Ruby Princess Alaska RT Seattle July 5th Review

[skedaddle43]

Alright. So I am posting here a link to a folder on Google Drive that contains all of the patters. They may be out of order but they are all there.

 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B26iIuZCR6nMfjB1QlJtQlAtQlA2QzI4dEJYSXVSOXVLZjByTkxEQnBkN29qc2JDVFdlaFU

 

I've tried every way I can think of to access the file and nothing works! Help! I really, really want to read them!:confused:

[sh2738]

I've tried every way I can think of to access the file and nothing works! Help! I really, really want to read them!:confused:

 

Hmm that was interesting. I have never posted links before on here so bear with me.

 

Try this link and let me know if it works now.

 

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B26iIuZCR6nMfjB1QlJtQlAtQlA2QzI4dEJYSXVSOXVLZjByTkxEQnBkN29qc2JDVFdlaFU&usp=sharing

[skedaddle43]

Perfect! Thank you! Sailing Sept 6 and just can't get too much info!:)

[sh2738]

Perfect! Thank you! Sailing Sept 6 and just can't get too much info!:)

 

 

I know exactly that. I too looked at a lot of patters before I left. My advice is to bring things to do. We personally didn't find most of the activities worth doing and that there wasn't much to do. Besides Bingo, the Casino, and the Naturalists lectures, we didn't really do any of he activities. Luckily we brought many different types of card games and other travel sizes to keep us occupied. It gets really slow during the day. Don't know what you guys like to do, we just felt that the activities were either for people much older than us, such as wine tasting, piano playing, dance classes or they were for kids, shark week activities, family fun activities, etc. I'll be including further details in my review. I am hoping to post more pics, and of better quality tonight along with day 2, at sea, of my review later tonight when I am off of work.

[sh2738]

Hey all. Hoping to get the review of my next day posted tonight along with some better pics.

 

On the meantime, I can answer any questions that anyone has. Just ask. [emoji6]

[sh2738]

Okay question for iPhone users out there.

 

I am trying to get the original quality of my iPhone pics posted. But for some reason when I attach my pics taken with my iPhone 6, it really downgrades the quality. Is there a reason for this? Has anyone else had this problem with uploading iPhone pictures to cruise critic using the iPhone app?

 

Thanks.

Edited July 14, 2015 by sh2738

[ar1950]

Okay question for iPhone users out there.

 

I am trying to get the original quality of my iPhone pics posted. But for some reason when I attach my pics taken with my iPhone 6, it really downgrades the quality. Is there a reason for this? Has anyone else had this problem with uploading iPhone pictures to cruise critic using the iPhone app?

 

Thanks.

 

When posting thumbnail attachments there is a limit to the file size. So for pictures that means a downgrade in quality or it won't post.

[sh2738]

When posting thumbnail attachments there is a limit to the file size. So for pictures that means a downgrade in quality or it won't post.

 

 

Oh wow. So there is no way to post pics without having them in low quality? I have seen other posts that have good quality pics posted so I guess I am missing something? Is there another way to post them without posting thumbnails? I haven't done any photos so I unsure about the way to do it. Thanks.

[ar1950]

Oh wow. So there is no way to post pics without having them in low quality? I have seen other posts that have good quality pics posted so I guess I am missing something? Is there another way to post them without posting thumbnails? I haven't done any photos so I unsure about the way to do it. Thanks.

 

Sign up for one of the free photo sharing sites, upload the pictures there and then link them to your thread entries.

 

BTW, I believe it will work with the Google site where you have your Patters posted.

Edited July 14, 2015 by ar1950

[sh2738]

Alright lets try this again.

 

Blue Hawaiian

 

Untitled by sarah holtermann, on Flickr

 

Yay I got it figured out! I will repost pics previously posted with much better quality tonight.

Edited July 14, 2015 by sh2738

[sh2738]

Here are some more pics of the ship.

 

Untitled by sarah holtermann, on Flickr[/img]

[sh2738]

Here are better pics of the dinner at Sabatini's.

 

Burrata

 

Untitled by sarah holtermann, on Flickr[/img]

 

Lobster Dinner

 

Untitled by sarah holtermann, on Flickr[/img]

[sh2738]

Day Two: Sea Day

 

Alright. This will be short because it is a sea day. The first taste of the activities that Princess offers onboard and I have to say that there are very few. I don't know if it is always like this but we found that there were limited things to do that we wanted to do. Mainly just Bingo, some Casino play and the Alaska lectures by the Naturalist. Other than that, nothing else was going on that we had any interest in doing. Maybe its because we are younger, in our 20s, and don't have any kids with us, or we just have different interests but we found that daily activities lacking.

