I chose this cruise based on the itinerary, I really wanted to go to Glacier Bay, and having sailed and enjoyed Princess before it seemed like a no brainer. We went into Seattle a day early so we could see the Space Needle and Chihuly Gardens, and they were both worth the trip. We also had dinner in Seattle at Zeeke's pizza and it was awesome. I knew the Ruby had been renovated late last year, so we expected a beautiful ship, and while the ship was very nice, it wasn't any better than any other ship we've been on. Embarkation: totally seamless and smooth, we were on the ship in less than half an hour from the time we arrived at the port. We stayed in a B2 Premium Balcony on deck 10 and we enjoyed the extra size of the balcony. Our room was efficient with plenty of storage, our luggage slid under the bed for easy storage. Being oversized myself, I always find the bathrooms a joke, unless we book a suite, and this one was no different. We had 3 cabins, 2 on the Starboard and 1 on the port side of the ship, and we were close enough to the center elevators so navigating the ship was never a problem. We shoes anytime dining because of the late times in Alaska, and we never waited more than a minute or two for a table for six. The dining room menu lacked creativity to me, and even though we never chose to order from it, I think it's nice to have some Premium items on the menu at an additional price if you want them. We had 5 dinners in the dining room, they were OK at best, at least to me. We also had breakfast in the dining room a couple of times, man, breakfast on a cruise ship really has a way to go, I actually got up and left one morning after seeing the menu and went to the International Café, which was awesome. We also had dinner at Share one evening and one night at the Salty Dog gastropub. The Salty Dog was really good, one of the best burgers I've ever had, I would have liked to go back for a 2nd meal but couldn't find the time to. Share, well Share is the best restaurant I've ever been to on a cruises ship, it was simply wonderful. If you're ever on a ship that has Share, go. Because we took our 81 year old Mother on this cruise, we went to most of the production shows because she wanted to go to them. To me, they were similar to a High School production, absolutely nothing special, except for the comedian who performed in the theatre, he was really good. The service staff on the ship was exceptional, they always greeted you with a smile and were very polite and courteous.

We did shore excursions in each port: in Juneau we did the Whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier. We saw both Orcas and Humpbacks, so that was awesome. The visitor cent at the glacier was way overcrowded because it had started raining and everyone was trying to stay dry. My wife was at Mendenhall several years ago and she was shocked at how much it has receded in the time since she was first there. In Skagway we did the train and bridge tour with a stop and lunch at Jewel Gardens. It was all good. Glacier Bay was breathtaking, so calm and serene. We saw whales while in the Bay, and we saw a Brown Bear on the shore when we were headed out of the Bay, pretty cool. In Ketchikan, the rest of the group did an Nature hike, and I went to a few stores along Front Street and then to a restaurant/bar to sample some of the local brews. Victoria was almost a joke, you don't get into port until around 7 PM and have to be back on the ship by 11. We booked a tour to the gardens so Mom could see them, but our bus sat in the parking lot for half an hour waiting for clearance from Princess to leave, so we lost valuable time looking at the parking lot, very frustrating. Disembarkation was a breeze, we had signed up for the Port Valet program and it was awesome, I highly recommend it. Overall, we enjoyed the cruise, we just with the food was better.