentioned that my wife and I were considering this one, they said they really loved the Viking trip and would also think about going back and doing the AMA trip - they loved Egypt that much.

9 hours ago, Lilyskittymom said:

The bathrooms aren’t unsanitary.

9 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

There may be some inconveniences (such as needing to supply your own paper or knowing that the paper is on the wall before you enter the stall) but an inconvenience does not make it unsanitary. 

 

I agree with the above posts. We didn't run across any unsanitary bathroom conditions. A few situations where there wasn't TP in the stalls, but we were prepared and had some tissues with us. IIRC, the guide would also let us know before we got to the bathrooms "Make sure you grab TP on your way in..." - in the cases where that might be necessary.

We didn't find any bathrooms without soap.

With a very small amount of planning ahead, you'll be fine.

We also used Gen-Visa. There was a Viking discount when we did it, not sure if that's still a thing or not.

We had no issues, but there were 2 groups (that we heard from directly) on our trip that had their first attempts rejected. Both were due to photo issues. One lady had on earrings in her picture (the photo requirements we saw on Gen-Visa indicated that earrings were not allowed). I don't remember what the reject reason for the second couple.

I literally used calipers to measure our pictures. I'm sure that wasn't necessary, but I wasn't taking any chances. ;)

The moral of the story is: make sure you read the requirements very carefully and allow yourself enough time for something to go wrong.

A long while ago you had asked about the Glacier Point Wilderness Safari vs. the Glacier Canoe Paddle and Trek. I'm looking at shore excursions for my June 2019 trip and would appreciate any insights. It looks like there are very similar excursions at every port. For Juneau and Skagway--not sure what to do where.

 

Thanks

If this was for me, I am sorry. We didn't do either of those excursions so I can't help with those.

We were at Shanghai (April 2017). It was HORRIBLE. Unbearably crowded. We were staying on property (beautiful hotel) and they were no help at all - didn't even know there was early entrance. Had I known we could buy fast passes - I would have done that! I think we went on 3 rides all day.

 

We're going to Tokyo next year and hopefully we'll have a better time. Looking to stay in a Beauty & The Beast room at Disneyland Hotel. :)We'll be able to get a few fast passes but won't be spending hours long in any line. We'll just be super choosy.

 

Looking into Hong Kong for June...

Sorry you didn't have a great experience in SDL.

The Premier Pass started in late March 2017, so right before you were there. Which means you probably didn't have any time to see someone post about it.

We went in July 2017 and were fortunate enough to have heard about it on a podcast that covers TDR and SDL. The park sold out the day we were there, so the Premier Pass was totally worth it.

I also agree with the other posters about Tagish. We went straight there without stopping at any of the pull offs. I think one of the draw of the Jeep is an audio tour, so that may not work for you.

We figured we'd beat the crowds to the dog camp and could always stop at the pull odds on the return.

When we got to the camp, there were only a few cars. We had a short wait until we could do a ride, but that time was easily passed by petting the puppies!

When it was time for our ride, they came and found us and got us loaded in. We were lucky enough to have Michelle as our musher.

After, they gave us a short talk and explained what it's like to compete in the races, then we cold spend as much time as we wanted with the puppies.

By the time we were leaving, it was getting more crowded - not crazy, but there would have been a longer wait for a ride. And the dogs need to cool off if it's hot, so that could extend the delay.

We did a Viking cruise in China last July. We had one full day in Shanghai and my wife and I opted to skip the Viking tour and go to Shanghai Disneyland and had a fantastic time.

The Fast Pass purchase has changed since we went, for example, Fast Pass was not available for Pirates, but we also felt it was worth every penny. If you had more than one day there, you probably wouldn't need it.

The day we were there, park tickets sold out, so it was packed. We did a ton by buying the passes. Expensive, but worth it.

SDL is a massive park. It feels like you walk 20 minutes to get from land to land. It was also oppressively hot and humid, but fortunately, the water and Gatorade weren't crazy expensive.

Tron was really fun and I loved the Challenge Trails (you'll never see those in a US Disney park), but Pirates was amazing.

We also rented a car and drove the highway last month (June 2018).

One of our favorite excursions we've done. It was so nice to be on your own time and schedule.

