This is the fourth cruise we have taken, just about one every 8-9 years. Spent 2 nights in Seattle at the Inn at the Market. Weather was really nice with clear and slightly cool weather. Embarkation was pretty quick as we were on the boat within 45 minutes of arrival. The cabin was ready when we got there, and the first piece of luggage showed up within the hour. Second piece of luggage showed up after dinner. On the first night out after leaving Seattle you travel out into the Pacific Ocean we had 5-8 foot seas which gave the boat a slight roll and pitch, not enough to make you sick. But, enough to make walking a challenge. First "stop" was going thru the Tracy Arm Fjord. Beautiful scenery for the first 3-4 hours, but all day in that Fjord got pretty boring. Second stop was Skagway, a very small town with a lot of character. You will not find a Burger King or McDonalds here, but the Red Onion Saloon has pretty good food. We took the steam train tour and had a blast riding up into Canada.

Third stop was in Juneau where we took a helicopter tour with dog sledding. We did not use the Carnival Cruise excursion as we understood that they go to the Mendenhall glacier, which is crowded and has more weather related issues. We booked with Coastal Helicopter and went to the Herbert glacier. We had the first tour of the day and it was just the 2 of us in the helicopter and on the dog sledding ride. The dogs were very friendly and they love to run with the sleds. We got to play with the 2 week old puppies. We also landed on the icy part of the glacier and got to taste the glacier water (bring an empty water bottle to fill up). Third stop was Ketchikan. We rented an electric car and followed the map to different stops of interest in the city. Forth stop was in Victoria BC, we arrived at 7:00pm and had to back on ship by 11:30pm so we just went out for dinner. The ship was clean and in good repair. We heard that the week before our cruise, in Juneau they had thrown 56 crew members off of the ship. The crew seemed short staffed in the dining room (dirty tables left un-bused for long periods of time). They also seemed short staffed in the in cabin attendants. Food in the buffet on the Lido deck was pretty bad and finding a seat was tough. Dining room food was just OK. We dined in the steakhouse one night, the rib-eye was good, the filet mignon was dry and over-cooked. Disembarkation was made perfect with the new "express luggage" option. We signed up at guest services, it costs $20 per person. You get a luggage tag for each bag and your flight boarding passes the night before you arrive back in Seattle. Place the bags outside your door by 11:00pm and you don't see your bags again until you arrive back in your home town airport luggage area. We just walked right off the ship without ever stopping.