Our party consisted of two couples, all with limited previous cruise experience.
Cabin: Seems very small at first, but lots of storage and plenty of room for all of our stuff. Comfortable beds. We had a balcony and I wouldn't sail any other way. Beautiful scenery and since you're sailing the Inside Passage much of the way there are views from both sides of the ship.
Food: We chose Personal Choice dining. We enjoyed the flexibility of scheduling our dinners around ship and shore activities. There was also no rush to finish so that the next group could come in. We decided that the only negative was that you don't develop a rapport with your server. But most of the servers we had were nice enough and we would make the same choice again. If you go this route, be sure to make your reservations in one of the four dining rooms - Santa Fe, Pacific Moon, Vivaldi, Savoy the day before. The nights when all are on board early or the ship is at sea, the dining rooms fill up fast for the best times. We actually made several days at once. It dosen't matter where you eat the menu is the same except for one special that fits the theme of each room. We found that we had to ask about the special, it was usually not offered. The waiters were very flexible and would exchange any item you were not satisfied with or didn't like. Keep in mind you are not going to get gourmet quality food when they are cooking for 2700, so keep your expectations reasonable and you'll find the food's not bad.