Where do I begin, off the ship was awesome, but coming back on was a huge let down. Bars were way understaffed and I fell bad for those who paid for drink packages. I would have to wait about 20 mins just to get a coke. When you would sit down to dine the wait for a drink would be worse, almost finished when the drink would arrive. Cabin looked old and outdated. The view was great though. Dining- Be prepared to pay extra for dining if you want a good meal. The specialty restaurants were great. Regular dining had no flavor but service was good. Buffets were the same all the time, they just changed the sauce that it was prepared with (LOL0 Hope you like pork! Entertainment- Shows were ok, have seen better on other cruise lines. Magician was horrible my son could do better than him. Comedy was great first nite, his second was basically a repeat of his first (Which was made to sound like it was going to be a special treat). Trying to get a drink was a joke because not enough staff. Crew shows were ok, they did their best. It might sound like all I can do is complain but this cruise ship was such a let down, every-time you got around the other guest after 2 days all you would hear is complaining of how horrible the service was, I am sure I am not the only one giving this cruise a bad review. I work hard for my money and expect great service when we go on vacation. Chose another cruise line and have a great time. If you do chose this line be prepared to spend extra for great food and bring your own alcohol !!!!! Read Less

I booked our family of Seven with balcony rooms on the Ruby Princess 7 Night Inside Passage to Alaska and Victoria. the only thing they did well was the boarding of the ship at the start and exit at the end...All else was NOT GOOD...In fact HORRIBLE.. Pizza of all things on deck was uneatable Food at the Buffet when was to be hot was COLD Service in the Buffet Dining room was just about non existent In the Main Dining Room for the early sitting our Family was never served at the same time One hour after ordering we asked where our meals were...Answer it is coming. My Grandson was served his dinner at one sitting after all others had desert At lunch my daughter ordered a tuna sandwich, one hour later no sandwich At the Ice Cream counter had two flavors Choc and Vanilla, after 4 min in line no vanilla Order a bottle of wine for dinner. Was not in stock, order another was billed for both Photo gallery would not sell me a photo package unless I was in ALL Photos Once on board they charge extra for EVERY thing from Water to Soft Drinks etc. etc. Wait staff acted like they were doing us a favor to even be there. All was reported immediately to the Dining Room Host "Carlos" then when nothing happened, I reported to the Hotel Mgr though the front desk, the would not allow me to talk directly to him, only via messenger. They sent a bottle of Champagne to my room for the inconvenience, BUT ADDRESS N O T H I N G...... Read Less

Everything is planned and runs smoothly. It was a comfortable trip and I felt like the most important person on this cruise. Personal service from a genuinely caring crew. Excellent food and dining options. Always something to do for any interest. If you have any problems they are quickly corrected. The service was so personal I felt like I was their most important customer. I was treated like an old friend as well as a guest. No problem seemed to phase the staff. Our room was always clean and ready. The activities and shows while at sea were well performed and managed. You could just relax or be as active as you desired. The in port time was smooth and organized. If you stayed aboard the ship, there were services available. At Glacier Bay the information being broadcast onboard helped me appreciate what I was viewing. Really, you can always find something to enjoy on this cruise. Read Less

Just got back from a family trip to Alaska. Was on a trip with husband and 3 children (12, 10, 9). My husband and I last sailed Princess before the children were born and we were blown away with the improvements. Princess definitely exceeded my expectations, starting with EZ air plus ground transfers and finishing with pre-disembarkation luggage check-in and ticketing from the ship cabins. Made getting through the Seattle airport much less stressful. We prepaid tips and excursions from home. Tickets to the excursions were waiting for us in our rooms. The improvement in the fitness center since our last trip really stood out. Rows of aerobic machines with TVs plus weight machines. Loved the "anytime" dining in the evening so that you didn't have to sit with strangers at a set time. I read reviews that warned about wait times, but we consistently arrived by 6:00pm and never had to wait. We used Horizon buffet for breakfast and lunch. Healthy choices with great variety. Kids loved kids' club! There were a lot of children their own age and they looked forward to going every day. Excursions were wonderful. Guides were knowledgeable and kept the kids interested and engaged. They loved panning for gold in Juneau, playing with the Husky puppies in Skagway, and visiting Totem Bight State Park and the lumberjack show in Ketchikan. We attended and appreciated the educational seminars on the region. Got lucky with weather in the 70s with clear skies most of the trip. Read Less

This was my second year on Princess to the Inside Passage of Alaska. I loved it. Great experience. Attentive staff. Extremely comfortable accommodations. Excellent productions, very talented singers and dancers. Great party band. Always entertained. Never bored. Just not enough time to enjoy everything! Great variety of excursions. Excellent Glacier viewing with narration by naturalists and park ranger. The scenery in Alaska is magnificent, We had perfect weather so we could enjoy being outside in Alaska on the decks, on excursions, or simply walking thru towns. Meals all delicious. Many choices. International Cafe is a fun meeting spot, formal and informal dining all had great choices, as well as the walk up grill and pizza and ice cream places. Lots of bars. Movies under stars fun with big screen and blankets. Princess has a theme of "North to Alaska" and works hard to promote the experience of being in Alaska. Even getting on and off the ship at beginning and end of cruise, as well as at each port was perfectly easy. Great cruise! I want to come back again! Read Less

Family member chose it. Beautiful ship, difficult to navigate inside at times, partly because not all of the elevators serviced all floors. Lovely decor, very clean, great staff -- so helpful and friendly. Attended 2 wine tastings: in both, it was difficult to understand the presenters because of their accents. Wines were only O.K. Communication both on and off the ship was limited. Could not communicate well with family if we were not both in our rooms. Internet time was expensive and hard to use on my own. Internet Cafe manager was VERY helpful. Most irritating was the shopping experience: very high-pressure salespeople and much emphasis on "Buy, buy, buy." Embarkation and disembarkation were very impressive for a ship with such a large passenger number: timely, informative efficient. Dining was an excellent experience always. Kudos to the chefs and the menus and the wait staff -- we were very impressed and appreciative. The Princess Patter was helpful and informative. Read Less

