Alaska B2B in Ruby Princess May 7-27 - Semi Live

[cruzin4us]

Final thoughts after my 1st 10 days....

 

The menu is repeating itself, so I won't be doing daily reviews on food unless something stands out either good or bad.

 

On embarkation day, the salmon in the main dining room was excellent last week, but this time they used sockeye salmon and it was really flat and dry (sad, cuz last week was so good).

 

Most tender vegetables were almost (no, always) overcooked and mushy.  Harder veggies such as carrots, broccoli, potatoes were usually pretty good.   Snow peas, asparagus and brussel sprouts were mushy and disgusting.

 

Most people were getting their food served lukewarm at best, and I did as well for the first 2 days.  After mentioning it to my server that I wished my food to come out hot and on hot plates, I never had a problem.   My guess is that they are preparing the dishes and then are waiting for servers to grab them instead of plating the meal after it is ordered.   I know you might say, why of course they are, how else would they feed this many people?     Regressing back to my Diamond Princess Cruise when I spoke with the head chef at the Chef's Table Dinner:   He said all meals are plated right before serving, nothing is pre-plated.   It is obvious the difference.....also there was no mushy veggies ever.

 

Off of the food for a bit.   

 

Went to Karaoke a couple of times to watch one of my new friends sing.   Had a bunch of fun (no, I don't sing).   Played some trivia....no cheap champagne for me.   Did you know there are 366 dimples in a golf ball?   Me either, but I do now.

 

The International Cafe - The Barrista's are extremely friendly, remember me and my stupid oder of a small flat white with 4 shots of espresso.    I managed to polish off many a sandwich at 3:00 in the morning.   Cookies - Now, I like the peanut butter cookies that are kinda warm when you get them.  I agree, the choco chip cookies can get dried out.   The raisin cookies have walnuts in them (I can't do nuts) and wasn't told there was nuts in them.....Just a heads up if you have nut allergies

 

Room Service - Ordered a pizza one night and it took almost 2 hours to get here (that's after I called).   they need to up their game on the time it takes.

 

Internet - I judge the internet on whether I can open my bank account or watch Netflix.   I had problems with both periodically, but it was much, much better since I went to Alaska last June on the Ruby.

 

I'm sure I'll think of more later, but I'm typed out.   Thanks to all of you that were concerned about me.

 

 

 

 

[CruzeQueen2]

@cruzin4us Bon Voyage, round 2! Dead pelican on your deck...that's a new one to me as well. Hope we don't see more of these odd "duck" incidents...duck duck goose/pelican? 

 

Have you come across the fresh juices and where they are offering them? They are included in both the PLUS and the Premier packages. On Majestic, they were offered at the Wakeview Bar in the mornings....best to get them before they start to run out of fruits around 11 am. TIA 

 

I'm looking forward to being on the Crown in August. Will be following quite a few of your findings. Enjoy Round 2. Which dining room did you find to have the most accommodating restaurant manager to meet your requests? Did you happen to meet the DORO?

Thanks for taking so much time to share your experiences from the ship AND shore. 

[cruzin4us]

18 minutes ago, CruzeQueen2 said:

@cruzin4us Bon Voyage, round 2! Dead pelican on your deck...that's a new one to me as well. Hope we don't see more of these odd "duck" incidents...duck duck goose/pelican? 

 

Have you come across the fresh juices and where they are offering them? They are included in both the PLUS and the Premier packages. On Majestic, they were offered at the Wakeview Bar in the mornings....best to get them before they start to run out of fruits around 11 am. TIA 

 

I'm looking forward to being on the Crown in August. Will be following quite a few of your findings. Enjoy Round 2. Which dining room did you find to have the most accommodating restaurant manager to meet your requests? Did you happen to meet the DORO?

Thanks for taking so much time to share your experiences from the ship AND shore. 

 

I haven't found (or looked for) the juice bar.....I'm a coffee gal in the morning, so I head to the IC and grab a coffee and a quick donut (usually).   The Wake view bar is at the aft end of the ship (thus the name) and I'm so far forward that it's just not somewhere I tend to go.   If this was a warm weather cruise I'd be more apt to head down to that area.

 

I have not met Doro.

 

I can tell you I didn't care for the Head Waiter at Botecelli, and my friends didn't either.   Don't recall what his name was.   I've been in Michelangelo and they have been very nice and accommodating.   Although once I got my permanent seat, I really haven't had much interaction with them.

[lakegirl16]

5 hours ago, cruzin4us said:

 

I'm not going to lie, the excursions are costly in Alaska, and sometimes they are cancelled do to bad weather or being late to port (such as we are this cruise).   I'm just as happy taking in the scenery as anything else.

You mention being late to port?  Curious what ports were delayed?  I'm on next week and have an excursion Sitka I would hate to miss.  Thanks.

