We flew into Seattle the day before and stayed at the Homewood Suites by Pikes Market. It was not what I had hoped for. There was no assistance w/ luggage, the pool or hot tub were not working, and only one elevator working for the entire hotel. They did have a nice free breakfast and the room was clean. We have been to Seattle before, our daugher went to college there, so we had already done site seeing on previous trips. Seattle is a wonderful city with some of the nicest people I have ever met. We arrived at the pier a little early thinking we could just drop off our luggage and walk around by the ships but were told we could go ahead and avoid the lines and start boarding. It was quick and simple. Our rooms were on the 7th deck, right side of the ship w/ balconies. The food on the ship is not as bad as people say. Some things we didn't like but other people seemed to really enjoy them. We did eat at the specialty japanese restraunt one night but I don't think it was worth the money. The food was over cooked and salty for my taste. The sushi was great. We only at the buffet for breakfast a couple of times, but it is the same menu everyday. All and all I enjoyed most of my meals. Alaska is beautiful. We went zip lining in Ketchikan and it was wonderful. The guides did a great job and my daughters laughed the entire time. In Juneau we were scheduled to go on the helicopter/dogsled trip. The weather was terrible so it was cancelled. What was disappointing was the lack of customer service from the company. They never offered to try to rebook it for the next day in Skagway and were actually really rude when I spoke w/ them on the phone. We wasted the day walking around town. I wouldn't book a helicopter unless I knew the weather was going to be great. Otherwise you don't get to do anything. There were some great things to do there and since we got cancelled late, we weren't able to rebook anything else. In Skagway we were again trying to helicopter/dogsleed.(My daughters dream flight) We had high hopes since we dock next to the airport and watched the helicopters take off and land all morning. We had a 1:00 flight and when we went me our guide I was told our flight was cancelled. No explanation, nothing. We continued to watch the helicopters take off and land. I had to scramble to find something for our family to do so late in the day. Luckily we were able to go to the dog sled camp and Shilo made it fun for us. When I returned home I wrote the helicopter company a letter asking why this had happened. They have never responded. I wouldn't waste my money w/ a company that obviously doesn't care about the people they are supposed to be taking care of. In Prince Ruppert we went whale watching and it was raining the entire time. We did see some whales and eagles. We enjoyed it and the people on the boat were helpful and answered all the questions everyone had. We had rain most of the trip. We had fog so bad on the way back that the fog horn was used for most of the return trip. Getting off the ship was quick and simple. We had a later flight so we enjoyed a last breakfast and then carried our stuff off and left. I would recommend this trip to everyone. Alaska is so beautiful and the wildlife is amazing.