First time cruisers! This cruise was a bucket list item. We expected to take it some day, maybe in 10 years or so when retirement is upon us. But we were blessed to receive it as a gift by my husband's employer, as a reward for years of employment! Definitely a good start to our cruising experience!

I spent hours and hours on websites like Cruise Critic, reading reviews and looking for tips and tidbits on what to expect, how to pack, what to see, and how to make things happen smoothly. I'm probably preaching to the choir here, but if everyone would RESEARCH first, there would probably be a lot more positive reviews after the experience. While reading previous reviews, I would laugh at the discrepencies. Several reviewers were obviously on the same cruise, same ship. Some gave 4 and 5- stars with glowing reviews, others on the same ship gave 2 or 3 stars and were extremely critical. My conclusion is, whatever attitude you go into it with, is the experience you come out with. We aren't demanding people. We like to be polite to others. We understand the importance of being patient. And we are taking a dream trip to one of the most beautiful places on the continent. We're good!

We received the gift of this cruise with fairly short notice. The cruise would visit Canada, and we are not passport holders. We were assured that birth certificates and driver's licenses were sufficient, and I will say first off, that is correct. There were no glitches using birth certificates at customs, on either end, and once we received our SeaPass cards, we didn't have to show them except to reenter Seattle. Read more