[SwimCarrie]

Is the food in the buffet labeled? I don't see any signs. 

[CruiseCrabs]

7 hours ago, lakegirl16 said:

You mention being late to port?  Curious what ports were delayed?  I'm on next week and have an excursion Sitka I would hate to miss.  Thanks.

A medical emergency occurred shortly after sail away, changing the order of the ports because of the delay. Also, speed restrictions can cause delays. Booking external tours are always a bit of a risk so, when we do book externally, we look for ones that have 24-hour cancellation options to be safe. Then, you just have to hope the internet is working properly.

[Lil Chrissie]

15 hours ago, cruzin4us said:

Ketchikan - Kind of drizzled on and off all day, but I still got off the ship and wandered around a bit.  Went up Creek street which is a nice easy walk.  
stoped and had some expensive fish and chips which were ok, nothing special.  They included salmon, halibut and cod.   

Check out the prices of the 🦀 legs.  I passed.   

wonderful pics! Just beautiful! 

[cruzin4us]

6 hours ago, SwimCarrie said:

Is the food in the buffet labeled? I don't see any signs. 

Yes, the food is labeled but they didn’t photograph real well when trying to take pics of the food 

[cruzin4us]

Today May 20th we entered the Endicott Arm and cruised towards Dawes Glacier.   

Lady luck was on our side and we have an excellent Captain who is experienced in navigating icebergs, so we made it all the way to the glacier.  Apparently this is the first ship of this size to get this close to Dawes Glacier in over 10 years.  According to the Captain it’s a one in a million chance opportunity.  Score one for our Captain 👨‍✈️ as he got us super close and enabled us plenty of viewing opportunities from all sides of the ship.  

 

I did the best at picture taking with my iPhone, but I was jealous of those that had much more sophisticated cameras.  Hopefully some others got some good photos to share. 

[cruzin4us]

More pics of Dawes Glacier & Endicott Arm

[Bemidji Ty]

Wow!!!  Thanks again. 

 

[cruzin4us]

Last night the Head Waiter Martin asked if I would like authentic Indian food the way the Chef’s prepare it at home.   I jumped at the chance and I pretty much starved all day and waited with much anticipation for 5:20 to come.   

They said it would be a surprise and not to eat a bunch of filler stuff before dinner (bread, etc)

I patiently awaited my Feast of Indian Cuisine.  

The meal arrived which was Naan, Rice, Lamb Curry and Rita (yogurt sauce)

I devoured every bite and 3 glasses of iced tea.  That Indian food packed a punch and I was sweating and my eyes watering before I finished.   I ate a bite, savoring it then BAM, the heat came followed by 3 gulps of iced tea…..repeat, repeat…..

Eating spicy 🌶️ food is not for the wimpy.  

Out of the corner of my eye I could see the Maitre D checking on me to see if this gringo of a gal would be able to eat it.   They probably had side bets going to see if I’d finish it.  I did and loved every bite!!

[cruzin4us]

Skagway 

[CynCyn]

31 minutes ago, cruzin4us said:

Skagway 

We are taking ducks on Discovery next Sunday.  My niece is so thrilled! She can’t wait to hide them.

[Rogueperson]

13 hours ago, cruzin4us said:

Last night the Head Waiter Martin asked if I would like authentic Indian food the way the Chef’s prepare it at home.   I jumped at the chance and I pretty much starved all day and waited with much anticipation for 5:20 to come.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, there's your problem (see highlighted) 😁.  There's a restaurant I order from near my house, they have 6 levels of spiciness.  American Mild, American Medium, American Spicy, Indian Mild Indian Medium, and Indian Spicy.  I asked what the difference between Indian Mild and American Spicy was, they said "none its the same spicy level".

 

[CruzinNoony]

Your Indian dinner looks delicious!!

[CLE2CRUISE]

Wow!  You held your own with that Indian lamb curry and I can *see* it's spicy!!  Nice Job! 👏

[ldubs]

On 5/19/2023 at 10:44 PM, cruzin4us said:

 

Internet - I judge the internet on whether I can open my bank account or watch Netflix.   I had problems with both periodically, but it was much, much better since I went to Alaska last June on the Ruby.

 

 

 

Thanks for posting all of this great info and pic's!!   We will be on the Ruby starting this coming Saturday. 

 

We received word, third-hand, from someone on the Ruby 3 or 4 weeks ago that the wifi was so bad we should just skip the wifi package.  Our use is basic contact with family back home and maybe posting some pics.  We are accustomed to the typical cruise ship wifi.  

 

Reading your comments, and judging from your posts while onboard, it sounds like the wifi is working OK.   I take it you feel the wifi package was worth it?

 

Again, thanks for the enjoyable read.    