We went as far as Emerald Lake. We considered going to Whitehorse and seeing the Yukon Wildlife Preserve. I think we could have done it, but it might have been too stressful to enjoy. Ultimately, we decided to stop at the Tagish Lake Kennels to see the puppies and do a sled run, stop in Carcross for lunch, and made the turnaround at Emerald Lake. We went straight to Tagish without stopping and easily beat the buses.

Had plenty of time to stop wherever we wanted on the return trip. The pull offs were more crowded than they were in the morning, but it was worth it to avoid any crowds as the kennel (it was starting to get a bit crowded by the time we left there).

Where did you disembark especially Skagway?

I’m not sure what you mean. If you mean which pier, I’m not sure.

In Skagway, it took about 10 minutes to walk to the Avis office from where we ported.

If you mean what deck we disembarked from, I don’t remember the number, but we usually ended up queues in either the casino or the art gallery.

One day, we waited a long time in one of those areas and when I talked to my parents later, wherever they waited they said they walked right off the ship.

It was never very clear where to go.

How did you find the service on Seattle Express? We arrive on the NCL Pearl at 7:00 a.m. and have a 2:00 p.m. flight departure from Seattle airport. Thanks

We thought they were great.

We used Seattle Express both ways. There were 5 of us, so we had private vans.

On arrival, they were waiting at baggage claim. As soon as we got our bags, they walked us outside and we waited a few minutes, maybe 5, for the driver. Loaded us in, and off we went.

The driver was very nice and pointed out things as we went. He slowed down and insisted we take a picture of the ship as we approached the port. lol

On the return trip, we booked them to pick us up at the pier and take us to Pike Place Market. They would hold our bags while we toured. Once we were ready to go, we would call them and they would pick us up, with our bags, and take us to the airport.

We disembarked way faster than expected and, when I talked to the rep, she called a van to get us early. This driver took us to the Market and kept the bags. When we were ready to go, it was crowded. We called the number and they sent a different van and driver. I was a bit concerned about our bags making that transfer, but there were no problems.

We told the driver where we would be and stood on the curb and waited. When we saw the van with the logo, we waived him over. He picked us up and took us to the airport.

It really couldn't have been easier.

We were there last week and used Seattle Express transportation. We had a few hours between disembarkation and our flight, so we had Seattle Express pick us up and take us to Pike Place Market.

They held our bags while we toured, then picked us up when we were ready to leave. They brought the bags with them and took us right to the airport.

Very easy and they were extremely flexible - we disembarked 2 hours prior to the scheduled pick up and they had no problem adjusting.

You could also search for hotels around Pike Place. Some hotels will hold bags for a small fee.

7 adults - me, my wife, her 3 adult daughters, and my parents

7 day Alaska Glacier Bay cruise on the Ruby Princess - round trip from Seattle.

Arrival

The 5 in my family flew in to Sea-Tac and had arranged for transportation with Seattle Express. They met us at baggage claim and we were quickly loaded into our private SUV. We hit a little traffic on the way to Pier 91, but not too bad.

Once at the terminal, we got checked in and boarded pretty quickly - it was probably around 2:30 when we got on. It was the easiest boarding experience we’ve had (1 Royal Caribbean and 1 Disney cruise under our belts).

We grabbed a late lunch at the buffet. I tried to sign us all up for the escape room, but when I went to the Guest Services desk, they had no idea what I was talking about. They brought over a few people to discuss. A few said Ruby has never had an escape room. One lady called somebody and said there would be signups later in the cruise and to check the Patter. We never saw them, but I saw another CC post after the cruise that said it was in the Day 1 Patter, but wasn’t listed as an escape room.

Our muster station was the theater and we ended up on the lower level (deck 6). The seating was very uncomfortable - close together, no legroom - and we decided that if we saw any shows in the theater, it wouldn’t be from the lower level.

We got underway and it got a bit choppy overnight and was very windy. We saw winds listed as high as 55 knots that night and the next day.

We had Anytime Dining and had to wait about 30 minutes the first night at Michelangelo’s.

Day 1 - Sea Day

Breakfast at the buffet. The food was good, not great. Breakfast was pretty much the same all week.There would be small changes, like chocolate chips in the pancakes, but nothing major. One morning, the pancakes were listed as chocolate chip, but clearly had golden raisins in them.

