BACKGROUND: First time cruise for us. Picked a good one, Alaska 7 day with side excursions. I'll try to keep this short and to the point.
EMBARK: Most reviews I read said about 1hr to go through check in. Ours was less than 15min. Went very smooth.
Ship (Pearl): The ship was very nice, clean and well organized. The staff was great,helpful and eager to please. Some were hard to understand (language barrier), so depending on your urgency sometimes it was better to pretend you understood and then go ask someone else. At no time was in an inconvenience tho.
Mini Suite, deck 11, port side, room 11508. Great room, Quiet. Close to the elevator.
Great view. Room size was fine. For two people it felt large. Not sure with four people.