 

Bingo was fun but is extremely overpriced! The picture below was $20!! We always do Bingo and on RCL the bingo that we purchase was probably around $40-50 but that was for an electronic card set that had something like 100 cards or so. I had no problem paying for that. We did a couple different priced sets of cards with a couple of the most expensive ones which was $40. It should have been at the very least 1/2 of the cost. To pay $20 for 3 cards is ridiculous. But we still did it because we enjoy Bingo but it is something that I will remember.

 

 

After more boredom, we caught a lecture on Whales which was very informative. Then we came down for dinner at Da Vinci for Anytime Dining at 7:30. I found that this was a great time to come down for dinner. Each night that we did dinner in the MDR with AD we never had any wait at all and always got a table for two. One night we even got the table by the window. It is true that the two tops are close together but we didn't mind it and never had any trouble with the neighboring tables. People in the tables for two are there for a reason because we all want privacy for dinner and to not eat with strangers so everyone was very respectful. I would do the tables for two a million times over doing a table with other people.

 

Dinner tonight was our first taste of food in the MDR and it was delicious as I have always found food on cruise ships to be, except Carnival of course.

 

Here are pics of what I had for dinner. This was the first formal night and as such was the 50th menu. Neither my sister nor I were really impressed with this menu, mainly because of the amount of meat dishes and lack of vegetarian dishes available but we made it work.

 

For my appetizer I had the most yummy Risotto Cakes, not on the 50th menu.

 

Untitled by sarah holtermann, on Flickr[/img]

 

Next was my main course. I didn't really care for the main course options of the menus but I really wanted the Ossobucco Ravioli. While I am not generally a meat eater, I am basically a Pescatarian but will occasionally eat certain meats, OssoBucco is one of my favorite foods, if prepared properly (I am from Texas after all, Lol).

 

Untitled by sarah holtermann, on Flickr[/img]

 

 

I will say that all week we had several of the 50th desserts and they are all tasty and very nicely presented.

 

Then we went to the magic show which was great. I think that there might have been another production show but we tried to avoid going to those if we could considering that we didn't find them good in the slightest. Don't let that stop you from going though. You should go to one to see what you think but set your expectations low, IMO.

 

 

Well I think that is all, not much was done because of the lack of activities by Princess but we had a good day playing card games and drinking, LOL. There were some MUTS but we didn't personally like their choices for them. We did watch some Love Boat in the cabin at the end of each day though. Since my sister is in that younger generation, just turned 21, she had no idea what it was. We have older parents so I knew what it was and I had seen it before but she hadn't. She wasn't sure what to make of it, lol. She had an interesting time discovering it though. :)

 

Until tomorrow. Let me know if you have questions or would like me to elaborate on anything. Have a good night Y'All

[Working 2 Cruise]

Thanks, glad you had a decent time. As for activities, there's less because you're sailing to Alaska and the primary focus, for most people, is the scenery. It's spectacular, even on the sea day!

 

But, I'm pretty sure that RCI is a better fit for you. Princess is more laid back and doesn't have the flow rider, ice rink... it caters more to the 40+ crowd, although I've read reviews from 20 something people who really enjoyed their Princess cruise. So, if you're a go, go, go type of person, you might not be too happy.

[sh2738]

Thanks, glad you had a decent time. As for activities, there's less because you're sailing to Alaska and the primary focus, for most people, is the scenery. It's spectacular, even on the sea day!

 

 

 

But, I'm pretty sure that RCI is a better fit for you. Princess is more laid back and doesn't have the flow rider, ice rink... it caters more to the 40+ crowd, although I've read reviews from 20 something people who really enjoyed their Princess cruise. So, if you're a go, go, go type of person, you might not be too happy.

 

 

Don't misunderstand I had an awesome time and I would for sure do Princess again for another Alaska cruise. We are not go go people by any way. Just would have been nice to have a couple more things to do. Honestly our biggest issue with it was the lack of tables in bars that weren't tiny or a card and game room. I think an excellent addition would be a nice room with large tables with some large windows to watch the great scenery. Especially in Alaska if someone, like my sister who gets cold easily, felt it was too cold to be outside. Not sure if other princess ships have better bars or a separate room. Would be great for Princess to add this in the future. Then I might cruise with them more often that just Alaska.

 

I will say one of the things that I liked a lot about Princess was that the appearance of the ship, despite being outdated a little, was very classy in comparison to RCL and others that aren't as nice. That was a nice treat.