We cruised with 3 other couples and the downfall was communication if we got turned around we saw other couples with walkie talkie sets.....or shore excursions were to short. otherwise it was a great week. The entertainment was great the food was amazing. The tour of the galley was great. We missed the excursion in juneno all tho it couldn't be avoided because of rough seas and a medical emergency frustration was high and then you add standing in the heat to get back on the ship. The excursion in Victoria was to short. We never used the hot tubs they were always occupied. Overall it was a good week and it was great value for the money. I will highly recommend a cruise to all my friends and family. I would like to see the price for balconies and suites be a little more affordable as we are seniors! Read Less

We chose this cruise because of the itinerary and several of us had not used Princess before. Overall we had a nice time! The service overall was decent. It ranged from phenomenal to comically bad. The servers in the Club Class dining area were attentive but sometimes communication between them was lacking. Nothing that can't be overlooked. I did find it odd that when I requested chicken for a salad that I was told "No, its not offered" when the day before they said it was always available. The food for a cruise was above average and I was pleasantly surprised. I recommend asking what the servers what is best and trust them. The worst was the bar service in Club Fusion. You were either ignored or made to feel like an inconvenience, even for a bottle of water. Moving on... We had an owners suite at the Aft corner of deck 12. The decor was dated, but the room had a lot of usable space and a lot of storage. We used our balcony a lot so it was totally worth booking. On Glacier Bay day we had breakfast delivered and at the table on the balcony. It was such a treat! The table seats 4 so my mother and aunt joined us and we had plenty of room. The medical emergency did put a damper on our day in Juneau. We saw the Canadian Coast Guard come pick up the man from our ship. We totally understand these things happen. Although we were late getting in, my husband found a private whale watching excursion and got us booked totally saving the day! If I could change the itinerary I would extend the day in Ketchikan and totally cut out Victoria. While Victoria is a beautiful city, we really just wanted to see more of Alaska. Ketchikan seemed like an interesting port, but we only had a few hours there and would have liked more. Read Less

We chose this cruise as we had never been to Seattle. We went out a few days early to explore and loved it. Embarkation was a breeze as they stagger embarkation by cabin decks. Mid morning of our first day we were informed of a medical emergency on board and we needed to divert so the Canadian coast guard could pick up the passenger. This took place around 2pm. The following morning, it was announced at roughly 10am we would be late into Juneau. We were told we would arrive at approximately 5pm. (Originally scheduled to arrive at 11am). The announcement also included that all Princess booked shore excursions would be cancelled and credited back to people’s accounts. We later learned this did not happen for all passengers and some had to chase their credit. We had booked an excursion not through Princess but they were nice enough to allow us to call. Our issues start now- we actually did not dock until 6pm, a full hour later than told. I have a hard time understanding how a ship that is in these waters, on a weekly basis, can underestimate the travel time by so much. This led to a disembarkation nightmare. It took us over an hour just to get off. We got to spend roughly 2-3 hours in Juneau. The lineup to get back on was over an hour long as well. It would have been nice to have been updated sometime between 10am and 5pm to let us know the new arrival time. No update was given. We fully understand that stuff happens and Princess dealt with the sick passenger accordingly...it was the lack of communication and fall out that has us miffed. It would have been nice for senior staff to come around during dinner to explain and apologize. The food was subpar for what we have come to expect on cruise ships. Some of the food combinations were strange. We understand they have a new menu...not a winner. The wait staff was usually very nice. The cruise director staff seemed to be mailing in the effort. The comedian was quite good. We had a window cabin and the layout was one of the better one’s we have had. Final disembarkation was a breeze. Read Less

Chose this cruise line for reviews. This ship is older so some wear and tear expected. Had a mini-suite that had a strong odor of mold, bed was well used and lumpy with visible deformations in the mattress. Club Class dining was very good, staff was excellent. The pizza was tasteless at other cafe, and ice cream substance was horrible. Buffet was mediocre at best. Most activities on board were to encourage you to buy their priceless baubles. It felt like we were living in an infomercial. While I expect some of this, this cruise line is all about the sales. Princess claims that they will make this a once in a lifetime experience. I presumed this meant it would be a good experience, to the contrary, I think they mean that after one cruise you will never use Princess again. The staff and Captain were reluctant to provide information on where disembarkation would occur, where lines should form. It was a big secret, unlike other cruises I have experienced. The staff then complained about where the lines organically formed and meandered. Also, someone had a "medical emergency" on board that required a 7 plus hour detour causing a complete loss of any excursions in Juneau. Not sure what kind of emergency requires such detour, but yet doesn't merit helicopter to fly to medical facility. Seas were not that rough. Captain then repeatedly lied about still making port on time, only releasing that we would not about an hour before we were due in. Notice would have been nice to cancel excursions. When we reached excursion company via phone, they stated they had known the night before. Captain lied. On other cruises such issues, even when weather related, were offset by some renumeration to the passengers such as credit to their account. Not with the money hungry folks at Princess. Listened to Ms. Texas blather on about buying their coupon book (don't do it), or being a VIP shopper...worthless, same coupons taped to display shelves in stores in port. If other wish to cruise with this company, don't buy a thing until the last full day of the cruise. Those priceless baubles are not worth the opening price, and probably not the finishing price either. The "Love Boat" company is now the "Lust Boat", and they are after your money...not the way to see Alaska! Read Less