We are in our mid-50's and have cruised before. We like longer cruises but enjoy variety. So we booked two cruises, first Anchorage-Vancouver on the Diamond Princess, then one night in Vancouver, then back to Anchorage on the Holland Zaandam. We chose the Zaandam last primarily because we wanted to end in Seward instead of Whittier.
Before leaving, we purchased a Northern Lights coupon book. Toursavers is very similar. I highly recommend checking them out. We saved hundreds.
In our short time in Anchorage we enjoyed watching the sea planes from the patio of the "Fancy Moose" (at the Millennium hotel). We really liked the Alaskan Native Heritage Center (coupon). We stayed at the Alaskan Frontier Gardens B&B which was good. Renting a car at the airport was a snap.
E202: Emerald (8th floor) Obstructed Ocean View, but you can still see quite a lot. The window would be more useable if beds were arranged as twins. There are outside stairs near the window that connect the 7th level promenade deck to 8th level bow deck, and you occasionally hear people walk up them. Unfortunately, you have to go down to the 7th floor to access those stairs yourself. Visual privacy would only be an issue if you stood right by the window. Good value, and we'd book it again.