Seeing the sites from our balcony gave us the feeling we were really there. Unbelievable views. Felt like we could touch the glacier in Glacier Bay. Nice views of everything throughout the trip. We saw fish jumping and pretty sure two dolphins swimming by. Four days of stops might mean there was a little less offered than on our previous trips on HAL. We luckily had fabulous weather as we were told it rains daily in our ports but the sun was shining everywhere. We did a lot of walking in Alaska. The Sheldon Jackson Museum in Sitka is a 15 minute walk from the ship and is more than worth the $4.00 entrance fee. Be sure and open the drawers. We did not do the extra excursions. We have visited Victoria and Seattle before and both are fabulous cities to visit. If you go to the Pike Market in Seattle, be sure and start at the top. HAL has the tips on the final bill, not to worry, the service was great!! Our room was always clean and all our servers in their various capacities were pleasant and helpful. Some of the ship does need refurbishing like the chairs in the Queen's Lounge and the seating in the Vista Lounge. We ate in the Vista dining, the Lido, on the patio, the Italian dining room, and the Pinnacle. Overall, I give the food a seven on a ten point scale. We had open seating and found it easy to choose the time as long as we called in early and booked several days ahead of time. And, of course, with so much food, we could eat aweigh. The comedian Ward was excellent. He is also an illusionist/magician and he performed a few times. The HAL singers and dancers were very entertaining. We would do HAL again just for the cruise if we could leave from our home area - San Diego. Leaving from our home port is at least a $500.00 savings.