Over the years we have cruised a number of times.  This was our 19th or 20th cruise taken on various cruise lines including Princess, Celebrity, Holland America, Royal Caribbean, Carnival, and NCL  Even though we have made many of these trips on Princess ships, in the last 5 years we have only traveled with Princess one timeon the Grand Princess in 2005.  It is a nice ship and we were treated very well on that cruise.  Our recent experience on the Island Princess leaves us with the feeling that we probably will avoid this line in the future.  We booked this May 2009 cruisetour in the fall of 2008 when the global economy was stronger.  We probably paid too much for this trip.   However, we did get onboard credit ($200 per person) and, once we had boarded, another $100 per cabin which helped to offset, somewhat, the recent reduction in price that was being advertised by the cruise line for this trip.  In no supplied information were we told that this issued onboard credit was given on a "use it or loose it" situation.  In fact, our final room statement from the ship showed and stated "credit due" of almost $200.  When we contacted the cruise line after almost two months had passed and no credit had been issued for our credit card, the Princess company stated that this credit was on a "use it or loose it" situation and we are just out of luck because we failed to use it all.  Their reply continues that "they welcome us back anytime in the future",  but they don't issue even any onboard credit for this amount on a future cruise.  Well, it will probably be a long timeif we ever doreturn to their line.We visited Alaska in 1989 on a Sitmar cruise, sailing from and returning to San Francisco.  Since that time there have been many changes, both to the ports, and to the landscape.  Even though this cruise only visited three ports, it did include the "double-Denali" tour and 5 days that ended in Fairbanks.  My observation of changes to the ports includes that in 1989 as we departed our ship at each port we were immediately "in the small town or village".  We were not forced to walk through 3 or 4 blocks of "cruise-ship owned" gift stores before we encountered the local merchants and their shops.  It is also noted by this author that the Mendenhall Glacier has receded approximately 100-150 feet since that time.We booked our own air from DFW to Vancouver on American Airlines and returning flight from Fairbanks to DFW on Alaska Airlines.  Both trips were okay and by booking on our own flights, we saved over $400 per person from the quoted "air add-on" of the cruise line.  However, probably because the cruise lines had all the flights reserved on the day of sailing, we were forced to travel to Vancouver the day before sailing and had to spend a night there in a hotel.  Our 3-hour direct flight from DFW to Vancouver was very pleasant and uneventful and we found our hotel very comfortable.  The following morning we walked, in the rain, a couple of miles on Granville Island to various locations around our hotel.  Just before noon we returned to the hotel, checked out, and took a cab to Canada Place where we immediately boarded the ship.At first glance our stateroom, balcony cabin A520, was very pleasant and comfortable.  However, closer inspection revealed that even though it had a very nice "walk-in" closet and there was adequate storage areas, the bathroom was so compact, with such a small shower, it was not easy to use.  Both my wife and I fall into the "per portion height/weight size" category and we were not very comfortable with the shower.  I found that if I dropped a bar of soap, there was no way I could retrieve it without turning off the shower and getting out into the floor of the bathroom to reach it.  My wife, who is somewhat short, was very uncomfortable because the shower had no provision for the nozzle height to be adjusted and there was absolutely no hand-held shower.  Regarding the bathroom size, I heard more than one fellow cruiser remark that they could "wash only one shoulder or one leg at a time, etc".  In the stateroom we noted that there were only two chairs and neither one was comfortable enough to sit in to watch television or read.   Obviously one chair was to be used for the desk and the other had no footstool or reasonable amount of padding to make it comfortable.  We did sit sometimes on the balcony, but found that it was too cool to stay there for any length of time to read.  The result of this was that anytime we were in our stateroom, to be comfortable, we must sit on or lie on the bed.  The stateroom service was acceptable even though the food room service was somewhat inadequate.  On Monday I requested a fruit basket. After a second request on Wednesday it was finally delivered on Thursday.  One pleasant, memorable event (which we all usually dread) was the first day Passenger Muster Exercise.  