The seas were pretty rough and it was very windy. I was glad I was wearing my Scop patch. The pools had ~2 foot waves.

We went to a few activities, mostly trivia games, throughout the day. I went to the martini demo in the Plaza and it was mostly a waste of time - it was just a commercial for Crooners.

At some point, they announced that there was a medical emergency and that we had changed course to meet up with the Canadian Coast Guard. The Coast Guard would be meeting up with us in the mid afternoon to take the transfer.

That detour took about 4 hours. We had hoped that we could make up the time overnight. We were scheduled for an 11:00am dock in Juneau the next morning.

I watched the passenger transfer from deck 16 and it was interesting to watch, but you also felt really bad for the passenger that was unloaded as well as their family. Their cruise didn’t even really start before this happened.

Day 2 - Juneau

Early morning it did not look like we would make the 11:00 time in Juneau. The captain came on and said we were not able to make up the time due to rough seas and that we would be at least 4 hours late getting into Juneau.

We had booked a helicopter glacier landing with Coastal in the morning, followed by a whale watching trip with Harv & Marv and would miss both of those. We were disappointed, but totally understood the reasoning. Both companies emailed and issued full refunds before we got cell signal in Juneau. Both companies knew about our delay before we did. H&M emailed us trying to squeeze in a whale watching, but eventually said we'd get in way too late. They issued a refund before we even had cell signal to check our emails. Great customer service from both companies.

We had great weather on the ship that afternoon and that continued throughout the week. We couldn’t have asked for better weather at all of our ports. Princess did a good job of adding activities to fill in the extra ship time.

By the time we got to Juneau, we figured the only easy option we still had was to take the Mount Roberts Tramway, so that’s where we went. It was interesting and we had good views, but wasn’t our favorite excursion for the week.

It wasn’t made clear where to line up to disembark - this was also common throughout the week.

They extended the all aboard time from 10:00 to 10:30. The boarding was handled very poorly. With the short port time, everyone was coming back to the ship around the same time and the line was very long. They had only opened one gangway and we spent a lot of time in line just standing still. After about 30 minutes, they opened a second gangway and things started to move. I went up to 15 around 11:00 and there were still people in line to board. I think everyone was on by 11:15 or so.

Day 3 - Skagway

We rented a minivan from Avis and drove the Klondike Highway. Again, getting off the ship wasn’t very clear, but we figured it out. I walked ahead of the group to try to get to Avis as early as possible. The agent told me I got the last minivan, but when we went to the lot, there were at least 3 others there so I’m not sure what that was about.

Early in the drive, we saw a beaver on the side of the road.

We drove to the Tutshi Sled dog camp without making any stops (aside from stopping at the Canadian border) and we beat the crowds. We had plenty of time to pet the puppies, then we were able to do the sled dog run. It was very fun and educational. After the run, there was a talk conducted by one of the workers and then we had more time to play with the puppies.

We continued our drive towards where we wanted to turn around - Emerald Lake. Along the way, we saw a bear on the side of the road.

We made a few stops along the way and made it to Carcross and were hungry, so we stopped at the Bistro on Bennett. The food was good and we were able to sit outside and enjoy the weather. We did a little shopping and went into a place that sold maple syrup. We had a few samples and really liked the whiskey barrel aged syrup so we bought a bottle of that.

We continued on to Emerald Lake. It was a crowded stop and the view was amazing. There was a tour bus there and the guide spotted two bears way off in the distance.

We made our turnaround and headed back down towards Skagway making stops along the way. We saw another, or maybe the same, bear on the side of the road. He ran off when we slowed to take pictures. We turned off at Dyea Road and went to the port overlook, then back to Avis to drop off the car.

We did some browsing in a few shops (the few that weren’t jewelry stores), bought some snacks, and headed back to the ship. Boarding was easy because not everyone was trying to board at the same time.

I think this was the first formal night?? We didn’t bring any ‘formal wear’ and we looked at the menu and nothing stood out, so we did the buffet instead.

I think we went to see the comedian/magician that night, I don't remember his name. Maybe someone else will remember. It was supposed to be the Magic To Do show, but there had been technical difficulties with the stage, so this guy stepped in. He was okay. His act relied on audience members and he did a good job adjusting for things that happened, or didn’t happen, in those interactions.

