Alaska- Ruby Princess vs NCL Bliss

[Petoonya]

I'm a small ship afficionado- Oceania and Windstar are my cruise lines of choice. But recently a family member decided on a group family cruise to Alaska, and NCL Bliss and Ruby Princess lead the choices for ships that visit Glacier Bay. Very similar prices and amenities for May/June 2020. Can anyone who has cruised both lines/ships recently make a recommendation? These is a quiet crowd, not big drinkers, entertainment requirements are minimal- just decent food and good service. Little ones will be in the mix too. Going to post this on the NCL forum as well. Thanks for your help.

[need2cruisesoon]

I've done both (Not Alaska however), but to me their is no comparison.

 

Just my humble opinion.

[Petoonya]

9 minutes ago, need2cruisesoon said:

I've done both (Not Alaska however), but to me their is no comparison.

 

Just my humble opinion.

So I guess your vote is for Bliss, lol!

[Robinsoncruiseso]

My vote is for Ruby Princess. Keeping all subjective thoughts out if it, the Ruby has far less “pay for” stuff than the Bliss. With kiddos, you will either be spending more on the ship or telling them no more often. Personally, I think Princess does Alaska very well. They have top notch naturalists and puppies.

[Petoonya]

43 minutes ago, Robinsoncruiseso said:

My vote is for Ruby Princess. Keeping all subjective thoughts out if it, the Ruby has far less “pay for” stuff than the Bliss. With kiddos, you will either be spending more on the ship or telling them no more often. Personally, I think Princess does Alaska very well. They have top notch naturalists and puppies.

Thanks....I care a lot about the "pay for" stuff. And naturalist staffing. I like that Princess is a little smaller ship too and cabin size generally larger. Will see what the majority goes for but great to be armed with this kind of info.

 

[MsSoCalCruiser]

 I have been on both ships.  I’ve been on the Ruby five times and on the Bliss once.   Both ships are beautiful.  Is the  itinerary is the same?  Princess is my line of choice but this time…

 

For me the Bliss wins for it’s beautiful observation area;  I loved it.  The specialty dining was VERY good ( some much better than others ), they have a complementary restaurant near the bar area that is open I believe all night, their buffet wins hands down, and the Jersey boys was fabulous. I think I paid $10 one time to go on the  race track. This ship is huge with lots to do.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

1 hour ago, Petoonya said:

Thanks....I care a lot about the "pay for" stuff. And naturalist staffing. I like that Princess is a little smaller ship too and cabin size generally larger. Will see what the majority goes for but great to be armed with this kind of info.

 

 The cabins on the Ruby Princess are definitely larger. The Bliss interior cabin was teeny tiny but the bathroom was awesome. 

[Petoonya]

It really sounds like as with all things there are pros and cons to everything. Since my favorite line is Oceania and NCL owns Oceania, I had heard Bliss was designed not to the scale Oceania ships are but has the same feel. I like that but sense that either ship I could find a lot to be happy with. Thanks everyone.

[capriccio]

Alaska is about the itineraries more than the ship in my opinion.  Which ports do each visit?  Just as importantly, how long do they have in each port?  How do additional (free) activities - such as naturalists, guest lecturers, entertainment, etc. - support the itinerary?

[Millnut]

My wife, her parents an I just returned 2 days ago from our Princess Alaska trip aboard the Golden Princess and had a fantastic time. This was our ninth and her parents second cruise with Princess. We did a Cruisetour which probably is the best way to see Alaska.

If you are considering the different ships in Princess’s fleet your first choice should be the Royal. We did a Caribbean cruise in Jan ‘18 aboard the Royal and truly enjoyed that ship. We tried to book the Royal for Alaska but were too late to get a pair of cabins. We have sailed the Emerald 3 times and the Crown once. I believe the Ruby is identical to both of those ships. They are very nice ships with open pools great for tropical weather.

However, the Golden and the Grand both have open and enclosed pool areas which you appreciate in 40-55 deg F weather! This was our second sailing on the Golden, we have also sailed on the Grand. The Golden has been recently updated with a new buffet very similar to the Royal’s which is a nice upgrade. On the cruise portion we spent a fair amount of time in the covered pool area since it was to cold out on deck unless you are whale watching or glacier gazing.

The land tour portion of our cruise which we did first was absolutely awesome. We booked the Connoisseur Package since the meals were included. When you look at the menu prices and estimate how much you will spend on meals out of pocket you will see the Connoisseur is a better deal. We stayed at Princess’s Fairbanks, Denali and McKinley lodges. Denali Wilderness Lodge is spectacular. There were two included excursions and one we payed for on the land tour. All three were a great time. The excursions offered from the ship were equally awesome.

We panned for gold, sailed a paddle boat, saw moose and bear in Denali, took a train to a jet boat up the Susitna River, drove Kawasaki Mules up a mountain, flew in a bush plane over the glaciers, gazed glaciers from the Lido Deck and watched Orca and Blue whales breach beside us. We had a truly wonderful time in Alaska and may go back again soon.

Just a little pic of Denali...

[Oceansaway17]

Check out the times in port.

NCL Bliss has less time in many ports and they do evenings in Victoria. Ketchikan is mornings usually which can be cloudy.

 

Basically ya go on the Bliss for the ship if this is a return trip to Alaska.

Otherwise pick Princess as they do Alaska well and have good schedules.

The Bliss is odd in the way it shares time in Juneau as well. 2pm is swap time.

[AF-1]

wow what a tough choice you have to make.  Good luck figuring out which ship.  I sailed Emerald Princess; sister ship to Ruby.  We enjoyed the ship, the crew, the naturalist, and the food.  Itinerary was great too.  Have sailed with NCL: but not the Bliss so I will leave that to the others who have been on it. 

[Petoonya]

There is a family vote going on. I voted Ruby Princess. The reasons we were so limited to ships and itinerary was that it could only be a 7 day for those in the family who still work, has to be roundtrip Seattle and include Glacier Bay. The ports are the same with both cruises but Princess has much better times in port.

[satxdiver]

You were wise to make sure the ship can go into Glacier Bay as entrance is very limited and only some can go in to the bay.  Ruby will have a NP Ranger aboard explaining what you are seeing and answering questions.  He was in Skywalkers on our last few cruises.  Ruby will have the OM internet available at the time which is nice if you need to use it on the cruise and reasonably priced.  Ruby is a really nice ship with few extra cost items available so you don't have to keep giving out money.