Just returned from Alaska on NCL Spirit. Was a great cruise with one exception (art auction). The ship is beautiful and everyone extremely friendly. Had a balcony cabin which was great although as a previous post suggests the mattresses are very firm. Wish we had seen this forum prior to know to order the mattress addition. Food was very good in the Main restaurants (Windows and Garden Room). We ate one dinner in the French specialty restaurant (add'l cost 15pp) and food was excellent. Don't miss the chocoholic buffet! Long lines, but worth it! Entertainment was very good although we skipped the plays/musicals and opted for the other evening entertainment (comedians, bands, specialty shows and dancing in the Galaxy of the Stars). Buyer Beware: if you want art, get the final price in writing before you leave the room. For us, the price agreed to was not the FINAL price--and we found the dealer to be extremely rude when we asked about the additional costs on our bill. NCL acted like they only "hosted" the event when we complained to them. We did request that NCL oversee/guide this better and our request to NCL was that every passenger receive a copy of the bill before they leave the art auction room. Hopefully this will prevent anyone else from going through this frustration.
Spas: if you want any treatments order early for "at sea" days as they get fully booked quickly.
Weather: pack a light to medium raincoat and expect drizzling rain. We had beautiful sunny skies half the trip and cool drizzling rain the other half. Scenery: awesome, beautiful, pack plenty of film for Sawyer Glacier. Internet: available on the ship at .50 per minute (with a $5.00 initial sign-on fee) so type fast. My cell phone worked 50% of the trip (Verizon) so it was great to have internet. Excursions: We did our own thing just wandering around in Ketchikan; In Juneau: Mendenhall Glacier (excellent), salmon hatchery (fascinating)and city tour (good). In Skagway, the railroad (beautiful mountain scenery), In Prince Rupert- we booked our own flightplane excursion and had a great time. Also, don't forget to enjoy Seattle---there is plenty to do there.
ENJOY--ENJOY!! Feel free to ask me any questions.