My family (which includes two teenagers) wanted to take a summer vacation in Alaska. The date of this cruise along with the size and luxury of the boat fit the ticket for us and that's how we chose the RSSC Mariner. We booked the cruise directly with RSSC. I found our travel agent at RSSC to be very easy to work with. My only complaint with RSSC was several of the excursions that we would have enjoyed had been booked prior to our booking the trip and some of the excursions were just OK (that is the reason for the 4 star vs 5 star). Perhaps it was bad choosing on our part. We would have enjoyed having more flexibility with the excursions. But perhaps that is an impossibility in the nature of cruising - we were new to cruising. The food on the boat was excellent and my kids require gluten free diets which the culinary staff was amazing, They had wanted us to pre-order our gluten free meals ahead of time however many times my kids decided what they wanted at the meals and they couldn't have been more flexible. The complete staff on board could not have been more welcoming. There was a youth club - but my kids weren't interested in joining. There was a great game room with lots of games that we were able to use anywhere on board and a pool. We were lucky with wonderful weather and the pool deck was used often. Our room was very nice and the housekeeping staff was wonderful. The fitness facility was small and we did have to wait for treadmill/elliptical when we went. The spa was nice - we enjoyed massages and a manicure for me. The on board entertainment was enjoyable. We needed to see the doctor (for pink eye) that was contracted before cruising for medication and the medical facility/doctor/nurse were wonderful. I would highly recommend cruising with RSSC - but do some homework on the excursions!