May 17-EmbarkationWe were dropped off by private car on Sunday May 17th at Pier 91.We came in about noon and it went fairly well although the design where passengers have to cross two lanes of incoming traffic to get to the terminal seems crazy.  There were representatives at this area stopping trafficwhen there was room for us to cross.  We dropped off bags at the scanner machine and then to another line or two and got our cruise card.  It went quickly and smoothly at this point.  All of that was probably no more than 20 to 30 minutes. The Star Princess is a beautiful ship.  Everyone was friendly and wonderful to us all week long.  They all seemed like a very harmonious group.  We were so lucky to not have a drop of rain all week.  The sun was shining for the most part in every port and this is a rarity in May in Alaska.We would start with a jacket but end up taking it off later.  Dress in layers starting with something short sleeved so you can peel if the weather was like ours.  We were cold at 6:00 a.m. on the beginning of Tracy Arm Fjord, and I had the full hat, gloves and raincoat on then.We took our small suitcases to the room and off to explore.  We had an inside on the Baja deck.  Our room steward gal was Clarence and she was great and greeted us warmly everyday.  She kept our room in perfect condition and my request of egg crate mattress cover was filled immediately.  She always made us artistic creations with my daughter's blanket throw and pillow she brings along.  The muster drill was done inside, but for some reason it seemed really long this time, and I usually think Princess has one of the shorter times on this.We went up to sail away and Mt. Rainer was showing in all her majesty, which is also a rarity.  It was magnificent to start off with one of many amazing sites we would see on our way to and in Alaska.     FOODWe had any time dining for this cruise and found each and every wait staff that we encountered to be quick and efficient.  We ate all our dinners here and two lunches.  We chose to use Portofino on deck 5 and thought the maitre d was wonderful.  We always were able to have our table for two.I enjoyed almost everything I ordered.  I especially love to have the cheese and bread tray.  They had a wonderful selection of cheeses each time.  We had a lot of food items from the International Cafe and loved everything about this area.  Their little sandwiches really hit the spot.  The server here was always so happy to please you in any way he could.   We had buffet breakfast several times, but I did not really have lunch there.  I did not find it congested as others have stated, but it could be the time I had my meal.  I liked everything I tried.  The Pastry Extravaganza (Dessert Buffet) on Saturday was wonderful.It was from 11:30 to 1:30 and very popular.  I really think they are doing desserts better than when I started cruising in 1996.  Sometimes, through the years, the dessert looked so good, but had very little taste.  Seems the taste has improved over the last few cruises.  We didn't do room service as the one time I tried to get a cheese and cracker tray I was told that that had to be ordered 6 hours ahead.  I am sure if you stick with what is listed that is not the case.  It was probably another cruise line that I am remembering we ordered this before.ONBOARD ACTIVITIESThere seemed to be various activities through the day and we tried a trivia game and though our group got 19 out of 20 there were others that got 20.  We also did the line dance classes and loved those.  On the morning before Victoria, we played miniature golf and shuffleboard to make sure we got that in.  It was a blast!  We were not very skilled at either.A lot of our time was spent enjoying the lounge chairs in the covered swimming pool area.  It was toasty warm and the sun shone brightly through the glass roof.  It was a wonderful area to enjoy a little nap or read.   There were some wonderful presentations regarding the history, wildlife, and areas we were going to be seeing at various times during the cruise and we enjoyed a few of those also. The commentary as we went through Tracy Arm was top notch.  There were two major production shows that we enjoyed.  The first was Cinematastic and the other called Destination Anywhere.  I am always impressed at the dance numbers and costume changes these young people do.  We also caught the comedian Tony Daro and enjoyed that a great deal.  One night the evening entertainment at 8:00 in the theater was the movie Yes Man.  While we did enjoy the movie, I miss that there was not more live entertainment such as another comedian or magician or singer etc.  We did not see Carl Banks and I am not sure what he did.  He did not appear in the main theater.  