Background:  We've cruised many times.  Most of our cruises have been split between Royal Caribbean and Princess, with one cruise each on three other cruise lines. This was our first back-to-back cruise on any line.Our arrival in Vancouver was smooth, no problems with luggage or finding a taxi.  We found our hotel, The Sutton Place, on Hotwire.  It was a very good choice.  The location was nearly perfect, the service and our room couldn't have been better.  We dropped our luggage off and headed out for a walk around the city.  Dinner at Joe Forte's was recommended by the hotel concierge and was a very good choice.  Their wild salmon was excellent.  We wanted to see more of the city than walking would allow so signed up at the hotel for a bus tour that would drop us off at Canada Place.  West Coast Sightseeing Tours did an excellent tour that took us to Stanley Park, the Capilano Suspension Bridge & Treetops Adventure (the highlight for us), Gas Town and Granville Island.  We arrived at Canada Place around 2:45 pm.Embarkation went smoothly.  We had all of our luggage by the time the lifeboat drill ended.  Our cabin was an inside cabin on deck 11.  The beds were comfortable and we slept well the entire cruise.  Our cabin steward was terrific!  We never had to ask for anything because he had already done it.  We had been on Island Princess before so felt comfortable with the layout of the ship.  Our Anytime Dining experiences were hit or miss.  When we sat at higher numbered tables our service was perfect.  Lower numbered tables had slower service.  It was difficult to get to shows and parties on nights we sat in the lower numbers.  It took less time when we requested a table for two vs sharing with others.  The meals were very good but we missed one of our favorites, escargot, which is no longer on the menu.  The Horizon Court gets very high marks.  The atmosphere created by smiling workers made the experience very enjoyable. It was a favorite spot for viewing during scenic cruising.Entertainment on the ship was very good quality but tended to be repeated.  We enjoyed two different commedians. The Island Princess Singers & Dancers were terrific in two shows.  It would have been nice to have another performer or a third show by the Singers & Dancers for variety.We planned independent shore excursions and one ship tour before leaving home.  We visited Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway twice.  In Ketchikan, we took the Bering Sea Crab Fishermen's tour on our first visit and the Misty Fjord boat tour on the second visit.  The Bering Sea Crab tour is not to be missed.  It was an all around terrific educational and entertaining tour. The Misty Fjord tour was a nice easy day in a comfortable boat.  The scenery was lovely and we spotted eagles, seals and a playful young whale. The chowder served was very good.  Both tours were well worth taking.In Skagway, we waited to see what the weather was like before deciding to take the train to Frazer and bus back.  We didn't want to do the train if the weather was foggy.  It was easy to book at the last minute at a stand near the docks.  The scenery was beautiful - lots of snow on the ground to make the mountains sparkle.  There was enough time to have lunch on the ship then head out to see the Days of '98 show in town.  We purchased tickets at the theater.  This was a surprisingly good show that left everyone laughing.  On our next pass through Skagway we did a ship's tour, Nature and Wildlife Expedition.  We traveled to Haines, a beautiful setting, for a bus trip to different locations for wildlife viewing through scopes.  We also did a short walk through a rainforest.  The scenery was so lovely that we were glad we took this tour.Juneau was a mixed bag for us.  On our first stop, we purchased a tour of the city with a Mendenhall stop.  There wasn't much to see in the city besides a scenic overlook, the driver got lost and we didn't have enough time at the glacier.  My camera died that day so we shopped for a new one after the tour.  We saw more of the city by walking to the camera store.  We took the Mt. Roberts Tramway hoping to do some hiking.  The trails were snow covered so we enjoyed the views instead.  Our second stop in Juneau was more successful.  This time we were on the first MGT bus out to Mendenhall.  The driver told us about the city along the drive.  We viewed the film at the Visitor's Center and then set out for the waterfall.  It was a very nice walk and one I would love to do again.  We had enough time to take one of the boardwalks near the bus stop before the 11:30 pickup. The bus dropped us off in town (our choice).  The Alaska State Museum was next on our list of things to do.  It had lovely exhibits on various regions of Alaska.  We didn't have enough time to do this museum justice.  We had a very good naturalist onboard who spoke at various times.  Park Rangers also came on at Glacier Bay.  DH liked to watch during our scenic cruising from the public area in front on deck 11.  I liked the protection from the wind on the public aft balcony areas.  The sun was warm and there were chairs there.The highlight of our cruise was our stop in Whittier.  We took the Prince William Sound tour on the Emerald Sea.  Wow!  College Fjord and Glacier Bay were nice but this was so much better. The scenery was breathtaking.  At one point we had calving glaciers on two sides.  We could hear them crack and groan before they splashed into the water.  There were sea lions out on icebergs in several places and the amazing kittiwake rookery too.  If that wasn't enough, the crew of the Emerald Sea served up a delicious meal to those of us who purchased that option.We were sad to have our two weeks on Island Princess end.  Disembarkation went smoothly.  We went to our meeting place, waited about 20 minutes until our tag was called, found our luggage quickly and were on the independent shuttle to the airport shortly thereafter.I'd have to say this was one of our favorite cruises.  There was plenty to see and do both on the ship and off.  There were days when we felt good about doing nothing but relaxing.  Our cabin was comfortable, the food was good and the entertainment kept us entertained.  Who could ask for more from a cruise?