I must start by saying that in spite of a horrible experience aboard the Star Princess, I do not at all regret taking an Alaskan cruise. The unbelievable beauty of Alaska and the wonderful shore excursions were worth every miserable minute aboard the ship. But, if you are considering an Alaska trip yourself, you may wish to investigate other cruise lines.
I am by no means a cruise expert as my voyage on the Star Princess was my first cruise. However, I am a weekly business traveler and have quite a bit of experience dealing with the hospitality industry. I spend at least 1-2 nights a week in hotels (of all levels). I was under the impression that cruise lines endeavored to be the best of the hospitality industry. However, I found that most staff members I encountered on the Star Princess were surly at best and downright rude and indifferent at their worst. With the exception of a few staff members (namely our cabin steward Victor and a very small minority of the restaurant servers), the staff was reluctant to answer questions, fill drink orders, or even smile. Even the staff at the day spa (who rely on additional tips) were unfriendly! I received a pedicure from a salon employee who never spoke to me once but simply ordered me around with grunts and gestures. I would have assumed that perhaps she simply couldn't speak, except that she gladly carried on a conversation in English with another employee through half of my appointment.
Worse than the unfriendly staff, was the unbearably awful food. I had heard lots of stories from other travelers who gained the "inevitable" extra weight from wonderful cruise food. However, I lost 8 pounds while aboard the Princess Star. The breakfast buffet was stocked daily with runny eggs, pasty oatmeal, strange sausages, bordering-on-stale bread, and dull fruit. Every other day cream of wheat was available (my saving grace) but even this got runnier as the week went on (clearly the result of water being added to make the supply last longer). Boxed cereal was also available, but cold milk to go with it was sometimes in short supply. Dinner was not much better. One evening, the only recognizable meat dish (to a midwestern American anyway) was Beef Tongue. The other meat dishes were things I had never heard of. Given that the dish I HAD heard of included the word "tongue" in the title, I wasn't willing to try the other "mystery" meats. I could have skipped straight to dessert, but when I saw the Raisin Chocolate cake (I couldn't make this up), I figured that I would skip that as well. On a few occasions I gave up and ordered from the pool-side grille (hot dogs, hamburgers, etc.) and pizza stands. Under normal conditions the food there could best be described as mediocre. However, compared to the other food options aboard ship, it was a delicacy.
The Dolphin deck mini-suite was fairly spacious and the bathroom was comfortably larger than I expected. The balcony was a must-have for Alaska cruising. Our location next to the stairwell was convenient.