BACKGROUND: DH and I thought the best way to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary was to invite our two children (and their spouses and children) to join us on a cruise to Alaska. We were thrilled that all were able to come along! This was our sixth Alaska cruise; we have sailed on Princess nine times. For two of our group, this was their first cruise; the others were relative newbies. It was our first time sailing with a child.

TRAVEL & BOARDING: We live in Seattle, so it was an easy trip from our house to Pier 91 via Shuttle Express. (It was about $100 each way for the shuttle; we could have parked a car at the lot adjacent to the pier for $175, but would have needed two cars to hold the luggage AND the seven passengers in our group.) The Shuttle Express driver was courteous and on time. Our grandson ("GS") is 15 months old, so we had reserved a carseat for him, and Shuttle Express had one ready both to and from the pier. We arrived at the pier at about 10:45 AM and dropped off our large pieces of luggage, then were quickly checked in without difficulty. (BTW, we brought along an umbrella stroller and a backpack, and used them both.) Boarding was absolutely not to begin until noon, so we were directed to the waiting area, where all the chairs were already taken. (Note: there was no mention of staggered boarding times; it was first come, first served.) At about 11:30, we were asked to form our line outside to make room for more people to queue up inside the terminal. So although it was a bit nippy, we all stood outside for a half-hour in a winding queue. It was just a smidge after 12:00 when boarding began. Princess is now using hand-held scanners to take your photo and "ding" you on and off the ship; four of these were in use at boarding, so the process went quickly. We immediately made our way to the purser's desk, to make reservations for the Ultimate Ship's Tour and to get additional key cards made so we could have a "key" to GS's room, and his parents could have a "key" to ours. These proved very helpful during the cruise, and I was glad to have found out about this possibility on the Cruise Critic Family board.

STATEROOMS: DH and I had a mini-suite with a balcony (on Dolphin), with the intent that it become the headquarters for family gatherings. It served this purpose well. We don't mind the lack of privacy of Dolphin's exposed balconies. Once on board, we asked our steward for a crib, and he came up with a foldable Graco Pack 'n Play in excellent condition (plus a twin bed sheet). As needed, we put this in the closet at GS's nap- or bed-time (dark, quiet, away from people), and at other times there was plenty of room for it in the "living room" portion of our mini-suite. Our bathtub was used to bathe GS. The balcony made a perfect "playpen" for GS; it had a great view of the water or port, was contained, and there was no way he could lose toys on it. Read more