We choose this cruise because it offered the itinerary we were looking for and I had read that the Princess Ruby was a great ship for seeing Glacier Bay and the inside passage. I was extremely disappointed to learn that Princess gates off the best viewing area on the front of the ship for the ENTIRE cruise and charges $60 per person for its use while in Glacier Bay! The rest of the week this area remains closed and unavailable for use which was very disappointing to me. It was a very cold and windy week and this was the only viewing area on the front of the ship that provided protection from the wind!

We loved the itinerary and aside from the rain and cold weather in Juneau our shore experiences were great. We took a bus to Mendenhall Glacier. We regretted not just taking a cab which would have been much less expensive! The park was great but very over crowded! We luckily got there early and had the chance to see a mother bear and her 2 cubs catching salmon in the creek and enjoyed a hike away from the crowds. In Skagway, we took train up the White Pass railroad which was fantastic. We did some hiking and shopping on our own in Ketchikan and a bus tour in Victoria which I would not recommend. It was over priced for what we saw and it did not allow for a stop downtown which looked lovely! We were unimpressed with the park rangers on board the ship at Glacier Bay.

Our ship experience was good overall. The broadway style productions were great but the other entertainment was just fair. We went with reserved dining at 8pm and our service was excellent. Overall the food was good although I was disappointed with the quality of the seafood other than the Halibut which was excellent! We were not impressed with the buffet at all. Read more