The other cruise lines should take instruction from Princess.  The Princess crew has this event staged and presented in a very pleasing fashion with passengers gathering in pleasant, comfortable surroundings.We booked tours at two of our three ports with private, local guides.  So, I can only comment about the one "ship tour" that we took.  It was in Juneau and included a very nice bus excursion to a local garden followed by a trip to the Mendenhall Glacier area.  Both stops were very enjoyable.  Our private tour in Ketchikan included a visit to the totem village area and the Creek Street area.  Our private tour from Skagway was a 6 1/2 hour bus trip to Emerald Lake in Yukon Territory, Canada.  It was outstanding!  If I were doing it again I would take the bus/rail combination trip to the same location.  Our other excursions were included with the "land portion" of our trip from the various Princess lodges in and around Denali Park and in Fairbanks.  They were all outstanding.  It is also noted that we found traveling on the dome rail cars to these locations very comfortable, enjoyable, and informative.     We had traditional dining, early seating, with our friends at a table for 4.  Our waiters were excellent and very accommodating even to the point of, on two different nights, having a plate of assorted cookies, including petit-fours which my wife likes very much, sent to our stateroom.  The food in all areas was certainly okay.  Some items were better than othersthe lobster and scampi, served together, was interesting.  The scampi was delicious; the lobster was overcooked, dry, and tasteless.  Of all the cruise lines we have used, I think the food on Celebrity usually is the best including their delicious ice cream that is served almost continuously in the buffet area.The entertainment on this cruise was certainly not the normal fare.  The ship's singers and dancers troup was it.  They presented 3 shows, repeated two of those a second night, and the showroom was dark the other two nights.  There was an onboard "Port Enhancement Speaker" or "Special Interest Lecturer" who gave interesting, short programs during the mornings and afternoons on the day prior to arriving at a port.  U.S Forrest Service rangers came onboard at various times to give lectures and answer questions.  And while at the port of Juneau, Libby Riddles (the first woman musher to win the Iditarod) came onboard and gave a short presentation at 4:30 p.m.  Had the scheduling been better I think her presentation would have been very well attended.  It is noted by this writer that the "Princess Patter" (the daily publication that lists all the activities, etc.)  is such a jumbled mess that it can not be trusted.  More than once we found that the times listed were not the times that the activity took place.  Additionally, there is no way for the passenger to remove a shortened schedule of the day's activities (if they were correct) to carry in a pocket.  Princess needs to talk with Celebrity or Holland about this; they both seem to have this thing both user-friendly and well "checked" so it can be trusted.Our disembarkation at Whittier (port for Anchorage) was very easy and well-planned, but then we were continuing on a Princess rail car to a Princess lodge so it should have been easy.  We simply gathered in a lounge, walked off the ship, and boarded the train and very shortly, were on our way.  The rail cars were very comfortable; the food and drinks were good, and the crew was very helpful.  We arrived at our first lodge, The Princess Wilderness Lodge, after a very pleasant rail ride followed by the bus trip from Talkeetna to the lodge.  (Talkeetna is the town that inspired the television show "Northern Exposure" and the town looks just like it did in the show).  The following day we rode on a bus back to the Talkeetna area where we boarded the rail coach to Denali National Park.  After two nights at the Princess Denali lodge we boarded another rail coach that took us to the Fairbanks Princess Lodge.  The weather was absolutely wonderful while we were in the area.  We could see Mount McKinley every day, all day!  There are many details to the land tour that could make this review twice as long as it presently is.  I will share some of them if anyone wishes to contact me.Our return to DFW was much longer than our initial flight.  We departed from the Fairbanks airport at 1:30 a.m. on the 3-hour flight to Seattle.  (We actually went to the airport at midnight.  It was still very light outside; the sun had not set.  People were out riding bicycles!)  With a 1 1/2 hour layover in Seattle we then had another 3 hour flight to DFW.In summary I would say that we enjoyed the land portion of this trip very much.  And, there were certain things about the cruise that were enjoyable, but if I were choosing to make this trip again or any other trip (which we do quite often) I would not travel with Princess.