[cruzin4us]

11 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

Thanks for posting all of this great info and pic's!!   We will be on the Ruby starting this coming Saturday. 

 

We received word, third-hand, from someone on the Ruby 3 or 4 weeks ago that the wifi was so bad we should just skip the wifi package.  Our use is basic contact with family back home and maybe posting some pics.  We are accustomed to the typical cruise ship wifi.  

 

Reading your comments, and judging from your posts while onboard, it sounds like the wifi is working OK.   I take it you feel the wifi package was worth it?

 

Again, thanks for the enjoyable read.    

Well, it has its moments.   Most of the time I've been able to access things like CC, bank accounts, FB, Google.   Netflix streaming and uploading pictures has been more difficult when more mountains are on all sides of us.   Tonight is an example of where I'm able to do the bare minimum.

However, it's still way better than last June when I was aboard the Ruby.   It's also better than the Discovery most of the time.

Uploading pictures or watching Netflix is almost impossible when we are in the mountain areas, we are currently headed from Juneau to Ketchikan and it's not working so great.   It's good enough to post but I'm not even attempting uploading and pictures.   Netflix is a no go tonight too.

There was however many times when it worked very well and I could watch a movie, upload pics, and do pretty much everything I tried.   FB Messenger seems to work fairly well at all times (phone calls are hit and miss).

I switch between my laptop to my iphone (Laptop when I'm in bed at night, iphone during the day).   The phone seems to work better (don't ask me why, I'm not a techie).    

I would probably purchase the wifi pkg if it was me.....but I wish to keep in contact with my husband back home whenever I want to.   If he was cruising with me, it wouldn't be such a big deal.

I wasn't much help, was I?

 

 

Edited May 23, 2023 by cruzin4us

[ldubs]

6 hours ago, cruzin4us said:

Well, it has its moments.   Most of the time I've been able to access things like CC, bank accounts, FB, Google.   Netflix streaming and uploading pictures has been more difficult when more mountains are on all sides of us.   Tonight is an example of where I'm able to do the bare minimum.

However, it's still way better than last June when I was aboard the Ruby.   It's also better than the Discovery most of the time.

Uploading pictures or watching Netflix is almost impossible when we are in the mountain areas, we are currently headed from Juneau to Ketchikan and it's not working so great.   It's good enough to post but I'm not even attempting uploading and pictures.   Netflix is a no go tonight too.

There was however many times when it worked very well and I could watch a movie, upload pics, and do pretty much everything I tried.   FB Messenger seems to work fairly well at all times (phone calls are hit and miss).

I switch between my laptop to my iphone (Laptop when I'm in bed at night, iphone during the day).   The phone seems to work better (don't ask me why, I'm not a techie).    

I would probably purchase the wifi pkg if it was me.....but I wish to keep in contact with my husband back home whenever I want to.   If he was cruising with me, it wouldn't be such a big deal.

I wasn't much help, was I?

 

 

 

"I wasn't much help, was I?"

 

This was a big help and exactly what I was looking for.  Many thanks for taking the time to respond!! 

[startedwithamouse]

We have them surprise us with Indian food or Filipino food, and it never disappoints. 

[that]

May I ask how was the casino this last ten days?  Any luck with your freeplay?  Any fun?

[Sailin Gal]

Enjoying all your posts, and really glad you posted about getting Indian meals in MDR.  A lot of the MDR dinner entrees don’t sound good to me, but I do love Indian food, so will be asking for that on our next sailing!

[atobols]

10 hours ago, Sailin Gal said:

Enjoying all your posts, and really glad you posted about getting Indian meals in MDR.  A lot of the MDR dinner entrees don’t sound good to me, but I do love Indian food, so will be asking for that on our next sailing!

 

I feel the same way.  We sail on the Ruby in about two weeks.  I plan to ask for a vegetarian Indian meal each night.  

[cruzin4us]

On 5/23/2023 at 9:22 AM, that said:

May I ask how was the casino this last ten days?  Any luck with your freeplay?  Any fun?

 

The casino finally ate me alive and spit me out for good measure.   I played Buffalo Chief for 80 cents.  It was entertainment and I knew I wasn't going to get rich doing so.   I don't chase jackpots, I play to have fun and try to earn free cruises that include the Princess Plus.   That's my goal.   I don't try and strike it rich although it would be nice.    The first cruise I earned about 13,000 pts and this cruise it was a bit over 8,000 pts.  I spent a total of $2,000 in the casino between the 2 cruises.   I held my own for 3 days, and then it slowly just decided to chomp away at me.  The funny thing about gambling is when you've had enough it is like a light switch turning on/off.   Today I reached that point.   The casino won't get another dime from me.    Don't get me wrong, I had a lot of fun and met some great people in the casino, but today I was over it 🙂