Day 4 - Glacier Bay

We had nice weather for Glacier Bay, too. After breakfast, we entered the park. We moved throughout the ship during our time there. 15 isn’t bad if you can get a spot where there is no glass - and there aren’t many of those spots. 16 was crowded. It was nice to see the higher perspective, but I didn’t stay there long. It was windy, so I didn’t go to 17 or 18. I went down to 7 towards aft and it was very nice. A great view, few people, and almost silent. The only sounds were the water, sea gulls, and calving. I moved towards 7 midship and it was a little more crowded and there were machinery noises, but it was still a nice place to stand.

We spent the afternoon in various trivia and game shows. The show that night was the comedian Steve Caouette. He was really funny and we enjoyed his show.

Day 5 - Ketchikan

Our family of 5 had booked a kayak trip through Southeast Sea Kayaks. They met us by the Liquid Sunshine Gauge and walked us over to their moored office. There, they gave us rain jackets and life jackets and had dry bags available. We were loaded into a small boat and took a ride out to their anchored boat where we would board the kayaks.

It was a little difficult to do each of these transfers, especially from the anchored boat to a small raft, then to the kayak. The employees were fantastic, however. They helped each of us make the transfers without incident. They gave us a quick demo and off we went. There was a very short learning curve - the hardest part was remembering to steer the rudder with your feet.

We didn’t see much wildlife while kayaking. We saw one or two adult eagles and one juvenile. Our guide found a starfish and pulled it out so we could handle it. And we saw some jellyfish. We were hoping to see more, but understand that it happens when it happens.

For all but one of us, it was our first kayak experience and we really enjoyed it. The water was pretty smooth and easy to navigate. A boat went by pretty fast and we got some of the wake, but nothing to be worried about.

At the end of the trip, they had a smoked salmon lunch for us; it was some of the best smoked salmon I have ever had. You could eat as much as you wanted, then, when we were ready, they took us back to town.

We returned to the ship and boarded easily. It was the second formal night and the menu looked good so we decided to go to the MDR. We didn’t bring ‘formal’ clothes, but had no issues getting in.

After dinner, we went to a comedy show by Steve Caouette. He was really funny and gave a great show. He said he was performing again the next night and we knew we wanted to see him again.

Day 6 - Victoria

With the late scheduled arrival, we were able to sleep in a bit. At the breakfast buffet, our waiter told us that we could also order cranberry or tomato juice - we had no idea up to that point.

We spent the day hitting a few of the trivia and game shows and went to the culinary demonstration and galley tour. The demonstration was entertaining, but not all that informative. The galley tour wasn’t worth waiting in line.

We ate an early dinner so we could disembark on time for our Butchart Gardens excursion. This was the only excursion we booked through Princess.

Once again, the disembarkation process was more confusing than it needed to be. We had to go to the theater on deck 7 and they loaded us in from the top of the level the whole way down, then to the rear of the floor (deck 6) all the way to the front. So, the first people in line ended up in the back of the balcony and the last people to show up for the front row on the floor. Then they disembarked row by row, starting with the front row of the floor. It made no sense.

We were near the back of the balcony, so we waited a while to disembark. We hopped on a bus and took the ride out to Butchart Gardens. The gardens were beautiful and we timed things perfectly. There was enough time to casually stroll through each section while stopping to take some pictures. More time would have been nice, but we didn’t feel rushed.

We boarded and went to bed. We signed up for a self-disembark and got an early slot the next morning.

We were suprised at how quickly that went. We went to our meeting spot and waited a few minutes before they let us go. We were off the ship and through the terminal very quickly. So quickly, that we had a ~90 minute wait until Seattle Express was to pick us up.

We had booked Seattle Express to pick us up at the pier, drop us off at Pike Place Market and keep our luggage, then pick us up when it was time to go to the airport.

I walked down to where they were parked and asked if they could take us now instead of us having to wait 90 minutes. They said it was no problem and called to get our vehicle to meet us. We didn’t wait long for our driver to show up. She loaded our bags for us and took us to Pike Place.

It was nice being there before things were open. We got to see vendors setting up and it wasn’t crowded. We walked around for a few hours, had lunch, then called our driver to pick us up a bit early. The market was really crowded at this point.

