Ruby Princess Review
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For an Alaska cruise, there are a lot of wonderful reasons to go, but a big reason for the trip is to see and hear the glaciers. I was really looking forward to this, having been to the Hubbard glacier with Holland America, which was a breathtaking experience. Princess often goes to Tracy Arm, and for this sailing and others that we heard about, conditions would not allow the ship to get close enough to see. Only those who booked a small boat tour got to go to the glacier. Also, pictures I've seen of this glacier are pretty mediocre compared to others. So, a fail in my book.
Embarkation and debark in Seattle is done pretty well - very little waiting. I always keep rollaboard bags with me.
The itinerary of stops is generally a good one. Ketchikan, nice touristy waterfront. We really enjoyed zip lining in Skagway. Did it through a ship's excursion, but probably could have done the same for less booking locally. Fun experience.
Cabin Review
Oceanview
First time in an ocean view cabin. Every other cruise has been with a balcony. These are not tiny cabins, which is nice. Especially nice is an open, walk around closet area.
Not a terrible cabin, but two notable negatives in particular. First, this cabin is near the front of the ship, and our captain really liked using the bow thrusters aggressively rather than for finesse, so they were quite loud a lot of the time. At least you knew when you were docking. Also because you are near the front, the actual "window" is recessed quite a bit into the ship - 18" or so - so you get a very limited, tunnel view out the porthole/window. On deck 2, there is a fair amount of wave splash, so the windows crusted over quite a bit and had not been cleaned after the prior cruise.