This was our first cruise experience ever. I did quite a bit of research on the internet and on youtube before deciding on an Alaska Cruise.
We wanted something we could do in 1 week (short in case we discovered cruising is not our thing). We wanted it local so we wouldn't have to fuss with flight travel. We live in WA so it was an easy drive to Seattle to embark.
Since it was for our 10 yr anniversary, we splurged. We reserved a Penthouse Suite.
Fantastic cabin! Spacious. The bed was super comfortable. The balcony was narrower than what we expected, but proved to be perfectly good for us. A benefit was having the upper deck extend beyond our balcony giving us a roof and a nice dry balcony when it rained. I noticed the lower balconies (which jut out further than ours did) were getting all the rain. There was no problem with noise -- we were worried that being below the pool deck might be a problem but it wasn't at all.
Beautiful, clean, safe city to explore by foot. The dining options are quite varied, excellent and offer something for everyone. Night life was abundant. I wish we would have come to port earlier for tea time, but it wasn't to be. Still, a lovely short taxi drive to downtown, shopping, dinner at Tibetan Kitchen (amazing lamb curry!!!) and a 30 minute stroll back to the ship led us to architecturally impressive areas and through a very clean safe neighborhood.