 

Yes the scenery is great and wonderful you can't just stand outside all day and look at it. At least I don't know anyone that can. Especially when in cooler Alaska. We usually enjoyed the scenery from one of the bars with a table by the window. I liked he view much better than the Caribbean, much more my scene. If I could do an Alaskan cruise every summer I would [emoji6]

[sixgun8]

alright. So i am posting here a link to a folder on google drive that contains all of the patters. They may be out of order but they are all there.

 

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0b26iiuzcr6nmfjb1qljtqlatqla2qzi4dejysxvsoxvlzjbytkxeqnbkn29qc2jdvfdlafu

 

 

 

you are aces!!!!

[sh2738]

you are aces!!!!

 

 

Your welcome! I know what I like to look at before a cruise so I know others want to see it as well. For me that is the daily schedule and food pics [emoji6] lol.

[ar1950]

....................... Honestly our biggest issue with it was the lack of tables in bars that weren't tiny or a card and game room. I think an excellent addition would be a nice room with large tables with some large windows to watch the great scenery..................... Especially in Alaska if someone, like my sister who gets cold easily, felt it was too cold to be outside. [emoji6]

 

The bar isn't open until late, so, yeah, you need to BYO from other bars, however, if you want a place to play cards AND get big windows for great scenery, you should have hit Skywalkers. One of the most under-utilized spaces on most Grand class ships (except it no longer exists on the Grand...:(). Great views and plenty of tables to play games for most of the day if that is what you want to do. :cool:

Edited July 14, 2015 by ar1950

[sh2738]

The bar isn't open until late, so, yeah, you need to BYO from other bars, however, if you want a place to play cards AND get big windows for great scenery, you should have hit Skywalkers. One of the most under-utilized spaces on most Grand class ships (except it is no longer on the Grand...). Great views and plenty of tables to play games for most of the day if that is what you want to do. :cool:

 

 

Yes we did that several times. The tables aren't the best but they can be worked around. Would be better if those stupid lamps weren't stuck on the center of the tables. The downside to this place, at least on our cruise, was that every time we were there it was also being used for elite circle members so we all had to leave. That prevented us from being there a lot because it seemed to always be hosting these elite things where others couldn't be.

[Working 2 Cruise]

As far as the game tables go, you could mention those in the post-cruise email, or on Princess Facebook. They do read this and do respond.

 

Adagio's and Skywalkers have fantastic views. Although there isn't a bartender until later, those are lovely spots to read or enjoy the scenery.

 

I returned from my cruise on the Crown to Alaska the day you embarked. You're correct, Alaska is fantastic and I can't wait to go back!

 

Wonderful photos by the way. Thank you for posting those!

Edited July 14, 2015 by Working 2 Cruise

[ar1950]

Yes we did that several times. The tables aren't the best but they can be worked around. Would be better if those stupid lamps weren't stuck on the center of the tables. The downside to this place, at least on our cruise, was that every time we were there it was also being used for elite circle members so we all had to leave. That prevented us from being there a lot because it seemed to always be hosting these elite things where others couldn't be.

 

Elite, Suite, Platinum bar is from 5 pm to 7 pm and, other than that and an occasional Meet and Greet (usually mid-day on the first sea day), we have always seemed to find it empty during the day. Guess timing is everything.....:cool:

Edited July 15, 2015 by ar1950

[Dinda]

It is yet another singing and dancing show. Basically just dancing and songs from different countries. Was the same level of quality as the other princess productions, not very good in my personal opinion. They did quite a bit of singing dancing shows and we skipped some of them after watching the first two. Only went to others if there was nothing else to do. We also had Steve Moris, who does comedy and music. He did 3 shows and they were great. So much better than that production shows. There was also a magician that did two shows. Also wonderful.

 

 

I will say though that RCL has much better entertainment. One of my biggest negatives about Princess is that we found the shows and entertainment very lacking. Hope this helps.

 

I will have to agree with you on this. I was very disappointed with the entertainment. RCCL has much better entertainment, and even the Norweigian's Pride of American does also.

[Minne Wonka Girl]

There were seven of us including 2 grandparents, 2 parents, and 3 age six triplets on the same cruise and everyone had a wonderful time. The food was great, ship was spotless, and the children's program was excellent.

Edited July 15, 2015 by Minne Wonka Girl

[sh2738]

I will have to agree with you on this. I was very disappointed with the entertainment. RCCL has much better entertainment, and even the Norweigian's Pride of American does also.

 

 

Haha yes exactly agree with that.

[sh2738]

There were seven of us including 2 grandparents, 2 parents, and 3 age six triplets on the same cruise and everyone had a wonderful time. The food was great, ship was spotless, and the children's program was excellent.

 

 

Yes the food was great. I especially loved all the great seafood. Ship was good, nicer and better kept up than other ships I have been up.