This was our third cruise, all on Princess, and we have been very satisfied with them each time.  This was our first balcony, and we were very glad we had the balcony for this cruise.  We arrived in Vancouver the day before departure and stayed at the Hyatt on Burrard, which was very nice and convenient to the port about 4 blocks.  Make sure you get to Stanley Park in Vancouver, especially if the weather is nice.  I rented a bike and made the easy 5 mile ride along the seawall around the outer edge of the park, and it was beautiful.We arrived to check in for the ship around 1:00 and the security line was long and slow.  There was an HAL ship boarding at the same time and we were both using the same security.  We were in line at least 15 minutes, probably closer to 30 min.  After security, the Princess part was pretty quick and easy.  We were very happy with the ship, it was clean and our cabin service was excellent.  We had traditional dining at the late seating and that worked out very nicely.  We ate almost all of our breakfasts and lunches in the International Dining room as well because it was convenient to our cabin, and the food was very good throughout the trip.  We generally avoid the buffet, but we did eat lunch there during the seafood buffet on the day we were in Glacier Bay so we could continue to enjoy the scenery and the seafood was excellent freshly baked salmon and halibut along with the usual buffet items.We enjoyed the entertainment on board.  We attended all the big shows in the Princess Theatre and thought they were all well done and were entertaining.  The band, singers, dancers, costumes and staging were all very good.  In Skagway a local guy named Steve Heitz came on board and gave an entertaining performance of folk songs and folk stories with a local flavor in the one of the lounges.  Princess also had a naturalist on board throughout the cruise and she was very informative.  She would announce when we would be arriving at particularly scenic areas or where there would be a good chance to see whales and other wildlife.  When she was providing commentary over the ship's speaker system, it would also be broadcast on Channel 35 on the TV and it was nice to sit on the balcony and enjoy the scenery as we listened to her on the TV.  I would also recommend buying The Alaska Cruise Companion book on board for $20.  It provides some interesting and informative stories about what you will be seeing.  There is also an excellent map included.  I like looking at maps and trying to figure out what we are seeing and where we are.Overall the cruise was excellent.  We had beautiful weather no rain during the 7 days, and generally very mild temps, almost hot at times.  Glacier Bay was very nice, but College Fjord turned out to be awesome.  Harvard Glacier at the end of the fjord was great.  It is about a mile wide and it felt like we could reach out and touch it.  The naturalist said she had been doing this for 6 years and had never been so close to it before.  It was constantly creaking and groaning and we saw some great calving as well.  Definitely one of the highlights of the cruise.We did not take any shore excursions through the ship.  We arranged everything on our own.  In Whittier we took the Whittier Shuttle into Anchorage for $45 each and that worked out very well.  Our driver was probably the best guide/driver we ever had.  We just missed the 9:00 tunnel opening and the driver kept us entertained for the hour we waited for the tunnel by telling us stories about his and his family's life in Alaska.  They dropped us right at our hotel.  We spent one night in Anchorage before flying home the next day.