We flew into Seattle 3 days prior to our cruise to see the city and had a wonderful time. Seattle is a beautiful city, very clean and friendly. We stayed at the Alexis Hotel right in downtown. The hotel is beautiful and the staff is exceptional. We took the ferry out to Bainbridge Island for the afternoon, the Argosy Lock Cruise, and the Seattle City Tours waterfall and wine tour. All of our experiences were great. The driver for the hotel, Abebe, picked us up at the airport when we arrived ($50), took us to the cruise ship on Sat.($20), and went back to the hotel and picked up my husband's jacket he left in the room (priceless).

Embarkation was effortless as always with HAL. We did on line registration so it took less than 10 minutes. We arrived about 11:45, then had to wait for the jacket so we got onboard around 12:15 and went straight to the Vista dining room for a lovely lunch. We usually try to eat in the dining room for lunch and dinner, and use room service for breakfast.

We had initially booked a cabin on the back of the ship (VA) but upgraded to the SS suite. I don't know if I will ever be satisfied with a deluxe verandah again! We had more than enough room, plenty of storage, large balcony, a desk with a window, makeup vanity, large sofa, 2 club chairs, a chair for the desk, full size whirlpool tub and separate shower .The cabin was immaculately clean thanks to our wonderful room steward, Ismial. He took great care of us, keeping everything spotless, and the ice bucket full. Read more