We are a family of four, with two boys (ages 8 & 10).  My husband and I had only cruised on SilverSea without our children prior to this trip, so we tried to be extra cautious when selecting our first family cruise.  We decided on Princess, as we heard that the children's programs were great.  We also selected the Coral Princess specifically, as we had heard only good things about that ship.  Thankfully, our research and preparation paid off, and we have mostly good things to say about this trip... with a few exceptions. We flew from Salt Lake City to Seattle on the day before the cruise, and spent a night at the Hyatt in downtown Seattle.  The Hyatt is a lovely hotel, and it is located just a few short blocks from the Amtrak station.  On the morning of the cruise, we boarded the Amtrak Coaster and took the train up to Vancouver, which was our embarkation port.  It was a nice, comfortable train ride along the coastline to Vancouver, and everyone enjoyed the views.   It was actually better than expected and quite relaxing.  Upon arriving in Vancouver, we went through customs at the train station and took a quick taxi ride to the port.  We experienced no delays and were on the ship by 12:30.  We had a mini suite with balcony on the Caribe deck that comfortably slept four people.  The room had a bunk bed that pulled down from the ceiling so that both children had their own beds. This feature also enabled us to walk around the room without having to climb over a fold-away bed.  We also chose the port side headed northbound, as we had heard that this was the better side of the ship for both views and late afternoon sunshine.  This proved to be true.  For dining, we had chosen the anytime dining, but on the second night we spoke with the maitre'd, Florian, and he was able to accommodate us at a prime window table for four at 7:30pm every night.  Florian was wonderful, as was our waiter, Roman.  We were given the best of service at dinner every night.  On our first night of the cruise we ate a Sabatini's, and the food was great, with the exception of our main courses.  I had order a shrimp dish, which was tasteless and my husband ordered sea bass, which was rubbery.  All of the other courses were superb, though, and our children ordered pasta dishes which were also very good.  We cannot say enough positive about the service that we received in the main dining room.  This was true at breakfast, as well as dinner.On the flipside of dining, there was Horizon Court, which has the buffet.  The food there was very average at best.  There was also a "herd" of people there lining up to fill up their large plates with piles of food.  I think that the people who went to Horizon Court everyday focused on quantity of food and not quality.  In addition, everyday our children would ask for hot chocolate, and the waiters in Horizon Court had no idea what it was or how to make it!  We would get lukewarm dark syrup in a cup with a dash of milk.  It was so terrible that my kids couldn't drink it.  For other dining options, the Grill for burgers and hot dogs and the Pizza areas by the pool were really good.  My kids ate lunch there most everyday, and I enjoyed the wood fired pizzas very much.  My kids also enjoyed the free soft-serve ice cream at the Ice Cream Bar.  Our two boys attended the kids club every day...in fact they ran there every day.  It was only open for sign ups on the day of embarkation, and only opens for limited hours on days in port.  However, this was not an issue, as on days in port our children were out with us.  After all, this was a family vacation.  Our boys really enjoyed Shockwaves, which were the 8-12 groups.  There were only about 44 kids signed up for their group, and their area never seemed crowded.  The counselors were excellent with the kids.  Safety and fun were priorities, and we felt that it was well run and more than kept the boy's interest.  Our boys also enjoyed the indoor pool area, which was conveniently open for "family hours" when camp was closed.  In Ketchikan, we booked the private Hummer tour and it was fantastic.  Our driver and guide, Hunter, took us to several spots in Ketchikan to view eagles, walk along beaches and see waterfalls, museums, wild life and more.   He found out what we wanted to do, and he made sure that we got to see as much as possible.  He also packed a little picnic and beverages for us.  This was MUCH better than booking a tour that would involve a busload of people.  In Juneau, we booked a private whale watch boat with Captain Louis through Alaska Galore, and it was one of the highlights of the trip.  We saw 10+ whales bubble feeding, orcas and sea lions.  Captain Louis was great.   We also booked the Mendenhall Glacier Canoe trip, and it was the best way to see the glacier up close.  I would say though, that our boys were a little young to fully enjoy this.  They just wanted to get out of the canoe and throw stones in the lake.  In Skagway, we booked a tour with DYEA Dave and he was very entertaining.  He took us along the same trail that the 3 - 7 hour White Pass train takes, and he made sure that we avoided all of the tourist traps and crowds.  He took us to Carcross and into Canada and the Yukon Territory.  In Carcross we ordered a picnic lunch and ate by a beautiful white sandy beach on a lake.  Our turn around point was Emerald Lake.  The scenery was spectacular and all enjoyed the excursions.  We loved cruising Glacier Bay, and we were particularly lucky with the weather.  It was sunny and the naturalist on the ship said that he had been to Glacier Bay many times and had never seen so much calving.  We had great weather all week, with the exception of our last cruise day - College Fjords.  It rained that day which made the viewing not so spectacular.  We were not impressed at all by the entertainment, although the band in the atrium on formal nights was good.  Disembarkation was an easy process, although we felt like cattle being herded from area to area by crew members with walkie talkies. We arranged for a bus transfer with Princess from Whittier to the airport in Anchorage.  Since we were used to how SilverSea handles things, this part of the trip and dealing with the crowds was not so great in comparison. I know that I shouldn't compare Princess to SilverSea, as it is not comparing apples to apples.  However, on a basic level, I did not appreciate that Princess charged extra for things like bottled water, sodas, and specialty coffees.  I also didn't like that they had photographers roaming around constantly trying to take your picture and then sell each one for $20 a pop.Overall, though, the Coral Princess staff and crew were outstanding, and this vacation was a very enjoyable trip for us.  We would highly recommend a voyage to Alaska on the Coral Princess.