Background: I am a 36-year-old male from Chicago, IL and was accompanied by my 29-year-old girlfriend. This was my fourth cruise but the other three were all with Royal Caribbean to the Caribbean. We flew to Seattle the the day before the cruise so we could have about 24 hours to enjoy the city( very beautiful). We spent the night at the Sheraton Seattle Hotel which is in a great location downtown at very reasonable price (just over $180 for our room with tax). Money Saving Tip: Take public transportation from the airport to downtown Seattle - two busses go from the airport to downtown for just $1.50 per person. Takes about 45 minutes.

The Itinerary: Seven Night Round Trip Alaska Cruise from Seattle with stops at Glacier Bay, Juneau, Sitka, and Ketchikan.

Embarkation: Embarkation was a breeze. We took a taxi from downtown to the port (short drive, about 15 minutes). We arrived at the port about 11:10am and there was a short line to drop off our luggage. Tip: Make sure to fill out the online forms to speed up the Embarkation process. When the ship opened up for boarding at about 11:30am we were ready to walk on. We explored ship, had lunch, and our stateroom was open about 1:00pm. Only problem with Embarkation was we had signed up for Fixed Late Seating and were assigned to Open Seating; a quick visit to the Maitre'd settled the problem. Read more