This was our 15th cruise, the seventh on Princess. As such, I don't bother writing reviews any more, but I'm making an exception in this case because my experience on Sapphire was quite different than some of the negative reviews would suggest. I saw little evidence of any degradation on quality since our first Princess cruise on the Grand years ago. Embarkation/debarkation was amazingly fast and efficient. We were on board eating lunch (no lines) maybe 25 minutes after arriving at the terminal. Princess and the Seattle terminal crew are to be commended for their efficiency. Horizon Court is indeed somewhat poorly designed from a flow perspective, or at least it seems that way. However, having no clear direction to travel allowed diners to disperse effectively to whatever sections they wanted food from, so the lines moved quickly. We ate all breakfasts and lunches there and thought the food was pretty good. Not "best thing I've ever eaten" good, but always something interesting, at least as good as what we've had on Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Holland America, etc. Only Oceania was clearly better, although we missed the specialty food bars that Carnival has (like the burrito bar).Employees were universally friendly and cheery. Not once did we pass any crew member in the hallway without getting a "hello" and the buffet staff were quick to offer to carry trays or get drinks. The only inattentive employees we experienced were working the bar, probably sick of refilling sodas for the much-hawked soda cards.Cabins were the same as in our previous Princess cruises, although first-run movies on the TV seemed less plentiful. As other reviewers have stated, there was a rather foul urine-like smell coming from the bathroom at all times. Obviously there's a problem with the sewage system.We did Anytime Dining in either Pacific Moon or Sante Fe dining rooms. Food was good, with high points being soufflEs for dessert on several nights, lobster, and the turkey dinner (the fajitas always available in Santa Fe were good as well, with good guacamole and salsa). The only truly disappointing dish was the "special noodles" in Pacific Moon, a tasteless seafood stir fry.Sabatini's just changed the menu to be more a la carte than "bring a little of everything" like before. It was still very nice and an amazing value for the $20 service charge. Our fantastic waiter Alex brought extra appetizers and entrees just for tasting even though we didn't ask. Homemade mozzarella caprese salad, seafood pasta, veal chops, duck, steak, and too many courses to count (not to mention excellent desserts). It's just really nice to enjoy quiet surroundings and individual server attention for a change, not to mention the really good food and the chance to try some less common food items.The Chef's Table is just amazing and also well worth its extra charge of $75. Around a dozen diners get the undivided attention of the chef and maitre de for around three hours, with several appetizers served in the galley and then a multi-course feast in the dining room. Excellent wine (with frequent refills) is included, as are some really nice gifts. If you enjoy food and wine, you should reserve a spot immediately upon boarding.Here are the few negatives we experienced. Shows were generally subpar, with comedian Steve Moris being an exception (the absolute best and funniest show was the cooking demonstration, which was the best of many we've seen). There was some additional sales pressure to buy balcony breakfasts, wine tastings, etc., but nothing obnoxious. The breakfast buffet has been streamlined a bit, with no doughnuts. No Movies Under the Stars are available on Sapphire because it doesn't yet have the big screen. The ship's shops didn't have much of a selection and weren't offering any notable sales. The stop at Vancouver was only four hours long, which really makes no sense at all, and we didn't even bother getting off for that reason. At Ketchikan, Princess held up the debarkation line by forcing everyone through the mandatory photo session - there should be some kind of international cruising law that requires offering an exit path not involving a photographer since it backs people up forever and you can bet few folks are going to buy a photo taken indoors against a fake background. But more positives: the library selection was quite nice. Drinks and bottles of wine are still reasonably priced. Alaska-specific buffets were offered (salmon, ceviche, etc.) Platinum-level cruisers like us enjoy a private reception every afternoon and 150 Internet minutes each (although speed was not good). The fitness center is very well equipped (and very well used).For $20 per person, Princess will check all bags through your airlines to your home destination, give you boarding passes Saturday evening, and take the bags for you so you can head straight down the gangway to customs and out the door. We did this to free up Sunday for more Seattle sightseeing since our flight was a late one. Tip: the Patter says it's an 11-mile, $43 cab ride from Pier 91 to Pike Place Market, which is clearly wrong: it's maybe 3 miles and cost us only $11 even with the delays in getting out of the terminal area.Tracy Arm cruising was one of those events that you know you'll remember forever. It's clichE unless you are there to see it, but the mountains are immense, the waterfalls and snow-capped peaks are stunning, and there is no trace of mankind anywhere. The commentary by naturalist Dr. Tom Ryan helped make sense of what we were seeing - he's good.We did shopping in Ketchikan (great) and an impromptu tour on the red double decker bus (horrible). We booked the whale watch and Mendenhall glacier tour through Princess in Juneau, which were truly outstanding. In Skagway, we rented a car and drove to Emerald Lake, seeing some great scenery on our own, a good value for the four of us even with $4.79 per gallon gas at Skagway's one and only gas station.The atmosphere was very different than the typical Caribbean cruise. The demographic was older, but around 400 generally well behaved kids were on board. There were fewer activities, and the weather meant few folks were on deck and almost none were in the pools. Still, even with just three port days, time flew and the more active excursions meant folks were tired enough to go to bed early.I would give this cruise a solid A-, as good as we've come to expect from Princess after several years of cruising with them, plus some world-class scenery that doesn't involve hairy legs contests and obnoxious drunks. I would definitely go again, both to Alaska and on Sapphire.And one final post-cruise tip or two. Pike Place Market is pretty quiet early on Sunday mornings, so that $11 taxi ride lets you enjoy some nice walking around food (Piroshky Piroshky), delicious Rainier cherries, and a pretty good tour on Argosy Cruises if you have time before your flight. And we strayed onto a restaurant that would rank as one of my favorites ever (and an shockingly great value) in Long's Provincial Vietnamese restaurant, just a short walk from the market and a superb lunch spot. It's then just a $2.75 ride back on light rail to the airport. We had put off cruising to Alaska for years, instead taking the bait of Caribbean cruises at half or less the price. Alaska is most definitely worth the difference and Princess is a great line to cruise there with. We had a great time and all four of us agree that Princess continues to meet our rather high expectations.