Albrecht's
Cruises & Travels
Ruby Princess® Alaska August 2023
At Prince Rupert
10-Day Inside Passage (Roundtrip San Francisco)
Day
Port
25-Aug
San Francisco, California
26-Aug
at sea
27-Aug
at sea
28-Aug
Ketchikan, Revillagigedo Island, Alaska
29-Aug
Juneau, Alaska
30-Aug
Sitka, Baranof Island, Alaska
31-Aug
Tracy Arm Fjord, Alaska
1-Sep
Prince Rupert, Kaien Island, BC Canada
2-Sep
at sea
3-Sep
at sea
4-Sep
San Francisco, California
Friday 25 August 2023
Depart San Francisco 4:00PM
We took Prestige Limo to pier, traffic was not too bad, but glad I was
not driving and parking.
The boarding process was semi-disorganized, apparently (overheard) that
there was a delay in getting people off the ship, so people were being
dropped off and picked up like at an airport but more confusing.
Princess originally had a system to select an arrival time, but dropped
that so it seemed like everyone showed up early.
We got boarding group 11 after check in and they were boarding
group 2 then. Did not take
long and by the time we were boarding the hall was less crowded.
Went to De Vinci MDR for lunch, was good.
Then checked in at muster station and went to cabin.
Surprise our luggage was already there!
Unpacked and looked around a little.
Had dinner in another MDR, there was a line for those with reservations,
but not for those that didn’t.
Getting Internet setup was more complicated than I expected, but access
seemed acceptable, note not doing any massive up or downloads.
Just email and light browsing.
Saturday 26 August 2023 At Sea
Got up early. Got coffee
for me and coffee and muffins for Donna.
About 8 went up stairs to buffet for breakfast.
Definitely notice that the ship is full.
Horizon Buffet is almost always full, as is the Piazza.
Donna got a pedicure in the morning, and really liked it.
Wondered around some, had a light lunch followed by a nap.
Ship was going about 20 knots into the wind, so was very cool and windy
around the pool. Most
people stayed inside.
Today was a formal night and had dinner in Sabatini’s.
Sunday 27 August 2023 At Sea
Big thing was switching to Alaska time.
Repeat for morning, except I had breakfast alone.
Went to a Cruise forum meet & greet with ships officers, but
Princess apparently had some miscommunication.
Originally set for 11 am, then changed to 10 am pre-cruise due to
a wedding. Then wedding
moved to another ship and Princess changed it back to 11, but no-one
told the cruise forum.
Princess has started bringing back the Crab shack but only 1 or 2 days
per cruise. It was today at
lunch and we went. Very
good, best meal yet. Okay
about food, last year we sailed to Alaska on the Oceania Regatta and the
food was excellent.
Princess food is good, but not great (except Crab Shack, but can’t eat
that much every day.
Weather was similar to yesterday, and again most people stayed inside.
Monday 28 August 2023 Ketchikan
Warm and sunny, 72-74 F, short stay in port leaving by 3:15
Went to see the Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show, definitely a fun show.
On the way stopped in a local
jewelry store and Donna bought a onyx butterfly necklace.
Wondered around a bit and found
an interesting local candy store
Also visited Uncharted Alaska Distillery and tried their vodka.
Pretty good.
3 ships in port, but not really crowded.
Got notified last night as we were going to bed that our tub had a crack
in it, which Donna noticed.
They wanted to patch it then, but we said we were going to bed.
This morning while we were off ship, they looked at it and
decided it need to be replaced.
We had noticed a lot of flexing as if they had not put a proper
under layment on the plastic tub.
So they moved us from D624 Minisuite to D105 Family suite
(without the 2nd bedroom).
Tuesday 29 August 2023 Juneau
Just spent the morning wandering around Juneau cruise area.
Bought some t-shirts, and looked at several Jewelry stores.
Interesting but besides some local stores mostly the same shops
in almost any cruise port from Alaska to Caribbean.
Walked by Tracy’s Crab shack, but still full from crab on board
ship from two days ago.
Wednesday 30 August 2023 Sitka
Did the Best of Sitka: Otters, Raptors & Bears.
Saw them in reverse, first was Raptor center, which was very
interesting. Eagles up
close are even more majestic than at a distance.
They gave a nice tour and talk.
Bear fortress was somewhat of a letdown.
Not much of a talk, some of the bears (8 total) looked stressed.
Brown bears seemed to be having fun.
The last part was the otters which started out as a whale watching trip,
and yes saw whales, and some smaller sea lions on a buoy (saw them
first) then some otters on
a kelp bed and then a tour of smaller islands.
On the way back to the ship got view of the owie.
Thursday 31 August 2023 Endicott Arm and Dawes glacier
Visited Endicott Arm and Dawes glacier.
Saw it from our balcony.
Watched the glacier from dining room while eating breakfast.
Pleasant way to see as weather is very cool, blustery with a
light drizzle.
Spending rest of day relaxing.
Friday 1 September 2023 Prince Rupert
Cool and overcast, periods of drizzle.
Just walked around the port and Cow Harbor.
Interesting stores with knick-knacks and local themed stuff.
Ice House gallery had interesting local artists and a water color
artist had a pavilion set up near terminal.
Went back to ship early and had lunch in buffet then went to Skywalkers
to read and relax.
Skywalkers is not published about much and is a quiet place to read with
a nice view. Also does not
seem like many people even know it exists.
Saturday 2 September 2023 At Sea
Sea day, relax and read. First real nice day to be around the pools.
Following seas meant a little rocking, but not bad.
Sunday 3 September 2023 At Sea
Sea day, relax and read again.
Another nice day and more people around pool.
Monday 4 September San Francisco
Disembarkation day.
Got to port by 6:00 am, off ship by 8:30, limo picked up by 9:00,
home by 10:05 am.