Flew to Seattle the previous day and got a little bit of exploring done there, then embarked the next morning. Embarkation staff was incredibly friendly and the process went much more smoothly and quickly than I had expected. My friend and I had a blast exploring the ship and checking out the different bars and restaurants, though we did not do many of the entertainment experiences. Our cabin was comfortable and clean, and the staff was very attentive. In general, our dining experiences were great - plenty of variety in the main dining rooms and buffet, and the specialty restaurants were very good. Not quite excellent, but still enjoyed the meals. I was very impressed with the friendliness and effectiveness of the crew, as well as overall cleanliness of the ship (I'm a bit of a germaphobe, so that was refreshing). Though we had a minor itinerary change due to ice, the captain and crew definitely made up for it by routing us to a different glacier and popular whale-sighting area, where we ended up spotting hundreds of whales surfacing, showing fins, and even breaching. Amazing experience. Had a great time onboard the ship, but definitely enjoyed the destinations more. My minor complaints were as follows: wifi was unreliable and slow, observation areas were nearly always crowded, and elevators were quite slow (to the point that we took stairs almost every time). Disembarkation went just as smoothly and seemingly quicker than embarkation. Although this was our first cruise, we very much enjoyed every moment. Heard mixed reviews while onboard of others who had been on multiple cruises - lots of compliments, but also lots of complaints. Overall, we had a wonderful experience.