Wife and I have taken two cruises.
The first was on the old Independence out of Honolulu. IMO the best way to see Hawaii. No repacking and every morning you are at a different island. The ship was old fashioned, and we had an inside room with lower and upper bunks (it was subsidized by the government when built in the 50's as a potential fast troop carrier). The round shower was so small that the only way to soap up was to stick one elbow out the curtain!
We were glad to have experienced what ocean travel was back when.
(This was the ship that took Grace Kelley to Monaco to get married.)
Alas, i've heard the old ship is being towed to the far east for scrap.
Two years ago we took the Holland American Oosterdam to Alaska and back. We booked on the first trip of the season in the cheapest inside room and got a triple upgrade and a bunch of ship credit.
Nice ship, although maybe too large, great food, good shows. My best memories were standing on deck with Hubbard glacier nearby. It seemed twice as high as the ship, and several miles wide, with bergs constantly breaking off. There was a woman sitting in the hot tub watching it all. Too bad I didn't bring a suit!
On the way back down the gulf of Alaska we ran into 20-30 foot waves.
We sat virtually alone in the bar on deck 10 and enjoyed the show. Luckily there was a bartender who wasn't seasick. Lots of missing diners at supper, and lots of people with patches behind their ear. We were so smug we actually had dessert!!!