We sailed the Volendam on the 7 day round trip out of Vancouver to Alaska the first week of June 2013. I'm a new cruiser and had heard/red mixed things about cruises. This is what we experienced:
Boarding and logistics at Vancouver were extremely well organized. The only advice I have is save the HAL transfer and take a cab, it's much less expensive.
The ship itself is mid-sized, not huge, it still looks like a ship, not a floating hotel.
Cabin was the most forward on starboard verandah deck. It was lower cost than others but I have no idea why. It was absolutely great and we could see forward and look up into the bridge wing and see the captain when he was docking in Vancouver