They did have a very funny International Crew Talent show, but that is not a main entertainer, so I am not sure if it is this ship in particular or the economy that the entertainment seemed to be cut back.We always came quite early to the theater to get a seat and on a couple occasions people were turned away as the show was full.  PORTSKetchikan:  We enjoyed hiking to various areas of this port and spent time in shops on Creek Street and up the Married Man Trail.  We walked out to the Totem Heritage Center and Fish Hatchery.  It was a beautiful day to walk and that was probably the best part.  I was not at all impressed with the Totem museum.  The Fish Hatchery was slightly better just because we were able to see two beautiful bald eagles that had been rescued, up very close.  They were magnificent birds.  The price for both was $13, separate the totems were $5 each and the hatchery $10.   Tracy Arm Fjord:  We were lucky enough to make it all the way up to the North and South Sawyer Glaciers and the entire way we saw the most incredible sites.  Kudos to our Captain, Bob Oliver, for making that such a memorable trip.  I have been up Tracy Arm one other time, and due to ice, we were not able to make it to the glaciers.  What a treat this was!Juneau:  There is quite a walk in to Juneau or a shuttle bus for $3 a person round trip.  We chose the shuttle as we were going to be hiking later.  We went in to town and caught a Mendenhall Shuttle for $14 round trip per person.  It is an old white school bus, and we enjoyed the commentary of the driver to and from. We thought the glacier was incredible and the waterfall just off to the right was just beautiful.  It is a little bit of a walk out to the waterfall, but well worth it.  We hustled and were able to do it in an hour.  The bus comes back every half hour with 6:00 being the last shuttle back.  We did a little bit of shopping and back to the ship for dinner.Skagway:  We booked a tour online with Skagway Float Tours for a Hike and Float tour.  We were met by our guide Kellie and really enjoyed our time with her.  She drove us to the Chilkoot Trail head and we had a wonderful 2-mile hike.  This trail is 33 miles in length for those that want big adventure.  Then we took a lovely scenic float trip down the nearby river, which the name escapes me.  We saw so many eagles and a family of river otters seemed to enjoy our presence and followed us along all the way.  On the drive we also saw many, many seals in the river also.  We had a wonderful day, as the weather was perfect.  Victoria:  We took the ship's Enchanting Butchart Garden tour.  It was a very warm evening and not even a jacket was needed.  The gardens were unbelievably beautiful.  Our bus driver explained life in Victoria and we were able to tour through down town harbor area which was an extra if we had time and we were all on the bus in time so we were able to do so.  What a great excursion this was. Of course all good things must come to an end, and after our last late night dinner we packed our bags.  The next morning we took our time, as our private car pick up was not on a schedule.  We were to report by 9:00 to the Vista Lounge and we had quite a wait at this point.  After we were called finding our luggage and going through the customs was a breeze, after that was the challenge.  The loading area outside is limited in space but of course the ship keeps unloading so it seemed packed like sardines and more and more of us wanted in to that pickup area.  We were separated into a taxi and private line but it was all just a free for all really.  Somehow we got down to an area that my son could get to.  He had to wait out in the car line for about 30 to 45 minutes before he found us and once loaded we zipped out of there no problem.  The taxi's were plentiful at the point we were out there, and they even blocked other vehicles as only one group could load at a time then the next cab pulled up.  At least that is how it looked to me so the waiting cabs blocked access to other private or van vehicles it seemed.  I do not see how this can ever get better as the design is flawed and not sure what they could do as you cannot create more space where there is none.  It just boggles the mind that the engineers did not think this through.  I would not have liked having a flight even remotely early in the day.  It was chaotic, but it did not stress us out, as we did not have anything scheduled.  If you go on this cruise, just take a deep breath at the point you hit this area and know you will eventually get through.  In summation, we had an absolutely wonderful time, met wonderful people in our cruise critic meet and greet on our first sea day, and enjoyed everything about the Star Princess.