We have travelled on Carnival three times and loved it! Usually there newest ship, the latest being lasy sept. in the Medditeranean on the Magic.
We chose Princess at our agents reccommendation as they are rated as number one for Alaska cruises.
We booked the land add-on pre-cruise with a night in Anchorage, a night at Mckinley Lodge, and two nights in Denali with a 9 hour train back to Whittier.
Cabin location was convenient to the Piazza and theatre and one level up was the Lido. A bit of a walk to the back where the Traditional Dining was, but that doesn't bother us. Princess rooms seem quite smaller than Carnival. I hear the "mini suites" are more like a regular balcony on Carnival. However the lower level balconies are cantilevered out so we looked down into them, ours at least had privacy compared to the lower ones.