Our driver found us easily and took us to the airport.

We had a fantastic trip. We had amazing weather, we really couldn’t have asked for better.

General thoughts:

• The Ruby was very nice and clean.
  
• The food was pretty good and the serving staff were all great. I would have liked more variety from meal to meal.
  
• The front desk seemed a bit in the dark about some things.
  
• The Princess ‘app’, when it worked, was great. There were times where it didn’t work at all, though.
  
• I wish they had an app with notifications when you got a message. It was a bit annoying having to constantly check your phone to see if there was a message.
  
• The pizza was good. I saw lots of reports saying it was amazing or that it was terrible. It was neither of those things. The salmon pizza (one of the daily specials) was a favorite.
  
• The entertainment staff did a nice job adjusting for the extra sea time we had due to the medical incident.
  
• Disembarking at the ports was harder than it needed to be. More communication would help a lot.
  
• The Wake show each morning was well done. They visited a lot of the behind the scenes areas that were interesting.
  

We were there last week and did a kayak tour with Southeast Seas Kayaks and had a great time.

We didn't go to the lumberjack show, but we could hear it when we were looking through shops after the kayaking. It certainly sounded like people were having a great time.

How does the ship cope in Alaska with not having covered pools? I remember star did have covered pools but ruby didn't in the caribbean?

Ruby's pools were not covered. There were still people swimming. Even on the cold and windy days. Not me, though. ;p

Where did you view Glacier Bay from? We have inside and wondering if there is a bow we can get out to or if there is somewhere else you recommend. How was the naturalist on board? TIA.

Not OP, but we were on the Ruby last week.

For Glacier Bay, We moved around a bit. I started on 16, but it was crowded. It was windy, so I didn't try going up to 17 or 18.

I headed down to 7 towards the aft and it was a good view and very quiet. Only 2 or 3 other people and the only sounds were the waves, the gulls and any calving. Eventually, I worked my way forward on 7 and it got more crowded and there was some machine noise, but not too bad.

If you walk all the way forward on 7, there are steps that take you to 8 and to the bow. It was far too windy to try that.

We didn't have a balcony, but my parents did and they spent some time there and enjoyed it.

The park rangers were good and seemed to love their jobs.

Just off ourselves. Signups where in the patter the day we got on, the 16th and took place on the 20th. There were sign-ups for at least two activities which made the info a bit unclear as escape was not in the title. It was however in the text.

Darn, I guess we didn't read the details close enough.The customer services desk had no clue - a few there said that Ruby has never had an escape room. They often seemed to give us answers that were of the 'this will get them to leave for now' variety.

Seemed like they wanted us to just go away and they hoped they wouldn't be on duty when we came back.

We’re just off the Ruby and we tried to do the escape room. I asked two different times at guest services and they had no idea what I was talking about. They brought over supervisors, called other departments, and said no one knew. The best answer they could give was to check the Patter each day.

Guest Services not knowing what we were talking about was pretty common. They seemed to be totally in the dark.

We were on the ship and there was a medical evac. We had to offload the passenger to the Canadian Coast Guard.

Never heard what the medical issue was. Heard a few rumors, but nothing solid.

How many pages is the Murray's guide? Going to purchase.

The $5 guide is 33 pages.

As others have reported, there are leaks. I've seen four in the last three days and I'm not even searching them out.

Might want to rephrase that ;)

Thank you for the in-copter pictures. My wife and I can both get claustrophobic and are a bit worried about our tour with Coastal. The pictures don't help in the 'worrying' department, but at least we now have a good idea of what to expect! lol

We have a tour with them booked for 7 people. so we'll be spread out in 2 copters.

Can I sign up for people who aren't there?

We'll be cruising with family and spread across 3 cabins. My wife and I in one, our 3 adult daughters in a second, and my parents in a third.

My wife and I will board with our daughters, so that shouldn't be a problem (I think I'm the only one of the 5 that wants to do it anyway). My parents are coming in on a later flight. Would I be able to sign them up? They definitely want to do it.

Check this thread: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1495597

There is a ton of Viking China info in there. Most is from the Imperial Jewels section of the trip, but you might find some Undiscovered in there, too