We flew Alaska Airlines from San Francisco to Anchorage, via Seattle, the day before embarkation. We're glad we got that long flight (and tight connection) out of the way at the beginning of the trip. Stayed at the Westmark in Anchorage, which was very clean and quite nice. Free Wi-Fi. Downtown Anchorage itself was nothing to write home about, though the Alaska State Museum was very good.
Transfer and embarkation went very smoothly despite rain (the worst we would get on the whole trip). The Princess shuttle ride out to Whittier was dramatically beautiful. We got on the bus at 1 and were in our room before 4.
Our inside stateroom was spotless, well-lighted, and in good condition. Enough room everywhere, except for the shower, which was basically good for washing as quickly as possible and getting out. I liked the teak and teak-looking metal details in the room and in the hallways. It was very warm in the room when we embarked (wasn't a problem once we got sailing) so we requested topsheets to use in place of the comforters, and they were brought in promptly.