We scheduled our cruise in June. We used an internet agency and booked a VH guarantee room. This was our 25th anniversary and it was a special occasion for us. We booked the Pinnacle Grill for our anniversary night dinner. About 2 weeks before our cruise we received our documents and found that we were booked into a VA cabin! We were thrilled and then later I was told that the 7th deck has the best cabin stewards. We started our holiday by spending 2 nights in Seattle in order to see the area. We stayed at the Inn at the Market, which was perfect for us. We arrived to the ship on Saturday at about noon. We had a very easy embarkation. This was our first cruise and I envisioned 2,000 passengers all weary eyed trying to find their way onto the ship. I envisioned an Ellis Island experience. Boy, was I wrong. Everything was perfectly scheduled and choreographed. We went through check in very quickly and were directed to the ship and into the Lido deck. We got a small lunch as we were determined to not gain a lot of weight. We were invited to join a woman at a large table and enjoyed the visit. At about 1:30 an announcement was made that staterooms were ready. We went to our room and found a very comfortable room with fantastic deck. Two chairs, footrest and table were on the deck. TIP: We brought on several bottles of wine and champagne that we enjoy which saved us a ton of money! We purchased this at Cost Plus at great prices. Our bed was very comfortable and the bathroom very adequate. Plenty of storage. Our steward, Yudianto, was great. He kept ice on hand. Brought us wine glasses, and anything we could desire before we asked. We had 8pm main dining and enjoyed the service by Bagus and company. They took excellent care of us. We bought the week long spa facility use which we enjoyed. We ordered breakfast in our room daily in order to avoid the buffet temptation. We ordered fruit, cottage cheese, yogurt which we mixed together. Also asked for 2 pots of coffee, which was perfect for us coffee hounds. We worked out daily in the work out facility which was small but adequate for us. We skipped lunch almost every day, but enjoyed crackers and cheese with wine in our room...usually on our deck in the late afternoon. We did have tea delivered to our room twice, which was nice. I snitched a couple of cookies from the buffet line to help the tea go down easily. We did enjoy high tea on one day, which was nicely done. The shows were fine...we are not big show goers...but did enjoy a couple of them and most of the guests seemed to like it. The dinners were fabulous in the dining room. I liked the formal nights. Many were in tuxes and gowns, all but very few were dressed very nicely, at least coat/tie and cocktail dresses. This was great fun. We had drinks in the Crows nest and did a few spins on the dance floor on a few occasions. The Crow's Nest staff were great fun, especially one staff member "Booser". The life of the party. He remembered our names after the first night and most guests would arrive and great him with "BOOSE, BOOSE, BOOSE" We enjoyed our ports of call. Our favorites were Sitka and Ketchikan. We did a tour of Raptor Center in Sitka, which I found interesting. We did a Zip Line excursion in Ketchikan, which we LOVED! It was a little frightening as far as heights, one woman chickened out after the first short trial line. All in all it was a great deal of fun and we would do it again in a heart beat. Well worth the money. We sadly arrived back to Seattle and found the disembarkation amazingly organized. We were told our times were between 8-8:15am. We arrived at 8:05, our luggage was easy to locate, and out and in a cab by 8:30. The whole trip was wonderful and we will definitely cruise with Holland America again...soon I hope. By the way, despite all our efforts to not gain a bunch of weight, I still gained 4 pounds! All the desserts I guess! My husband gained just a couple. We will be back in good form in a few days...well worth it!