My wife, 10 year old son, flew into Seattle on Friday afternoon and met my mother in law at the Airport. I made a internet hotel reservation 2 months ago with the DoubleTree SouthCenter Hotel and all 4 of us caught their free shuttle to the hotel. We were given the 7th floor and the room included a small living room and bedroom. It was a 8 minute ride from the airport and it was a nice quiet hotel for families. Saturday morning we caught the free shuttle again back to the airport and checked in with Express Shuttle. I made a online reservation and was given the rate of $36.00 for all 4 of us. After waiting 35 minutes for our name to be called we started questioning the attendant. 3 more attempts finally got us on a shuttle and we were given the ride for free since they lost us in the computer system. We arrived at Pier 30 by 11:15 am. The first area is where you turn in your baggage. Then you are sent into the building for another 15 minute line to check in with a window clerk. By 12:00 noon we were on board and ready to cruise. We arranged two rooms on the Caribe 10th floor. My mother in law had the inside room 536 and we had balcony room 614. The inside room was adequate but appeared to be near some fans and always appeared to be very loud inside. Our balcony room was nice and quiet with a sliding glass door leading out to a huge half covered balcony containing 4 chairs and a table. The room itself was nice and roomy for 2. I would recommend this floor to other cruisers for its location on the ship and nice size balcony. The room attendant was very good. She was always available but never in the way. We only made one request to her for Ice and it was delivered within the hour. However, she never made any towel animals and our 10 year old son missed that on this ship. Princess Cruise anticipated his need for entertainment and had a children's program delivered to the room addressed to him which is something I thought was a nice touch. We attended the mandatory Muster drill but because the area we were told to show up in was so crowded we had to be moved to a different area. This was a very disorganized function and Princess should have done a better job at this since they do it on this ship every saturday. The food on the ship was good. We had assigned seating for the 5:45 time slot in the main dining room. I did not like our table and we were told on the first night that our waiter was sick and we were assigned a sub. He was adequate but slow. The second night the real waiter showed up but after waiting 30 minutes for the dessert to appear we got up and left advising another waiter that we had a show to attend and could not wait any longer. We skipped the dinning room the next night and when we did go back our waiter apologized for being so slow but he never did catch on to our style or speed. We never returned again for fear of having to deal with the inadequate service and bad table location. On the other hand, the Horizon Court had good food for all 3 meals and plenty of seating so we found it to be a much more relaxed environment there. The shows were great and well attended so make sure you get there 15 minutes early. We did 4 ship excursions. In Juneau we did the Fish Hatchery and Mend. Glacier. Well worth seeing both and a nice buss ride. White Horse Train ride in Skagway is not to be missed. The Rain Forrest walk was not worth the price in Ketchikan. In Victoria, BC we opted for the Gardens and that was really nice. We found the best shopping in Skagway with plenty of shops that were not overly crowded. Saw lots of spectacular sites and really enjoyed the trip. Leaving Saturday Morning was very organized and we were off the ship and in the shuttle express by 9:30 am heading back to the airport. Big Pluses for this trip: Seeing Alaska's beauty and going through Tracy Arm. Not sure we would travel again on Princes. It was a nice ship but a little too big for what we like. Would I go back.....You bet.