irvinejohn

The themes from what I can tell from my notes:

Monday - first formal night is the 50th anniversary dinner

Wednesday (Juneau) - Italian night

Thursday (Skagway) - Surf & Turf (Shrimp & Filet Mignon), Alaskan King Crab Legs

Friday - second formal night - Lobster night

Here is a link to my Ruby Alaska review:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2232134

I wouldn't get the EF 75-300mm. It gets poor reviews. The EF 70-300mm is a whole different animal and could be an acceptable option.

I used a 6D (full frame) with a EF 70-200mm F4L IS in Alaska. I wished I had a longer lens for the wildlife.

The EF-S 55-250 is like a 88-400 equivalent on a crop sensor camera. The 70-300mm is like a 112-480mm on a crop sensor. Since you already have the EF-S 18-200mm, I think one of the 300mm lens options will be more different than the 200mm that you already have.

The Macaulay Salmon Hatchery was worth the stop since the chum salmon were running when I went a month ago. Ask the rental agent if the fish are still there. I wouldn't have gone but he told me about the fish and recommended it.

thank you so much for all your helpful info! We cruise in 9 days.

 

A few questions: 1) could you order fruit at other times? like you, I like my berries! 2) did they allow you to get two hot chocolates at a time with your one beverage card? my husband and I will both have the cards but I have a foot injury and would love to think he could pick up a drink for me at the same time. 3) did you ever get orange juice? if so, how is it? 4) did you ever order room service? how extensive is the breakfast menu (thinking BERRIES yet again).

 

Your discussion of ports and timing was super helpful. I think we made some good decisions on excursions...and places to do our own thing. Thanks again.

1) I don't know since I didn't try asking.

2) Yes, I only did this once but I was able to get two hot chocolates by myself

3) Yes, the servers offered orange juice during breakfast. It was fine. I didn't ask at other times but I think my kids ordered apple juice during dinner.

4) No, I did not order room service but I don't think there were a lot of choices on the menu.

Enjoy your cruise! Whatever you decide you should have a great time.

Random notes:

Episodes of the Love Boat, a series I grew up watching, played constantly on one of the TV channels. It is amazing how small the boat was compared to the ships today.

I inspected the library one day on the Ruby. It is on the deck 7 next to close to the Piazza. It seems pretty dreary unfortunately. It is one shockingly small and narrow room with a long table in the middle on a huge boat. All the books are behind glass. I didn’t check to see if you had to get someone to unlock the glass to be able to view the books. The few times I walked by, the library was not in use.

On the Zaandam, the Explorer’s Lounge was huge, open, and inviting. There were many books and magazines displayed with the front cover so it was easy to peruse.

When in doubt about navigating the decks either forward or backward, traverse on the right side of the ship. It seemed that passages continued through on the right whereas they ended in something on the left. The map we received during check in only has a horizontal view of the decks. I don’t remember if the deck plans on each deck showed a vertical view, or bird’s eye view of the deck.

On the Horizon Court on the right side before the MUTS pool, there was a weather station report which also had the course of the Ruby. This could be helpful if you were using one of those navigation books to follow the Ruby’s path.

Sometimes there were longer delays during dinner service. The kids order at the table of eight in Botticelli came out right way one night and then there was a long break before the adult’s got served. At our table of four next door, it was an even longer delay before we got our food. Our waiter did apologize for the backlog in orders. The next day all the entrees took some time. At Siberia, the far away table of four, however, my sister’s table always finished before the rest of us.

I totally did not get a chance to see the public areas at the front of the Ruby. On the embarkation day, somehow I wound up on the deck outside the fitness center. Afterwards whenever I proceeded on the top decks, I often would encounter dead ends as passages were blocked for whatever reason. I did not see the Sanctuary, Wedding Chapel, or the Lotus Spa and Fitness Center with my own eyes. I heard the fitness center was more expansive than the Zaandam but there were often waits for exercise machines in the morning.

Finally figured out what was missing during breakfast – berries. The fruit selection was always the standard watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple, and honeydew. There were no strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries. Strawberries are my favorite fruit. Although there was a fruit smoothie that had some berries during breakfast, there were no fresh berries. Any fresh berries were only available in some deserts.

Unlike the Zaandam there wasn’t a desert extravaganza.

The staff on the Ruby was very International with a fair amount of eastern Europeans. While it was a more diverse staff than the mostly Indonesian and Filipino Zaandam, there was less service with a smile. Overall, the Zaandam servers seemed more genuinely friendly and I think the service was a tad better. Our assistant server in Botticelli didn’t say much at all. One exception was our room steward on the Ruby. He was always very cheerful and greeted us every time he saw us.

One of the benefits of being a Platinum Elite member is a 150 minutes of Internet time per person. My parents had a combined 300 minutes to use and the kids were able to play their Internet games using their accounts.

The same fleet of mini vans met us at the passenger loading zone after 9AM. Soon we were back at my brother’s house in Bellevue. I’m glad we had given up the idea of doing more downtown sightseeing since we were all tired. You know you had a good vacation when you needed another one to recover from the vacation you just took.

