We went on a seven day cruise to Alaska that departed from Seattle on the Ruby Princess. I just thought I would share my thoughts both good and bad on the experience.
• Embarkation/Disembarkation procedures – I have to admit that Princess does a very good job of making the boarding process as painless as possible. When boarding they move you from area to area in a fairly quick process especially given the thousands of people they are trying to get on board in a very tight window. We chose to handle our own bags leaving the ship and it afforded us the opportunity to be some of the first people off the ship, which to us was much better than sitting around for hours waiting to disembark.
• Cruise Ship/Staff - The cruise ship is large, clean and the staff as on most cruise lines are very attentive and display a high level of customer service.
We had a nice room that is EXACTLY like the pictures you will see on Princess website. From my experience you do not have to worry about any "bait and switch" scenario regarding your room. What you get is exactly what they show you! The mini-suite was a decent size, the bathroom was clean, and the closet area had more than enough space for our clothes. We did bring some of our own wire hangars and I would recommend doing this as the standard amount provided may not be enough. Unfortunately, the bathtub/shower combo took at least 15 minutes to drain even if you were only taking a shower. Finally, the balcony door began to leak from its base on the last day of our cruise.
Visit Pike's Place market
The fishing was ok...the highlight was an eagle that swooped down to take one of the fish we caught. The town of Ketchikan itself is not worth visiting as it has nothing but gift shops and jewelry stores.
The city of Juneau is uninspiring but the whale watching was the highlight of our trip!
This tour was nothing special, but other than visiting the Empress hotel there is nothing to do. This stop should not even be on an itinerary for Alaska.