We are avid cruisers and are Elite with Princess and decided we wanted to go back to Alaska after 15 years. We know the ships well and we pick certain cabins for certain itineraries. Along with us for the cruise was my husband, brother, Sister in Law, and eight year old nephew. Boarding the ship in Seattle was effortless - 11 minutes from pier to stateroom. The buffet was swamped so we opted for Pizza in the sunshine by the pool and it was lovely. Sail away was gorgeous and it was exciting having the NCL Pearl, who departed after us from another pier, catch up to us and go racing by at full speed very impressive! While having not been on the Emerald before we re-aquainted ourselves with the ship (Ruby X2, Crown X2) . Favorite spot was Adagio , We love our inside cabin R744 - just steps from the terrace pool and one deck up to the buffet. The new Princess Bedding is EXCELLENT and a nice surprise! Highlights of the trip - we had great weather! Sanctuary - we had it to ourselves for the 3 days we booked in, the SPA (though could do with an upgrade), Dinner at the Crab Shack and Crown Grill. Disappointments - Theater (the physical room was awful and is different from the other ships) small and very poorly designed - terrible - only saw one show. The MDR food was bland to bad and the options have been greatly reduced, TASTE was a huge disappointment - nicely presented and good flavor but not worth the surcharge. The Soda package is not worth the price - only applies to gun soda with only one diet option - Diet Coke - actually the Soda Package on HAL is far superior because they have the machines that offer every brand/type offered by Coca Cola. The overall experience was nice, the ship was clean and crew was pleasant but nothing really memorable.