We explored our departure city, Vancouver, BC, for a couple of days before boarding the ship. I highly recommend it if you can do it. Shannon Falls is incredible and free to see.

Embarkation was really smooth and didn't take much time, which was great. We were greeted with someone shoving a glass in our faces. Not knowing what was in the glass, I asked and the person looked at me like he was a deer in the headlights. Not a good sign.

The ship was clean but clearly aged and tired. The outside glass was dirty the whole time. Paint was peeling on the railing outside the balcony. The colors everywhere were brown and tan. Some yellow. Cosmos Lounge was brighter being a light blue. Our stateroom was brown with brown carpet. Drab and depressing. I thought if they'd have just changed the carpet to something less drab it would've brightened & cheered up the place. They had some sort of malfunction in the electrical department about halfway through the voyage. Backup generators took care of most of the electricity and although the ship stopped moving and we limped in to Icy Strait, you could barely tell there was a problem. Except that the elevators didn't work. Read more