Midway through our cruise on the Ruby Princess, we spent a day-at-sea cruising through Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. Our ship slowly cruised through the five-mile inlet, getting close to the Margarie Glacier.

On our previous cruise, we visited the Hubbard Glacier, which was quite a bit bigger and more dramatic. While we only saw a few calvings on this trip, we saw many at the Hubbard Glacier. It's still exciting when it happens and we were happy that the kids got to experience it. The other thing that I noticed on both cruises, is the sounds that the are made by glaciers. When it calves, it sounds like a crack of thunder, and when the ice is melting in the water, it sounds like a glass of 7-Up fizzing.

Park rangers were brought on board to talk about Glacier Bay and answer questions. The kids club offered a "Junior Rangers" program. We skipped all of the activities and simply enjoyed the views.

As you might imagine, it's super cold being so close to a glacier. Although we all had winter coats, Dan is the only one who thought to bring a hat. Zoe and Felix are tough Swedish kids, so Dan let me borrow his cozy hat. Who wore it better?

Dan created this awesome time-lapse video as we sailed away from the Margerie Glacier.

There were plenty of animal sightings: eagles, whales, and sea lions, as we made our way out of Glacier Bay. This island was covered with sea lions sunning themselves. Or perhaps, wishing they were able to catch some rays.

Zoe and Felix were eager to swim, so we spent the afternoon poolside. Dan and I stayed bundled up and enjoyed cocktails, while the kids enjoyed the pool. The Bailey's cart was a great surprise! Coffee with a shot of Bailey's = yes please! Every now and then, they would announce a whale off the side of the ship and everyone would run over to take a look.

Another surprise was fish tacos from the Ketchikan Fish House were being served as a teaser for our next port: Ketchikan!

The Ruby Princess has a large range of food options; truly something for everyone. Like many cruise lines, some of the dining options are including in your fare, such as meals in the main dining room, the casual buffet on the Lido deck, and a few quick service options. There are also a handful of specialty restaurants that you can enjoy for a nominal fee.

It's recommended that you prebook the speciality dining restaurants prior to your vacation, as these are smaller dining rooms and can filled to capacity, especially on sea days. We imagined that our trip with the kids would not include the speciality restaurants, so we did not make any reservations. However, on the very first night, we decided to splash-out at the steak restaurant, Crown Grill. The first night of a cruise is one of the slowest for specialty dining, so we were easily accommodated and the restaurant was practically empty.

Felix is a bit of a finicky eater, but the staff at Crown Grill was awesome. They ran to another restaurant on the ship to get a big plate of pasta shells and cheese. Felix was thrilled. The rest of us enjoyed steak and seafood. The dessert sampler was divine. It was easily the best meal that we ate on the Ruby Princess and had we been able to secure another reservation, we would have returned. Based on all of my past cruises, I definitely recommend trying the specialty restaurants. They are usually worth paying a little extra.

Although we didn't have a chance to dine in them, we did take a look at the other speciality dining offerings onboard. I was most intrigued by celebrity chef Curtis Stone's Share, which offers a six-course meal. Adigo is the Italian offering and I suspect this is where Felix's shells and cheese was procured. The Salty Dog is the Gastropub option.

We had the late seating in the Da Vinci Dining Room. I always find it difficult to choose between the early and late seating, but since we were a late booking ( only a handful of available cabins when we booked), we were not given a choice.

As far as cruise ships go, the offerings in the main dining room were about average. When we were on a two-week cruise, we found the main dining room choices to get a little same-y, but a week is just enough to enjoy it, without getting board. The dining room staff certainly works very hard ( as does everyone on the ship), but the meals always feels rushed. I think more than that, the stress from the servers trickles over. I noticed this on previous cruises. They try very hard to maintain an air of calm, but the whole meal feels somewhat tense.

There are several main dining rooms and although we were assigned to Da Vinci for dinner, breakfast and lunch were unassigned.