At the house we just rested and started to transfer pictures while the kids played. We ordered dim sum for lunch and before we knew it was time to head back to the airport.

The rest of the family was flying out the next morning so my family fit in one minivan. It was another hot day in Seattle, but we were indoors for most of the day. SeaTac was busy, probably because it was Sunday and all the weekend travelers were going home. It took time to check in and the security line was long. Fortunately we didn’t have to take the train to a different terminal.

After a short wait we were back on our 5PM Jet Blue flight to Long Beach. When we arrived, the sky was already getting dark before 8PM, and the weather was cooler than Seattle as the marine layer moved inland. Since the airport was small, we had to wait a little for the baggage to arrive. Our most excellent adventure ended.

We were out of our room by 8AM and headed to the Crown Grill. We were originally assigned Club Fusion but because my parents have Platinum Elite status, we were able to go to the Crown Grill without any issues. There were some snacks and drinks but since we just had breakfast we passed. It looked like Princess did another good job moving people because it still didn’t feel like there were 3,000 other passengers waiting to get off the ship. We were only there about ten minutes when we heard the call for Walk Off Group 6.

We were directed toward Club Fusion and then followed the line out to the Promenade and the same gangway that we initially boarded this ship a week ago. After the final cruise card scan, we went down the gangway and into the cruise terminal. Since we had our luggage we went straight to customs and were waved through. It was a very easy process. Our cruise to Alaska was officially over.

Our other partner at Victoria, the Amsterdam pulled in next to us.

After this I put the camera away for good. I didn’t feel like taking any pictures of us leaving the ship or the return trip. Leaving the ship is a numbing feeling, which was the opposite of the excitement of boarding.

I went back to the room to see who was awake. I took my oldest son to breakfast in the Horizon Court, which was surprisingly not that busy. Perhaps we were not the only ones worn down by three consecutive port days and the early start at Tracy Arm.

We met up with other family members and I took my last food picture.

We brought back breakfast for the rest of the crowd.

Day 8 – Disembarkation

I was never certain of the time in the morning after Skagway since I don’t think my phone synced. I got up on the final morning at what I thought was 6AM. I headed up to the Lido deck to see if there were any interesting views in the morning. It looked like the servers in the Horizon Court were sitting around having a discussion and there really wasn’t anybody else around because it was still 5:30AM.

The benefit of getting up earlier was seeing a soft pink glow left from the sunrise over the skyline.

The Ruby was about to return to dock. The NCL Pearl, pictured here with Mt. Rainer in the background, returned to its dock next.

I’m not aware if anybody in our party tried their luck at Gatsby’s Casino. You have to cash in all your chips before a certain time before the final books are closed.

The Piazza from various angles. Crooner was still crowded at midnight.

The Explorer's Lounge

I wanted to take more pictures of the ship but I was too tired to continue.

After pizza, the kids went to the cabin to go to sleep. We had to get up early tomorrow. The rest of us went to the photo gallery to pick up the pictures we ordered. After dropping off the pictures in our room, I went out one more time to take some last pictures of the Ruby.

I used my ultrawide Rokinon 14mm lens on a tripod for the following pictures.

The Outriggers Bar is above the Aft Pool. Above Outriggers is Sabatini’s on deck 16. The kid’s clubs are on deck 17 and the Princess Links in on top at deck 19. Skywalker’s Nightclub really isn’t visible from this angle.

Café Caribe

Calypso Reef & Pool below the Movie Under the Stars. There were a lot of dead pixels on the screen. The Pizza Bar is too the right of the Calypso Bar.

The Promenade

The Princess Theater

We were back on board before 10PM which meant that there were still serving pizza, and we just had to have our final late night snack. While the kids ate, I took some more pictures in the twilight.

You can see the top of the legislature building to the right of the Pearl.

We didn't do much in Victoria except take some photographs of the major landmarks. We returned to the dock after the sunset. In Seattle, Canada, and Alaska, the sky remained bright for quite a while after the sunset.

Here is a picture of the Pearl on the right side of the Ruby when we first got off the boat.

Unlike the other two ships, the Ruby backed into the dock. I took these images after we got back. It's different to see the ship with the lights on.

Clearing customs was not an issue. We only had to show our cruise card to get past security. A day or two before our arrival, we did have to fill out a Canadian customs form and give it to our room steward.

There were a lot of street performers and also a cute water taxi. There could have been a lot more excursion options if we had arrived at an earlier time.

And there were totem poles too.

It was still bright when we first arrived but it didn’t take long for the golden hour to arrive. It seemed the three big attractions were the Empress Hotel, the British Colombia Legislature Building, and the harbor itself.

At night the government building is lit up. The lights were already on as we were getting taxis for the return trip.

When my wife was packing, she saw a program on the port of Victoria on TV. This city was known for its hanging flower baskets and being the most “British” city in Canada. There were a lot of flowers everywhere.

