My husband and I, early 40's, took our first Alaskan cruise without our children (but want to take them someday because they will love it!). This was our first HAL cruise, though we have cruised many times before. We have sailed NCL, RCCL, Carnival, and one Oceania. We have decided the HAL line is our favorite so far.
We arrived the day of the cruise but did stay one day after the cruise to explore Seattle. We stayed at the Mayflower hotel. It was perfect in regards to location to Pike Market, downtown and the Lightrail, which was only $2.75 to get us to the airport the next morning. Very easy. Nice hotel. Would stay again for sure.
This was our first time on any HAL ship. We sailed the Oosterdam. Things we loved about this ship that were different from all of the RCCL, NCL and Carnival ships we have cruised on:
Cabin 6131 - interior K. It was small but we don't mind since we are rarely in the room. Storage was tight but we made it work. We would stay in this cabin again.