HIGHLIGHTS Great Alaskan experience - more depth of Alaska information than on our previous Alaska cruise on Princess - thank you HA. Sitka with the wildlife, and the lack of other cruise ships was a fantastic experience. The food was great in the Vista and Lido venues. The Pinnacle Grill was the BEST food we've experienced on a cruise ship and rivals what you will find in a 4 Star restaurant, unfortunately our 2nd visit to the Pinnacle Grille was not even close to being as good as the first. Ship's dEcor and the service level of the staff were a level above Princess and RC but then so is the cost of the cruise as expected.

LETDOWN The only letdown was the average age of our fellow passengers - older than (we) expected, and the music was for their generation. We're in our late 40's and the average age was somewhere in the mid 60s. Either all of a sudden, I'm very sensitive to caffeine or their decaf isn't very decaffeinated. For the first 2 nights I had decaf after dinner and ended up staying awake past midnight.

BOARDING & STATEROOM No surprises, no long waits, easy to get off the shuttle from the hotel at Pier 91. We chose to carry all but 1 of our bags on and had no hassles doing that. We arrived around noon and waited less than 30 minutes until "Group 9" was called to board. we even overheard our apparent table-mates for dining and introduced ourselves before we got on the ship. All passengers (dunno about suites) were kept out of their staterooms until 2:15 and kept on the Lido deck with food and beverage service. Bit different than our other cruises but no problems. We left our 3 daughters behind this time and upgraded ourselves to Holland America - we weren't disappointed, we thought the value and experience were great. Our balcony room was nice, modern, well appointed. Storage space was fine. Bedding, pillows, extra blankets were on par with Princess. Glad we brought our night light! The tub/shower was a nice upgrade from the showers only on other cruise lines' balconies. Towels were first class. Lighting inside & on the balcony was fine. No complaints about our VF cabin. Read more