We embarked from Vancouver on May 21 for our Alaskan Cruise. We were checked in in a matter of minutes and in our mini-suite. First impression of the ship was awe-struck. It was simply beautiful. The Coral Princess is a very up-scale ship and the decor was gorgeous. My husband and I walked around and became familiar with where everything was before heading to the Horizon Court for a lunch buffet. I wish I could say something really positive about the Horizon Court but for us it was below standard in quality. The only meals that we somewhat enjoyed there were breakfast and after several mornings we ended up in the main dining room for breakfast and it was delicious. I will get back to the dining experiences a little later. We booked a mini-suite on the ninth floor. Our cabin was perfect for us. We had a balcony and as the cruise progressed we realized that a balcony stateroom was the only way to travel on an Alaskan cruise. The scenery was breathtaking everyday. But our only complaint was that we were at the very back of the ship so therefore we had to walk "forever" after getting off the elevator to get to the main features of the ship. In doing another cruise we will make sure we get our room towards the middle of the ship. Our cabin steward was very nice but not very talkative. We had a hard time understanding him sometimes but he was very attentive and brought us anything we requested. The entertainment on the ship was first class on the nights that the Coral Princess Singers/Dancers performed. The only problem was that they only put on 3 or 4 performances. They were simply fantastic. The other nights featured comedians/magicians and etc and for us were somewhat boring. We wish they had booked some other types of entertainment such as famous groups that other ships do, but they only had one performance with one original Drifter and the Theater was so crowded we didn't get a seat. They have a nice casino on board if that is your cup of tea. We enjoyed that and actually won some money so that was nice. We stopped in the ports of Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and had excursions in each of those ports. Our favorite excursion was the Yukon Experience in Skagway. It was 7 hours long but worth it. The scenery was gorgeous and we were treated to a very nice meal. We had a great tour guide who made the trip even better. Our excursion to the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau was okay but we were disappointed in that we didn't get to be closer to it and had to admire it from afar. We did the Totem Pole Excursion in Ketchikan and it was so boring. I don't recommend that to anyone. The scenic cruising through Glacier Bay National Park and College Fjord was fantastic but it was so cold that we froze out on the decks while trying to film everything. The weather was cold the entire trip but especially those two places where it was in the 40s. Pack plenty of warm clothing!!! We had hoped on this cruise we would get to witness plenty of wildlife but we were disappointed that all we saw was some sea otters, a few whales in the distance that we could barely see, and a small black bear on our way to the Yukon. Other than that, we didn't witness much of anything. My husband was very disappointed because this was what he was most interested in for this cruise. Back to the food.....Well we had an early booking in the Provence Dining Room that started at 6:00. We were seated at a table with 5 other couples and I guess we were fortunate because we enjoyed visiting with all of them. We had all ages at our table and everyone was gracious, funny and entertaining. We elected to forego the formal nights on this cruise, mainly because we just didn't want to pack formal wear. The food in the dining room was considerably better than the Horizon Court Buffet but still it lacked seasoning, and the portions were so small. My husband usually left every night still hungry and that should never happen. We had a very sweet waiter who was very attentive. Our only other cruise was with Royal Caribbean and to us, the food was like day and night compared to this cruise. The bread was already on our tables and was cold. Also another complaint and word of advice if you are seating at a large table is that most of the time you have to wait until everyone shows up for the waiter to take your orders then you have to wait until everyone is finished to be served desert. Sadly we had two really slow eaters at our table so that was kind of irritating as the week went along. Our favorite night was the last night. We were celebrating our anniversary on this cruise so the head waiter came to our table and brought us a special cake and sang to us. We also had another couple at our table celebrating their anniversary along with newlyweds so they both got cakes. We took alot of pictures and this was a fun night. Breakfast in the main dining room was so much better than the buffet. I strongly recommend this to anyone and in fact I would never recommend the Horizon Court to anyone. Disembarkation was very smooth and overall this cruise was wonderful. But my husband and I agree that Royal Caribbean is our choice of cruise lines. Princess Ships are beautiful but food is very important and in our opinion the food was below standards.