Here's a review for people who don't consider themselves "cruise people." We are quite well-traveled, never on organized tours, but thought this was the best way to see Alaska without having to kill myself planning. Did a RC cruise when my folks took 17 of us back in 2004. We loved it, but that was then cruise-wise. Took a Celebrity Southern Caribbean cruise a few winters back to escape Boston. Ports were amazing, didn't care for Celebrity.
So I finally decided on this cruise based on the itinerary and the Princess reviews. We spent a day and a half in Vancouver (Metropolitan Hotel, Deluxe room; absolutely loved it). Boarding process was great, easy. When we got to the cabin, I looked at the safe and realized my jewelry was still in the hotel safe. (VERY unlike me, what can I say?) Thank G-d the hotel was so close, we ran back and got it from the front desk. :)
I know everyone complains about the tiny cabins, but honestly, we liked ours (Emerald Deck, window) and didn't feel cramped. To be fair, we are small, I'm a 2 Petite, so the shower wasn't a problem.Lots of closet and shelf space. I hated the wall-mounted hair dryer! The backside sucked my long hair in and twice, we had to rip it free. The Steward finally got me a different one, but truly, my hair never looked good on the cruise. Just sayin. The Steward isn't really a steward, he's only available part-time for you, and no origami towels at night! I was very glad we weren't higher than Deck 8 because you can really feel the ship moving sometimes, this ain't the Caribbean. I like Deck 8 because we walked the stairs most of the time.
We did architecture (Art Deco) walking tour and walked entirely around Stanley Park. Pretty awesome. Burning calories pre-cruise.