This was my first cruise. I was traveling with my partner (her third, and second with Princess), my senior parents (their first), my senior aunt and my 40-year-old cousin (also their first). Overall, we all had an amazing time.
The Sun Princess is an impressive ship. I guess it was originally launched in 1995, and it has that era's sort of gentrified brass-rail type of modernized decor for the most part. Though not classically elegant, it is grand in its own way. It has all the amenities that you would expect, just not anything strikingly unusual or special.
During the day, our favorite on-ship activities included the art auctions and wine tastings. We didn't spend too much time in the casino, though I did win $20 on a Pink Panther slot machine. There were quite a few activities scheduled, especially during at-sea days, and some of the events I wanted to do conflicted with others. It would have been nice to perhaps repeat some of the events at different times so that people might have a second chance to experience them. I really wanted to see the lecture with the first woman Iditarod winner, but the timing was poor -- it was scheduled while we were in port at Juneau and it was tough trying to get back from our excursions to freshen up in time and also try to grab dinner.