We traveled as a party of 6, my husband and I in one room,our daughter(age 29) and sister in one room and my sister's daughter and granddaughter(age 12) in a room. I had read some not so good reviews about the Pearl and was pleasantly surprised that none of it was true for our cruise(except the oatmeal wasn't warm one morning). My first suggestion is to immediately when you get on-board, head to the elevators and go UP. For us it was deck 12 and get pool side. They will have food and drinks waiting and you are at the perfect vantage point to watch the ship sail away from Seattle.(crowds in the lobby with carry on luggage not knowing what to do next) We were on-board within 45 minutes of walking in the door to check in, so we had hours before the ship would sail. They did call us within an hour to say our room was ready. This was our daughters first cruise and she was very pleased at the size of the room. It was huge compared to the train accommodations:) OK, people had said the buffet area was crowded and loud and yes it was(what do you expect with 2,000 people). Well do what someone else on this blog suggested, go to La Cucina, which at night is a specialty restaurant but in the day it is open for guests to bring their plate in and eat in a small quiet setting. It is on the same floor as the buffet but just across the hall from the elevators. We had breakfast and most lunches in that room(if not at the pool). This was our 4th cruise but first to Alaska, bucket list! We never did eat in any of the specialty restaurants because the 7 FREE ones were enough for us. We did take the complimentary drink package when we booked the cruise and that was wonderful!!! We didn't use the ships WiFi, we just waited until we docked to use our phones since Alaska was in the US and still free on our home phone plan. I must admit we only went to one show, the comedian, and he was great! We went on this cruise to rest and bed by 9 with a good book is what I was looking forward to. The television got Fox News so my husband was happy. I know I am jumping around but I write like I think, a little A.D.D. Oh the weather. We were in Seattle for 3 days before the cruise and 1 day after and for 11 days not one drop of rain! and most days sunny and in the 70's, it was amazing! and yes we saw whales. People have said in other reviews that the scenery was your entertainment and that is SO true. We have traveled the world and this trip is on the top of our WOW list. We did have a 12 year old in our family party and she signed up the first day for the kids camp(or whatever it was called) and she was busy constantly, having a blast. I would suggest to read reviews and do your homework months before you sail to get the excursion you want. I was surprised at how many people were in line at the excursion desk trying to book and hearing people comment "we gotta pick something else that one is full". 4 months before we left we made a party out of it, sitting around our table reading and picking out what we wanted to do. We didn't even all go on the same excursions. Personally I didn't want to sit on a train for hours but my sister said it was one of the highlights of her trip. I hiked and rafted instead. We love flowers and gardens so we chose 2 excursions that included gardens. Our last port was Victoria and we didn't do one of the ships excursions, we hired our own private tour guide. Victoria's London Taxi, a delightful British couple was there to meet us and we spent a wonderful 4 hours with them. They got us to Butchart Gardens nearly an hour before the bus loads got there. They were wonderful and cost less per person than the ships shore excursion. So my suggestion is to book and plan early, enjoy the research and then when you get on the ship let them pamper you. Oh yeah, we used Acetowncarservice.com to get to and from hotel, airport, and ship. We paid on an average of $15 per person for transportation and that included the tip. We got off the ship 1.5 hours earlier than I had booked our transfer and I called and they said "we can have someone there in 30 minutes" OMG great! In Seattle you MUST go to Chihuly Garden and Glass museum and the Space Needle. They are right next to each other and you can go online and purchase a combo ticket. Do that before you get there and you will miss the line of people trying to get their tickets. We also spent a day on the Hop on Hop Off tour booked in advance on Viator. We have done this in multiple cities and a great way to get transportation, information and see what you want to see, like the Pikes Place Market. Enjoy the whole experience, planning, going and reliving when you get home. Now I am scrapbooking our trip!