Ruby Princess Review
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We traveled to Alaska on the Ruby Princess with another family that has kids the same age as ours (11, 14). Both families had booked the family suites in the front of Deck 9 (Dolphin). Our previous cruises were just hubby and I with all-inclusive ships on Regent and Silversea and we knew that the nickel-and-diming would be prevalent here. Since this cruise was with the kids, we went with a more kid-friendly ship to Alaska.
Before getting on ship, we pre-paid for two all inclusive bev for adults, $56pp per day and the kids beverages $8 ish pp per day and gratuities $48 pp total. Funny how when they show pre-payment options on Princess web page they show daily rates for beverage prices and total price for gratuity. Beverage package prices doesn't look so bad when they price it per day instead of for total cruise. Anyway, we had already spent $1237 on beverage packages and gratuities before stepping on the ship. We had some OBC and I planned to use that to pay for some of the excursions.
Flew in to Seattle day before and stayed at Rennnaisance. Hotel was in good location, approx 1-1.5 miles from stadiums, pike place and space needle. Had brunch at Space Needle (yum!) on day of embarkation. Really good food and service.
Cabin Review
Family Suite with Balcony
Our room was plenty large and had tons of storage. Kids had their own cabin (think inside cabin - no windows) with two lower and two upper berths and a stall shower. They had their own entrance from the hallway. Parents also had a door from the hallway and entered to a cabin with a queen bed, tub shower and open to the living room. Kids room has a door to get into shared living area. We had a double-size balcony. Half had clear wall and half was curved with a solid wall. Four chairs, four footrests and a round table were the balcony furniture. I did read about the windy conditions that prohibited balcony enjoyment. We had great weather (no rain!!) and all but one windy day we used the balcony. The living area had two pull out couches that I did not open. I'm hoping these couches are put to rest soon because they looked very worn as if they had just been thru a fraternity initiation. Having the extra room allowed out family to have plenty of space inside and outside. We did not get on each others nerves since we did not have to do any crowded shuffling around the cabin or bathroom. Worth it!