HAL ms Noordam to AK, summer '07

Hello all,

I will be cruising out of Seattle on the Noordam next summer. This
is the 7day Alaska cruise, returning to Seattle. It'll be my wife
and I, my parents, and my children. I've already reserved 3 rooms.

We travel a lot (occasionally with the parents, mostly not), but
almost entirely do-it-yourself vacations, and active stuff. I spent
5 weeks this past summer hiking, for instance, and in the weeks
surrounding the cruise, we'll be hiking. I've been on one short
cruise before, on RCL. So the "cruise experience" is not really
my thing, I don't think, but it seemed like the most practical way
to visit Alaska for the first time, as well as to spend some time
with the parents. They'll love it.

That's the context. So advice on shipboard stuff would be nice.
I already have hiking guides relevant to the ports of call. It
sounds like we can do some serious dayhiking out of Juneau, without
a lot of hassle.

On the ship, any tips? I really don't like sitting around.

Besides shore excursions, what extra charges should we be expecting?
Port fees? What's tipping like on HAL? What are the beer/wine
options?

Is there a recommended hotel in Seattle with a reasonable deal
convenient to where we leave? What's the deal with parking? I
hate getting reamed on parking....

What questions am I not asking?

I think we've picked out our shore excursions. I guess those don't
get booked until later, though.

Thanks!

Thanks, all, for your comments.

I'm particularly curious how tips & alcohol work on the ship. I'd
love some solid perspective on this.

Parking in Seattle remains an open issue. With the timing of the
embarkation and departure, we won't be staying at a Seattle hotel,
but rather driving in from elsewhere. Actually, I do plan to get
a Seattle hotel for my parents, who are flying in, and perhaps I
can work out some subtle substitute parking arrangement with them.

The travel agent told me not to worry about booking shore excursions
until spring. If something has a chance to fill up, I usually book
it well in advance (this cruise, for instance). So is that OK?

I definitely wonder about the typical timing to settle all the
various details.

Thanks!