Celebrity, Holland, Princess, Norwegian. We had various choices to choose from for our long awaited Alaskan cruise. Having cruised on Princess and Carnival before, the free style cruising was intriguing, especially since we were planning a cruise for 9 people of various interests and tastes.

Embarkment was definitely smooth and stress free. although we were told we could not check in until 1pm, lines opened at 11am. Definitely get there early, but lines moved quickly. We were even able to check in, enjoy the lunch offered and then leave the boat and walk around Pike Street Market prior to sailing.

We had a total of four rooms. Trying to economize, we all took inner rooms and gave my parents the room with a balcony. This worked out well. The grandkids loved going to their grandparents room to watch for whale and enjoy the scenery. Read more