The 7PM arrival time was just terrible for any excursion planning. I would have been interested in Butchart Gardens, but we would not have much daylight left. I knew Saturday nights had fireworks there, so that would have been appropriate on Independence Day. Instead we planned to take a shuttle to downtown and walk around. The Ruby was the apparently the last of the three cruise ships at the dock along with the HAL Amsterdam and NCL Pearl.

We figured out that it was actually cheaper to take a taxi to the Empress Hotel instead of a shuttle. It was a fixed fare of $10 or $12 with a tip, so we took four different cabs. The cab drivers were willing to take any combination of dollars and loonies for payment. You could walk to the city core in about 20 to 30 minutes from the dock, but with the limited time and my dad’s condition, we went for the transportation. Besides Fisherman’s Wharf, I don’t think we missed anything that could be interesting by taking the cab.

Sorry I didn't know how to send a private message. But I have been able to find the original thread so you can download it from there.

It's called the Alaska Cruise Memory Book.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2182105

The Norman Love desert, which has a green pistachio filling, was even better than the red Norman Love desert.

I don’t think this was part of the Norman Love desert but the servers were offering a quartet of desert bites too.

At first we were not certain if we would be eating Michelangelo today. It was another open seating day with the 7PM arrival in Victoria. We thought perhaps the buffet would be faster, but we decided to eat the MDR for the final time. We were not going to order a second entrée like the night before however. Dinner service seemed a little rushed because the diners all wanted to head out early.

We realized that we hadn’t ordered any pictures from the second formal night yet. I had inspected the pictures while the kids were playing cards but I wanted her input. We quickly ordered and then went to the photo gallery. We decided on getting our family of six and the photo of just the four boys together. The white background worked well. We thought we could save money on the USB drive by having the lab copy the digital pictures on my sister’s drive, but the staff strongly insisted it was a bad idea. In the last day, the lab would be busy and who could say they got the message correctly to handle our pictures in an unusual fashion. So that is how we wound up with a Princess ship USB drive. Orders by 8PM would be ready by 11PM.

Back at dinner I got an appetizer portion of the red potato and string bean pesto pasta. I think many of ordered this.

For the entrée, I ordered the steak with peppercorn sauce.

My wife and oldest son got the mussels.

During our stay at the game room at the Crown Grill, we realized that my youngest brother missed afternoon tea earlier in the week, so the adults decided to go today. I stayed behind with the kids, who played cards until 4PM when we were politely asked to leave since the staff had to prepare for dinner service at 5PM.

It is very dark in the Crown Grill and I couldn’t get an acceptable photograph with the flash so I turned off the flash to use just the natural light from window. I was experimenting and trying to get artistic with the shadows.

This is a virgin strawberry margarita.

The twins who repeatedly asked about going to Pelicans throughout the week didn’t want to attend today. After lunch we went up the Princess Links for the final round. My sister’s group then found us on the links and then we looked for a ping pong table. I never saw one out but my sister had. She tried to call someone on the phone to bring out the ping pong tables, but was not able to connect through.

I told them about the discovery of games at the Crown Grill so we brought all the kids there to play cards.

My wife went back to the cabin to start the packing process. Although there was supposed to be a disembarkation request from on the second day of the cruise, we all did not recall receiving one. So we were all assigned to Walk Off Group 6 at 8:30AM tomorrow morning. We didn’t have to get the luggage out in the hallways by midnight since we were walking off, but since we didn’t have a problem walking on, we were fine with the assignment.

You have a very good photographic eye. What equipment are you using? Wife and I are sailing August 30th on the Ruby. I can only hope my photos are as nice as yours! Thanks for the review.

Thank you for you kind words. I do take pride in my photography hobby.

I'm using a Canon 6D with mainly the 24-105mm F4L IS USM and 70-200mm F4L IS USM lenses. Most of the interior shots used the 24-105mm lens and it is probably 50-50 with both lenses outdoor. Except for the landscape shots, I take the majority of the shots with the 600EX-RT external flash.

I learned everything via trial and error which is very forgiving with digital.

I'm glad readers are finding the review useful as they prepare for their trip. Good luck and have a great voyage!

My wife split off with my oldest soon as they looked for a sit down breakfast in the buffet. Of course lunch wasn’t that far away and we arrived early for the Mexican buffet today at Café Caribe after I rounded up the rest of kids form our cabin. The staff was about to open up the “regular” buffet at the Horizon Court. Café Caribe was not decorated for July 4th but the Horizon Court was.

My wife and son never made it to the Mexican Buffet. Instead they ran into my sister’s group and they all decided to have lunch in the MDR. This is actually my second plate at the buffet. I made a nacho snack. My first plate was a smaller round plate and half of that plate was a fajita for me and vegetables for the kids.

During lunch I noticed the NCL Pearl behind us. It rapidly pulled even with the Ruby and then let us behind. I wanted to take a picture of the Pearl at sea but by the time I made it out on the top deck, she was already gone. I think the Pearl had a 6PM arrival at Victoria while we were scheduled for the more inconvenient 7PM arrival. This was our last lunch on board. Where did all that time go?