First of all I have to defend Princess for all the bad reviews. It seems to me that people in inside rooms are always unhappy. You get what you pay for.. That is just the simple truth. My husband and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversay on the Sea Princess. We have cruised prior on the Dawn and the Coral Princess. We always have a great time, why? It is simple, we go with a positive attitude and relax. People like to complain, it is human nature. Was the cruise perfect?No. But we expect mistakes and handle them accordingly. Here are our thoughts:

Book at least a mini suite or higher. Small cabins are depressing and put you in a foul mood. We always stay in a Suite. The perks are just too good to pass up and the balconies on the Sea Princess are huge. We had a luxury breakfast every morning outside. Yes, the alaskan weather was great. First stop in Victoria was great. Weather must have been in the 80's and we took a horse drawn carriage ride through Victoria. Skagway and Ketchikan are lovely. If you can bear all the jewlery stores.. Juneau is a dump. A crazy official decided to put a soup kitchen in the middle of main street so all the tourist from San Francisco feel right at home.. Excuse my cynical comment but it was awful. We had exeptional weather in Glacier Bay and got some great pictures. Tip: To see real wildlife you actually have to book wildlife tours. If you expect to see eagles from your ship in Juneau you are out of luck. So spend some money on a decent tour to avoid dissapointment. Suite is about 570 square feed and has a great location at the aft of the ship. Not really suitable for people with disabilities. Great thing. No screaming children running by your room. Room Steward Miquel was great. Never intruded and very polite and clean. Now to anytime dining!! Anytime dining does not really work for couples. There are hardly tables of 2 available. If you do not mind to sit with other people, no problem. My husband and I are in the service industry and really enjoy our dinner together alone. So make arrangement (slip 50$) to the Head waiter in the Rigoletto dining room and tell them which table you want. Best times are after 8pm. We had the same table available between 8 and 9pm. Worked for us. Food was good. No, it is not 5-star food but hey, you are on Princess and not on Crystal. Do the math.. Our waiter learned very quickly what we wanted and served us many times extra Entrees and desserts. Just great. Also, if you like to drink good wine, tell the waiters to bring you decent wine glasses. We asked for it on the first night and had decent stemware always ready for us on arrival. Our waiters were mostly from Europe or Asia. Great team. Embarkation and Disembarkation are super easy and painless. We arrived around 1pm and were on the balcony with a glass of Champagne at 1.30pm. As a suite passenger we were invited to the bridge and special al cocktail parties. We even won a bottle of sparkling wine. There were a lot of older people on the ship. We love it because they are not noisy. Much fewer kids than on the Panama Canal cruise. The piano player Larry has a hearty English humor and might offend a few Americans who are not used to that type of offense. Well, get over it. Otherwise look for other entertainment. Drinks were great and our favorites were the Passion fruit martini and several different Fruit Martinis. So, again we would recommend this cruise for middle aged to older people with good mobility. Do not take an Alaska cruise if you want to get a tan or swim a lot. Also, being sea sick all my life I had to take Bonine every day. The 2 days from and to SF are very rough. Be prepared..

So, have a great time (remember to want to have a great time) and enjoy the breathtaking scenery in Alaska. Your will love it.